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sharonlifeoutsidesocial · 1 year ago

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The One Where Lois Got Married

Except they both said the right names.

But I will take you first to the days leading on to the big day.

Lois' bridal shower was interesting. Albert told his friends that she wants to learn how to bake so we had a suprise baking class at BakeBe in S Maison. I was the first person she made an eye-to-eye contact with and cried right after meeting her girl friends. I enjoyed it very much! Rhea and I made delicious cupcakes that we took home after.

There was a heavy downpour, Friday the 13th upon checking in our Airbnb in Makati. We'll have food for dinner I ordered ahead of time. We just have to do some grocery shopping to fill in some necessities like kitchen towels, wipes, chips slippers for Rhea, mints for all of us and our breakfast the next morning. After early dinner, we prepped our things for the wedding. We were doing so much all at the same time. Pat was steam ironing her gown, Mika was doing a mani and pedi on herself, Koko was cooking our breakfast at night and I prepared some sandwiches for our 'baon' because we all know we're going to starve waiting for hours. Some of us tried to sleep early, Koko and Rhea went to bed first. While Mika, Pat and I just had our little catching up because it's been so long! We talked about our medical conditions, why are we very afraid seeing doctors and some cute-girly stuff. Pat and I finished the night off by watching Friends Season 1 and 4 while painting her nails. By the way, we're ALL at the living room that time when Ross said the wrong name – I totally forgot my friends' reactions. I guess they were too busy doing their thing. Turned off the lights at 2300 expecting to sleep but our brains are still alive! Tried our best to close our eyes because it's definitely a long wedding day.

Running on 2 hours of sleep to witness a beautiful wedding and have a night cap in Poblacion was a stimuli to get up and take a shower. I had to take a bath first then it was Pat and Mika who were next. We also had a very heavy breakfast to prepare us for the day with Mean Girls playing on Netflix. As I am writing this, that time I guess was one of the highlights of that wedding weekend being at peace with my best friends. Anyway, we weren't able to do the dishes. We then proceeded doing our make-up. The light was an absolute challenge because it's hard to do it with a very minimal source of light to check if it sets good! Around 0430, Koko starts to remind or annoy us with his time check while we're all panicking because my eyeshadow isn't perfect, Mika's foundation is cracking, Pat's very slow doing her thing. Rhea by the way left at 0300 to have her make-up done at Lois' hotel suite with Eka. We finished Mean Girls mid-prep and I started looking for a perfect episode of Friends, Ross' wedding to Emily. The rush and excitement we're feeling plus Koko's continues to bother us with his time check while Ron arrived around 0400 and reminded him with things to bring because he'll just attend the wedding. At 0500 we finally booked a Grab, packed our change of clothes and things needed for the whole day. We arrived at around 0515, said hi to Lois asked if she slept well. We caught Eka and Rhea doing a Tiktok in the suite's bathroom and we stayed there all throughout because they didn't have space for us to wait. Took lots of photos, gossiped, tried Tiktok while Mika was trying to attach her nails. I remember Koko also messaging me, he was just in Albert's suite doing nothing but waiting. I wasn't able to reply because I was already with my girl friends enjoying our little company. Poor him but he's a good sport, he did great though! He was dapper and blue really looks good on him. After taking photos wearing our satin robes with Lois and the bride tribe, we're instructed to wear our gowns. I put on highlighter on my girls' shoulder to have that good glow. We go downstairs again and the moment we stepped into the lobby, the strap of my dressed popped. Yes, because I believe I over ate and tried hard to have a snatched appearance. Thankfully, the couple have a very helpful and accommodating set of wedding coordinators and fixed my dress. Phew! I went back to the lobby and the photographer told us that we'll be late if we continue taking photos so we have to proceed to the church. Good thing, Mine has very much welcomed us as Eka's plus ones so we were able to hitch a ride minus Koko and able to drive thru at a Starbucks in Magallanes and had a coffee fix. We met with Ron there and waited for Koko to arrive, had our pre-packed sandwich for breakfast around 0845. We took film photos from Pat while Lois' coordinator was standing there hurrying us to get to the church. It's 0900 and we are all waiting, we were instructed what I'm going to do at the ceremony.

At 0915, the wedding begins. Aaaah I introduced myself to my partner, his name was Joshua? I don't know! Aaah I was ugly crying when the doors opened and showed Lois. We all are! Even Koko on the other side told us he wants to cry so hard but he's with unknown people. Anyway, Lois has been my friend for quite some time now and I know the ups and downs of her life especially when she's struggling in college. He helped her on our senior year in college. Albert was her rock and the love of his life. We teased each other for crying buckets because "Are we her mother?". I guess that will always be my reaction attending weddings. It's beautiful, romantic and meaningful. The ceremony was about 40-minutes reminding them to love one another and not love another one. They weren't able to tell each other's vow because of the time constraints but I heard Lois's part when she got interviewed for the SDE where she cried a lot. I wasn't able to process it but I remember how Albert helped and loved her despite all the things that happened, that Albert is her life. I love how happy Albert was, he's so excited and have the brightest smile. While Lois is radiant with her look and she's so pretty. When it finished, we took a lot of photos inside the church. Amp texted us that he had just woken up and he's going straight to the reception. That was a sunny morning, another set of photos outside church with lots of semi-scripted moments were taken by the photographer. Kudos to him and the team because they brought out the best in the bride and groom squad. Since we all do not fit in Eka's car they went to the reception first. Ron, Koko and I booked a Grab on the way to Le Parc.

We're all tired and sleepy because we haven't had a proper sleep and meal for almost 8 hours now, right? We arrived in Le Parc lunch time. We were seated, table #8. Amp was there and we're completed easily. Of course there are fun games to keep the crowd alive while waiting for the newlyweds. I think Ron won in the animal game? Well for me, I was too busy doing arts and crafts and sticking polariods at their wedding guest book. We took photos — not so much digital but we had polaroids and from the photobooth. We are all laughing and teasing each other about things and munching on the snacks too that Ron and some person from our group won for us. We were also called when Lois and Albert arrived and instruct to follow steps for a dance number. As someone who is over at doing this on Christmas parties and events I didn't do it. I seated on our seats and let them perform. Being the KJ that I am, my friends booed me after their performance of the viral Total Eclipse of The Heart. By the way, we were laughing hard at Eka's turn because she didn't sing! Mine was cackling while taking a video. That's a must watch! We were getting tired of the games and all the gimmick that's been around for like the past 2.5 hours. We are all hangry and finally photo with the bride and groom marked that we can finally eat! Well, the menu was Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Teriyaki, Shrimp with tartar sauce and beef something. Dessert was Buko Pandan shots and they had bar for drinks too. I memorized the menu because that's a criteria when I attend weddings in the future too, kidding. Everyone finished their plates. Can I just tell here that Amp said the chicken teriyaki reminds him of Baliwag chicken which is 100% true! I am a Baliwag Lechong Manok apologist so I liked it so much. Everyone in our table loved the food too. Also while we are all doing this Eka is attending her classes in PCU for her master's degree, Mika was unlucky and pissed that day because she cannot play with her pressed-on nails while all of us are on our phones.

After the late lunch they continued on some games, like raffle where Koko got a LV paperbag (inside was a laundry v(b)asket. Well, another game is for those singles which I was utterly mad because I know Lois is the culprit for this! Koko, Amp, Pat, Rhea and I were called plus some of their friends from high school and Albert's side. God knows how pissed I was because one thing, I will not dance or do something ridiculous infront of many people. I was talking to the coordinator stating clearly that I won't dance ever and he reassured me that I will not. The guys danced and Albert's Best Man remained, the game was like trip to Jerusalem but the guy is at the center and we have to touch a part of his to be eliminated. How unfortunate despite of trying and being the one who really touched that man's arm first instead of Pat, I loss and got retained being with that guy who I told Ron about how pissed I was because the best man was wearing the souvenir shades the whole time. To finish this thing with an ease, we tried to be 'game' just to make the couple and the crowd happy. We followed cheesy-steps from the couple and received 350 pesos which is not bad. I survived the week after that.

That was exhausting, absolutely mind and energy draining. It's about 4 and we are all dead-tired, no one was reacting to cheers anymore. They finally showed us the prenuptial video, pre-wedding film and the same-day-edit wedding film. Koko and I were giddy to tell our friends how Lois and Albert look steamy in their prenuptial video, our inside-jokes were funny as ever. We all loved the final video, they captured the beautiful scenes in the wedding, the guests and entourage reactions, bride and groom had their best scenes too, the church was immaculate even with the simplest flowers. Finally, the wedding was a delight!

It's time to bid goodbye to the couple of the year! Yes, we named them after that because that was a good wait. We tried to be prepared as much as possible but boy, there are just some things that are unpredictable. We booked Grab 2 x for us to get home comfortably. We met everyone in the Airbnb and I get in the shower first because I was feeling too sticky from all the sweat, make-up and tears.

The night after wedding was a night to remember too but that's for another story.

To Lois and Albert, you two are an endgame since the beginning... Surely it will last forever. Please love, understand and trust each other. Here's to your beginning as The Mojicas.

Also to quote from my favorite series though we were not able to watch it on that moment, "I thought I'd never find someone I could relate to…then I found you. And you were weird, too." – Chandler to Monica

I hope someone who's reading this post will find Chandler to his Monica and vice versa. Never lose faith in love. May you never ever get tired of waiting and finding love (and peace). And if you ever find one, I hope he/she loves you the way you wanted to be loved. It's the best kind and the love in its highest form.

PS.

May your soul rest in peace, Matthew Perry. (August 19,1969-October 28, 2023)

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sonyadance · 3 months ago

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Travels and Dancing 22.5

From Sweden, I decided to take care of one of my bucket list item. I don’t have many items of this style (travels) left since those are the ones I decide to tick off first. I just always made sense with travelling the world for work to find a way to make random destinations fit in between gigs, the best one yet has been managing to get to Easter Island, Santiago, and Mendoza after teaching in Tahiti, before an energetic training in Bolivia in Lake Titicaca, and before going to teach in Buenos Aires! What is left now are a few trips I added that I can do or not, maybe when I’m retired or when it makes sense, and long term items like having a kid, learning another language, maybe playing piano, studying… well, I won’t say too much, you’ll see when it happens. Croatia had been on my list for too long. I tried to make it happen in 2019, but it didn’t work, then Covid, 2023 didn’t work also for different reasons, and now I was like: I almost don’t go to Europe anymore, I have to make it happen! I have to admit that I rushed into it and it was poorly planned. At first, I had hoped Nelson would join me, but he already had other plans, then I thought maybe my boyfriend could, but it didn’t make sense, and then I thought of asking my amazing friend Greet: we used to see each other every second year max through hers and my travels, but with covid and me travelling less, her trying to stay in Europe to minimize environmental impact of travelling, well, we hadn’t seen each other in… 5 years? I had to buy my Sweden flight to I bought a multi-destinations back from Zagreb. I definitely could have planned better, go south, drive up the coast the few days that I was waiting for my friend, but I spent a few chill days exploring Zagreb. Absolutely love the city. Even during a heatwave. I was supposed to meet my friend at 10am on the Thursday to leave for the coast, but she missed her train. No worries, reconvene for 5pm, get the rental car and start driving. We met at 6pm and there was a message for us in the rental car business window: they had waited for us, but were gone (even if closing time was 8pm). Ensued a race for a rental car that we wouldn’t need to pay 400 euros for and that we could get that evening to not lose any Airbnbs we had another reservations along the way. After much talk, we managed to pay the guy from the first place to come back and reactive our reservation. Anyway, after a great start full of adventures, we managed to drive to Plitvice Lakes. We slept a few hours in a cozy room and left early to visit the park. We had read that it was full, but omg… I’ve never felt so far from nature while being so close to it: just throngs of tourists on a single wooden boardwalk, stopping to take pictures and creating traffic to a complete halt. Honestly, not the best part of the trip.

It’s beautiful, but… we drove to Pag where we were going to stay for three days. That part was awesome: waking up early to go swim and lounge at the beach, get a coffee and a pastry, when it gets too warm around noon, find a small restaurant for lunch, go back home for a shower, reading and/or a nap, go back out to walk or explore, get dinner or a wine tasting, come back home to talk while sipping on a glass of white wine on the terrace. Hard life. My favorite part of the trip was finding the Life on Mars hiking trail. Well, they reconstructed it in the last year so it’s mostly a boardwalk (not so much hiking per se), but the view is incredible and the landscape makes you feel like you are on Mars. We found a corner of rocks to go down to and swim naked. It felt so good, refreshing, making us feel alive again. We put our clothes back on and about 1m after, we hear crazy loud music and tones of people: a boat with about two hundred people just made the corner. Loll. Timing is everything. We had to drive back to Pag, take the car back, have a final delicious vegan dinner together and I left in the early morning to catch my flight back home. For the first time in a long time I was in economy plus. Oh! Now I understand why I use to be ok travelling so much, what a freaking difference, you don’t even realize when you’re used to it, but I lost my status with the pandemic and let me tell you, having warm food served in actual plates, good wine in a glass glass, more leg room. Delicious!

I made it home Wednesday night, did laundry, packed, slept, said hi to my boyfriend, and left to teach all day Thursday. I was supposed to leave that night at 8pm after my WCS guided practice to get to New England Dance Festival, but I was so exhausted and jetlagged and lost my copilot, that I thought it’d be way safer to wake up extra early and go. So 5am on Friday and I am on the road to Newton, Massachusetts. I remember going to that event as a baby westie with the Montreal crew… but it had been a while! I was welcomed warmly by the sweet even director, got settled, started teaching some private lessons, had a couple awesome workshops that were pretty full and with a great atmosphere, judge the competitions, and reconnected with people I love so much and use to see all the time when I started WCS and we would all drive down to Boston, Vermont, New England area, maybe DC. It was a beautiful and refreshing weekend that ended with a lively breakfast with the event director. You know sometimes you meet people, one generation before you, that inspire you a lot. That was it.

The last paragraph was shorter, not because there was less to tell, but my wrists hurt from writing. Loll Commitment to the cause! Which cause, you ask? Well, having memories for me to look back at, and if it entertains some other people, then great! I had two days to repack and organize for a road trip with my love. Oh, also I forgot to tell you about one of my worse idea ever. I decided that I didn’t want to bother people and ask for help to move and that I was going to do it myself during August. Yeah, nah. Wtf is that idea? I was so exhausted by the end of it, it could have been done in 2h with 10 people and a pizza, instead it took me so many hours, time and energy: packing, bringing the stuff down to my car, driving it back to my partner’s place, bringing the stuff up three stories, unpacking, driving back there. Stupid, stupid idea. Oh well, you live, you learn. Maybe, hopefully. I was so out of it, I managed to leave with the wrong mattress (the owner had left one there) and now I have to rent a small truck just to do that exchange. Grrrrr…. Anyway. That part is almost done by now. I feel like I am starting to breathe again. Naturally, my car broke down before the road trip and during. A classic. But all and all, it was a success. My partner had never camped before, I am use to car camping by now, which is approximately a hundred times better than camping, so we borrowed a tent and all the shebang. The first night we stopped in Quebec City where I had a couple privates to teach and a workshop. I have never enjoyed teaching a workshop so much. I can’t put the finger on it and probably because it is a mix of many elements, but the studio space, the people, the atmosphere, the attitude, my enthusiasm for the cause loll. We all had a great time and they received material to practice for the next year.

The next morning, we left and drove on the coast. We stopped in Ste-Flavie, my favorite spot in Quebec, and we set up camp in Matane before heading to a country evening by the water. We had a good night of sleep, a delicious breakfast on the stove and left to get to Parc Forillon. We had a few stops on the way, and when we finally got to our destination, it smelled like rain. So I thought it’d be a good idea to set up a bash. I have a lot of the technical knowledge, but the manual execution of a three year old with one hand trying to tie a knot in a carrot. Thankfully, Alex was better manually (not so much technically, you would have thought the reverse for a dancer and an engineer!). We managed to set everything, woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a gigantic plastic bag getting tossed in the wind: it was storming so bad the bash actually broke. Get out of the tent, undo everything under torrential rain, get back in the tent wet, try and sleep to wake up an hour later in a puddle of water. Luckily for us, the next day was sunny and windy so we managed to dry everything out. We drove to what use to be a secret swimming hole until someone put it on TikTok last year and it blew up so bad that they had to create installations and make people pay. It is really a beautiful place, with an aquamarine waterfall, and a sweet décor. We then stopped at a perfect sandy beach for some rest and later grabbed our bicycle and roller blades to roll on the beautiful cycling trail they’ve created from the beach to the town. There is almost never anybody there, it is so peaceful! We came back in time to sleep early and wake up at 3am to walk to the Sunrise Show. It is part of a festival and I have been for a few years now: you go on the top of a cliff, get some warm coffee and cookies, sit in your camping chair and listen to the amazing artist while the sun rise beside you. Absolutely majestic. Every time. We went back to camp for breakfast and a quick nap before hiking to a viewing tower with a crazy 360 view. It was definitely worth the steep incline. We drove to another beach that day and tried a local microbrewery before heading back and trying to start our third fire. We did it!!!! We bought kindle wood cause our axe was not so performant and we only had twigs and logs. The next way was the drive back and a stop in Rivière-du-Loup for a really nice Auberge. That is when the car broke down and we couldn’t get it to accelerate passed 70k/h in a 100k/h zone with one lane each way. It was a bit stressful, but we made it and found a mechanic. They couldn’t find the problem that night so we had to go back in the morning (meaning my sweet Alex because I was just not wanting to hear anything about my car anymore). We dressed up to eat pizza with a fancy wine with a stunning sunset. Probably my favorite part of that trip, just the layers and contrast. We enjoyed the spa, the view, the food, the perfect king size bed (now my boyfriend wants a new bed where he actually has room to sleep without me rolling over him), we played some basket in the morning while waiting for the car and we made it all the way back home that day. A miracle. A 600$ miracle, but still. ;-)

Now, I have moved in with my partner. There are a lot of new things happening for me. A way of living life that might be ordinary and easy for most, but that I don’t know and never learned to function in. So wish me luck on this new adventure we call life!

