Two trips.

Recently I have taken two trips (again) to Spain. I have been to Madrid alone to visit Dani during Orgullo Gay. It was a very busy visit. Dani met some people on several occasions as he is a very social man. The parade in Madrid is nice, it again seemed to me like one big party of gay and straight people. I liked it. Personally though I think it's too long. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet Javier, one of Dani's dear friends, during this trip for the first time.




The second trip took Jelle and me to Valencia. Sera, Dani's boyfriend, had invited us to visit him and Dani during one weekend. So Jelle and I flew down there and joined the two. It was a very nice, calm and relaxed weekend. Sera and Dani showed us around and Jelle and I truly fell in love with the city! It's beautiful! Everything was perfect: the weather was hot but gorgeous, we had a splendid hotel that Sera had arranged and we truly enjoyed walking around the city and chatting with our friends and absorbing the impressions of sounds and sights of that fascinating city.
Unfortunately we had to leave early as it was a very busy travel weekend and all flights were pretty full. In order to make sure to get home we had to head home early but luckily the flights worked out fine for us. We decided to take a flight with Iberia Regional to Lisbon and from there with TAP to Amsterdam. Especially the TAP flight was very pleasant and despite having a very long return trip it still was interesting as Jelle had never flown them before.

Learning spanish?

Okay, so here's the problem: I am lazy. But I want to learn Spanish. I had started to attend a course back in July last year until end of last year. But due to my work I had missed several lessons so I quit and did not continue 'cause I was unable to make up for the missed lessons.
I know that I need to learn, that I need to be less lazy in that. I am willing to. Though at the moment I think it makes no sense for me to attend a school again as I can foresee that I won't be able to regularly attend it due to several holidays I will take. I also work shifts which makes it very difficult to visit a course regularly. But still, I desperately want to learn this beautiful language. I haven't figured out a plan yet how to do it, any suggestions from your side? Self study needs a lot of discipline which I also don't have, so the school thing was a good slight pressure for me... ;-) Luckily I have a few friends with Spanish as their mother tongue and I can pick up the pronunciation from them from time to time. But maybe some of you have had similar experiences in picking up a language and can share their opinion. I know I need guidance in learning due to my lacking self discipline. Maybe I should look into some online communities...

Un abrazo, everybody. ;-)

Project Grandpa, continued.

Alright, so you may have seen these photos before ;-) But that's simply because they are not mine but I have 'borrowed' them from my lilbro's flickr stream. I especially like the second one, by the way.

So, what's this post about? Simply put, the makeover of yours truly. :-P Yes, I am still busy to get a little more modern look and I gladly use the help of my beloved lilbro. So during the weekend break of my training at Zurich I went down to Madrid to visit Dani and Sera. We again had a great weekend and as you may have read in his post as well we did some shopping. Unfortunately, time was very limited but Dani nevertheless tried to squeeze in as many shopping opportunities as possible in such short time. And as you can see, we were successful! Don't you like my more modern look now? I do in any case, I really feel much better (in german they say "Kleider machen Leute") and it was much fun to do the shopping with him. I look forward to continue that as this seems to be a long term project... Also Jelle likes the new look of his boyfriend. ;-) Dani had sent him the pictures before I returned home and Jelle could have a look personally last weekend when I first wore the "new look"- items for our visit to the cinema. It's amazing, a "little" change (it seems) to your clothing and you feel better, more self assured maybe. At least it felt comfortable. So, during the next weeks I will have to add more items to my wardrobe and I can't wait to go shopping with Dani again, a whole afternoon (don't you dare to plan anything else in between... hahahaha).

I really regretted that Dani wasn't in Zurich the last evening I walked through the lovely shopping streets together with my colleague Gaby because we came across a great shoe shop, they had lots and lots of great and cool sneakers and I really wondered which one Dani would have chosen for me... ;-) You all may think it seems crazy that I do not choose my own clothing. But I like to rely on Dani's advice as in my eyes he has a good taste and knows what suits his bigbro. Those who know me personally have seen the result when I choose my own and as a result I rely on lilbro's advice now... hahahaha. Honestly, if you let me choose my own stuff, I go for the "safe" but boring style. I guess I simply don't have that gay fashion gene... :-)

Besides our shopping it was a great though short weekend. We went to two family birthdays which I both enjoyed, we met our wonderful friend Alex for a drink in Callao and we had a nice dinner on friday and a just as nice lunch on sunday!

