1. Amore

The very word runs off the tongue like a poem: amore, a word that stirs the Italian soul and conjures up visions of life's possibilities. Socrates said that "the life which is unexamined is not worth living," but for Italians, it is a life without love that is the life not worth living. Without amore life is a thin gruel of getting and spending, a succession of repetitive days and nights without purpose or point. But with it-Ah, with it-the stars take on a shimmering gleam, the days pulse with sunlight and hope, the lovers transcend the workaday world immersed in the magic of communion and the marriage of two souls.

Why is this passion for love and life so Italian? The Mediterranean climate? The elaborate courtship rituals that have developed between young men and women in the small hill towns of the country? The veneration of women that seems imprinted on the Italian male soul? The intense verbal passion that is the essence of Italian family life? Whatever the reason there is no question that Italy is a synonym for romance and the very air of the country resonates with the music of love. Mention Venice and what comes to mind but a gondolier serenading two lovers under the moonlight? Honeymooners flock to the Isle of Capri like pilgrims seeking a miracle, and surely there are more bridal shops in Naples than in any other city in the world.

>>