Anxiously Engaged

Well, you could say this past weekend has been pretty monumental. Here's where it all began... 

For Roland's birthday last month I "surprised" him with a plane ticket to Italy. We arranged to go to Pisa and Florence for the weekend, and off we went.

At the beginning of the trip Roland asked me to try to be in a good mood that weekend, which may sound rude, but trust me, it was warranted. I am the world's worst travel companion... because hangriness. It's a real thing. All I want to do when I travel is eat, sleep, and spend all of my money. SO you can imagine that it takes great preparation and optimism on the other traveler's part to manage to enjoy their own vacation.

Well, I will have you all know that I was the most angelic travel companion on the first day. We arrive in Pisa bright and early that morning to beautiful skies and vibrantly colored Italian buildings. It took us some time and a little bickering to find the Leaning Tower, but finally we made it to that hallowed tourist spot where Galileo didn't actually drop anything.

Our tourist game was fierce that day. 

As we were enjoying Pisa there arose a magnificent storm out of nowhere. For a solid hour it poured and thundered and lighteninged, but luckily we were shelter under a little pizzeria eating delicious Italian pizza IRL. The rain was relentless, but luckily we made it to a train, our journey a little delayed, and safely on our way to Florence.

The train ride was absolutely breathtaking. Every image I had ever built of the Italian countryside in my mind was real. The sun shone brightly again upon beautiful little gardens, sunflowers, fields, green hills, and luscious trees. This glorious hour and a half would have been perfection if not for the doobie-smoking hooligans that hopped on the train halfway through the trip and blasted their crappy music for all disgruntled train riders to hear. It was literally the most Italian-magic-ruining thing ever, but it all made for an authentic experience. 

When we arrived in Florence the first order of business was to grab a second serving of gelato. The city wasn't even real--not at all. There was just no way. What I love about going to these European cities is that nothing seems to have changed for hundreds of years. Buildings that were perhaps once convents become apartments, but they never really lose their original facade. 

Later in the afternoon we treked all the way up to Piazzale Michelangelo and saw the most gorgeous view of the city. Everything felt so quintessentially Italian that I very well might have been living in a dream. 

Photo tour!

David just babin'

Roland also babin'

And pervin' ...

Well, by the time we had hiked all around Pisa and Florence, I was getting pretty tired, but I had promised Roland that I would try to be in a good mood for the entire day. We went to a restaurant to get more authentic Italian goodness, but my pasta was kind of a disappointment. I still stayed joyful and optimistic. 

Roland started to get a little antsy around late evening. He had planned to take me to a park to see the sunset, but said park wasn't on the map, so we weren't really sure how long it was going to take. So, tired and bedraggled as I was, I put on a smile and trudged through the entire city of Florence and up to this park. About a half hour before we got to the park, Roland asked me to share my five favorite memories of our relationship. Well, I knew where this was going...

So, nervous and excited for his impending proposal, we talked and laughed and shared all of our best memories, and for a moment I really did forget how much my legs hurt. However, the sky was getting darker and darker, and the park was nowhere to be found. We finally encountered an elderly, lovely Italian couple at the base of the road leading to the park and asked if we were getting close (in French) to which they responded in their own broken French: "Ferrrrmé! Ferrrmé!" 

My. Heart. Shattered. 

Roland was persistent and suggested that we find a way to sneak into the park, or at least try to make the long walk back to the city, but I was too devastated to carry on. Almost making it an entire day without being a pill, I finally caved in and sat down on a bench in utter defeat. (Gosh, talk about a drama queen.) I sat there for a good half hour, upset and complaining about my legs, while Roland was still plotting how he might salvage his proposal. 

Suddenly out of the blue,  two missionaries came walking toward us, and my heart was cheered again--but I was still in a weird, tired, frustrated mood. In my defense we had been walking all day, and my legs are two flabby stalks that can only handle so much.

To make a long story short, I absolutely ruined Roland's proposal with my bad mood, but we still had another day to make up for it.

We started the day in bitter spirits, but there is nothing that a little gelato won't heal. We started the day at the gorgeous Gothic cathedral of Florence, cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fior, wandering the city and waiting for a socially acceptable time of day to eat more pizza. 

Handsome Roland

The slaughter of my hero, Medusa :(

 

Perfection.

Our trip to Florence would not have been complete without visiting the Uffizi Gallery, where I had my first encounter with two of my favorite paintings: Venus on a Half Shell, by Botticelli, and Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Beheading Holofernes. Encountering the works of Botticelli was definitely a spiritual experience. I had been wandering through the gallery aimlessly, appreciating Medieval pieces and famous Italian paintings I had perhaps encountered in history books, when suddenly I walked into a random room, looked up, and beheld Venus. It was absolutely incredible, and I have never felt such a profound connection to a painting. It was healing to stand in front of this masterpiece and forget all of the disappointments of the weekend and to bask in the beauty of this beautiful, sensual image. 

Roland was nervous when I asked him to take a photo of me in front of this.
 Perhaps my expression does come off as a little too gleeful. 

After a long day in Florence of art and culture and gelato and pesto pizza and glorious architecture and spiritual encounters with Venus we boarded the train and made our way back to the Pisa airport. The landscape radiated such warmth and beauty, and Roland and I shared a special train ride of forgiveness and resolution of bitter feelings. It wasn't Roland's fault that the park was closed before he proposed, and it wasn't entirely my fault that I was so tired and grumpy....

Resolved in my heart that I would probably never get engaged, we flew back to the city of love in one piece, exhausted and travel weary. On the way home from the airport Roland was insistent that we go to St. Michel and get crêpes. It was already getting late, and I was really confused as to why he so desperately wanted a crêpe so late at night. Absolutely oblivious to his plans, I went along with it and trailed after him to St. Michel for a midnight crêpe. Miracle of miracles, there just happened to be a crêpe vendor open. 

Well, it wasn't about the crêpes, as I soon discovered. It was midnight, freezing, and raining, yet Roland was determined not to end the evening. As we were walking down to the Seine, it suddenly hit me: Roland was going to make his last attempt at proposing. 

Nervous and flustered, I walked with him hand and hand through icy rain by the glow of Notre-Dame Cathedral, absolutely disbelieving yet sure that I was about to become an engaged woman. We stopped on a bridge that overlooked the Seine, lights bleeding into the calm, rain-spotted waters. 

Roland held me there in his arms, shielding me from the cold in a warm embrace and whispering my favorite poem, Keats' "Bright Star." After a beautiful speech, he knelt down on one knee, the bridge suddenly empty of passersby. He asked me to marry him, midnight in Paris on a perfect, rainy night, and after an anguished pause I of course said yes. 

So there you have it. One long, whirlwind of a weekend in Florence, a failed proposal and a perfect proposal. It has been a crazy ride here in Paris, but I am discovering this beautiful world with my true love, and for that I will be eternally grateful.