2022. 11. 13 Sun
Double date with S’s Amelia and her Kostek who are staying the weekend in Berlin. She wants to study art here or in London & he currently economics and later fashion, who was tall and sharp looking enough to be a model himself. He said he was studying in Poznań which I misheard as Potsdam. Amelka (as S calls her) was gentle and had a shy smile which revealed her warmth. S hasn’t seen her since he’d abruptly left for Greece and not returned and so was excited & happily chatty the whole time, going on about who else got fired this week (another cleaner) and so on. Amelia and Kostek both seemed calm and quiet but not in a sheepish way and enjoyed the chill mood of the Hallesches Haus. A new menu - the mushroom tempura: crunchy and fresh & rather extravagant in portion. Then we all walked together and bid farewell in front of the Mies gallery. S and I walked on to Potsdamer Platz, then to Unter den Linden, then to Brandenburger Tor, then again through the Tiergarten to the Hbf. When we were sitting on the bench waiting for his FEX, S said that a bit more time with her would have been nice and that he misses her.
Scrutinising the google map pinned with many more little green marks & the array of hotels and palazzos for most of yesterday and this afternoon. The route and stays are decided - slowly getting into the holiday mood again. This time Lisbon, Porto and on the way one day in Luso, then Milan with a weekend in Padua/Mantua to see Giotto and Mantegna. I could sense Son was nostalgic when I recollected our Portugal trip now already ten years back and we talked about the sun rays blazing against the rock at the seaside, the green of the grass next to the church, the fado the old man sang next to our table and etc etc. I don’t think she travelled much after that. She did come to Köln once when I was still in Stuttgart but that was more work-related and she was overwhelmed by tight schedules and stress then. The last time I was in Seoul we met in our group but only very briefly & didn’t talk too much about things. Not that we needed much talking but she looked washed out and distant. She had then already moved in & away with K which had affected her greatly.
Has S’s affection towards Amelia made me think about Son? He thinks of her as his sister as I do of Son. And since the most enjoyable travels are sometimes the ones already travelled, I like to go there again from time to time with her.
