Italian Love Affair

There are many movies and books written about the Italian love affair, and the romance that goes with it. However, having lived in Italy, I have met people with their own romantic stories that I would like to share with you!

My friend, Gianna, lived in a second floor apartment in the center of Milan. Her neighbor across the street was a young man around her age who was living on the first floor. After watching him for months as he came in and out of his place, she finally had a chance to talk to him as they were getting coffee at the same time at the same local coffee shop. To her surprise he seemed to notice her too, as he said, “Finally we meet. You live on the second floor right?” To which she replied, “Yes, you seem to be a musician” as she noticed that he had his guitar with him half the time. It turned out that he was a musician, and he invited her to come listen to him play. As romantic as it sounds, this story did not have a happy ending. After a few dates, they realized that other than the original attraction they had nothing in common. Lucky for her, he moved out of the apartment a few weeks later to pursue his dreams in Rome.

Another story was of my dear friend who was very shy around women, but liked an American girl who was in Milan on exchange who happened to be my neighbour. He would come to the appartment and try to have the guts to talk to her. Having been very shy about his English skills, we (my roommate and I) took matters into our own hands. After a bottle of wine, we knocked on our neighbours’ door and waited until she got to the door before running back to our own place leaving poor Carlo to fend for himself. One night, he managed to invite her to an event that was hosted by some mutual friends. She replied with “Maybe”. Devastated, he explained to me that when a woman says maybe she means no. However, to his surprise New York girls were different and maybe was really a maybe, as she did arrive to the party a bit late. The story ended there as well, as the girl was going back to the states and Carlo did not want to have a long distance relationship.

The final story that happened was a bit less romantic as a Californian girl met a guy from Rome in her class and they started going out. After the semester ended, they continued to be together. As I lost touch with both of them I have no way of knowing if it lasted for longer than a year or so. But it did make me realize, that sometimes it is the most unromantic meet ups that have the longest love affairs and that romantic movies are based on real life events and to keep on dreaming. You never know who will move in next door!