The trip started off with Russ asking me in every city about 3 times a day, "Do you feel the romance?" I had bad allergies, was getting sick, was feeling hot and sweaty from the heat, and basically responded "no" every time. This, of course, did not deter Russ from the ultimate...Italian Job!
On May 23, 2009, I woke up at 7:15 AM to quickly shower and get ready for Team Italy’s (Audrey, Anita, Malcolm, Haeli, Henry, Russ and my) last day. I didn't suspect a thing! We had a full day planned – Vatican City, Galleria Borghese, and most importantly, SHOPPING!!!! Audrey and I made breakfast for everyone before we hopped out the door to catch the Roma Metro and race over to the Vatican. When we arrived at Vatican City, we were greeted by a giant line to enter the Vatican Museum, heat and humidity. Luckily, the line moved quickly and we were in the Vatican Museum within 30 minutes! *phew*
Why were we so eager to see the Vatican Museum if we were all non-Catholics? The Sistine Chapel, of course!! According to Rick Steves (and other historical references), Michelangelo finished Sistine Chapel when he was 33 years old and it contains the story of creation during that first busy week for God. The Sistine Chapel also contains Michelangelo’s painting of the Last Judgment. Apparently (and according to Rick Steves), Michelangelo was pissed that the Catholic army of Spain had sacked the Vatican, so Michelangelo painted the Last Judgment, which depicts Christ returning and some people going to hell and some going to heaven. But we digress from the point of this story…
So, we entered the Vatican Museum and followed the LONG lines of people down LONG hallways and saw many beautiful things; we won’t bore you with those details! But check out the hordes of people trying to get to the Sistine Chapel!
We *finally* reached the Cappella Sistina after about an hour of walking through the museum and following the people. We couldn’t take any pictures because of some agreement between the company who restored the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican, but check it out on the internet! Beautiful!!
After seeing the Sistine Chapel, we raced out of the Vatican Museum because we needed to get to our next stop – the Galleria Borghese – by 1pm. It was quite a hike to get there as it’s in the middle of the Villa Borghese, Rome’s “Central Park.” (another Rick Steves’ reference.) The Galleria Borghese was a beautiful sculpture museum filled with works by Bernini. Again, no pictures allowed, but here’s a picture of the outside of the museum:
Since we were all tired from running around all over Rome, we went back to our apartment for a quick gelato break. Anita, re-fueled, and, eagerly awaiting all the shopping opportunities, pushed us out the door where we headed to the Spanish Steps.
There, we were greeted by our friends: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Furla, Tod’s… We shopped for a few hours before hunger (and lack of funds) overcame us. By then, we probably purchased more things than we ever needed. I didn't buy anything, though, because nothing was all that appealing to me. We then found a restaurant to have a delicious last Italian meal and to celebrate Haeli’s birthday.
After filling our tummies with deliciously yummy Italian foods (bruschetta, caprese, prosciutto, pastas, eggplant parmigiana and veal), we walked back to the Spanish Steps to buy some more souvenirs and gawk at the beauty of the Spanish Steps before catching the Metro. We posed for tons of pictures to display our lovely purchases. Well, I posed with the souvenirs I bought, but decided to hold Anita’s purchases also (since I didn't do my part to boost the Italian economy).
I was then convinced by Anita and Audrey to walk up to the middle of the Spanish Steps to take a “Russ and Jeanne” picture. Anita mentioned something about how beautiful it would be to take pictures right at sunset; Audrey mentioned something about how after they take a “Russ and Jeanne” picture, then we would take a girls picture. To make everyone happy, that’s what we did. Little did I know that Russ had already talked to everyone throughout the day and plotted with them to convince me to walk up to the middle where he would propose. So, onwards and upwards we went. [Russ is wearing his reflective jacket and I'm in the black.]
Malcolm ran up behind us, taking photos. Haeli, Audrey and Anita stayed behind a little, so that Jeanne wouldn’t suspect a thing. And here it goes:
Russ: “Jeanne, do you feel the romance?”
