On Tuesday, some of my flatmates and I went to the theatre to see Mother Goose, a great play aimed at children mostly, but we had a lot of fun, and it was really well performed. Yesterday (Thursday) we went to the Uni Chapel to listen to the Uni World Choir sing. Kat sings in the choir ! We all expected it to be all Christmassy, but it was actually more of world music, African music and so on. Fantastic ! Tonight we’re having and “advent-evening” with biscuits, tea, mulled wine, hot cider… Tomorrow is the Christmas Concert at Exeter Cathedral, and on Sunday we have our flat-Christmas dinner. What a programme !!! We also drew names out of Secret Santa’s hat, and so we all offer a present to a secret someone else… Wondering whom i’ll get something from !!

I got some laundry done too, which was necessary, because I didn’t have any socks left. I have lots of socks.

And, really, my biggest joy of the day was dinner. Perfectly cooked salmon (even though I say it myself) with steamed slices of courgette, with a delicious home made hollandaise sauce. And, may I precise that making a hollandaise sauce considering the English pots, is a miracle. It is probably, the best food I’ve had since I’m here. And really, I was speechless. Did we lose some good taste because of the English crap or what? I’m not used to being so suprised when I cook myself.

I also shared my home made crumble with my flatmates, who, as they told me, really loved it. Tomorrow, I’ll try some quiche Lorraine baked in my cupcake baking tin (because I don’t have a quiche baking tin, see) and they will be very cute, I tell you. If they don’t burn. (You never know, it’s a gas oven.)

Tomorrow is another day. In the library !

…OH I forgot to mention the Christmas tree. We put up our Christmas tree tonight, he’s called “P the tree” (because of personal F3 reasons) and he looks a bit gay since he is wearing a bright pink feather boa, a pirate garland, a Jägermeister necklace and an axe. More to follow, and pictures will follow too when he’ll be all dressed and shiny.

But for now, just the story of a bit of a strange week-end in Swansea and Cardiff, in Wales. “Strange”, because first of all I was so sure we would leave on Friday in the evening, but we left in the morning, and secondly because we actually had no clue at all of what we could do in those cities. Unlike for Edinburgh, the lovely ESN staff didn’t really manage to make us aware of something to do, to see,… And so we were’nt sure about what the week-end was going to be like.

When we arrived in Swansea, we went to the Big Pit museum. 1) We were in fact not in Swansea. 2) Big Pit??? Er…

It was an old mine :) not too excited about it before going in because it’s part of our family history and I’ve heard about it already, you know. But we actually went IN the mine, with helmets and belts with gas masks and all, just great (and awesome for the pictures). After lunch (at 3pm, because apparently lunch wasn’t really part of the programme) we left to Swansea, another hour and a half by bus. One of the most amazing parts of the trip: we were in a hotel, and not in a hoStel. BIG difference !!!! Two per room, a huge double bed with such a comfortable matress, our own bathroom, with a BATH, really clean… We went for a walk through the city before heading for dinner because we wouldn’t be long in Swansea, which apparently was not the best idea we’ve ever had because we had some trouble finding something proper to eat afterwards. But in the mean time, we enjoyed a christmas market (really american style) with roast chestnuts and glühwein. Yes, it is christmas in Wales already. We also had a round on the giant wheel, which was the first time of Felix’ life, and he was really excited about it. Then, we had dinner in a chinese buffet, and without a doubt, NEVER try a chinese buffet in Great Britain, because it is not chinese although it looks like it. They must be real artists trying to make food look really similar to what it’s supposed to be, but with a disgusting taste. Difficult to party with that kind of food in your stomach, but in the end, we always manage you know. Swansea is good for parties, but drunk Welsh people tend to be quite agressive and irritating. I prefer drunk English people.

