As detailed as I could remember.
For all the train rides I took I would've paid ~ £608 with a Railcard. So my aim to use the £283 worth of the ticket worked out.
20110615
Where I've been
As detailed as I could remember.
For all the train rides I took I would've paid ~ £608 with a Railcard. So my aim to use the £283 worth of the ticket worked out.
Day 7 - Leuchars, Peterborough, Cambridge, Bangor
The day begins around five with a gorgeous sunrise in Inverkeithing. Everything is golden and pale blue and apricot. And there’s the sea again – it tugs on my heart. I will miss all this ocean when I’m back in Germany. I stare out the window mesmerized, trying to drink the sea up with my eyes and feel as if I’ll never get sick of it. Everything is so beautiful.
14/06/2011
It is 6 o’ clock, I am in Leuchars, on a trail between the fields there’s a first runner with a dog and I’m waiting for the train to head back to the south. In the sunshine the landscape looks even more beautiful then when I saw it first and I would love to go walking here once. The air is crisp and clean and it’s already starting to warm up for the day.
18 h left on the ticket. I’m looking forward to a bed, a shower, Cambridge. This couldn’t possibly get any better.
14/06/2011
Oh, but it can obviously. I’m on the train along the east coast just passing through Alnmouth and everything screams: “Build a house here, stay here, make me your home!”, and I want to. Even more so because it already looks like home, if it weren’t for the sea. I want to go home. In this very moment. Like home-home. To my grandmother’s village, to my best friend’s house, to the summers I loved so much I decided they should never end. And they didn’t. And so I decide that this should never end: The perception of every step as part of a journey, the eyes open wide for every station on the way, travelling only with hand-luggage. It shall never end.
14/06/2011
First impressions of Cambridge: It ha definitely the weather on its side. It has the better postcards though the stunning architecture is not as concentrated as in Oxford. Generally it feels bigger and wider. I sit down on the first pasture I see and pretend to be a student here. It works. For me.
14/06/2011
“You have to be home before midnight!” – I’m feeling a little like Cinderella here and I just now realize how far it is from Cambridge to Bangor. I decide not to go via London but via Birmingham, which will take slightly longer, but I feel it would be a bit of an overkill to go through London yet again. So I hope I get the changes right and be in Bangor around eleven.
For Cambridge: I had a wonderful afternoon here. And at least I got the impression that it’s vastly different from Oxford. That may be due to a lot of factors: Weather, being here on a weekday, the station being further away from the city center, today being my last day on the trip… lots of things. But I think that I might’ve liked Cambridge even more than my poetry city Oxford. It fits. It’s not as posh. But still posh. In a grumpy kinda way… I can’t explain it any better. So Cambridge wins. For now.
14/06/2011
And now I am finally going to see it on my way home: Wolverhampton. The place that was only second choice on my Erasmus application. I’m going through it on my way to Crewe. It is nice to take a new route home, as it has been nice to see so many new places on this goodbye-tour. It leaves me hungry for more. I haven’t made it to some places, others I want to visit again – I brush my fingertips over golden landscapes and promise to come back. For Leeds and the South. And everything.
14/06/2011
Wolverhampton. What I see from the train is sad, grey, industrial, dead. With potential though. Maybe it is like Dessau. Maybe underneath the vastness there’s the most colourful life, the most authentic music, the rawest experience ever made. Now I’m curious. I will come back to this one day. But for now it is: Straight on to the sea!
14/06/2011
Home. I’m going home.
14/06/2011
14/06/2011
It is 6 o’ clock, I am in Leuchars, on a trail between the fields there’s a first runner with a dog and I’m waiting for the train to head back to the south. In the sunshine the landscape looks even more beautiful then when I saw it first and I would love to go walking here once. The air is crisp and clean and it’s already starting to warm up for the day.
18 h left on the ticket. I’m looking forward to a bed, a shower, Cambridge. This couldn’t possibly get any better.