As always, thanks for being with me if you read until here. And if you liked it, you should buy my book: it’s twenty times more interesting… at least.

#dance teacher #dancer #dance #westcoastswing #wcs #modernswing #travel #travelsanddancing

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bang-and-a-blintz · 4 years ago

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Through the Darkness

CHAPTER SEVEN - RED AND BLUES

Fandom: Dracula (2020)

Relationship: Dracula/Roxana(OFC)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3,708

In hindsight, Roxana probably shouldn't have had three strongly poured bloody marys. She should have switched to something less filling after a big meal; like a vodka soda, if she felt like keeping to the same liquor, or a gin and tonic to stir things up. Unfortunately, all the tomato juice and grits and bread and sausage and eggs did not mix well with the sight of someone's throat being literally torn open.

It was nasty, but at least now she could jot down 'successfully grossed out a five-hundred-something-year-old vampire' in her list of lifetime achievements.

"Well, that was…unexpected." Dracula said after a moment, his hands hung in the air like they were held up by marionette strings, "Revolting, yes, but I have to admit, this is a first."

"I…um, I would apologize, but -"

"Yes, you should be sorry! This is an Ermenegildo Zegna." He growled lowly and the Italian name slid off his tongue in such a way that it sent shivers down her spine. Not entirely unpleasant ones, she'd be loath to admit.

"Who cares about a suit? You just ended that man's life!" She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and took a few steps back to distance herself from the vampire. "Besides, you clearly can afford another one."

Dracula rolled his eyes and sighed, his hands now working on their own accord as he began to carefully peel the ruined jacket away from his body. "It's not about the money, Roxana, it's about the craftsmanship and quality of the items; think of the countless hours spent meticulously sewing and sizing each individual article of clothing. All of that dedication and hard work tossed away just because you can't stomach a little bit of blood."

"Unbelievable." She began to pace in a small circle, dragging her nails quite viciously and repeatedly through her unruly locks. "You care more about some bits of fabric than a human being's life."

After shaking off the chunks from the coat, he placed it sloppily over the corpse and started working on his vest. There was that ferocity that he recognized in her, it reminded him of Agatha, and it was that Van Helsing fire that was not so easily snubbed. "You will come to learn, my dear, that death is part of the journey. It is the finished masterpiece. Think of it as your magnum opus! It is the very thing that defines the meaning of every life and is nothing that you should be afraid of."

"You're missing my point completely and, for the record, I'm not scared of death."

Dracula was relieved to find the button-up shirt underneath his vest to be unscathed, but also a little more than slightly intrigued by her statement. He would, how they say, put a pin in it and return back to that later. "Then why are you so upset? It's not like you knew him."

She groaned and threw up her hands in exasperation. Roxana was not about to try and teach an old vampire new moral tricks, that was well above her pay grade.

Rolling up his sleeves, the Count set out to retrieve his belongings from the pockets of his jacket and then fitted the dirtied clothes onto the dead body. For the final touch, he slid his Ray Bans over the man's glassy eyes. "Ah, good enough, I suppose."

Dracula took a step back to view his handiwork while absentmindedly wiped the remaining blood from his face. Roxana stopped her pacing to stare dumbly at the sight before her. The mugger was propped up against the wall with his head drooped down to the side, covering the neck wound so it looked like someone who had little too much fun and passed out on the sidewalk. Not an entirely uncommon sight in this city.

"Please tell me you're not just going to leave him here."

He looked at her with raised brows, "And what would you have me do?"

"Clean up after yourself!" Roxana cried out. The adrenaline rush she got from witnessing a murder had not completely dissipated so now she was left grasping a bout of minor hysteria. "I would think that would be obvious!"

Dracula laughed, "That's rich coming from someone who just upchucked her dinner all over one of my finest suits!"

"Because you decided to floss your teeth with some dude's carotid artery."

"Why are you surprised? You know what I am!"

"Well, excuse me if I was a little caught off guard because it's a hell of a lot different seeing a vampire up close and in action as opposed to a tiny, shitty computer screen!" She was nearly shouting, oblivious to the desperation in her own voice as he drew closer. Her neck craned upwards to try and boldly keep eye contact while his grin grew to make him look like the cat who caught the canary. "Stop smiling like that!"

"Make me." His tone was teasingly low, those eyes wicked and sharp. She noticed how lively Dracula looked after he fed. It was unsettling.

WHOOP! WHOOP!

They jumped apart as sirens suddenly yipped at them and a bright flashlight waved back and forth between their faces. The dark street was instantly flooded by the red and blues spinning on top of the police car.

"Oh, fuck me." She murmured with wide eyes. Her hands instinctively started to raise a little before she forced them back down, reminding herself to act casual.

Dracula leaned over slightly, "Is that an invitation?"

"Please shut up." She hissed back, shooting him a glare. "And no, it's not."

He made a facial shrug and then smirked, tossing her a casual little wink just to rile her up. The short, frustrated huff he got in return was satisfying enough.

"Everything all right here?" The cop rolled down his window and peered out at them. "And how about your friend over there? He's not looking so great."

The light shined over the dead guy leaning against the wall and the pair froze, glancing at one another.

This was her moment, she could tell the officer about the murder and maybe he could protect her against…the vampire. Oh, who was she kidding? Dracula would quicker snap her neck and drain the officer before risking the chance of exposure like that.

Meanwhile, her inner moral soldiers battled fiercely inside her brain over whether or not she should even say something about the murder. On the one hand, the count was a vicious blood-sucker who killed a man in a blink of the eye without any remorse, but on the other hand, it was technically self-defense…on her behalf anyway.

Logic eventually won when she realized that even if she did rat him out, it was highly unlikely the cop would even believe the truth. She would sound like a crazy person. The mental image of Dracula laughing and waving while she, hands uncomfortably cuffed behind her back, watched on with teary eyes as he grew smaller and smaller in the distance because the cruiser she was detained in drove off to the nearest prison…or an insane asylum. Whichever was closest.

Be killed or incarcerated? Neither were ideal. So Roxana went for door number three instead.

Dracula saw the look on her face. The look of a scared little rabbit getting ready to bolt. He had already tensed in preparation for her to make a sudden move but, to his surprise, that peculiar look vanished and Roxana smiled.

"All good here, officer! And yes, unfortunately this drunk pleb is with us. We were just about to get a ride back to the airbnb, sir." She shrugged her shoulders with a laugh. "It was his first time on Bourbon Street."

"Yes, I do believe he had one too many bloodys," Dracula was pleasantly surprised by her change in demeanor and happily played along. "Poor man vomited all over himself before we could find him a bin. Such a lightweight."

The officer squinted a little and they waited with bated breaths as he took a moment, which really felt like ages, to decide whether or not he believed their story.

"Alright then," He said at length and pointed to Dracula, "You make sure they get home safe now, ya hear?"

Roxana's eyebrows rose in disbelief while the Count grinned toothily, stepping over to her. She felt his hand slide up her spine and rest in a light grip around the back of her neck. "Of course, officer. I'll take care of them."

With a nod, the cop turned off his lights and drove back down the street, making a left at the next corner. Roxana let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and dropped her shoulders.

That was a close call.

"My, my, your heart is racing, Roxana." Dracula murmured into the darkness that had enveloped them once more. His thumb brushed over her pulse point and he was thrilled when it spiked at the touch. She went to move away but halted her step when she felt his grip tighten, those claws threatening to make a cut. He turned her to face him and firmly, but gently tilted her head back to force her to meet his stare.

"That was your chance. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Please," She scoffed and jutted her chin out defiantly, "We both know it would've been pointless."

"Still," He spoke softly, his head angling back as he observed her, "You could have told the police officer the truth."

"And have you kill us both? I think not. Remember, the foundation showed me those videos and I know you're immune to bullets. So what good would that have done me?"

Dracula stared at her for a moment and then wetted his lips slowly before speaking, inching closer and closer towards her face. "For the last time, I'm not killing you yet because I wish to get to know you, but if you keep bringing it up, I might feel inclined to change that timeframe."

"Well are you going to be this intolerable all the time? Because if so, then just get on with it, I'm in no mood to play a long con here, big guy."

"No, I do believe the fun has just begun."

"Great. Just great." Roxana was truly done. She could still taste the bile on her tongue like acid, it made her feel disgusting, and she wanted nothing more than the day to end. "Now, if you'll let me go, I'm in desperate need of a shower, a toothbrush, and a bed. Maybe a nightcap too because the last twenty-four hours of my life have been absolutely fucked."

Acquiescing her request, Dracula released his grip and allowed her to distance herself from him once more. He watched as she dragged a hand down her face and heaved a sigh; her blue eyes almost shined in the darkness up at him as she gave him a tired half-assed glare. She then turned and started walking towards Canal Street.

"Where are you going?"

"Home." She called over her shoulder, her manners be damned. "Goodnight, Dracula."

The Count gawked when she didn't even give him a second glance and he did nothing but watch as she made her way to the end of the street and disappeared around the corner. He truly did not understand that woman. Perhaps it was ingrained in the Van Helsing blood to be habitually nonplussed by his vampiric prowess.

He pulled out his cell phone with a sigh as his thoughts drifted to the dead man wearing his now-ruined five-thousand-dollar suit and about a quart of said Van Helsing's DNA. Dracula needed to get rid of that evidence before it came back and bit him in the ass. No pun intended.

"Hello, my lord, how was your day today?" Renfield sounded chipper as ever.

"I need you to dispose of a body."

Dracula grinned from ear to ear as he listened delightfully to the unfiltered frustration in Frank Renfield's long-suffering sigh.

—

What a day, Roxana thought as she shuffled onto the streetcar and plopped down in one of the wooden seats. With a lurch, the machine squealed and rattled as it moved forward along the track. She winced; the benches on these particular modes of transportation were incredibly unforgiving on one's posterior.

Blankly, she stared into nothing, not paying attention as the buildings passed by. The events of the night played on repeat in her mind. A real vampire killed a real person right before her eyes. Was this really real life now? She was too exhausted to try and figure it out.

She felt like an outsider looking in on her body as it ran on autopilot. Her hand pulled the string to stop the car and somehow her feet managed to take her all the way to her front step without incident.

Fifolet meowed at her incessantly by the door but it sounded muted and far away as she unlocked it. Robotically, she made a beeline to the bathroom and shed her clothes along the way. Not even waiting for the water to warm up, Roxana stood unflinchingly under the cold spray and began to clean herself as the temperature increased to the cusp of scalding. She scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin was red and raw. When she was finished, she pressed her forehead against the tiled wall and closed her eyes, simply listening to the water roar around her.

Without thinking, she lifted her hand up to gently wrap her fingers around her neck and couldn't stop her mind from wandering…from remembering the distinct sensation of another hand. His hand. She could almost still feel the vast expanse of his palm grasping her jugular and those impossibly long fingers curling nearly all the way around. Or how he leaned so close until he was just a breath away and anytime she would inhale, those fingers would tighten ever-so-slightly against her flesh.

Roxana's eyes shot open and she dropped her hand like it was on fire. Goosebumps lit up her arms and legs, despite the scorching water. Slamming the nozzle off, she threw back the curtains and began to dry off with furious gusto.

He was a vile creature. A feral beast. Not even human. The mere memory of his hands on her should be enough to appall her entirely. It must be delirium, she thought stubbornly, shaking the abhorrently traitorous images from her mind. She wrapped the towel around her head and strode towards the bedroom.

"I just need to go the fuck to sleep." Roxana muttered to herself and swiped the half-empty bottle of bourbon from the counter on her way. She collapsed onto the bed once she reached it, but sleep did not find her. Instead, she laid awake through the early hours of the morning, watching the ceiling fan spin on and on and on. She steadily knocked back the remainder of the liquor until the corners of her visions blurred and her eyelids became too heavy to keep open.

By the time the sun had risen in the sky, the bottle had rolled underneath her bed, long since emptied, and her light snores could be heard along with the chirping birdsongs. Fifolet patted over and curled up next to the woman, resting her paw gently on her outstretched arm and knowing that her human would be needing comfort now more than ever before.

—

The rest of the week flew by without any sort of batty drama and Roxana was grateful for it. She had a light workload with only two dinners scheduled and each went off without a hitch. All felt to be back to normal within her world. The weather wasn't comfortable yet, unfortunately, so she spent most of her free time relaxing at home. Not that she was using the cold as an excuse to stay inside and away from a certain someone. Nope, not a chance.

After that night, she had woken up with a righteous hangover and truly believed she had made up everything that had occurred in those twenty-four hours, but the textual evidence on her phone proved otherwise. Dracula had messaged her just once, to make sure she had made it home after their encounter, which she had to begrudgingly admit was rather sweet. Other than that, she was surprised to hear nothing more from the Count.

Roxana was cherishing the peace and quiet while she could. She knew that this whole interaction with Dracula was almost one-hundred-percent going to end up with her premature death. It wasn't hard to understand that hanging out with vampires and certain mortal peril basically went hand in hand. Not to mention the pesky fact about her being directly tied to a bloodline of women who had quite a lot to do with this ancient warlord and, spoiler alert, both of those women were killed...by him. So she intended to enjoy the calm before the storm.

Her phone went off next to her as she was boiling a pot of water for her own dinner and she saw an unknown number flash up at her.

"Hello?"

"Ah Miss von Hels, this is Keres Grimaldi. How I appreciate you taking the time as I am sure you must be terribly busy." The cold, feminine voice on the other line was not who Roxana had expected.

She blinked and then glanced around. The only plans she had this evening were drinking a bottle or two of wine, eating pasta, and watching some mind-numbing sitcoms. Yes, she was terribly busy. "Oh, no, not a problem at all. What can I do for you, Miss Grimaldi?"

"I would like to go over some of the details for this upcoming dinner." Keres' tone was icy and authoritative, leaving no room for nonsense or frivolous chatter. Roxana had a hard time imagining this woman throwing any sort of convivial party. "First, I believe you are aware of the delicate situation I am in, as head of the council, and the reason I chose your restaurant as the location once more is that I know that you will handle these delicacies with the same discretion you do with all of your soirees. Your clientele is famous and you appear to have the subtlety to maintain secrecy."

Roxana could not tell if this woman was being deliberately facetious or if she just always had the demeanor of a robotic bitch. Realizing very quickly that she wasn't about to get many words in, the chef put the phone on speaker and began to record the conversation so she could go back over it later to write the details down in her schedule. Work smarter, not harder. With a smile, she continued stirring the sauce as Keres plowed onward with her demands.

"The dinner will take place on the last Friday of the month, just two weeks before Mardi Gras. We shall be seating ten and you will provide meals for only five. It will be just you there and no other employees during the dinner, absolutely no exceptions."

"Okay, I'll have them leave before the clients arrive. You understand that includes my valet, right?"

"Yes, the transportation will be taken care of, therefore parking will not be an issue."

Strange, Roxana thought to herself while pouring the pasta into the strainer. "That works. Anything else? Dietary restrictions?"

As the words left her mouth, she winced and silence filled the room. It was a perfectly normal question under any other circumstance, but perhaps not this one.

"I noticed the other night that you seemed to be familiar with Mr. Balaur."

"I…um," She wasn't sure how she should answer the woman, "It was the first time I had met him, but I guess you could say we have mutual acquaintances."

"Miss von Hels, you are aware of his vampiric nature, are you not?" Well, Keres was certainly not tiptoeing around the subject.

"…Yes."

"Good, that's one less tedious explanation. I will provide the necessary dietary requirements, so you need not worry yourself over that. As for the mayor and his partners, you will want to contact them and decide on a menu that will suit their needs."

"Easy." She poured another glass of wine and took a long drink. "Anything else?"

The line was quiet for a moment and she had to check to make sure the call hadn't ended before Keres spoke up, "No, that will be all for now, Miss von Hels. Thank you for your time."

"Thank you for calling, Miss Grimaldi, I hope you have a great rest of your evening." Roxana really appreciated clients who were straight to the point, for it was often a headache to deal with indecisive people.

