What can happen to you E-Book

Edith Slapansky

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 202

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Stories that life writes are always the best in the end. They can be used to tell a whole life - in an entertaining and amusing way. Edith Slapansky takes us on an illustrious journey through her life and that of her acquaintances. We experience funny and sad stories with her, fear and hope and rejoice with her. As the individual events are always described briefly and to the point, this is an excellent read for a short break in between or on the go. Readers will not be disappointed, as they will always be able to find themselves again and again, and the "aha" effect is never far away.

Leseprobe

Vacation stories

Barcelona

My friend Doris had had to do a lot of persuading to convince me to take a city break. I had been a widow for a year and she thought that a distraction would do me good. So she suggested I fly to Barcelona with her for four days. It sounded very tempting, but I had never flown before and was anxious to boot. Doris came up with the usual line about how far more people had accidents by car than by plane. She didn't have an easy time with me. I was hard to convince, I have to say. But she managed the feat and I decided to fly with her without further ado. She then booked the flight for both of us with a travel company and I didn't have to worry about anything. I still had a few sleepless nights ahead of me before the time really came.

One day the time had finally come. We met in the airport hall at a prearranged time. I was still a newcomer here and didn't know my way around. But after all her flights, Doris had plenty of experience and was a good advisor in all areas, and I relied on her completely. Nevertheless, I was still pretty excited. We spent the time we had left until our departure in the café with a cappuccino, making plans about which of the sights in Barcelona we really wanted to see over the next four days. The conversation was of course a distraction for me, which I was well aware of.

When the big moment finally came to board the plane, I was reasonably calm. My thought was quite simple: "You've decided to fly, so stay calm." When I took my seat, I had the feeling that I was in a bus, except that it was a little more cramped.

As soon as the machine started moving, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to relax. It was only when the plane suddenly took off that I felt a strong pressure in my ears, which made me feel uneasy. When the plane had finally reached its altitude and was flying horizontally again, I immediately felt much better. To my surprise, we were also served breakfast, which was a pleasant distraction for me. As we ate and talked, my fears receded into the background and the flight time was shortened. Thank goodness the flight didn't take long and I was glad when I felt the ground under my feet again. I was very grateful for the perfect landing that the captain had achieved and left the plane with a feeling of relief. We were then taken on a bus to the airport building, where we were able to collect our luggage from a conveyor belt.

A friendly tour guide, holding up her company's name badge, was already waiting for us. She led our small group to a minibus, which took us directly to the Hotel Rialto, which was centrally located. Our room was small, but quite comfortably furnished, with a view of the backyard, which was just fine with us because of the street noise at night. After all, we only wanted to sleep in the room and not live there. As we intended to see as much of Barcelona as possible in the four days, we didn't stay in our room for long anyway. We were eager to start our sightseeing tour as soon as possible and just freshened up a little before we set off on our first excursion.

As Doris was of the opinion that we should explore the city on our own, we checked out with the tour guide and set off on our own. We always had a city map with us to help us find our way around. As we still had almost half a day at our disposal, we decided to visit the cathedral, which was close to our hotel, first.

The massive medieval building looked like a fortress. It looked a little gloomy and threatening to me. When we came to the back courtyard on our tour, we saw the cackling geese of St. Eulalia in a shed. According to legend, geese had saved people from a conflagration at night with their cries. In gratitude, a few geese were always kept in the courtyard of the cathedral as good luck charms. After the visit, we continued on our way to the famous Rambla - a very wide boulevard more than a kilometer long. Students lined the way as living statues to earn a little extra money. They were absolute artists who stood there completely motionless and didn't make a face. It took us quite a long time to walk through the whole crowd. Of course, we treated ourselves to a coffee break in between and enjoyed the atmosphere of the spectacle.

As we were planning to go out for a good meal in the evening, we soon made our way back to the hotel for a little rest. After a short nap, we were reasonably rested and freshened up in the shower. Then we chose the right wardrobe for the evening and set off for the next entertainment. We were hungry by now, as we hadn't eaten a hot meal during the day and were already looking forward to something typically Spanish.