14/06/2011
Oh, but it can obviously. I’m on the train along the east coast just passing through Alnmouth and everything screams: “Build a house here, stay here, make me your home!”, and I want to. Even more so because it already looks like home, if it weren’t for the sea. I want to go home. In this very moment. Like home-home. To my grandmother’s village, to my best friend’s house, to the summers I loved so much I decided they should never end. And they didn’t. And so I decide that this should never end: The perception of every step as part of a journey, the eyes open wide for every station on the way, travelling only with hand-luggage. It shall never end.
14/06/2011
First impressions of Cambridge: It ha definitely the weather on its side. It has the better postcards though the stunning architecture is not as concentrated as in Oxford. Generally it feels bigger and wider. I sit down on the first pasture I see and pretend to be a student here. It works. For me.
14/06/2011
“You have to be home before midnight!” – I’m feeling a little like Cinderella here and I just now realize how far it is from Cambridge to Bangor. I decide not to go via London but via Birmingham, which will take slightly longer, but I feel it would be a bit of an overkill to go through London yet again. So I hope I get the changes right and be in Bangor around eleven.
For Cambridge: I had a wonderful afternoon here. And at least I got the impression that it’s vastly different from Oxford. That may be due to a lot of factors: Weather, being here on a weekday, the station being further away from the city center, today being my last day on the trip… lots of things. But I think that I might’ve liked Cambridge even more than my poetry city Oxford. It fits. It’s not as posh. But still posh. In a grumpy kinda way… I can’t explain it any better. So Cambridge wins. For now.
14/06/2011
And now I am finally going to see it on my way home: Wolverhampton. The place that was only second choice on my Erasmus application. I’m going through it on my way to Crewe. It is nice to take a new route home, as it has been nice to see so many new places on this goodbye-tour. It leaves me hungry for more. I haven’t made it to some places, others I want to visit again – I brush my fingertips over golden landscapes and promise to come back. For Leeds and the South. And everything.
14/06/2011
Wolverhampton. What I see from the train is sad, grey, industrial, dead. With potential though. Maybe it is like Dessau. Maybe underneath the vastness there’s the most colourful life, the most authentic music, the rawest experience ever made. Now I’m curious. I will come back to this one day. But for now it is: Straight on to the sea!
14/06/2011
Home. I’m going home.
14/06/2011
Day 6 - Plymouth, Birmingham
Probably the best thing about Plymouth is the seas. The natural harbour and the ocean spray all over the city and somewhere behind the horizon is France. A ferry brings you there for 80 quid – I know that because Laura from Sweden took a ferry last night. She’s doing a kind of interrail for 7 weeks. I can hardly imagine that, instantly want to do it myself and only reluctantly remember that 7 weeks travelling must feel like an eternity and I’m not sure if I can do it.
In the business of Monday morning Plymouth looks way more alive than last night and especially the old port area is really pretty. It is not hard to imagine that many historical discoveries started here. Even the sky is making an effort and turning bright blue again. The plan for today is vague. I decide to board a train in the direction of Glasgow and get off somewhere.
13/06/2011
Happyhappyhappy. Last night on the tracks lies before me. Today I was in Birmingham, just wandering through Chinatown, sitting in the sun, looking at the cathedral and going online in Starbuck’s. I saw an amazing music store as well and was close to leaving a fortune there. But then I didn’t. My backpack is heavy enough as it is. As the Caledonian Sleeper seems to be the only night train offering seats as well as beds, I will take it again tonight, but only go to Leuchars and then back south to Cambridge. I would have liked to try the Rivera Sleeper from the South up to London but this one seems to offer beds only. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I have to be in Bangor by midnight and will crisscross through England before that – I’m thinking Cambridge, Leeds, York, maybe Nottingham – I will go somewhere.
Tonight everything is love from the sheep on the meadow to the boats on the sea. Everything is love. I’m at this point, this certain point you reach while travelling – last time it was in Dublin - : This is the life and I am lucky to be here.
