A lucky coincidence and a dose of good karma, brought Dani and Koen to Rome in 2015. We were both on exchange and lived in the stunning Parioli neighbourhood, funnily enough just 10 minutes from each other by foot. We met at a university sports event and had an immediate connection. For our first date we went for a picnic in Villa Ada, the park pictured above.

We had to be creative in finding ways to spend longer periods together during our studies. So we enrolled to summer school at LSE London for a month and made some new best friends along the way!

Dani ventured out to South Africa to work and stayed with relatives in Johannesburg for a few months. One of many highlights of the trip was to spend a week in Cape Town with Koen.

After half a year living in Espoo together, during Koen’s internship in Helsinki, we yet again had to say goodbye and Koen headed off to Spain for his master’s!

During Koen’s year at ESADE in Barcelona, Dani visited so many times she cannot recall the exact amount. More friends for life were grabbed along the journey, two of whom will be best men at our wedding!

One thing we hit it off over in the early days, was our shared love for London. Once we were both finished with studies, we set off to find work in the metropole. Koen had things lined up for him at a bank in the City whilst Dani had to network her way to her first job. More dear friends were found in London and we cherish our memories from this time. Picture is from our first Glastonbury summer!

Time to say goodbye to another city and our beloved London balcony (pictured).

Despite all the international adventures since 2015, our trip to Greece in 2021 was the first time spending a full holiday together, just the two of us.

Here we are waving goodbye to another balcony yet again. What started off as us escaping the tough lockdown in London ended up as almost two years in The Netherlands. Dani signing her employment contract with Google, took us to Amsterdam, and then later on to Dublin.

We found our new home in the lovely neighbourhood of Ranelagh on the misty Irish island! No picture on the balcony yet, just one of our front door, since we still live here!

Back in the city where it all started, she said yes!