and gets engaged!!!

Life has been a bit crazy. In July, I traveled back to the states and spent time with Boyfriend and my family. August was so packed with work, that Boyfriend and I opted to not travel in August.

So in September for the CN holiday, Boyfriend and I went to Rome for a nice long holiday.

So here’s the story of how we got engaged.

We arrived at the hotel Thursday night. I didn’t need to use the restroom but Boyfriend asked/mentioned it twice and how I should probably go before we went out for the evening. I said. Yeah, you’re right

We continue our bad luck with hotel rooms. Our hotel room bathroom did not have a door that closed, but a sliding door.

So while I was peeing, I was talking out loud so Boyfriend couldn’t hear me. I said I wanted to get some gelato and that I will need to change into shorts because it was much hotter than we had imagined it to be.

So I didn’t put my pants on all the way, washed my hands, and slid the door open.

To find Boyfriend on his knees with a ring in his hand.

At first I was shocked, surprised, and then I remembered my pants weren’t even on. They were slid up only half way up my thighs. I started laughing. Boyfriend was questioning why I was laughing like a mad man.

Of course. Of course I’d get proposed to and I don’t even have on my clothes on correctly.

He let me pull my pants up so I would stop laughing. He said some cute lovely words. And then we were engaged. He upgraded from Boyfriend to Fiancé.

For me, it was the perfect proposal. Fiancé and I had initially met 5 years prior because I really had to pee while walking 7 blocks from a restaurant to my San Francisco apartment. The bar my friend and I visited would only let me use the toilet if we bought drinks. I peed and then we bought some beer. We looked for some seats to sit down at while we drank the beer before we headed back to my place. And that’s when I sat down next to Fiancé. And our relationship went from there.

So. A full loop. Back to how it all started. And Fiancé knows how much I love the perfect loop in love stories ( example a: the ending of How I Met Your Mother is exact scene from the first episode, all the way down to the tie he wore).

The next day, our first full day in Rome. We woke up early and walked to the Vatican City. We took some nice engagement photos on the way. We went to the Vatican Museum, and pulled a move we learned in China. We went directly to the group entrance and asked the staff where the line was for people with purchased tickets. The staff just let us go through, and we skipped massive lines.

We went straight to the Sistine Chapel. I forgot how big it was. I had gone to Rome and the Vatican City in 2011, in the height of summer and tourist season. This time around, it was cooler and less tourist. We were able to just sit and take it in

We wandered around after. After, we went to St. Peter’s square and took engagement photos. A lot of friends and family thought Fiancé proposed at the Vatican City. Luckily, I will always have to story of our intimate and private engagement, just the way we like it.

After, we walked around Rome and just took it in. We walked to the Villa Borghese and had lunch at a local diner. I got amazing cacio e Pepe

We then went to the museum and saw the Rape of Persephone and David in all of its glory. I love Bertolucci and his sculpting skills. Such life like, and amazing attention to detail. All while so young

 

After, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, nibbling here and there, drinking here and there, and stumbling into historical buildings and sites

On Saturday, we woke up and went on and morning run. We lazed around and walked through the city until we went to the Coliseum.

I will never ever go to the Coliseum if I had not pre-purchased tickets online.

It was chaotic and a mess to figure out how to get in. We had bought tickets weeks before but couldn’t figure out where to go to pick up the tickets. Signs were sending us in circles until we asked a guy who worked there.

We got into the Coliseum finally and walked around and enjoyed the views

 

After, we went to this amazing restaurant for lunch, where we ate amazing pasta and ate great tomatoes. I highly recommend this place

This place had the best pasta carbonara I had the entire weekend.

After, we wandered around and then went back to our hotel for a nice fat nap.

In the evening, we decided to venture outside of the tourist center of Rome and see one of the local neighborhoods: Pigneto.

Pigneto, as we read, was one of the newest hip places for younger folks to drink. We took the bus there and walked around.

Lots of local artists have painted the walls and building in Pigneto, giving it it’s ecletic look. There are restaurants and bars sparsed throughout the neighborhood.

We first went to the speakeasy at Premiata Panineria al Pigneto. From the outside, it’s a grilled sandwich sort of place (grill cheese, burgers, etc.), but there’s a phone in the back. If you pick it up, you can get buzzed into the speakeasy. It’s pretty cool. The speakeasy part of this restaurant is actually quite big. The front house is maybe a third of the size of the speakeasy, so you can tell that the place gets quite packed on the weekends. We got there around 7 pm, so it was still quite so early.

 

After, we went to dinner at Necci dal 1924, the resturant across the street. This was an amazing restaurant with a lot of nice outside seating with christmas lights lighting the outdoor. The restaurant was packed and you could tell that everything that they offered was delicious. We had a really great dinner sitting under the lights, ending on a DELICIOUS chocolate and raspberry cake. I would recommend visiting this restaurant

After, we walked to the main area, a really large pedestrian street with lots of bars and restaurants, Via del Pigneto

We walked around and grabbed drinks until we went home later in the evening.

 

On Sunday, we jumped on the train to Naples. Here, we walked around, ate napoli pizzas, and drank wine

We got back on Sunday night to Rome and went to our first Airbnb experience: learning how to make Granma’s Sauce

This was such a great event. Over 4 hours, we cut, cooked, simmered, drank wine, ate cheese and salami, and then ate great pasta/gnocchi/meatballs that we made. All while on a rooftop. I highly recommend this event to anyone who goes to Rome. What I enjoyed the most out of this was that i really saw this class as something I could take home and use. Sure, you can learn to make pasta, but you can easily buy that.

 

But sauces. Sauces can be made by scratch easily and can make it so amazing.

 

On Monday was our last full day in Rome. We first went and got the most famous cannolis at I Dolci di Nonna Vincenza.

For the rest of the day, we wandered around the city. We went to lunch at Felice a Testaccio. This restaurant was recommended by my Italian coworker (who got the recommendation from his friends who lived in Rome). We split a really great pasta carbonara here.

After, we went to another restaurant, Flavio al Velvevodettos. Here, we split another pasta, but this time a cacio e pepe. This was really good.

It was here where I saw my future goals. There was a great-grandmother who was eating bread slice sizes of parmesan cheese. I want to be this great-grandmother when I’m older. She was surrounded by her daughter, and her grandkids and their kids. She was such a boss.

After, we walked around the city of Rome to take in the last bits and really intake the roman air. We ate last minute snacks (tiramisu) and relaxed.

A delicious end to a great trip.