I definitely always eat too much when I'm with Dani and Sera, you guys simply know to enjoy life ;-) Besides of the good food, Dani also spoiled me with a movie of 'Sex and the City' and the first season of 'LOST', YES!!! I was speechless, he always surprises me with such things though it's not necessary at all. The greatest gift to me simply is his friendship. Thank you so much lilbro for everything, I truly enjoy all your gifts but remember they are not necessary ;-)

Before we headed to the airport on sunday because I had to return to Zurich to attend the second half of my training there, we visited Jose and Miguel who were receiving their first visit of family at their new house. It was my first look at their lovely new house too and I really enjoyed the visit too (even though we were not really able to communicate as my spanish is very very very very modest, to say the least...). :-)

Anyway, at the airport Dani dropped me off and we parted after another great weekend. Thanks again, lilbro for the fabulous time I had once again, kisses to you and Sera. Looking forward to see ya again soon! :-)

P.S.: If any of you has suggestions for my "Project Grandpa", feel free to drop me a line ;-)

A grandpa-ish hug to ya'll (no worries, it's definitely not contagious...sigh) ;-)

Home away from home.

I am on vacation.

Since the beginning of this month I'm off. Yay. I enjoy it a lot, despite not going to far away places. Usually, Jelle and I like to go to far off places and travel around the world. We also had planned something pretty weird this time - flying the A380 - but it would have cost us too much money in too little time. So we cancelled that in order to do it some other time when we have more time to enjoy it and when we can afford it. But this time, there was no money for this luxury. So we more or less stay home. But of course that can be nice too and frankly, for the time being I am enjoying it. Doing nothing, no obligations, no early shifts, sleeping long and enjoying the day. Only to return to work end of next week, woohoo!!!

Nevertheless, we have been away in this vacation. Hooray! My lilbro Dani invited us to come visit him in Madrid and spend some time with him. And man did I enjoy it! Dani did his utmost to make this visit extra special as it was Jelle's first time ever to visit Madrid. So Dani showed us around everywhere and we now know all the in's and out's of that fantastic city! Jelle immediately fell in love with Madrid! He loved it just like I already learned to love it long before him. The best though of our trip was simply to be and spend the time with the best of all friends, my Dani - there's nothing more beautiful than to enjoy such a friendship that we share!

So we headed for Spain on the second of this month. We took a plane to Frankfurt (which had a "bad" start as our colleagues did not arrange for us to have a meal during the short flight - no big deal but still, we are paying for that and it often happens to us. It's a little effort to arrange that yet some colleagues just don't care... a pity...). 

Me, on the flight to Frankfurt

From Frankfurt, we went to Bilbao. We stayed in a suburb in a Novotel and though the weather could have been nicer we enjoyed the city. It was well worth the trip, strolling through the nice center, 

Jelle in Bilbao's city center

the old town, the famous Guggenheim Museum. We even took a train (yeah, we like trains and planes and ships...) to the countryside just to see the surroundings of the city.

Jelle pointing to the train we wanted to take for a short ride

On the fourth, we went to the airport again to take a Spanair flight to Madrid. The Bilbao airport architecture is quite interesting so I enjoyed taking some photos of it before we headed for the gate. Jelle decided to have a wine before take-off while I only had a coffee and we could not believe our ears when we paid: together it was less than 3 Euros, in an airport restaurant - and the wine was even cheaper than my coffee! That's simply amazing! Our flight to Madrid was eventless, we got seats right at the check-in in Business class and the flight turned out to be pretty empty. Good for us. ;-)

Handsome lilbro Dani right after we met again

Then we arrived in Madrid and I could almost not await to see my lilbro again! I really looked so much forward to see Dani!!! We had planned our arrival into Madrid for the early afternoon, about the same time that Dani would finish work. As Dani had to attend to some business at short notice in the northern part of the city it became quite convenient to meet there before his appointment. Of course we were all happy to see each other again and immediately started chatting endlessly... ;-) Unfortunately, we were not complete as Sera was not with us as he was still on vacation in his village in southern Spain. The plan was for Sera to join us later during our visit to which I was also looking forward! 

