And then, this happened...

To me, 06 June 2016 was a simple Monday morning, a day off between a row of late shifts at Austrian Airlines, a day off from sitting in front of a computer and typing away. I know, I wanted to get out — into the nature to take in some sun rays and fresh air. A good view would be the cherry on the top. About two few weeks before, Y and I had talked about returning to one of our first ever date spots - Himmelwiese. I brought him there when we were dating for only a few weeks to show him the most beautiful view over Vienna. So, when on this Monday, Y suggest we take a mini-trip there and have a picnic, I was so excited to finally go.

Like so many random mornings, we got up together, brushed our teeth standing next to each other, joked around making stupid faces at each other. When I put on my dress with little white kitties on it, Y’s response was a simple “NO”. I wondered why he suddenly had an opinion on my style, changed into comfy pants and a black shirt and went with it. To his defence, the kitty dress was never his favourite.

At around 13:30, we picked up our rental car at Votivkirche (I say our car, because for some reason we always get the same blue Nissan Juke — so it feels like our car is just parked somewhere until we need it next). We started driving and were looking for a supermarket to buy some treats since we were both extremely hungry, considering we had not eaten breakfast so far.

Chance led us to a little market in the 19th district, where we bought cherries and an Italian/French style picnic assortment in the neighbouring delicatess store. At one point, the owner convinced us to purchase the Muskatella wine he had chilled and ready to sip. The nice man even packed up two tiny cups for us so we didn’t have to drink out of the bottle and could enjoy our picnic in style. We took our paper bags, carried them back to the car, and continued our drive up the hill to my favourite spot. I was ready to relax and enjoy our  fancy meal with the best view Vienna has to offer.

We laid down the blanket, took out our baguette, mortadella, soft cheese, salami, pate, and the wine and enjoyed the view. For some reason, I was the only one stuffing my face with all the delicious things we bought. Y mumbled he still wanted to get a tan before he would eat. I reminded him that the sun would ruin the meat and he had to eat it soon because otherwise it would be not good to eat anymore. He did not want to — more cherries for me, I thought.

>It was hot, probably around 28 degrees Celsius and I got a bit uncomfortable in my long pants and my black shirt — if only I had worn the dress, I thought. I urged Y to go the the shade with me so that we didn’t get burned, but he was not going to move. So, I kept eating and drinking the wine. I showed Y how far I can spit my pits of the cherries and he was so proud (at least that is what he said at the time).

When he got up and I thought we were going to move over to the shade he pulled me closer and kissed my face, he kissed my face everywhere. He asked if I remembered how he always told me that one day he was going to scream it from a mountain top how much he loves me. I was confused. Here we were on a hill and he could just scream if he wanted to. So I told him to “Well, do it!” Little did I know that in this second Y would drop down on one knee, get a little red box out of his backpack and ask me to marry him. To be honest, in this split second when I realized that this is a marriage proposal I couldn’t hear a thing — my heart was beating so hard, the blood was rushing in my ears, I just saw his lips move and all I knew was that I wanted this with him. To grow old with him and end up buying rocking chairs together. He opened the box, .... I cannot put in words how much of a surprise this was. On a random Monday in June, the love of my life, my best friend, and the most awesome travel companion proposed to me and I said YES.

     

Behind the scenes:  On Friday, 03 June 2016, Y went to see my parents to ask for their blessing. He organized to have our proposal photographed by my best friend, who was hiding behind a tree and waiting for him to pop the question. And, on top of that, he arranged a dinner at my parents' place the same evening inviting a few of my friends. I had no idea and I couldn’t stop crying — it was the best of days. I am the happiest of humans.

PS: Saturday, 06 August, 2016, marked the 2-month anniversary of Y and my engagement (Yes, I love anniversaries of all kinds!).