Do you ever get the feeling that you are right where you belong? Of course you do, otherwise I’d feel sad for you. 😛
”I’d love to go on vacation now before work starts again.”
”Me too! Let’s go together!”
”Yes! The day after tomorrow?”
”Sure!”
I found the perfect travelling partner, after several months of planning and cancellings, just one week before I’d start working again. After some considering we did blind booking, meaning we had a list of some cities and only knew where we’d go after we had booked. And the destination was… Zurich! The least anticipated and most expensive city on the list, only for one and a half days, but hey, a new environment, new experiences – let’s go!
And when we arrived, we were stunned by the beauty and grandeur of Zurich. We didn’t think of any special places, but our hostel manager was eager to show us her favourite places on the map.
That same night we met some guys on the balcony, we started smoking, drinking wine and whiskey, and talking about ourselves. A playboy photographer from Saint Tropez, a Dutch gay couple with a spiritual twist, two Dutch young guys travelling around Europe. ”If you don’t travel, you will never expand your horizon,” was one of the sentences most heard.
When we were sent away from the balcony, we kept drinking and talking in front of the hostel for a long time, where a South Korean and a Texan architect joined us. We exchanged facebook contacts, laughter and stories. I sang the anthem of New Zealand and learned some Dutch curses. At some point there were six languages spoken in.
Refreshed by the new connections, we left early the other morning and strolled around the city and to the lake. We went to the Chinese garden, saw Chagall’s church windows, had some deep conversations by the river and lastly in an expensive restaurant. After those few hours we felt at home in Zurich already. Even later we caught up on the balcony again, where we also met a native Peruvian who gave me a beautiful bracelet and more.
Early in the morning and, of course, late and stressed out, we said goodbye to the gorgeous city and flew back home again. And the morals of the story? No matter your budget, no matter for how long, if you can travel, do it. The new faces, new stories, new impressions, are always worth it. It helped that we had beautiful weather and a strong feeling that it was our destiny to spend these days in Zurich. Go where your heart leads you to!
On Sunday we were less lazy and the weather was better, and we went to Linköping to have a look at Gamla Linköping, the old town part that is now a museum. We arrived at the big marketplace and spottet some curious figures…
And yes! Suddenly he sprinted across the place, screaming “This is a robbery!”, rushed into the bank, and out with a bag again. A woman in the bank screamed for the police, but it was Snacke-Per the vagabond who courageously obstructed the robber. When the old police officer finally ran after them, the screaming lady gathered us tourists to tell us about this greatest robbery of all history! How dramatic!
ast weekend was the second most important holiday, Midsommar! The longest day of the year. I’ve heard some sweet and 
We cooked the obligatory potatoes, eggs, and herrings, and had the obligatory strawberries for dessert. In the evening we had a barbeque and a massive fight against the horrible Swedish mosquitoes. See, if you put on a bit of insect repellant in Germany, the mosquitoes stay away. Swedish mosquitoes will shrug and find a spot you didn’t apply the repellant. Like, your jeans. Yes, they pierce through jeans. And they will plunge into your hair and dig their way to your scalp. And they don’t itch, they bloody hurt.
No, I’m not all „Go North“. Indeed, I spent my summer holidays (one week) in Venezia with one of my dearest friends, Anna, and it’s been one of my favourite vacations so far 🙂 So here is my little travelogue on Venezia, la Serenissima!
Venice is a place for the enamoured, anyway; at Lido, a little neighbour island, full of fat cat mansions, we sat on the waterfront, enjoying the quiet evening ambiance, together with a thousand couples who were having a picnic or just gazing silently at Venice, arm in arm. The contrast between intense, pulsing life and peaceful relaxation is really blatant and recurrent in this city.
Listening to them a young Venetian spoke to us, his name was Jason (?!) and he was slightly weird – Anna said, she had the feeling as if he had stepped right out of a movie. He had quite a sense of humour, and wrote us ladies a poem as well. Ashes to water, water to ashes… Thanks, Jason, we won’t forget you!
eek Clown who gave a sweet little show with his (sometimes) helpful little son who was maybe 3 years old. After that we wandered on, to the rather famous Rialto bridge (we didn’t know anything about Venice, so we just had to assume according to the masses of tourists) and back to the Accademia, looking for palazzi, but that was strange – we could always see them being on a boat, but as soon as we were on the streets they suddenly disappear. In conclusion we didn’t visit a single palazzo. But we did find a little gallery of an impressing artist who didn’t speak any English, but somehow you’re always able to communicate. And that evening we stumbled across a Jazz festival where a Blues singer and her fantastic band gave a concert at the waterfront. What a great atmosphere – open-hearted faces everywhere, some sitting in little boats, while the sun slowly sank and painted everything in blue and orange.
Whole Sum Parts 