We'd been together for 8 years before I finally took the plunge to propose. We weren't living together yet because her family's cultural stance on doing so before marriage was very different to mine, but this wasn't a problem. This cultural stance also extended to going away on holiday (which was a little bit of a problem), but we managed to sneak in a few of these over the years; for her family, those trips will forever be "she went away with friends" memories.
I planned a two week drive through Europe, stopping in the Swiss Alps, Italy and France and told her parents about the whole plan which they signed off on. The proposal was supposed to be a surprise, but her being a clever girl, she'd worked out that it'll probably happen on this trip and asked me about it beforehand! I ended up making her cry because I was adamant it wasn't going to happen this time round and told her to stop being silly. Of course, it was, I had the ring but hadn't thought of an exact time/location yet. Actually I had no idea how I was going to do it.
Fast forward and a-long drive through the UK, train journey to mainland Europe, car breaking down and then springing a minor oil leak half way through France (couldn't mend it so topped up oil for the rest of the journey)-later, we finally make it to our destination: Jungfrau Region in Switzerland. Once we arrived at the hotel, we received a free upgrade to a junior suite (it overlooked the valley and mountain range and had a balcony to boot) because I'd secretly filled them in on my plans beforehand. So far so good. I still didn't know how I was going to propose though.
The next day we wanted to go and experience the star attraction, taking the train up to the top of Jungfrau. The train goes through the mountain and is an experience in itself. The final stop was the top of the mountain with a museum, an observatory, a snowy mountain trail and some winter sports going on. But to do so, we needed to get train tickets which included Jungfrau. The weather was going to turn the next day, so this was our only chance with decent weather.
While queuing up to get the Jungfrau tickets, my attention was grabbed by an angry Russian man in front of me who'd started shouting at the lady behind the desk "What do you mean you're sold out~?! I'm only here for one day, I don't care how much it costs! FINE, give me a ticket to anywhere!". I strolled up to the desk and calmed asked the same question, received the same answer, walked out to tell my waiting girlfriend about the lack of tickets, and came back to get a 3 day train pass instead. While paying for the 3 day pass, the cashier lady winked at me and said "with this, you get a free Jungfrau pass that you can use today". I couldn't believe my luck.
At this point you're probably thinking "Ha! I know! You're going to propose at the top of the mountain!", I know she certainly was. I didn't. I didn't even have the ring with me. We spent the day walking through the snow at the top of the mountain before the weather started to turn from sun and blue skies to thick clouds, hail stones and lightning! It was crazy how quickly the weather had changed. On the way up: sunshine and cows in the meadows going "moo", and on the way down: thick cloud/fog with thinder/lightning, heavy rain, hail stones and some really miserable looking faces.
We got back to our hotel -which just that morning had eye poppingly beautiful views- and sat down for a moment. She went in for a shower. Thankfully her shower was longer than normal, because while she was having it, the weather changed again! The clouds parted and a beautiful blue sky came out, with more sunshine showering the valley and the Jungfrau mountain range, birds chirping, the works. It was an amazing view. As soon as I'd finished being stunned by the speed with which the weather changed, I knew this was my chance. I got the ring out, and started trying to work out the best angle of approach. Literally holding the ring out at different angles to see where it would sparkle most. The best place happened to be facing the balcony but she would've needed to have her back towards it - Finally, I knew how I was going to do it! I put the ring into my pocket and waited for her to finish.
Once she'd come out of the shower, she sat on the bed and commented on how beautiful the view was and how unbelievably quickly the weather had changed. I agreed, and said "hey, why don't you come up over here and get a better view?" She got up and walked up to the balcony, I stood behind her and looked at the view for a minute or so, in complete silence. I then tapped her on her shoulder, she turned around, I pulled the ring out and asked her to marry me. She didn't say "Yes", instead, she said "Is this seriously how you're going to do it?!" I was stunned. After a short, but uncomfortable pause she finally broke the silence and said "Get down on one knee!". Now shaking a little with adrenalin, I did, and only then did she say "Yes".