In search of a suitable restaurant, we wandered through the old town with its many well-preserved medieval buildings. In a plaza, we found just the right restaurant for us with the euphonious name "Paellador de Marisco". The restaurant was very busy and we were very lucky to get a table at all. A very nice waiter showed us to a small table where there was just enough room for two of us to eat. He handed us the menu and immediately asked what we wanted to drink. We opted for red wine. Then he asked: "A good one?" Of course we wanted a good wine and the price was accordingly. But since the wine was really very good, we didn't feel sorry for the money. We chose paella for our main course. A typical Spanish dish. This was also excellent. We were completely satisfied. After our delicious evening meal, we strolled along the night-time Rambla towards the hotel, where we enjoyed a nightcap in the hotel bar to round off the beautiful day. Afterwards, we were ready for bed and went to our rooms. The day had been quite long and exhausting, so we soon fell asleep.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we made our way to the "village of Poble Espanyol". To get there, we used public transport, which we had familiarized ourselves with in the meantime. We felt like we had been transported back in time here, everything was so fantastically faithfully recreated from the previous century. I felt like I was in the setting of the opera "Carmen". With a little imagination, it was easy to picture Carmen suddenly coming out of a restaurant or around the next corner. We wandered around this fascinating Spanish town until lunchtime. After a short break in the café and a small snack, we continued our program for the day. We had planned a long walk in Gaudi Park for the afternoon. As before, we took the subway to the park and then spent the whole afternoon there. Doris and I are Art Nouveau fans and were already looking forward to this unique treat. Our expectations were even exceeded and we got our money's worth at . The eye could hardly take in all these magnificent impressions. We kept taking little breaks and sitting down on the meter-long ceramic bench. Even the bench was made from tiny ceramic waste products and was a work of art in itself. I closed my eyes for a while to absorb the colorful impressions. Then we continued our walk. I was particularly taken with a colorful lizard made of colorful stones, which I took a few pictures of. There were simply too many impressions in too short a time. But at home I had the leisure to look at my photos in peace. Unfortunately, time passed far too quickly and the afternoon in this unique park ended too soon. We were also exhausted from the unusual amount of walking. Our poor feet had suffered. During a break, we revived our spirits with a strong mocha and a large sundae. After all, we couldn't afford to lose our energy just yet. After all, we still had our evening program ahead of us, which we wanted to round off with another particularly good meal. We had planned to try a different typical Spanish dish each day to get a taste of the country's cuisine. So we drove back to the hotel. Freshly showered and changed, we set off again without a long stay. Make the most of the time, as they say.

Once again, we left it up to chance which restaurant we would stop at. We noticed an artist's restaurant on the way, run by two young men. We were curious to see what food they had to offer and stopped in. Apparently, the young men specialized in regional home cooking, which is exactly what we wanted. Unfortunately, nobody in the restaurant could speak a word of German. We tried to converse in English, but that was no good. Neither of the two chefs could explain the dish in English that the two men had recommended to us. So we simply let surprise us. It turned out to be a kind of casserole with meat and vegetables, well seasoned and served with white bread and the right wine. We enjoyed it and were extremely happy with our choice. We didn't stay in the restaurant much longer that evening as we were really exhausted from the long walk in Gaudi Park. So we soon made our way home. Despite our tiredness, we made our way back to the hotel via La Rambla, but not quite as relaxed as the day before. But we didn't pass by the hotel bar for our nightcap. We definitely didn't want to miss it. After that, we were finally ready for bed and went to our room only to fall into bed.

The next morning, well rested and after a hearty breakfast, we set off again for the next sightseeing tour. However, this day was going to be very different from what we had imagined. But we had no way of knowing that at the time.

We wanted to start the day with a visit to the "Sagrada Familia", an unusual cathedral, also built by Gaudi and still unfinished. As always, we took public transport, which got us to our destination extremely quickly. We stood in awe and amazement in front of the mighty cathedral. It was quite extraordinary in its kind. All the towers were built in different architectural styles and decorated with different ornaments. We were impressed. Only the crane placed there at the endless construction site disturbed the overall picture a little. However, we told ourselves that it would eventually disappear and the unusual beauty of the cathedral would be revealed. When we had seen enough of this marvel, Doris suggested we visit a flea market that was held nearby every Saturday. As it was Saturday, we decided to go. It was huge and no different to anywhere else. Of course we would have liked this or that at , but the transportation home kept us from any folly. So we didn't spend too long in this place. Unfortunately, it was too late for our planned tour of the castle. So we went to a restaurant for a small snack to discuss what else we could visit nearby instead of the castle. Doris remembered that the castle also had a beautiful park with lovely pavilions and statues. So it was well worth a visit. As we were nearby anyway, we decided to drive there and soon realized that the visit was definitely worthwhile. We bought some cookies and a drink on the way, as we intended to stay in the park for a while without rushing.