13/06/2011
In the business of Monday morning Plymouth looks way more alive than last night and especially the old port area is really pretty. It is not hard to imagine that many historical discoveries started here. Even the sky is making an effort and turning bright blue again. The plan for today is vague. I decide to board a train in the direction of Glasgow and get off somewhere.
13/06/2011
Happyhappyhappy. Last night on the tracks lies before me. Today I was in Birmingham, just wandering through Chinatown, sitting in the sun, looking at the cathedral and going online in Starbuck’s. I saw an amazing music store as well and was close to leaving a fortune there. But then I didn’t. My backpack is heavy enough as it is. As the Caledonian Sleeper seems to be the only night train offering seats as well as beds, I will take it again tonight, but only go to Leuchars and then back south to Cambridge. I would have liked to try the Rivera Sleeper from the South up to London but this one seems to offer beds only. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I have to be in Bangor by midnight and will crisscross through England before that – I’m thinking Cambridge, Leeds, York, maybe Nottingham – I will go somewhere.
Tonight everything is love from the sheep on the meadow to the boats on the sea. Everything is love. I’m at this point, this certain point you reach while travelling – last time it was in Dublin - : This is the life and I am lucky to be here.
13/06/2011
20110613
Day 5 - Oxford, Plymouth
I celebrate my love for you
As it cuts right down to the bone
My blood is my pride
I worship you and thank you
For conquering me like this
I’m your fool
And I’m not ashamed of it
12/06/2011
Oxford. Though I’ve been told that Oxford would be posh, I somehow didn’t expect this. But it is a university city through and through – says I and can’t really explain what I mean by it. It reminded me of Münster. But it’s probably totally different. A stunning city – if at times snobbish – that does poetry. While the “city of learning” got soaked in rain today, the streets were filled with words of Carol Ann Duffy and Gwyneth Lewis and I bought more books than I should carry. I couldn’t resist though. Every word seemed to fit.
The buildings, streets, bikes, colleges – everything was secondary to this great relief: poetry!
I’m already excited about going to Cambridge and comparing it to Oxford. Maybe Cambridge is a little less tourist-y? We’ll see. I’m now on a train to Plymouth but will probably hop off in Exeter to take a look around there. I put the philosophy book aside for now and read Carol Ann Duffy’s “Rapture” – a work of poetry I can highly recommend and will read from cover to cover.
12/06/2011
‘cause if you read this book and nod all the way through, if you love like this, it is right and it should be enough. Sometimes it isn’t though. But I hope you’ll find this. You’re cut out for it.
12/06/2011
I just realized: I have less than 2 weeks left in the UK. It’s surreal. Even though almost all of the others are already home – it does feel strange to leave this country for good. It is my country now. I claim it. Its grassy hills, its stony coast, small cottages and lovely people now constitute my home as well.
12/06/2011
After months spent in North Wales one things becomes more apparent with every mile I travel: I am falling for South England. It has me thinking of Denmark and summer holidays, back when I was young and silly (only silly now ;)). It makes me miss home. Home being Germany, not necessarily Saxony-Anhalt, more Brandenburg really, with its fields and small rivers and forests.
And the rain. The rain is our coat. It’s draped over our summer burns like a blanket and we lie on the ground staring up in disbelief, while faint music still proclaims what we can feel a little less now: We are flames. Burning.
12/06/2011
Plymouth has the most pleasant rain ever. It is the heaviest drizzle I’ve ever seen and it soaks everything through and through. The hostel is occupied by Germans and Austrians – mostly older people who wander along the coast. I’m not really sure what Plymouth has to offer. On a rainy Sunday afternoon like this, it lies dead and tired on the coast. On big screens they show Formula 1, but nobody is watching, they are all busy with the rainy Sunday afternoon routine: staying in, lazing around, watching TV, making love.
I like it here. I like everything today.