Alex, Dani and me in Madrid's center

Later that day we met Alex, a friend of Dani, with whom we had some pre-dinner drinks and later Sera's sister Rosa joined us and we all went to a fabulous and very popular restaurant place in the center of Madrid where we had a truly excellent meal! And we all liked the receptionist of the place who was a hottie... :-) It was a true pleasure to meet Alex, as I had heard about him already but had not met him before. He perfectly speaks german too and it was fun and very enjoyable with him. I am glad to have met him. 

Alex (junior) and iPhonero Dani

Seeing Rosa again was a blast, she is such a sweetheart, very funny and it was truly awesome to meet her again as the last time I saw her was during Orgullo gay. I wish she would've brought her brother too... ;-)

We were staying at Dani's house and my lilbro insisted on giving us his bedroom for the night but after lengthy discussions we could convince him it was not necessary at all. ;-) We were really fine with the guest bed in his 2nd bedroom, it was simply perfect and I did sleep very well during our stay. In fact, I felt at home immediately. Dani made us feel so comfortable! Staying at his house did feel like staying at my own house, Dani has the gift of making you feel extremely comfortable in his presence.

Poor Dani still had one day of work ahead while we were able to have a long sleep and instead of going into Madrid we decided to stay at Dani's house, relax, enjoy ourselves and have a nice cup of coffee in the sun in the small bar downstairs at his house waiting for him to arrive home. Little things like that can be so enjoyable and great, it truly felt like a vacation in the most luxurious resort on earth ;-) In the afternoon, unfortunately for him after some overwork, Dani arrived home and we were ready for the days ahead together, yay! Later the evening we met with Dani's mother and aunt and went to the village's local yearly fair where the highlight was a concert of the fabulous "La 5a estación" - we had a great night with with fabulous music, food and friends! I enjoyed it sooo much, really!

Natalia of "La 5a Estación" during their concert in Valdemoro

The next day Dani took us (well, I had seen it already on a previous visit with Dani) to Aranjuez where we had a brief stroll and after returning we were invited by Dani's mother to a real "codido madrileño" which to me was a true culinary delight! I really loved it and it was such a great gesture of her to invite us and specially prepare this meal for us, I am so thankful for that! Juan Carlos, one of Dani's close friends, had joined us for it too and we all had a wonderful lunch together. After that, we devoted the whole afternoon and evening to Madrid itself. We went to Park Retiro and leisurely walked all the way from there through the city center, Dani showing Jelle all the beautiful sights his hometown has to offer! We had great weather and it was such a great day. 

Jelle, Dani and me posing in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid

Later in the evening we met Juan Carlos again. He took over the sightseeing part from Dani and explained the sights we visited together while the sun was setting over Madrid. What a beautiful evening, we had a great time and - you guessed it - we enjoyed a very good meal altogether and later went to Chueca to enjoy the bustling nightlife of the city! It was great for me to see Juan Carlos again, I really like him and he is such a pleasant company!

Juan Carlos, me and Dani with Madrid's evening skyline

For Jelle and me it was such a fascinating thing to sit in the center of Chueca, after midnight, outside in a street cafe and have a drink. Everything was so full and we almost did not get a table, unbelievable but such a great and fun atmosphere. Jelle and I agree that this is the ideal place for us, the life takes place much later and we truly prefer that above our "sleepy" Amsterdam ;-) We absolutely loved the atmosphere in Chueca and Madrid in general, as I said before Jelle truly loves the city now!

Jelle in Chueca

Dani did not rest and took us to a famous street market the next day where we tried to do some shopping. I am in urgent need of revamping my outfit, modernize myself a little. After all, my lilbro things I'm a bit grandpa-ish and I think he's right... ;-) So the aim was to find some nice things in the afternoon and of course Dani and Jelle found some nice stuff but of course I didn't!!! Luckily, Dani promised to take me for "real" shopping next time so I can really update my clothes. I'm looking forward to that, lilbro. ;-) Later that day we met Alex again together with his boyfriend Alex (yeah, "junior" and "senior" as they are referred to by their friends...) ;-) for a quick drink in the center. 

Me and Alex (senior and junior) :-)

In the meantime, Sera had returned from his vacation and finally joined us in the evening and we spent great quality time together, Dani and Sera and Jelle and me!

Sera and Dani, after we had breakfast

The next day Dani suggested to go see Toledo and we spent a beautiful day at this gorgeous medieval city. It was a very nice trip and a great day we spent there. 

