Flowers and Spring

Aisha and I have just returned from a wonderful week (and a half) in Europe. We spent three nights in Rome, travelled to Venice via train and spent two nights there and then returned to Rome for two more nights.

Italy was GREAT! The Italians in Rome and Venice are so friendly and wonderful. I was really surprised how English-friendly the country is. This was the best vacation I have ever had. Rome is BEAUTIFUL and active. Aisha and I fell in love with the city. We have dreams of moving there one day.

The antiquities there (the word 'ruins' don't do it the right justice) and the architecture are AMAZING. Venice is from another planet altogether. It's hard to describe the sheer wonder of being in a city with no cars with travel only by boats and bridges. Gorgeous.

Aisha and I are now engaged. YAY! I had a hard time sneaking the ring through the airport security checkpoints without Aisha noticing. I had planned to propose in Venice, but when we got to the Colisseum in Rome I didn't think there would be yet another security checkpoint. I speak zero Italian, so I got us out of line. Aisha was starting to get irritated as the line was getting longer and she couldn't understand why we were leaving. I told her that security would probably confiscate my food and I didn't want to lose my sandwich dagnabit! This really irritated her so I started rummaging through my backpack. I can hear her sighing still. I finally handed her the crystal box that contained the ring. It was wrapped in red tissue paper and I said 'Here, throw away my sandwich'. I caught her by surprise (YAY!) and asked her to marry me.

Aisha was overwhelmed, but had the presence of mind to grab another tourist, hand her our camera and make me re-enact the whole thing. Too funny.

We then missed our connecting flight in Paris due to a delay by Air France (aka Air Chance). This resulted in us spending three nights in Paris. I won't go into too much of the trauma at the airport, but suffice it to say we escalated it to the point of calling the director of the entire terminal down to speak with us face to face. This resulted in us getting booked on a flight out on Tuesday. We then spent the next two nights walking around Paris. FYI, for those travelling to Europe for the first time like us, European airlines tend to always overbook their flights. Give yourselves a four-hour connection window also.

Air France was overbooked back-to-back for four days on all their flights to the US East Coast! We met some really nice fellow Americans in the same boat and took the train into the city and had dinner with them. We walked along the Seine and saw most of the major sights. The Eiffel Tower at night is not be missed! It is amazing! The Parisians are nowhere near as friendly as the Italians. Every stereotype you have of New Yorkers rings true with them. All the nice Parisians we met were from other parts of Europe or North Africa. The city itself is gorgeous.

We are now back at home. We had planned to redecorate the apartment before we left. We just sold some of our living room furniture and bought some other pieces. The living room looks much better and bigger now. I can't wait for our friends to come over and see. Aisha has gotten into the habit of buying fresh flowers for our home. Lovely.

We'll be having two engagement parties. One in NY on May 20th and another in San Francisco sometime in June. Looking forward to both.