12/06/2011
As it cuts right down to the bone
My blood is my pride
I worship you and thank you
For conquering me like this
I’m your fool
And I’m not ashamed of it
12/06/2011
Oxford. Though I’ve been told that Oxford would be posh, I somehow didn’t expect this. But it is a university city through and through – says I and can’t really explain what I mean by it. It reminded me of Münster. But it’s probably totally different. A stunning city – if at times snobbish – that does poetry. While the “city of learning” got soaked in rain today, the streets were filled with words of Carol Ann Duffy and Gwyneth Lewis and I bought more books than I should carry. I couldn’t resist though. Every word seemed to fit.
The buildings, streets, bikes, colleges – everything was secondary to this great relief: poetry!
I’m already excited about going to Cambridge and comparing it to Oxford. Maybe Cambridge is a little less tourist-y? We’ll see. I’m now on a train to Plymouth but will probably hop off in Exeter to take a look around there. I put the philosophy book aside for now and read Carol Ann Duffy’s “Rapture” – a work of poetry I can highly recommend and will read from cover to cover.
12/06/2011
‘cause if you read this book and nod all the way through, if you love like this, it is right and it should be enough. Sometimes it isn’t though. But I hope you’ll find this. You’re cut out for it.
12/06/2011
I just realized: I have less than 2 weeks left in the UK. It’s surreal. Even though almost all of the others are already home – it does feel strange to leave this country for good. It is my country now. I claim it. Its grassy hills, its stony coast, small cottages and lovely people now constitute my home as well.
12/06/2011
After months spent in North Wales one things becomes more apparent with every mile I travel: I am falling for South England. It has me thinking of Denmark and summer holidays, back when I was young and silly (only silly now ;)). It makes me miss home. Home being Germany, not necessarily Saxony-Anhalt, more Brandenburg really, with its fields and small rivers and forests.
And the rain. The rain is our coat. It’s draped over our summer burns like a blanket and we lie on the ground staring up in disbelief, while faint music still proclaims what we can feel a little less now: We are flames. Burning.
12/06/2011
Plymouth has the most pleasant rain ever. It is the heaviest drizzle I’ve ever seen and it soaks everything through and through. The hostel is occupied by Germans and Austrians – mostly older people who wander along the coast. I’m not really sure what Plymouth has to offer. On a rainy Sunday afternoon like this, it lies dead and tired on the coast. On big screens they show Formula 1, but nobody is watching, they are all busy with the rainy Sunday afternoon routine: staying in, lazing around, watching TV, making love.
I like it here. I like everything today.
12/06/2011
20110611
Day 4 - Aberdeen, York, Oxford
It is nearly 6 o’ clock, I just stowed away my sleeping bag and we are at Leuchards. I have absolutely no idea where that is but the countryside is stunning and the weather looks promising. Along the tracks there are deer and bunnies and Scotland in its morning glory is simply gorgeous.
Apart from that I travel with strange people: Grown women who suck their thumbs while staring out the window, business men reading the latest Spiderman comic and four generations of an Asian family in different states of distress.
I enjoy train hopping a lot and I am glad to have chosen this way of travelling.
11/06/2011
Aberdeen is a little bland after Brighton and it is so far off that I stay there only for 3 hours before heading to York in order to make it to Oxford at some point tonight. Nevertheless, it was good to come here for the great landscape and the journey on the Caledonian Sleeper alone. I’d never have thought I would enjoy looking out of train windows so much.
11/06/2011
11/06/2011
Much of the train route runs along the coast and as we have wet weather today the view is somewhat alien: The sky is hanging low and very white, while the sea lies undisturbed and black beneath it. More than anything else I am observing and absorbing everything I come across.
11/06/2011
Vera says I might be moving too fast. Only I am not. I’m just moving fast enough to not think. ‘cause this is somehow the main aim of this trip: To fight this losing battle alone, to look out the windows and at different cities and never back, because I might get sick; to cover as much ground as possible, so the days can feel like weeks, because I need weeks off. What I am undertaking here is no tourist trip, no sightseeing tour – it is an elaborate distraction, a huge white noise to drown out everything else.
