A whizz round Britain for a few wonderful days

---

After the weekend in Barcelona, my thoughts were mostly occupied with going back to the UK for a few days, so apart from getting angry at some of my classes for the incredibly rubbish teaching, the week was mostly occupied by printing off boarding passes, frogbus reservations and wandering around town in search of a decent overnight hand-luggage-sized bag, which I found in the end, after some hours of wandering.

I had an early start on Saturday; up at 5:30 to get the 6:30 bus to Girona airport. I whiled away a few hours there before boarding on time and without too much hassle (the only annoyance being the excruciating music Ryanair insist on playing as everyone boards). Just two and a half hours later, we landed at East Mids airport, and I was back in Britain! I rushed out of the airport, pausing only long enough to withdraw some pounds sterling and grab a bottle of water. I waited just a couple of minutes for a bus to Derby station, and spent the journey grinning inanely out of the window (probably scaring the other passengers) as we passed rolling hills dotted with sheep, pubs, and trees resplendent in their autumnal colours. England suddenly seemed so rich to me, so beautiful, and home. At Derby, I waited impatiently to buy a ticket, all too aware that the train was about to depart. I made it onto the train just in time, and was soon speeding towards Sheffield.

My friends Vicky and Katie met me at the station and I spent the brief car journey back to their house exclaiming at this and that: "OOh look, it's the Arts Tower!" I cried, as if it would have disappeared in my absence. Back at their house, I met all their new housemates, and was soon preparing food for the party tea we were having for Katie that evening, as she would be turning 21 the next day. We were all chattering away, and it was almost as if I'd never left Sheffield. Liz arrived, who I'd lived with last year, along with Vicky and Katie, and we dug into the food, which was enough to feed an army. Once we were all unable to eat a single thing more, we disappeared into bedrooms to get dressed up for an evening out at the union, which I miss so much! When everyone was dressed, make-uped, bejewelled and hairstyled, we set off to the union, for those of us in high-heels, it was something of a stagger down the steep, leaf-strewn streets.

In Bar One, we met up with Sophie, Megan and Tiru; I was so excited to see them that Sophie aked if I was drunk! We caught up with one another's news over the din, and before long, it was time for Poptarts, the Saturday-night club at the union with 60's, 70's and 90's music, some of it pretty cheesy, but such good fun to dance to! Katie was getting through alcopops at something of an alarming rate, but they did seem to get forced on her; it being her 21st! We left at about 2, and we sat and chatted in the kitchen before falling into bed.

We had a much-needed lie-in on Sunday, and when we did get up, we watched some weird film for a while and then Vicky and I drove across to Sophie, Megan and Tiru's, where we sat around the kitchen table drinking tea and eating revels before moving to the sofas to watch the Simpson's movie. It was a chilled-out, brilliant Sunday.

On Monday, I packed up my things, and Katie and I headed into town for a wander round the shops before I had to catch the train at 3. We met Liz and Hannah briefly for Liz to give me a present from Pisa, which she's got in the summer - a leaning mug with the tower on it! It was great to have a wander around Sheffield, but it was a real wrench to say goodbye to them - the weekend had gone far too quickly. But I was soon on the train down to Salisbury to spend a couple of days with my family.

Five hours later, I was home. It was lovely - my Dad had got the fire roaring in the living room, and a cat and kitten came to meet me; Harriet, our 14-year-old cat, and Jake, the hyper new kitten they'd just got for Rory. Jake sat on my lap during dinner, getting to know me, and spent his hyper moments skidding on brown paper across the kitchen floor and playing with fircones, then would promptly fall asleep wherever he happened to be.

On Tuesday, I had lunch out with both my grandmas and my GGAB - great great aunt Betty. We had thought that we'd have lunch in Southampton, our usual place, since one of my grandmas lives on the Isle of Wight. In the end though, we had to pick up my grandma and head back out of the city, because it was the day of the QE2's final voyage to Dubai and the world and his wife had come to see it. I was very happy though, because it meant that we ended up in a lovely country pub, the perfect end to my trip home.

I can't say that I was happy to return to Perpignan, and as Britain was lost behind us and we were flying towards France, I had to blink very hard. It's not that I don't like it here, and it was great to see all my friends here again, but I really do miss home. I was becoming a bit disenchanted with Britain before I left, and was entertaining thoughts of one day moving to France for good, but these few months and my brief return has shown me where I really want to be. I'm going to enjoy my last few weeks in Perpignan, but I can't wait to go back for Christmas. Yes it rains quite a lot, and no, it doesn't have the pavement-cafe culture or the dramatic mountain landscape, but it's beautiful in its own way, and it's home.

---

Photos

Autumn in Alderbury
The autumn view from my window

Comments

[Katy abroad]

Jake is actually a girl!
Since publishing this blog, Jake's been to the vet's, and it turns out that 'he' is actually she! But as she's got used to her name, she might just be called Jakey!