到朱麗葉故居舉行浪漫婚禮

A modern-day Romeo finally got his girl on Monday when the northern Italian city of Verona opened up the balcony where Juliet pined for her lover as a venue for weddings.

The 13th century mansion of the Cappello family -- believed to be the Capulets of William Shakespeare's tragic play "Romeo and Juliet" -- has for years been a place of pilgrimage for lovers worldwide, who have scrawled love messages on its walls.

Now, Verona's town council is offering couples the chance to follow in the footsteps of Shakespeare's "star-crossed lovers" and see for themselves "what light from yonder window breaks."

The first Romeo to take advantage of the offer was soccer player star Luca Ceccarelli, who plays for local team Verona.

"I feel very emotional. You know, marriage always gives strong emotions especially in a situation like this," said a beaming Ceccarelli, before exchanging rings with his Juliet, Irene Lamforti. "We hope that this bring us a lot of luck."

But it does not come cheaply. A normal civil wedding license in Italy costs about 45 euros ($64): for non-European citizens the Verona license will cost nearly 900 euros, with EU non-Verona couples paying approximately 700 euros.

At that price, lovers will hope for a happy ending.

意大利北部城市維羅納的“朱麗葉故居”於本週一對外開放開放，新人可以登上朱麗葉企盼愛人的陽臺舉行婚禮。當日，一位現代版“羅密歐”在此地與心上人喜結連理。

這座13世紀的卡佩洛家族故居被認爲是威廉•莎士比亞悲劇著作《羅密歐與朱麗葉》中（朱麗葉所屬的）凱普萊特家族的府邸。長久以來，這裏一直是世界各地情侶們的“朝聖”之地，牆上佈滿了“愛情宣言”。

而今，維羅納市議會正爲情侶們創造機會，效仿莎翁筆下“時運不濟的戀人”，親自見證“是什麼光線透過那遠處的窗子？”

首位在此迎娶新娘的“羅密歐”是效力於當地球隊維羅納隊的球星盧卡•切卡雷利。

在與他的“朱麗葉”Irene Lamforti交換婚戒前，切卡雷利愉快地說：“我很激動，你知道，結婚總能使人心情激動，特別是在這樣一個環境裏。希望這能給我們帶來好運。”

但在這裏舉辦婚禮費用不菲。在意大利，一次普通的結婚登記需花費約45歐元（合64美元）， 而非歐籍公民在維羅納註冊結婚需花費近900歐元，生活在維羅納以外的歐盟公民需花費近700歐元。

這樣的高價希望能夠給新人們換來美滿的愛情結局。

Vocabulary:

pine for：to yearn deeply; suffer with longing; long painfully（渴望，盼望）

scrawl：to write or draw in a sprawling, awkward manner（潦草地書寫）

star-crossed：時運不濟的，運氣不好的（star-crossed lovers與下文中的what light from yonder window breaks均爲《羅密歐與朱麗葉》中的原句。

beaming：喜氣洋洋的，眉飛色舞的