Me and Dani with Toledo in the background

Later in the evening we were treated once again to a culinary highlight, Dani took us to one of his favorite restaurants, in the heart of Chueca! It was such a great place, very cosy with outstanding service, friendly staff, delicious food and perfect atmosphere. Rosa, Sera, Dani, Jelle and I truly enjoyed this treat and I felt very privileged that my lilbro did bring us to this place with so much atmosphere and quality! 

Me, Rosa, Dani, Sera and Jelle at Dani's favourite restaurant in Chueca.

On the way home we ended the night once again in the heart of Chueca with a drink way after midnight out in the open amongst so many other people there, oh how I love Madrid and it's nightlife!

Sadly, our days in Madrid ended and we had to leave, heading home again. Dani and Sera had to return to work but our days with my lilbro in Madrid were fabulous! We watched a movie, bought lots of music CD's and some DVD's, we found some nice clothing, we went to a concert, we made some nice trips to the surroundings, had great food, met wonderful people, we enjoyed each other's company and I truly loved being around Dani and Sera and had the time of my life, once again, thanks to my lilbro! Honestly, I can't wait to go back to see him again ;-) I also hope to welcome them a.s.a.p. here in Amsterdam again... Please lilbro, come visit us again!

Me, Dani and Sera at Dani's home on his couch on the last morning of our visit.

Many, many thanks to you, dear lilbro, you have made our stay with you such an extraordinary experience! I can't express my gratitude well enough. A load of kisses and hugs to you, Dani. 

I look forward to return to my home away from home - your house. There is no better hospitality than that of true friends, the ones that become family. Like my little brother.

Más que hacer

Actually I should have included the following videos already in the previous post as they would have completed it, but anyway, here's the more of "Hacer por hacer":

The original, older version of Miguel Bosé's hit, which is just as great as the newly released remake:

Then I have found the "making of" of the new song. Actually, there are two versions: the first one shows the actual video shooting:

The second "making of" shows the singing part of the song which is quite nice to see Gloria Gaynor struggle with the spanish lyrics: see lilbro, now that's exactly the same problem I have with SingStar :-P But seriously, it's a nice look behind the scenes of the creation of this fabulous song:

If you look on youtube you can also find a live version of the original older song which only differs from the above in the sense that it has some additional cheering audience, the playback is the same original recording, therefore I did not bother to include that here. 

As you can see, I really like this song and wanted to share more of it with you here... ;-)

P.S.: thanks Dani for showing it to me and also recommending Miguel's older CD.

Hacer por hacer

When I was visiting Dani theses days (a separate post follows) he suggested this song to me. As Dani knows his bigbro pretty damn good he knew that I would LOVE this song: I really like Miguel Bosé and this song he recorded with Gloria Gaynor is an amazingly cheerful, fun dance song (look who's talking, I can't even dance!) and I simply adore it! Miguel Bosé is an attractive man and he has a wonderful voice and he perfectly knows how to modernize his own songs. The one thing I didn't like about it: I had to buy the whole Papito album (which I already own) that he has re-released just to include this new song! GRRRR. :-)

A tragedy.

Spanair Business class
Originally uploaded by CruisAir

Yesterday, unfortunately a flight of Spanair crashed during take off from Madrid's Barajas airport killing more than 150 people on board.
I would like to extend my deep felt condolences to the families of the victims.

My dearest Dani tried to call me to inform me about it but I was asleep after an early shift at work and did not hear him. But when I heard about the tragic news when Jelle called me from work to inform me it made me very sad. As some of you might know I work for a partner airline of Spanair and I must honestly say that it feels weird, so close suddenly. The older I get the more such tragic events touch me. Aviation is one of my hobbies and I am always interested in airlines and aircraft but this is sadly one of the very dark sides of this hobby, to deal with death and destruction, loss and grief. Even though for me it's only distant as an interested observer. But in this case it comes a little closer, for several reasons: I have flown a Spanair MD aircraft recently (it was a different version of the crashed aircraft) and the airline and the aircraft took me safely to my destiny: Madrid Barajas. I go to Madrid quite often lately to see my very dearest of all friends and naturally I am more alert in any sense of the word of all things that happen in Madrid. It interests me more, it touches me deeper, it affects me more. I am sometimes even frightened something terrible might happen to the ones I love there and I might not know about it, might not be able to do something about it. I pray it never will.
I did feel comfortable and safe though on the Spanair flight and I would fly them again, any time soon. Though I understand that some media are now speculating about possible maintenance issues due to job cuts to reduce costs at Spanair. That's purely speculating at this point and we will have to wait for the final report to see what crashed the plane.