In the morning, before moving to Cardiff, we had an alternative breakfast (it was not included in the hotel’s price… !) We bought croissants, chocolate twists, some fruit juice in Tesco, and ate on the beach :) Then, Cardiff. The hostel was a dissapointment compared to the night before, although it wouldn’t have been if we had been to Cardiff first and then to Swansea. I loved the living room! It was a backpackers hostel, so make your own breakfast in the kitchen, help yourself with some newspapers, tv, internet, quite cosy. There was a rugby game between Wales and Argentina which we really wanted to see, and being sure we wouldn’t enter the stadium, we planned to watch the game on a screen  in some average pub…until Lena (my flatmate) told Felix and me they were in the stadium. We asked some security guys who told us the game already started and so we shouldn’t spend more than 10 or 15£ for a ticket. When some guy who was selling tickets asked 40£ for each, we definitely started negociating, and finally got them for 10£ each, before realising they were actually worth 50£ each. Really happy, we ran to the stadium and ran up the stairs to finally WAAAAAA enter the huge millenium stadium !! I was so amazed ! We saw some huge goals from Wales, and even if we were actually supporting Argentina more than Wales, they really deserved to win because they play incredibly well !! (Not the same as a university game…)

Happy to have managed to enter the stadium and see the game, we hanged around for a bit in the city center and had a good dinner in an Italian restaurant, which we really needed after the chinese buffet. Partying afterwards was real fun, even better than Swansea actually. Sunday, we got up early to have a bit of time to see more of the city, and so we visited the national gallery (contains some amazing paintings), I wandered around to the university and through the Bute parc behind the castle while the others visited the castle, and then Lena, Kat and me took a 40 min walk to the Cardiff Bay, where we didn’t stay long (just for lunch) because it was sooooooo cold. We took the bus to come back :)

And then, we drove back home. Where it is still warmer than anywhere we’ve been since we’re here. I definitely have to find out why that is, because it is really surprising. I read in the belgian newspapers that parcs are closed in Brussels because of the wind… well we have some wind here too actually, but as Jasper (flatmate) says: “At least, the wind is useful to blow the clouds away” and give us some sun, sometimes.

In the end, it was a tiring week-end. Because we didn’t get much sleep, because we did so much on the same day, and because it is REALLY difficult to conciliate everyone’s expectations and desires during 3 days. Solitude sometimes is a real luxury.

I remembered I’d love to go (back) to Bath, and Sara wanting to go there as well, we changed our minds from Newquay to Bath. Bit of an expensive journey, 27£ for a return ticket. At least it’s only 1h30 away from Exeter. Our friend travelguide showed us some nice things to do, and so we did follow his advice, since he turned out to be right most of the time concerning touristic activities. We visited Abbey Church, the Roman Baths, ate our picnic in a lovely parc and then went through the city (all the Mater Dei memories coming back…), popped in at Jane Austen’s centre and ended around the Circus and the Royal Crescent. Since we had some time left before taking the train back home, we enjoyed a hot chocolate and some flapjack, caramel shortread, etc in the Boston Tea Party, which they also have in Exeter.

Without a doubt, and so does the travelguide say, Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in England! (and if you want some good company to visit it, take Sara with you !)

I bought baby lotion and kids shower gel, and also calamine lotion which smells like paint and looks like it too. I cannot take hot showers because then I kind of burn myself, so I take them cold. (And England, there is no in between, it’s either really hot, or really cold). I also take some medication, and I bought blue ice for the crisis moments where I really have to force myself not to scream really hard because it hurts so much. And I changed my deodorant too. I cannot bear jeans but I wear them from time to time to come out of my flat, and otherwise i wear loose jogging trousers or shorts, and really large t-shirts. And I’m bare foot: socks make me scratch more.

I wanted to buy some neutral pH soap in the pharmacy, but the woman didn’t know what that was. Absurd. When I explained it however, she kind of remembered what it was, and said “Oh neutral, that’s 5!” No. It’s seven. This reinforces my opinion about English medicine… BUT I really love the nurse I saw on Tuesday though, she gave me the right medication! (I know they’re right, I checked with Steph, who works in a pharmacy, IN BELGIUM.)

And I love my flatmates too. You guys are so worried about me and try to distract me so that I wouldn’t scratch, you’re all so cute. And you’re all asking if you can get me something, you give me lotion and hand cream, dude, I love the person who all put us together in this flat !!!

