Valentine's Day and what we get from Italy

Problem
What do we get for Valentine's Day?

Answers
1 Prosecco - from Italy. (Visit vineyards and the area around Venice and Treviso.)Buy from any supermarket London, England and worldwide. (Alternatives: Asti from that city in Italy.)
2 Valentine's Day cards - inspired by St Valentine of Italy
3 Dreaming of and planning a trip to Italy:
Various buildings all over the world are dedicated to Saint Valentine and / or have part of the body of one of the saints of that name.

Who celebrates St Valentine?
Roman Catholic church.
Church Of England.
Eastern Orthodox church.
Restaurants, hotels, businesses, secular and non-religious groups, schools in the USA.

St Valentine or St Valentine's Day are celebrated by:
Anonymous admirers.
Courting couples.
Married couples.
USA - Families, teachers and pupils, colleagues, in the USA.
Japan - women give gifts one month to men; the following month men give equal or larger gifts to women.

Other similar celebrations of love:
Chinese.
Muslim.

Relics of St Valentine:


Story
I searched through my photos with the word heart and found pictures from supermarkets in London last year (with offers the day after Valentine's day) and I found heart shaped white bowls, heart shaped grey slates, heart shaped shortbread biscuits, heart shaped chocolate covered biscuits with chocolate sprinkles. A meal at many restaurants at all prices will provide a setting with hearts. If you are lucky you will go home with a heart shape balloon or red or pink flower. Remember to take a photo for next year's DIY Valentine's Day card.

TOURIST PLACES FOR LOVE AND LOVERS AND ST VALENTINE
ITALY
Romantic places in Italy:
Rome.
Florence.
Perugia, capital of Umbria.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Padlocks

Prague - bridge with padlocks affixed by lovers below the St Charles Bridge. You can buy padlocks nearby (more expensive than ordinary padlocks.) Your padlock won't stay up for ever because they have to remove all the padlocks every so often to make room for more. (Also I imagine to repaint the bridge.)

Padlock Places
CZECH REPUBLIC
Bridge below St Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic.
FRANCE
The Pont des Arts in Paris, France.
ITALY
The Ponte Milvio in Rome, Italy.
GERMANY
The Hohenzollernbrucke (Hohenzollern bridge), Cologne (Koln in German) on the river Rhine, the river that inspired Schumann and Wagner.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/love-padlocks-cologne-s-hohenzollernbruecke-bridge
UK
Nottingham
Wilford Suspension Bridge, the footbridge crossing the Trent between West Bridgford and the City of Love.
Read more at http://www.nottinghampost.com/valentine-romance-blooms-as-nottingham-bridge-lovelocks-multiply/story-30127104-detail/story.html#ubyj010KLEdlJTiM.99

I decided I'd rather spend our money on chocolates - and chocolate drinks with wine, at a cafe up the hill - see my previous posts on the Czech Republic and my reports in Tripadvisor. The most romantic restaurant I tried was the grand Fred and Ginger restaurant at The Dancing House, overlooking the river, with gourmet food and a chance to draw your beloved on the table mat (pencil provided).

Chocolates
Free taste of chocolates at several chocolate shops nearby in the old hillside streets leading to the castle. All sorts of unusual chocolate flavours.
Warning: if you don't feel obliged to buy any chocolates immediately, you will probably decide to return to buy something later for yourselves and gifts for those left behind in your country. (Especially if there's a tempting three for the price of two offer.)

Tips
DIY cards
A wikihow video shows you how to make a frame with wood and wire and card - for the DIY enthusiast, not for types like me who want something fast from a piece of card and scissors.
If you keep a box of coloured papers, and symbols cut from magazines and newspapers, you can quickly create a DIY card with a printed message or photo stuck in the middle. To create a symmetrical heart shape, fold a piece of paper or card in half, draw one half of the heart and cut through both pieces of the filed paper. This is very effective with a piece of white card on a red background, or red on a white background.

Emails

DIY
Heart Shape photo or picture frame.

FOOD & DRINK
Chocolate or gift or message in a heart shape box.
Box with a heart attached to the front.
Heart shape cut out of red apple or melon.
Heart shape toast. (Cut by hand or use a heart shape biscuit cutter.)
Stick a red heart on the front or neck of a bottle of Prosecco.
Play romantic music: Opera, Pavarotti, love songs, your favourite romantic songs.
Collage of all your Valentine's Days or wedding anniversaries.

More information text and photos from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
If you have missed taking a trip to Italy for Valentine's day, instead you can give a promise of a trip later in the year.

More information on Umbria:
https://www.umbriatourism.it
https://www.umbriatourism.it/en/-/presepi-artistici-e-viventi-in-umbria

See my previous posts on Italy and Umbria and romantic hotels and a bed and breakfast place where you can get married in a tiny chapel steps away from the bedroom.
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.sg/2017/02/valentines-day-romance-and-honeymoons.html
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.