Writhe and Shine

From Writhe’s journal:

I met F at his work at 6 and we go bike riding again. We stop at a grocery store to get some food which we eat in a very large park. We ride some more, but it’s not that interesting. Get back to his apartment and I shower and go to sleep. The bike riding kinda wore me out. When I wake up in the morning F has already gone to work. I only have one set of clean clothes at the moment and decide that I won’t get sweaty today. I’ll take it easy.
I ride to a touristy area to people-watch and meet a couple of goths outside of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. We chat for quite a while and then head to a cheap coffee place where I have the most wonderful tea. We leave to find a goth clothing shop, but after wandering the little neighborhood that its supposed to be in without finding it we give up. We hang out in another park and start to get eaten by mosquitoes. I failed in my attempt to not get sweaty. The couple is from England and they’re just travelling around on holiday. We talk about the differences in the scene from one country to the next and I tell them how different it is over in the States. They’d like to visit at some point, probably New York. Everyone wants to go to New York.
After an hour of looking for a cheap grocery store we eat at the train station while sitting on plastic crates watching the variety of people come and go.
We get on the U-Bahn without paying for it and take it two stops back to St. Stephen’s Cathedral where we will part ways. They tell me about a festival tonight that I should think about going to. I ride the back to meet F at his apartment, but he’s not back from work yet. I veg out in front of the TV waiting for him to get home. I watch a few American shows dubbed in German. They don’t even try to lip sync. After F gets home we get back on the bikes and go to the festival which is 7 miles away. That was some of the best biking I have ever done! The ciy has bike pathways next to the road. It was very fast going and a little hilly in some parts and lots of swerving. I can tell that F has done this route several times although I can easily keep up with him.
We get to the festival on the Danube River and it’s fucking huge! The view from the bridge to the city at night is spectacular. Unfortunately, there are so many people, such crappy food, and garbage everywhere. F needs to ride his bike through the crowds because he can’t walk without his special shoe. I can’t ride the bike like he does through the crowd so I walk it, trying not to lose him because I have no idea where I am. Some of these “macho” guys look like fucking idiots. Slicked hair, tight shirts, tight pants that flare out at the bottom, and big shoes. I get ready to start something with anyone that gives me shit for walking a bike through the thick crowds. I get weary of it all quickly and F and I stop to rest. After a bit, we start up again and it’s an uphill battle. Ugh. I was so tired on that ride that I didn’t think I could have made it. Back at the apartment I shower and fall asleep immediately.
I am woken up at 5:30am after only 4 hours of sleep and offered a hot breakfast that I couldn’t have eaten if I tried (I have a bad stomach in the morning if I don’t get enough sleep). We take the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn to the train station. I had just enough time to get a ticket from the border to Prague with my Eurail pass and run to the train that left at 7:10 after waving goodbye to F and thanking him for his hospitality. I would need to buy a ticket from the border of the Czech Republic to Prague because they do not accept Eurail. I find a cubicle with only two people. I read for a bit and then lay down on the bench. I should do this more often. I was checked for my ticket twice and for my passport once by a female official that looked like she had no sense of humor whatsoever.