Reminiscing about Rhodes

Rhodes will always be special to me because it's where the boy proposed. But despite being the highlight of our trip, getting engaged wasn't all that we did during our week there. Here are some photos and memories from our vacation.

We booked our trip via Thomson, a UK-based travel operator. We chose a couples-only package that included flights and seven nights of half-board at the Atlantica Imperial Resort in Kolymbia, a small town on the east coast of Rhodes. This was our first time using Thomson and we weren't sure what to expect. Looking back, I loved how perfectly easy it was - all I had to do was choose my dates, flight times, and review the hotel options. 

This was also our first beach vacation together, one where we would stay in the same place for all seven nights instead of the city-hopping, sock-losing, two-night-maximum, suitcase-barely-unpacked-before-throwing-everything-back-in-again-and-dashing-off maelstrom that is our usual routine. I actually had some reservations about going to a beach and plopping my ass down into one place for this long. It seemed so... normal. So not mobile. So...not...me?

I was a fool. It was all amazing. Within just minutes of arriving, I could feel my stress and worries and control-freaked-ness wash away with the gentle lapping of the ocean waves.

Our resort was roughly halfway between Rhodes' two main cities. Our first excursion out was to the aptly-named town of Rhodes.

I use Yelp and TripAdvisor religiously when traveling, so I was stoked to visit the most well-reviewed place in town for lunch - a small restaurant named Tamam. I was met with impeccable service, fresh fare, and such a kind group of people who ensured my dining experience was utterly enjoyable. It may have been one of the best meals I've ever had in my life.

Having achieved culinary satisfaction to an extent previously unbeknownst to man, we spent the remainder of our day strolling around the rest of the city and the old part of town.

Then there was one day we went kayaking and exploring the grounds of the resort. I vividly remember feeling so amazed by how clear the water was and how well we could see the bottom even as we paddled far out beyond the bay.

I won't deny that we didn't spend an awful lot of time just lounging by the pool, Kindle in one hand and cocktail in the other. In the photo below you can see me holding the paddles we used to volley a rubber ball around in the water - sort of like tennis/ping pong for the lazy. Really simple good fun. We nicknamed the activity 'bum-paddle' and got mildly addicted to it over the course of the week.

Yet another lazy was spent relaxing on Tsambika beach, which all the locals insisted was the most beautiful of all the beaches on the islands. A perfect place to eat a gyro, down a beer, and get the biggest surprise of my life.

And last but certainly not least, there was Lindos, with her breathtaking views from atop the Acropolis.

As I hope the pictures show, Rhodes was just forehead-smackingly beautiful. I can't think about the trip or look at the pictures without grinning, salivating, and sighing hopelessly - usually all at the same time. It really was the vacation of a lifetime, one that will be hard to top. 

Engaged!

He proposed on day three of our vacation in Rhodes, Greece. We were at Tsambika beach, one of the island's most famous beaches and had spent our morning splashing about in the crystal-clear ocean under a cloudless blue sky. Lunch had been a hearty affair of gyros and beer at the beachside cafe. The sun was high, my belly was full, and my mind was in its happy, drowsy post-beer state. Prime time for a snooze.

The boy kept trying to convince me otherwise. "You wanna go into the water?" he asked eagerly, a few moments after I'd lazily stretched out on my chaise.

"Hmm... no, not really right now," I yawned.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Let's go take a dip." 

I raised my sunglasses. "Just a quick dip?"

"Real quick."

We waded into the ocean and splashed around for a bit. The water felt wonderfully cool as the sun blazed overhead. There were hardly any others around us. It felt delightful to be wading through the water together with not a single care in the world. 

Then I realized that he had set me down and I was now sitting on his knee. 

His one knee. Where was the other knee?

"What...what's happening?" I uttered stupidly, my brain having turned into molasses.

At this point I believe I actually browned out. He was saying some words - he later told me they were about him being so excited to fulfil our dreams together - and I literally remember hearing none of them as my world was turning every which way. I could barely register that he was reaching for something in his pocket...

And then he asked me to marry him.

Some small "oh my gods" and tears had started leaking out by now, and it felt like a dam of other emotions was about to burst out of me. I barely was able to gasp out a "yes" before I buried myself in his arms.

The next few minutes were a blur. A hilarious blur, as the ring had gotten stuck in the lining of his swimsuit and in the end we had tear a hole in the mesh in order to extract it. He slid the ring - a band of two silver elephants facing each other - onto my finger. It was only meant to be a temporary ring until the real one was made, but I immediately fell in love with it anyway.

We made our way back to our chairs, still in pure shock of what had just happened. I had so many questions. How long had he planned it? Did our parents know? When did he know he was going to ask? And he had so many answers that he'd been keeping secret for months now. One by one, my questions were answered as he unraveled the story of how he'd been planning to propose since June, of how he managed to ask my parents when they were here, of how he'd been meeting with a designer back in Glasgow to customize the engagement ring. There was a lot of simultaneous laughter and crying. It felt strange that I had been in the dark for so long.

I had known for a while that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. But this proposal was 100% a huge, knock-me-off-my-feet, bona-fide surprise. That night, we celebrated with a bottle of nice wine over dinner. We were still feeling the residual shock and excitement but things had calmed down a little and we had managed to start using the word "wedding" without having panic attacks. 

It's been a week and a half since that magical day. Still, every time I look down at the ring, my heart skips a beat and I feel a burst of pure, unadulterated happiness. I'm going to be with this incredible human being for the rest of my life! Aaahhh! 

It is the best damn feeling in the world.