Pedal boats

Day with Jenny

My staying in Lille was amazing mainly because of people I have met. Even though it was impossible to spend as much time as I wanted with everybody I made a lot of great friends there. Today belongs to Jenny – the girl from Taiwan I met in Lille. I don’t remember the exact moment I met her, but I think it was during my first week already. I saw Jenny in the beginning and she was always smiling and she was also interested in talking. She also went to the ice-skating organized by International Club. I don’t know what happened next, but following days I did not see her much. Now, we are making fun of it but it seemed to me that Jenny disappeared. Few times we saw each other at the university but it was always fast and busy so we did not have much time to talk. I always invited her to party but Jenny was too responsible and she always preferred studying. I remember that when I had a week full of fun, travelling and parties she was like: “I had a terrible week. I don’t know what to do earlier. I have so many homework”. Nevertheless, each moment with her was great. Then, Jenny was travelling a lot. I don’t even know a person who would travel more than her! Once she told me a crazy story that happened while she was travelling with a weird woman. Since that time I am always laughing about it.

In the end of the semester we realized that it went so fast and we decided to meet together. It was one day before I went travelling. I wanted to know everything! It seemed to me funny that even though we were on the same exchange, we had totally different stories, we saw different places and we met different people. It is a shame we did not have French class together or at least some financial classes. As a present, Jenny drew Taiwan and the Czech Republic on my flag with a nice message. At that time, we agreed that Jenny is going to meet me in Prague while travelling. I was not sure if she meant it seriously but it was of course better to plan meeting!

Summer went again fast and many people came to visit me in Prague. It started with my Mexican friend Javier, then Francois from France, Torres from Taiwan and now Jenny from Taiwan. She chose the best date ever! Since I wanted to work as much as it was possible before I go to Amsterdam, I scheduled my shifts for every day. In my free time I just needed to arrange everything like insurance, packing, ticket, things to buy and so on. When Jenny texted me she was really coming I was hoping for the best and I was worried which date she chose. When she sent me a message that she was coming on Wednesday I was more than happy! It was the only day that I had a day off! I was amazed. It suited me perfectly. I could imagine myself as a guide in Prague because I already showed Prague Castle to many people.

Wednesday was here and Jenny was coming at 7 am in the morning. I wanted to meet her in the morning but since I was working late, it was not the easiest task. Another problem was that I have few last days in Prague and I am in for everything. Therefore, when my co-workers asked me to go for some beers I agreed. I left early to sleep a little bit and meet Jenny in the morning. Unfortunately, I was not able to get up early. I felt so sorry when I woke up around 11 am. Nevertheless, I tried to hurry up and I took a quick shower, breakfast and I went to the city centre.

We met at Malostranská in a small park. We immediately found each other and the good thing was that Jenny had internet on her mobile phone. As a first thing we visited Prague Castle. I was surprised that they controlled our bags to enter the complex. When we were climbing up the stairs I realized how tired I was. I have to admit that it was the hottest day I experienced since I am back! It was crazy hot weather. The sun was shining like crazy and I felt too warm even in my dress. We walked through the castle and we went inside the cathedral. It was almost the same program as I did with Torres. Outside the castle I was surprised that Starbucks was closed. Normally, if you want to get to the best point to take a picture you have to order something in Starbucks. This time it was closed so we could go there and take some pictures with a view of Prague. It seemed to me that Jenny was not excited about Prague but the truth is that she told me many times that it is an amazing city. We saw the Prague castle quite fast and we decided to climb to the small Eiffel Tower – Petřín.

I was dying when we were climbing up. It was quite steep and the weather was crazy. I was complaining about the weather at least three times. The sky was without any clouds. When we finally got there we just checked the tower and we decided not to climb up because there was a big waiting line and I went there one month ago anyway. We were going down from Petřín and we saw Lennon´s wall. On our way there, we were talking a lot about tattoo. It was a big coincidence because I was thinking about making one recently and Jenny just asked in one moment: Have you ever thought about having a tattoo? And I wanted to answer: ”How do you know? ”. Nevertheless, she came up with a great idea and I will seriously think about it!

After Lennon´s wall, we saw lots of people in the pedal boat and we decided to rent one also. When we came to the island, there was a big queue at the place I knew. I was not sure what to do but I noticed another sign about pedal boats. That´s why I decided to check it. We were so lucky! The place offered pedal boats and there were still two boats available for us. I could not believe it! Few metres further, there were many people waiting for the boat and here it was empty! The best part is, that all boats go in the same area so there is no difference where you rent it. The only disadvantage was that we did not have a car (as a boat). And it was even cheaper! When we rent a boat, people started to come and they created a queue also at this place. It was amazing! We were just floating on the river and enjoying summer weather. We borrowed it for one hour. I felt that I was getting tan while being in the boat. We were talking about everything. Jenny is going to study in Poland next time so we planned that I could see her or she could come to Amsterdam to see me. I felt again tired but I was interested in everything we talked about. Then, we started to compare our countries as normally. I was shocked when I found out something about Taiwanese culture and I was amazed by number of languages Jenny can speak.

Subsequently, we were heading to the Charles Bridge that is always overcrowded. Even in today´s weather people did not mind and they were taking pictures there like crazy. Today, I noticed for the first time paintings that they sell at the bridge. I was almost about to buy one! I fell in love with nice pictures that are only white and black and there is something red – like an umbrella. They had many of them for a good price. Prague was stunning in those pictures. We got a little bit hungry so I took Jenny to the Old Town Square. Firstly, I wanted to show here the place where I work and I suggested that she could come over next day when I will be working. Later, we went to the clock. It was crowded as always. I like this place a lot because it reminds me Harry Potter. We decided to try Czech specialty – Trdelník. On the Old Town Square, they offer Trdelník for 60 Czech crowns and we got it directly from the oven – warm. It was amazing. I hope Jenny liked it. I also made a list for her with food she could try in the Czech Republic. She wrote me how to write Barbara in Chinese.

It was already time to go because I promised on having a dinner at 6 pm. It was not nice to say good-bye only after one afternoon but I hope Jenny is coming to Adelitas to see me and try amazing Mexican food there. Moreover, I hope that we will visit each other in Poland or in Netherlands. I had such a nice afternoon. I enjoyed the weather at maximum and I was glad to hear all stories from Jen. She was talking about Iceland a lot and she again convinced me to visit Taiwan soon. I felt happy to see her! After this I went for a dinner and I had great food. I came home full of memories and now I will finally take a rest and I will sleep.

Next day Jenny came to the restaurant and it was great! She even brought me a letter saying so many nice things! She tried my favourite food and I was happy to see her again!