The Day Matt Proposed

Yep, your favourite couple is engaged. Sit down children and let Sophie tell you the story of the day Matt proposed.

Traveling to Florence

Our flight wasn’t until 4.30pm so we had a very leisurely morning doing the last bits of packing before getting the Thameslink to Gatwick (in the pouring rain, thanks England for the send-off).

I love travelling through Gatwick. If it’s possible to eat a meal before a flight I always do. This time we went for a cheeky Nando’s.

And I’ve just realised my last meal as a single un-engaged woman was a Nando’s. Nice.

We landed in Florence at about 8 (the flight was only an hour and a half but there’s an hour time difference) and got the shuttle into the centre, where our airbnb was only a 10 minute walk from the station, down winding cobbled streets teeming with Italians out for a Saturday night drink. After our host showed us around, we did a spot of unpacking and got dressed up to go for dinner.

Just before we’re about to leave, Matt tells me to close my eyes.

The Proposal

And here’s the bit you’ve scrolled down to read. Right there in the bedroom of our airbnb, Matt gets down on one knee, and holds up an open ring box.

Back track: Matt and I actually chose the ring together a few months ago, so the proposal itself was not a surprise. But the timing totally was! I suspected from the way Matt guarded his backpack while we were travelling that the ring was inside, but I was expecting to be on tenterhooks all week waiting for him to pop the question. But here we were, first night, first hour even – he’s only gone and flipping proposed.

He asks, I say yes, the ring goes on like a dream, choirs of angels sing in the rafters.

Trattoria Zà Zà

Giggling like children, we rush to the market square around the corner, where Trattoria Zà Zà awaits, evidently popular from the queue of people in the street outside. We only have to hang around for five minutes before the waitress finds us a table, where we order prosecco because obviously.

Realising we haven’t taken a single photo yet, I get in a couple of quick selfies before we have a proper look at the menu. We order bruscettas with truffle shavings, and for mains I choose gorgonzola gnocchi, and Matt goes for Siena pici pasta (thick spaghetti with Tuscan sausage ragu).

Everything was delicious, although to be honest I was in such shock that I barely had any appetite. And have you ever had gnocchi drowned in sauce that is essentially melted blue cheese? The flavour is sensational but also quite overwhelmingly rich.

Instead of dessert we decided to grab a bottle of red wine, head back to the flat and call our family to announce our exciting news.

The Red Wine Incident

Let’s take a break in the romance to tell a tale of two people who are extremely determined to drink red wine.

The cork screw in the airbnb was pathetically flimsy and immediately broke off in the cork. After googling other ways to get the cork out, I plunged a knife into it and we took turns trying to heave it out. After managing to wrench it out by about halfway, the knife popped loose. When I stuck it back in, it achieved exactly the opposite of what we were going for and sunk so deep back into the neck of the bottle that the only way out seemed to be down.

So I pushed it into the bottle, the vacuum broke spectacularly and wine burst all over the wall, the ceiling and the two of us.

Here are some photos of Matt mopping red wine off the ceiling, and pouring wine that I have just sieved into a bowl. 

Phoning the Family

Wine mopped and de-corked, and we were finally ready to call people. We did my parents first (very happy and excited but not surprised as Matt had trained down to see them the weekend before to ask for their blessing), then Matt’s parents (very happy but also not surprised as they’ve been in on it this whole time), and my sister (very happy and extremely surprised which was very satisfying).

We ended up going to bed at about 3am because we couldn’t calm down.

And there you have it. Comments? Suggestions? 

You can read about the rest of our holiday on my post 7 Days In Florence, Italy!