Jason's Daily Notes

Still in Utrecht. Still recovering from my throat infection. Overnight, I was coughing up some blood (because my throat was too dry). I kept drinking water, but my throat kept drying out (because my swallowing reflex was basically gone). So I kept going to the toilet (which is a smelly shared toilet in this house).

Anyway, got up around 11am. Had some breakfast of bread and cheese.

I left Willem on his own for the day (he had a jam session scheduled and some work to do). I walked around the city on my own, taking pictures along the way. I walked north, through the city center, and then I followed the canal that rings the edge of Utrecht's center. I sat down at some benches along the way, letting the day pass me by. The weather wasn't bad, especially for February: light clouds and temperatures around 7°C.

It did feel lonely, as many of my days have felt, walking round by myself in a foreign city. The excitement of being abroad has washed away, and often all I feel is the hollowness of my decision to stay away from home (or, should I say, to have no home).

I thought that I might find someone to meetup with, but obviously I didn't. How naïve of me.

I walked all the way to the south then back along the Oudengracht (sp?) to the center. I got an order of fries and a Fanta from a kebab shop where some teenagers were smoking hookah with the worker. I left and searched for free wifi. Desperate, I went into McDonald's for a milkshake and wifi. The shake was bad and the wifi slow.

I continued wandering as the sun set. I went into the train station and watched all the busy people. I returned to home, but didn't go in (letting Willem work in peace). Instead, I walked back to El Greco and ordered a gyros pita for my dinner. It was salty; so much so that I didn't eat all of the salty gyro meat.

Around 20:30 I returned to the house and caught up with Willem. He was getting ready for his sort-of date with an ex, which was at 9pm.

I was feeling much more healthy than I had been for the last 1.5 weeks, so I said that I might go out. He gave me the key. I sat down, browsing my phone, and before I knew it, I woke up. I had fallen asleep on the couch for 2 hours. D'oh!

Willem returned, we caught up. He went to sleep quickly, but I couldn't. I even considered going out in the middle of the night to drain my energy, but no.