Kent, November 2022

I celebrated my birthday today in Kent, sorta. Well, we booked a staycation in this English seaside town, as Cliftonville was voted one of the top neighborhoods in the UK (in the world?!) to visit, according to Conde Nast. Anyway, we took the train to the east and stayed in the lovely, opulently decorated Albion Rooms, with our own balcony and sea view. We spent lunch in a fancy seafood restaurant, enjoyed the sunset at the seaside corniche afterward, and I took slow-motion videos of seagulls. It got dark quite soon, so we went back to the hotel to have some British sparkling wine and a THC toffee made by our herbalist. We spent the rest of the night taking photos and videos in the room, made a quick trip to an ominous Eastern European supermarket for snacks galore until I passed out disorientedly. Soon, I was woken up at midnight for birthday congratulations and gift unpacking. The photos of this speak for themselves… lol.

After a good à la carte breakfast at the hotel that we waited an hour for, we headed back to the train station and arrived in London in the afternoon. Topo had to go to the show, so I spent the rest of my ‘big day’ binging YouTube videos and going for a moody walk. I got some lovely gifts, such as sewing books and a handmade photo card from Topo, and many small but meaningful and well-selected presents from my family.

I liked the faded charm of Kent, the off-season vibe with half-abandoned guest houses and closed window blinds. It is also quite cheap to rent or buy there, so I wonder why not more people choose small towns here. It could be a precious pearl at the seaside! But I also noticed my urge to improve and fix things that are not good enough for my value system, and it can become quite tiresome and obnoxious.

Still intrigued by the thought of a house at the seaside. But maybe it would be better to make it Sicily…

Last week I was at home to see my family and it was mostly quite harmonious and good. We had a little pre-celebration and mom took us to dinner as a big family. The rest of the time I stayed with mom in the Village and even bumped into my cousins Jules and Patty as well as Auntie Nici, and the bus driver was a former guest of my old gym. Somehow a reunion, although not the kind I secretly long for. A reunion of friends from back in the days in the village, and to see whether or not we would still have anything to talk about, and who would be better off.

Maybe someday.

xoxo Happy Birthday