"One more thing," Keres' voice made her hand stop midway from pressing the end button, "Watch yourself around him. I've spent some time with Mr. Balaur in the last few years and I have never seen him look the way he did at you and this concerns me, not for your wellbeing of course, but for the future of our council. I will not have him go feral again, not under my watch, so if you know what is best for yourself, I would advise you to attempt to maintain a distance and use the utmost caution."

This caught Roxana off guard and her brows furrowed, "Then why are you having the dinner at Sanguine, if you are so concerned about this?"

Keres let out a laugh and it was anything but joyful. It lasted a beat too long for something that couldn't even be considered humorous and continued to send chills fluttering down Roxana's neck with a foreboding sense of danger.

"Oh, I know better by now than to try and take his toys away."

Taglist:

@festering-queen @vissidarte213 @moony691 @allis143 @torntaltos @apocalypsenowish

#Ooooooooouuuuueeeeee it’s starting to get exciting #dracula x ofc #dracula bbc #dracula fanfiction #through the darkness

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aufbrechenumauszubrechen · 5 years ago

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aufbrechen, um auszubrechen – Finding the love of my life in Ottawa

Hello world!

You might be wondering why this entry is written in English. The answer is simple: It's because this is a very special one for a very special person. Exactly two years ago I met a man that I've been in love with ever since. And this is how our two paths crossed...

I arrived at the Ottawa airport in the late afternoon. Compared to Vancouver it was freezing. Snow was covering houses, trees and streets. One could assume it was actually winter. I took an Uber to my Airbnb which cost me about $30. When I had booked the Airbnb everything around looked pretty close. I actually thought I could walk into the city within 45 minutes. Oh, what a fool I was. After I arrived at my apartment in Gloucester, a suburb of Ottawa, and logged into the wifi I soon found out that the next grocery store was a 30 minute walk away. Needless to say that there was 10cm of snow covering the streets.

But since I was hungry and the owner of the apartment was not home yet, I decided to go for that walk to buy myself some dinner. Except for that huge scarf I had bought in Revelstoke my winter gear was rather uncommon – two t-shirts, a sweater, a light jacket, a pair of jeans and runners. I'm still freezing just thinking about that walk. But when I came back I had dinner and some snacks in my backpack. So it was definitely worth it. I made myself some food and had great company – the owner's two cats. With my stomach full of spaghetti I went upstairs to my room. One of the reasons I went to Ottawa was to meet the OTM crew. OTM stands for One Track Mind and it's a group of people training for the decathlon. Kevin, head of that crew, vlogged about his life as a decathlete and put the videos on YouTube. I had been watching his videos for quite a while now and was eager to finally meet and train with the crew. Before I started my trip I had been emailing Kevin about the possibility of training with them. He liked the idea. So now I emailed him again asking about their training schedule for the week. While I was waiting for him to reply I opened up Grindr on my phone. I hadn't touched the app since Vancouver so I was interested to see if the Ottawa users were less creepy. And indeed most men on there seemed to be rather ordinary judging by their profile pictures. Also, I did not get any dick pics. So I was regaining trust in the app. Still, I did not use my real name on the app. I was Ben. Nice to meet you! Since I was still home alone I spent the night scrolling through numerous profiles of gay Ottawa men. If you are interested in a person you can either text them right away or send that person a flame to see if they like you back. Since I'm not good at taking the first step, I usually waited for people to text me or send me a flame. There was only one person that night that got my flame. His name was Brennan and I liked his greenish blue eyes. There was something faithful in his look. It did not take long for him to send me a flame back. My heart jumped a little when I saw that notification. Now it was time for me to take the first step. I started texting him on the app. Honestly, I don't even remember what my first lines were, probably something like „Hi, I'm Josef... I mean Ben. Nice to meet you!“. But whatever I said first, it must have worked because he texted back. I was super happy and we texted back and forth for quite some time. Finally, I got a text message from Kevin that there is training tomorrow morning and that he's gonna pick me up at 9am. It was 2am. Time to go to bed. I put my phone aside and fell asleep with a happy smile on my face.

I got up after less than six hours of sleep. But nothing could worry me because Brennan still texted back. After a quick breakfast Kevin picked me up to go to training. What I really like about Canadians is that they are so open-minded. I mean, Kevin just picked up a random German guy to take him to training. We had only texted a few times and soon after I was joining the OTM training session in the Dome at Louis Riel. I had never seen a 400 meter indoor track in my entire life. It was awesome! Unfortunately, none of the other OTM crew members showed up for that training. But two girls that I knew from Kevin's vlogs – Charlotte and Sveta – were also there. So that made it a bit less awkward. We spend the next two and a half hours doing long jump drills, short sprints, hurdles, med ball exercises, some weight training and finshed off with 2x300m. It was a lot of fun. I was super out of shape, but they still made me feel like I was part of the group. In the end, I got a cap from their coach James and two Ottawa Lions t-shirts from Zach, another coach from that club. I had a great time! Thanks a lot, Kevin!

Back at home, I took a shower, ate the rest of yesterday's spaghetti and went to a thrift shop that was next to the grocery store. I desperately needed a warm jacket. But I was unlucky. They did not have any jackets that I could wear with confidence. So I walked back to my Airbnb. I was lucky that I just made it before it started to snow like crazy. When I arrived I finally met the owner, Mark, and his girlfriend Kaitlyn. They were both super nice. While they were preparing their dinner we talked a lot about travelling and cats. After lots of laughs I went upstairs and started texting with Brennan again. We agreed on exchanging numbers and continued our conversation on WhatsApp. Since Kevin had told me that there was free ice skating Downtown and I needed to go buy a warmer jacket anyway, I knew that I was heading to the city the next day. So I suggested meeting Downtown. When Brennan did not they no right away I figured my chances were really good to actually meet that man with the beautiful eyes. Again, I went to bed with a smile on my face.

When I went downstairs to make myself some breakfast the next morning Mark offered to take me Downtown since he had a meeting there anyway. An hour later I found myself standing in the cold wind of Parliament Hill. I had booked 30 minutes of ice skating online. So I just rented some skates and had a great time on the ice without falling once.

After freezing my butt off on the ice it was finally time to get some winter clothes. So I went to the Rideau Mall to get a nice warm jacket and some shoes. I texted Brennan to see what his plans were for the day. He actually considered coming Downtown to meet me. But I had some convincing to do. He told me how gross he looked today and I told him that I would really like to experience his complete grossness first hand. It kind of worked. He agreed to come and meet me at The Highlander Pub. We had a date! So now I did not only need a warm jacket and shoes but also a nice pair of jeans and a sweater since I was wearing some super worn out travelling clothes. I found everything I needed, got changed in the bathroom, stuffed my old clothes in a backpack that was way too small and looked in the mirror. Just one little detail was missing. I was still wearing my glasses. But since I did not have glasses on in any of my profile pictures I figured to better not wear them. So I didn't. It made my vision worse but helped my confidence. I checked my phone and Brennan just texted that he was sitting in The Highlander Pub, in the left corner when you enter. I loved how specific he was because it lowered the chances of awkwardly not finding each other immensely. And that's when I walked in and saw him for the first time. He smiled at me and I smiled back. I said hi and the rest is history. We had an apple cider and some good talks. We was funny, asked smart questions and made me feel super comfortable. After our Ciders we had some pizza at The Grand Pizzeria and Bar. That's where he asked me if I was actually gay. I had a good laugh and confirmed my gayness. Time just flew by. He showed me around the city. He took the picture of me hanging from the T of the famous Ottawa sign. We walked through the snow.

To Parliament Hill where we saw a little light show.

After our amazing first date he drove me to my Airbnb. We hugged and said goodbye both knowing that this would not be the last time we saw each other. I went to bed with the biggest smile on my face.

After all the excitement the day before I slept super long. I went to get some Christmas presents for my family and headed to training after. This time the whole OTM crew was present.

We did some sprints, weight training and shot put. It was fun to get back into training. After a shower at home Brennan picked me up to get some burritos at Mucho Burrito. On our drive there I took all my courage and placed my hand on his that was on the gearshift. I asked him if that was okay. He said yes. That made me really happy. At Mucho Burrito I ordered a Mucho Veggie, the vegetarian burrito option, and was asked what kind of meat I would like on that. Classic. Brennan and I had a good laugh about that and ate our delicious burritos. We headed to his place to watch a movie. Julia Roberts ate, prayed and loved. And we cuddled. The weather outside got super ugly. Snow fell like crazy and the wind was picking up. We both decided that it was not the best idea to drive or be in a car right now. So I stayed the night. To not rush things I slept in the guest room which is something we now laugh about a lot. Whenever I visit Brennan nowadays he asks if I want to sleep in the guest room again. Probably I should some day to relive the memories.

They next day started with lots of cuddles and breakfast. It felt like the right place to be. Brennan took me back to my Airbnb so I could make it to training in time. At training we just did some running and pole vaulting. I took an Uber home, showered and prepared my dinner. I spent the night at the kitchen table talking and laughing with Mark and Kaitlyn. They gave me a little guestbook to sign. Here is what I did.

After that I went upstairs, packed my things and fell asleep right away. My Ottawa experience had been amazing so far. The next destination was Montréal although I liked Ottawa and especially Brennan so much that I just wanted to stay there.

The next day I left Gloucester and took the train to Montréal. The train ride was quite scenic so the time flew by and suddenly I arrived in the most populated city of Québec. When I left the train station to walk the few blocks to my hostel a windy negative 15 degrees celsius blew into my face. I had never experienced anything like that. It felt unreal. And very, very cold. I made it to the hostel in one frozen piece, checked in and got to my room. At hostel looked nice at first, but the eight bunk bedroom looked and smelled like prison. We had a little bathroom in there that probably hadn't been cleaned in two years. It was a mess. But it was cheap. I just put my stuff in that room and left it as fast as I could. The common area was nice though. And they had a big room for reading which nobody used. So I sat down there and started writing on my blog. After a while I could not concentrate anymore so I decided to go ugly Christmas sweater shopping. It's a family tradition that I started a few years ago. I basically put on every piece of clothing I had in my backpack and went outside. After a few failed attempts of finding a really ugly one I found this one.

After my shopping success I went to the Museum of Modern Art. They had a Leonard Cohen exhibition. All I knew about him was that he wrote Hallelujah. So I was eager to learn more. I walked out of that exhibition three hours later thinking that I learnt a lot. But now the only thing I remember is his quote: There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. I really like that quote, but still feel embarrassed about not being able to remember more. Not to blame anyone here but I was constantly texting Brennan while walking through the museum. One could say I might have been a bit distracted. After that nice educational visit I got a delicious falafel and went back to the hostel. The room was still smelly but so was I after the falafel. So I called it a day and fell asleep.

The next day I slept in a little, took a shower in one of the hallway bathrooms, got my breakfast and went into the city. I bought a few postcards and a nice sweater for Brennan as a surprise. After that I felt like I had seen enough of Montréal since all I could think of was Brennan. So I went to the train station to change my train ticket to be back in Ottawa earlier. That way I could spend one more full day with Brennan before leaving for Iceland. I paid $21 to change my ticket and was a happy man. Through the freezing wind of Montréal I walked back to the hostel to relax in that reading room nobody was using. When I went back into my room I met Charlie from London. He told me about a Christmas Market he wanted to go to and asked if I wanted to join. So we walked to that Christmas Market which felt a bit like a German Christmas Market. Just that it was trying too hard.

But it was at that place and time that I had my very first poutine. I felt super Canadian right away. The poutine itself was okay. It was more about the experience anyway.

After that Charlie went to a party and I went to bed.

The next morning I got up early to catch the train to Ottawa. On the train ride I watched Home Alone 1 on my laptop. It's the kind of nostalgia I like. With the perfect timing of Kevin hugging his mother in the end I arrived in Ottawa. Brennan picked me up at the train station. We went to our favourite – Mucho Burrito – and with a full stomach made it to his place. We spend all day watching movies and cuddling on the couch. I enjoyed every minute of it. Julie Andrews taught us the Do-Re-Mi as we were watching The Sound of Music. Later Melissa McCarthy food poison pooed in the sink in Bridesmaids. All in all, it was a successful day that ended with pizza and more cuddles. This time I upgraded myself to sleeping in his bed. We were both happy with that decision.

The next day it was time to say goodbye for now. I was headed to Iceland next and Scandinavia after. But I was already sure that I would pass on the last Scandinavia week and get on a plane back to Canada. I gave him the sweater I bought. And he gave me some beautiful gloves. I was so happy and so sad at the same time. He drove me to the airport, gave me one last kiss and the next thing I know is me waving him goodbye. At first, there was a lot of sadness knowing that this part of our story was over, that I was about to continue my travels and that I would not see him for some time now. But soon after I realized that it was just the start of it all. The start of something so beautiful words fail to describe. So I sat there at the gate waiting for my flight. I checked my phone. He texted. Heart emoji. This is just the start. There is so much more to come.

Ich liebe dich, Brennan.

#aufbrechenumauszubrechen #blog #ottawa #love #reise #weltreise #liebe #gay #canada #travel #montreal #muchoburrito

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aoibaratraveler · 5 years ago

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UK Road Trip Week 1

Hello! My name is Danielle and I’m finally using my page to talk about traveling, it’s certainly been a long time coming that’s for sure! I’ve said it in my bio but I am a horrible procrastinator and even though I love traveling and I try to make a habit of going to as many places as I can every year, but I hardly ever document it other than in the form of instagram or facebook really which I am ashamed to say...even though I have three journals that my friends have bought for me specifically for this purpose. Well no more! I’m going to slowly try and make a habit of documenting my travels in the form of tumblr or in my journals and eventually start a youtube channel since I am so inspired by youtubers like Sharmander or Sharla in Japan, Tokidoki Traveler or Abroad in Japan and even lovelyzkelly and I want to be able to share my story and my travels like them!

Eventually I’ll also post about about my past trips and how they have shaped me as a person because I have tons to say on the matter but for now let’s start with the present!

It has officially been a little over a week since I started traveling around the UK with my boyfriend. i’m so happy to finally being able to do this, ever since I moved to Cambridgeshire last September I have been itching to travel again and now I can see all that this country has to offer! We started the trip on July 19th and I decided that I would log each day in my small notebook since I don’t always have access to wifi and then just relay it all here so without further ado! ...By the way follow me on instagram at Danielle.bay to see all the photos from each destination of our trip! (I also have twitter @daniellebay24)

Day 1:

Today started off full with jitters and excitement because we had only just moved into our new place and were now headed off onto a road trip/camping adventure--which would be my very first time doing both and I did not know what to expect. After two hours on the road and eating a delicious chicken mayo sandwich prepared by the bf we arrived at our first campsite. Hilariously our camping neighbours who were in a camper van had set up a washing machine and were hooked up to the communal water area and it was just rather ridiculous and excessive; they were full on glamping. We had a fun albeit confused time setting up our tent then decided to grab dinner at the pub that was on the campsite. My first time sleeping in the tent was rather rough especially with the heavy rain all night, but it was still a fun experience and besides I’m no stranger to sleeping uncomfortably after my experience with couch-surfing.

Day 2:

Woke up surprisingly early on Day 2 without an alarm or anything at about 6:30, i was pleasantly surprised. I hope that camping will fix my internal clock so that I can go back to being an early bird. We quickly packed up after having a coffee and experiencing weather mood swings and then hit the road for the Isle of Sheppey. During the drive I was finally able to finish six more chapters of Harry Potter (don’t judge me, I’m reading the series for the first time and loving it) and we also experienced a very cool, local thunder shower. Once we arrived at the campsite, the bf took the liberty of setting up the tent. It was lovely and warm so he insisted on having a bbq, I objected at first because it was getting late in the day but we ultimately did it only to have it not turn out so great in that it took over an hour for our meat to properly cook and by that time it was dark and cold and the bf was looking a bit sheepish.

Day 3:

Slept slept in a bit to about to 8:45 because I had a very uncomfortable sleep on the hard foam sleeping mat. Eventually we had breakfast which consisted of just strawberries for me, the bf really wanted to make eggs but I told him it was no use unless he had oil to fry with and salt/pepper, he did it anyway and then saw the error in his ways. Later, we decided to go buy some supplies (stuff to fry with) and then charge up. An unfortunate amount of our days have been taken up by going to shops and charging our electronics; each time we’ve spent about three hours...so we’re going to try and remedy that by buying a car gizmo thing that allows us both to charge our phones in the car. After charging up we finally explored the island a bit and went to the edge which was super cool. We saw a horse that looked like a cow, a donkey, two very happy dogs, a snail hanging out on a leaf, and a B&B called “Hogwarts”--all in all a pretty chill day. Oh and we got Chinese takeaway, yum.

