Hey, guess what? We're getting married!

So as some of you may know, we got engaged in Europe. We ended up in Europe because Luke had the opportunity through his college to do a study abroad program in Germany to- you guessed it- sharpen his German. So Luke was in Germany from shortly after my birthday to the beginning of August and as he so desired to travel the world, asked me to join him in Germany after his program was over. So exactly that happened. I flew into Germany the morning of Luke's first day free, fresh from an 11 hour flight. We met at the Ubahnstation, Germany's Penn Station, and from there spent three days trekking, shopping, and making foreign cat friends. One day in particular, just over 48 hours before the big event, we would travel to Neuschwanstein Castle. Everything would miraculously fall into place as the largest bit of foreshadowing either of us had ever seen. It just so happened that rain rolled in when our tour group was to climb Neuschwanstein Castle and the tour group chose to split. We, craving adventure and loving the spunk of the more ambitious tour guide, chose to climb up to the castle in the rain. Not only was it the most majestic, romantic, and exciting thing that we've done but the fulfillment of climbing up to the castle was intoxicating and because the tour group was so small, we got to have a more personalized experience with our tour guide. The whole group was fixated by the cold but refreshing wind at the very top of the castle, which overlooked endless forests and mountains. That was when our tour guide interrupted our picture-taking to ask if we were here together. We answered yes, of course, and all of sudden both of us were promptly grabbed by the shoulders and moved strategically in front of the castle's chapel building. Though it was far away behind the gates, the tour guide was adamant in explaining how weddings were held there and used us to demonstrate what felt like a very abridged but realistic wedding ceremony. It even ended with I do's and kissing the bride! It was electric and videos were excitedly sent to us from other tourists in our group. Naturally, the tour guide, who was a self-admitted man of many talents, told us that he was a legal officiant and joked that we were technically, although unofficially, recognized as married in Bavaria! Time skip to the day that we left Germany, the first moving on to the second leg of our Europe trip. We took a very crowded bus to a town nearby Venice. Venice would be the most exclusive leg of our trip since we would spend just about 24 hours there, where we would spend at least a few days everywhere else. Unbeknownst to me, Luke made this choice on purpose, as he intended to propose there. Venice was an enjoyable but swift blur in only the first few hours. We went speed walking from the bus to the apartment that we would be in, which gave away its grand purpose by having the most beautiful gate with rose bushes growing all over it. Immediately we put our backpacks down- I grabbed my portable charger and wire and Luke pushed a ring into his pocket- and off we were to catch the bus into Venice. Venice was full of relaxation and good food. We had pizza, aperol spritz, sweet wine, and some accidentally raw meat. Afterwards, we made our way from bridge to bridge, Luke absorbed in his phone and maps app. It wasn't suspicious, as he was the navigator, but he was completely absorbed in which bridge we were standing on. Finally it was about 11 o'clock and we had made it to the pleasantly quiet and yet somehow busy Ponte Marco Polo by- you guessed it- Marco Polo's house. It was there that Luke plugged into my portable charger and set up his phone to record. It was there that history for us was made and he asked: "Alanii Rodriguez, will you marry me?" My response was: "Obviously!" The quiet noise of the water beneath us was the perfect backdrop for the sincere tears, hugs, and kisses that were exchanged. It was simply perfect.