Saint Valentine's Day is approaching and many couples have already started planning a romantic evening to celebrate their love. Whether you plan a simple dinner at home or a fancy night out, choose Italy as the theme of your date and you will not be disappointed as "that's amore"!
Here are some romantic Italian gift ideas for your special Valentine:
Is there a more romantic movie than "Roman Holiday"? A royal princess, Audrey Hepburn, and a reporter, Gregory Peck, falling in love while going for a Vespa ride through a magnificent 1950s Rome.
"Roman Holiday" on Amazon UK.
"Roman Holiday" on Amazon US.
If you are in the mood for a modern romantic comedy and love Tuscany, then "Under the Tuscan Sun" is the perfect choice. Based on Frances Mayes' 1996 memoir, the film starred Diane Lane and Italian actor Raul Bova, who represents, for many women, the Italian handsome man of their dreams.
Under the Tuscan Sun on Amazon UK.
Under the Tuscan Sun on Amazon US.
And what about Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli singing Italian love songs and opera classics for you and your Valentine...
Oh dolci baci, o languide carezze, mentr'io fremente le belle forme disciogliea dai veli! Svanì per sempre il sogno mio d'amore...
"Amore: Romantic Italian Love Songs" by Pavarotti on Amazon UK.
"Amore: Romantic Italian Love Songs" by Pavarotti on Amazon US.
"Amore" by Bocelli on Amazon UK.
"Amore" by Bocelli on Amazon US.
Seal your love with an Italian cameo. Today they are often worn as jewelry, but in ancient times were mainly used as signet rings. A wonderful Valentine gift for the ladies or, even, an original way to propose!
Cameo on Amazon UK.
Cameo on Amazon US.
Below are two collections of Italian love poems. The first one regroups poems by various Italian poets, the second is a selection of Petrarch's poems from "Il Canzoniere".
"A Treasury of Italian Love" on Amazon US.
"A Treasury of Italian Love" on Amazon UK.
"Petrarch: The Canzoniere, or Rerum vulgarium fragmenta" on Amazon US.
"Petrarch: The Canzoniere, or Rerum vulgarium fragmenta" on Amazon UK.
Food lovers can enjoy a special Italy magazine readers 20% discount on Lovesicily cookery holidays in Sicily. The cookery school is set in a beautifully restored family home, in the romantic baroque atmosphere of Modica city centre, in South-East Sicily. A way to enjoy Sicily through great food and wine, handson cooking classes, inspiring locations and wonderful people. The offer is valid until the end of February, just contact Lovesicily via the Italy website here.
We have also created a special Italy Valentine card for you, representing all the passion and colours of an "Amore italiano".
Below you can find two Italy magazine gifts to our readers and fans:
One of Dante Alighieri's most famous love poems "Amore e ’l cor gentil
sono una cosa":
Amore e ’l cor gentil sono una cosa,
sì come il saggio in suo dittare pone,
e così esser l’un sanza l’altro osa
com’alma razional sanza ragione.
Falli natura quand’è amorosa,
Amor per sire e ’l cor per sua magione,
dentro la qual dormendo si riposa
tal volta poca e tal lunga stagione.
Bieltate appare in saggia donna pui,
che piace a gli occhi sì, che dentro al core
nasce un disio de la cosa piacente;
e tanto dura talora in costui,
che fa svegliar lo spirito d’Amore.
E simil face in donna omo valente.
....and in English:
Love and the Gentle Heart
Love and the gentle heart are one thing,
just as the poet says in his verse,
each from the other one as well divorced
as reason from the mind’s reasoning.
Nature craves love, and then creates love king,
and makes the heart a palace where he’ll stay,
perhaps a shorter or a longer day,
breathing quietly, gently slumbering.
Then beauty in a virtuous woman’s face
makes the eyes yearn, and strikes the heart,
so that the eyes’ desire’s reborn again,
and often, rooting there with longing, stays,
Till love, at last, out of its dreaming starts.
Woman’s moved likewise by a virtuous man.
Finally, "I baci proibiti". The famous forbidden kisses scene from popular Italian movie Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
