In January 1994, Santiago Klein was taking a break from city life with a beach holiday in Uruguay. “It was a popular place for people living in Argentina to visit. I started talking to Gisela’s sister because she knows my sister,” he recalls. It wasn’t long before the pair were introduced, and he asked if she wanted to go on a date later that day. “I noticed her eyes at first, and I really liked her.” They arranged to go out at midnight. “In Latin America, we go out late and stay out until 5am,” says Santiago. “I went out for dinner with my family first and they asked about my date but I couldn’t remember her name. I just knew there was something about her I really liked.”
Keen to impress his date, he admits he was showing off at the start. “At first, I thought he was a bit full of himself, but I soon realised he was really down to earth and lovely,” says Gisela. “I went home and told my mum and auntie that I’d found the man I was going to marry.”
Santiago felt the same way. “We had lots in common and wanted the same things in life. In the space of a couple of hours I knew I would marry her.” Though they were both coming out of long-term relationships, something felt right between them. “I had never thought about marriage before and suddenly I just knew,” says Santiago.
A few days later, he returned to Buenos Aires for work, while Gisela continued her holiday. “He came back to Uruguay a week later and he proposed,” she says. “We went to a market seller there and he bought the rings.”
Gisela was also living in Buenos Aires at the time, and the pair returned to the city together after their travels were over. “I joke that she comes from the posh bit of the city, like Chelsea in London,” says Santiago. “And I am from the equivalent of Hendon.” The couple arranged their wedding for 6 November 1994, exactly 10 months after they met. “We wanted it to be the same day of the month,” he says.
Before the wedding, the couple had to tell their parents about their plans. “We went for dinner with my family and we just kept on ordering more food,” says Gisella. “He was so nervous about telling them.” Eventually Santiago plucked up courage. “My father-in-law looked at me, finished drinking his coffee and then said: ‘I knew you would marry her; I just thought you’d wait a bit longer.’ They’d only known me for about 15 minutes.”
Since they married, the couple have had three children, Freddie, Maggie and Max. They have lived in both the UK and the US, moving around for Santiago’s work in property development while Gisela cared for the children. The first move came in 2001, during a period of riots and instability in Argentina. “Things weren’t good at home, so when Santiago suggested the move I thought ‘Why not?’,” says Gisela. She admits life in the UK was hard at first as she spoke no English and had young children. “Over 10 years, I learned to really love it.”
In 2010, the family moved to Florida. “We knew it wasn’t going to be for us long-term,” Santiago says. “We said we needed to move back home but neither of us knew whether that meant Argentina or the UK.”
They moved to England again in 2016. As well as having plenty of friends in the UK, Gisela says they love the “fairness” of British society. “It feels like a caring place to live.” But they visit their family in Argentina as often as they can – and at Christmas and New Year they return to the beach in Uruguay where they met.
Santiago says their marriage has always felt right. “She complements me so well. And I have always loved the way she smiles with her eyes and not just her mouth.” Gisela has always known that she and her husband were meant to be. “He has lots of regrets in life, but he always says he has never regretted marrying me, not once.”
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