Date Ideas

Dancing in the Rain… Not So Romantic, Actually.

Melbourne is famous for its ever-changing weather. The saying goes – if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. In a matter of hours this city can go from beautifully sunny to pouring rain, windy and back again.

Last Wednesday, Melbourne had put on a particularly hot, dry summer day. 33 degrees of sweltering sun. It was the perfect weather for a Fish and Chip picnic. I jumped on the internet to search for user reviews of the best Fish & Chips to be found in Melbourne. Luckily, there was a great one just a 15 minute walk from our apartment (Kiwi Fish & Chips East Melbourne… yum!) that has gorgeous gardens nearby for the picnic. We picked up our takeaway and a couple bottles of beer and headed to a little gazebo in the park to relax nearby and kick off our shoes. Just as the last chip was being devoured, the weather turned nasty, cold and windy.

We watched the rain come in across over the city and for a few moments thought it had missed us. Unfortunately, seconds later we were drenched. Bucketing down. And we were ages away from home. At first, I thought “great – two dates in one!”… someone has recently posted the idea of dancing in the rain on the $30 Date Night site… it sounds romantic in theory, and all I could think of was that kiss from the Notebook (I’m full of silly idealistic notions like that) so rather than complaining about my hair or being cold, I giggled like a schoolgirl and grabbed Den’s hand. Unfortunately, being the practical man that he is, he was having none of it and whinged like a banshee the entire way back across the park. Kind of killed any romantic vibe that might have been going on. He was cold and wet and didn’t think twice about complaining about HIS hair.

So instead of embracing the moment we dashed for cover and hailed a taxi, got home and jumped into the spa downstairs to warm up. Which was rather nice in itself anyway… and definitely a hell of a lot warmer…

So it got me thinking I can’t be the only one suffering at the hands of practicality, can I? Any other romantics out there with a way-too-practical-partner? The kind of partner that don’t like to buy flowers because “they just die after two days” or the kind that doesn’t like to spend a morning lying in bed for hours because “there’s a whole day out there – we should GO OUT AND GRAB IT WITH BOTH HANDS!” (woo… just try and stop me.) The last time I had the house set up with candles and romantic music, waiting for Den’s arrival, he walked in the door and asked “why is it so dark in here?”, flipped on all the lights and switched on the telly…

Tags: dancing in the rain, fish and chips, the practicalities of romance