Bits Of Here And There

Phone ring wakes me up at 5 in the morning.I open my eyes and look around a room. It’s unfamiliar to me. I am confused. Where am I? Oh. Amsterdam. I am in Amsterdam. I am on the trip I have been dreaming about for years!

“Poor guy downstairs”, I am talking to myself, “I can just imagine what he is thinking about this crazy Russian girl who wants a wake-up call at 5 am.”

Cool morning air, coming from an open window, freshens me up. Still sleepy I maneuver around furniture and squeeze into a doll-size bathroom. I take my quickest shower ever and at 5.45 am I am out of the hotel and down to the street.

I feel incredibly light headed, safe and alert at the same time. I see things in a way I have never seen them before and it feels like if all of my senses got awakened after being asleep for years. The day is just breaking and sky, with not a cloud upon it, is still dark and only down below, just above the rooftops, it’s turning pale blue. There is not a sound around. The city feels fresh and crisp, like if it was bathed in this morning light and silence and all the sorrows, frustration and misery was washed away. I breathe in this clearness and indulge this morning air. It lifts me up.

As I keep walking down the street, I realize that I am not aware of my body anymore. I don’t feel me legs stepping on the ground, I cannot tell if it’s cool or warm. I got beyond my physical form and now, I am one with everything that I see around me, I dissolve in this place. I look up at the rooftops and I see the street I am walking on down below; I feel roughness of roofing under my fingertips. I know that I am down here, but I also know that I am everywhere else.

I get to the Old Market Square and I stop at awe. Silence surrounds me like a blanket. It seems unbelievable that this quite and small square is the same place I visited just last night, all crowded with people, noise, lights. Now, it’s deserted. Almost, deserted. There are just a couple of sellers getting their slats ready for the morning crowd and a truck, watering the streets I walk to the middle of the square and stay there for a few minutes. I listen to this silence; I look up at this pale sky and gray silhouette of the houses surrounding the place, I feel moisture in the air and I smell it, too. As I walk around, I do my best not to make a noise as if being afraid of breaking a sort of magic spell. It seems like there is nobody else in the whole city and it all belongs to me.

It’s almost seven and I am in a hurry to get back to the hotel. Breakfast is served from 7.30 to 9.30 and I want to beat the crowd down at the dining hall. I am hungry, so my breakfast of coffee, croissant and cereal seems like the most delicious thing I ever tasted in my life. As soon as I am done, I pick up some things up in my room, go down to the garage to pick up my rental and drive out of the city. Actually, it’s the first time I rent a car while traveling and I am enjoying seeing everything at a different pace, not as a pedestrian, but as a driver. I drive by the canals and endless number of bridges, I wait for people to cross streets and I see motorcycles zooming by. I like all of that, but I am very happy to get out of the city before the morning rush hour begins.

Some time later, I am down to the countryside. I love country roads. No hustle, no “Honk, honk, you, idiot!”, nothing like that. Weather is nice so I put the top down. I drive by rolling hills, colorful fields, which always remind me of a quilt when I look down on them from a plane, and small villages, with all these tiny houses, flower window boxes and welcoming front porches. I am on my way to a castle. I adore castles (can you say “adore” about castles, actually? Never mind.). Last time I went to a castle, was three years ago, when my dad and I traveled to Check Republic. We visited number of castles back then and none resembled another in any way. It’s not only the castles that were unique, but the towns they were located near by, as well. These towns with their market squares, churches and pebble-stone paved streets, became my most precious memories.

I park and buy a ticket to get into the castle. I am lucky because it’s the last guided tour before the lunch break, over wise, I would have to hang around for a couple of hours; not like I would really mind that, just everything has been so perfect!

Couple of hours later, I am out of the dim light and medieval walls into the bright sun light. I am starving, so I look for a nice restaurant. I found one that I really like. I sit down in the shade of the grapevine leaves hanging down from a trellis and order a glass of wine and a special. I just sit there, enjoy the taste of young white wine and I feel like if time stopped and I am going to stay in this moment of happiness and ease forever. There is almost no people and I can hear bird singing and water running in a creek near by; I see sunbeam reflecting from wine in my glass and I feel it playing on my face; I see bread crumbles on the table. Isn’t this simplicity is what makes it so perfect?

At midnight, I think of that day. What a magnificent day it was! I am so thankful for it and for the next seven days ahead of me.