p a p e r d o l l

I shall make my vacation recount a two-parter, because it really was that. After the UK trip, I came back for two packed days of serious things before going off to Spain. Here we go!

Day 1: Awoke at 5.30am. Reminiscent of secondary school days, when waking up at 5.30am for school and then training and then homework was a non-issue. Well, those days are far gone and waking up at 5.30 was NOT FUNNY. Still, it was my fault for booking an optimistically early train ride to London. What was I thinking? I was thinking I was still very very young and very very energetic. Anyway, I have digressed. I slept and drooled unglamorously on the eurostar train while it chugged (more like sped glamorously) under the Channel to London. Cousin Kenny met me at Waterloo. He was in Manchester the previous day for a soccer match. Boys will be boys. (Girls who like soccer will be girls who like soccer.) We pottered around waiting for the famous Four Seasons Restaurant to be opened. The duck there is amazing. Seriously, all duck eaten before this pale in comparison. This duck was tender. Tender duck! We then took a bus to Cambridge. Kenny kept up an interesting commentary of the place while we walked to Churchill College, where he lives. He has a very nice, very spacious room. It’s triple the size of my room here, but never mind. After resting a little, it was time to get ready for a formal at Queens College. Basically, people dress up and have a three-course meal. Quite nice. We hung out at someone’s room after that.

Day 2: I slept in. In a sleeping bag. Kenny came back from his classes just in time for lunch and so we cycled (I’d missed cycling) to town for a Thai lunch. We walked the market and the campus. So many stories he told! I can’t remember half (likely more) of them, but it was lovely to listen and walk through the beautiful old colleges. We cycled to an Asian supermarket some distance from the town to buy ingredients for a steamboat/table barbeque dinner Kenny was giving in my honour. (So nice, eh?) I met more of his friends and we all had a very enjoyable tasty meal together.

Day 3: Kenny’s room continued to smell of barbequed meat, which was not entirely pleasant. Since he had a day-long physics practical (the horror), I had the day to myself. On his suggestion, I cycled to the next town, Grantchester. It was really really nice. To get from Cambridge to Grantchester, one had to cycle this foot/bicycle path that had rolling fields of green on either side, as far as the eye can see. It was amazing. I was reminded of all the Enid Blyton stories I’d read since I was an ickle thing. I had brunch (Sparkling Elderflower, Hot Chocolate, Victorian Sandwich, Scone and Clotted Cream) (I’d worked up quite an appetite with the cycling) by myself at The Orchard, which everyone should check out, should they find themselves even remotely near it. Such history, such tranquility. I cycled back to Churchill College with my spirits lifted (seriously), and decided to walk to town (my butt was hurting from all the cycling) to check out the stalls at the market and the shops in town. I bought books from a second-hand book stall at ridiculously low prices (between 1 and 2 pounds)- Nicole Krauss’ History of Love, Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, Ali Smith’s The Accidental, and four books by Alexander McCall Smith. Then I went (sigh) shopping (yet again). Soon, it was time to walk back to pack and shower for my night bus to Edinburgh. Before the long bus ride, my cousin showed me a couple more places on campus as we walked to Dodo, a Japanese eatery, for our last meal together before I left. End of Cambridge trip! Bus to London and then from London to Edinburgh passed by uneventfully. One point to note: sleeping upright (and in contorted positions between upright and horizontal) for approximately 8 hours is supremely uncomfortable.

Day 4: Arrived in Edinburgh! And so began a solo trip in a new place. Boy was it windy. And early. And cold. Brr. Lugged my luggage around for quite a bit before I found the right bus-stop to take the right bus to my bed and breakfast establishment. I had decided to splurge to celebrate the completion of my first semester at La Sorbonne, and so it was to a four-star B&B I was heading. Et voila! The Townhouse, on Gilmore (!!) Place. Up on the top floor, my room was a single, with an en-suite bathroom with an original Victorian bath. No time to enjoy the bath yet, I had a quick shower before heading out to explore Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Where else but the shopping stretch first, oui? It was to Princes Street I went, indulging in my love for UK high street brands. FCUK, Miss Selfridge, Topshop. (Do you hear my happy sigh?) Of course, no trip to UK is complete with as many visits as possible to Marks and Spencer. Love love the food there. I went a bit nuts there choosing my dinner. TV+Bath for the night.

Day 5: As it was a bed and breakfast I was staying at, I had breakfast in the quaintest dining room. Scottish porridge and scrambled eggs and toast and peaches and sweet milk tea. Full up, I started off for the day. First stop again was Princes Street. A shopaholic is a shopaholic is a shopaholic. The history-lover in me kicked in soon after and I traipsed over to the Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile. The most adorable place. Bibs, toy cars, doll houses, board games, musical boxes, story books, costumes… … I had such fun poking at this, looking at that. I then walked over to Grassmarket to check out Armstrong’s & Sons, a well-known vintage clothing store. Walking on, I made my way up Victoria Street with the cutest little shops, popping into this one and that. At the end of the street, I found myself at the Central Lending Library and couldn’t resist a quick look around.

Day Six: Scottish fishcakes for breakfast- boy were they yummy. First stop, the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was quiet and pretty and the Rock Garden was surprising (in a very pleasant way). Back in town, I visited Harvey Nichols, browsing through unaffordable clothing and a more affordable food section, which I spent too much time and possible too much money in. On then to Jenners, a homegrown departmental store. On again to Fopp, a music store featuring mainly UK names. Speaking of, I LOVE PAOLO NUTINI- swoon. Weather was great. It was sunny and Edinburgh looked mesmerizingly shiny. An extra long and luxurious bath, since it was my very last night.

Day 7: I had to check out, sadly, but not after a hearty breakfast. I also did my laundry this morning at a nearby launderette, since I knew I’d have a horrifically rushed two days in Paris before I was off to Barcelona. I swear I stared at my laundry in both the washer and the dryer for almost two hours. It’s strangely calming to watch your clothes go round and round. After dumping my freshly laundered clothes at the sitting room of The Townhouse, I set off for the Museum on the Mound , which is really the bank museum. Quite fascinating. I saw a million pounds in 20-pound notes, for example. After that, I went on to the National Gallery of Scotland where there was a Goya exhibition (Masters and Matadors, it’s called) going on. I was very taken by Goya’s pencil drawings. Beautifully grotesque. And such a good hint/teaser to my upcoming Barcelona trip. I was also taken by a particular portrait of Mrs. Thomas Graham by Gainsborough, so much so that I purchased a slide of it. Possibly the most beautiful subject of portraits of the era of portraits. Emerging into the sun, I took a walk, stopping to read the dedications on benches opposite Princes Street- touching love declarations and such. There was still time before my night bus back to London, and I decided that a movie was just the ticket to while the time away. I caught Dreamgirls, which was such a treat! (Along with butter popcorn and Ben & Jerry’s.) I knew I was right to stop watching that American Idol season after Jennifer Hudson was very very wrongly (or rightly, seeing her success now?) voted off. I then trudged back in the cold to the Townhouse, to collect my luggage before making my long and rather arduous bus (Edinburgh Lothian)+bus (UK National Express) +train (London tube) +train (Eurostar) +train (Paris RER) journey back home. I started at 8pm and reached home at 4pm the next day. Quite a bit of waiting time between any two modes of transportation named. You’d think sitting down isn’t too draining, but it somehow manages to be. Must be the luggage-lugging as well.

There! The wonderful first part of my vacation(: Sans the lugging and waiting and sitting/attempting to sleep comfortably parts.