It was your first time seeing your boyfriend Vladimir play for his home country of the Czech Republic at the World Championships in Minsk. You were nervous, having never been to Belarus, let alone Europe, but Vladimir assured you it would be okay.
“We can do some site seeing, tour the city, if you want,” he suggested. “I have the rest of the day off after practice this morning.”
You smiled at the idea of doing something other than sitting around in the hotel, waiting for him to get back. “That would be fun,” you replied, and he promised to text you once practice got out. You spent the morning looking up places to see in Minsk and reading about its history until you finally got a text from Vladimir: “meet me at the arena, some of my teammates want to get lunch together.” You were a little apprehensive about getting lunch with his teammates, since you didn’t know any of them, but you went along anyway. You ended up enjoying it, even though they spoke in Czech most of the time, but you had fun seeing the dynamic between the newly formed team. They’d only been together for a few days, but you could tell they were already close.
Vladimir asked his teammates (in English so you could hear) if they had any suggestions for your tour of Minsk. Jaromir Jagr, who is openly religious, suggested your look at some of the historic churches, such as the Cathedral of Saint Mary or the Red Church, and you added those to your list of places to see. The adorable Tomas Hertl suggested (to your surprise) that you check out the Belarusian National Arts Museum. You smiled to yourself as you wrote that one on the list too. Another teammate recommended the Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum, which Vladimir seemed much more excited about seeing than the art museum. By the end of lunch you had quite a list of places to visit, from the Maxim Gorky National Drama Theatre to the Belarusian National History and Culture Museum, to the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, and many others.
The rest of your day was spent traveling all over Minsk with Vladimir, taking pictures of the sites, and with Vladimir. They day ended with a walk in Gorky Park so you could ride on the Ferris wheel.
“Vladimir, this is really tall,” you said looking up at the Ferris wheel as you waited in line. You held his hand tighter and he put his arm around you. “Don’t worry about it, (Y/N), it’s perfectly safe, and I’ll be right here.” He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug, and you snuggled closer to him. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” He asked.
“A little. I’m more scared that the Ferris wheel would break off and roll away,” you started to laugh, realizing how stupid that was. He smiled down at you and kissed your head. “I promise you that won’t happen.” He held your hand and led you into the empty compartment when it was your turn to get on. There was glass on all sides, so there was no chance of you accidentally falling out. You sat down next to Vladimir and he kept his arm firmly on your shoulder, and you felt safe. You leaned on him as the ride started and you slowly rose higher and higher. When the Ferris wheel was at its peak, it paused so another passenger could get on.
“Smile,” Vladimir said as he snapped yet another picture of you before leaning in to kiss you. “I’ve had a lot of fun today (Y/N), thank you.”
“I had fun too, thanks,” you replied and kissed him again.
“Was your first trip to Europe everything you thought it would be?” He asked and the ride started again slowly.
“Everything, and so much more,” you smiled.
-Lila
(I’d like to thank the Minsk Wikipedia page for providing most of the information I used here, and Wikipedia in general, for informing me that Vladimir is Czech, not Russian. That would have been awkward….)
(Ps. I had a dream about Jagr, so I had to include him. And Tomas, of course, for Ashley : )
