Move In, Move On

Forwards hopefully. It's been a long long summer (i use the term loosely). I haven't been at university since May, and feel very caught up in village life. At first it was nice to move out of the busy studenty town, back to my parents' house in the countryside, but now i'm starting to feel the itch to get away. I miss rushing around, having an active week, making last minute plans because most places are open at all hours.  I miss the neon lights of the Curry Mile, and catching buses without having to wait longer than 5 minutes. I miss living with friends, who are open to impromptu dressing up games, drinking, going out yomping, or even the odd face painting. I've noticed that during the last few weeks i've spent in the countryside, i've found myself agreeing to do mundane things at silly hours in the night, just because i crave the freedom, not because i particularly feel like doing anything. I miss having the option. This week i will move back to my university flat. I can't wait. 

 
the park outside my flat

Here's to a good week.

Top 5: Pembrokeshire

The best bits of Pembrokeshire

Running along the very beautiful, sandy beach in wellies (because it wasn't quite warm enough to go in the sea).

The tumble down barn next to our cottage.

The scary rocky coastline, and the walks we did around it.

The food we ate was wonderful. I didn't get a photo (too busy eating it), but i had the best steak i've ever eaten in a restaurant called Cwtch. It was so rich and melted when you bit into it.

I loved being very much 'away from it all'. No internet connection, no real contact with people from home. It was nice, and much needed.

Off On My Jollies

To St Davids in Pembrokeshire 

I'm going with my parents and a friend to stay in a remote cottage 5 minutes from the sea. We're there till Thursday, and our visit happens to coincide with Pembrokeshire's Fish Week. I am hugely looking forward to sandy, coastal walks, nice food and a homely cottage far away from anywhere (pretending i'm Keira Knightley in 'The Edge of Love', see previous post). What i'm not looking forward to is the 6 hour train journey to get there which clashes horribly with a rather important England v Germany knock out match.

The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse

Did you ever read that story as a child? I went to a lecture this morning about the importance of place, and the identity you associate with certain places. I’ve spent time living in both city and countryside, and in more recent times I’ve done a lot of running between the two. On my bus ride home today I began to think about which I would choose to settle down in, which I prefer. What I realised though is that one tends to cancel out the other, they’re such different extremes. After spending a couple of weeks in the busy city, where one can hop on a bus at any time of day or night and do anything, I often find myself needing to escape to a quieter place. I’m lucky in that my parents live in the suburbs surrounded by endless greenery and it’s only a 45 minute journey away, so every once in a while I can run away there and feel I have a bit of space to slow down and take a minute to breathe.

What interests me though is that during the summer when I move out of my university halls and move back to my parent’s house, it doesn’t take more than a month of being in such a quiet, empty space that I begin to crave the excitement of the city. The countryside, despite being a huge open space confines me, I feel I have less freedom. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to decide where to settle, I like to be able to uproot myself and change my surroundings, so in a way I don’t feel I can connect to one particular place. What about you? Are you a town mouse or a country mouse?