I will think of the victims' souls this night, passengers' as well as those of my colleagues (even though not colleagues directly but like me they were airliners) who lost their lives and the souls of those who are left behind without their loved ones. It is impossible to understand the pain they must feel now but I will think of all of them tonight - I cannot change a bit but I want to express my sorrow. That's why I felt I had to write a few words about this tragedy.

Primera lección.

I am so excited! On tuesday, 29th of July, I will start my spanish lessons! Yay! I am really looking forward to learn a new language. I've had the thought for a little longer than a year but it took me until now to sign up for a real training course at a school here in Amsterdam. Apart from the few, yet important words like "guapo", "beso", "abrazo", "gracias" and "Bueons dias" I don't know anything about spanish. :-)
At school, many years ago, I did learn french (which I forgot for great parts again...) and the last language I learned was dutch. At the moment, I only speak german, english and dutch. But I figured it would be nice to be able to speak some basic spanish.
It regularly happens at work that spanish speakers ask simple questions which at the moment I cannot answer (yet). I also have some spanish speaking friends and even though they speak english it still would be nice to be able to do some basic talk to them in spanish.
So keep your fingers crossed and I hope I can rely on some of you for your assistance every once in a while ;-) And please be gentle with me and all the mistakes I will make in the beginning... I just hope I will be able to pick up a good pronunciation as that seems a very difficult part of the language to me. I hope I will have lots of opportunities to go to Spain and talk and listen to you guys down there, improving my spanish knowledge. Meanwhile, I will at least have different spanish blogs to follow as well as lots of beautiful spanish music to listen to which gives me plenty of opportunity to practice my language knowledge too.
Hopefully, in the future I can skip a look at google translator when I want to say things like "España, aquí yo vengo." :-D

Back from Orgullo gay

Dani lifts Guido
Originally uploaded by CruisAir

Orgullo gay in Madrid was great! I spent a wonderful time with my lilbro Dani and his lovely husbear Sera. I again met many of their friends who are with no exception wonderful people! We spent some wonderful days together, I enjoyed every single second! The weather during my stay in Madrid couldn't have been any better, it was hot with a clear blue sky, really beautiful! In enjoyed seeing so many beautiful men and people in general. I had the impression that it was a real 'party' for everyone. I saw young and old people, gays and obviously not gays and that gave a very good and pleasant feeling of "being part" of the community, not just a minority. Thank you Sera and Dani once again for being so wonderful to me. When I left, it was really hard for me as I felt so pleasant and comfortable in your company, you made me so happy just by being the wonderful people you are. I owe you guys big time. I hope to see you soon again, hopefully for gay pride in Amsterdam! ;-) That would really be great, I simply miss you guys!

Visiting family

Sera y yo en el pregón
Originally uploaded by danoliverm

Before I forget again: I'm away for a few days, just as I have been the last two days too ;-) I had been to Cologne to visit my parents together with Jelle and on Friday I will work in the morning and later in the afternoon will fly to Madrid to visit my lilbro Dani and his boyfriend Sera again! Yay! I am soooooo looking forward to see them again, I miss my lilbro and it's always great to see and talk to him personally rather than being in contact electronically ;-)
The trip to Cologne was very nice. I was happy to see my parents again. Unfortunately my mother has some health problems at the moment which also prevented her from joining us on a day trip from Cologne to Papenburg to visit the Meyer yard there which was a birthday present for my dad. So we only went with my dad and my mom stayed at home. It was a great (and very hot) day though and we really enjoyed it.
Today it cooled off after quite some rain and we stayed at home and slept long and chatted, nothing spectacular. But we both - Jelle and I - enjoyed that too.
So on Friday I am going to Madrid to see Dani. Jelle unfortunately has to work again but I was lucky enough to get off. As I said I look very much forward to see my best mate again, my little brother Dani and his Sera.
I wish you all a very nice weekend and see you next week when I hope to post many new pictures to my flickr stream too.