After a long walk and admiring the beautiful sculptures in the park, we felt like taking a little break. It was also quite hot and we looked for a shady spot, which we found under a tree. It didn't take long for us to doze off on the bench. After the nap, we felt fit again for further sightseeing. Before continuing, we fortified ourselves with a sip of mineral water and some cookies. We watched with interest as some lizards scurried back and forth in front of our feet. Completely fascinated by these iridescent little animals, we were totally distracted and only noticed in passing that some people were walking very briskly in one direction, so I asked Doris: "Is something happening or is there perhaps another attraction that people are all running in one direction in such a hurry? Should we perhaps also see what's going on?" "What could possibly be worth looking into? Let's get on with our sightseeing," said Doris.

So we resumed our tour. But as we walked, we noticed that it had become unusually quiet around us and we looked at each other questioningly. There were no ne people to be seen. What had happened? Something was wrong and we felt a little uneasy. We decided to go to the exit to see what had caused it. Then the great horror. The gate was closed. What a shock. What were we supposed to do? There was no one to ask anywhere. How were we going to get out of this predicament? We looked at each other and immediately had the same thought: it was clear to us that we had to get someone's attention. So we had no choice but to stand behind the gate to make ourselves noticed. We waved and waved our arms.

It was a strange feeling standing behind bars and waving to get people's attention. It was hard to believe that several people immediately responded to our waving. There was almost a crowd of curious people standing in front of us and commiserating with us.

How could something like this have happened to us? We felt like monkeys in a cage, peering through the bars and waiting for bananas. But it was reassuring to see so many helpful people in front of us. With gestures and a little English, they promised to send help immediately to get us out of our predicament. What luck, so much well-intentioned help all at once. We were really touched. Now it couldn't be too long before we were let out.

We hugged each other with joy and made ourselves comfortable on a bench facing the gate so that we could see if help was coming. But that wasn't the case. Nobody came and nobody came. More than an hour had passed and we were starting to get nervous. Then Doris said: "There must be a way to get out of here somewhere. We'll just see if we can find a loophole or climb over somewhere." So we walked along the fence and looked for a loophole. Of course fan we couldn't find one and the fence was too high to climb over. What's more, the bars were pointed at the top, so we couldn't take the risk anyway. We were slowly getting used to the idea of having to spend the night here in the park and I said: "We're a bit too lightly clothed for the cool nights here. We'll have to find somewhere a little more sheltered where we can snuggle up together." But I was still secretly hoping that one of the many people had managed to mobilize someone to get us out of our predicament. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case and Doris said: "Let's try again behind the gate so we can get help."

So we stood behind the fence again to wave. But no more people came by. A new scare that made us even more despondent. In any case, we didn't take another step away from the fence so as not to miss any passers-by or even a car. As we stood there waiting, Doris suddenly said: "Look at the sign above the entrance gate." I didn't immediately understand what she meant, but I tried to read what it said. Then I realized why we were standing here. "Closed from 2 p.m. on Saturdays." We hadn't seen the sign when we entered the park. It had never occurred to us that a park could close its gates so early in the day.

Finally we heard a noise, it sounded like a car and we quickly put all four arms through the fence and waved vigorously so that we would definitely be noticed. Unfortunately, the car drove past us, the driver hadn't noticed us despite the waving. But then came the surprise. He braked, put the car in reverse and stopped right in front of us.

A young man got out and came up to us at the gate, shaking his head. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and asked in English why we were standing behind the locked door. We also explained to him in English how we had got into this situation. The young man briefly introduced himself and promised us that he would do his best to get us out of the park. We would have loved to hug him, but unfortunately it wasn't possible through the bars. He understood our emotional outburst and immediately went on his way.

After a good quarter of an hour, he was back in his car in front of us at the fence. He got out to happily tell us that he had found a man responsible who would come from the other side of the park to let us out. Too bad the fence was in between, otherwise we would have kissed him off with joy, as they say here. Instead, we kissed his hand and thanked him a thousand times. He said goodbye and wished us all the best. This time, we were sure it would work out.

It wasn't long before a uniformed gentleman came and waved us over. He didn't look happy and gave us a dirty look. But in our situation, we were glad he was there. He didn't say a word to us and gestured with his hand for us to follow him. We trotted after him like two poor sinners. The path was very long and led in exactly the opposite direction to the main entrance. It was only now that we realized how big the park really was. As we walked, we whispered to each other that we would reward the man for his efforts with a tidy tip. When we finally arrived at the other end of the park and wanted to give him the money as we said goodbye, he just said curtly: "No!"