11/06/2011
I have the feeling I should take a closer look at Newcastle. Out of the train it looks like a disturbingly ugly hotchpotch of different architectural styles: really modern, really old, flashy, dirty, loads of glass, red brick buildings, little towers and arches, big H-Blocks, factories that are withering away and overgrown parks – could be a city for me.
11/06/2011
One of the most fascinating things of travelling alone are the states of frustration and near-depression one goes through and how one doesn’t give in. In this very moment I only want to catch the next train to Bangor, fall into my bed and stay there until the world goes away. I don’t though. I convince myself that whatever comes next on the trip is the better alternative and I remain close to the east coast, so the distance to Bangor doesn’t get too small.
It’s not a new phenomenon, I felt like this before, not only on solitary trips. But it’s more intense then, because no one can push you but yourself. So I keep pushing, creating a dark and unwelcoming picture of Bangor in my head. Today is half-time and North Wales will have to wait until I’m done with what I try not to do: processing.
11/06/2011
And then – finally – York! The sunshine is back and the city is just insane. The great limestone Minster, the city walls, the theatre – this is way better than lying in my bed in Bangor. While I am looking at a statue of Constantine a man plays “Don’t cry for me Argentina” on his Zither, people sing along, one couple starts dancing – I don’t know how they do it – being so amazing on a black day like this.
The time I have in York is not really plenty, but I don’t have to rush either and so I take my time to stroll through the Museum Gardens, buy Belgian Waffles on the market and listen to two guitar players for a while. This is so different to Aberdeen with its port and grey brick buildings. Around the ruins in the Museum Gardens grows Lavender and along the river stand willows – all is young and green and more spring-like than anything else. It’s good that I didn’t spontaneously hop off in Newcastle, ‘cause I think it wouldn’t have made me as happy as this. This being blue skies and squirrels and music. That’s what I meant when I talked about my fascination with the downtimes of travelling: You turn ‘round the corner and suddenly you don’t want to go home anymore. You want to walk on. And see more.
11/06/2011
Day 3 Bath, Brighton, London and up north
This morning after packing our stuff, Laura and I went to the Abbey which is a beautiful limestone building with great windows and staff that is a little over-enthusiastic about the multilingual brochures. Another remarkable thing about Bath is the great diversity of street musicians: today there was a woman singing Italian opera in front of the Roman Baths. And although “Nessun Dorma”is not really a morning song, it fitted the setting perfectly. After the Abbey Laura and I went looking for an internet café because the connection in the hostel was so crappy. Laura had to check te address of her hostel and print some ticket confirmation and I checked facebook and the various blogs. On the continent things aren’t as bright and shiny as here it seems…
I’m on the train to Brighton now and will probably spend tonight on a train to Aberdeen.
10/06/2011
Brighton is love! Due to some train problems I have only a few hours in Brighton, but its bright blue sky and the shiny, happy people there conquer my heart immediately. The beautiful architecture, the bohemian aura and the indie music even in the supermarkets convinces me. This is a place to fall in love with and this rush of euphoria saves me for today. May things on the continent be as the are – Brighton is love.
10/06/2011
Now, now! I boarded the train in Brighton at 1849 and my train from London to Aberdeen should go at 2115 – plenty of time it seems, but little did I know that it virtually takes ages to get from London Victoria Station to London Euston! I was close to hysteria in the London Overground, then ran from one platform to another – now it’s 2132 and we’re still in Euston. But I found my seat – comfy – and had the dinner I bought in Brighton, tasting of sapphire skies. I am looking forward to this night on the train. Another adventure.
10/06/2011
I’m on the train to Brighton now and will probably spend tonight on a train to Aberdeen.
10/06/2011
Brighton is love! Due to some train problems I have only a few hours in Brighton, but its bright blue sky and the shiny, happy people there conquer my heart immediately. The beautiful architecture, the bohemian aura and the indie music even in the supermarkets convinces me. This is a place to fall in love with and this rush of euphoria saves me for today. May things on the continent be as the are – Brighton is love.
