Trying to get back to myself

It's been almost two months since I wrote something here. Things have happened in my life and I guess I have tried to just find my place again. All the things I used to do have been slightly forgotten. I almost never read, never blog, I forget to keep in touch with people, I don't spend as much time alone with myself. Now, for Easter, a lot of people have left Cambridge and I decided to do what I sometimes did before. Namely, go to a coffee shop/pub with computer and a book and just relax and watch people. I am in one of my favourite places, the Cambridge Brew House, again. Unfortunately there was a dog in here when I arrived and I didn't notice it until I sat down and ordered my coffee. I am very allergic to some dogs and this was apparently one of those. I was sneezing and had difficulties breathing after about 10 minutes of arriving. The dog has left now though and it is getting better. I've seen dogs in some pubs here and bringing dogs to pubs or bars is something that people just don't do in Stockholm. At least not that I have seen. I get that people want to bring their dogs to places but for very selfish reasons I wish they didn't.

Anyway. I'm rambling. What is it that I want to achieve with this blog? I want to tell you about my life here. And I will get back to that. My life here is good. I've made quite a few friends and I am always looking for more. I enjoy my job. My home is wonderful. I feel like I really live here now. When I moved to Cambridge my intention was to stay here for about a year but I have thought about it and now there is no time limit anymore. I will stay here until I feel like I want to move on. Who knows when that will be. 

Now if you'll excuse me I am going to return to my coffee.

Cambridge Brew House

There is a new restaurant open close to where I live! The Cambridge Brew House opens today and last night I was fortunate enough to win a dinner for two, simply by retweeting something from Twitter! I went there with my flatmate to taste their menu and I was not disappointed. We  had prosecco and shared a platter with hummus, bread, olives and the like. After that I changed to sticky things! Twice cooked sticky beef as a main course (it was goooorgeous as Jamie Oliver would say) and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. I enjoyed both, though I couldn't really fit all of the pudding in at the end. And it was all for free! Lucky lucky me. I know this might seem like some kind of food or restaurant blog but I will try and change that, I just had to tell you about this new place! I expect the Cambridge Brew House to be one of my new favourite places actually. The decor is just exactly what I like, I loved the food and even the music was good. I think the only complaint we had was that the server didn't really know that much about wine and I've heard from someone else that someone working there didn't know about beer, which is kind of bad when it's actually suppose to be a Brew House. Right? I guess they'll just have to work on that though. On the webpage they call it a pub but I would say it's more of a restaurant with a little pubby corner. It doesn't matter to me though, as I enjoy it no matter what they want to call it. I will definitely go back. It's my local now.

FYI

I was at the Market Square today. Saw a guy in flipflops. It's just wrong.

It's 2013!

Yay! A new year! And I live here now. I've been in Cambridge for almost three months and I have started to get to know the place a bit. I've been to colleges, restaurants, theatres, pubs and bars. I have been walking around a lot – I love to just stroll the streets of Cambridge! But now I need to dig a bit deeper. For 2013 it's time to step up.

So what are my plans for 2013? 

• I want to explore Britain. As a kid I went with my parents around Britain and we drove around and visited B&Bs. I wouldn't mind doing something like that again. Now that I live here I definitely want to see more of the place.
• Go to London more often! I've been once since I moved here and it's so easy to go from Cambridge. I want to get to know London a lot better. 
• Find my very own favourite places – pubs and bars and restaurants. I haven't really found any great bars here, I don't know if there are many. I have been to Baroosh and Browns and they are nice I suppose, but I want more.
• Find more friends. I do have some friends here and I have met some people I really like. But good friends are hard to come by and I want to meet more people! 
• Put things on my walls. I have a small room with a bed, drawers and a chair and not much else. The walls are empty. I do feel at home in the flat but I need to make it even nicer.
• Go punting in the spring/summer. I've done it once at Halloween but it was so cold my feet turned to ice. Not a nice feeling.
• See Shakespeare plays in the summer. Oh my, how I am looking forward to seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream! 
• Visit Grantchester. Everyone keep saying how lovely it is but I still haven't been. I'll wait until spring arrives and then I'll go visit the Orchard.

