Great things to do on Valentine's Day

February 5, 2013

We love Valentine's Day because it's a fun pretext to exchange gifts with someone special, to have a fancy dinner or to go on a trip with them. It's kind of like birthdays when you have an excuse to drink.

We have some awesome Valentine's Day gifts around the website waiting to be checked out, but there are other more personal and interesting things you can do on Valentine's to really make the day memorable.

Cook a special dinner

You now what they say, love passes through the stomach.

Don't underestimate the power of a meal you cook by yourself - the preparations, the struggle and the joy of seeing the person enjoy your cooking is worth the fuss any day of the year.

While restaurant dinners on Valentine's have turned cliche (a delicious delicious cliche), home-cooked meals with a dash of love will never go out of style. And, as you know, love goes through the stomach, especially if helped by a glass of wine.

Just make it special and try something new and intriguing for your taste buds, like spicy Thai noodles, Danish open faced sandwiches, Spanish paella or Indian Tandoori chicken. Something you think the recipient might lick the plate afterwards and offer sexy compliments to the chef. Even burgers can be a great idea if you make and grill them yourself, with your choice of vegees and oven baked potatoes - eat your heart out, McDonalds.

Play laser tag, paintball or go kart racing

You won't look as smashing as Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles when covered in paint though.

Feeling adventurous? Are you ready to mercilessly turn your sweet romance into a bloody battleground? Perfect, these fun urban games are just the thing to laugh your heads off while running around trying to shoot or run over your lover. Laser tag and paintball are especially useful if you're mildly annoyed at each other and want revenge or just want to rekindle your passion by shooting at each other. It might just work, 10 Things I Hate About You seems to have been paid to advertise paintball as a couples' game - and we couldn't agree more.

Kart racing is less physical and painful, but you can both inspire fear into each other's hearts by driving too close, too fast and too angry. Share a kiss and buckle up, it's time for a brush with death!

Go to the Theatre or to the Opera

Some opera houses and theatres are absolutely stunning - like the above San Carlo Theatre in Italy.

If you haven't been to a play for a long time, you're missing out! Plays are definitely a fantastic alternative to those corny Hollywood movies we know and love and the opera is sure to sing its tales directly to your soul. Choose a quality play with good actors or an opera production you think you'd both love, get good seats, dress up for the occasion and enjoy the amazing show. Tickets do indeed tend to be more expensive, but Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to celebrate in a special manner.

Go on a trip

Don't forget to take pictures of your silliness. 

Wherever your pockets can get you - be it in the next city over or on the other side of the planet, pretty much anywhere new and enthusiastic or old and sentimental is just fantastic. Routines are unavoidable, a good routine keeps you content and healthy, but any overdose practically kills your soul and tears it into shreds. And since the vacation is far far away, just leave for a weekend! Take that person you love by the arm, stuff him or her in the car and drive to the nearest place you think is worthy of your precious time.

Change the boring old concrete scenery with, well, a different concrete scenery with new streets, lovelier people (maybe) and sighs and places for you to take photos of. Now, depending on where you live, you might have mountains close for you to hike, natural reservations, various tourist towns - Google Maps is your friend. Keep it close, for that matter, because we won't be responsible if you get lost in a wood somewhere.

Just go away for a weekend wherever it seems fun for the two of you and enjoy your time away from your day-to-day life.

Of course, nobody can say no to symbolic gifts or cute and small presents, but sometimes just doing something different together will bring you closer and make the day truly memorable. 

Yours with love,

Corina