Here's us cruising along the Grand Canal in a gondola in front of the Ponte Rialto with our gondolier serenading us in the background moments before Ari proposed. Romance meter is off the charts! :)

Up to this point, Ari had made me believe that he never wanted to get married. In Ari's words, he never explicitly stated this, I fashioned the idea of never getting married all on my own. For a whole year I was "inceptioned" to think this scenario was a long way away for us.  For a whole year, every time I attempted to bring up the topic of marriage I was quickly shut down or Ari would employ some military style interrogation aversion technique, even a simple "hey, look over there" would work as I'm flawed with being very easily distracted and gullible. Boys, if you need advice as to how to get your woman off your back about the "M" word, Ari is a black belt world champion at this.

I would eventually come to the conclusion that it wasn't on the cards for us and in my wallowing misery would complain to every girlfriend, family member (both mine and his), defenseless animals, inanimate objects... Basically any one/thing who cared to listen lol

So, needless to say I had no idea what was coming my way. For me it was just another beautiful Italian experience being shared with my most favourite person in the whole world, for Ari I believe there was some serious calculation and nerves involved as to the when, where and how of it all. As we were docking from our wonderfully romantic gondola ride, Ari handed the gondolier our camera for what I assumed was one last photo before we disembarked. To my complete shock, this happened...

We made our own costumes with cardboard, coloured paper and heaps of hot glue.

 Ari working his magic with the hot glue gun.

Dinner in front of the Pantheon, Rome.

Wandering the streets in Venice.

The proposal!

 Special issue bounce socks for improved trampoline grip and bouncing mayhem.

'Now let's forget our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream', said Malibu Stacy (and Linda).

Ari and Chris on the sidelines waiting to be caught back into the game.

Today we were enchanted by a street performer, Pasty Face Mancini who was being bound into chains while buckled up in a straight jacket by audience participants. We stopped to enjoy his charmingly witty and talented escape as he continually referred to us as "the best audience he ever had".

This blog is about the flight we took home last Christmas where I lost my passport just was we were ready to leave...

Ari and I are back for three weeks this time, although this is no vacation we'll be working the nine to five like everyone else. Feel free to schedule us in for a date over the next few weeks as we definitely won't be coming back for Christmas/New Year this year. I know we did cry wolf a bit the last time we were here saying we probably wouldn't be back for years but the opportunity came up so whoo hoo!

By the way, another correct response was Ari getting a black eye. We've been boxing for about two months now and a "light sparring" session caused him to pick up a real shiner. Although the week after, I think he may of accidentally assisted in a nose breakage incident. I don't believe boys understand the meaning of "light" when it comes to fighting.

Who doesn't love a good surprise? Although part of this surprise requires some guess work and to hamper your odds of being correct there's a few responses to choose from :)

I am genuinely awful at guessing, I get seriously stressed when asked to guess, most times I will just flat out refuse. So I think it's fun slash cruel to make you all guess what our announcement may be. I suppose my underlying issue with guessing spans from my inner engineer and her fundamental need to get everything right so no one dies. Extreme yes but that's what they teach you in engineering school!

Wrong calculation? A bridge collapses... Missing a circuit beaker? Someone gets electrocuted.. Incorrect material selection? Means you dismantle a 120 metre high observational wheel for refurbishment due to structural defects after only being open to the public for 40 days, lol what and epic fail the Melbourne Star is. Anyway I digress.

So, have a guess at which of the following (some exciting, some not) things that Ari and I would like to announce:

a. We were caught kissing in public yesterday and are in the process of being deported.
b. Ari has been working so hard that I've approved the purchase of a lambo for his birthday this year.
c. We've decided to call it quits here and head home to Australia for good!
d. We eloped back in 2011 when we arrived in Bahrain. That's right we're married!
e. We're at the airport leaving for Australia right now, hey Julz we'll be back for your big 3-0! You better well have a damn party now!
f. Will you still love us when we're no longer young and beautiful and are vegans?
g. Ari was in a fight and copped a black eye and subsequently broke a guy's nose.
h. We're adopting a blue point Siamese kitten with gorgeous sapphire eyes called Einstein.
i. We're the proud new owners of a 26 ft sail boat and I got to smash the champagne bottle to christen Lindari (the boat).
j. And for good measure, hey Ari I know this isn't the most orthodox communication medium to announce this to you and the world but I'm late... You know what that means.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the answer(s)!

With love from Bahrain,
Ari & Linda

The deep green waters of Ha Long Bay.

Linda and Ari getting acquainted with our kayak.

Ari and Linda enjoying the sunshine.

 Ari enjoying a dip.

Jellyfish!

Char grilled prawns made with love.

Boat villages on the way home. We were told that some villages spend their entire lives on the water and never step foot on the the mainland.

Linda with oysters.

Lady implanting a "core" into the oyster.

Oyster with a peal inside.