My Fairy Tale Proposal

This morning we needed to get to the train station by 10:30 to catch the train to Venice, where we planned to spend a few hours since it was sunny. We wanted to try to get a gondola ride in and it was saying rain on Friday, when we return from Rome. But, Chris took a little too long getting ready and I noticed he was nicely dressed. So, when we arrived at the train station, there was a line for the machine and no one working the counter. The machine was running slow so we watched our train come and go as we were still a person away from getting the to the machine.

The next train left 30 minutes later, so we bought our tickets and decided to look for something to eat, but I wasn't sure we would find anything since the Italians enjoy their holidays and it was New Year's Day. We walked out and down the street when we saw a little cafe open. We were able to get cappuccinos to go but their morning pastries were all gone, so we got sweet pastries from the case of delicious goodies (although, it really wasn't much different than what we have in the morning...I like this starting your day off with sugar :)

We took it and walked quickly back to the train station and sat down to enjoy breakfast. I checked for the ticket in my coat since you have to time stamp it before getting on the train, and couldn't find it! I knew exactly which pocket I had put it in - the same inner jacket pocket as my phone but it wasn't there! I checked all pockets, my wallet, and nothing! Chris decided to run back to the cafe, retracing our footsteps to see if he could find the ticket. I thought it was a better idea to just buy a new one since the train was only 10 minutes away. He ran though, and I waited with the stuff, nervous that he wouldn't find it and would get back without enough time to go and buy another ticket from the slow machine.

Chris reappeared in less than ten minutes and had actually found the ticket! Poor guy, he had dressed up today in a sweater and dress shirt and jeans, so he was really hot from his morning run and out of breath (I said, "at times like this you wish you were in better shape, huh?" simply because that's how I always feel in times like this!). But, he was the hero and retrieved the ticket that had fallen out at one point when I had taken my phone out to check the time.

We boarded the fairly empty train, put the suitcase above us, and found some nice seats to relax and watch out the window during our hour and a half ride to Venice. As we got closer to Venice, the train became more and more packed. By the end there was standing room only. I figured that meant it would be a good day to be in Venice and shop or restaurants would actually be open.

We left the train, dropped off the suitcase at checked luggage, checked the tickets to Rome to see if we should buy now and make sure we could get a seat. All the trains were open, so we waited to buy the tickets so we had flexible time, and headed out to find lunch, wander and hopefully get a gondola ride in. There was no real agenda to the day, we just needed to make it to Rome before midnight, although we thought we might try to get in earlier so we could walk to the Trevi Fountain.

We found a little restaurant that I immediately liked because of the red wine glasses. We looked and the menu wasn't too expensive and it had something for both of us, so we went in and ate. I tried tortellini this time with a cream and ham sauce. Chris had the gnocchi with salmon sauce (we both love gnocchi but it's so hard to find good gnocchi in the states). We split a bottle of water and enjoyed the restaurant.

We left the restaurant and started down the street (we would call it a walkway, but here it is a street) to find the McDonalds where we were told we would find free wifi so that we could double check the train times. We took a small detour off the beaten path (and the wrong path) but it was nice to go into a quiet side street and get to see a little more of the actual life of Venetians. Chris found a sign that said Di Venezia Casino and had to take a picture because his mother's maiden name is De Venecia (so maybe he has some Italian roots?).

We found a gondolier who offered us a ride for 60 euros. We knew this wasn't a bad price, but we thought we'd see if we could find one for 50. Chris wanted to get to Piazza San Marcos first to see it in the daylight. I thought that was fine, we can check prices along the way and then see what price we should pay, maybe get one of the gondolas off the square since there was a large station of them there.

We wound our way to the Piazza following the signs. We came out a street down (and it still is so weird to call these streets - it was so narrow that two people could barely pass walking) from where we had come out a few days ago with Andrew. We walked into the square but the low hanging fog-like clouds made it so there was no blue sky - it was around three in the afternoon and the fog hadn't rolled in yet, but it was on it's way.



We took in the basilica in the sunlight and I pointed out the gold and how it glimmered on the basilica murals outside. It wasn't shining that much because of the clouds, but he could get the idea. I think it's so pretty how the gold seems to just glow on these buildings.

We walked through the pigeons (I don't think many were there the previous trip in the evening). I bent down to pretend to feed them so Chris could take some pictures. I figured putting my hand out would fool the birds. Nope. These pigeons were not to be fooled. They walked around me searching for food but would not come up to me.

Chris took a picture of us together in the square with the basilica behind us. Then he decided he wanted a picture of us but that he had to put his stuff down on the little tables of the outdoor cafe so that he could set up the camera and do it from a distance. I thought this was a very bad idea. He was setting his backpack down in the middle of the square! Someone could run by and take it and be gone before he could even react! Chris assured me that he could run them down, I thought this was foolish. I stood back where he told me to, scanning the crowd to make sure no one was eyeing the backpack. I thought I'd be ready to warn Chris to run in case someone was getting ready to grab and go. I wasn't paying much attention to Chris at this point.

