The story:
We arrived in Rome at about 1:30 am after 3 flights, stopovers in San Francisco and Munich, and a delayed flight (because of weather). Roberto, the owner of Matisse B&B, graciously greeted us and showed us to our room. We fell asleep immediately, exhausted after 20+ hours of traveling. We woke up Saturday morning, eager to start our sightseeing! We had plans to pick up our Easter mass tickets for the Vatican, and then visit the Borghese Gallery and the Villa Borghese galleries. We started off on foot, content to just wander around Rome on foot. We picked up our tickets at the American office of the Vatican, and set off to see Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.
We then headed off to the Villa Borghese, in the pouring rain. We got a little lost on the way there, and ended up wandering through some fields, but eventually found it! The gardens were beautiful, and I wish that it hadn't rained, because we were planning on having a picnic from Restaurant Gina. They create picnic baskets just for a romantic afternoon in the gardens. I didn't know it at the time, but Jacob was actually planning on proposing then! But the rain stopped those plans! Oh well :)
The Borghese gallery was a nice collection of art. I wish I knew more about art, because I think I would enjoy it more- but to me, it just looks all the same. The Gallery is a former palace of the Borghese Family.
By the time we were done in the Gallery, it was pouring rain! But we were determined to find Restaurant Gina, and we wandered around for awhile- but we had forgotten the guide book, so we resorted to asking around and looking in the Italian yellow pages! We finally went into a hotel and asked the concierge to look it up online- I hope that he didn't know we weren't guests! We ended up taking a taxi there (we had been headed in the wrong direction!) and were treated to a wonderful lunch and the best vegetable soup I've ever had!
After lunch, we headed back to our B&B for an afternoon nap. The jet lag and travel exhaustion had caught up to us! We napped until about 5:30, and then got ready for our date at Sapori Lord Byron. I had convinced myself that he wasn't going to propose- we were celebrating our 3 year anniversary, but I didn't want to get my hopes up! We took a cab to the restaurant, because it was still sprinkling a bit outside. Jacob didn't seem nervous at all! I (admittedly) was trying to read into the signs... but there were none. He had done a great job of keeping it a secret!
We got to the restaurant just in time for our 8pm reservation- and it was empty! We hadn't learned yet that Italians don't eat until about 10pm at night... haha. We ordered drinks and dinner, and then Jacob asked the waiter to come over and take our picture. The waiter happily obliged, and then all of a sudden Jacob was down on one knee! I was totally shocked and started crying immediately. He said, "Allie, I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Of course I said yes!!! Meanwhile, the waiter (who was supposed to be taking pictures of the whole thing) started freaking out- saying "Oh my goodness! Oh wow!! How exciting!!" I was concentrating more on the fact that the waiter was so surprised and I initially didn't think that I had said yes! Then Jacob put the beautiful ring on my finger, and there were lots of hugs and kisses all around. The waiter finally had the peace of mind to take a photo, so he got one of us hugging. Jacob had wanted him to take a picture of the proposal, but the waiter was so caught off guard that he didn't do it! Oh well!
We then had an amazing 5 course dinner, and enjoyed some wonderful wine and champagne. We spent the evening talking about the wedding, about the proposal, and everything in between. The waiters and the other diners all wished us congratulations! A family that was sitting next to us bought us a bottle of wine as a congratulations! We later bought a few bottles at a wine store to enjoy at our wedding. Jacob then told me the story of how he had driven down to Santa Barbara the Sunday before, had dinner with Brenna and my parents, and asked their permission- while I thought he was in the library, studying for finals! Ha! He's such a trickster. Immediately after dinner we called our parents, to share the news. Everyone was so happy! My mom was so glad to finally have permission to spread the word- my dad told me how hard it was to make her keep it a secret for a whole week! He jokingly said that he didn't want someone to tell someone, and then for the big secret to end up on Facebook. Haha!
After dinner, we went back to our B&B, and decided to change and go out and explore Rome. We were both full of adrenaline and couldn't even think about sleep, although we had to get up at 6am the next morning to attend Easter Mass at the Vatican. Well, you only have one engagement night, so we were determined to enjoy it! We dressed warmly and set off- luckily it had stopped raining by that time. Here are some photos of us wandering around Rome until 2am:
You can drink out of all the fountains in Rome!
As Nicolle said- time is passing around us, and we couldn't care less!
Outside the Pantheon
So Happy!!
Peeking in the doors at the Pantheon
Now the fabulous process of planning the wedding has begun! Stay tuned for photos of our site visits, to occur over the next few weeks!
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