On a recent trip to Europe, my husband and I checked into a small, boutique hotel, which was really cute and located right downtown in the old city. Basically, it was nothing more than a bed, a dresser and a bathroom, which was fine, because it is Europe and that is to be expected.
We checked the room for towels, soap, etc. and made sure the view was acceptable. We were on the second floor right across from an old cathedral so it was nice and quiet. My husband had to do some work, made a telephone call and set up an appointment with some people he was working with. I decided to unpack, iron a few things and relax a bit.
It took me a while to figure out how to setup the iron board, but finally did and decided to take a shower first. I was a little uncomfortable from the long flight and dragging around the airport and taxis. I finished my shower and dried off, which felt pretty good. I began to iron, which I had set in front of the door, as that was the only place in the room it would fit.
I was ironing and suddenly the room became darker. I could not figure out what happened and thought the sun went in, but it seemed much darker than that. I turned around to look at the window and was stunned by what I saw. A double decker tour bus was parked right in front of my window. I grabbed what I was ironing and tried to cover myself, as best as I could and suddenly the bus moved on and the sunlight came back. I was trembling from the shock and was trying to understand what had happened. I went to the window, looked out and saw another tour bus loading passengers just next to the church. It appeared the tours originated there and the first stop was the old church across from my hotel.
The prospect of what had happened excited me. I enjoy being viewed by strangers when I can pretend not to notice and went back and moved the ironing board slightly so I could stand behind it (between the board and the door) in anticipation of the next bus coming. That way the passengers would be able to see my upper body and it gave me an opportunity to glance at them and pretend not to be seen. Sure enough a minute later a bus came by but this one did not stop, but i did see a number of people staring in the window at me, as they went by.
I looked out and saw another bus loading but I wasn't sure if they could actually see inside my room or if the window was tinted or not. I turned the hall light on above where I was ironing and waited for the next bus, it was only a few minutes and this one stopped. I glanced up casually without anyone seeing that I was looking and saw people staring and at least two men using their cameras. My husband called to say he would be out for a few hours and made arrangements to meet me for supper at a restaurant about half an hour away.