A little romance in Ottawa
The pedestrian bridge over the Rideau Canal has become a place for lovers to secure a lock bearing their names. Photo: Judy Andrus Toporcer, Pierrepont, NY
Today’s Photo of the Day submission from Judy Andrus Toporcer (WizenedEye.com) brought a little romance into my day. A lovely sentiment to mark a lover’s spot–put a lock on your commitment to one another and throw away the key.
Wanting to know more about this, I soon discovered that this Ottawa landmark has been photographed and written about in a number of places, and is the subject of this video explainer on YouTube.
And researching further, I find that the phenomenon is spreading worldwide, with “love locks” being placed in a prominent way in cities across this and other continents: Prague, Rome, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Seoul, Paris, The Brooklyn Bridge, Mount Huang in China. The locations are listed, with photos, on Wikipedia.
This great an outpouring of romance cannot, of course, remain unattended by commercial exploitation. I find this website which promotes the romantic practice of love lock placement, and conveniently offers for sale custom padlocks shaped like twined hearts, with personalized engraving. At $25 plus $18 for engraving, it could be cheaper than dinner and a movie.
Tags: canada, rideau canal, romance
Thanks, Dale, for fleshing out this bit of romance. I happened on the Metcalfe bridge love locks quite by chance and enjoyed not only the sentiments expressed there, the smiles on the faces of others reading names and notes on the locks, but also the play on words of love locks and canal locks. Love was in the air on that beautiful spring day!