Kyiv - Valencia

She has been asking me to come to Spain to visit her for a long time. She is a former colleague and friend of mine who fled the war in February 2022. It took me 3 years to accept the fact that she was so far away and might not come back. And now I am going to see her.

This is not a holiday, no. I just need some peace and a sense of safety. To restore my nervous system, to sleep at last. My office laptop is travelling with me, because I haven't taken a single day off.

By the way, I've never been to Spain, not even in transit. So it will be a new experience.

My friend Tanya, who lives in Kyiv, heard that I was travelling to Valencia and also bought tickets - for my flight and for my train. She is going to visit her sister in Valencia. The sister fled from war in 2022 as well. So I am not alone in this journey.

So, the journey began at 9pm in a snowy and quite wintry Kyiv. My hubby Nick put me on the train.

Well-equipped carriage, with a toilet for people with disabilities. Sleeping compartment for 4 people. A book. And a neighbour woman who snores all night like a tractor.

As the train moved towards the border, 200 enemy attack drones circled Ukraine. Well, life is a lottery. But this was a sleepless night.

Przemyśl greeted us with rain. We all stood on the street for about an hour, waiting for a delegation of mostly young men of military age to pass through passport control. We were freezing. Luckily, I noticed a small coffee shop across the street. It was quiet, warm, cosy and delicious.

Now heading to the train Przemyśl-Krakow.

Contrary to the forecast, it was cloudy in Krakow, but without rain. And those 5 degrees Celsius felt much warmer here than in Kyiv, where the ground was frozen under the snow. We decided to take a short walk and breathe in the cool air. It was too warm on the train.

I still felt sleepy, so we headed to the café. I brought my friend to Lajkonik where they sell a cake very similar to her speciality cake.

The next stop is the airport. After all the checks, we stopped at the business lounge. Thanks to my bank, the visit is free for me and 1 guest.

The soup was very delicious! Perhaps, I just missed normal food.

Work accompanied by prosecco. But my mood is already relaxing.

In anticipation of my arrival, my friend did not sleep either, because she was so excited. Yesterday she called to tell me that she had bought me home slippers and to ask what I wanted to eat for dinner. That's so sweet! Someone is cooking for me!