This requires two answers. A "going out" and a "staying in."
Going Out:
It's an early fall or spring night. Being presented with flowers. Getting all dressed up and going out to dinner at an intimate restaurant with candles and soft music. Going to a play - something romantic or funny. Holding hands while watching the performance. Taking a walk along the beach afterward, stopping at the swings for a little fun, and having a picnic dessert on the beach while looking at the stars. Talking about everything... and nothing... for hours, and then going home.
Staying In:
Preparing dinner together at home, stopping for a little good-natured food fight. Eating dinner by candlelight with the dogs sitting around our feet. Enjoying conversation and just being together. After dinner, snuggling on the couch while watching a movie while dessert is baking in the oven.
But the more important issue is how these things change as people change. When I was younger, the "perfect romantic evening" would have been a completely different scenario. It most likely would have included dinner and dancing... and I have never been able to dance. So that's a bit silly. And it certainly would have included a serenade of some kind, perhaps involving a guy with a guitar singing a song he composed for me. But that's a bit silly too because it's not a measure of love or devotion, just a measure of talent and ability.
These days, I find the smallest things romantic - sitting together on the couch playing video games or watching something on TV, working on some kind of craft project together, snuggling in bed before going to sleep, when he makes dinner and brings me my plate, when he makes my lunch to take to work and writes a little note that says "I love you," etc.
I think that romance is most certainly unique to the person giving and receiving the romantic gesture. What's romantic to me may not be romantic to someone else. And that's why I think this is an interesting question, because it's different for everyone.
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