There’s something even better than a first kiss with someone and that’s… the moment just before the kiss happens.
A first date with someone is always a complete adventure… Red or blue dress? Chinos or jeans? Daring make-up or au naturel? Car or taxi?
And then, arriving… Oh! They’re not here yet, I’ll have to wait… where should I look? That couldn’t be them over there could it? Will they be coming by taxi or car? I’m going to look at my mobile!
Love… That feeling that makes you fly, at the same time as it makes you dizzy! To help, this St. Valentine’s Day Vincci wanted to produce, with your experiences, a manual to ensure nerves don’t ruin those magical, mad, moments that happen when you’ve just met someone special. So we asked what you should NEVER do on a date, to make sure it’s a #PerfectDate, and this is what you told us…
Let’s start with some tips from our own employees:
The chef at the #hotel Vincci La Rábida 4*, Jose Luís Roman, says that for this #StValentines it’s probably best not to take your partner to a fast food restaurant…
Sandra García from our hotel in Barcelona, the Vincci Marítimo 4* Barcelona says: “Don’t have too many coffees and arrive for the date shaking like a leaf…”
The recommendation from our #hotel in Madrid, the Vincci Soho 4*, is: “Don’t say, I didn’t get you anything for St. Valentine’s because I love you every day of the year”
In total we received nearly 20 bits of advice from the different Vincci hotels around the country, to help ensure you have a perfect St. Valentine’s!
And now it’s your turn!
We received loads of tips in relation to being on your best behaviour: no eating garlicky aliolo sauce; no drinking fizzy drinks, to avoid embarrassing moments; not eating with your mouth open; and maintaining your composure, as far as possible, were just some them.
There were also pieces of advice about how to avoid embarrassing or even dangerous situations. Advice from our prudent contributors: avoid the steakhouse if you think your date might be a vegetarian and watch out with seafood, “In case they might be allergic and you end up in hospital in Accident and Emergency”. No… that would definitely not be a #PerfectDate.
Elizabeth also didn’t have a #PerfectDate, as she explains:
“I was young and a big fan of mini-skirts and at a work dinner of my now husband, I played footsie during the whole meal, thinking it was my boyfriend… the victim later told us she’d wanted to die, luckily we all laughed about it…”
For Fina it was nerves, and new technology, that got the better of her.
“If you want a perfect date, it’s best to leave your mobile in your bag for the whole evening. I once went on a date and received various messages on Whatsapp from a group of female friends, where we talk about everything. They asked me how it was going, how I was getting on with X… I went to the bathroom to reply and told them everything, everything. My mistake was that with the nerves and how excited I was, I sent the messages to the guy I was on the date with. I didn’t realise until I got back to the table and he said, “I got some messages from you” and smiled. All I could think was “This can’t be happening to me”, how embarrassing! Happily he took it well, but for a couple of minutes I wanted the earth to swallow me!!!”
Salva has it quite clear:
“Never ask if their beautiful blonde hair is natural (remember there are very few true blondes in Spain!!!)”
And Jose María warns!:
“You should never arrive on a horse for a date, especially if it’s in the city. I wouldn’t recommend it”
…we don’t know if that’s based on his own experience.
And Karla has some wise words of advice:
“Don’t mention the subject of “marriage”. No matter for what reason, please, just don’t do it. If you’re interested in getting married, you’ll have lots of time to bring it up. If you start talking about it on the first date, it’s pretty likely you’ll end up without a partner… Don’t talk about your exes. Neither good nor bad. If you want to mention them, do it, but don’t spend much time on the subject. Please, don’t even think about talking about how wonderful your former partner was, or going on and on about them. Don’t start phrases with: “My psychologist says…” The date is between you and your partner, leave psychology for your sessions. Don’t talk on your mobile phone during the date. It’s not very uplifting, when you’re on a supposedly romantic date, and the other person is on their phone talking to someone else. If you have to use the phone for something urgent, do so, but NEVER say that you’re bored or that things aren’t going as expected”.
But for us, having had what ended up not being exactly a #PerfectDate, and who deserves one this St. Valentine’s Day, is ‘Naty Peña’, who in a taxi in London with her partner shouted aloud, One Way!
When my husband and I were still boyfriend and girlfriend we decided to go to London for a few days to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. It was the first time we’d been outside Spain and we were perfectly confident in our English, having learnt it at school. Having taken the decision, we went to London, to a hotel with the name of an ancient king, in a central part of the city, ready to paint the town red; the people from our part of the world are very adventurous. The first night we went out for dinner and to have a few drinks in the fashionable bars, and we kept a few pounds back for the taxi to the hotel. When we got the cab we said to the taxi driver, in our best English, that we wanted to go to the hotel in ‘ONE WAY’ Street. The poor man looked at us as if he was on a hidden camera show, while we insisted that we wanted to go the Hotel So-and-So King on ‘ONE WAY’ Street. I’d seen a sign outside the hotel door that said ‘One Way’ and I’d thought it was the name of the street, not that it was a traffic sign, and of course there are hundreds of hotels in London with the name of that King. As we didn’t know what to do or where to go, we spend the night in the Underground, in a coffee shop that was open, waiting for the new day, when we could phone the travel agency where we’d made the booking and they could tell us the name and address of the hotel. The moral of the story: even though you think you can speak a language, you can’t, you don’t have a clue…and don’t trust the street signs.
NATY, THE DINNER IS FOR YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND.
CONGRATULATIONS!
(we’ll be in touch with you by e-mail)