Locks along the Arno, 26 May 07 (C.S., Sanyo HD1A)

Why are the locks there? This explanantion is from our friend Barbie Nadeau in Rome:

The myth of love and locks on Ponte Milvio across the Tiber in Rome came from a book in 1992 about two teenagers from opposite sides of the bridge who defied their families and fell in love. They met on the Ponte Milvio and placed a lock on the third lamp post on the Corso di Francia side and threw the key into the river. The book was made into a movie in 2004 and young couples now flock to the bridge to put on their love locks. A hardware store owner near the bridge sells both locks and lock-cutters for those whose love is not as enduring. The couple is to throw the key into the Tiber over their shoulders so they don't see where it landed. In Florence, the tradition is against the law with a €50 fine to anyone putting a lock on the bridge (these were on the street, the Lungarno Torrigiani, across from the Uffizi) ; in Torino they put locks on the Ponte Vittorio.