We met in early 2020, the year that Covid decided to grace us with its presence and due to this it wasn't the easiest of beginnings. Christos had just left his role in the X-ray department to be replaced and upgraded by none other than Emily, just missing each other by a couple of months. Christos now working in the joys of A&E still kept in contact with a lot of the people in X-ray and would always pop by the department to catch up with old colleagues and of course wanting to see who had replaced him. This is when Christos was first introduced to Emily and thought wow she's quite nice. Using his insider sources Christos was told that Emily is a really nice girl and he should get to know her to which he replied, its a bit tricky in the middle of a pandemic. Cut to summer 2020 during that brief magical window when the first lockdown was lifted, people could shake hands properly instead of elbow bumping and giving each other proper hugs instead of hazmat hugs. Also, lockdown parties were allowed to happen again and this was the first time they met at an X-ray house party. Christos and Emily got on like a house on fire and were looking forward to the next meet up. Then... Lockdown happened again, life pressed pause. Now while we were all abiding by lockdown rules and Matt Hancock doing the opposite. But fate, and a few well timed NHS bank shifts in X-ray had other plans. Christos may or may not have picked up extra shifts just to bump into Emily at work as he knew it was the only way they could catch up. We had to wait almost a year before we could meet up again properly outside of work in the summer of 2021 for a gathering with friends for cocktails. When Christos and Emily were the first to arrive early, this was the plot twist that still surprises us to this day as this has never happened since of any meet up anywhere. From this Christos finally plucked up the courage a year in waiting to ask Emily out on a date and the rest is history.

The proposal left Christos quite stressed as Emily is slightly picky, so finding an engagement ring she'd hopefully like wasn't the easiest. Also, trying to get the ring sent in time for Salzburg trip December 2024 wasn't possible, so luckily he got a duplicate which was about 4 sizes too big, but nonetheless he went with it. Christos was thinking of the perfect place to propose in Salzburg, knowing he had just 3 days and as maybe mentioned before, Emily can be picky, so she always said of her "Dream" (demands) of how she'd love it to happen.... 1) Sunset 2) Amazing view like a mountain. 3) No crowds. So not too much pressure. Christos had done his travel agent research as per every trip, but tried to find somewhere that could tick all the above. He had 3 spots written down and the plan was to wing it and see which spot could fulfil the "Dream" (Demands). He was hoping to bend the knee and not try to pop his ACL on the first day so he could enjoy the rest of the trip, with hopefully his new fiancee. After being patted down in airport security but luckily hiding the oversized ring in his bag it was onto the hotel to drop everything off then head out to the zoo. Christos held onto the ring in his jacket pocket all day trying to keep calm, not knowing if today was even going to be the day. But he had planned a 1,300metre gondola to the top of the mountain, overlooking Salzburg. Luckily the worry of trying to not soil himself on the shaky gondola ascending the mountain was a good cover up for the possibility of proposing and Emily had zero suspicion of what was about to take place. Once at the top of the mountain and after checking his pocket for the millionth time the ring was still there after holding it for what felt like an eternity, Emily and Christos noticed a path with a barrier saying do not cross... Of course Emily being the adventurer she is and Christos obliging after seeing no good spots and too many people around to propose agreed to go beyond this barrier, which led on a path to a big platform with amazing 360 panoramic views of Salzburg and the entirety of the platform to ourselves. Diregarding the other 2 possible proposal spot Christos knew this was the perfect time, albeit not being able to check off sunset on Emilys list, but at least getting the other 2. After 30mins of photos and Christos delaying and saying lets get more photos after Emily saying lets head back down and almost coming close to bottling it, Christos bent on one knee tearing up, forgetting all his pre-planned words, and thankfully Emily saying YES, after she said herself oh I have to say something don't I. Emily admitted she had absolutely no idea so it worked out kinda alright in the end.