I suppose that's it. High and low. I also have a standing plan to drink more champagne. I expect the list of things to discover to keep growing though.

Restaurants in Cambridge

I had quite a few visitors during December. Three weekends in a row actually! Aren't I lucky? I have been walking around a lot with them and we visited a number of restaurants. I have been to a few restaurants before but when people are visiting there is definitely more eating out than usual. I don't know what you think of the restaurants in Cambridge but this is my experience.

Last time I went to Jamie's we
sat just by the Christmas tree!

Jamie's Italian
Oh Jamie, aren't you just bloody everywhere?! OK, I admit I was actually sort of excited about going to your restaurant because in Sweden you actually aren't everywhere. I was told you couldn't book tables at Jamie's but I've heard later that you can now. I have been there twice and both times we were prepared to wait for a table and sat down in the bar. To me it's very important that the place I go to is nice and cosy and Jamie's Italian really is nice. I love the atmosphere and when we got to sit down in the bar we didn't mind waiting. The food has been a bit up and down to be honest. I had some sort of risotto the first time I was there and I loved it. The second time I had lamb and it was fine though I think I expected something else. Since it's supposed to be Italian you would think the pasta is the main thing here. My friend had pasta and was not happy about it. At all. I have heard some people say that the food is alright but nothing special and one of my friends had a meal that was amazing, so I think it's  definitely uneven. I so wish that it wasn't though, because it's Jamie Oliver's place and it should be great. Big plus for the very nice atmosphere and the good service though!

D'Arry's
This place is really close to where I live and I've been there a few times. I think the food is quite good and I always pass the room where they have private parties and think that I might want a private dinner party there myself one day. The place looks very nice, I love the style they have going on. The service has been so and so, I have skipped ordering more because I just got sick of waiting. They have music playing every other Sunday and I have been meaning to go for ages but when I finally went I was so disappointed. Not because the music was bad but because it was so extremely loud that I couldn't talk to my friend. I would have liked a table close to where the music was playing but we actually chose one furthest away from it. And we left quite early. I would say it's a nice place for food and wine if there isn't live music and the staff is attentive though. It's very pretty in there.

My friend Sandra and I
at the Chop House.

The Chop House
I have passed this place several times and I always think it looks quite nice in there. I got a table there with my friend Sandra once, in the very corner downstairs. It took a while before we got our menus but we ordered and the food was really good. I had lamb (yes, big fan of lamb) and it was perfectly tender! Very nice indeed. We thought about ordering dessert but were a bit full from the food so when they asked us if we wanted anything we said that we would like to wait a bit. A bit! But we waited and we waited and we waited. They never came to ask us again, we hardly even saw the staff again actually, so we just went up and paid. We did not tip them.

At the Punter with the
loveliest of friends

The Punter
My flatmate says that she rarely goes here because it's always been quite empty when she's been. I have only eaten here once but I've been for beer a couple of times and though it is a bit empty in the barn there has been just the right amount of people in the room where the bar is. This is probably where I've had the best meal in Cambridge. I went with a couple of friends and though we asked to sit in the main room, where the bar is, we got a table in the barn. I think they forgot about our reservation to be honest. Though we sat in the quite empty room we had the nicest evening! They had decorated the place very nicely and it felt a bit like British Christmas the way you see it in the movies. We all enjoyed our food. I had the pheasant and it was delicious. Though they were closing they let us take our time and they were quite attentive. I actually don't have anything bad to say about this place. The website doesn't look like much but I think the place is definitely worth a try.

Las Iguanas
We had tapas at las Iguanas once and for some reason I did not have very high hopes for the place. I don't know why. The setting is quite cool and the food was fine! We also had the funniest waitress and I do hope we tipped her enough. We ordered cocktails since it was happy hour (I mean, who am I to defy happy hour?) and they were good. All in all I would say that this place was good.

