The young woman brushed away some of the blonde curls covering her eyes and leaned forward to get a better look at the beautiful landscape drifting past her window. She couldn’t remember anything she had looked forward to this much for a long time. I was of course a long trip all the way from Umeå to Achill Island, but it would be worth every minute of it to see Andreas Vaulenberg. She had gotten in touch with him last year through a cultural exchange program, and had been completely charmed by him. Though she wouldn’t admit it even to herself she had fallen in love with him during the summer evenings, walking around cologne discussing their art. They had kept in touch since, through e-mails and letters.

When he had called her last month she had been thrilled to hear his voice. Her career as a painter was not exactly going well at the moment. She had told Andreas she needed to get out of Umeå for a while and he had suggested that she should meet him in Achill. He had told her about the letter he had gotten. Imagine that, a treasure of paintings that had just been stored away in a pub, unnoticed for years. To get the chance to see some painting by Brian O’Donnell, see Ireland and see him. It was just the perfect excuse to get away. Well, now she needs a holiday. She wasn’t going to think about her problems now.

She had been traveling for hours and hours already. Spending the time sleeping, reading and looking out the window. She just loved traveling by train, the rhythmic thumping of the rails was so peaceful. It would of course go a lot faster by airplane but this way she got to see so much more of the countries she was traveling through and meet so many interesting people. Her best friend Monica had told her she was crazy to just go off like that, but she felt it was just what she wanted to do right now. All these new landscapes were already inspiring her to paint again. She pulled out her sketchpad and took out the pen that she had stuck in her messy bun, maybe she could get started on a painting!