A Fairy Tale Marriage Proposal in Austria

A widower, Paul chose Insight's European Breakaway tour because he and his wife had planned to go to Europe before she got sick, and he felt it was something she would want him to do. He had heard great things about Insight Vacations from a friend and the timing was right, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Susan Frantz booked the same Insight Vacations tour through AAA because she had always wanted to see London, had been on a previous Insight Vacations trip to Italy, and only had that particular week off. Fate did the rest.

As it turned out, Paul and Susan were the only two people on the trip who were traveling without companions, so after they met the very first day, they often sat together, enjoying each other's company and the sights they were visiting. They discovered they had a lot in common and even lived in similar German-settled towns. She is from New Berlin, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee. Paul and Susan kept in touch as friends after the trip, exchanging casual emails, sending pictures back and forth, and when Susan suggested he join her on the Capitals of Eastern Canada trip in July 2012, he agreed. Once again traveling as singles, this time they spent all their time together and by the end of the vacation, they both knew that something more serious was going on.

After they returned from Canada, Paul flew to Wisconsin and met Susan's family, Susan came to Texas for a week, they began to Skype and talk turned to the future. They decided to book the Insight Christmas Markets tour in December, and by the time they went to Europe, they had picked out rings. Although friends and family kept asking, they didn't say a word about their future plans. Paul decided that the Christmas Markets tour would be the perfect place to get engaged.



Paul had originally planned to propose in Salzburg on Christmas Eve on a horse-drawn carriage ride, but everything was shutting down early, so when the tour guide suggested going on The Sound of Music tour as an optional excursion in Salzburg, and in particular he talked up the gazebo in Schloss Hellbrunn, where Captain Von Trapp proposed to Maria in the movie, Paul knew instantly where he would ask Susan to marry him.

As the group stopped in front of the gazebo for a photo op, when it was Paul and Susan's turn, he handed his camera to a friend, got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and said the magic words, “Will you marry me?”

The happy couple hasn't set a wedding date yet, but Susan is retiring and moving to Texas in March. They are considering booking with Insight Vacations for their honeymoon.