Good vibes.

Malú had a free concert this evening in Madrid and from what I heard it sounded like one big and happy party! I noticed regularly now (though I haven't made it personally to one of the concerts yet) that those concerts in Spain are often one big party, everybody happily singing along! It must be such an amazing mood, good vibes. I wonder if this is custom in other contries during concerts too? I'm not such a concert go-er so I can't really tell if that's a spanish phenomena or a typical thing for concerts nowadays...?

Thanks for sharing it tonight, I loved it lilbro! The vibes sounded great and I simply loved to hear you all singing along! Woaah, so great, I truly LOVED it Dani, you're a champ!!! :-D

P.S.: this is my favorite Malú song, it's such a great song and the video is fantastic.

P.P.S.: I am happy.

P.P.P.S.: I really am. :-)

The most wonderful place on earth.

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of accompanying my beloved lilbro Dani to his favorite retreat in Galicia, Sanxenxo. This time, Dani's wonderful boyfriend Sera sadly could not be with him for family matters at his village and my beloved Jelle could also not join us because he could not get off from work so Dani and I went alone.

Luckily, after a morning shift at Schiphol I was able to get a seat on the afternoon flight of Iberia to Madrid where I wanted to try to get on the first of the three evening flights to Santiago de Compostela. I knew that all the flights were heavily booked (some even overbooked) and it looked not that good. So I was a little nervous when I arrived at Madrid. Unfortunately, after a lengthy wait it turned out there was no place for me on the first flight to SCQ. I then went to the transfer desk where they put me on the next one at 21.35. After calling with my hubby Jelle at home to get his advice what to try next I decided to try to get on the flight to Vigo but also that did not turn successful.

So I waited patiently for the 21.35 departure to Santiago. When the gate agent of that flight arrived I was a bit "shocked" and saw my chances rapidly declining: he looked like a slightly modernized version of Jesus, had heavy dark rings under his eyes and did not look to friendly and inviting. But then I pulled myself together and thought "I must not judge from the outside, he sure is very nice and capable". So I started thinking positive ;-) Then, he started to accept staff from the waiting list and all of a sudden he took my boarding pass, scribbled a seat number on it and returned it to me by kindly saying "Sitz Nummer Fünf F" - I was totally puzzled that he took the effort to address me in german and felt confirmed that I must never judge only from the outside! In the end, after all, he was really nice and got me on the flight, YAY!I called poor Dani who after a six hour long car ride from Madrid would now pick me up at the airport in Santiago from where we would drive together to our 'home' for the next three nights.

I was so happy to see him again when I arrived. I always miss him and seeing and experiencing Dani in person and live is such an enrichment to 'only' chatting with him, naturally it adds a whole other dimension.

We went to our temporary home near Sanxenxo and when we arrived it was beautiful to see how happy our hosts were to see Dani again! It looked as if the lost son returned home and Isabel and Rubio were so welcoming and affectionate and extended that feeling immediately to me and I felt like I knew them for years already! Wow, I was stunned, I have never experienced that before. Though it already was late at night we were treated to a fabulous dinner and of course they needed to catch up with Dani and I was fortunate enough to witness all their chitter and chatter. ;-)

The next morning after having a breakfast at Isabel's kitchen Dani took me to a beautiful place, a beach in San Vicente do Mar. It was a gorgeous and sunny day and the place to me looked like paradise! I couldn't believe what beauty I saw, crystal clear blue waters, white and empty sand beaches and luscious greens, wow! I felt reminded (though not necessarily by the similarity in beauty but the tranquility of the place) of Jelle's and my favorite small retreat, Malta. We walked along the coast for a while and on the return to the car we made a short stop at small café to drink something.

Again I was astonished, this time to see that while we only ordered two cokes we also received some generous tapas with them, something I could not imagine ever happen in Amsterdam (especially not for that price!!!). Before returning back home to Isabel's house he also took me to the site of the famous Spa that is situated at La Toja where I had the chance to buy some wonderful soap and eau de Cologne at the factory shop. I now have a wonderful reminder of my beautiful trip every time I wash my hands or put on the Cologne in the morning - how's that for a change, a splash of Spain every morning brings very fond memories!