10/06/2011
Now, now! I boarded the train in Brighton at 1849 and my train from London to Aberdeen should go at 2115 – plenty of time it seems, but little did I know that it virtually takes ages to get from London Victoria Station to London Euston! I was close to hysteria in the London Overground, then ran from one platform to another – now it’s 2132 and we’re still in Euston. But I found my seat – comfy – and had the dinner I bought in Brighton, tasting of sapphire skies. I am looking forward to this night on the train. Another adventure.
10/06/2011
Day 2 Bristol, Bath
Hostel in Cardiff was alright with the typical high ratio of Germans. I didn’t really get to know anyone though as I went to bed quite early – I was simply knackered.
Funny dialogue in the kitchen this morning: “Yeah well, I’ve been up to Snowdon.” – “Wow, how many days did it take you?” – that’s the German thing: If you write “highest mountain”(in Wales) they expect an Everest-like expedition.
Today Bristol. I took First Great Western trains to get here and thought I must somehow ended up in the first class: TV! Internet! Comfy seats! I’ll try to go to Brighton with them as well.
I’m now sitting on the city promenade trying to figure out where to go to cover as much street art as possible. I’ve already seen a few graffitis and walked through pink paint. I think I really like Bristol – but that was to be expected: Hannover is its twin city!
9/6/2011
Now Bath. I met up with Jesus, Chris and Laura for Lunch and then went to the Royal Crescent to have a look at a Georgian house from the inside. Bath itself is breathtakingly beautiful: Most of the buildings are made from Limestone which gives the city a very bright, posh look. It was a really nice day and it was great to meet the others again.
…At the moment I’m pretty annoyed with the WiFi here – I desperately want to look something up!
9/6/2011
And suddenly these international minutes are good for something. Better than good. Really, really good.
9/6/2011
Funny dialogue in the kitchen this morning: “Yeah well, I’ve been up to Snowdon.” – “Wow, how many days did it take you?” – that’s the German thing: If you write “highest mountain”(in Wales) they expect an Everest-like expedition.
Today Bristol. I took First Great Western trains to get here and thought I must somehow ended up in the first class: TV! Internet! Comfy seats! I’ll try to go to Brighton with them as well.
I’m now sitting on the city promenade trying to figure out where to go to cover as much street art as possible. I’ve already seen a few graffitis and walked through pink paint. I think I really like Bristol – but that was to be expected: Hannover is its twin city!
9/6/2011
Now Bath. I met up with Jesus, Chris and Laura for Lunch and then went to the Royal Crescent to have a look at a Georgian house from the inside. Bath itself is breathtakingly beautiful: Most of the buildings are made from Limestone which gives the city a very bright, posh look. It was a really nice day and it was great to meet the others again.
…At the moment I’m pretty annoyed with the WiFi here – I desperately want to look something up!
9/6/2011
And suddenly these international minutes are good for something. Better than good. Really, really good.
9/6/2011
20110608
Spontaneity is what it takes... Day one - Cardiff
I know that I had planned a walking trip - and maybe that's still going to happen. But for now I spend a week in British trains, trying to cover as much ground as possible. I hope this will help to get a greater picture of the Isles and at the same time keep the emotional turmoil at bay. Bangor is officially over and the next weeks here only the transition before I have to head back to my other life.
This will be my travel journal as usual. Sometimes updated in real time, but I foresee that this will not always be the case. Let's start:
Day one
Today the weather outside pretty much matches the weather inside.
I got up at 5 today while outside stormy grey skies sang about apocalyptic battles and approaching last times. When Vera and I got onto the train the sun broke through and at least the sky left of the train was blue. After I changed in Crewe I tried to catch some sleep on the train and awoke to a brillant blue hanging above Newport, only to arrive in Cardiff with a heavy shower. When I met Laura for a coffee a few minutes later the sun was shining again and it wasn't 'til Laura left me that the rain returned. Since then it's been changing constantly between sun and rain.
