The Pleasures of Travelling

Pinned to the wall behind my desk is a map of the world where I have marked every place that I have visited on this planet. Looking at it, it’s quite an impressive collection, but there’s one problem: I have no or little memory of visiting some of the locations, especially the exotic ones, as I was just too little at the time. I for sure had a great time there on holiday, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve cheated. When I first started “creating” my map I wasn’t even sure whether to put a pin to those countries but now when I look at them, they are a motivation for me to make sure that, one day, I will go and experience them properly.

Today, I got to put a new pin on my map. I got back on Thursday from a ten-day Ireland trip with three friends and I still feel enthusiastic thinking about how amazing these ten days were. First of all, I had great company. Just going through the pictures to pick the one for this post makes me all warm and fuzzy inside because I hold those three crazy ladies so dear to my heart.

 

Secondly, can we just talk about what a beautiful country Ireland is? I mean, we only saw a small part of it but on more than one occasion did we come across things that made us wonder if this could be real.

Trinity College

 

We then took a train to Galway and again, stayed there for two nights. What I liked most about Galway were the street performers, some of the musicians seemed really talented and I have never seen such amazing balloon animals! Just saying…

Then the adventure began and we went to collect our bikes, which would be our means of transport for the next five days. Our trip took us from Galway to Cong, to Letterfrack, to Ougherard and back to Galway with a day trip to the island Inishbofin. If you ever find yourself in this region, I highly recommend taking the ferry to Inishbofin. It’s a calm, quiet place and we even saw dolphins on both ways while on the ferry!

Back in Galway we returned the bikes and went back to Dublin for the last day and to catch our flight.

I can’t really put into words how much I loved these ten days so I’m just going to leave you with some pictures and hope that I will be more coherent in the next post. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Galway

Cliffs of Moher

Lough Corrib

Inishbofin

Kylemore Abbey

Making Memories

What’s your favourite memory?

If you asked me that question, I would probably tell you about that time I was in Prague with three friends and we got completely soaked on the way back to our hostel. We had been out until the early hours of the morning and when we finally decided to go home, it was raining so heavily that the streets got flooded. We stood under the roof of the entrance for a short moment, considering our options. Then, we took off our shoes and started running. As we were making our way through the old part of Prague towards our hostel (that was luckily not too far away) we were laughing so much it was hard to breathe, trying not to slip on the wet stones and splashing each other with even more water. It really didn’t make a difference at that point.

It might not look like an extraordinary special moment to anyone else, but to me it’s just priceless and my three partners-in-crime seem to feel the same. Just the other day one of my friends said that it was one of her favourite memories – the reason why I had the idea to write this post.

What makes a moment so special that you would put it in a box if you only could, seal the lid so that nothing escapes and just every now and again take a little look and relive it as if it was happening all over again? 

John Lennon memorial wall, Prague 2013

 You are constantly making new memories but only a few of them get stuck in your brain, possibly forever. I’m sure that my friends and I will still be thinking about that particular night in Prague in many years to come, but first, it’s time to make some more memories.

My bedroom is currently cluttered with clothes, sunglasses, a sleeping bag, a straw hat and other things that I should be packing, as I am getting ready for some new adventures. Fingers crossed that there will be at least one moment to add to the list of favourite memories.

Going home and my trip to Cornwall

It has been two weeks since I went on a train journey (the one described here) and took myself to Cornwall and back for a weekend.

The weather was beautiful, I ate my weigh in cream tea, got woken up by seagulls in the morning and just spent a nice few days with some of the loveliest people I have met in my life.

At the Royal Cornwall County Show - So many cream teas!

  

Beach at St. Agnes

Very cute Café on the way to the Beach

Following that trip, I finished my internship, went to a parliamentary panel discussion where I sat next to a proper journalist from The Guardian (I felt a little out of place. But the food was great.), went shopping with the money I had left, moved out of my room in the student residence, watched the England vs. Italy match in the Shutterbug Café, then got a cold while waiting for the night bus.

The next day, I boarded the plan and flew to Berne, where my family was already waiting for me. I’ve been home for two weeks now and I can honestly say that I am absolutely happy to be back.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I hated it the whole time and was just miserable 24/7. London itself is still my favourite city and I’m sure it won’t be long until I will back for a city trip, but having escaped my not-too-interesting office job and getting my social life back does feel pretty amazing. However, I already miss all the unique little cafés, restaurants and other places you can find everywhere in London. I guess you just can’t have everything, right?

Dessert for Breakfast

I want all bills to come in a book like that. It's the small things that make a difference.

Reggie the Veggie at The Breakfast Club in Soho

It's coffee in a jam jar. How can you not get excited about that?

Delicious Raspberry Lemonade and a hazlenut-chocolate thing (what a precise description Anna, well done!) at Le Pain Quotidien

 That’s it for now. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend!

Thoughts while on a train

The past weekend, I got on a train to visit a family that I met three years ago in their new home in Cornwall. Starting from Paddington Station, the journey took me 4 hours and 45 minutes. That gives you a lot of time to think. So I started writing down random thoughts that popped into my head and this is how this post came to happen. 

Let's get started!

The English countryside is really flat.

Until suddenly, it isn’t.

Sheep.

That halloumi bagel from the train station was actually delicious.

Cows.

So many canals. I think I want a boat.

Looks like Harry Potter could have lived here.

Why is there an imprint of a giant white horse on that hill?

This looks exactly like the setting for all those romantic movies (that then was a recurring theme)

Where’s the sea? I want to see the sea. Oh, that’s a rhyme.

I want to be i a car and drive these beautiful country roads. I don’t have a car. I can’t drive.

I should go on train journeys more often. Looks like I actually could be productive on a train.

Only three more hours.

I’m more than halfway through this magazine and have read every single article. I never do that. Also, why do the headlines on the front page always have to say something that makes you want to hide what you’re reading from your fellow passengers?

I wonder if the person sitting behind me can see what I’m typing. Probably not. I hope not.

Didn’t finish the magazine.

Is this the sea? Where am I? I need a map.

It’s the sea. It’s beautiful.

Passing people sitting by the sea, eating fish & chips. I want to join them. I’ll have chips & chips, please.

Two more hours.

Stared out of the window fort he good part of an hour.

Seeing people meet their friends or family at the train station is simply heart-warming.

I wonder what the air outside smells like right now.

Now it’s raining. And it got dark.

20 minutes left.

Announcement over speakers: „in case you haven’t noticed, it has started raining quite heavily. Coats are advised.“

Soon I’ll be one of those people with someone waiting for me at the station, looking for me as I get off the train.