Valentine’s day corona style

This year, corona has put paid to many a Valentine’s Day tradition. Alix Norman speaks to three couples who are planning a special February 14

THE TEST SUBJECTS

“For Valentine’s Day, we’ve taken the corona test,” says Amilia.

Considering the usual run of chocolates and teddy bears followed by a quick drink and a bit of romance, it’s a most unusual gift. But then strange times, strange measures. And for Amilia and Jacob, the past few weeks have been very strange indeed!

“We met in December,” says 22-year-old Limassolian Jacob. Like Amilia, he frequented a number of dating apps in his search for love – or, at least, a date. “I wasn’t really thinking of meeting anyone special,” he continues, “it was more about just chatting to women at a time when it was hard to get a date in real life. But then I came across Amilia, and everything just clicked: we’re the same age, we have the same hobbies, we live in the same town…”

“We share the same sense of humour, we both studied finance, we’re both introverted,” Amilia continues. “I’m really astonished we’d never met before!”

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the couple’s relationship is that the two have never actually met in person. “Jacob’s mother is a vulnerable person, and my father has a heart condition, so both of us have been really careful over the last few months,” Amilia reveals. “So even before the recent lockdown, going for a coffee or a drink was not something we would do.”

Instead, the two have grown closer via the medium of the internet, chatting on Zoom, texting on WhatsApp, and connecting on Instagram. “We’ve even written to each other,” laughs Jacob. “Sending letters from one side of Limassol to the other – that’s funny!”

As the weeks passed, the two decided that their relationship was “real enough to risk meeting up,” says Jacob. “Just because we’re in our twenties doesn’t mean we’re reckless,” he adds. “We’re both sensible; we understand the seriousness of the pandemic. But Valentine’s Day seems the perfect time to actually meet in person.”

Both Amilia and Jacob have taken a rapid test over the last few days – “at different places, because we live on opposite sides of the town,” says Amillia – and plan to meet on the evening of February 14. “I live with my family,” says Amilia. “But Jacob has his own place. So I’m going over to spend the evening. And maybe more,” she adds with a glint in her eye. “Taking a corona test is very different from previous dates I’ve had,” she laughs. “But then this is a way to make Valentine’s Day as special as the circumstances!”

LOVE ON THE LINE

Another couple who are challenging themselves to make February 14 extraordinary are Nicosia residents Petros and Omar. Both in their early thirties, they’ve been together for two years, during which time they’ve seen corona almost destroy their relationship. “For months we haven’t been able to meet, due to the closure of the checkpoints,” explains Petros.

“It has been, literally, a nightmare. At first we were able to cross, and Omar came and stayed with me, and then I stayed with him for a few weeks at a time. But since the checkpoints closed, we haven’t been able to see each other face to face. It’s put a huge amount of strain on our relationship. I miss hugging him, and falling asleep together. I live by myself, and it’s been very lonely.”

Despite the pressure of the enforced separation, both Omar and Petros have pulled through the worst, and are planning a special online celebration on February 14. “It was Omar’s idea,” says Petros. “He’s actually really romantic, and I think Valentine’s Day means a lot to him. He suggested we should both cook the same food – it’s not easy to get the ingredients, but I’ve managed! – and sit down to a Skype dinner. I’ve got to get candles too, and he’s going to make us a playlist. And we both love Paulo Coelho’s Love in the Time of Cholera, so we’re going to read our favourite bits to each other. I know it’s not much – it may sound a bit silly – but it’s the best we can do. Until we meet again.”

PICNIC PERFECT

Paphos retirees Anne and Roger will also be celebrating a very different V Day this year. “We always go to our local taverna on February 14,” says Roger. “It’s a long-standing custom – I think we’ve been doing this for nigh on 20 years. We’re both pretty traditional people, and at our age, change is not a great thing!”

A slap-up meze – “with a bottle of red to get us in the mood,” laughs Anne – may be off the menu, but the couple have planned to make Valentine’s special for each other in a different way. “We pretty quickly realised that, this year, we’d have to think outside the box,” she continues. “But after 36 years of the same thing, maybe a change won’t be terrible. We’re still very much in love…”

“When I remember to take out the rubbish,” Roger interjects with a smile.

“…And,” says Anne, shushing her husband, “just because corona’s wreaking havoc in the world doesn’t mean we have to sit at home and weep!”

The couple plan to have a picnic on their back lawn, under the palm trees, and are planning to have cooked up a storm. “I’ll make chicken and sausages, Anne will bake some bread and whip up a salad. We’ll get out the picnic basket and blanket, and though it’s going to be hard on the old bones, it should be fun.

“I’ve even,” Roger discloses, in hushed tones, “ordered some rosy sort of flowers that I can give her over lunch. Plus, I’m going to break out the champagne we’ve been saving for a special occasion…. After four kids and seven grandchildren, it doesn’t really matter where we go or what we do, if we’re together, then it’s a special occasion. She’ll always be my Valentine.”

From best to worst!

Readers tell us about the most terrible Valentine’s Day gift they’d received

A bunch of yellow plastic tulips – his eyesight was so bad that he thought they were real! We called them ‘The Everlasting Flowers’. They sat on the mantelpiece for a decade, and made me smile every morning! – Robyn

I gave her a new mobile and a signed copy of her favourite book. She gave me a plain tea towel. I don’t know why it didn’t last! – Ken

A live pet rabbit. No hutch. No food. No litter. No bedding. Just a live rabbit in a box. I hadn’t asked for a rabbit or expressed any interest in taking on the responsibility of looking after an animal – Emily

An ex asked me what I wanted. I said anything except a teddy bear. You can guess what I got! – Zoe

A couples’ trip to Paris. It wasn’t the gift. It was the fact that I had broken up with her a month previously. What was she thinking? Of course I didn’t go! – Adrian

A binliner full of stinging nettles. Hubby went foraging, he knew I prized nettles above any other herb in nutrition and medicine, and he genuinely thought I’d be pleased, the innocent soul! – Miranda

Nothing, when all the pretty, popular girls at my all-girls Catholic boarding school were getting balloons, roses, chocolate, and cards… Scars formed! – Shereen

A wind-up torch. The divorce came the following year, but I still have the torch – Anna