He took off his jacket (he had complained the walking fast to the basilica had made him hot). He was dressed nicely, which I had noticed that morning and asked if I should wear something nicer myself, but I didn't because I figured I'd just be bundled up in my jacket anyway. He had brought all these nice clothes and not worn them yet, so I didn't think too much about it (although it had made me wonder just a bit...).



He walked over to me and grabbed me to turn me toward him, which I was just confused about thinking we needed to watch the stuff! Why was he turning me away from scanning the crowds? He started saying something, which I wasn't processing really well. He was saying something about an amazing fifteen years (at this point, I was confused about fifteen years - or at least years is what I heard). Then, still not completely sure what he was saying but realizing it was nice things about us, I realized he was fumbling with a small black box. I just started saying, "Oh my gosh!" Covering my mouth with my hand out of shock. He opened up the box and I don't think I heard what he was saying at all! There was a beautiful ring sparkling from the white velvety cushions. I was so not smooth - not sure what to do, I picked up the ring, kept saying "oh my gosh" (that was my speechlessness coming out). I was just holding it, and Chris got on his knee. My mind was swimming (and part of me was still concerned about the backpack) and I thought am I supposed to put the ring on myself, is he, yes, he should put it on, I need to say yes, or say something....apparently I eventually said, "Really? Yes!". I told him to put the ring on me (he told me he had been practicing his speech for 20 minutes leading up to this point, but his nerves made him a little not-so-smooth either!). He put it on my finger and we hugged and kissed in the Piazza San Marcos.

We moved back to the backpack and iPhone that was supposed to be taking a picture but was really taking a video. Chris explained what he was really trying to do, but realized that the phone had fallen over backwards and was just recording the sky. We looked and it had fallen over at the beginning, so all we have of the recording is my faintly repeating "oh my gosh" and some of his words barely audible.


At this point, one of the many street swindlers (these guys are super pushy and tricky) came over to us. The previous night we were there, a man had come up and given me a rose, which I didn't take at first and it dropped to the ground. The man, picked it up and gave it to me and signaled it cost nothing. We had kept walking and Chris then felt tapping on his shoulder by this man to get payment (they are tricky like that). We had given the rose back at this point). Well, today another man came up and put all five roses in my hands, and said "free". I thought, that's odd, but maybe he is just happy for us. He then turned to Chris and Chris asked how much. The guy said whatever you want, so we took out three Euro and all the rest of the change. The guy, wasn't happy with that and began to say he wanted five more (so much for his "whatever you want" price). We said we'd give some of them back. He didn't want them back, he wanted money. Finally we agreed on five euro (which was fair in my mind - one Euro per rose).

Chris had so much to tell me about how this had all come about. I was just staring at my beautiful ring. He had been scheming and planning, but he had managed to completely convince me that it wasn't happening until Valentine's day (I didn't realize how devious this one could be). I was kind of disappointed at Valentines Day, thinking what a better place than Italy! I had even joked with him, he had better take the ring (but even this I wasn't sure he had one yet, and had pretty much decided that he didn't due to comments and conversations we had had up to this point) just in case he changed his mind. After all, it was Italy. I really didn't think he understood how great this place would be, but knowing how thoughtful and romantic he can be, I figured if he had "really big plans" which he had told me previously, then he must be doing something he knew I'd like. So, I just tried to reassure myself that whatever and where ever (since I had pretty much figured out it was over the Valentine's Day weekend), he would do a great job. (Here's where I need to say thanks to Kristen and David for letting Chris know after we had booked our tickets for Italy that he needed to do it in Italy - he already had other plans for going to the top of Saddleback mountain and meeting our families up there...which would have been good if we weren't going to Italy, but come on, it's Venice!)

I had thought a few times, maybe, just maybe he was throwing me off. But, I didn't want to get my hopes up for Italy since he did such a good job throwing me off. I had wondered in the morning when I saw he was dressed nicely, but since we really didn't have any plans (I had suggested Venice for today), and he seemed so lax about going on a gondola or any agenda, I didn't give it too much thought (or I might have actually changed).

Apparently he had been carrying the ring with him every time we went to any big site so he was ready when the time was right. He didn't want to have set plans because he knew that would make me suspicious (he's right). Since we had already been to Venice and he knew the area, had duped me into telling him that I would choose Piazza San Marcos in Venice (as opposed to the Coliseum in Rome), and it happened to be a bight sunny afternoon on New Year's Day, he knew he wanted to do it then. But, really other than saying he wanted to see the basilica in the daylight (which made sense since I had told him he should see the gold in the daylight before), he didn't show any signs of an agenda.

