When It Comes, would You Do it?

Here’s a little story about irrationality, love and courage that I have heard during my travels in Europe which got me thinking quite a bit. When I first heard it, there were moments I stopped and stared into space. Imagining what it must feel like or recalling moments that were similar but I let it slipped. This is probably one of the best thing I have ever came across with and had a strong impact on my life and hope you would enjoy it.

When you are traveling, relationships between people you meet often are short and passionate. That’s one of the perks of travelling because sometimes you find someone that share that intense level of connection you wouldn’t find when you are at home. Or something that you subconsciously were searching for but somehow it comes at the most unexpected scenarios or situations…

Same thing happened to John and Miranda, who had met again in another crossroads in their life. They were friends from a young age when things were simple, naive and foolish. Their attraction developed then but how it was handled was the consequence of being young and foolish, it wasn’t taken seriously and it faded. As they departed from each other to move on with studies and their own life, which meant they would be in different parts of the world. What was left was memories which they had no intention of meeting again or at least imagining there would be opportunities to do so.

8 years later, they were all grown up and lived a very different life. Miranda is in a relationship, have a decent job and John was having a good time discovering the world. So as John was travelling and as he was planing his trip, he thought in his head “Why not go to visit Miranda? I have never been to her country anyway.” The idea became reality, both were excited to see each other again as old friends. Nothing more.

Just like old friends do, the anticipation doesn’t really justify how it feels when they reunited. John was telling me that he was so happy that he lost words sometimes because there were so much to say but somehow it was stuck in his head. But he told me that being with her again somehow seemed surreal, and that she looked different in a good way. All grown up i thought, they must look different lol.

John met the bf of Miranda and they were all having a good time, going around and having drinks together. Catching up, getting to know the country from a local perspective….

So……This went on for a few days, those 3 hanging around with each other and they were having a great time. John then started to feel something that was odd when he was alone at a hostel one night. He can’t stop thinking about Miranda, her face kept reoccurring in his mind  and it drove him to frustration as he was confused with how he was feeling. He thought it must of just temporary attraction, he knew it was not logical at all to feel anything. And what was the point?

The next few days, he was keeping himself together but there were times he said, he just couldn’t stop looking at her in an affectionate way. Especially when they exchanged conversations in the car through the mirror. John said he was just trying to enjoy every single moments with her as he could before he leaves, nothing more than that. And so he did, making her laugh tried to ask her to come out as much as she could when she wasn’t working.

What John didn’t know was that he wasn’t feeling that connection alone, Miranda felt it too but not as soon as John. Miranda felt a zing at one of the sightseeing place they went to visit. Like John, she was confused and she needed to know the answer. So she decided to take him to the airport on the last day. As they said their goodbyes, it was very strange they recalled. It was almost like an unanswered question that no one wanted to take the chance to answer. That moment was right there, lingering in the air between them, John said he could felt all the sensation and butterflies rushing through his veins but nothing happened. They both turned and left.

John’s mind was all in the air, he said he was at the wrong terminal as well for his flight in which he nearly missed because of that. He had to do something about it, so he told me he texted her how he felt, it was a decision he had to make considering the consequences that would follow. But he said to me, what if you knew what you feel would simply fall into the past and never never will have the chance to express again.  So he told her how he felt, unexpectedly…..Miranda told him the same thing.

As you can imagine how both of them would felt, I can only describe it as planets smashing into each other and creating thousands of big bangs. But what also came was regrets and frustrations for them, especially for John.

For the next few days they stayed in touch and talked about many things, for John, the guilt and regrets already was troubling him. But logically he knew that if he return for her, he would sabotage her relationship. John said he doesn’t support the idea of cheating at all before, he would never do such thing.

So when I asked him why did you take the chance and got involved this time? He knew what was about to happen was wrong, but he felt like sometimes when you know what you feel is true then nothing should get in front of it. He said he had to be selfish to actualize this intense feeling he has for her and he doesn’t regret a thing.

