Veronica G.
On September 1, 2008, my boyfriend took me on a 17 day trip through Europe. I was told to pack my things and he would take care of the rest. All I knew is that we would be arriving in Zurich and leaving from Zurich. The first two days we spent in Switzerland visiting the town he grew up in. On the third morning, we were at the Zurich train station on our way to Florence (my heart skips a beat just saying that name!). We spent two days sightseeing by day and falling deeper into love on the Ponte Vecchio by night.
Each and every day was planned with dinner reservations, museum tickets, sightseeing and so much more. On the third day of our trip, Dom told me to get up early and wear something nice. A massive Italian narcotics officer by day, wine lover by night picked us up at 8 am and took us on an eight hour private tour of Tuscany. We saw Sienna, Castello Vichiomaggio and Montagliari, and it was all truly amazing. We then headed back to Florence, where we had dinner at an amazing restaurant where the chef is an Austrian prince who had such a passion for cooking that he left Austria and opened his own restaurant.
We then headed to a semi-private opera in a small, 600 year old church where Rigoletto was performed masterfully. All of the proceeds were donated to children in India. At this point, it was after 11 pm and I thought the night was over, but the love of my life had just one more thing to tell me. As we were walking back to the hotel, Dom asked if we could have one last look over the Ponte Vecchio. As we sat on the bridge listening to music and watching the international parade of people, Dom started to tell me the love story of this amazing bridge - Hitler had decided this bridge was too beautiful to destroy, so it was not allowed to be bombed during World War II. Soldiers would bring their significant others to the bridge before heading to war to attach a lock on the bridge and throw the key in the water to represent their unbreakable bond.
At this point Dom pulled a pad lock from his pocket with our names and the date engraved on it. Needless to say, the tears flowed as we attached our lock to the bridge (which is illegal now!) and threw our key into the water. Dom asked me to keep the master key, and pulled out an engagement ring. My eyes were so swollen I could barely see, but I managed to say "YES!" I cannot wait for the day I get to marry this amazing man!