“If you consider travelling with children, be advised that a much shorter trip to the Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Orlando, FL, is likely to be more rewarding for the kids. Ruthenia and Galicia might indeed advertise itself as ‘the magic kingdom’, and with enough time on your hands you are bound to see some inexplicable sights and meet some interesting characters. However, kids expecting witches and wizards flying on broomsticks and casting technicolour spells will be disappointed.
This has become even more evident over the past few decades, with the still unexplained and contentious weakening of the kingdom’s magic essence; the phenomenon bemoaned by the traditionalists and the tourism industry and welcomed with relief by many, mostly younger Ruthenians and Galicians who seeks to catch up to the rest of the European Union not only in the terms of the standard of living but also in terms of ‘normality’. ‘We’re tired of living in a freakhouse and being treated like freaks’ is a common refrain one hears a lot from the kingdom’s Gen Ys and their younger siblings.
“Legends and semi-legendary history speak of a time of powerful magicians who once practices their art as commonly understood by an average reader of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, but any wizard you are likely to encounter now on the streets of Czernograd and elsewhere throughout Ruthenia and Galicia is likely to be an actor seeking to cash in on the tourist dollar. For the rest of the kingdom’s residents, magic is just something you live with, like a force of nature or weather, albeit one as profitable for the country as the golden beaches of the Caribbean or the ski slopes of Switzerland.”
“Eastern Europe’s Magic Revival”, “Travel + Leisure”, April 2019, p.23
27 June, 9:00 AM, Czernograd, Hotel Casino
Jake had to admit to himself that he was becoming slightly disappointed.
Thus far in his stay, he was in line for “I went to Ruthenia and Galicia, the physically impossible home of mythical creatures of the Eastern European folklore, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt”. And got the reason for his trip confiscated by the authorities, got his body smashed and got entangled with the Gypsies. Or half-Gypsies. Hardly exotic, eh? He could have gone to Moldova or Bulgaria for that, staying well within the realm of the ordinary Europe. Hell, he could have just gone to Detroit, or for that matter certain boroughs of his hometown. Maybe minus the Gypsies.
His original plans didn’t feature any sightseeing or cultural experiences. But now he was stuck here for longer than he first expected, getting a cabin fever in his hotel room. There was only so much channel surfing he could do, alternating between Ruthenian shows he did not understand and foreign cable channels that did not interest him back in America either.
When his phone rang, Jake was getting back to his room from the continental breakfast – of course - in the hotel restaurant downstairs. He has also managed to extend his booking for a few days longer, benefiting from a pre-season lull.
“Hello, Jake.” It was Marina, chirpy as usual.
“Hi Marina,” Jake said, sinking into an armchair by the window. “What’s up?”
“We’re having lunch.”
“Are we?”
“Yes,” she said. “I can’t let you sit there in your hotel room all the time, trying to watch our boring daytime TV and waiting for the call from the Customs.”
“How did you know?” A change is as good as a holiday, Jake thought, even on a holiday. Particularly on a holiday like this.
“I’ll meet you in the lobby at twelve thirty,” she said and hang up.
That’s when Jake noticed that someone has been in his room again.
Reader question: Another chapter, which I'm not sure is quite necessary.
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