Sleep has become my new best friend

For the first time in a long time, I didn’t wake up inhumanly early. I wasn’t woken up at 12 o’clock in the night for a four-hour long work-shift, didn’t accidently open my eyes at five am with no possible return to sleep and didn’t get accompanied by any nightmares. Today, I got my sleep. Cozy, comfy, needed sleep.

When it was time to get up, me and my friends dressed quickly and then got up to the line-up. Coming up, we realized that the ship was already moored to the port of Belfast. Surrounded by buildings of glass, Gunillas masts were reflected in the mirrored surfaces. The city looked infinitely large from where we were moored. The meeting at line-up consisted of the usual; rising flags, ringing the bell and informing us about the day. Special for today was that we also had an inspection of our cabins. I’m proud to tell you that almost every cabin was accepted – a first for us! When the meeting was over, we had free time. So, guess what we did?

Slept some more.

After all these well-spent hours we were once again woken up, this time for lunch. We were served cowboy-soup with fluffy baguettes. At this point, we were still a bit sleepy but even so, we decided to seize the day or at least grace it.

A beautiful and warm afternoon greeted us when we first set our feet in Belfast. It was lovely to feel the presence of ground again. Strolling through the streets, we visited shops and had the luck of hearing a few buskers play. They played everything from pop to rock. We also visited a hippie-store, where my friend bought a beautiful top and I couldn’t stop wondering if the smell coating the air was really a “scented candle” or something else. We forgot all about it when we heard our tummies rumble and decided that it was time for a picnic. We stopped by a grocery store and then went searching for a cozy spot to sit. We came so far as to… a plangent shopping mall. The goal was of course a park but, maybe because of the lack of green spots on google maps and absolutely because of our laziness, our ambition was too high. Between the fluorescent lights of the stores and non-stop noise, we sat happily and ate our cookies and fruits.

With food in our stomachs and scented candles on our minds, we went back to the ship. The rest of the evening was spent studying and singing songs on the back of the boat. All in all, it was a very calm and cozy day.

Tindra