We walked around a little in the square - I was still feeling like it was a dream - and we checked with the gondoliers to see what price it was. The water looked so rocky, and the price was high, so we thought it better to not take a gondola there, but farther in off the canal where the man had already given us the price of 60 euros.


We walked back, I kept looking at my ring and didn't want my gloves on, even though my hands were freezing (it had to be in the high 30's at that point). We did get a gondolier to take us for the lower price and so we descended into a black boat with red seats and gold paint. It was very pretty. He covered us with a red blanket, I sat my red roses on the red seat and enjoyed a ride through the canal. Our gondolier was funny and we shared our news with him (at which he patted me on the head and said congratulations). We headed out to the Grand Canal briefly to go by the Rialto Bridge, then wound our way through the narrow canals going by beautiful homes and palaces, the birthplace of Marco Polo, and other interesting sights.

One funny instance was a small motorboat passed us with a few men and then the strong smell of marijuana came upon us. The gondolier laughed and cracked jokes about that (he clearly thought it was in poor taste to be doing that, but his incredulous laughter and jokes made us laugh). We really liked him. It was so great to hear him calling out to friends he saw along the way. That made it feel the most authentic to me. The sounds were perfect.



We landed at the fish market, thanked our tour guide, and climbed out of the boat. It was the perfect way to celebrate our engagement. We walked back to the train station to buy our tickets on the bullet train to Rome. We noticed that there were so many more people in line for tickets, so we went in to the actual train ticket windows so we could talk to a live person (we had forgotten about reposo - or the afternoon rest they take, which was probably why the station was rather dead when we arrived around 1pm).

We weren't able to take the 6:25 train because we couldn't get seats together and we didn't want to chance it that someone may not be willing to switch. Instead we booked it for 7:25 and decided to walk back out to get dinner at a restaurant that had wifi - we wanted to be able to tell people! I ordered a black olive pizza that was very delicious and we tried to FaceTime my dad. It was frustrating because the internet wasn't that strong, and after several attempts, we gave up.



We found our seats on the train just fine which was really nice. There were tables between us that folded out to make it wider, TV screens that let you know the speed (up to around 250 km/hour at one point), and the temperature. We were able to get on wifi on the train and I used FaceTime to share the news with my parents. The connection kept slowing down, so it was tough. We decided to wait until we could us the wi-fi at the hotel in order do FaceTime.


We arrived in Rome and the station was all decked out in Christmas decor. Outside were a lot of homeless people wrapped up in blankets along the outer walls. A huge Christmas tree stood wrapped in lights and notes. I looked closely and I think the notes were simply paper or tickets people had written on and stuck on the tree.

We had a taxi take us to the hotel since we weren't sure where it was, and it was past 11pm, so I didn't want to wander the streets at that point. It was fairly close by and we checked in. On the say up the elevator, which I remember how small these are, there were four others with us. An older lady, speaking I presume Italian, said something to me/about me and touched my hair. It's so funny, but I don't think it was anything rude, I think it was a compliment, but I'm not really sure. Trying to figure out the lights in the room was tough - they kept going off, even though the light switches were on. The desk told us after inquiring about it that the card goes into a slot by the door, which will then keep it on. We have such a different experience in California with all these things.


We got on FaceTime and spent the next 3+ hours calling up our family and friends. Everyone's reactions were so fun to watch and it was so nice to be on video with them through the internet. I'm so grateful that almost everyone I needed to tell has some kind of iPhone or Mac computer because we don't have cell service here. I can FaceTime or iMessage and that is it...so I needed Apple users. Luckily with Lindsey I found her on Facebook and could chat and send pictures through email. Kat was trickier, I had to FaceTime her sister Lauren and then she and Jacqueline called Kat.

We were so excited to share it with people and we really wanted to be the ones to say something on Facebook and we knew that the more people that knew, the chances were someone would post something before we could, so we stayed up until around 3 am (which worked well since we are 9 hours ahead of everyone on the West Coast anyway!).

This was the absolute best way I could have imagined for a proposal and it was certainly my fairy tale dream. Chris is my best friend, a perfect gentleman, a godly man, so incredibly kind, caring, gentle, selfless, and thoughtful. I love that we can travel together and do every day life together so without fighting or getting annoyed or tired of each other. He takes care of me and spoils me (just look at the ring!), I feel so treasured and accepted by him. He always makes me feel like I'm beautiful even if I feel ugly (and he even likes it when my hair gets crazy). We are so comfortable around each other and I feel like I can tell him anything. I love his family and I am so glad I have fun hanging out with them and my family loves him. Plus, our "children" (dogs) are like sisters. Hannah loves Chris and I love Nova. I am blessed beyond words and am so grateful that after 35 years of waiting, God gave me this incredible gift.



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