What Makes a Scenery Special?
This was just another beach… or not
“Wait”, I stopped walking and turned to my former boss. “Let me take a picture of the beach.”
Are you sure you want to?, my prudent, overthinking self asked.
I pulled out my disposable Fujifilm film camera from my bag, the only one I had for my trip, which only had 27 shots. I stress the word “only” because I was going to visit four beautiful European cities in the next fourteen days — and I thought about the million picturesque scenes that might be more deserving of a place in my finite film roll. This was just day one.
I had just landed at Schiphol Airport two hours ago. It was already mid-afternoon, so there was no time to shower or change my clothes. What do you wear to the beach when it’s 18 degrees anyway?
So, embarrassingly, this is how I reunited with my former boss after four years: with awkward, flat, oil-shiny hair, travel-shot eyes, and wearing the same clothes I’d been wearing the last 24 hours.
The whole thing was a last-minute plan. He could pick me up at the airport, he said, and then we’d go straight to the beach.
The beach! In the Netherlands! And I wouldn’t have to worry about finding my way around (or, should I say, getting lost?) on my own just yet!
