Thursday, March 02, 2006



On a Trip to London
« How to feel a stranger in your own city? »

I was on my way again. I had arrived two days before from Andalucia and I could still feel the Spanish sun and the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca singing on my mind. This time I was going Northbound, to the « Great London » of Great Britain. Leaving my friends in Spain to meet my lover in England. I was sitting in the Eurostar enjoying the comfort of the business class like a child would be discovering a brand new game. I closed my eyes and the train was leaving slowly, pictures of the ugly northern Paris suburbs fading away. I grabbed a magazine, browsing the pages but my mind was somewhere else.
My lover and I had known each other for about three months. We had seen each other many times in Paris and we had always had a lovely time. However, I always found it confusing to feel like a stranger in my own city, sleeping in a hotel by the Eiffel Tower and speaking a foreign language in my homeland. Perhaps would I feel more comfortable there? I was about to enter his universe, or whatever he was ready to show me. I was going to open a new door and I just didn't know which one yet. I was wondering then if he was looking forward
to seeing me...


We were now passing under the sea and I was smiling. "There is always an end to a tunnel ", I thought. A French couple was talking besides me and I was not really listening to their conversation but the man suddenly said « les tunnels de nos jours.. ». Then I thought did he mean « tunnels nowadays »....or « the tunnels of our days »....? » I just didn't have a clue but I thought it was pretty and I would remember that. In front of me was an old man with a greyish beard and between two seats he kept on smiling at me. Any time he got the chance to catch my eyes, he would smile, his lips closed...

We were now out of the tunnel and here was a new country: England. There were teardrops on the window, maybe from a recent English rain on that train's last trip. I thought England is a country that cries a lot...
Finally arriving in London with an hour delay, my lover was there waiting for me .My heart was beating fast and I could feel the most pleasant feeling in the world: feeling at home in a strange land ....
July,2005.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

why don t you try to feel at home abroad, instant of feeling always a foreign person at home?
you might try.........
sis
it could be an issue, couldn t it?

cendrynne said...

It is indeed an essential question that I am trying to understand at the moment... Maybe one day I 'll manage to find my own place in this world... thanks for your comment sis!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Everything in London seems to be clustered: All the antique bookshops are on the same street. All companies that make CG effects for movies are within few blocks of each other. All rich people riding on a Limousine London vehicles. The big web companies (except for Google, who have moved into a 'palace' near Victoria station) and web ad agencies are also within a small radius of each other.
I love being in London for a holiday as the hustle-bustle with the lively atmosphere makes this place exciting. I believe this place is a must-visit destination in any traveller's hot list.
I love shopping over here as it is one of the most fashionable cities in the world and you have access to every big fashion brand, especially shoes as I love to have a collection of shoes. In fact, I do most of my overseas shopping in London.