Day 4:

My sinuses were really bad when I woke up, I think because of the older couple that decided to pitch up right next to us and smoke until late last night and early in the morning. I woke up at 5:30 because it was just a very uncomfortable sleep and I honestly can’t wait to get a sleeping mat. Anyway I didn’t actually get up until 6:30 and so did the bf. We slowly packed up everything and had our coffees and then were off by 9. Today’s drive was wonderfully scenic and we hugged the coast the whole day. I just regret not transferring my photos on my phone’s storage or deleting some things earlier so that I could have taken more photos and shot more videos...luckily the bf took some for me on his phone. Southern England’s coast is beautiful and I don’t know why it isn’t advertised more. It felt like we were in a different country or somewhere in Italy, Spain or even Southern France. Many coastal cities are much like Santa Monica but cleaner in that each of them have a lovely view of a ferris wheel on the pier and everything seems more chill. From the beautiful coast of Herne Bay to the stunning white cliffs of Dover and all the way through the South Downs AONB to Portsmouth it was a fantastic drive. Unfortunately once we arrived in Portsmouth our Airbnb was less than ideal. The couple in the room next to us were loud through the night and the walls are just too thin. The place is filthy, the shower is covered in mold and it just isn’t the best place to get refreshed and have a good sleep after camping.

Day 5:

Woke up to the obnoxious couple playing rap music at 6:30 and with the guy literally exclaiming that he doesn’t car if he wakes up the rest of the house because he is too “hyped”. We ended up having a chill morning since we had to wait for the bf's radio mp3 transmitter to arrive from Amazon, it’s great because it doubles as a charging station for our phones. We left at around 1:30 and began a lovely stroll in the warm sunshine exploring Portsmouth and it’s coast while also catching Pokemon. We unfortunately had a disappointing lunch that seemed deceivingly good from the menu which was also more expensive than it should have been but after getting the bf’s obligatory Starbucks of the day and reading for a bit we had a delicious beefy poutine and Mr. Whippy and then continued our stroll all the way along the coast and then back to the Airbnb.

Day 6:

Slept in a tad today, suppose I’ve gotten too used to the bed but then again we did walk a lot the day before so we were both really tired. We were out of the place by 11 and then set off to Exbury but not before making a stop at Aldi for a cheap and healthy lunch. The gardens of Exbury ended up being too expensive for what it was worth so we explored the Bealieu village before heading to Hurst Castle near Milford beach. It was so beautiful there on the beach and the walk to the castle was nice albeit tiring, about a 45 min trip each way on a sandspit that was very rocky. After arriving back at the place, we settled in with some iZombie and Dr. Who before bed.

Day 7:

Yay seventh day! I can’t believe that I have actually written everyday, proud of myself. We left the Airbnb earlier today and headed backwards towards the South Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) to a beautiful valley called “Devil’s Dyke”--well, not exactly there, we parked about 3 miles away next to a water tower and then ate our deliciously cheap lunch from Aldi. We set off walking among gorgeous rolling hills and fields. I had always wanted to do this but because it was so humid and because we had foolishly neglected to bring our water, the hour long walk to Devil’s Dyke was harder than I anticipated. We got there in the end after stopping a few times for photos and to catch my breath and only really by cheering myself on internally. The valley was beautiful and vast but because it is considered a tourist attraction, there were more people than I would have liked. We got some water at the pub there, relaxed for a bit and absorbed the views before heading back. The journey back was much easier and faster partly because it was downhill and partly because it was cooler now. Unfortunately it was still equally as painful for my feet. It’s a shame I hadn’t realized sooner but my new sandals have a thing sticking out that irritates the arch of my feet and gives me blisters; still working on how I’ll remedy this. Once back at the car, we set off to Arundel to see the pretty castle and pretty it was, very Hogwartsesque. The town of Arundel was very cute and old timey and I felt it was a nice end to our day. The bf on the other hand regretted not just spending the day in Arundel instead since by the time we got there (18:30) everything was closed. We played Pokemon go for a bit and then headed back to the Airbnb. Once back, we opened our books and read for a couple of hours and then at about 23:30 got ready for bed but that’s when new guests started checking until late into the night, I don’t think they stopped until about 03:00 and were so loud, would turn on all the lights, leave them on, and then head to their rooms. One guest in particular would go in and out of his room constantly leaving all the lights on and talking loudly on the phone in the room next to us. It was really hard to fall asleep, especially because I had hunger pangs but I got there in the end. As for the bf, he’s such a light sleeper that he sadly barely got any sleep...

Alright! That’s all for my captain’s log of week 1! Next week I’ll be back with week 2! See you then!

#englishcoast #ukroadtrip #travel #uk #road trip #camping #expatliving #expattravel #englishnature #britishnature #british sightseeing #canadianintheuk #wanderlust #explore #ukexploring #blog post #firsttimeblogging

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lightsburnbrite · 6 years ago

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Such a Thrill: Part 11

“Where are you going again?” Karina had been home from work for about an hour but had already shed her work clothes in favor of leggings and a well worn band t-shirt. She watched as Leon tied his spotless white sneakers that offset his smart collared shirt and navy sweater and slacks and suddenly felt very under dressed.

Leon shrugged as he picked a small piece of Elsa’s fur off his sleeve. “It’s just a movie premier, a movie about football.”

“Oh.” She pressed her lips together. “You don’t want me to go with you?”

Glancing in the mirror first, Leon then moved to kiss Karina goodbye. “I didn’t think you’d like it. I probably won’t stay long either.”

“Yeah, ok.” By now, Karina didn’t attempt to hide her disappointment but she doubted that Leon picked up on it.

Karina waited for a few hours, scrolling through her phone and pinging her way through her Netflix queue, but she only felt worse when she saw that Lina had posted a picture of she and Joshua at the same event that Leon was at. Finally, Karina shut everything down and sat there in the dark for a few minutes.

When Leon got back to Karina’s he noticed everything was dark. “Maus? Where are you babe?”

Using his phone to illuminate a path, Leon walked back to her bedroom.

“Do we spend too much time together?” Karina’s voice, albeit slurred, seemed to come from the pitch black and startled him.

Turning on the light, both Leon and Karina blinked as their eyes adjusted. “No? I mean, I don’t think so, do you?”

“You don’t think so?” She tried to sound surprised but she only came off as mocking. “Because you never seem to want to do anything with me, I know maybe two of your friends, it just makes me wonder…why?”

Leon stuttered for a minute, caught off guard by both her tone and the line of questions. “We do things, I love doing things with you.”

“Like? You won’t take me to anything for your club, you won’t come to any work function.” Karina laughed now. “You don’t even want me going to your games.”

Leon shook his head in disbelief. “You don’t like football! Why would I ask you to go to something that I know you don’t like?”

“Because you’re playing!” Once Karina had raised her voice, it was easy to hear that she was completely drunk. “I’d go to support you!”

“Ok, ok.” Leon intentionally lowered his voice, hoping that whatever had spawned this argument would soon blow over. “If you want to to go, go. I haven’t gone out to things because I don’t want people to feel like they can delve into your life now because we’re dating. I’ve been trying to spare you your privacy but if that doesn’t matter I’ll go shout it from the rooftops that I’m in love with Karina Müller.”

Karina stared back at him but said nothing. Finally Leon sighed ad covered his face with his hands. “What do you want me to say?”

Again, she just shrugged.

Leon walked over and sat down on the bed, unsure if Karina would stay put, move closer to him, or get up and walk away. “I’ve got a few matches coming up with the national team, one’s in Amsterdam. You wanna go with me and then hang out for a few days before I have to come home?”

It took her a few moments to respond, but eventually, Karina moved closer to Leon and wrapped her arm around his as she leaned against him. “Could I bring Elsa?”

Leon laughed out of sheer relief and then kissed her on the head. “Probably. Find an Airbnb or something that will take dogs. I’m sorry, Mausi, I didn’t realized it bothered you so much.”

“I didn’t realize it did either.” Karina inhaled sharply and let her breath out as a great sigh. “I think I’ve had too much wine.”

Leon smiled as he draped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s still early too. C’mon, let’s go watch a movie or something.”

Karina awoke in the morning with a splitting headache, even the faint sound of birds chirping outside her bedroom window was too much. With a groan, she rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. Feeling Leon sit on the edge of the bed, she rolled back over with one eye open.

“Here,” Leon smiled as he handed her a bottle of water and then two Paracetamol. “Elsa’s all taken care of and we’re going out for brunch with Serge when you feel like it.”

She flung her arm over her eyes and groaned again. “You wait until I have a fucking hangover to invite me to do something with your friends?”

“I love you.” Leon grinned broadly now before he leaned in and kissed her nose.

They eventually made it to Max Pett despite Karina’s mild complaining that they’d be going to a vegan restaurant. Although she would have loved a Bloody Mary and some sort of fried egg sandwich, she really didn’t have much to complain about. What Karina really enjoyed was getting the chance to see Leon interact with his friends. They joked around and shared stories about when they were younger but Karina was surprised to learn that Serge played football too. Besides Joshua, there was one more guy who was part of this group that played on the national team for years together and were all now Bayern players too. They talked and hung out long after their meal was finished, Leon with his arm around Karina the whole time.

She smiled as she felt his thumb graze along her earlobe, something Leon did often. Either he was playing with her earlobe or twisting his fingers through the wispy airs that didn’t want to stay in her ponytail, sometimes just tapping his fingers along the back of her neck. The first time he did that, when they spent almost the entire night talking and catching up, Karina thought he was flirting. She quickly figured out that he didn’t even realize that he was doing it, an unconscious display of affection and contentment.

They said goodbye to Serge and Leon made plans to get an individual training session in while Karina was looking forward to laying on the sofa and doing nothing, her hangover still lingering. When Leon made it back to Karina’s he found her siting on the sofa with her laptop open. She smiled when she saw him walk in and stood to greet him.

“You ok?” Leon wrapped his arms around Karina as she allowed herself to fall against him.

Karina sighed heavily before she nodded. “Yep, I just have zero energy to do anything right now. Don’t let me drink red wine again.”

“Since when have I ever been able to tell you what to do?” Leon let out a small laugh as he briefly rested his head against her.

They stayed that way for a few more minutes before Karina spoke again. “I’m sorry I was being a bitch to you last night.”

Leon shook his head. “You weren’t. And don’t apologize for telling me that I’ve fucking something up.”

She sighed again, closing here eyes and enjoying the feeling of Leon’s arms around her. “I love you, Leon. I feel like I don’t tell you enough, but I do.”

“I know, Mausi.” He squeezed her tightly before kissing the top of her head. “I love you too.”

“So, I’ve booked a suite at the Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam.” Karina took a step back and took hold of Leon’s hands. “I’m going to go up for the week, there’s a few museums I want to check out and then Ghost is playing so Hannah and Kiersten are going to meet me up there.”

He raised an eyebrow as he ran his fingers through Karina’s freshly washed hair. “Is that the skeleton pope band?”

Karina smiled broadly as she nodded her head.

Leon laughed as he kissed her. “You’ve got the weirdest taste in music.”

“I know. So do you.” Karina grinned again as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him back. “You know, it’s been a few days.”

Tilting his head to the side, Leon looked to her for clarification. “A few days? A few days since what?”

Karina let out a little snort, unwilling to believe that he had no idea what she was talking about. “Since we’ve had sex.”

“Oh,” Leon took on a pensive look now. “I guess it has.”

Taking a step back, Karina folded her arms across her chest dramatically and pouted. “Are you really going to make me beg?”

Leon tried his hardest to prevent a smirk from forming on his lips and nodded. “Yes. Definitely.”

Before she could object, Leon swiftly threw Karina over his shoulder and carried her back to her bedroom.

***

They opted to lounge in bed instead of getting up right away. Sometimes they were silent, sometimes there was a bit of playful banter. They had discussed dinner options and dropped into another silence before he spoke again.

“Are you really going to spend five days in Amsterdam without me?” Leon lay on his side, propping his head up with one hand while he gently dragged the other up and down Karina’s stomach as he casually draped his leg over her’s.

Eyes still closed, Karina took hold of Leon’s hand and draped his arm over her shoulder as she turned on her side and nestled in against Leon. “You’re not actually going to be accessible those days and I’d be alone anyway so I might as well.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Leon moved to his back and brought Karina in closer, kissing her head as he gave her a squeeze.

Karina sighed contentedly as she rested her hand on his chest. “Hmm?”

“Next time I go home, I want you to go with me.” He rested his hand on the back of her neck. “it’s been a little while since my family has seen you.”

She gave a little nod before sliding out from under his arm. Karina sat up and stretched, eventually lowering her arms and tapping Leon on the stomach with her fingers. “Let’s go out for food. I’m going to go take a shower.”

***

With the way she had planned her itinerary, Karina left for Amsterdam one day before Leon left for international duty. There was a final public training session and it was a beautiful day, meaning there was a huge crowd watching them. All of the players fulfilled an unspoken obligation of signing autographs and posing for selfies no matter how much they just wanted to head back inside.

Leon and Joshua were making plans for later that evening and starting to make their way to the dressing room when Joshua pointed out a man trying to get Leon’s attention. He took a picture and smiled, about to walk off when the man spoke again.

“Is Karina working today?” Leon turned back around, puzzled, prompting him to continue. “I stopped by the museum but she wasn’t there. I just wanted to say hi.”

Leon looked at Joshua, an indication that Leon was about to be purposely deceptive and then looked back. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Tell her that Thomas said hi, please. Thomas Klein.”

“I’ve got to go now.” Leon gestured over his shoulder and walked away without responding to Klein’s request.

Once Leon caught back up, Joshua raised an eyebrow. “Who’s that guy?”

“I don’t know, exactly.” Leon ruffled his hair as he tried to shake off the feeling of unease that just accompanied the interaction. “He’s been here before and he said something about Karina that time too. I don’t know if she knows him or what but they guy is creepy as fuck.”

Joshua looked back at him like the answer was obvious. “Say something to security then. They can ban him from the grounds.”

“Well, yeah,” Leon shrugged. “But I still want to know why he keeps talking about her.”

#such a thrill #leon goretzka #FINALLY

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hannahharrington · 6 years ago

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CRYING IN EUROPE (postcards from italy)

I struggled with whether or not to post this; I still am, honestly, because it is very raw in every sense. This is something I wrote a year-minus-two-weeks-ago, holed up in an AirBNB in Rome, about losing my good friend Jaymee and the bizarreness of having the best and worst time of your life simultaneously. I did not look at it ever again until a few days ago. It wasn’t written to share with anyone, only because I needed to put thoughts down at the time. Any editing has been very minimal.

The last section I wrote yesterday.

CRYING IN EUROPE (postcards from italy)

1. The first time is on the first day. I land at Heathrow only to find out the express train isn’t running because of the snowstorm and the tube is beyond fucked. I nearly cry out of frustration and jet lag exhaustion but I don’t. I end up emerging from Shepherd’s Bush Market half a mile from the hotel and have to drag my suitcase through blustery snow that whips me so hard in the face it makes tears leak out of the corners of my eyes.

2. The second time is the next morning, five minutes after I first find out you’re dead. I guess the first five minutes are a mix of me just having woken up, an hour before my alarm, still on New York time as I scroll idly through my phone messages only to see it blowing up with the news; and maybe shock can be used as an excuse, even though we all knew it was coming.

3. Over the Hilton London Kensington breakfast buffet for Hilton Honors Members. I’m telling Barry how I was supposed to see you before it happened. My voice cracks and eyes overflow with tears, and I’m apologizing and Barry is being so kind about it even though I can tell he’s not really sure what to do or say, which is okay because I don’t know either. It occurs to me later that in all the years we’ve known each other, this is the first time I’ve ever cried in front of him.

You said you were terminal, and released to home hospice care, and I told you I would fly to California if you wanted and read you mean celebrity blog comment sections, like how I did for you when you visited me in Brooklyn (I’ll never forget how we laughed until we cried like middle schoolers at a sleepover). I followed your lead in trying to blunt reality with a joke because that’s what you always did. The last thing you posted on any social media was a repost of our Facebook “Friendaversary”, saying how you were due for another one of my dramatic readings. I was going to buy a plane ticket when I got back from this trip. I was supposed to be there.

4. The first cigarette I smoke.

5. And the second, all while thinking about how terrible a person I am for smoking because you hated it and hated having cancer and hated that I would do something that could make me sick. You wanted me to stop, and if this were a movie I’d quit on the spot. But it isn’t and so instead I stand chain-smoking and hating myself.

6. In the shower.

7. We go see the Hamilton matinee hours after we find out, and it’s the cruelest twist of fate, experiencing this thing you loved so deeply and brought into my life and that we shared together. You’re the reason I saw it with everyone else at the matinee Obama attended. I lost the lottery, the lone one of all of us without a way in, and I was feeling a little sorry for myself and about to leave. I went to say goodbye to you, and immediately you pulled your Jaymee magic and got me a ticket at the literal last minute. And it really did feel like magic.

When you first saw it at the Public, I tried the lottery and lost, and I joked for you to go on without me, to die a million happy deaths. You said if I were being mugged and you were the only one who could save me, you’d still make me wait until after the show. I know if I skipped it you’d literally come back to life and kick my ass. But that doesn’t seem like a bad deal. I’d never see Hamilton again, I’d burn all of my playbills, even the one from the off-Broadway run I got signed by the original cast at the stage door. I’d tear the donut bag in half, the one we joked about being good luck, the one I had Lin-Manuel Miranda autograph. I’d do all of that if it gave me five more minutes with you.

I keep my shit together more or less until the second act. When Hamilton pleads to Washington with Why do we have to say goodbye?, I start crying and don’t stop until curtain call.

