For Valentine’s Day 2014, a planet full of happy couples

A couple poses in Intramuros, the oldest part of Manila. The area dates to Spanish colonial days, but most of it was badly damaged by intense fighting that liberated Manila near the end of World War II.  (Catharine M. Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

It takes a minute to spot the happy couple, but eventually, you find them down there on the sand. This is Puerto Penasco, Mexico, as seen from a hotel tower in January 2008.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Judging from their synchronized posture, this couple has probably done a lot of bike-riding together. On this day in April 2011, they were in Key West, just joining the Florida Keys Scenic Highway.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A bride waves to a tour boat as it heads along the Seine in Paris, just before the Pont de la Tournelle. The mostly cloudy October day meant fewer pesky shadows for the photographer to cope with.  (Catharine M. Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

A bride and groom pose in Rembrandt Gardens in Little Venice, London. You can reach the area by walking the Regent’s Canal towpath or taking a leisurely canal boat ride from Camden Town.   (Catharine M. Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

A Palestinian groom and his bride wait for their wedding ceremony to start in the West Bank city of Jericho on Jan. 28, 2014. About 220 Palestinian couples got married during a mass wedding ceremony, presided by Mahmoud Abbas and supported financially by the Palestinian Leader office. Every couple received a gift worth $4,000, the groom’s suit and the traditional Palestinian dress for the bride.   (Atef SafadiI / EPA)

A bride and groom walk past a street musician in Plaza Mayor, Madrid, on Jan. 20, 2014. The couple were having informal wedding photos taken by a photographer in the plaza.  (Paul White / Associated Press)

Just outside Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery stands the Lushkov Bridge, where young couples have begun leaving locks to symbolize their love. Hundreds of locks have accumulated, and it’s become common to see brides and grooms like these two. Meanwhile, the “love locks” phenomenon has gone global, with accumulations spotted on dozens of bridges throughout Europe, the Great Wall of China and a fountain in Montevideo, Uruguay, among other places.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Kevin March and Rachelle Williamson of Hamilton, Ontario, were touring the West with a truly cool set of world-map luggage. I bumped into them at a Union Square hotel as they prepared to drive down the coast. So, I asked, what’s been good and bad? The cable cars, Williamson said, “are not as cool as I thought they’d be. They’re slow. And I thought that there’d be more of them. And it’s cold.” But she loved petting a pigeon on Union Square and riding a bike across the Golden Gate bridge. March said he got a kick out of Alcatraz. “The hospital area is very creepy at night,” he said in tones of high approval.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

These tourists traveled from England’s Lake District to Yosemite’s Glaciet Point. When they were looking out over Half Dome, he asked her to marry him and she said yes. This 2013 photo was taken about an hour later.   (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)