I feel like Lou Bega!

A.K.A. I've got some serious travelling to do...

When I realised how many of my friends, to be specific "girlfriends", where out there, scattered in the world, I really could relate to Mr Bega singing I got a girlfriend everywhere! 

First stop THE NETHERLANDS

There are some things I've noticed about this country

1. It's freaking windy there (not even stepping properly on the Dutch land, right on the top of the stairs from the airplane it was as clear as >the cloudy< day)

2. Something went wrong with German and English (watching the flight safety instruction video, listening to conversations in the shuttle bus from the airport; I actually enjoyed the sound of the language, even felt proud when I recognized some "mispronounced" German or English words :-))

3. Bikes. An overwhelming lot of bikes. (it's impossible to recall when I saw the first one, but after a few minutes on the bus the two-wheel friend is in every view)

4. Awfully nice people (the bus driver wishes you a nice day, I mean, come on!)

5. I weight 2,5 loafs of cheese :-D 

My journey started with quite a few butterflies in my stomach. Not only had I to travel on my own by plane, catch the right bus, find the train station in an unknown city and get on the right train but there was also one thing I could do absolutely nothing about. A thick, heavy, solid, and especially unnerving fog. Not just a fog. It was a fog fog. Don't take me wrong, I like the fog. But this was far over the top. If you still think I'm exaggerating, then imagine the Vienna airport (or basically any airport) - there is a gianourmous 109m high Control Tower. Now imagine it's not there...not that easy, right? I haven't seen even its tiniest light. There was an announcement that the flight to Krakow was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. So there I was trying to keep calm and carry on. As the misty veil hung for a few minutes in front of my window (I actually got a window seat, yay!), we were ascending when suddenly - bright blue sky, beautiful sun resting on the white duvet. And after sipping a very luxurious cola (the price rocketed sky-high) I felt much more at ease. Luckily, no more travel-trouble till the end. 

In the few days I'd got to spent with Deni, we managed to see a lot. The Hague (city tour, Madurodam - Miniature Park), Leiden (city tour, Uni buildings), Amsterdam (the whole old town on foot). The architecture, the canals, the colourful flowers, the well-kept environment, and not to forget about the clogs in every size, colour, and material you can imagine. I think that the photos will speak for themselves.

Madurodam

Madurodam

Madurodam

Leiden

Leiden

Leiden

Amsterdam - Flower Market on water

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Probably Austria

It's not hard to fall for this country :-). Obviously, I would definitely recommend visiting it and I myself would love to do so again in the future.

So what's up next? Mmm I guess Luxembourg!

The truth

She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally decided to walk through the door. Her hand hovered over the handle for a moment. She glanced back at the book and sighed. He was eagerly waiting and the only thing she could think of was how on earth was she going to tell him? What went wrong?

Now she had to do her best, bring the best performance. She sighed again and pushed the door open. Immediately, his head shot up. He knew that, eventually, he would get to hear her opinion. It’s been hard for her to postpone this moment for so long for she was an avid reader who never took more than a week to finish a book. “I was snowed under with work…,” she’d make up excuses.

“Well?” he raised his eyebrows and watched her sit down.

She forced a smile and was fiddling with a string of her hoodie. He’d find out soon if she didn’t compose herself… After all, he was her best friend. She met his expectant eyes. They made her speak up. 

“You did it again!” she winked.

“You like it? No. You like it?!” he beamed.

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Aw, you can’t imagine what I’ve been through! You really gave me a hard time, you see.”

“Sorry, I’ve been just…”

“…super busy lately,” he finished for her. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But you understand how much this means to me,” he smiled at her.

“Sure,” she pressed her lips together and looked down.

“I feel like my whole life’s been building up to this very moment.”

“Please don’t exaggerate.”

“No, I’m serious here, Megan.” He was always serious when he called her by her proper first name.

“I’ve been dreaming about releasing my own book for what – ten years? And now imagine, it lies right in front of me. I still can’t comprehend it. My thoughts are a real tangible thing,” he looked at one of the few copies he got from the publisher on his table. It was a look full of pride and contentment.

Meggie was getting more and more disgusted by herself.

“You know, from all the people in this world…I…I only really care about what you think. It wouldn’t matter if everyone else thought it was shit. I was only afraid of what you’d say. And also the other way around, it wouldn’t have any value to me, even if it were a bestseller, if you’d think it’s not worth the paper.” She’s never seen him so moved, so thrilled to the bits about something. She gulped hard. 

“I included you in the acknowledgements… I hope you noticed,” he teased.

“Of course,” she laughed nervously. She couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Well, anyway, I was thinking…”

“John,” she tried to butt in.

“…and call Tom to book a venue for public rea…”

“John,” she raised her voice. Frowning, he looked at her.

“I lied,” she bit her lip. “I…I…” There was no easy way to say it.

“I haven’t enjoyed it at all,” she stiffened and waited for him to say something.

“Oh,” he looked downcast. “Wh…what? Is this a joke or something?”

“No…I…I’m sorry. I didn't mean to...”

She could hear his heart shatter. She was biting her lip so hard by now that it was almost bleeding. His nostrils widened, otherwise he kept a deadpan expression.

“I’m…”

“Don’t, okay?” he held up his hand and stood up shaking his head. Without another word he left. She covered her mouth with her hand and shut her eyes tight. She wished he’d have rather yelled his lungs out at her.