Yo! Sushi

Yo! Sushi
The rolling sushi! I had been wanting to go for a while and it was good fun and the sushi was fine but it got a big expensive in the end I think. I do really like the idea of it though, I suppose the experience is part of what you pay for. I would say it's more of a lunch place than a dinner place.

I've been to quite a few pubs as well but I don't feel like I have anything to report on there. I am quite sick of deep fried things for example. I haven't eaten anything I remember well enough to tell you about it apart from the Punter which is actually also a pub.

I really do enjoy eating out and I wouldn't mind other people giving advice on other nice restaurants in Cambridge. Have you visited any good places lately?

A New Year

Alright. I am really crappy at blogging apparently. It's just that I have so much to do all the time. I really don't know where time goes. I thought I would blog a lot but it really hasn't happened. So. New Year's resolution. Get better at blogging. Even though I don't have that many readers at least I'll like it when I look back. I am currently in Sweden for Christmas and New Year's but I'll be back in Cambridge soon enough. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our Christmas tree

We bought a Christmas tree the other day. We don't have the biggest flat but there's always room for a Christmas tree, right? So I went on my first Christmas tree shopping outside of Sweden and got a nice tree to put in the corner of our livingroom. We had some mulled wine and Swedish gingerbread cookies to go with that because everyone knows that you have to be in the Christmas spirit to decorate the tree. I suppose you can't really see the tree very well on that last picture because of the table that's in the way, but you can kind of see that it brings you the Christmas spirit, can't you?

Chicago

Picture taken from here.

I saw Chicago last night at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. It was amazing! I know they are only playing for another night here in Cambridge but if you get to see this musical somewhere else I think you should go. Musical wise this one is very entertaining. It's funny and the plot is easy to follow and the music, the dancing and the singing is great. I definitely think that Chicago is one of the best musicals. Go go go!

Oliver!

Today I went to see the musical Oliver! at Cambridge Arts Theatre. My overall feeling is that I liked it. The children acting were very good, not to mention extremely cute, and most of the adult actors were good as well. I would actually say that the singing quality was a bit mixed to be honest, but I was pleased that they had a live orchestra playing. (OK so I didn't actually see the orchestra but I saw a conductor waving his or her hands so I assume there was an orchestra as well. It certainly sounded like it.) I also like that you can buy drinks in the bar and bring them in with you while you watch the play. For some reason you can't do that in Sweden. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a glass of wine while watching a play? 

There are a few theatres in Cambridge and I have now been to three of them. I saw Macbeth in the Corpus Playroom during my first few days here and I saw another play in the adc theatre a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the play. I had a really bad headache that day so I actually left in the middle. It had nothing to do with the play though. Next week I am going to visit the Corn Exchange to see Chicago. I try to make the most out of living here!

Why I love Cambridge

And that's all I have to say about that.

One month evaluation, part II

The things I really like about the UK tend to be things I like about Cambridge, since this is where I live. Therefore, the headline has to be:

Top 3 things I like about the UK/Cambridge so far

1. The surroundings. Oh my god, this place is so beautiful. I can't believe I actually live here. I love going into old university buildings so much I feel like crying. I love watching people punting, I love watching people rowing on my way to work, I love the swans, I love the cobbled streets, I love the pretty houses, I love the black classic taxis, I love the doors in blue green red, I love the beautiful churches, I love the red phone booths... I could go on for a while. Let's just say I love walking around in Cambridge because it is filled with history and everything is so pretty.

2. The British accent. I don't know where it comes from but I just love the British accent. I always have. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish – it's all so very charming! Of course here it's mostly English but I do live with a girl from Northern Ireland so I get to hear a bit of Irish accent as well. 

