Your own country can be as amazing as a place far, far away. Last week I posted a list of six things that I still want to do in my own country, to visit places and museums I’ve never been before. One of the things on my list was going to Vianen and see cat art in the Stedelijk Museum.
Vianen is a little city nearby Utrecht. When I was looking for things to do, I discovered an exposition about cats in art with paintings from Henriëtte Ronner-Knip in the stedelijk museum in this little city. It will be there until may 12th. So we figured, why not go there, have lunch and go see the art, and then go to Utrecht (since Vianen is so small there’s not much else you can do). It was a small exposition but the paintings were really cute. I also bought a book with pictures of even more cat paintings!
We went to explore the city a little bit and then we wanted to visit my friend, Congo the Zebra. I’d like to tell you this story!
Five or six years ago, when I was still studying at Utrecht University, and living with my parents, everyday I had to go to Utrecht by bus. One day in my first year, I was on my way home, staring outside. Suddenly, I saw a zebra standing in the middle of the meadow, surrounded by a few horses. I texted a friend of mine, like ‘omg, there is a zebra here!’ and then I fell asleep, which happens a lot to me when I’m sitting in a bus.
I woke up, thinking I had dreamed the whole thing. But the text was proof that I had actually seen a zebra.
I told some people but no one seemed to believe me. Over the years, everytime I was in that bus, I stared out the windows to see if it was still there. Sometimes I saw it, sometimes I didn’t. When I was hoping to be able to rent a room in Utrecht, I told myself that I would succeed if I saw the zebra. And then I saw it. When I was nervous for a presentation, I told myself that all would be fine, if the zebra would be there again, and then it was. It sortof became my lucky zebra.
Anyway, yesterday we were in Vianen and it just so happens that my zebra friend was located between Vianen and Lexmond. So I figured, why the hell not, and we drove the way the bus always did to see if it was there. And it was! I couldn’t see it at first, but my boyfriend saw it and when we went closer, I saw that it was actually there. We parked the car and walked for a bit, getting as close as we could. Which was not very close, but still. I was able to get some pictures. Now I have finally seen my Lucky zebra friend again, and also, finally have proof to show my family that I’m not completely bonkers.
Wanderlust Wonderland 