World Men à la Mode

Chapter Forty-three - Kayaking

"Good morning sunshine! It's time to get up or you'll be late for breakfast!" Alfred chirped as he came into the room after knocking.

You groaned and flipped from your back onto your stomach, pulling your pillow over your head. You had apparently slept through your alarms and weren't responding to Samantha's attempts to wake you. Alfred poked you gently between your shoulder blades, earning a squirm from you. You remained in bed, however. Alfred furrowed his brows and scrunched up his nose slightly in annoyance. He poked you again in the same spot before trailing his fingers down your spine slowly. You shivered and swatted his hand away.

"I will jump on you, dude. You've gotta get up."

"No..."

"You don't want to go kayaking?"

"We're going kayaking?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Is that a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged?"

"Damn straight! Come on. In all seriousness though, you've gotta get up now or you really will be late for breakfast."

"Alright. Alright. You've gotta get out then."

"On it!"

The blond American dashed out of the room, presumably to head down to breakfast himself. You got up and took a speedy shower before getting ready in record time for your morning meal. Samantha was kind enough to wait for you so the two of you could go down together. Matthias smiled at you as you came in and took a sat after grabbing your food. You sat across from him and ate silently, still a little tired yet. After breakfast the group headed out to the bus with their day bags equipped and ready to go.

"I am explaining our plans for the day!" Alfred announced while covering Matthias' mouth with his hand. "We'll be going kayaking through the canals on a tour for the morning, and then you'll have free time for three hours to do as you please and grab lunch. Afterward we'll be heading off to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art to check out their exhibitions and to go on their walking tour of the their gardens to check out their sculptures. We conclude the day with dinner and free time, but we have to go back to the hotel right after dinner to grab our luggage because we'll be driving to Stockholm, Sweden starting at ten tonight. It's a seven hour drive, so you guys can sleep on our way and then for a little at the hotel there before we start our day."

"Wait, we've gotta sleep on a bus?" Valerie asked.

"I mean, you don't have to sleep on the bus. You could stay up the entire time like I probably will. I suggest buying snacks during one of your free times in case you get hungry during the drive and then get a drink or two after we pick up our luggage."

"Are we driving straight through the night or are we going to have bathroom breaks?" Samantha inquired next.

"We'll be stopping every two and a half hours at a rest stop for twenty minutes or so. You can pick up more snacks and drinks when we do if you want. Please make sure you go to the bathroom before we board the bus initially though."

"Will we be meeting our next tour guide right when we get to the next hotel?" you questioned.

"Yep! He'll be waiting for us outside of it. Any other questions?"

You and your friends shook your heads. Alfred smiled and nodded before sitting back down in his seat as the drive to the canals continued. Once there, the group departed the bus and went to the kayak rental stand to get fitted for life jackets and to get assigned a kayak number. Everyone had their own kayak and climbed in them with the help of one of the employees. Another employee handed out maps of the canals and the harbor they were connected to in case anyone got separated from the group. Safety measures and how to maneuver the kayak with the oars were went over next before you were all turned loose.

Matthias led the group with Alfred bringing up the rear to make sure everyone stayed together. A few of the kayaks knocked into one another a couple of times, but not hard enough to turn them over. Matthias led everyone take breaks when they needed to when paddling became too much. Kayaking through the canals took you up to your scheduled free time, in which you returned back to the rental shop and handed over your life jackets. Alfred gave a meeting place and time so you wouldn't be late to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Speaking of the museum, it was exactly what you expected. The art it showcased was full of originals, reprints, and refurbished pieces from various artists. What you didn't expect was how beautiful the garden, or as Matthias correct you, the park, was. You took the walking tour after having your fill of inside. The walking tour wasn't led by anyone unless you booked one that way. Alfred decided to join you while Matthias went off with Lily, Amelia, and Charlotte.

The two of you had delightful conversations full of jokes and references to shows and parodies the two of you had watched. Of course, you did talk about the sculptures you found along the way as well, but mainly the two of you created inside jokes that you both knew would last the rest of the trip and possibly further than that.

You eventually met back up with your friends and your Danish tour guide for your final meal in the Dane's homeland. After dinner, you grabbed your luggage from the hotel to keep with the bus until it was time to leave. In the meantime, you headed to a local park to sit and relax with your fairytale book. On your way back to the meeting location, you picked up a few snacks and two bottles of water for the seven hour journey. Matthias stopped you before you could get on the bus.

"Hey, if you ever want to come back to Denmark, hit me up, yeah? You could stay with me even, and I could show you the most awesome time!"

You giggled. "Alright. Email, Skype, or phone number?"

"You've got it!"

He wrote it down on the back of a business card he had in his wallet and handed it to you. You ripped it in half and wrote your contact information down so he would know it was you contacting him. You then gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before boarding the bus and starting your long journey to Sweden.

~Author's Note~

DreamsForDays here! Sorry that this update is late! I kept getting side tracked and was going through a bit of a funk today with writing. I hope that this turned out okay though! I know it's not the longest, but it's something! Thanks for reading! Feedback in the comments is always appreciated! Until next time!