Europe and UK-bound

This Friday evening my mum and I leave for Paris, then Madrid (where I'll be spending my birthday), and finally to London and a couple other English cities, including my alma mater Bristol.

I should be terribly excited about it, I suppose. I've been doing some research despite being a bit blase about the whole trip as I've already 'been there, done that' once in Madrid, three times in Paris, and numerous times in London. The only major difference is that we'll now be using Euros on the continent.

For some time, I felt a part of me was left behind in Bristol. As if I had departed too suddenly, distracted by the graduation ceremony, the massive packing and the hurried goodbyes. But I think I closed that chapter a while back because I don't miss it anymore. Still, it's changed a lot and I'm curious to see what's new.

In the capital cities we intend to see museums - historical and art. In Madrid we intend to drink good and affordable Spanish wine every night. In Paris we intend not to overspend on hyped-up dining but instead have light meals like baguettes et crossiants. Fortunately, we're not the sort who get cravings for Chinese food after two days and spend the rest of our trip looking for Chinatown/the nearest Chinese restaurant. So food-wise, we should be pretty adventurous. If we're in France, we'll eat French food. When we're in Spain, we'll eat Spanish food and um, Basque in the glory.

In London I will get my hands on The Guardian, my all-time favourite quality daily. I like it for its excellent reporting and lovely typography. Its website, when launched, was also ahead of its time.

Once you read British newspapers, you can't read the stuff back here in Singapore without feeling slightly critical. I can spot typos even in the Straits Times, our main quality daily. Not once in my three years did I spot a typo in the quality British newspapers (though there are quite a number popping up on the BBC website these days!). In any case, there is usually a wry, dry humour, ever present in the spoken and written word.

In London, I also hope to find a BBC Shop where I can buy certain comedies which I couldn't find at our local HMV. "All I need, is a smaaaaall aubergine..."

I will be bookmarking useful Paris, Madrid and London websites in Ma.gnolia. Stay tuned.