For a while, we were all wondering what we would be doing on Halloween night, untill Sara said “let’s have a dinner and a party in our flat” and we all agreed. So that same night, Sara and I sent the invite to all our friends, and on Saturday, Sara, (He)lena and I went foodshopping. We also bought decoration, plates, cardboard glasses, napkins, balloons, and our clothes for our dressing up. We had 14 bags, for three girls. We took a cab to come home and called Brittny for help to take everything in the flat. By then, it was 2 o’clock. We spent the afternoon preparing food, cleaning the flat, decorating the flat, and finally took care of ourselves; Sara as herself but dead, me as a witch, Helena as a cat, Lena as a devil, Kat as a really cute garbage monster, etc.

People started to come and we started having fun, and then more people came, and it was AWESOME. We had never seen so many people in our kitchen (and they were not only in the kitchen, but also in the hallway, in the rooms,…)

This was my best Halloween ever!

So. Edinburgh! We left on thursday 22nd Octobre in the late night, for a bustrip of 9 hours, and finally arrived in Edinburgh in the morning, around 10. We thought we would have breakfast, but it turned out that we had to find something out ourselves, so we went up the street and had a fake English breakfast, which was quite okay. We were all really tired because I admit, sleeping in a bus isn’t that comfortable. But then again we would only spend 3 days in Scotland, so no sleeping time. We wandered around, visited some interesting stuff, took a lot of pictures, and in the evening when it came to choosing a restaurant, we didn’t all agree. Some of us wanted to try out the typical Scottish dish: haggis. I said no. I might be really open minded when it comes to food, but “traditional” in England, Scotland or Ireland is NO to me. So we went in another restaurant, where the food was a real DELIGHT, and we were all so happy we didn’t join the others to try weird food.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Edinburgh Dungeons, thinking that might be something about Scottish history or something, and it turned out to be a spooky attraction; which turned out to be less spooky than it pretends to be. Not a great succes. Better, was the ghost tour in the UNDERGROUNDS of Edinburgh ! Not in that it was scary, but in that undergrounds are cool :) The most succesful thing we did, really, was the deep fried mars bar. You know Mars, the candy bar? They put it in some kind of doe, and fry it. Actually, it’s not bad. And it’s probably not that healthy either. So in the end I did try a typical Scottish dish ! On the same day, we also went to Hard Rock Café, and spent some time on Princes Street, main shopping street in Edinburgh, which was less beautiful than last year, because of the works they’re having on it. We wandered around at the end of the day, when Edinburgh was becoming dark and enlightened, very beautiful, and some neighbourhood actually looked like the Sablon in Brussels :) That night we ate in a REAL typical Italian restaurant (with the REAL Italian father who takes care of his guests) it was so delicious !!!

On Sunday morning, Kat and I had decided to climb up Arthur’s Seat, and in the end, when we left, we had 10 people with us, who were all really enthusiastic about it. No one was worried about the fact that I said it could become a not so easy climb, until we arrived at the really high climb. “Guys, do you want to take the easy way, and go round, or do you want to take this one and go straight up?” They all wanted to go straight up, challenging themselves, and we went up all together in such a great atmosphere. When we arrived on top, we had to take care not to fly away because really, the wind was fearce and strong. We went down just before it started raining too hard, had a look at the parliament, went for a coffee in Starbucks and then went on to visit the castle. Quite a busy day ! Felix and I wanted to visit the whisky distillery, but since the bus was leaving really early to go back to Exeter, we didn’t have enough time to do so. At least now we have a reason to go back.

Going out in Edinburgh wasn’t really on the programme; we did, but not that much, because we were all so tired. The bustrip and then the noisy bedrooms in the hostel didn’t really help. On the way back home, Felix and I bought some sushi! Great thing to do, and tastes much better than a dodgy Burger King hamburger.

This trip was great fun, I met so many nice people! A big part of them were French, and since I spent a lot of time speaking with Eva, I talked French a lot that week-end. Good thing :) The ESN staff are also great, I’m really in for more with these people. On the programme: Ottery St Mary for Guy Fawkes and then in three weeks, Cardiff and Swansea !!!

We haven’t been going out for a while now, some of us being ill, others having lots of work to do, and so I’m impatient to have a party soon. And I’m waiting for some Belgian people to come over too !!! (wink wink)