So, it’s actually been a little while since we actually got engaged. Part of the problem, of course, is that it was at the beginning of the holiday. That’s right, HOLIDAY! So chill out, people. I will get to it when I get to it. Like now. See? I told you.
Okay, enough of that. So this is how it went down:
I started the planning quite a long time ago. I basically wanted it to be a special day for Claire which ended with a proposal. So I came up with several things that I “flew by” Claire to gauge her reaction. All of these were focused on Edinburgh, where we were going to be on the 2nd of December.
For example: I made a website with a “Virgin Airlines Special offer”. Completely fabricated, but quite convincing. The premise was that Virgin had put together a few “adventures” which you completed several European cities and were given “codes” which unlocked specials online. I showed her the site, sort of off-handedly, and judged her reaction.
Wasn’t interested. Back to the drawing board.
Eventually I settled on telling her I’d designed a route for us to walk around Edinburgh, since I’d been there before. I made the route into a series of riddles which you could solve by visiting the places in photos. All this I compiled into a palm pilot application titled “The Amazing Race: Edinburgh”.
Yes, I’ve already been told it’s one of the most complex proposals ever conceived. By Allan. And he seemed surprised even though he’s met me. I doubt that many of the reader’s who’ve met me will be.
There was a little more too. I’d booked a funky hotel, bought a teddy with Claire and swapped it out for an identical one with the ring inside, arranged lunch, and convinced Claire that my sister and Allan needed to go to his parents for sskd..dsoodls. I’ve found when lying it’s better if you aren’t specific. Helps with any cover-ups need to do later. Especially when dealing with people like Claire. She worked out that Bruce Willis was a ghost in like 20 minutes, for goodness sake.
All in all it went well. At first Claire thought I’d downloaded the whole thing and we were just following some RANDOM path (told you she was smart). The palm pilot also kept dying a little. But it ended with a beautiful, wonderful, everything-I-could-dream-of-and-more, woman agreeing to marry me, so I can hardly say it didn’t go exactly right. The rest is just fluff, really. Something to tell people about, but not important.
Since then, we’ve had an awesome time being tourists. We fit in well with our chest-lenses (which seem to be back in fashion). We are, however, unwilling to stand in 2 hour queues (or line-ups, depending on where you are). I’m sure that’s part of the experience, but I refuse. Almost nothing is worth that amount of effort.
Okay, so I’ve whet your appetite for more, I’m sure, but you will have to wait until Claire gets off her recently engaged ass and puts down some words. I can’t continue to hog this space, but have recommitted myself to posting more. I want to take more photos too, so beware.
That is all.