He paid great efforts to figuring out what they were like and ended up that Miranda’s relationship was near the end. After knowing this, John’s heart only gave him one direction which was to cancel his next trip and return for Miranda.

So John went for it, he was on a mission. With only one goal, and they were telling me that they had one of their best time spending that week together. They said it was so intense that it was unbelievable, unlike anything they ever felt. Time was not a thing when they were together, they were fully in the moment, living the presence and tried to treasure every part of it.

I felt that connection that they have, it was so strong that nothing needed to be said or question was it worth it for them. The way they looked at each other and how they enjoy so much to be with each other. It was truly beautiful, pure and rare. I have never heard or seen anything like that.  What will happen is unknown, but they seemed pretty confident about the unknown. They said if you found the right thing, why let it go so easily?

Which made me wonder, if it comes to me…Would i do it? Would I leave my thoughts all behind and go with something my heart told me to. Because most often it might seem like the wrong thing to do but when it actually happens. It can’t be more right.

 

 

Immersed in Ukrainian culture and history (and vodka)

A GUEST POST BY ANEESH VARMA

The excitement has settled and there’s a keener attention towards the finer details of the hotel grounds: the fresh smell of pinewood, the pervading greenery and the richness of material with which everything is built within and without. From the wood used to make furniture to the ingredients used in every single local dish, everything is created with dedication to quality and excellence. One could easily fall in love with this city for what it is – a place densely packed with history and an almost perfectly preserved culture. In a world where westernization is growing evermore, it’s a relief to be immersed in pure Ukraine, where signs and posts read no English and people exclusively speak Ukrainian and nothing else.

Kiev Pechersk Lavra

Our sightseeing tour began at the monastery of Kiev Pechersk Lavra, nearly 1000 years old. Shrines, beautifully decorated walls and paintings of saints and martyrs are in abundance around the pious priests and nuns. I detest religion. However, one can’t help but be in awe at some of the marvelous structures that religion has resulted in overtime. Unfortunately, my attention during this part of the tour was more focused on the cynical, piss-taking of the Christian traditions, which the groom and I, both atheists, could not help but do (apologies to the sensitively religious out there).

The majestic interior

At one point, standing inside a very quiet building within the church grounds, the groom had made a joke which made me laugh very loudly, obviously upsetting a nun who was doing her prayers. “We should probably be more respectful,” I said to him, to which he replied “Is she fit?” And, right at that moment the nun turned around, with ghastly gargoyle-like facial features and in my fright I laughed even louder. Sorry folks, the temptation to upset the imaginary gods are far too strong to resist.

More photos from the monastery:

Embedded on stone: the memories of soldiers from Ukrainian’s dark past

Church buildings beautifully preserved through centuries of war

Mummies?!

The most incredible part of the church grounds was the underground tunnels, about 300m long and packed with around 50 (I think?) naturally mummified saints wrapped in beautiful textile and preserved within glass coffins. The tunnels are so small and dark that groups must walk through in single file and holding candles. Each mummy would have been over 200 years old. We found our blasphemous jokes silenced at this moment, as we found ourselves walking through what is touted as one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.

It amazes me how solemn and sad all the priests and nuns who walk the church grounds seem to appear. After all, isn’t being “closer to God” supposed to be a happy experience? Unfortunately the recent history of Ukraine is not so different when compared to the expressions on the faces of the religious. Within 400m walking distance is the awesome (and I mean, really awesome) statue: Mother Motherland, Kiev. This huge monument, standing around 200m above the ground, was the first thing to catch my eye up during the drive to the hotel on the day I landed in Kiev. So amazed by its glory, I had asked the non-English-speaking driver what it was, to which he angrily yelled out, “MATHA-FACKER!!!”.

