Valentine's Day: My Favorite Romance-Related Things

Love is in the air - it's Valentine's Day! Although I don't have a Valentine this year, I do enjoy a good dose of romance now and then. Here are my top three romantic things that get me sappy. In no particular order:

Pablo Neruda: Poema XIV
Pablo Neruda's poetry ranges from communist/nationalist to poems about nature and travel to my personal favorite topic of his, love. Pablo Neruda truly had a way with words. When I studied abroad in Chile, we visited all three of his houses that are now museums, and even took a class about his life and work. He meant so much not only to the country of Chile as a man working for social justice, but also to Latin American literature. They say Neruda only needed three things in life: Wine, women, and the sea. That itself is a rather romantic sentiment. I love all of the poems in his "20 poemas de amor y una canción desesperada," but Poema XIV is particularly lovely. The last verse says "Quiero hacer contigo lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos" : "I want to do with you what the spring does to the cherry trees." Super sappy and perfect for Valentine's Day. 

http://hellopoetry.com/poem/9920/every-day-you-play/ http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/poesia/ha/neruda/20poemas/14.htm

Pablo Neruda's home and inspiration, Isla Negra

Before Sunrise
A gorgeous backdrop of Vienna, Austria. Young Ethan Hawke. Two hours of awkward dialogue between strangers. This movie could not be more perfect, unless you told me that every ten years, they make a new one, with the same couple meeting again 10 years older, which is TRUE. Listen, I simply can't describe to you how perfect this trilogy is and how much it makes my heart swell with romance film joy. Two strangers meet on a train, one goofy American 23-year-old guy and one pretty, feminist Parisian 23-year-old woman. He asks her to get off of the train with him in Vienna, just for the night before his plane leaves. The movie documents the special night they have together as strangers. Nothing about it seems overly romanticized, everything about it seems like it was captured organically between two attractive and confused young people who met on a train.

Something
Something by The Beatles is an amazing love song. I have this friend who says "I know objectively that the Beatles are the best band of all time, I just don't like them that much." I feel as if that sentiment applies to this song as well: You might not love it the way I do, but you can't deny that it's a great love song. It's a simple song with very few lyrics, but it's about an inexplicable attraction toward someone. "Something in the way she moves / attracts me like no other lover." Sometimes, the best feelings are the ones you can't explain, and the ones you don't even feel compelled to explain.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day :)