After all the anticipation and anxiety, after a rainy departure from Amsterdam followed by a cloudy reception in Prague, and after an extended minor debacle at our hotel check-in, we did finally arrive somewhat unscathed and settled in our upgraded hotel room, and welcomed with a sweet gesture of chocolate goodness. Notwithstanding the complications we encountered – none of our debit cards would work and the one credit card we had, notwithstanding its zero balance, was not enough to cover the whole amount – our Christmas eve arrival was nonetheless memorable in a good way. In my line of work where I’m exposed to some of the worst travel stories imaginable, I did have minimal expectations that the worst-case scenarios are unlikely in this case. It still crossed my mind though that anything was possible. Happily, our reservation was not cancelled, they knew we were actually coming, the check-in staff was topnotch, the hotel was expectedly beautiful, and the room, which got upgraded at no charge, was classic and even came with its own crystal chandelier — that was a first.

As celebrations go, this is the most extravagant Christmas my partner have done so far on our own. I’d like to say that it’s always going to be like this going forward but seeing as there’s always a complication on the job front for one or both of us, it’s bound to be a question mark whether we’ll even have a holiday anytime soon. Better to live for the moment and put aside all the anxiety about what could go wrong, because after all the months of waiting, the time had finally come to make more wonderful memories during the most wonderful time of the year.