Fodbold, frisbee og ’cheese and crackers’!

Vejret har været rigtigt godt de sidste par dage. Noget som jeg nyder at gøre når solen er ude er at have en udendørs picnic. Det behøver nødvendigvis ikke at være noget som helst fancy med mønsteret tæpper, et hav af fingermadder og frugt kurve, men bare godt vejr, godt selskab, et par snacks og en eller anden form for underholdning. Det var præcis hvad et par af os valgte at gøre i torsdags siden at vejret var rigtig godt den dag. Vi tog til et grønt område et sted i Tunbridge Wells med noget brød og frugt. En af os havde også medbragt en fodbold, så vi spillede en omgang fodbold før at vi gik ind til byen for at kigge lidt rundt der. Vi sluttede dagen af med en kaffepause i Starbucks.

Den næste dag skulle Laura (Schwe iz), Valentina (Italien) og jeg tage en hurtig beslutning om hvor vi skulle tage hen, da vores tidligere planer uheldigvis blev aflyst. Vi ville stadig gerne lave noget sammen, så vi valgte at tage den næste bus til Brighton. Vi havde ingen direkte hensigter om at tage til nogle specifikke steder, så vi havde bare en vandretur omkring The Royal Pavilion, også kendt som Brighton Pavilion, hvilket er et tidligere royalt bopæl i Brighton. Vi gik til frokost i en italiensk restaurant, og shoppede en smule i et par butikker inkluderende Tiger. Tiger er, som nogle af jer måske allerede ved, en dansk kædebutik. Så mens vi gik rundt i butikken, ville jeg sige nogle af de danske navne for deres varer højt, og Laura og Valentina ville så gentage det efter mig, for at se hvem der havde de bedste evner i det danske sprog. Selvom de både synes at dansk lyder som en druknende viking, så lød det faktisk ganske okay. I Tiger fandt vi en flyvende tallerken, hvilket vi købte og spillede med udenfor. Stakkels Valentina sårede hendes langefinger kno da hun var i færd med at gnubbe frisbeen i asfalten. Hun forblev dog stærk, og spillede videre indtil at vi skulle med bussen hjem.

Lørdag var primært også en god udendørs dag lige indtil eftermiddag tid, hvor det begyndte at regne. Men inden da tog Laura, Valentina og jeg hen til et marked i The Pantiles. Det er markeder på The Pantiles hver 1. og 3. weekend i måneden, så vi benyttede lejligheden til at tage et kig på markedet denne weekend. Markedet tilbød en række af bageri lækkerier, kager og syltetøj, og også nogle sager til huset. Jeg købte mig en lækker ’apple slice’ kage, Laura havde et rigtig godt stykke ’chocolate fudge cake’, og Valentina købte sig selv et super chokoladefyldig brownie. VI købte også ost og kiks i den nærmeste Morrisons butik som i øvrigt desværre er indstillet til at lukke ned i dag. Vi bragte maden til en nærliggende park, og nød solen, maden og den smukke stemme af Ed Sheeran. Vi havde også bragt frisbeen fra den forrige dag med os, så vi spillede naturligvis med den. Der er noget om at spille med frisbee, som vi alle finder meget aslappende mens vi stadig bevæger os. Vi må ikke glemme denne morsomme hund ved navn Molly, der løb på den sjoveste måde muligt og fandt sin vej til vores lille stak af overtøj med vores ost og kiks i mellem, Mollys favorit, sagde ejeren, og tilføjede den eneste ting der mangler ville være en flakse rødvin. Det øjeblik fuldendte vores dag, også selvom det begyndte at regne et minut efter. Vi gik derfor hjem til mig for at se en film. Mine værtsforældre ville ikke være hjemme henover aftenen, så Valentina og Laura var venlige nok til at blive og slutte sig til mig til aftensma. De bestilte en 18-inches pizza og jeg bestilte mig selv en spaghetti bolognese.

// The weather had been really good the past few days. One thing that I enjoy doing when the sun is out is to have an outdoor picnic. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy with a pattern blanket, an ocean of canapés and fruit baskets, but just good weather, good company, a few snacks and some sort of entertainment. That is exactly what a few of us decided to do on Thursday, since the weather was really good on that day. We went to a green spot somewhere in Tunbridge Wells with bread and fruit that we could have. Someone had also brought a football, so we played a bit of that before going to town to have a look around there. We finished the day of with a sit down in Starbucks.

The next day Laura (Switzerland), Valentina (Italy) and I had to make a quick decision about where to go as our previous plans unluckily got cancelled, and since we still wanted to do something together, we then decided to take the next bus to Brighton. We had no directly intentions of going anywhere specific, so we just had a wander around The Royal Pavilion, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, which is a former royal residence in Brighton. We also went for lunch in an Italian restaurant, and did some shopping in a few shops including Tiger. Tiger is, as some of you may know, a Danish retailer chain. So whilst we were walking around in the store, I would say the Danish word for an item out loud and Laura and Valentina would repeat it after me to see who had the best Danish skills. Even though they both think that Danish sounds like a drowning Viking, it actually sounded alright. In Tiger we found a flying disc, or in other words ‘en flyvende tallerken’, which we bought and played with outside. Poor Valentina hurt her middle finger knuckle whilst rubbing the frisbee against the ground. However, she stayed strong and kept on playing before we had to take the bus back.

Saturday was mainly also a good outdoor day until afternoon time where it started raining. However, before that Laura, Valentina and I did make it to a market in the Pantiles. There are markets at the Pantiles every 1^st and 3^rd weekend so we took the opportunity to go there this weekend. The market offered a variety of bakery goodies, cakes and jams, and also some household items. I bought myself a delicious looking apple slice, Laura had a really nice piece of chocolate fudge cake, and Valentina bought a super chocolatey brownie. We also bought cheese and crackers in the nearest Morrisons store which by the way sadly is set to close today. We brought the food to a nearby park, and enjoyed the sun, the food, and the beautiful voice of Ed Sheeran. We had also brought the frisbee from yesterday with us, so we obviously had to play with it again. There is something about playing with the frisbee that we all find very relaxing whilst still moving our bodies. We must not forget this hilarious dog named Molly who ran in the funniest way possible and found her way to our little stack of outerwear with the cheese and crackers in between, Molly’s favourite the owner said, and added the only thing missing would be a bottle of red wine. That moment made our day even though a minute after that it started raining. We therefore went to my house to watch a film. My host parents would not be home in the evening, so Valentina and Laura were nice enough to stay and join me for dinner. They ordered an 18” pizza and I ordered myself spaghetti bolognese.