With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’ll come as no surprise to you that we’ve been struck by the Cupid’s bow here at Trafalgar. After all, it’s with Trafalgar that you can rediscover the romance of travel! But it may surprise you that sometimes Trafalgar guests have a romantic story of their own to tell. Read on for a lovely true love story about two Trafalgar guests and how they discovered romance on a Trafalgar tour in Italy. We do love a happy ending!
Holiday romance
Travel lovers Andrew and April Wood had never met before they booked onto their Italian Experience holiday with Trafalgar in March 2007, and neither of them could ever have guessed what the tour had in store for them! Living on the other side of the world from each other (Andy was living in Yorkshire at the time and April is from Baltimore in Maryland), they were both new to the Trafalgar experience and had booked their Italian Experience for very different reasons. April had agreed to go on the Trafalgar holiday with her Aunt so they could keep each other company, but Andy’s reason for taking the tour wasn’t quite so coincidental – Andy was actually best friends with the Travel Agent who booked the tour, Geoff Monk. As it was Geoff who introduced Andy to Trafalgar, it is to Geoff the happy couple owe their thanks!
Italian Experience: trip of a lifetime
Geoff says of the Trafalgar romance, ‘I’ve known Andy for 35 years, since school, so of course I was both amazed and delighted how this worked out!’ Geoff tells us about how the idea for Andy to take a Trafalgar tour came about. ‘We were both on a skiing holiday in Banff in November 2006 and whilst we were there, Andy told me he’d always wanted to explore Italy in more depth, and he wondered if I could recommend one of the tours. We looked at Trafalgar’s website and booked it whilst we were in Banff through my UK agency.’ Little did he know, Andy was booking himself a life-changing holiday that afternoon! So that’s how Andy’s story starts, but what about April’s?
Wedding bells
We spoke to the loved-up April Wood about how it all began. ‘During the holiday, our Tour Director was Chris Daley, whose professionalism and wit made us instantly realise that as a group, we were all going to be great friends. Then, as the tour progressed, we formed smaller groups in our free time in the evening. By the time we got to Florence, Andy and I just knew! Cupid had done his magic. On the last day, we were inseparable. We can only say that when you have found ‘that’ person, you instantly just know.’ But unlike the average holiday romance, April and Andy were determined to stay in touch. April says, ‘We kept in contact daily after the trip and I visited England for a short visit in May 2007 – by August I had moved to England to be near Andy! We were married in September 2007 at the beautiful Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island. Geoff and his wife attended! We also decided that Florence was so magical for us, that we returned to that wonderful city for our honeymoon. We even returned to the Meditteraneo Hotel where we stayed on the holiday and put up a sign in the lobby next to the Trafalgar information board to say we had met on this Tour!’ Visitors to the Meditteraneao Hotel should look out for that…
Trafalgar tour buddies
You can imagine how happy the other Trafalgar guests from April and Andy’s Italian Experience holiday must have been. April tell us about their reaction once they broke the news to their fellow Trafalgar tour buddies. ‘Because we had all became friends on the Italian Experience holiday I immediately emailed everyone of our great news. They were all so excited and happy for us, and we received so many messages back saying things like, ‘we were watching the chemistry between you two’, and ‘we were making bets on whether you would get together’, and best of all, ‘just goes to show, when you agree to travel, you never know where your journey will ultimately lead.’ Looking back on the heart-warming tale, Andy’s best friend and Travel Agent Geoff says, ‘They might never have met before, but they just clicked when they met on the tour and by the time they reached Florence, there was definitely romance in the air.’ Well, it’s not every day you hear a story like that, is it?
April’s still over the moon and says, ‘Thank you Trafalgar… I knew the trip would change my life, but had no idea just how much! It is so nice for us to be able to finally tell our romantic tale to the world!’ Whether it’s down to Cupid’s bow, or the unique and authentic experiences that travelling with an insider provides, Trafalgar certainly helped Andy and April discover romance in this true Trafalgar love story. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Travel to Italy for Valentine’s Day on a Simply Italy tour departing February 13th 2011.
Read Geoff’s blog post about his best friend’s marriage here
What do you think of this wonderful love story?
Have you had a holiday romance?
Did you meet your partner on a Trafalgar tour?
Let us know by commenting below, or head to our Commuity where members are discussing their holiday romances!
GRAND CANYON, USA.