Jeanne: “Not really. I feel like I could use a serious shower.”
Russ: “Oh really. Well, I have a surprise for you.”
Jeanne (thinking that Russ was about to give her a big fat sticky kiss on the cheek): “NO RUSS!!!” and tries to run away.
Russ (holding onto Jeanne and not letting her out of his arms): “Jeanne, I have a surprise for you.”
Jeanne (trying to get away): “No, Russ.”
Russ (still hanging onto Jeanne): “I know you think that the engagement ring is in LA, but [Russ gets down on his knee and opens the ring box], will you marry me?”
Jeanne (in complete awe and shock and *almost* at a loss for words): “WHAT!!!!!!! Yes, of course!”
Russ: “Are you surprised?”
Jeanne: “YES!!!!! How did you get the ring here without losing it!!?!?!?!?”
So then, we hug and we kiss (in spite of the icky sticky feeling).
Haeli, Anita and Audrey came running up to say congrats and to look at my ring! Henry handed me roses! And Malcolm continued in his quest to fill his digital camera memory stick with more pictures! What more can a girl ask for?!?!?! A proposal in Italy! WOO!!!
After hugs to/from everyone, gawking at the ring, and other randomness, me, in my lawyerly way, interrogated everyone. I just couldn’t believe I didn’t see any of the hints along the way! Then I treated everyone to Lavazza cappuccinos from the vending machine in the Metro station, and we headed home. If you haven't been to Italy before, you're missing out! In the major Metro stations, they have these cappuccino machines there for like 1 Euro. The best is Lavazza! yummmy!!!!!
See how ridiculously excited I am over the coffee (I mean, the ring was great too, but the coffee - delish)!!!
When we got home, we did some more celebrating, admiring of our purchases, and packing for our flight home! Don't forget, it was our last night in Italy!! We took out all of our purchases and displayed them for Jason to see. Jason missed our trip to Italy and we had to send him a few texts to get his heart racing!! hehe You can ask him about it when you see him!
Later, everything started to click for me as Russ told me all the details…Russ kept asking me if I felt the romance to see when would be the best time to propose. But Russ, not wanting to hijack the Team Italy trip and also waiting for me to semi-recover from my allergies and sickness, decided to propose on the last day. By waking up at 7:15 am on the last day, I almost ruined Russ’ opportunity to talk to Team Italy and to get them on-board with his surprise proposal – The Italian Job. The Vatican Museum metal detectors almost foiled the surprise because the ring was in Russ’ pocket the entire day!
And finally, the most important thing…I didn’t suspect a single thing. I was even willing to bet my bosses at work that Russ wouldn’t propose to her in Italy because the ring hadn’t yet arrived; it would be ridiculously scary to bring a bajillion dollar ring to Italy; and because Russ specifically told me that he wouldn’t propose in Italy. But, in the end, Russ’ co-worker (Kim) convinced Russ that the most romantic place to propose would be in Italy and that even if the ring isn’t here yet, he can buy a CZ ring that looks exactly like the real thing and use that to propose.
So, that’s what Russ did, and I didn’t even know it was a CZ until he told me. Afterwards, not knowing a single thing about jewelry, I bit the fake ring to see if it was really a fake! Russ and Anita scolded me. Apparently, you can bite pearls to tell if they’re fake; not diamonds v. CZ. Duh!
Special thanks to Malcolm, Haeli, Henry, Audrey, and Anita – Team Italy – for conspiring with Russ to make the proposal an absolute surprise to me. We missed Jason during our trip, but he was definitely there in spirit (esp on the phone with us)!! Everyone’s contributions made the trip wonderful! It was the perfect ending to Team Italy’s trip!
Thanks to all of our family and friends for all the support through all the good and bad times!!! We totally love you guys and can't wait to see you at our wedding!
And now the best part...the wedding planning...
