Travelling has always afforded me the opportunity to be connected with new places, but most importantly, new faces. I am very proud to say that I have friends scattered around the world who will always make time to reconnect when we find ourselves in locations close enough to make this happen.

This morning was another lazy one for me as Matthew has to work today, so I set out to blog and it’s not long before I hear from my friend. It’s incredible how we are able to enjoy the simple things together like just sitting and going about work. These moments I am savouring as much as the crazy fun. I think it’s always good in life to appreciate those times that might not take your breath away, but allow you to breathe.
We get the all clear that Harry (name changed to protect the innocent) that he is on his way. So we get ourselves together and head down to the station to wait for him to arrive. The station area is all a buzz with people coming and going. The open area outside the station is scattered with people in orange jackets. Seems around the world the same process is adopted to gain support for charities. Today it is UNICEF, and their strike rate is relatively small.

As we wait it is fitting that the ‘Thought for the Day’ at the station was this:
“A strong friendship doesn’t need daily conversations or being together. As love as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends never part”

It is so exciting to be able to embrace Harry as it has been a couple of years since we’d met. We’d only spent about 3 hours together, and we’d really connected. A very proud gay 40- something man with an incredibly interesting job. But more about that later (actually I am not allowed to talk about it so I am sorry it may need to be an in person conversation). Just as interesting is his life story. Having been a late bloomer as a gay man, Matthew and I were fascinated over a few drinks to hear how his story played out. A father of 2 daughters, with a supportive wife, family and in-laws. Not without its challenges I’m sure, but certainly had an incredible amount of support from the people that were closest to him. It makes me reflect on what an incredible family I have been blessed with. Always showing unconditional love and support. I know how unique my family is the more people that get to meet them. They are special indeed. We are blessed.
Sadly his partner couldn’t join us as he was attended a job interview. Maybe next time. We are all having a great time chatting, but realise we need to eat, so we move on to lunch at Polpo. It’s a shared food restaurant which is perfect as we continue to nibble and chat.

There are so many elements to Harry’s story and life that we can’t help but be curious about. He happily responds to each question and I tell him I’d love to write his story, as a book or screen play. This may happen in the future, who knows. But I can tell you it would interest even the fussiest of readers.
After a quick stop back at the pub to continue our conversations. We both comment about how awesome it was to make that connection those couple of years back, and definitely have made friends for life. We talk about when he visits Australia and when I will back in the UK. We know that wherever we are in the world we will reconnect. I realise during this conversation that having been a global citizen means that I have friends on every continent in the world. It certainly pays to reach out to people as you travel, and be open to connect with others and step out of your comfort zone. Humans are born for connection with each other. I have learnt this without exception.
Harry now has to excuse himself as he has a train to catch and a holiday to start. We have another squeeze before he heads off onto his train. It’s not the last time we will be seeing each other. I am just glad that we got to hang out together.

Matthew and I head back to the apartment so he can finish his day and I opt to have a bit of a nap in preparation for dinner tonight. We have booked into a lovely French restaurant, so Matthew needs to finish his working day, and I enjoy a sleep on the lounge.
I don’t know what I dreamt about but got into a very deep sleep indeed. Woken quickly by Matthew with only a 5-10 min warning which is perfectly fine because I am really not the kind of person to take a long time to get ready. So I jump to attention and ready to head out the door in less than 10 minutes. tonight we are heading back to the Bleeding Heart precinct. But this time it’s at the bistro and we were at the pub section yesterday.
The ambience sets the scene for a beautiful and relaxed evening. We order escargot to share, which was my first time ever. I didn’t hate it, but probably not something I will do again either.

When our meals came out my stomach jumped for joy. They look and smell incredible. I constantly pinch myself at the wonderful experiences I am able to share with Matthew. What a great privilege to have a partner who loves to take life by the balls as I do too.

We read about the legend of Bleeding Heart where Lady Elizabeth Hatten was approached at her party by a jilted lover how essentially took her outside in the cobblestone courtyard torn from limb to limb with her heart still pumping blood on the cobblestones. And with that, Bleeding Heart was named.
We stroll back to the apartment and hit the sack for a relatively early night again. My body is still adjusting to the time zone, but also, my life being quite busy normally tends to catch up on me when I am on holidays. Another lovely day is planned for tomorrow. As always I can’t wait.