Our Best Day in Buenos Aires

BUENOS AIRES -- As our 11-week trip drew to a close, Will grew nostalgic and decided to plan a special evening out on the town. He wouldn´t tell me any of the details, just said to clear Thursday night (as if we had other urgent business to attend to here). I could get no details out of him, so I eventually stopped asking, and instead took the opportunity to buy purple leather boots, as I had no nice going-out shoes. But then I saw some shiny purple flats and bought those too, and wore them instead.
These were the trivial details I had on my mind. Obviously, I had no idea what was coming.
I thought I´d figure out where we were headed once Will told the taxi driver, but he slyly had written down the address on a piece of paper, and he simply handed it to the driver without saying a word.
We ended up in the tony Puerto Madero section of town, a refurbished waterfront, in front of Cabaña Las Lilas -- the best restaurant in the city. Prices skyrocketed when New York Times writer R.W. Apple declared it one of the world´s best restaurants.
What a perfect way to end our trip, I thought.
We sat dockside and ordered two medallions de lomo, mine with butternut squash puree and Will´s with walnut mashed potato, and a bottle of Malbec. Oh, and a provoletta to start off with. Which I probably wouldn´t have ordered had I known they would set out a platter of appetizers for free -- carpaccio, pate, mini mozzarella balls and tomato, in addition to the woman wandering around with an enormous basket of hot bread.
Still, not too much I thought, as I prepared to dig into my steak. I had ordered medium rare as usual, and it came with a little smiling plastic cow that said ´´Estoy jugoso.¨ We saved those for kitsch appeal.
Then the waiter rushed back, apologizing profusely. ´´We only brought you a half portion!´ he said. ´´I¨m so sorry!¨
I had no opportunity to protest. The next thing I knew, he was back with another steak. I had no choice but to eat two steaks.
I have never felt so full in my life. I wanted to go home immediately. But Will persuaded me to split the Chocolate Nemesis cake (I couldn´t resist the name). Then he persuaded me to go for a walk ... in weather suddenly turned blustery ... down the canal to the lovely suspension ´´Bridge of Woman,¨ so named because Puerto Madero´s streets are all named after famous Argentine women. At least I can vomit in the water, I thought, if it comes to that.
I easily could have refused all these suggestions. But I would have ruined a plan weeks in the making, unbeknownst to me.
When we got to the bridge, Will, nostalgic again, started talking about what a great trip this had been, and how much he loved me, etc., until he was interrupted by a woman trying to sell us two of the ugliest flowers I have ever seen. They were wilty and pink, and each came with an even uglier gold-glitter-dusted fake flower. She wanted 5 pesos. Will gave her 20 to go away.
The next thing I knew, he was dropping to one knee.
¨Will you marry me?¨ he asked.
He was holding something shiny in his left hand, in a box, and it was not the ugly glitter flowers.
´´What?´´ I asked. I was shocked. Then, ¨Yes, yes, of course I will!´´
He had somehow managed to hide this plan and piece of jewelery from me though we had spent 24 hours a day together for the past 3 months. And now, standing on a windy bridge over the water, I was about to drop a shiny, shiny ring into the Buenos Aires canal.
¨I don´t want a ring!¨ I said, trying to give it back. ¨I lose things!¨ But he convinced me it would be ok, and I put it on -- a purple amethyst, thank goodness, because he knows exactly how I feel about conflict diamonds.
I am still in shock. But I think we can all agree this was our best day in Buenos Aires, our best day in South America and our best day ever. We are looking forward to many, many more days together in the years to come.