A year of adventures has included watching a Therapy? 30th Anniversay gig (for the release of Troublegum) with our kid, which was ace, and two weeks I’m Ljubljana and Zagreb, entirely by train.

Super-short review: both are a definite recommend.

I’ve also been to Arles, Avignon and Heidelberg in a one week train extravaganza with Mum and Freya, a real treat. It was a cause for reflection and the opportunity to see old friends through new eyes.

This was my sixth viit to Arles, a place that is so fascinating to me for its history, its ups and downs as modern city, and the ability to follow so closely in van Gogh’s footprints. The Frank Gehry Tower is finished, as is the surrounding park and exhibition space in the old railway worshop – something new to explore. The Alycamps, of 2,000 years of burial, stories, rememberance, still get me every time, and was a special place for Mum and Freya too.

Avignon and the Papal Palace were new to us all, and great to expore. There are 12 museums in Avignon, a city you can walk across in 15 minutes. It is vibrant and interesting, and has an excellent quality Ibis Hotel at the central railway station.

And then, to Heidelberg, the second university and city of my year abroad as an undergraduate. I was there as an Erasmus student – what opportunity I didn’t realise I had at the time! I had full access to the Uiversity’s courses and could pick up additional modules over-and-above my home university minimum requirements if I wished – and I did. I took a module on Tom Stoppard. I got to be a commuter, access dance and sports clubs, join a theatre group, put on a theatre show over my 21s birthday and learn a lot about myself and a baroque university city. 

Now? Brexit means student visas, international fees, lack of opportunity, and not just as a student, but as a worker, a traveller – no career in the European Parliament or Unesco for me.

So, I lean into the grateful while I am being reflective. I look forward to new experiences and appreciate how the curiousity and the open mind I was brought up with continue to serve me well.

Here’s a poem I started years ago and have knocked into a bit of shape on this current train journey down to That London:

Oddly inspired,

An evening of secret smiles.

You’d wonder why

If you saw.

Oddly hopeful,

She saw the future before her,

Of a secret language,

Of vague intrigue.

Oddly real,

The contrast of adrenaline,

Of interest, of

Mundane, but okay.

Oddly – more than okay.

Understanding the rhythm

Of the world around her.

At ease.

Oddly happy,

Happy with her,

Dancing in a daydream…

Okay? Let’s go.