In Rome, there is a bridge called the Ponte Milvio. Its a charming place where you can see see loads of lamp posts heavily laden with locks.
There seems to be a custom here whereby you take a lock, write your name and your sweetheart’s name, hang it on the lamp post and throw away the key in the Tiber River.
I first knew about this place when I stumbled upon Shelley’s blog and I became really curious about the place. Cart and I were along the way and decided to take a look. We stopped for grattachecca before heading to the bridge.
Click here to watch in youtube
When we reached the bridge, there was a tv crew resting by the benches – I saw them interviewing some couples beforehand.
It was impressive to see the amount of locks on the lamp post. There were some lamp posts which were so overladen with locks, I wondered how the posts were able to hold up!
Cart told me this funny story about how there were so many locks in one particular lamp post that it broke under the weight and fell into the river below. Initially, it was suggested that the locks and lamp post be thrown away, but there were alot of people who got upset about it. Finally the governer decided to keep it in his office as a mark of respect.
For now, according to wikipedia, a website has been created to replace the real locks with a virtual padlock.
Click here to watch in youtube
Cart and I didnt put a lock on. We think our love is eternal even without needing a lock! Or maybe we’re just too cranky, old and jaded 😛
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Later on, Cartcart took me to Ostia, one of the beaches in Northen Rome. It was about 9pm and the sun was starting to set.
Click here to watch in youtube
Its quite a different experience to have the sun set at such a late time since in Singapore, the sun always sets at about 7pm. Cartcart took me to a place called La Rotonda for dinner.
Its a nice place, you enter an African themed area with nice looking decor :
We had a seat facing the sea and in my mind, I was thinking of how romantic is was being here. And for the first time, it struck to me that I was actually on a date with cartcart. Hehehehe!
Perhaps the stop to Ponte Milvio brought out the romance after all 😉
However the food here was just meh. Although we enjoyed our appetizer, I didnt quite like my tonnarelli with lobster. The pasta was too hard and tough to be considered as al dente. And the lobster was tiny! For 21 euros (thats about $42 singapore dollars) one would expect that it would taste good. I felt so bad that I wanted to pay my share for the dinner. It was just unsatisfying.
Gah!
We went back home after dinner and on our way back, cartcart tells me that we may be stopping by his parents place. Last year, I was quite embarassed that I was not fluent enough to converse with them. I wondered how it will go this time.
Hey rinaz, i wonder if i at there and stay there forever.. How izzit? haha
fwah!! sounds like u had a lot of fun there… so many new sights to see! 😀 and the food looks YUMMY… *drools*
hehehe, the more i read abt my friend’s travels on their blogs, the more i’m itching to go for a holiday soon…
ok i wanted to wait till you finish on all the parts before commenting.. but I had to leave a comment now.. hahahha
Gee you sure had loads of fun.. what with the sightseeing, the food and all.. i would so love to be in Italy really.. and stuff myself with pasta pasta and more pasta!!! Hahahah
Anyhow the part on the locks is amazing! Gee it’s so romantic, in a way la.. was imagining how it’d be like in Singapore if they allow one to throw the keys into say Spore River… There’s a high chance you’ll be swept away by the authorities for littering before you get to sweep your lass off her feet… Sigh!
Hisyam
I think you’ll gain alot of weight because of all the food there. 😛
Myztika
I love Italy, its a really lovely place to walk, to see, and especially to dine at. So much yummy food! 🙂 But its expenses there are quite high. Did you see the price of the shoe in the previous post? And that was an ordinary shoe! Imagine branded ones *faints*
Edroos
I did have fun! I especially liked walking around the area with cartcart, so I can experience what it was like in a resident’s point of view rather than a tourist in their pre-packaged type of holidays.
The food in Italy is really great Edroos, I gained alot of weight each time I left Italy. Blame it on the good food! Pasta! Pizza! Gelato! I need to start exercising more 😐
The locks are nice isnt it? In fact in Japan, there is a custom to write your name and your sweetheart’s name on a piece of red cloth and tie it to a specific tree, to have eternal love. Of course both the locks and the red cloth would probably not be something that we would have here … No matter what romancing Singapore would say 😛 Hehehehe