We cannot really agree on how it all began… I remember Robert from school (Vienna International School), he claims he doesn’t remember me. Given that I was one grade above him, I try to believe him. We didn’t know each other in school, that is for sure. We actually didn’t exchange a word there.
After school, Robert left Vienna to study in England and later moved to live and work in Barcelona. I stayed in Vienna. So we didn’t meet after school either. At least not immediately.
So the real connector was my sister Ivana – who is also my bridesmaid. She did manage to befriend Robert in school, or better said at her graduation trip in Spain, where Robert’s friends had a house. And somehow through Ivana, Robert and I did become friends, but first virtually on Skype and Facebook.
However, since Robert was regularly coming to visit his parents to Vienna, he would not restrain from contacting me and inviting me for a coffee or a drink. The first time I agreed to meet him, he ended up with me and a bunch of my girlfriends in Fabios. That was some 15 years ago. After that we would meet maybe once in a year or two, most meetings were short and unspectacular.
But then in March 2014, Robert came to Vienna and again wanted to meet. It was a Friday evening and I didn’t feel like going out, but Ivana managed to convince me that I should go meet Robert. So I did. We met in the Roberto’s Bar. And it must have been a disaster for him, because after one hour sitting there and chatting with me, he told me: “Nina if you don’t feel like being here, please go home.”
If there is a way to slap somebody virtually or verbally, he definitely managed to do so. I was shocked and embarrassed, and I thought to myself: “My God, what vibe am I transmitting to that guy that he told me something like that?!” I got my act together and thought to myself – OK, so he is cool after all. This night turned into one of the best evenings cause it led us to the Loos Bar, where we randomly met some other mutual friends and stayed till the morning hours.
That was just the first in a sequence of dates we then had. Since that March, eleven years ago, when Robert stayed in Vienna for one whole month, we had the opportunity to meet consecutively, talk and finally get to know each other properly. And to fall in love with one another.
We knew immediately that we wanted to be together and that we wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible. And that resulted in the most wonderful eleven years of my life, full of excitement, joy, travelling, surprises, positive changes, growing up and finally beautiful pure love.
He popped the question already a while ago during our first trip to Australia on 9 March 2017 in Byron Bay, the most Eastern part of the continent, just before a hard rainfall. We got soaking wet but were happy to have found a bunch of Asian tourists to make a memorable photo of us and thus eternalise the moment.
So finally, after three full years of search for a perfect venue, we have found one and managed to get a date confirmed. And then had to cancel everything due to COVID. But we are very happy that now, 5 years later, we will celebrate our love with all of you and that you will help us make yet another date unforgettable.
