It's hard to get back from the fairy tale. Then the reality looks so gray, grim and ... rainy. Such alien and so distant.
I fell in love with Paris. I fell in love with Brussels. I was surprised with Berlin. And I got angry at the rain that damaged Amsterdam's image and feeling. But about everything from the beginning.
And the first stop was Germany, Berlin. A city with a deep past, with monuments to Soviet soldiers and memorials for the victims of the Holocaust. With the remains of the Berlin Wall that are still colorful. But on the other hand, it surprised me. Its spaciousness and modernity.There are huge squares where young people and friends spend time, there are wide sidewalks and plenty of space. Better than I expected, I quietly recognized myself.
The second stop was Belgium, Brussels. Here I did not expect anything, more precisely, I had not created any, more or less, specific picture of what Brussels should look like. But I really did not expect it to be so! Okay, I'll stay the most beautiful words for Paris (because it's really worth it), but I would not refuse to stroll through Brussels streets for a longer time. For instance, in Grand Square, you can sit all day long looking at the magnificence and luxury of the buildings.
And those narrow streets where coffee shops or shops are everywhere, enchanting with cozy scents ... and waiters who are kindly smiling and inviting in hundreds of languages to visit their cafes with white tablecloths and red napkins. It's exciting.
And chocolate, chocolate! It's not for nothing that Belgian chocolate is so praised - they just dissolve in the mouth, and through a multitude of various chocolate's shops to calmly pass needed a huge talent, mhm ...
I said that I would love to live there... and then I saw Paris...
France, Paris was the third, and fortunately - the longest, our stop. You know, it seems to me that the more real the feelings are, the harder it is to express them in words. The more complicated, the harder it is to say how and why. I just loved Paris really. As many other people, right? If Paris is a city of love, what else could you expect? I got just enslaved by this unrestricted freedom, the living life that you can just breathe in. Even at dark evenings or even at nights, people do not stay at homes. They live. The cafes are full of smiling faces. They are walking through the narrow streets. Spending time just on the stairs to the church, in the end, calmly, but seductive.
We arrived late in the evening, stayed at Montmartre hotel, and headed for Montmartre, to explore the magnificent Sacred Heart Church. However, the wide stairs near the church were not empty. People - one, two or more groups, with or without umbrellas - sat on the stairs and did not hurry anywhere. Did not complain about the rain. Did not run home. They sat and, apparently, just enjoyed life and this day.
And on days there is a lot of parks, one more beautiful than another. The gardens of Luxembourg have fascinated me. Large park, lots of colorful flowers, an abundance of trees. Lots of benches or chairs that can be built wherever your heart desires - at the flower, at the pool or in the more secluded corner.
There was also the fourth stop - the Netherlands, Amsterdam. But the success succumbed because of two things - first before we were in Paris, secondly, it was raining ... and took away a part of the charm. It is said that Amsterdam is a little Venice.
High buildings, adjacent to each other, near the canals. Say, those houses have two doors - front and rear. The rear doors lead straight into the canal, so, the only step and you're already bathing. And here also the homes standing straight in the canals, right on the water. Beautiful, well-equipped. Everyone here has its own boat because it is probably the only and simplest vehicle when living directly on the water.
There was no a fifth stop... only home again. As I said, it's hard to get back to reality from the fairy tale. I would love to fall asleep in the evening and wake up at least once in Paris in the morning. Once again to take a walk on the streets, to eat again croissant with a coffee for breakfast, and to breath in this freedom again ... Paris, we'll go.
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