8. Right before I left on this trip, I threw together a playlist for my phone. The last song I added was Eva Cassidy’s cover of “Fields of Gold”, thinking it’d be pretty background soundtrack for train rides through lush, rolling Italian countryside. A year ago I went down one of my weird little Internet research rabbit holes and read all about Eva, her melanoma, how she died and her last performance, and wondered why there hadn’t been a movie made about that particular beautiful tragedy. After Hamilton I tell Barry I feel better, like it was an emotional release, but then the next afternoon we go to a pastry café and they play a jazz standard cover of “Fields of Gold” over the speakers and my chest seizes.

9. Friday night we’re supposed to meet up with Jen for dinner before she flies back to Philly. I’m sick to my stomach in the cab ride over to her hotel, and when we get to her room I drop my purse and hug her and don’t let go. That thing happens where I’m trying not to cry and it makes me cry harder and I can feel Jen crying too. We sit and Jen and Danielle talk about their travels and the whole time I feel on the verge of throwing up. Finally I say we need to talk about you, about what we’re going to do. Jen says June told her sometimes in Filipino culture they ask for donations for the family instead of flowers, so she’s not sure what’s preferred. I don’t know why I was expecting Jen to have more information, something to make me feel better, but nothing she tells me does. I take one of the Ativans my mom gave me for the plane ride because I can’t calm down. You said they gave you Ativan at the end. You said it helped. It helps me too.

I excuse myself from their room and get lost in the dimly lit maze of their hotel, until finally I find a side exit to the courtyard, and I light a cigarette and text my mom, who happens to be around. I try calling, but this stupid SIM card I got won’t let me connect to the US, so I wait until I’m back at the hotel and Barry is out at his show. The instructions to dial out don’t tell me the overseas rates, but I call my mom anyway, and spend twenty minutes on the phone with her sobbing like a child.

When we check out of the hotel, I’ll find out the call cost me over a hundred pounds, which probably with the obscene exchange rates approximates to three hundred dollars. I rationalize that’s what I would have paid out of pocket for an emergency therapy session anyway.

10. I find your aunt on Facebook and ask her what the family wants done. An hour later she messages me back to say flowers would be lovely. Your mother is beside herself with grief, she says. You were her best friend, she says.

It feels better to be doing something, to feel productive, so I make it my mission to organize the flowers for your memorial. The whole next day between sightseeing at Kensington Palace I’m looking up florists in San Mateo, figuring out who wants to contribute, making sure everyone is included. Bridget agrees to place the order. It’s midnight my time when I run downstairs for a smoke. Bridget and I are trading texts, trying to figure out what to write on the card. I’m not a writer, she says. You should do it, she says. I start crying because I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this. When I go to head back into the hotel, a British girl with blue hair sees me wiping at my eyes. She calls me love and asks if I’m okay. I’ve been in New York too long; my own public meltdowns don’t even embarrass me anymore. I’ve forgotten that the rest of the world doesn’t politely ignore you when you’re losing your shit on the sidewalk. I know how I must look, crying messily in my pajamas, walking around like an open wound just bleeding over everything.

I try to stop the tears long enough to assure her I’m fine, really, and when I stumble out the words that a friend of mine just passed away, she grabs me in a hug before the words finish getting out. She’s so nice that it makes me cry even more and I let her convince me to take the free cigarette she offers. She tells me she’s here with her gay husband and I joke through tears that I’m here with mine too. We stand and talk about Camden Market and the magic of New York at Christmastime, and when she’s satisfied I’m not a suicide risk she adds me as a friend on Facebook.

11. Things feel different in Venice. I start to feel like maybe I’ve hit the bottom of this, it’s only up from here, and even as I’m thinking it I know it’s delusional. I had the same feeling when my dad died, and I learned then that grief is not linear. There can be moments where it’s all temporarily bearable, only for a fresh wave of pain to knock you flat on your ass a minute later.

But for most of Venice I feel lighter, like the darkest clouds of the storm have passed. We get lost in the labyrinth of alleyways and eventually I duck into a Murano glass shop. Back in January when I went to Fort Myers, I took an Uber from the airport, and for the first time ever I had a woman driver. During the drive to the beach somehow the subject of this trip came up. I mentioned I’d be in Venice, and she told me how her day job was at an art gallery. They made jewelry from Murano glass, a Venetian technique. She made me promise to seek it out when I went.

The shop has all kinds of figurines, and in the back corner I discover these thimble-sized cows. Cows were your thing. Not just thing—borderline obsession. I still don’t know what it is about them you loved so much, but you did. When I was in Amsterdam I passed by an actual Cow Museum, snapped a photo of the storefront and sent it to you. You couldn’t believe I didn’t go inside. Now I’m here in Venice, looking at these little cows and thinking of you, and of course I have to get them. I scoop four of them into my palm and go to the cashier and whatever part of my heart that’s been healing over gets ripped open raw again. My throat burns too much for me to manage anything more than a cursory grazie as I watch him bundle them delicately in bubble wrap. It almost feels selfish to hurt this much, when there are people in this world who loved you longer and harder and better than I did. But I do.

12. In Florence Barry and I split up for the day. He runs off to the Duomo while I visit the Ambrogio market, the one the owner of our B&B tells me is for locals. I pick up random ingredients for my mother, whose burgeoning interest in the culinary arts still baffles me considering I subsisted on almost nothing but microwave dinners as a child, and two sweaters for myself.

I’m back at our apartment-sized suite, arranging the packaged pasta and sun-dried tomatoes on the wooden table for an Instagram photo when I click some random button that takes me to my inbox.

There’s only one message in there and I realize it’s from you, from over two years ago. I click to see it’s a video taken in Marie’s Crisis. Some pitch perfect soprano sings bars from an unrecognizable show tune at the piano, and then you turn the camera to yourself, bobbing your head along with a coy smile. I can’t believe it. I click out accidentally and have to Google for instructions on how to find it again. The video is only fifteen seconds but I watch it ten times in a row and then put my head down on the table and cry until it hurts.

13. Bucket list items have a greater sense of urgency now than they used to. At the last minute I find a woman who agrees to take me to a horse farm in Tuscany. She meets me at the Piazza Cavalleggeri behind one of Florence’s countless gorgeous ancient basilicas and takes me to meet her business partner so he can drive. He’s an old guy who speaks zero English, and it becomes evident when he climbs into the driver’s seat that he has Tourette’s. Every ten seconds his tic makes him jerk the steering wheel so the whole car swerves. We lurch our way up narrow roads that wind up huge hills, endless greenery on all sides, the woman chattering happily about vineyards and olive trees as I brace myself in the backseat, positive the guy is going to tic us right into oncoming traffic and certain death. It rains on the way there, and the woman worries it’ll be too wet to ride, but sure enough we arrive and the sky clears up just long enough for me and two other American girls to go for an hour-long trek. It’s been ten years since I’ve been on a horse, and I’m nervous about it, but the second I’m in the saddle everything comes back to me. We ride through steep hills, surrounded by the kind of scenery that’s beyond picturesque. It’s so gorgeous it doesn’t look real, like an oil painting. For the first time in days I feel a weightless kind of happiness. I know as it’s happening that this is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

When the woman drops me back off in Florence, I trip over myself thanking her profusely, holding back tears because I don’t want to explain that that was maybe the most beautiful experience of my life and I’m so grateful that for three hours the Jaymee is dead, Jaymee is dead, Jaymee is dead track stopped spinning in my head.

14. Rome is a welcome change of pace. I like big, bustling, metropolitan cities; they make me feel comfortable. Safe. Even just through glimpses out the taxi window I can see Rome is bursting at the seams, vibrant and colorful and a startling clash of ancient and modern. Our driver asks where we’re from and I say New York. He laughs and tells us he doesn’t like America, but he likes New York.

On a tour of the Vatican museums, our guide shares all the juicy stories of how Raphael and Michelangelo loathed each other, and the illicit love between Antinous and Hadrian, and we marvel at the frescos on every wall and the breathtaking scope of the Sistine Chapel and the inside of St. Peter’s basilica.

I was skeptical as I always am of anything to do with organized religion, but you liked the new Pope. You thought he was progressive, refreshing. You’d joke all the time about your “Jesus problems”, how you struggled to reconcile your Catholicism with your personal politics.

Afterward Barry scurries off to scale the bell tower. I ask our guide if there’s anywhere in the basilica to light candles, like how you can do in St. Patrick’s. She tells me it’s not allowed—it’s too much of a hazard, especially after a crazy man declared himself the second coming of Jesus and attacked Michelangelo’s Pietà with a hammer, chipping off fifteen pieces in the mayhem, including Mary’s nose.

Instead of waiting for Barry outside in the square I retreat back into St. Peter’s, to the closed off chapel. The guard asks me if I will be praying. It forces me to confront what I’m really planning to do, and after a heartbeat of hesitation I stutter out a yes, slip through the parted curtains to the pews. I’ve never prayed in my life; I have no idea how to do it. I look to see how others around me kneel and try to imitate the stance, hands folded in front of me, knees against the padded rest. It all feels clumsy and awkward until suddenly it doesn’t. Suddenly I’m just crying. I watch my thick tears plop onto concrete and absently wonder how many people before me have spilled salt on these floors. Probably a lot.

I don’t know how to pray. In my head I’m just screaming please forgive me, and I don’t know if I’m saying it to God or to you. I guess I know now what Catholic guilt feels like.

I should’ve been there. I should’ve brought Schmackary’s cookies and the good luck donut bag and flown out to California and seen you. Why didn’t you tell me how bad it was? Why did you have to make your yes a joke? (A quip about doctor’s orders, it comes as no surprise you embraced the gallows humor.) Why couldn’t you be earnest? Why couldn’t just say I need you right now, I don’t have much time, please be here? Did you even know? Because I swear I didn’t. I thought I could wait. I thought you had more time. None of it fucking matters because I can’t forgive myself, not ever.

…And that’s it. That’s where I stopped writing. I didn’t cry on European soil again after that. Not because the last cry was cathartic or healing; it wasn’t. The healing would come later, long after my plane touched down again in New York. It happened in ways I can’t explain, slowly, until one day the thought of you didn’t automatically bring me to the brink of tears or knock the wind from me like a sucker punch to the gut, where the tenderness of loving memory ran parallel with the heartbreak rather than being subsumed by it. Eventually the day came where I could think of you and how you were and what we shared, not only of the ways I failed you. A year later and I still think of those too, sometimes. And there are still tears, sometimes.

I feel like I always had this idea that you go through The Worst Thing and life just evens out after that. My Worst Thing happened when I was in my teenage years and I was supposed to be in the clear afterwards. But life doesn’t work that way. There’s no plateau, no neat ever after. And every so often we break in ways where yes, you can scrape the pieces together and carry on, but you’re never made whole again. You’re never the person you used to be. You become a new version of yourself, mismatched and full of jagged lines, and you find a way to forge ahead.

In the immediate soul-crushing wake of the 2016 election, someone created a Subway Therapy project in the tunnel of the 14th Avenue station that stretches from Sixth to Seventh. I went to see it then, a modern day marvel: the long tiled wall papered with thousands of bright post-its, each full of encouragement and commiseration from fellow grief-sick New Yorkers. The sight was a life preserver in the sea of misery I’d floated in that entire week. I was not alone in the feeling, however singularly devastating it felt.

Countless others have been here. I am not the only one to have shed my tears on ancient chapel floors, unable to imagine I would ever feel okay again. Experts painstakingly restored the Pietà after the attack, but if you were to find your way behind the bulletproof glass and touch the Virgin Mary’s cheek, you would still feel hairline traces of their work, a difference of texture; if you were to peer close enough, you would see the faint lines on marble that belie its pristine repair. It was broken once. It could not be remade exactly as it was. It’s no less a masterpiece.

That day in the 14th Street station, I peeled off a blank post-it and wrote out an Abraham Lincoln quote I’d read once: Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You cannot now realize that you will ever feel better… And yet this is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again.

Time buffers out the rough edges. It is the only thing that does.

#jaymee

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askikamle · 4 years ago

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A Kdrama inspired gem in the middle of a bustling city

As much as I wanted to keep it to myself coz it feels like something that would be overbooked and much more expensive once people gets word of it, I can’t seem to contain my amazement over the fact that something like it exists in Makati.

It was out of sheer luck that the place was available when we were scouting for a place to stay in over the weekend. With the pandemic, it’s always such a hassle to go on dates without feeling rushed trying to find a carpool to and from the city. So the most practical option for us was to book for a place we could crash in overnight. When we found Andres and Melanie’s place and read the reviews, we realized it’s always booked and most of the visitors express their intention to extend their stays.

The premise of the Airbnb listing was “a cozy and homey Rooftop Condo”. What sold us in were the Electric Grill perfect for samgyup/grill night and the wide expanse of the roof deck lined with plants (I’m a bit of a plantita after all). The pictures consisted of the room and the deck as well as how the deck looks at night: with fairy lights to boot! It says in the listing that it’s a perfect place to hold parties for small group of friends.

It was a little more pricey than a usual Airbnb room in Makati. But I’d say it was worth it. When we got to the place, we were welcomed by a very accommodating Melanie who was still trying to catch her breath while explaining to us the house rules and making a short tour of the place as well as showing us where things are. You see, the rooftop was about six (6) flights of stairs – yup, you have to walk to get there as the place don’t have an elevator.

Upon entrance to the place, we were greeted with the bed and the view of the kitchen. The space was actually bigger than it seems in the listing. But what captivated us was the relaxing view from outside the glass doors. The pictures, we instantly realized, didn’t do the place justice.

Most especially when nighttime came and we finally got to try our planned samgyup dinner. The fairy lights and the newly added Christmas lights decorating the shed and the poles made for a fun and lively dinner. We had our usual conversation/chismisan over grilled plain pork samgyeopsal and beef samgyeopsal, our DIY bulgogi marinated beef (which tasted more like tasty garlic tapa much to our surprise) and our experimental kimchi ramyum with jamonillo. The next morning, we cooked sunny side up eggs, leftover jamonillo, bulgogi turned tapa and arla slathered bagels while drinking our coffee. In no part of our stay did we ever feel like we do not belong to the place. It actually felt like home away from home. In Drew’s words “The place was so rustic and homey and felt like it brought the comfort you usually get from being in your own house”.

That’s not to say it was without its flaws. For one, being at the topmost floor, water pressure from the shower was a bit low. The walls of the deck were old and rustic. Some tiles had noticeable chips and stains on them. There’s no source of the usual entertainment like TV and the plates and utensils were limited. But the overall experience we’ve had, outweighs all of it. Besides, who needs a TV when they have WiFi and you have your phone or laptop anyway, right?

Areas of improvement? I think a repaint (which we heard the admin’s already in the move for) would make the place look cleaner and brighter. Adding a towel rack in the bathroom as well as tissue holder would also be nice. Placing provision for more dining wares like saucers, bowls, extra spoons and forks, and even chopsticks (to make your dining experience more “kdrama feels”) would be very much appreciated especially for people who intend to actually make use of the cooking amenity. Design-wise, it could do well if the entire place was consistent with the minimalist style of the kitchen where all the plates and coffee mugs are in black and white. Also, if they really wanted to attract more kdrama fans, they could very well replace the tables and chair setup with a “papag” or bamboo bed outside where people can cook their samgyupsal and drink their soju, or lie down while stargazing and having deep convos.

I have tried a couple of Airbnbs, and some even had themed rooms. And all of those experiences had one thing in common: they all felt like hotel rooms. The Rooftop Condo experience was something else altogether. It was like having an entire mini kdrama house to yourself. We’ve only been in it for one day and already, we felt like we live in it (more like want to live in it haha). In fact, looking at the surrounding taller condo buildings, we were appreciating how lucky and happy we were to have found the place because it gave us a unique and better weekend getaway.

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landuselover · 4 years ago

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You passed out at Will Smiths house? Patrick Part 4

After a few days or communication got back to normal I was hearing from him every single night and day. It made me feel so loves so appreciated and I felt back for what happened over labor day weekend. He said he just sat there felt alone over the holiday weekend. I looked at my southwest points and how much a flight to LA would be and I asked him if I could come over and see him. And turned out he was going to be in LA with a Monday off and booked the trip that day and tried to plan something with him over the next few weeks.

It was incredibly difficult to plan with him, he never wanted to make a set plan and finally I told him I had to book an Airbnb would I get to see him both nights even if he had to work and he agreed. He said he was staying at his brothers house in Silver Lake and that he had to work in Burbank in the morning.

I was looking at places I wanted to stay and I found an awesome mansion in the Hollywood Hills. So fancy so posh, it had a hot tub, four bedrooms and two balconies and an awesome root top patio with views of the Hollywood sign. I was going to get to stay with my beautiful new man in an awesome place.

He told me wouldn’t be able to see me the first night, so I traveled down to Laguna to stay with my friend Vanessa. All did was talk about Patrick and then it happened he Facetimed me to tell me how excited he was to see me! Holy cow I got off the phone and wanted to faint I was so excited. I was leaving Laguna beach early the next day I could arrive earlyish to the Airbnb, I needed to freshen up and get the place ready for Patrick’s Arrival.

I showed up and the place was awesome multiple different rooms and areas for so much fun. The thing that I couldn’t find was the TV clicker, I didn’t think we would be doing much watching of TV anyways.