3. Culture/history/events. Things have happened here and things continue to happen. I can't believe that it takes five minutes for me to walk to the place "where Francis Crick interrupted patrons' lunchtime on 28 February 1953 to announce that he and James Watson had 'discovered the secret of life' after they had come up with their proposal for the structure of DNA" and that I keep walking past all the colleges where loads of brilliant people have studied. I also love the fact that I am in Shakespeare's country and that I can go and see his plays in the place where you are supposed to see them. That kind of historical culture is quite special. When I studied English some of us in the English department actually did A Midsummer Night's Dream. I played Puck. Puck is the funniest character ever to play, I think. I am looking forward to seeing that play here in the UK when the summer is approaching. Also, just the fact that London is really close makes me feel like I can go and see anything – concerts, plays, musicals.

I just really really like Britain. And Cambridge. 

Hello guy in shop, I love you

Today I went into a shop to top up the credit on my phone. The guy in the shop asked me "Are you English?" and of course I told him I was Swedish. "Oh. Well, your English is really really good!" he said. I was very flattered. I mean, I suppose he wouldn't have asked me if I was English if he actually thought I was, but I have decided to ignore that fact now and just feel flattered by the fact that he thought that perhaps I was English. I know it's probably difficult to erase the Swedish accent completely but I am trying... So, guy in shop – thank you! It made my day. 

One month evaluation

I've almost been here for a month now, it's actually four weeks tomorrow. So I have been thinking about the things that have struck me as weird or really cool and I thought I will share my top 3 with you. Only, I'll start with the weird things today and get to the good things later this week.

Top 3 things I find weird about the UK so far

1. People do not wear enough clothes. People told me about this when I arrived but I thought "How bad can it be?" Well. It's bad guys. It's really bad. I don't know if British people have extra thick skin that does not let the cold get to them, but I have a feeling that it isn't the case. So, can someone tell me why girls walk around in little dresses as if it were summer? Bare legs! No jackets! And no, it is not only the girls, the guys do it too. Perhaps not with dresses but I've seen guys in shorts and t-shirts and not much else. And it is like 7 degrees outside. I don't get it. It's weird.

2. The carpets in the bathroom. Seriously, what is up with that? I am not sure British people are aware of this but the rest of the world finds it kind of disgusting (rest of the world = at least a few people I've talked to from four different nationalities). I have not actually seen that many of the bathroom carpets in the flats where I've been but I've seen a few. In flats and pubs. I can just imagine all the drunk guys going in to the bathroom in the pub with a bad sense of aim. Oh, the germs.

3. Bad insulation. I suppose this is the reason for the carpets in the bathroom. The houses here are so pretty but oh so cold on the inside. So cold! I find it weird that insulation is such an unfamiliar thing here.

Now let's all sit in small groups of four and discuss this. 

Cambridge University and the Festival of Ideas

As soon as one festival ends, another one begins! OK, the one I am thinking of now actually began 20 October, so it has been going on for a few days. And it's on until 4 November! It has a great name: Festival of Ideas. Isn't that wonderful? I just found out yesterday and today I booked a couple of tickets (it's free though!) for Saturday. I could go to these things just to get inside the beautiful buildings in Cambridge but these talks I actually think will be interesting. Violence against women: preventions and responses is at noon on Saturday and Are we being sold online? is at 3.30 pm the same day. The later one is about oversharing things on the internet. It might be a good thing for me since I tend to do that. See, I just shared with you my weekend plans. Alright, I don't really share too much, I don't think. But I am on a lot of places in the world of social media. 

I do kind of like it though.

Oxjam Cambridge Takeover

So the Oxjam festival wasn't exactly what we had hoped for. It was a bit unorganised and at the latino place they played music that was definitely not latino. It was still good, but not what we had expected. We had a good time though, we went to a restaurant for dinner and then we walked from place to place. One of the good things about the Oxjam Cambridge Takeover was this guitar duo that we walked in on:

 

If you see a pair of yellow tights walking in at the end, that's me.

