I felt he wanted to propose to me. But I wasn’t sure. He laughed, pretending that he would do it in a moment. He paraded this desire in front of my nose as if to show that, in spite of himself, he would not do it. I knew he would propose while travelling because we both love it. I knew it would be a special moment. We both have a complicated history. It wasn’t the first engagement for either of us.

We made it north to the Arctic Circle. It was the end of August, and we wore jackets and hats every day. We boiled water for tea out of necessity, not for the pleasure of drinking it. We drove a rental car in which we slept if necessary. We had a tent with us where we slept at 5 degrees Celsius. In Rovaniemi we wouldn’t have made it. The further north we were, the earlier we got up from the cold. We quickly started the car to warm up inside. We also slept in Finnish huts that are open to tourists. There you can find a supply of firewood and a stove. But not everywhere we managed to get to such a hut. Sometimes a tent or a car had to suffice.

We booked accommodation for one night only. In Rovaniemi. During the day we went for a walk, and we found a beautiful place. It was a reserve and bird observatory. Walked along narrow wooden paths through the swamps. Beautiful meadows, bushes and trees. Amazing colours. There, on the island, on top of the wooden observatory, Michał pulled out a ring. I said yes and we both cried.

It was light outside until 11 pm.