That’s amore! Create your own Italian-inspired Valentines Day

Italy would be the perfect place to spend Valentine's Day. A country that inspires romance with its natural beauty, enchanting villages and fine food, wine and chocolate. But you don't have to be in Italy to be inspired by its romanticism. Here are some ways that you can celebrate Valentine's Day where ever you are "Italian style".

• Create an Italian-themed dinner accompanied by a bottle of fine Italian wine and Dean Martin singing "That's Amore." Not a Dean Martin fan? Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett team up and deliver sweet duets on their collaborative album "Cheek to Cheek."

• Dine at a local traditional Italian restaurant. Make a reservation well ahead of time and request the best table in the house! May we suggest a wine to go with that meal?

•  3-Learn a few romantic Italian phrases. Sei sempre nel mio cuore!

•  4-Celebrate with Baci (Italian for "kisses") Perugina - small, chocolate-covered hazelnuts that includes a romantic poetic quote in the wrappers. So you'll learn a few romantic phrases while you're at it! (Hint: You can buy Baci at your local Italian deli, and sometimes other stores stock up this time of year, too).

• 5-Watch a romantic Italian film (in Italian, of course). This year I’m going back to this one, now 25 years old: Malena, told through the perspective of a 13-year-old boy who becomes infatuated with a beautiful war widow. On Amazon Prime, with subtitles.

  Or like the Italians, profess your love with a padlock. 

  What? Sometime in Italy, you might spot a young couple locking a padlock to a bridge railing. And then they toss the key into the water below.

  Why do Italian couples put padlocks on bridges? Then and now in Italy, a padlock is a symbol of love because it represents a secure and unbreakable bond, signifying eternal love by "locking" together a couple's commitment to each other. The tradition originally began as a promise from soldiers who were on their way to war.

  The couple throws away the key to symbolize that the love cannot be broken: This practice is known as "lucchetti d'amore" (love locks) in Italian. Ponte Milvio bridge in Rome is among  the most famous places in Italy where couples carry on this tradition.