We were immediately startled because the "no" came out of his mouth so abruptly. The whole situation was very embarrassing for us. So we just thanked him and were released into freedom through a small back door. We took a deep breath, looked at each other and, as if on cue, we laughed our hearts out, even though we had felt like crying a moment ago. It was quite simply a liberating laugh.

As soon as we were free again, we started thinking about what we could do with the late afternoon. We decided to go to the Gran Via to at least take a closer look at some of Gaudi's beautiful Art Nouveau houses. On the way there, we first rewarded ourselves for the anxiety we had endured with a mocha and some confectionery at the Escriba patisserie.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see too much, as the afternoon was already a little late and it was starting to get dark. But at least we still got an impression of the houses and the beautiful street, where even the sidewalk was covered with tiles. The matching traffic lights stood to the left and right of the sidewalk, also in Art Nouveau style, of course. We were impressed. When it started to get dark and we wanted to end our last evening with a good farewell dinner, we made our way to the hotel to get changed. On the way, we stopped briefly at a tapas bar to get in the mood for the last evening. The exhausting day had dampened our spirits a little, but delicious tapas and a glass of sherry revived our spirits.

Freshly fortified, we went back to the hotel and after the usual shower, we changed our clothes and set off again. After all, we wanted to spend a nice last evening in Barcelona. As before, we left it up to chance where we would stop off. We relied entirely on our intuition. It didn't take long for us to discover a place we liked in a side street off the Rambla. It was rather simple, but traditional, which was important to us. So we entered to be surprised. A promising aroma immediately caught our nose and whetted our appetite. The whole atmosphere was just right and we took a seat at a small corner table. A friendly waiter handed us the menu. He had noticed that we were strangers here, so he advised us and recommended a dish called "Suquet de Peix" (braised fish stew). He also recommended a wine to go with it. We trusted his recommendations and were once again completely satisfied with the delicious meal. We really needed this reward after our "horror experience", which was still in our bones and was our main topic at the table. After an extensive and delicious meal, we took one last long stroll along the Rambla to say goodbye. We wanted to soak up the Mediterranean atmosphere one last time and therefore deliberately walked slowly back to the hotel. Unfortunately, it was already our last evening in Barcelona.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we went to the hotel bar for our nightcap as usual. But our mood was a little dampened. So we lingered a little longer to stretch out the remaining time. Besides, we didn't have to get up early. Our flight home wasn't until late afternoon and we had enough time to pack in peace. After the third cognac, we were finally ready for bed and said goodbye to the nice barman who had always served us so kindly.

Well rested, we packed our suitcases before breakfast the next morning, as we had to vacate our room early. There was a room where we could store our luggage for the time between departure and our free time, which we did after breakfast. Unfortunately, we only had to take our cash, which we had always kept in the safe up to this point, with us. We had the ab sight of going back to the Gran Via to continue our walk from the previous day to see the Gaudi houses there.

Our way to the subway took us past the cathedral again. We could hear music from afar.

It was Easter and there was an incredibly beautiful atmosphere in the large square in front of the cathedral. Many people had gathered and a large number of them were dancing to the music. We were carried away by the atmosphere and would have loved to dance along too. But after watching for a while, we tore ourselves away and continued on to the subway.

This time we took a shortcut through a narrower alley. Two beautiful, strikingly colorful women came towards us from the other side of the street. They had red carnations in their hands and came straight towards us to offer us their flowers. At first I refused. But then, in my wonderful mood, I thought: "Today is Easter, I'll make them happy and buy them a carnation." Unfortunately, I didn't have enough change in my wallet and I didn't want to give them paper money. I made the mistake of asking Doris if she could lend me some coins. She also took out her purse and had enough change to give me some. We each bought a carnation from them, which made them both very happy and pleased and they went on their way. With our carnation in hand, we also continued on our way to the subway. We were happy, it couldn't have been more beautiful. When we arrived at the station, we had to wait a quarter of an hour for our train and sat down on a bench in the meantime. As we were sitting there, I suddenly had a bad thought, an intuition, and I said: "Doris, I think I've run out of money in my wallet!" "Nonsense, what makes you think that?" My gut feeling told me that something had gone wrong with the two women. I took my purse out of my handbag, opened it and looked inside: there wasn't a bill left in it - it was empty. Unfortunately, my suspicions had come true.