And that's just how I feel. I am excited to be in Cardiff especially after I read so much literature that was written and/or set here in the last semester. But every now and then my chest tightens when it hits me that this semester is over, that it's time to go home soon. My heart is breaking a little bit every time I think about it. I've lost my heart, I found a home, I opened my eyes wider, I danced in the rain, walked up an down steep hills and found my own way between shortcuts and road maps.
I'm going to celebrate all the greatness I experienced in the next few days.
'cause for me it isn't over.
8/6/2011
"In these stones horizons sing"
This is my mantra while I'm strolling through Cardiff. The tightness in my chest now feels more as if I'm making Carpaccio out of my heart - I feel like staying in my room for a week crying and listening to sad songs would be the right thing to do. And I am glad that I can't do that, so glad I have to keep moving, because it makes it a little easier to ignore the pain long enough to breathe.
So I went to Cardiff Bay to finally see Gwyneth Lewis's poem on the Millenium Centre with my own eyes. Her poetry still gets me even after going over it ad nauseam for my essay on her. I would like to get one of her books, so I can leaf through it on the train. I'll have to look out for a book store later.
8/6/2011
I hope, I just so hope that today was the hardest day. I'm not sure I can take another one as intense as this one.
This will be my travel journal as usual. Sometimes updated in real time, but I foresee that this will not always be the case. Let's start:
Day one
Today the weather outside pretty much matches the weather inside.
I got up at 5 today while outside stormy grey skies sang about apocalyptic battles and approaching last times. When Vera and I got onto the train the sun broke through and at least the sky left of the train was blue. After I changed in Crewe I tried to catch some sleep on the train and awoke to a brillant blue hanging above Newport, only to arrive in Cardiff with a heavy shower. When I met Laura for a coffee a few minutes later the sun was shining again and it wasn't 'til Laura left me that the rain returned. Since then it's been changing constantly between sun and rain.
And that's just how I feel. I am excited to be in Cardiff especially after I read so much literature that was written and/or set here in the last semester. But every now and then my chest tightens when it hits me that this semester is over, that it's time to go home soon. My heart is breaking a little bit every time I think about it. I've lost my heart, I found a home, I opened my eyes wider, I danced in the rain, walked up an down steep hills and found my own way between shortcuts and road maps.
I'm going to celebrate all the greatness I experienced in the next few days.
'cause for me it isn't over.
8/6/2011
"In these stones horizons sing"
This is my mantra while I'm strolling through Cardiff. The tightness in my chest now feels more as if I'm making Carpaccio out of my heart - I feel like staying in my room for a week crying and listening to sad songs would be the right thing to do. And I am glad that I can't do that, so glad I have to keep moving, because it makes it a little easier to ignore the pain long enough to breathe.
So I went to Cardiff Bay to finally see Gwyneth Lewis's poem on the Millenium Centre with my own eyes. Her poetry still gets me even after going over it ad nauseam for my essay on her. I would like to get one of her books, so I can leaf through it on the train. I'll have to look out for a book store later.
8/6/2011
I hope, I just so hope that today was the hardest day. I'm not sure I can take another one as intense as this one.
20110606
Born to travel - last weeks in the UK
I've been planning for a while now to spend my last weeks in the UK travelling. Most of the Erasmus-pe0ple have already left Bangor or will do so within the next week.
While I planned to walk the Cambrian Way from Llandovery to Cardiff, the train connection between Bangor and Llandovery goes via Newport, which is virtually next to Cardiff - so I will probably walk from Cardiff to Llandovery and will visit some other places beforehand. My ex tempore journey plan is as follows:
Bath
Bristol
Cardiff
Cardiff - Machen
Machen - Pontypool
Pontypool - Abergavenny
Abergavenny - Capel-y-ffin
Capel-y-ffin - Crickhowell
Crickhowell - Storey Arms
Storey Arms - Llandovery
Aberystwyth
I have to be back in Bangor by the 19th(evening) or 20th(morning) so I can still wash and pack my clothes before leave for London, where my train goes. That leaves the 8th or the 9th as a possible start date for the trip.
Abonnieren
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