Venice

Be captured by the city of canals

Propose here

Choose a gondolier with a perfect tenor voice and after a rendition from your opera of choice, pop the question. Try and time it so that you are just passing under the Academia bridge, with the picture-postcard panorama in front of you.

To get you in the mood

Lovers of the classics will swoon at Venice's musical connections -- why not whet your whistle with an opera or two from Monteverdi?

On film, Venetian romances tend to the melancholy, as with Wings of a Dove or Death in Venice. Rather more light-hearted, however, is Woody Allen's Everyone says I Love You, in which our nerdish hero undertakes a canal-side seduction of Julia Roberts under false pretences.

For reading matter, dip into Byron's comic verse masterpiece, Don Juan. It's surprisingly readable, wonderfully rakish, and contains some great scenes of love on the Lido!

Language of love

Buon anniversario! = Happy anniversary

Ti amo = I love you

Auguri! = Congratulations!

Mi voui sposare? = Will you marry me?

Stags and hens

Gondolas will always be expensive for couples, but groups of revellers can split the cost and set off in a race down the maze of canals. Award extra points for the best operatic aria sung while in motion and bonus points for anyone managing to steal an ice cream from a passing gondola. The best season for groups is during carnival (the 10 days leading up to Ash Wednesday), where indulgence and excess are positively welcomed!

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