Magical things happen in Venice

This is written by Janelle.

My cousin Paul commented that Terry's post of Venice missed the romantic aspect.

Well, we actually do know this, and Terry deliberately left this important feature out so I could do this post.

There's a bit of delay between what happened on Sunday afternoon around 5pm, Venice Italy time, and my finally getting to tell you about it. This is because we had to make sure other people were told first (and didn't learn about it on our blog) and because most of Italy really didn't have a workable internet connection.

So, where was I?  Oh yes, walking through the labyrinth streets of Venice, while I was trying to follow signs back to where we could catch the number 6 bus to where we were staying, while Terry was trying to steer me in opposite directions, trying to find somewhere there weren't a thousand tourists (he told me so he could get a peaceful picture of us, the canal and a bridge).

After many attempts, we settled on a bridge, where moments before there were no people in sight, and an old Italian woman with a walking stick inconveniently appeared and took minutes to descend 5 steps, while complaining in Italian and pointing to her knee.

So with barely minutes before another hoard of tourists descended upon us, Terry presented me with a jewellery box and asked if I would consider marrying him.  The box had a very sparkly ring inside it. My heart was pounding very loudly and he then asked me if I'd like to spend the rest of my life with him.

This was always my plan, regardless of jewellery, but with my heart bursting out of my chest, I accepted without any hesitation and a passionate kiss, Terry and I are officially engaged.

So the last few days, I have been on Cloud 9 and fascinated by my new piece of jewellery and loving the way it constantly sparkles at me, while Terry has been navigating (and cursing) Italian roads and drivers.

Now about the ring. Terry apparently got it about a month before we left for our European adventure. He schemed with his daughter, Rho, and friends of ours, Nai, Tori and Haydan. He managed to hide it all this time, until he found "the right moment". BTW, any moment was the right moment. But with us both being quite ill the first couple of weeks, I'm so glad he waited until Venice.

So that's the magic (and romance) of Venice. It will forever have a special place in our hearts and memories.