As mentioned in my intro post, at the beginning of the year I spent a few months in Europe. I did a 2 week course and then spent the rest of the time traveling.
However, it was during those two weeks that I met a bunch of fabulous people and decided to split a room in Vienna with one of them.
Her name was Marney and she had a thick, smooth Londoners accent with a smoldering look and manner to match. We went on to become the best of friends.
One Friday evening Marney and I decided we'd had enough of the books, dressed up warm and went in search of wine. We made the mistake of not eating dinner beforehand and after our first glass the thought of food seemed utterly unnecessary. 1 glass turned into 2 and so it goes.
We decided to do the responsible thing and hobble back to the train station to get back to our rented room. But it wasn't to be. My wisdom took over and I had the fantastic idea of us jumping on a train to Prague that night.
We all need those friends who make us take a step back and show us the wrongs of our ways. But Marney is no such friend. Our silliness collided and erupted into a magnificent whirlwind of excitement for our upcoming adventure to Prague.
We would book an Air bnb and find somewhere to buy toothbrushes once we got there. Tickets bought, we needed to take a train to somewhere and then swop trains somewhere.. (I can't remember exact details). We were extremely confused, however, we bumped into a guy who seemed nice enough as we informed him of our fantastic plan. He was totally enthused and decided to help us by accompanying us on the train to where we would need to get off to catch our connecting train. (Perhaps if less wine had been involved we would've managed this alone).
He waved good bye to his friends and the 3 of us hopped on. We chatted and laughed and joked and I was just so impressed with how sweet this guy was. And then it was time for us to part ways as he got off and he made his way back to his friends. Everything was working out perfectly.
Marney and I decided it was imperative we show our friends our cleverness and sent a bunch of pictures with our train tickets in our grinning mouths with a caption "we're going to Prague"!!!!
We found our way to the platform and while waiting for our train to Prague, we came up with an ingenious, not at all repetitious song: "we're going to Prague, we're going to Prague". Twirling each other, dancing like at a Viennese ball, we delighted everyone who passed with our fantastic plan. And so we danced and sang and took photos when a little man in a thick Austrian accent says: "Ekskuz me. Ekskuz me. U are not going to prag tuneit."
I stop mid twirl. "Huh?"
"U are not going to prag tuneit."
"Come again?"
"U are not going to prag tuneit."
"Why????"
"The first train is tomorrow morning at 07.30 am."
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo."
Totally deflated. There must be some mistake. We have our tickets! We can't go home and face our friends. But there was no mistake.
Off we went, shoulders hunched, singing stopped. We got into a taxi with an equally depressed driver (I wasn't really in the right happy space myself to check in if he was okay) and the three of us depressed humans drove off in the little yellow cab.
Marney and I promised each other we would get up early and make the early train, but the morning came and just to raise my arm was inconceivable. That was the end of our Prague dream and a waste of 74 euro each.
Marney is working in Venice at the moment but the next time we meet up we have made a pact to go to Prague and make up for the wasted 74 euro. And we will not be allowed to drink any wine beforehand.
I'll be 32 in January and the biggest difference I see between my 22 and 32 year old self is simply that I'm now better equipped to roll with the punches. However, I'm probably still as silly as ever, if not more so, and I do hope I will be just as silly when I'm 42!