[ad_1]
An Italian couple has become known as the “Romeo and Juliet” of the coronavirus lockdown.
In true Shakespearean style, their romantic story began on their respective balconies this year as Italians were forced to kidnap from their homes due to the pandemic. It was in Verona, the same city where “Romeo and Juliet” took place.
But the love story of this pandemic couple does not have a tragic ending like Shakespeare’s hapless lovers. In fact, six months after meeting from afar, the COVID-19 boyfriends are engaged to be married.
Paola Agnelli / The Washington Post
Michele D’Alpaos, left, and Paola Agnelli on their first date in person in a park near their apartments in Verona.
Michele D’Alpaos, 38, first saw Paola Agnelli, 40, in mid-March when she stepped out onto her balcony. Agnelli saw D’Alpaos that night on his terrace and said it was love at first sight.
“I was immediately struck by the beauty of this girl, her smile,” said D’Alpaos. “I had to meet him.”
READ MORE:
* Luck? Genetics? Italian island was saved from the Covid outbreak
* The house in Verona is said to have inspired Romeo and Juliet on Airbnb
* Babies named Romeo and Juliet born hours apart in the same hospital
Agnelli stood directly in front of him on his sixth-floor balcony as his sister performed a violin performance of We are the Champions as part of a nightly musical performance at 6pm, intended to raise the neighborhood in quarantine.
Within minutes of the song, Agnelli caught D’Alpaos’s gaze.
“It was a magical moment,” said Agnelli, who has lived in the same apartment complex since she was 5 years old. He had never met D’Alpaos before, even though he had lived across the street from him, on the seventh floor, for most of his life.
“I immediately thought, ‘What a beautiful boy,'” she continued.
Paola Agnelli / The Washington Post
Michele D’Alpaos and Paola Agnelli at one of their many dinners during the summer of 2020, when they were finally able to interact in person.
It so happened that D’Alpaos’s sister knew Agnelli: the two of them had exercised in the same gym before the confinement began. She gave him the name Agnelli.
“I started looking at all possible social networks,” D’Alpaos said. “I saw that she had an Instagram profile, but I didn’t. In five minutes, I created an account.”
“He followed me on Instagram, and from there we started writing late into the night,” Agnelli said, adding that they initially communicated on the app and then moved on to texting. “When he contacted me, he was happy, but he didn’t want to fool me.”
To his surprise, the conversation extended past 3 a.m. Their connection was immediate, she said, and over the next few days and weeks, the couple continued to talk constantly, often losing track of time.
Although they longed for a date in person, Italy remained in a mandatory lockdown. For 10 weeks, the burgeoning relationship was limited to multi-hour phone calls and daily flirting between balconies.
Still, their bond grew stronger.
Paola Agnelli / The Washington Post
Michele D’Alpaos, 38, wrote the name of her love interest on an old sheet and placed it on top of her apartment complex, in front of her apartment.
From a distance, the couple met and learned that they share similar ideas: “The values on which a relationship can be built,” Agnelli said.
For one thing, they are both professionally driven, he said. Agnelli is a lawyer and D’Alpaos works in computer science. But most importantly, he said, “Michele has a good heart.”
Unable to get closer than 200 meters away, a enamored D’Alpaos was desperate to show his affection for Agnelli. He began by sending out several bouquets of flowers, but then decided that it was not enough.
In an effort to fully show his love, D’Alpaos hung an old sheet with the word “Paola” emblazoned in large, bold letters from his apartment complex in late March.
The romantic gesture caught the attention of local news and social media, and that’s when the couple became known as the modern “Romeo and Juliet.”
“It was such a beautiful surprise,” Agnelli said, adding that the banner made her even more excited to meet her own “Romeo” face to face.
In early May, he finally did.
They met at a local park and finally took off their masks to share a kiss.
“We are very much in love,” Agnelli said.
The relationship got off to a solid start, and by July the couple had met each other’s families and began discussing the possibility of spending the rest of their lives together.
D’Alpaos now shares an apartment with his parents and Agnelli lives with his mother and sister, although they plan to move into another apartment that D’Alpaos owns in the city when they finally get married.
In keeping with their beginnings, the couple continue to have phone calls every night, sitting across from each other on their respective balconies.
As a nod to their fated first meeting, “it would be a dream to be able to do the wedding ceremony on the terrace of my building,” D’Alpaos said.
The coronavirus pandemic has given few silver lights, but for this Italian couple, the lockdown led to each other.
“Such a thing has never happened to any of us. The sensations that we are experiencing in this period is something that we have never felt before,” D’Alpaos said. “We are more in love than ever.”
Agnelli agreed, adding that she believes they were destined to meet, as Michele is also the name of her late grandfather.
“Many times, I think it was he who sent me Michele, with the same name, the same kindness, the same sympathy and intelligence,” he said.
Although their sudden and dedicated love story bears similarities to Shakespeare’s classic script set in Verona, the ending is quite the opposite.
“Our goal is to start a beautiful family together,” said Agnelli.
