Hotel Lonac

For three years, Hotel Lonac was home to me. I came to Germany for what was meant to be a three-month assignment, and the project turned out to be incredibly stressful. Returning to the hotel felt like coming back to family, people who welcomed me and shared the weight of it all. When I was ill, kind people checked on me. My room felt like my own, right down to the flower I kept there. The location worked perfectly for all my trips between Düsseldorf and Duisburg. Duisburg has a character all its own, and despite its poor reputation, it suited me so well. I explored it by bike until I knew the city like the back of my hand. Leaving felt like leaving my own house. I took photos and saved them in my archive. The hotel and restaurant were quiet in the evenings, and Marko was the one person who stayed in my life as a close friend. Our long evening talks meant a lot to me. He's a dear friend and always will be. Life is short, but true friends make even a little time feel beautiful. I have enough memories to fill a novel, though I hope to turn them into a book someday. Warm wishes to Marko, his dear mother, his brother, Dolores, Cristina, Victoria, and anyone I've accidentally left out. I hope life brings you the success you want.