Oxjam Cambridge

I have been living in the UK for a week now. And tomorrow I finish my first week at work as well.  Gosh! They usually have pub night at my job on Fridays but I don't know if there is gonna be one tomorrow. Either way, Friday is a good thing! I am planning to go to the Oxjam festival on Saturday. Info from the homepage: "Oxjam is Oxfam's month-long music festival. It runs all through October with hundreds of events around the UK, all organised by volunteers who know and love their local music scene, all raising money to save lives around the world." I mean, who doesn't want to save lives? I do. I haven't really been out partying in Cambridge yet but maybe this will be a good start. There is a list of band names on the site and I don't know any of them but I am sure some of them are good. Hopefully. There will be all kinds of music it seems – rock, acoustic, salsa, 80s, funk, house, electro, samba... Apparently Cambridge has a lot of things going on. And I am here, just enjoying the show.

First day at work

I started my new job today. I met some of the people from work at a party a few days ago, so there were some familiar faces. It seems like a nice place, my new job. I suppose not all of the assignments will be a blast but that's alright. The people are very friendly and I am loving the international atmosphere! So, I really do live here now. I have an everyday life with a job to go to and tonight I made a lunchbox for tomorrow. Very normal everyday stuff, isn't it? Am tired now. Will blog more another day.

I have explored enough for one day, I tell you

What I've done today: I walked, walked, walked, bought a very funny book, walked, went into Starbuck's for some internet and a latte (that did not taste of coffee unfortunately), walked some more, bought a SIM card for my mobile so I can live here properly, went to another Starbuck's for some more internet and a cappuccino (that did not taste of coffee unfortunately), made sure I had internet in mobile phone so I would not have to go into Starbuck's for bad coffee anymore, walked, got tired of walking, kept on walking, bought some stuff in Boots, went to the Rainbow Café for a nice goat cheese lasagne, walked some more, went for a cup of tea, walked some more, went to the Corpus Playroom and watched Macbeth, went to Sainsbury's and bought some food, got tired of walking, took a taxi home (and I knew the address this time).

Well, that was my day. My feet are quite tired now. How was your day?

Am here!

OK. Am in Cambridge now. Took taxi to new job and on the way I looked out at the city. Saw beautiful buildings! Classic black taxis! School uniforms! People driving on the wrong side of the street (it is confusing even to just watch, I'm telling you)! I was very amazed by it all. Met colleague at work and walked to house I am staying at. Relaxed at the house for a bit and decided to walk to the city centre. Looked at the map and since I don't have internet access on my phone I tried to memorize the way. I wrote down a few things. Right, Scotland Road to city centre. Got it! Went out. Was immediately lost. Later I understood that it was not that strange that I was lost right at the beginning, because I was not actually on Scotland Road to begin with. I realised this when I came back home. Yes, I actually made it back home because I took a picture of the street sign and showed the taxi driver. Am very clever.

I saw a flat tonight and it is just great. The flat is very cosy and clean and modern. It is not cold and it does not have carpet in the bathroom. The person I would be living with is also very nice. We went out for sushi and a glass of wine after her showing me the flat. People seem to think I was very quick on finding a flat and I suppose it has been rather quick, but I just couldn't help but starting to look while I was still at home in Stockholm. I also think I had a bit of luck. Hopefully the agent will accept me as well and then I'll move in, soonish.

Tomorrow I have two plans. One: getting a phone number. Two: seeing Macbeth. 

You and me

Jesus Christ. It is less than a week left now until I hop on a plane that will (hopefully) take me to England. I will be flying Ryanair since it is the only airline going from here to Stansted, the closest airport to Cambridge. This is sort of a challenge in itself since you never know if you are going to get to the final destination or not. Well, I am all for living on the edge so why not? (Will be knocking on wood though. Please please please take me to England!) 

To tell you the truth I sit here with a lot of emotions. I am very excited for the big move to Cambridge but on the other hand it does mean that I will be leaving people behind. Like my boyfriend. The bestest boyfriend in the world he is. He is like me – he loves to live in new places – so I know that he understands. He is very encouraging. But still. Even if I know that we will make this work, it is tough. Lucky for us, it is quite easy traveling between Stockholm and Cambridge. 

Bringing the big suitcase up from the storage and starting to pack it will be a stab at the heart. And at the same time it is the start of an adventure that is very much welcome.