The City was Beautiful then too...

The ray of the Saturday sun hit my eyes through the cracks that dancing curtains gave. It wasn’t an aggressive call but rather a warm wake up call. I opened my eyes with a great ton of hesitation and tried to focus on the little fluff ball that was sleeping all cosy. I remembered that it was Saturday and that made me spring up carefully from the couch making sure that Mr Mocha doesn’t get disturbed. I moved to my room with my laptop and placed it on the bed. As I was drying my hair after a good shower I opened my laptop and started looking at the comments the readers posted on the blog. There was a lot of it. Though I couldn’t read every single one of them I noted a few that caught my eyes. I was rushing to get ready and I packed my bag in a hurry, literally throwing in my laptop, phone, the post-it note with the name of the places, a camera and a few other essentials. I went downstairs and put a slice of bread in the toaster and fed Mocha who had already woken up from all the sounds from upstairs. I made myself a hot cup of coffee and transferred it to my travel tumbler. I had my bread slice in my mouth, the tumbler in one hand, the car keys in the other and the bag on my shoulder. I got into my car, settled in and started driving. I put on some good music and started the journey.

About 30 minutes into the journey, The road was long and not crowded with a beautiful view. I rolled down the window and took in the distinct smell of the chill weather that has been going around. The wind played with my hair as it was passing by. I smiled as it kept tickling me and drove towards my destination eagerly. It was as if I couldn’t wait to see the place, the place where I stayed for years but never explored an inch of it, the place which I thought was full of people and uninteresting and was plain and boring.

A few more miles in and I was there. The place I once left to find myself back again and here I was. I felt like the time when I moved after graduating hoping that everything was going to change. The only thing different this time is that I am not hoping to see him here nor am I here to stay. I am here to enjoy the place and get a few books that will remind me of the city and the happiness I felt coming here. I looked at the watch in my hand and started walking to the bookstore that I had in mind to get the books. I was going around the store picking small books. When I had quite a few in hand I sat down on one of the chairs and started reading it. I was enjoying the time I was there. I read a good amount of the books I took and returned them to the desk. I picked the books I initially wanted to buy and went in search of a good place to have lunch. All the exploring later, I returned to my home and I was exhausted but the exhaustion felt really good.

A warm shower and a good petting session with mocha were more than enough for that tiredness to fade away. I came back downstairs and saw the pile of books that was sitting there next to the door that I had placed when I came back. I picked them up and placed them on the kitchen counter and went through them. I had no plans of buying the book that was suggested to read this week for the club but it caught my eye and now a copy is here on my counter. Ten minutes of admiring later, the books were scattered on the counter. The laptop that was in my bag caught my eye. I picked it up along with the camera and moved to the couch. "Aaahhh… there's nothing that gives comfort like this couch here," I said as my body sunk into the couch. I was looking through the picture I took, editing them and then chose the final ones that were going online. I opened the tab in my browser and got myself ready to start writing.

"Dear readers,

How was your day? Did you guys go out? Today was perfect for me. The weather was fine and I in a very long time enjoyed the drive I did to get to the city and back. I went to a bookstore in the city, spent a lot of time there and even bought a few. I filled my tummy with good food that you guys recommended(though the line was quite long to get into the restaurant). I went to a lot of the places that I was recommended in the comments section of the last post and it was honestly the best experience. I always thought how solo travelling was a thing but honestly thought what I did was not the textbook solo travelling, I did travel alone and I had fun. There's this big fountain in the heart of the city. I have been there so many times but it was calm and beautiful like it has never been. The feeling of happiness and warmth rushing to me together. It was a very different feeling than I have ever had. I sat on one of the benches looking at the fountain, watching the people pass by, the cars and the buildings. I didn’t notice it at first but nothing in the city changed, the city was beautiful then too… It was me who changed and I was in love with the things that I never liked before. I missed Mocha right at that moment and I could see that the sun was making its move to set. I travelled back with the most satisfying feeling and with the promise of returning there to just sit there and look at the fountain.

This is something I have never done in my blog but I am also uploading the pictures of the places that I went from the suggestions I got. Thank you for all the suggestions and for the places I didn’t visit this time, I have written them down to visit the next time. And to the people who said sitting on one of the benches in the fountain square, thank you so much for making me realise things I didn’t before.

I hope all of you have a good night's sleep. Mocha is fast asleep here.

With Love,

Irene