The Summer of '93

Flying high

So it got to be the day before I was going to Germany to visit Dionisis! I met up with Quig for a quick bite to eat at his house. It was an April Fool's day alright! It was good for me to have a diversion, so close to my trip. I was all packed and I'd checked my tickets, car hire details and passport a thousand times. Quig had also invited a friend around called Bob. Bob had helped me with my accountancy at Uni. He was very quietly spoken with unkept auburn hair and he always seemed to have a blank expression but he was very laid back. He was a man of little conversation. Looking back I think he was just painfully shy.

Whilst I was out the room I overheard Quig imply to Bob that we were very much a couple. I glimpsed a glance around the door to observe what I could hear for validation. Bob's face mirrored a vacant image of indifference as a response. He gazed away from Quig, obviously tuning out Quig's dull subject matter. He'd obviously been the victim of am inane broken record on the subject and I recognised suddenly that I was no longer just a friend prospect. Sadly at this point I had come to realise that this was starting to get out of control. So, I very quickly made my excuses when I could about having an early start (which was true). I was so relieved that I was going to have a good break, to get away from the stress of work and truly get away from it all.

I was delighted to receive a letter from Dionisis. "I have sent you a photo to ensure that you recognise me when we meet at the airport. This photo was taken in Switzerland with a colleague from the Cancer Research Centre outside their temporary lodgings." It remains today to be my favourite photo of him.

Needless to say I was so excited I was fit to burst. But I was trying to calm myself down so that I could get some beauty sleep before such a stressful journey to come. As I contemplated bed, Ali rang at 8 o'clock and said he would come down to see me when I arrived back from Germany. That was something that I was not expecting! Of course I didn't tell Ali what I was going to Germany for. Some things are best kept under wraps! I had nothing however to feel guilty about, yet I did. Nothing had gone on with either of them, but there was the promise of something with Dionisis.I take it Ali must have been at a loose end. It was all too much and I just decided to have an early night. I was in my bed and fast asleep by 11 pm. All in all, It had been quite an eventful, highly paced month for me.

I was flying! Literally! It was the 2nd April 1993. The alarm went off at 04:30 and I left home at 05:10. I had had to be at Manchester airport for 06:20 to check in. I was on a Boeing 737 and it was such a thrill for me. As the plane levelled I could see a lake below stretching out and little borders sprinkled around the edge of green squares, like a harlequin's costume. I was sat right above a wing so I could see every rivet and every sheet of metal. I thought to myself how basic and primitive the construction really was. There had been frost that morning so I had watched, fascinated as they sprayed the wings with deicer. I felt a high as we soared above the clouds and felt emotion well inside me. I adore flying. As we neared Germany it became very cloudy. I was bursting with excitement, so much so, that I couldn't contain my emotions. I was chapping at the bit to get off the plane and eventually the time came to collect my luggage. Dionisis was going to be waiting for me in the arrivals lounge. I had built up so many preconceptions as to what it would feel like and how things would be. It was impossible not to. 

As I walked through customs I searched the faces to locate Dionisis and there he was; bless him the cold was so extreme he had a red nose. I was so nervous and he was to me, as knee weakeningly drop dead gorgeous as I remembered. He towered over everyone so he was easy to spot. I was painfully shy and right now I felt if someone blew on me, I'd have crumpled to the ground. He was wearing jeans, a jumper and a winter weight jacket. His hair was longer and it had grown longer on top but was glossy, straight and dark. There was no doubt, he stood out. He carried the life and vigor of youth. I talk about how attractive his aesthetics were and don't get me wrong, it was what first drew me to him. But I first and foremost go for a man's personality, an equal of minds (which sounds like a cliche but I truly do) and that light that shines from within. Its that quality that I cannot quite put my finger on, but whatever it was, he had lashings of it. My eyes were drawn as he recognised me too, and he probably felt the intensity of my attention lavished on him. Adonisis flashed that smile!

Attraction to someone can be quite elusive and hard to describe. Yet, for me it is easy for me to put into words my attraction for this man. Adonisis had a kind and enquiring expression that captivated me. He had vivacious brown eyes and his physical shape was athletic without being overly worked. Dionisis had told me he had been playing a lot of basketball. Women talk about finding tall men attractive and there's a protective quality to a man who carries that height and he had that aura of Knight in shining armour about him in spades. He just had the build that I loved, strong and lean. It advertised itself from how the clothes draped on him. I could see his open shirt covered a vest and underneath, well he had it going on. Truth be told he took my breath away. My nervous excitement was palpable now and seeing him again; I had anticipated and craved this moment for months. Going over his aura there was a calming, soothing demeanor about him that was magnetic to me. I felt like his was in control but staid which equipped me with thinking we would not have crossed words. Being Mediterranean it is a cliche that is expected but I don't revel in arguments and that whole aspect felt disarmed about him. That was one thing, but being with him so intimately, with him opening up his home and life to me for a timeslice; if I was a pressure cooker, I'd be blowing my top! I worried about letting my guard down, and how he really feels about me and is it as intense as I feel about my feelings for him. My heart was in my mouth and I was completely beside myself. Cliche's done!

Now here's the difference between UK men and Mediterranean men. Dionisis greeted me with a red rose. UK girls would possibly say it's crass and trite. He made me feel special. I felt my face light up and redden with surprise and delight as I inhaled him. Adonisis smiled that smile and he put me at my ease and made me glow. He was surprisingly easy to converse with. We chatted and collected our hire car. Dionisis couldn't drive. Oh and I had only just passed my test. I was bloomin nervous for so many reasons. 

That said I was excited to drive in a different country, in anything that was not a Yugo! I had ordered and collected a lovely charcoal Clio with the German number plate and as we climbed in there, I hoped they would throw in a paper map for navigation. There was no map. The car's only accessory was the lovely new car smell; polish, plastic and upholstery. I hadn't expected that. Surely the basic need is a map, like wheels?

Having just passed my driving test in March I did struggle at first swapping controls over in my mind. I had asked my Dad about it. He had advised me that I'd soon get used to it and adapt. Of course the handbrake, mirror and gears were switched. I then went in the completely wrong direction because Dionisis wasn't used to navigating in a car and we stopped so he could ask. He switched between German and English with such effortless skill. We were actually going the correct way. So as to my first impression of Germany? Well Stuttgart airport was located in a quite impoverished area and I later found out one that had a reputation for being a drug/brothel area. Although I had been in the world for 23 years, this was not a side of life I was familiar with or understood so I was glad when we got out of the area and could soak up the pleasant differences. It reminded me of home, except the roads and architecture were very Germanic, of course! We ended up on the motorway. I glanced over to him peiodically, mentally pinching myself that I was driving in Germany, with him by my side and no, it really was happening. He would turn back, his eyes would twinkle and he would flash that smile that was guaranteed to make me melt, every single time.

I was glad that there was a distinct lack of roundabouts; reversing those in my mind could be quite problematic. 

Oh my God! I wasn't prepared for German motorways. I had not known that you can drive as fast as you like – such fun! I did a lot of driving in my job and my only regret now was I hadn't acquired something with more guts when I ordered this hire car. The top speed on this car was 160 kilometers. I thought I was driving fast (about 90) and then a BMW would fly past so fast, it felt like it took the paint and tyres with it. After a few puzzled glances at each other, sprinkled with awkward giggles (and thankfully he deciphered the signs as my rushed effort to learn German was no comparison with the command of the language that he had mastered), we actually managed to arrive at Dionisis' home. It was all topped off with the way he looked at me made my nerves bubble and my shyness exude. Ah, to be able to read his mind! Was his brain in overdrive like mine was right now?