Mother Motherland, a controversial symbol of power

Later on I would find out that the statue was a symbol of the Soviet Union (from its days as part of the USSR) and that the lady was thought by some to be a shemale. Hold on, why shemale? Peoples’ reasonings seem to differ but from my understanding of what our lovely tour guide Marina told me, it was created as a shemale-like figure to represent the power of the Ukrainian people, as if to say “our men are strong but our women are just as strong too, so don’t f**k with us.” Under the statue is a museum, which we didn’t have time to see. However, the history of the place is so densely filled with sadness and tragedies of war, one single blog post wouldn’t be sufficient to cover even the slightest bit of it: you have to go and see it for yourself. The most startling thing about the whole experience was how recently some of these atrocities occurred. So recent that a looming cloud of confusion still pervades the country as to what really happened, which reminds us that we are still very connected with its social and political history.

And now the fun starts…

We settled our tired bodies in a fantastic restaurant organised by the lovely bride, Anya. It was called Tsarskoye Selo and served the best local food I had experienced in the whole trip. The most memorable part of the experience was the culturally iconic Red Borscht Soup, which amazingly comes with a vodka shot. If you ever try it, make sure you have a Ukrainian friend to teach you how it’s supposed to be done!

The weirdest (and coolest) soup dish ever, complete with a shot of vodka – Ukrainian style 😉

The drinking continued back at the hotel until late into the night and copious amounts of vodka was consumed. They weren’t kidding about the Ukrainians: they do drink a lot of vodka.

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A Quick Guide to Vienna

Schönbrunn Palace

YOU HAVE TO GO! This place is a reminder of the once powerful Hungarian Empire, it is a former imperial summer getaway for the nobles. Arriving at the main gate, the sheer size of the palace made me felt so insignificant. I cannot imagine how people used to live inside this building, nor can I imagine how many maintenance it needed to keep this living history alive.

It was truly beautiful, stunningly beautiful. The composition of the sky and the building is picture perfect; I felt like just sitting down in the middle and close my eyes. It was majestic. The sun was rising slowly; the yellow exterior of the palace began to emerge, showing its true color under the sun light. Especially with the blue sky, the contrast was perfect.

Damn! i wished i was on a horse! It would be so cool riding in the palace. This is something always pops up in the back of my head when i am in places like this. Reason being? Watched too many movies and they look awesome when they enter castles, palace or wherever historical and ancient.

From the back of the palace’s view point, the design of the garden has done most of the work for you. All you need to do is to simply look straight ahead and the symmetrical design of the Great Parterre with the Neptune Fountain and Gloriette in the background. This “royal backyard” is vast that I am talking about it would take hours to complete the full walk. The area extends to other attractions which i did not get the chance to see, such as Roman ruins, Orangery, Columbary, Palm pavilion and the Palm house .

Overlooking the Great Parterre toward Gloriette

Maria-Theresien-Platz

Maria Theresa Monument and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (art history)

After lunch, we went to the public square of Maria-Theresien Platz to visit museums. It is such a convenient location. The two museums are symmetrical, almost identical , well to me its exactly the same i cant tell the different at all! The Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art history museum) I would suggest to spend a good day to visit these two if your interest are art and history. Separating the 2 grand buildings is The monument of Maria Theresa – who reigned for forty years! It is a history statue because it represented  women coming into power in the 17th century. Ancient feminism, in her hand she holds a scroll which is issued by the Emperor Charles VI that allowed women to ascent the throne.   

The empress and her advisers

Hi Mozart

I have heard so much of this prodigy since i was young, i believe that’s the same for everyone on this planet who had music lessons. But being able to see visit his statue in the city of music is a unique experience. It is one of those boxes you need to tick off when you are here. So it is located in the entrance of the city park near the Albertina Museum. Its not a bad place to go for a stroll here after lunch, the place is fulled with young people, couples and families. If you need a break, definitely come here and chill for while to gain your energy! This is on located on the other side of the museum quarter in Burggarten. Not far from the art history musem at all!

A great man never walks alone

Life is short; this is a phrase you would have heard so many times before but can never grasp the true meaning behind. Not until when you personally experience or feel the pain some events give you.

New Year. New Everything

A year ago…

i was in a different place, doing different things, with different people also, i talked differently, lived differently, ate differently, laughed differently, thought differently and just generally my life was different.