Destination: home

Travel Diary:

It felt just like monday… only, it was not. It was a Saturday.

We had a very busy day. I am not going into all details, but it did include preparing breakfast for our guests, feeding and taking care of a bunch of horses and, buying new shoes for our little princess, just to mention a few things. And of course, there was the normal morning hassle with kids, getting dressed up and brushing the teeth, and so on. Let’s just say that the whole morning-part of the day was a lot to handle.

Let’s go back in time a little bit. The night before, my dear husband was working late, and at some point he sent me a message, asking if he could TAKE the car in the morning. And I REALLY had to say no because all the things I had to accomplish would have been IMPOSSIBLE without a car. I did feel bad about it, knowing that taking the car would’ve made his day much easier.

Back to saturday. In the morning, without complaining, off he went with the bus and the train to his work. Later on, during the morning he sent me a message asking if I could maybe leave the car for him to the train station in the evening because the busses are not driving that often on weekend evenings. And I knew if he didn’t catch the right train, he would have to EITHER wait rather long in the train station for the next bus, OR walk home. Not very funny options when you are coming home from work dead tired very late at night. Anyway, it was a nice, warm, and sunny spring day, so no problem, I thought. We’ll take the car there and make a little excursion. We can drive back home with our kickboards. It is really only THREE kilometers, and we’ve done it BEFORE.

Only the kids were not fascinated about the idea, actually not at all. “Can we just take the bus?” My little princess asked. And I said no. “We need some fresh air, and it is a beautiful day outside.” At this point, I had to wake the two-year-old little monster from his nap, and as you can guess, he was not particularly happy about anything at all. Actually quite the opposite. After some serious negotiations, my princess agreed to go, but only if she gets to take her bike instead of the kickboard. “Fine with me,” I said and started packing some snacks and other stuff we might need on the way. Seriously, with two small kids, you always need to pack a fortune. Even if it is only for a very short trip.

And this time our trip was really very short. Only three kilometers from the train station to the next village, to our home village that is. But the area where we live is full of bike routes and hiking trails, like the whole Switzerland. And the surroundings on a spring day (or any day, for that matter), are just beautiful. You can see the Alps on the horizon the whole way and the route I had in mind goes through the green fields that are shimmering in the sunlight. What I have learned is that it doesn’t always need to be something big. You can turn a small three-kilometer walk into a great adventure.

So we packed our bikes and kickboards in the car and drove to the train station, just to find out that there was no parking space left in our usual spot. So I had to find another space which was naturally a more expensive one. And, now pissed off, because the two were whining on a back seat, I called my husband asking what time he MIGHT be coming so that I know how much money I should THROW into the machine. He pointed out calmly that it is the weekend, and you probably have to pay only up to a certain hour. Still listening to the two whining on the back seat with my other ear, I snapped something rather stupid (CENSORED) to my husband. That was the end of the conversation. I went to the machine, and of course, I put too many coins in, and voilà! I paid for the parking until Monday morning. I sent my dear husband a message telling him no need to worry, he has time until Monday morning, and got an answer saying that he would LIKE to come home today, if he MAY…? “Of course dear” I answered with a smiley and some hearts and went to get my kids out of the car.

So off we went with our bikes and kickboards, and oh boy, for the first time during this particular day, we had some fun. Both kids did really well. We stopped to one of the benches on the way to have a snack and enjoy the sun. We crossed a little river and threw some stones into the water, just to hear the splashing sound and marvel the pattern the stones created when diving into the water. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing. Once we arrived home, my two-year-old little hero said that his feet are tired and they need to rest. No wonder, I thought, after such a long kickboard-drive. I prepared dinner, and we talked about the day. Both kids said that driving bikes and kickboards were the best part. They went happily to bed and fell asleep faster than ever.

I was sitting on the couch, enjoying my first quiet moment of the day when I heard the keys turning in a lock. My husband walked in, looked at me, and said: “Oh Shit. I forgot the car!!!” “No…? Seriously?” I said, stunned, not knowing if I should cry or laugh, and ended up doing neither. And my husband? Well, he went to get the car, naturally.