I jumped in the shower and did my hair and makeup and put a sexy skimpy dress on with my silk robe over top. I heard a knock at the door and I received a text message, I had sent him the code for the door. And I heard the door open. I got chilled I was so excited to see this man I haven’t seen since June and we had talked everyday. I ran down the stairs and turned the corner.

There he was all 6’4 of him, Holy freaking cow, It was gorgeous there he was again. He gave me a huge hug and wrapped him large arms around me and gave me an amazing kiss. He had a backpack on him and nothing else.

Where did you park? Oh I found a place.

I gave him a tour out to the first balcony and he towered behind me and rubbed my body all over. He kissed my neck and I trembled at the knees. Staring out at the city with him behind me I thought to myself, I could really get used to this. He sat down on the couch and he tried to find the remote, I looked and I couldn’t find it either. Dang it. I guess we gotta just head up stairs. It was around 9:00 o’clock and we still have three other rooms to check out and a giant patio.

We walk up stairs and turn the corner, I take my robe off and lay on the bed infront of him and then the magic happened for hours and hours and hours. I looked at the time and it was around 2:00am, I knew he had to get up in a few hours an leave around 8:00. I recommended we got to bed as we will have tomorrow night as well.

As we laid their holding each other for the first time, it felt so right. I asked him what the W on his arm stood for, Oh it is weaver my last night. Honestly, that is the first time I had heard his full name Patrick Weaver, seemed generic but why would I think any differently.

So do you snore or have sleep apnea? Why because I am a big guy? No I don’t. Oh thank goodness just a lot of my friends have it. Total lie all my ex boyfriends have it, cuz im into the big men.

He held me in his arms all night it was amazing. I felt so warm and secure. When he woke in the morning he wanted to get frisky again and used his magic Chicken leg position. I swear it made me cum so cute each time, No man has ever done that to me. He had to shower before heading to work and he grabbed his phone and headed into the bathroom, I thought it was odd he grabbed his phone but I didn’t think much of it. I tried to make plans for the evening but he was working at Will Smiths house and Chelsea Handler was going to be on the episode so he wasn’t sure how late but he would come right over after to squeeze me and snuggle me again.

We walked downstairs and I gave him a big hug and a smooth jazz kiss. I grabbed his left hand and looked and joked no ring tan! That is great.

He let out a little laugh and gave me another kiss. I will see you tonight

I went immediantyl back to bed, I was exhausted from three plus hours of love making. I woke up around 12 with three messages from Patrick. How much fun he had, how adorable I am and how exicted he was for tonight. I was so excited too just getting to sleep next to him again was magic enough.

As the day drew on we kept texting and I updated him on all the weed I got at the dispensary and around 4:00pm he sent me a picture Here is Will Smiths back yard

I told him I was going to go keep working for a few hours, do you wanna get dinner tonight or should I eat alone?

A few hours past and I hang out on the rooftop balcony doing work and researching how soon after ovaulation the morning after pill works, Becuae I checked my schedule I was ovulating and I let Patrick cum inside. I was so worried but also so excited to see him again tonight.

I looked at the clock and it was 7pm and I haven’t heard back from him yet. So I texted, im gonna get some dinner hope you get off soon. I figured out the closest restraint it was about .6 of a mile away and it was the fanciest sushi restratrant with Gardens and all the fun atmosphere. I called and ordered 4 sushi rolls after an ordeal where I had to text the owner of the restaurant my owner but hey I was able to walk down and get sushi. When I arrive the manager ever offered me a free shot my choice of course, I asked for Tequila the best they had. It was regualy over $25 a shot. I kept looking at my phone and no messages from Patrick. As I walked back to the Airbnb. I decided to call. No answer but it still was ringing. It was about 9:00 now and I understand that shoots can get off late so I just choked it up to that. I set him a picture of my sushi to see if he would text back. I was starting to get worried when I got inot the back at 10:30 and had heard anything. I even check Chelsea handler social media to see if she was still at the shoot. Nope she was posting stories from home.

I was so upset at this point, I called again. NO answer at all but it was still ringing. I sat in the bath and just cried. And cried and cried until I thought fuck it im gonna jump in the hot tub. I started the hot tub and the entire top floor of the houses power went out. I started crying fuck this. I texted Patrick. Are you okay hopeing if I had done something wrong he would atleast responded to that.

I texted the Airbnb owner to help with the power as I sat in the dark room all alone, I had planned an extra sexy time tonight with toys and all the bells and whistles, I cried some more until I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up the first thing I did was check to see if I had a message from him and nothing.

My heart shattered I was having trouble breathing how could I travel across the country for a man who would just ghost me half way through our planned trip.I was trash and a a sad lonely woman and I started to attack myself and see how it was my fault he left me. I texted him again to say I was worried and hoped he was okay.

My flight was in about 4 hours which in LA time meanted I needed to leave for the airport soon. I smoked an entire gram of 710 hash in the time my friend came to pick me up. She mentioned shit it smells ike weed. Well shit I got my heart broke.

Looking down at my phone to yet another blank screen with no messages, I arrived at the airport and texted one last time, Im sorry you felt like this is how you needed to treat me Patrick, I could use some clarity on my end of what happened between us. I hope you are okay.

I landed in Colorado no message, I cried and cried on the uber ride home. How, who what when and why did this just happen. My heart was crushed and broken and confused. I woke up the next morning and still nothing. All my friends were so worried about it. Finally threes after I got back. The text finally came through Im Sorry Shannon, I passed out at Will Smiths house and had to go to the hospital for three days I finally got my phone back you did nothing wrong im so sorry sorry.

Are you fucking kidding me he passed out at Will Smiths house and that is why he didn’t come back to the Airbnb this all seems fake.

But nope it was year he had the scars and everything to show for it. I felt so bad again. THE MAN I love was in pain and all I could think about was myself.

I cared about him, I wished I could of have been with him at the hosipital. He reassured me his brother came and saw him and his family was there.

Thank goodness. But with heart issues, when would he even have time to come see me if he had to get a heart surgery done, and who would take care of him? Oh god I know I would if only he would let me.

#will smith #Passed out #Hollywood hills #gorgeous man #patrick weaver

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svguavajelly · 5 years ago

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Patagonia

As lovers of mountains, Patagonia has loomed large in our imagination as a travel destination. We decided to make the trek to Patagonia while living in South America, figuring we were about 50% closer. Luckily my dear friend and climbing partner Mo also wanted to go to Patagonia, and Mo was game to backpack with us & our three kids! What a good friend!

It was tricky to plan the trip, as you have to book the camping sites in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile about 6 months in advance. We decided to do a modified W trek in 7 nights and 8 days. I did my best to plan an itinerary that would allow Tomu (age 6) & Jade (age 4) to hike the daily distances comfortably while also allowing the adults to see the most spectacular parts of the National Park, since it is a loooong way to get there, as well as expensive. As always when traveling or hiking or climbing with kids, it’s a compromise.

I realize that to most people, backpacking for 8 days with 3 small children sounds like a completely mad idea. I think that because I was a backcountry ranger in Olympic National Park in my 20’s, I have the idea that I can do it. That I can do hard things in the backcountry—I can carry a heavy pack, because I’ve done it before. In the months leading up to the trip, I went through all kinds of scenarios in my head for how we were going to do it. How would we carry 6 sleeping bags, 6 sleeping pads, many layers of clothes for 6 people, 2 tents, 8 days of breakfast & lunch food, 40 diapers, a potty, and a 23 pound baby between 3 adults? To me it sounded horrible to have a heavy pack, a baby on the front in a carrier, and walk at a 4 year olds pace. So I considered 2 adults hiking quickly, then one coming back to get the third pack, while one adult set up tents, and the last adult walked slowly with the 3 kids. Our kids have hiked a lot in Cajas, including one training hike the same length as our longest day in Patagonia (5.7 miles), and they have camped a lot; however, our previous longest backpacking trip was 1.3 miles to spend two nights at Third Beach. Also, Luz hadn’t slept in a tent in 7 months, so I wasn’t sure how she would do. So, there were a lot of unknowns for the trip…

We decided to buy dinners at the huts, rather than carry and cook our own food with the rationale that the savings in weight on our backs was well worth the $42 per dinner. That was definitely a good decision!! The dinners were 4 course meals, and they were delicious.

While packing for the trip in Cuenca, we were worried as we looked at the weather forecasts for Torres del Paine—every day rain! Mo said that sounds like type II fun for sure. We waterproofed our boots and rain jackets, fearing 8 days of rain and wind.

Our trip started early on a Thursday morning with a 3.5 hour van ride to Guayaquil, followed by a 5 hour flight to Santiago, Chile. The following day Mo met us at the Airbnb, and Tomu & Jade instantly jumped on her with giant hugs. That day in Santiago we went to a beautiful giant park called Quinta Normal. The following day we had to wake up at 4:30 am in order to meet the taxi driver at 5 to get back to the airport. It’s no fun waking up small children very early! We took a 3.5 hour flight to Punta Arenas, followed by a 3 hour bus ride to Puerto Natales, gateway to the park. Tomu, Jade, and Luz busied themselves with sticker books on the plane rides.

In the Guayaquil airport with strawberry milk.

Early morning baggage ride for Jade.

Bus buddies Jade & her godmama.

The crew in windy Puerto Natales.

Then we had one day to provision for our trip. Mo had brought a lot of food down from the States, but we had to fill in the holes for 8 lunches and 7 breakfasts. Unfortunately, that day Luz had a very cloudy pee in the potty, and Mo suspected a UTI, so I took Luz to the ER at the local hospital, leaving Mo & Riki to do the shopping with Tomu and Jade. Luz also had been constipated since we left Ecuador, as well as having an eye infection. They took a urine sample at the hospital, which came back negative for UTI, but the doc prescribed her antibiotics anyways, telling me to buy the antibiotics and he would text me in two days to tell me the results of the urine culture. Back at home, Luz had a fever of 102 degrees, and Mo said, give her the antibiotics anyways. Mo is a flight nurse, and I trust their medical advice! Needless to say, it was a VERY stressful day, dealing with a sick 1 year 9 month old while trying to prepare for a big backpacking trip.

One of our logistics problems was where to leave our extra baggage during the trip. The Airbnb said it wasn’t possible to leave it there. Here we were blessed by the kindness of a stranger. I had asked a woman, Carolina, in the airport in Punta Arenas if she knew of anywhere we could leave our bags, and she had replied no. Turns out her house was two doors down from our Airbnb, and we ran into her on the sidewalk, and she offered to store our bags for us. So kind! So we went over to her house at 10 pm, finally packed for the following day, to drop off our bags.

Day 1

We got up at 6 am in order to make our 7 am bus. It was a 2 hour ride to the park. When we got to the park entrance, it was raining. We all shuffled into the park building to watch a video about Leaving No Trace with about 75 other people. We were the only ones with kids, and we were the focus of a lot of attention. I’m sure they all thought we were crazy with our big packs and our three small people. We used the video time to put rain gear on and give Luz her antibiotics and eye drops. As we filed into the room next door to pay our park entrance fees, I said to Mo, “Look, another kid!” And Mo replied, “Day hiker”. I laughed.

We took a shuttle to the real park entrance, and Riki and I drank lattes while we waited for the rain to abate before beginning to hike. The lattes were from one of those machines where you just press the button, but they tasted great.

Finally, here we were. We set off hiking around 10:30 am. Luz is in a very clingy Mama stage—basically no one else can hold her if I am around. So that settled who would be carrying Luz; which is only fair since the trip was my crazy idea.

We hiked 3.5 miles that first day, mostly uphill. Luz at times complained about being in the carrier, so I let her walk some, which felt like a break for me. It turns out my pace with Luz & my pack was not that much faster than Jade’s pace after all; however, generally Riki would hang back with Jade. I was always surprised with how quickly they arrived at camp. It was really windy as we crossed Windy Pass, and Luz was fussing as we neared camp. I sure was happy to see the sign for Chileno camp!

At Windy Pass--Jade loved the wind!

Turns out that hiking in Torres del Paine is definitely not a wilderness experience—there are SO many people! Also, you can only camp in designated spots, on wooden platforms, that you have to pay for. And at each camping spot, there is a hut (resembling a small ski lodge) that serves beer, pisco sours, quesadillas, eggs & bacon, and $16 burgers. So if we ever felt like we were still hungry after lunch, we could just go into the hut & order some food. I brought 400,000 Chilean pesos (equal to $505) into the park, thinking it would be more than enough for the park entrance fee, the catamaran rides, and any food we wanted to buy. We spent all of it!!

A major bonus for us were the flush toilets and showers at each campsite. We managed to throw all of the wet diapers in the garbage cans of the bathrooms, so we didn’t have to carry 40 used diapers around. We brought the potty because Luz has been pooping in the potty almost exclusively since she was 6 months old, and we figured we would rather dig a hole and bury her poop than carry it with us. Luz was still constipated on the trip, so it helped for her to be able to sit comfortably on her own potty when doing her business.

Mo and Riki set up the tents while I stayed with the three kids inside the hut, out of the wind.

Celebrating a successful first day with Pisco Sours.

Day 2

This was a planned day hike day, up to the lookout for the Torres del Paine (Paine Towers), the most famous image from the national park. Mo sped up to the lookout alone, then came back and watched the three kids while Riki and I hiked up to the lookout. We saw a fox right by the lake, but unfortunately it was pretty cloudy when we arrived at the towers. Tomu, Jade & Luz had fun playing by river.

Actually that was one of my highlights of the trip—seeing how easily the kids amused themselves with their imaginations in nature. They made beds for leaves, turning over rocks and filling the holes with soft stalks of plants. They sent boats of bark or leaves down the rivers.

Jade burned herself on the wood stove at the hut this evening. She burned 3 fingers on her right hand, and they blistered immediately. She cried alternately during dinner, and we kept applying wet cold paper towels.

Day 3

We had to hike 3.5 miles back out the same way, then catch a shuttle to the bus to the catamaran. Mo began hiking with Tomu and Jade as soon as they were ready, about an hour before Riki, Luz and I left. For me, a highlight of this day was the reactions of the other hikers when they saw our kids hiking, and when they say me carrying Luz. One woman said to me, “when I get my baby, I’m going to do that, too.” Another woman said in Spanish, “Es mujer? Increíble, qué cabrona! Qué chingona!” I don’t think she knew I understood, but I smiled to myself—“Is that a woman? Incredible, what a badass!”. Almost everyone smiled at Luz when they saw us on the trail, and many had looks of amazement on their faces as they were struggling up the trail, then they saw us doing the same thing with 3 kids.

We made it back to the entrance station in time for our shuttle, and everyone got a treat drink: for Riki it was beer, for Mo it was Diet Coke, for me it was coffee, and for the kids blueberry juice.

On the one hour bus ride to the catamaran, Jade fell asleep. As I looked out the window at the amazing mountains, I thought, this is why we are here, for the love of mountains. They were just stunning. Jade woke up grumpy and coughing, saying she just wanted to sleep more. So we made her a nest and she kept sleeping while we waited an hour for the boat. We moved her onto the boat and she just kept sleeping. Riki carried her off the boat, and she fussed and cried. It was super windy at Paine Grande, and again I left Riki and Mo to set up the tents while I took the 3 kids inside the hotel. Jade promptly fell asleep again on the couch in the lobby.

It seemed obvious that something was wrong with Jade…we tried to wake her for dinner, but she just wouldn’t wake. I took her temperature, and it was 102.5 degrees. Poor kid. The only medication we had to bring down kids’ fever were some suppositories the doc in Puerto Natales prescribed for Luz. So, while I held up a jacket to shield them from view of the folks in the dinner line, Mo gave sleeping Jade the suppository. Once again, nice to have a nurse friend. When we woke Jade up to go out to the tent, she was actually chipper and energetic. She didn’t want any food, but we had some hope for the morning. The next day was our longest day of walking at 5.7 miles, and I was worried that sick Jade wouldn’t be able to do it. I asked at the campground if we could stay an extra night, and they said they would let me know in the morning.

When I took Luz out to the tent, she freaked out because of the high wind. The rainfly was flapping like crazy, and she was so scared. I thought she might calm once we got in the tent, but no. So I grabbed all my existing cash, and took her into the hotel to plead for a bed. The young woman at the desk said she could give me a bunk bed in room with 3 young women, and that she wouldn’t charge me! Wow, once again, so kind. I slept on the floor in my sleeping bag & pad next to Luz, and I was so relieved not to be in the windy tent with a crying baby.

That night was one of the low points of the trip—so stressful!

Day 4

Jade awoke cheery, with energy, and said she was ready to hike, so we decided to go for it. Mo set off with Tomu and Jade at about 10 am. Riki, Luz and I left around 11 am. It was so windy—like gusting to 50 knots an hour, judging from the spray off the waves on the lake. I was buffeted by the wind, often staggering to the side. Riki was hiking behind me, and he kept trying to hold on to me to support me. Luz hated the wind, and cried when it gusted. After an hour, we stopped, and Riki took the sleeping pad off my pack hoping that I would have less windage. As we walked, and Luz cried, I repeated a mantra to her: “No llores Luz, no llores. No nos gusta el viento, pero seguimos caminando porque somos fuertes y somos increíbles.” “Don’t cry Luz, don’t cry. We don’t like the wind, but we keep walking because we are strong. We are incredible.”. I was talking to myself as much as to her! The scenery was stunning this day, but I really hardly noticed. I was just intent on getting there.

