Frankfurt's romantic love locks

As one of Europe's most important banking centres, Frankfurt has a reputation of being well... boring. 

The city in central Germany is home to over 300 banks, including the European Central Bank that is tasked with rescuing the troubled Eurozone. 

A city swarming with bankers and bureaucrats is not really compatible with romance, right? Wrong! 

Today, as I walked around this really rather pleasant city, I came across a very sweet symbol of romance.

The Eiserner Steg, an iron footbridge that connects the city centre with Sachsenhausen on the southern banks of the Main River, is covered with thousands of padlocks.

Most are engraved with the names of lovers, often with a significant date, and attached to the bridge. 

As I loitered on the bridge reading some of them, I saw a couple attach a padlock and then throw the key into the river below. "It symbolises our everlasting love," the newlyweds told me between smooches. All together now, awww...

Over 10,000 people cross this neo-Gothic bridge everyday. And I bet all but the most boring banker does so with a spring in his step.

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