The locks of love, part #5
Posted: April 1, 2013 Filed under: Bristol, Love & Relationships | Tags: bridge, Bristol, love, love lock, Pero's Bridge, postaday, postaweek2013 2 CommentsIf you follow my other blogs, Haikugirl’s Japan or Picturing England, you might already know that I’m moving to Bristol at the end of the month for a new job. London is a brilliant city, but it can get tiring, and I’m ready for a new adventure. I’m actually really excited about having a whole new city at my doorstep to explore, and have found myself exploring already even though I haven’t moved yet. I was in Bristol on Friday flat hunting, and managed to cover rather a lot of ground (on foot) while looking for a place to live. On Saturday morning I was too tired to walk far, but had a little wander around the harbour.
I found a curious bridge called ‘Pero’s Bridge‘, dedicated to the memory of Pero, an enslaved African man who was brought to Bristol in 1783 as a servant.
On the bridge, I was delighted to find some love locks. As you’ll know if you’re a regular reader of this often neglected blog, I have a bit of a thing for ‘love locks’. Love locks, as I call them, are the padlocks that people leave on bridges, declaring their undying love for one another. I guess I am a romantic at heart.
I’m glad to know there’s a little bit of love in Bristol…
The locks of love, part #2
Posted: May 19, 2012 Filed under: London, Love & Relationships | Tags: bridge, Federico Moccia, hungerford bridge, lock, london, love, postaday, postaweek2012, tower bridge 3 CommentsDo you remember back in January when I wrote about the “love locks” I found on Brooklyn Bridge in New York, and how they hailed from a tradition started by an Italian novelist, Federico Moccia? Well, it looks like the tradition has also made its way over to England…
You’ve got to keep your eyes open in London – there’s so much going on that it’s easy to miss the small things sometimes. Next time you’re walking over Hungerford Bridge or Tower Bridge have a look, because these bridges are covered in declarations of long-lasting love!
I’m glad to see this tradition being continued in loved-up London! What do you think of it? Would you declare your love in this way?
The locks of love…
Posted: January 8, 2012 Filed under: Love & Relationships, Movies, Travel & Tourism, TV | Tags: bridge, brookley bridge, couples, Federico Moccia, italy, love, new york, ponte milvio, postaday, postaweek2012, relationships, romance, satc, sex and the city 4 CommentsOn my recent visit to New York I was very keen to visit Brooklyn Bridge, mainly because I had seen it featured in Sex and the City, and wanted to see the view of Manhattan from Brooklyn. One particular scene from Sex and the City had stuck in my mind, and that was the one in the first movie, where Steve and Miranda meet on Brooklyn Bridge to show that they are willing to forget the past and continue with their marriage.
But I hadn’t realised that Brooklyn Bridge was such a popular place for romance. Apparently Brooklyn Bridge has become the place for couples to declare their eternal love to each other by attaching a padlock to the bridge.
Scores of locks have been lovingly left on the bridge, some with messages, names or dates written on them, others plain. Despite the fact that it is actually illegal to attach anything to the bridge, there are these handy little loops all over the place, which people have cleverly made use of.
The tradition dates back to a book by Italian novelist Federico Moccia, which became popular when it was turned into a film, “Tre Metri Sopra il Cielo” (“Three Steps Over Heaven“), in 2004. Following the popularity of the movie, couples began declaring their love on the Ponte Milvio in Italy. Sometime later, perhaps around 2007, the tradition made its way over the Atlantic to the US, and people began to attach their love locks to the Brooklyn Bridge.
As I said, it is illegal to leave these locks on the bridge, but no one seems to be doing anything about removing them. And, really, what harm are they doing?
I wonder now if that scene in Sex and the City was inspired by this tradition of declaring one’s love on Brooklyn Bridge, although Miranda and Steve don’t actually leave a lock.
What do you think? Is leaving a lock on a bridge a good way for a couple to declare their eternal love? Would you do it?