We finally caught up with Tomu, Jade and Mo after about 2 hours of walking. I can’t believe Mo did that stretch alone with the two kids. Once the wind blew Jade down, and blew Mo over too. Mo had to jump over Jade so as not to squish her! I asked Tomu what his technique was when the wind gusted, and he replied to get into a ball like a rock. We ate a lunch of chicken packs, crackers, and baby bel cheese, and continued on. About a mile before reaching Italian camp, Riki said, let me take your pack for awhile. So he walked with my pack on his front, leaving me with Luz and Jade. Jade’s energy was fading, so I carried her piggyback with Luz on the front. Then Mo came back to get Jade. It was a real team effort this day. We took a second break at Italian camp, and then hiked the final 1.2 miles to French camp.

That night at dinner Jade complained of not feeling good, and she would hardly eat anything. She had a fever of 102.5 again, and just wanted to go to bed. I gave her some chewable Tylenol (a present from some Chileno hikers with kids), and took her to bed. As she lay in bed, I told her how strong she was, how she can do anything when she gets big, to hike so far in the wind being sick. Wow. I was so impressed by her. I also felt guilty—like was it too much? Was the very hike making her sick?

Day 5

Another planned rest day for kids/day hike day for adults. Mo set off to the British Lookout, in a basin at the head of the French valley, a 10 mile roundtrip hike. I had no energy and no desire to do the hike, nor did Riki. It didn’t matter that we had come such a long ways, that I probably wouldn’t come back to see that sight. I just didn’t have it in me, and I was fine with that. We stayed in camp, had pizza for lunch, played the card game castle on the picnic tables, and just relaxed with the kids. After dinner we all walked down to the lake to skip some rocks and play. The Chileans at French camp were so kind to us—they gave the kids peaches, chocolate, and chips. Luz turned into a chocolate addict on the trip, eating the chocolate chips out of the trail mix.

Day 6

It rained in the night, so we had to pack up wet tents, but we had just a short hike of 1.5 miles to the campsite called Cuernos, or Horns. It was actually sunny and hot while we hiked. My friend Steph, who had hiked the O loop, recommended Cuernos as the most beautiful camp site in the park. And I agree—it is just beneath the distinctive mountains, with their black bands on the top, and 3 waterfalls coming down. The kids were happy playing in a small sand patch next to the river before dinner.

Luz sleeping in her nest while we set up the tents.

Day 7

It rained again in the night, and my tent was wet inside at the foot of the tent. Both Mo and I had diarrhea in the night—I didn’t even make it to the bathroom (but I made it out of the tent at least!). Mo woke up really sick—they didn’t sleep hardly at all, their body ached all over, and they felt horrible, with alternate chills and feeling hot. Oh no! Riki and I took a little extra weight, and Mo managed to make it the 1.5 miles back to French camp. Mo slept all afternoon, and felt slightly better by the evening.

Day 8

Our last day—we had to hike 5.7 miles, back through the windy territory. I was hoping for no rain and no wind. We wanted to be in Paine Grande by 3 pm, in order to have time to get some food before the catching the catamaran at 5 pm. We figured on 7 hours, the amount of time it took Tomu and Jade for this stretch before. We left around 8 am. Mo carried their normal load and set off with the kids. At one point, Luz and I passed Mo & the kids, and then I realized that her boot had fallen off while she was sleeping. Luckily Jade found it! Luz hiked quite a bit this day. Luz liked to smush these red berries in her hands, so I was constantly on the lookout for them. It was a challenge to keep her entertained in the carrier, and whenever she fell asleep I tried to hike faster.

It wasn’t windy until the last .5 miles or so, and not nearly as strong as before. The kids did great, and we arrived at 1 pm, shaving 2 hours off our previous time.

Jade feeling sick again, and Luz copying her while we waited for the catamaran.

The kids played by the lake and watched a goose family. We had pizza, and as we were waiting in line for the catamaran Jade started to complain that her ear was hurting. She was crying from the pain. Poor kid. She slept again on the catamaran. I feared an ear infection, and finagled a seat on the 6 pm bus back to Puerto Natales for Jade and I, leaving the rest of the crew to take the 7 pm bus, which we had tickets for. I held Jade on my lap as she slept alternately and cried alternately. I told her stories of Princess Jade who liked to travel, and all the places she went. I told her I would take her to the doctor when we got back to Puerto Natales…but she said, no my ear is better now. She’s afraid of doctors because she thinks they will give her shots. She went to bed calmly, but cried a lot that night. Upon arrival in Puerto Natales, Mo went immediately to a pharmacy to get some antibiotics—their throat was killing them, and they knew it was strep throat.

Tomu was such a joy on the trip. He didn’t complain once about being tired—he seemed to have boundless energy, dragging sticks to make trails, picking berries for Luz, etc. He also walked the whole way in these cheap plastic Ecuadorian rain boots, which made some lines on his shins & calves where they rubbed. He carried his own backpack the whole way.

Jade was also amazing, especially considering she burned her hand and got sick! Jade had had a constant snotty nose since leaving Cuenca. She walked almost the whole way, also carrying her own backpack most of the time.

Luz did so well sleeping in the tent, and tolerating being in the carrier for long stretches. She would generally wake up once or twice every night, but go back to sleep when I breastfed her.

The following morning, after we showered, I took Jade to the ER of the hospital. They said she had a sinus infection, with a red inner ear. They gave me antibiotics, plus anti-histamine, and ibuprofen for pain, and a nose spray.

Then we got on a bus for Punta Arenas. We arrived in Punta Arenas with no idea how to get ahold of the Airbnb host or where the Airbnb was located, because Airbnb sent me a reminder with a wrong number for the host. That was pretty stressful. But I scrolled down to find the right number, and we made it there safely. Then another early morning flight back to Santiago the following day.

Watching a street performer in Punta Arenas.

A building in downtown Punta Arenas burned by protesters the week before we visited.

The kids were really excited about riding the underground train (the subway). I had promised them we would do it upon our return to Santiago, and they didn’t forget. We took the subway to the big park again, and the kids played in the spray park area. Mo, Luz and I had a nice dinner our last night, then I went out with Riki later after the kids went down for a second nice dinner.

Luz became a chocolate lover on the trip. She ate all the chocolate chips out of our trail mix, and chooses chocolate for her ice cream flavor.

In Santiago every available wall space is covered in graffiti, mostly anti-government and anti-cop. Also, there is a strong leftist culture—lots of folks with blue or green hair, tattoos, and lots of bike commuters—all things lacking in Cuenca.

“Until dignity is a habit”

“Blind we fight on” A large number of protesters in Santiago have lost an eye due to rubber bullets fired by the police.

“I have more rage than money for bread”

“Damned be the uniformed who wields his weapons against the people”

I almost lost it in the airport as I was walking with the three kids to our gate, and they were pestering me to buy them stuffed animals, and I had a roller bag and my backpack and I was hungry. (Riki had stayed back to buy some Crown at Duty Free). We arrived back in Guayaquil at 1:30 am Chilean time, woke up our 3 sleeping kids, walked through the airport, got a taxi to our Airbnb. And then the van back to Cuenca—we were all so happy to be home!

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thehikingnerd · 5 years ago

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Day 98.

I woke up with an extra sense of excitement and urgency this morning. I was looking forward to meeting back up with Dixie and rest of the 24-hour challenge people, but that wasn’t why I was excited today. In fact, I knew that I would only see them for a short time as I had already decided that Burney would be where I exited the trail for a bit. I had been making plans with Angie for quite a while and would be meeting her up in Portland for about a week. We already arranged for an Airbnb from a lady from KY oddly enough, and even though I wished I could have hiked for another day or so before leaving this was the most convenient place to exit and make my way north to Portland. We headed out and rolled through an interesting area with small unusual buildings and dams and lakes and even passed by a small trout hatchery and noticing a large number deer in a person’s yard that didn’t seem worried about humans. Despite the interesting surroundings, it was all a bit of a blur as we soon came to the highway where we would be hitching into town. The hitch didn’t take very long and we were dropped of directly at the diner in town. Butt’rs and I had an amazing ribeye and eggs breakfast here and drank several cups of coffee. Burney seemed like a pretty nice little town. We walked up the street to a church that was supposed to welcome hikers and offered them a place to shower and a free coffee at their in-church coffee shop. Since I was going to be travelling and didn’t want to offend fellow passengers, I thought I should take advantage of the free shower. When we entered, there was a huge hiker table covered with all kinds of good things hikers might want to take with them when they head back out to the trail. The shower was a part of their gym and they had to turn on the lights for me and it was a little odd in design with nowhere to sit or hang clothing or racks/shelves to hold soap, but I managed to grab some soap and shampoo off the table and used it to get myself clean and smelling like I was a part of civilization. I even snagged a normal cotton-ish tee shirt from the table to change into. I went into the coffee shop and sat down with butt’rs and got a free ice latte and charged my batteries while I sat and started to figure out the details of how I would get to Portland. It looked like my best bet was to take the noon bus to Redding, CA for only like $5 and then from there take the Amtrak to Portland. The train didn’t leave until like 2am, but I was confident I could kill time in Redding without much trouble. Besides, I really needed some time to at least do laundry before heading to Portland. At this point we had gotten word from Dixie and that she was chilling at the McDonald’s in town and walked that way. We talked and caught up a bit and we told her about the free (good) coffee at the church and I grabbed a quick extra burger or two to eat before my bus trip to Redding, which was conveniently picking everyone up about 100 yards from there. I was just saying my goodbye’s to everyone when Dan and Mark rolled up and I just waved and yelled a few things before walking to the bus stop. The bus was a little late, but I had so much time to kill, it didn’t much matter to me. It did finally come and I settled in for the ride to Redding. Given the time constraints and my desire to hike with my friends, this break was going to give me some problems in terms of the rest of the trail. Despite how well I had done to catch them all after a 3-day sabbatical to deal with my tail bone issue… it was pretty obvious that if I left the trail here in Burney, CA, that I wouldn’t realistically be able to catch them if I had come back here to pick back up. I would be like 12 days behind them and would had to push hard for like 3-4 weeks to catch them and then probably just to hike for a relatively short time together before finishing… and… I wasn’t sure I could handle that kind of pushing to catch up anyway. So I ultimately decided that I would just meet back up with them wherever they were when my Portland vacation was over and proceed with them from there, leaving a gap that I would have to come back and fill in after Canada. This wasn’t in my original plan, but I did want to take a break and see Angie, and given that we would already be cutting it short making it to the border before the snowfall would close the trail for the year… it was the best compromise I could make and still cover all of my bases. I made it Redding. Did laundry. Contacted Martin (a friend I had met only once in Texas, but who had been following my hike on FB) and made plans to meet up with him and he was even going to give me a place to stay while I waited on Angie to arrive a day or two later and stay in our Airbnb. It was super nice of him, especially when having barely known me and when others I knew better in the area were less hospitable than I expected them to be. I went around to a few places including a burger restaurant for dinner. I thought I would hang out at a bar until time to catch the train but to my surprise, most all the bars closed at 11pm. So, with literally nothing else to do, I reached levels of hobo that I, quite frankly, never thought I would reach. After some wandering around with nothing to do, I mean nothing open at all, I found one convenient store near enough to walk to, and bought a big glass bottled beer. I left with it in a paper sack and thought I’d just drink this at the train station while I waited. But there was some seriously crazy people there and police cars were rolling past all the time. Wasn’t long before I found myself hiding behind a dumpster (both from cops and crazies) as the only place I could find to safely drink my beer from its paper sack. With my worn hiker clothes, beard, a free tee shirt I had gotten from a church that didn’t quite fit me, drinking booze from a paper bag behind a dumpster, all while waiting to hop a train… I figure a can of beans was the only thing that could have been added to this to complete the image. After the beer I went back around to the front of the train station and sat on a bench at the platform and called Angie for a while. The train delayed once, then twice, then I fell asleep on the concrete of the train platform once the new arrival time had been moved forward to 5am, news that was ill-received by all those there in waiting.

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sunnydaysmakemesmiletoo · 7 years ago

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Perfect, amazing, Italian, New York, Marty

So he made up the title when I told him I had a blog.

Lemme tell you about life and love and luck and Marty; a series of not-so-unfortunate events.

Rewind to my trip to Nashville; August 19-23, Wednesday-Sunday.

Wednesday my friend and I arrive early, eat at Pancake Pantry, check in to the AirBNB, sight see, and do the bar thing. We meet a guy who is later named ‘Wednesday’ and is about 5'5’’ and in love with Sam, but super cool.

Thursday we do Biscuit Love and meet up with another friend of mine who is also there, and do dinner and more bars, the big ones like Tootsies and The Stage, ending at what would be our fav, the FGL (Florida Georgia Line) House. Wednesday hangs with us too.

Friday: enter Marty. Sam and I leave the AirBNB because of crazy heat and no AC and we luck out and get a hotel downtown at the Hyatt; we decide we don’t need a room Saturday night since we have to leave at 3am anyway (this matters later). So. We check in and get ready for another night of dinner and dancing. We do dinner and ultimately go back to FGL House, Wednesday in tow again (which was totally fine, again, he was cool). We get there and it’s so hot. We decide to go to the 2nd floor and sit at the bar and grab a beer until we decide to go up and dance on the 3rd. There is a guy in a turquoise Polo leaning against a pillar while his friend is hitting on a drunk blonde. I naturally look around while I’m sitting and my eyes keep stumbling on him, inevitably making quick eye contact and quickly turning. Some rando local is sitting next to Sam, quiet. All of a sudden, random pillar guy walks right up and starts ragging on his friend and how this drunk girl is obnoxious (which she was). His friend actually leaves with random drunk girl. I quickly learn his name is Marty. My confidence tells me he walked up to talk to my friend but to my surprise, he never takes his eyes off of me. Quiet local rando begins talking to Sam and she’s soon ready to head up stairs. Sam meets Marty, he briefs her on his friend who left with drunk girl, and she invites him up with us. The line to get upstairs is SO long. So Sam, Wednesday, Marty, and I get to the end of the line. All of a sudden, Marty had my hand and begins taking me through the line to the top, without a single person fighting it. Crazy because I’m wayyyy too shy to do something like that, let alone with a stranger to grabbed my hand, grinned, and went for it. Marty and I both use the restroom and meet up with Sam and Wednesday. Eventually, Marty’s friend comes back and Wednesday had a girl coworker who shows up also, her name being Fun Girl. We drink and dance and talk and the night is great. At some point we mention our early flight Sunday and lack of hotel for Saturday and Marty offers to let us leave our luggage in their room Saturday while we are out. We agree. After the bar, Marty, friend, Sam, and I grab food and we laugh and talk shit until it’s time to leave. We hug, cheek kiss, and part ways.

Saturday: We get up, discuss leaving our stuff in these guys room and how we will kind of have to depend on them, meanwhile, Marty and friend are having a similar conversation about being stuck with us since they will have our stuff. Wednesday is on the way back to NC. So, Sam and I head to the Hilton with our stuff and head to brunch with those two, where Fun Girl also meets us. Supposed to be great but it was just ok. We head to midtown and sit at Rebar and sit outside and have drinks in the sunshine, the 5 of us. After, we head back to the Hilton, all 5 of us, and the boys let us use their shower to rinse and get ready for the night. I’m last to shower and when I come out, Fun Girl, Sam, and Marty’s friend are in the couch and they tell me Marty is waiting for me to cuddle him in the room. Total turn off but I later learn that wasn’t actually the case. I go in the room, make some comment about that not being what I’m there for. We end up literally cuddling and nothing more (for real). His friend is actually mad that we didn’t hook up which was annoying. He said it was a waste of time. We all get ready, go to dinner at a BBQ joint on Broadway, and once again, head back to FGL. Marty’s friend is there for girls and to find his next victim; I kind of walk away to the dance floor because honestly, Marty is a dude on vacation in Nashville and I didn’t wanna damper his game. He actually thinks I’m not showing interest and tells Sam she’s showing more attention than I am. She told him she’s waiting for me to follow and he does just that. His friend goes wandering and never comes back. Fun Girl finds herself some guy who flipped her the night before and she’s out too. Sam and I are dancing and Marty is close by, letting me do my thing with my friend. Sam decides one more drink and we are out, seeing as we have to leave at 330 for the airport, it’s somewhere around 1230/1. We get back for a power nap; Sam on the couch and me with Marty. Do I need to say more 😬 All I can say is passionate and beyond. Definitely never done anything like that before but I don’t regret it for a second. And then the hard part. The entire night was amazing and easy and he was almost kind of shy and it was so dang cute to me. So 3:00am comes and it’s time to grab our stuff and go. I didn’t wanna go. We walk out the door and Marty is at the door. We head to the elevator and I happen to look back, right at Marty looking at me. Melted me. We go down the elevator, walk through the lobby, and I look up and he’s leaning over the balcony, watching me leave. I felt like I was leaving someone I hadn’t seen in years, behind. For a while, we text back and forth until he finally goes to sleep. Sunday is full of texts as I’m home and he’s at the airport getting on a normal flight that ends up getting cancelled until the following morning. Sweet and not too much texts flood my phone. Big realistically, it’s simply the guy from Nashville (mind you, his friend was like 'you’re never gonna see him again you know). He made comments about me looking back and how it made him feel.