In the afternoon, we had lunch at Isabel again. This weekend had a special 'surprise' for Dani: he would see his friend Jorge again, Isabel's son. They had become friends many years ago but their friendship somehow ended in a "no-speaking" state about two years ago. While Dani had made efforts to restore their friendship it was never ment to be. But fate had decided else this weekend and Dani and Jorge finally spoke to each other again! Jorge was visiting his parents together with his boyfriend Fernando. We all met before lunch and Dani and he got involved in talks and finally we decided to all make a trip to Sanxenxo and have a walk.

We spent all afternoon together and Dani and Jorge talked a lot. Of course I was only mostly listening to their talk (as was Fernando) as I don't speak spanish and could not actively participate. For my part I did not mind at all as I was happy to listen to the wonderful language and the conversation, picking up small things and thereby learning. I felt somehow happy for Dani that something for him ended that he felt wasn't really finished before. I was maybe witnessing the start or the rediscovery of their friendship. Dani explains his impressions and feelings about it in his own blog. It turned out that Dani felt that the Jorge he spoke to was not the one he had left a few years ago. They still shared some interests and passions but he was now talking to a new Jorge and it remains to be seen if their friendship will blossom again. But that weekend, a good start was made as far as I can tell! I liked the Jorge I met. Also on sunday morning we all went together to have a pre-lunch drink and later lunched together at Isabel and Rubio's who had prepared a generous, gigantic and tasty lunch. I truly felt like part of the family, even though being the 'stranger' in the group of people (also Jorge's sister and her husband with baby and grandma were joining us for the lunch).

Saturday afternoon, while Jorge and Fernando stayed at a beach bar meeting with some other friends, Dani took me to his favorite beach. It was early into the evening and the sun was setting on the horizon but unfortunately mostly covered by clouds. This place means a lot to Dani and he was very emotional. He missed Sera a lot. Even having a bigbro by your side cannot be a replacement in those moments... - it doesn't even come close, naturally!

On sunday afternoon, Dani and I took a long and nice walk on a deserted beach. It was a bit rainy and foggy. But still, this was pure beauty to me, the wide emptiness and loneliness, the solitude that I felt at that moment was a sensational feeling! I truly enjoyed being able to experience this with my lilbro. I felt very privileged being able to share these moments with Dani. I was very emotional anyway that afternoon. Many things went through my head and at moments and places like these you tend to think about a lot of things. When in the car Dani played a song by Leona Lewis he had dedicated to me a few weeks before. I had to cry when I heard it because it means so much to me. It made me happy and I expressed my emotion in some tears. I treasure those moments deep in my heart and mind.

On monday parting was hard for me. I had such a wonderful weekend that I did not really want to leave. Isabel and Rubio have been so hospitable and as always when I am together with Dani I had a great time with my beloved lilbro. Naturally, I did not want to leave. Especially since I do not really know when I will see him again (of course there are plans but you never know how they turn out). After all, Dani has a life besides me and Jelle and he is luckily devoted to and heavily and happily in love with Sera. ;-) So our encounters will have to fit into their future schedules and I'm sure they'll find one or the other slot for us in future... :-) I simply can't wait for the next one. Dani dropped me in the afternoon on his return to Madrid at Vigo airport from where I took a plane to Paris and on to Amsterdam. Those flights went perfect with no problems at all and I arrived about one and a half hours later at home in Amsterdam than Dani in Madrid. Even though we both were tired (Dani even more as he did all the driving) and have probably gained weight I felt very pleased to have spent these few and great days in wonderful Spain in the awesome company of my lilbro Dani.
Beloved lilbro, thank you so much for inviting me to Sanxenxo, it was an amazing experience. I feel very privileged that you showed and shared with me your most wonderful place on earth. I now know this place too and start to understand the magic it bears.

I truly enjoyed all we did, I am happy and extremely thankful and proud for having you as my lilbro!

When I learned one thing this weekend than it's the discovery that no matter where and when you are but with whom you are which makes every place the most wonderful place on earth. That said, my little world turns richer and richer of beautiful places as I discover them with my friends and family, the ones I love.

As I told you, you are the greatest friend and best little brother in the world!

That thing with Spain...

How funny, I was just trying out the site meter on my site and guess what? I already had a visitor who came from a google search and it was from Madrid, Spain. Yesterday I chatted with someone from flickr for the first time who is also from Madrid. Isn't that funny? I definitely have something with Spain lately... ;-)