The rest of the trip involved driving around Italy and France before coming back to the UK.
Was a memorable time for both of us. Love telling this story to people. Hope you enjoyed it too
I planned a two week drive through Europe, stopping in the Swiss Alps, Italy and France and told her parents about the whole plan which they signed off on. The proposal was supposed to be a surprise, but her being a clever girl, she'd worked out that it'll probably happen on this trip and asked me about it beforehand! I ended up making her cry because I was adamant it wasn't going to happen this time round and told her to stop being silly. Of course, it was, I had the ring but hadn't thought of an exact time/location yet. Actually I had no idea how I was going to do it.
Fast forward and a-long drive through the UK, train journey to mainland Europe, car breaking down and then springing a minor oil leak half way through France (couldn't mend it so topped up oil for the rest of the journey)-later, we finally make it to our destination: Jungfrau Region in Switzerland. Once we arrived at the hotel, we received a free upgrade to a junior suite (it overlooked the valley and mountain range and had a balcony to boot) because I'd secretly filled them in on my plans beforehand. So far so good. I still didn't know how I was going to propose though.
The next day we wanted to go and experience the star attraction, taking the train up to the top of Jungfrau. The train goes through the mountain and is an experience in itself. The final stop was the top of the mountain with a museum, an observatory, a snowy mountain trail and some winter sports going on. But to do so, we needed to get train tickets which included Jungfrau. The weather was going to turn the next day, so this was our only chance with decent weather.
While queuing up to get the Jungfrau tickets, my attention was grabbed by an angry Russian man in front of me who'd started shouting at the lady behind the desk "What do you mean you're sold out~?! I'm only here for one day, I don't care how much it costs! FINE, give me a ticket to anywhere!". I strolled up to the desk and calmed asked the same question, received the same answer, walked out to tell my waiting girlfriend about the lack of tickets, and came back to get a 3 day train pass instead. While paying for the 3 day pass, the cashier lady winked at me and said "with this, you get a free Jungfrau pass that you can use today". I couldn't believe my luck.
At this point you're probably thinking "Ha! I know! You're going to propose at the top of the mountain!", I know she certainly was. I didn't. I didn't even have the ring with me. We spent the day walking through the snow at the top of the mountain before the weather started to turn from sun and blue skies to thick clouds, hail stones and lightning! It was crazy how quickly the weather had changed. On the way up: sunshine and cows in the meadows going "moo", and on the way down: thick cloud/fog with thinder/lightning, heavy rain, hail stones and some really miserable looking faces.
We got back to our hotel -which just that morning had eye poppingly beautiful views- and sat down for a moment. She went in for a shower. Thankfully her shower was longer than normal, because while she was having it, the weather changed again! The clouds parted and a beautiful blue sky came out, with more sunshine showering the valley and the Jungfrau mountain range, birds chirping, the works. It was an amazing view. As soon as I'd finished being stunned by the speed with which the weather changed, I knew this was my chance. I got the ring out, and started trying to work out the best angle of approach. Literally holding the ring out at different angles to see where it would sparkle most. The best place happened to be facing the balcony but she would've needed to have her back towards it - Finally, I knew how I was going to do it! I put the ring into my pocket and waited for her to finish.
Once she'd come out of the shower, she sat on the bed and commented on how beautiful the view was and how unbelievably quickly the weather had changed. I agreed, and said "hey, why don't you come up over here and get a better view?" She got up and walked up to the balcony, I stood behind her and looked at the view for a minute or so, in complete silence. I then tapped her on her shoulder, she turned around, I pulled the ring out and asked her to marry me. She didn't say "Yes", instead, she said "Is this seriously how you're going to do it?!" I was stunned. After a short, but uncomfortable pause she finally broke the silence and said "Get down on one knee!". Now shaking a little with adrenalin, I did, and only then did she say "Yes".
The rest of the trip involved driving around Italy and France before coming back to the UK.
Was a memorable time for both of us. Love telling this story to people. Hope you enjoyed it too
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