Today is August 7, Monday, and Marty just left last night after spending the whole weekend here. When I tell you it was the best weekend, by far, I’ve ever had, I mean it. I laughed til I cried countless times and nothing had ever been so easy. I was so cynical about him even coming and figured I’d just take it for what it was; a weekend of fun; and he’d go home and that’s it. I wish I could say that all it was, was a weekend of fun, but I’d be lying. Fate would have it that a man like this would love in NY. He would tell me, after Nashville, that if consumed his thoughts and yada yada, but again, my lack of confidence wanted to call bullshit and just told myself he’s good with words. This weekend, I couldn’t believe him more. I was a queen and his smile revolved on mine. He arrived Friday, we are local Mexican, dropped our stuff at my house with a little bit of boom boom; we went to an awesome improv comedy show and then to the bars with my friends. Saturday we went to breakfast, grabbed beer, and headed to the beach where my driving became a comedy show and we ate great food at Coconuts. After, we checked into a hotel in Orlando, went to dinner, and then relaxed until we fell asleep, with more boom boom. Sunday was breakfast again, leaving the hotel, and then 4 hours at Hillstone with drinks and lunch and laughing and topped off with relaxing in the dock, dreading him having to leave. I take him to the airport, I actually go in and walk him to security, and he leaves. I actually cry after I walk away.

I wish any of this portrayed how I actually feel or how much I actually laughed or how much I actually felt like I was enough. Everything about Nashville and this weekend was perfect and call me crazy cause lord knows I know better than to set myself up for heartbreak, but I’m not ready to stop.

I don’t think I know what to do, but I know what I’m not gonna do.

Part of me wrote alllllll if this so that if it does fade away, I can look back and remember this wild ride; part of me wrote it so that if it does keep going, I can look back and remember where it started, in detail.

No better feeling than feeling enough and if nothing else, worst case scenario, he came into my life to remind me that I can feel that way again and to assure me that I am enough and great the way I am.

Best case scenario, he will stick around to remind me everyday.

Marty. Thank you.

Things to make me laugh when I look back on this; 96 in a hurricane, the clock is 40 minutes slow (!), 17 people to clean up barf at Bahama Breeze, face in the wall, bloody noses, long legs short bed, burnt butt, slow down please, Steven! Nancy!, I don’t wanna end up in a ditch in Florida…

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remembermemorablememories · 6 years ago

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Tuesday, February 12, 2019

post #400

main points:

- fly from seattle to newark

- drive home

- dinner with fam

- unpack/figure out paperwork

- smash doubles with sheena

- finish watching blade runner 2049

writing this on wednesday feb 13

today i:

- woke up at 4:30am. i was soooo tired when i woke up. i had a really odd dream that i wrote some type of manifesto and my friend jiarui was extremely offended by it that he wanted to kill me LOL. when i woke up from the dream (maybe cause it was so early), i felt like the dream was so real, i was kind of scared. but my head cleared up after a few minutes. jwoos and i got our final stuff, then left the airbnb around 5am. we said good bye to the cat :’( what a friendly cat

- we trekked through the snow for about a mile to capitol hill station. omg it was absolutely terrible. walking through the snow in seattle was already bad as it is because of the unshoveled sidewalks/roads, but with a luggage full of stuff and backpack?? gg gg gg. it was rough. i also carried our nike boxes to find a place to recycle them, eventually throwing them out in a recycling bin close to the station. the trek was really tough, but we made it. it took maybe like 20-30 minutes to get there

- took the link to the airport, then jwoos and i parted ways. he was on a delta flight and i was on alaskan airlines. his flight was about 30 minutes before mine so i figured i might as well do the journey to the airport with him. we said good bye, but also it’s not too bad cause we’re gonna hang anyway/call in the future :p

checked in, went through security, and stopped by starbucks to get an egg ham and cheese sandwich. then watched some youtube videos on my phone while i waited at the gate. my flight boarded at 8am and i got there around 7:20am after getting my food so i just kind of chilled while eating

- luckily it was just a light drizzle outside so no delays on taking off. i watched esports, ! symbol, and extraterrestrial life episodes of vox explained on my downloaded netflix. then i was unsure what to do so i napped for an hour. then i opened up the pamphlet in the seat pocket out of boredom and saw there was streaming movies through wifi. i assumed that because there weren’t screens in the seats there wouldn’t be entertainment. so i hopped on the wifi on my laptop and looked at the movie selections. after some browsing, i picked blade runner 2049. i watched the first hour and forty minutes (the movie’s two hours and thirty minutes) and then we landed

- met up with my mom around 5:20pm, then drove home and got back around 7pm. it was snowing in newark. lmaoooo i went from snow in seattle to snow in newark. i just can’t get away :’( on the car mom talked to me about how things were going with sheena the past week, chinese new year, some of my japan travel plans (like couchsurfing), and some other stuff

- got home and ate dinner with the fam. dad prepared a bunch of food. we also had tofu skin from my grandma!! it’s her specialty and she gave it to us when i wasn’t here for chinese new year. there was also pork, beef + green onions (the crunchy kind) and seaweed. a very solid meal

- went upstairs and started unpacking my stuff. showed dad some of the drone footage i had gotten of chicago, seattle and portland. also helped sheena with a calc problem and showed her the beauty of wolfram alpha ;D

- took a long shower, much needed

- got all my documents ready to send over to my broker (tax returns, offer letter, etc). i had to spend some time scanning them in with my phone. finished unpacking the rest of my stuff.

- played smash doubles with sheena from 10:30pm-12am. i hadn’t played in so long i felt kind of rusty surprisingly. sheena and i talked about how her past week was at school, and also another thing that had come up with ben a few days ago. and just in general what making friends is like in high school (how people sometimes feel fake)

- went to bed at 1am. i felt a bit awake still so decided to watch the rest of blade runner 2049, finishing at 3am (i had about an one hour of the movie left). the movie was interesting. i feel like i was expecting more action from it but i like that the plot was like “oh he’s gonna be the kid. he’s gonna be the kid. we’re following him as he unravels the story” then it was like jk the kid was supposed to be a girl...?? dun dun dun. the movie was very aesthetically pleasing but maybe a bit too deep for me to process so late at night

went to bed at 3am

the end! the 10 day journey has ended. it was interesting seeing the cities in the winter. i’ve now learned my lesson to go south during winter time if it’s for vacation LOL. but oh well, it was fun and great seeing friends

also wow this is my 400th post?!?!?!! that’s crazy. that went by so fast. or i guess it feels like it did cause i’m comparing 365 to 400, not 300 to 400... still though. 35 days gone so fast

#post #normal #february #2019 #travel #chicago #seattle #portland #reflection

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coconutseaways · 7 years ago

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July 1, 2017 - our first Airbnb

It's June 30, 8 o'clock in the evening. We decided to leave the harbour and their €6.20 a day rate to find an anchorage more beautiful, less noisy and even better, free. A couple days ago we were able to finally chill and do our own exploring since our first Airbnb booking was done. It was amazing! Everything went so well. I will tell you more. But when we were walking we found the sandy beach which is in a basin/crater on the south western corner of Faial, in the centre of old town Horta. It looks out to the ocean and is an absolute sight to see, so we brought the boat over and are now anchored in that beautiful basin, with a small waterfall beside us. A restaurant along the wall playing some awesome music and a great snorkelling area. We went for a dive already and found some beautiful fish. A black one with fluorescent blue spots that glitter in the light. Also the yellow and blue ones that I posted a video of. They are so pretty to look at. We also found a large red star fish. One of those ones with the long arms that are all bendy. It doesn't look like a perfect star and it's dark red. Such a cool thing to see since when we went to BC last year, we didn't see any because of the die off. Look up the starfish disease...it's so sad. We need to save the starfish!! Anyways. We are doing some serious relaxing now. Our next booking is on July 5 so we have a few more days to chill out. So...the Airbnb booking: I found the group (4 guys 1 girl) at Peters Cafe Sport after finally getting some wifi and getting a couple messages with the "leader" of the group. I walked up and couldn't even remember what the guy looked like, but a young tanned guy looked at me as he was walking by and paused. I said "Marius? I'm Courtney". It was an instant hiii how are you. He introduced me to the group: Warren- Australian. Martin - German. Lucrezia - Italian. Abdullah (Abi) - Saudi Arabian and Marius - German. Originally this booking was only 3 and as time got closer Marius messaged me and asked if one of his friends could join. I said ya of course and before he changed the reservation, he had another friend wanting to come. I clearly explained the bed sizes, two twins, a single and a double for me and mike. I also said that they would be sleeping 2, 2 and 1 on twin beds. It would be a "cozy" sleep but Mike and I were totally cool with it. So we added them to the booking and would have 7 people aboard our 38 footer for 4 nights and 5 days. What a great time!!!! First we still had to overhaul the boat. So we took all their luggage and asked them to go grocery shopping and kill some time. They gave us 2 hours where mike and I went into overdrive and cleaned up, packed away and tried to make this boat guest suitable. We had a long 12 day sail where almost all my clothes got salty wet and we pretty much just started putting stuff anywhere where it wouldn't rock around. So by the end we had some serious organizing to do. It all worked out because we finished the last bit and they arrived with bags of fresh groceries. They wanted to leave that evening instead of staying in the harbour for the night so I went with all the passports and checked us out of Horta. It is such an ordeal to check in and out of ports but all went well and I had a crew manifest of 5 extra. We set out motoring that evening and anchored on the eastern corner of Faial island with a great view of the other two islands: Pico and Sao Jorge. Pico island has the highest peak in Portugal - mt Pico. We found a great little spot that was tucked in from the waves. Warren cooked us an amazing pasta dinner with the most delicious garlic bread. It was some fancy bread, stuffed with garlic, parsley and tomato and then toasted in the oven. To die for. While we were sitting on the boat, we saw a small shark come up towards the boat. He stayed for a minute and then left. Marius wanted to jump in so bad. He didn't though. We had a great first night. I pulled all the beds out and made them up once it was getting late. Everyone called a bunk and it was a peaceful sleep except for a little snoring haha. The next morning Mike got up at sunrise to make coffee and as soon as he started moving 4/5 of the guests were up and on deck. The next thing I hear is a big splash. And then another and another. I come out and all 4 of them are in the water...naked! Haha it was hilarious! They really made the most of their trip and I'm so glad we got to be a big part of it. Mike, Martin and I went for a snorkel closer to shore and saw some cool fish. The crackling under the water is so loud from all the crustaceans. It is the coolest sound. You wouldn't believe how blue the water is. You can see everything so clearly it blows my mind. The rocks are huge and full of life with so many little crevices. It freaks me out a tiny bit once in a while, wondering what could be coming out of a dark crack in the rocks. But then I chill and think it will be fine. I will be fine. I can't miss everything else because of that possibility. I made a breakfast scramble for us and then we lifted anchor and set our for Velas, Sao Jorge. On our way across, we came across a dolphin pod who kept crossing our path but were not keen on hanging out with us. Marius and Warren jumped in the water and we dragged him by a rope off the back and tried to get him closer to the pod. They weren't having it and after a few attempts we pulled the guys back onboard. A little while later we came up on a turtle floating on the surface catching some rays. Martin got in and swam up to the turtle. He got pretty close before it swam away. He tried to follow but they are fast swimmers. They all have some barnacle growth in their back or tail. But they are so cute. I love turtles. We finally made it to our destination of Velas Harbour. We were going to go into the marina but it's a small one and the only room they had was alongside another boat. We pulled a u turn and anchored in the harbour but outside the marina. I went ashore and checked in. Free to anchor (awesome!) free water fill up. They had amazing showers at €2 each which isn't terrible. That was my first real shower since June 8 or 9. We had salt water wash, fresh water rinse showers during the voyage and the solar shower gets really warm in the sun. But a really shower with awesome pressure. Me and 4 of the group found a cafe on land and ordered some food. Got in wifi and got to call my mom for the first time. It was good to hear her voice. I do miss her and my sister. Missing family and friends definitely making me feel a little homesick. I wish it was a close trip to come home and visit. But from here it would be a long and expensive flight home and back. It's so amazing here. It is so surreal to be on these islands. Just bouncing one to the other. Velas was a gorgeous little city. Quiet. We happened upon a festival where a band played down the street and they shot fireworks into the sky and there was a long table of bread, wine and cheese maybe. A priest said a prayer and then splashed holy water at the food, blessing it. And then people came up with bags and was given one of each thing. It was so lucky for us to happen upon while we were looking for the grocery store and gas station since the marina didn't have any gasoline, only diesel. We eventually found the grocery store, and found out the gas station was 5 miles up the hill. We ditched the idea of getting gas and stocked up on food for supper. Martin cooked us steaks and we had another awesome meal. We all slept like logs that night and the next day we all went for a snorkel and got some great footage underwater. This was my first wetsuit snorkel which felt so nice. The water is refreshing but it cools you down quite quickly. After we all chilled out and half of us napped we motored in to the marina to fill up on water. We ended up cross blocking between two docks because it was such a small area to maneuver around. We filled up on water, had our showers and took off for Pico island. We made it to a great little curve not far from Sao Roque do Pico but the waves at night had the boat rocking side to side so bad. I kept nudging mike that we should move as he slept soundly. Maybe an hour or two before sunrise he lifted anchor and moved after I had bugged him enough. Sure enough 4/5 of the group had not had a good sleep due to the rocking. Abi slept like a rock and didn't even know we had started the engine and motored to the harbour of Sao Roque. The next morning he was like "what the? This isn't where we went to sleep?" Haha it was pretty funny. I got a few hours of shut eye and the next day we went onshore and had some fabulous pizza at the yacht club of Sao Roque. We had a great little anchorage for the day and went for a great walk along the coast of Pico. We walked to a beautiful windmill with the prettiest blue water coast full of little rocks and tidal pools. After a long walk our guests took a cab up the mountain to get some pictures while mike and I went back to the boat for a serious siesta. We passed out for a while and then I heard "courtney, mike were back". They were yelling from shore for only a minute before I popped my head up and gave them a wave. I rowed the dinghy over and picked them up and we were back on the boat. Supper was a simple sausage, cheese, bread meal with beans and celery, which hit the spot. We had hot chocolate that evening to top it all off. I also ended up pulling out my guitar finally and playing a few songs. It was a great time! The next morning we headed back to Horta so they could get their rental car and explore Faial island for a couple more days in another Airbnb. They had 2 more days and wanted to go diving and up the volcano. We dropped them off around 3 in the afternoon and it was sad goodbyes from all. The next morning we saw Warren, Marius and Martin go by in the diving boat. They were off to do their scuba dive. Marius messaged me and asked if we wanted to do lunch together which we were definitely for doing. We did laundry at the marina (so expensive!!!) that morning and after the dive we met up and went to a great place that served wood fire cooked meals. I got the pork chops and the guys got tuna, wreck fish and mike got some other fish I can't remember. The wreck fish was definitely the best tasting. So juicy and great flavour. Mike's was good but had a very subtle flavour. And the tuna was good too, a little too fishy for me. My porkchops were freaking amazing. Cooked to perfection. We got a few desserts to share, a chocolate mousse, a coconut pudding cake and another cake that tasted like tiramisu. After lots of laughs the restaurant was closing up at 3pm (they reopen at 7pm for dinner) we went to pay and these awesome guys paid for mike and I as a last goodbye. They also stocked me up on some dark chocolate because mike gave away the last few pieces of a bar I had. Oh they were honestly just the best people to have! That was our final goodbye. Mike and I made our way to the beach and they made their way to their rental car to explore the island a little bit more and then fly home the next morning. As I'm typing this up, I hear a loud screech call. I look up and around, don't see anything. Continue typing. Then I hear it again and I look behind me and there's a man flashing a light at us and using this siren call. It's the police. Oh man. They yell we have to go. So mike rows over to them and has a polite conversation where they inform us that it is illegal for us to anchor in our beautiful little spot. Only one boat is allowed to anchor there and we can move 300 m up the coast and anchor there. Haha. So we moved, and now we will have a little bit more of a rocky sleep. We are in some wave action but hopefully it won't be too bad. Tomorrow we will head towards Pico and find a place there. All part of the exploring aspect I guess. Anyways. Airbnb went great! We had an amazing time, they had an amazing time and it just worked out so well. Now Mike and I are taking it all in and relaxing. A few more days until our next booking and we just keep going on and on. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story and keep reading the ones to come! Lots of love to all! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram (Coconut_seaways) and Facebook at Coconut Seaways for awesome pics and videos. Below is our Airbnb link. I highly recommend you come stay with us! It will be an experience you'll never forget! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17172254?location=Horta%2C%20Portugal&s=gMqRO9XB

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