Last weekend, in the company of friends, I welcomed the New Year 2024 for the second time, which, according to the Julian calendar, is welcomed in the night from January 14th to 15th. My friend Lolita, Macedonian by nationality, and Orthodox by religion, invited us to an organised Orthodox New Year's party at a Serbian restaurant, Fulham Kitchen, in London. A total of six of us were supposed to go from Cambridge, four Croatians Mara, Matea, my Sara and I together with Lolita and her husband, also Macedonian. Unfortunately, that morning Matea woke up with Covid and couldn't go with us, which saddened both her and all of us. The rest of us still left around noon in the direction of London by train. In London, we walked from Covent Garden, through Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square, where a large rally was held in support of Gaza and against the Israeli genocide. I was moved by that collective sympathy for the Palestinian people, and I was sorry that I didn't have my Palestinian/Jordanian scarf that many English people wore.
We didn't stay long in that larger mass of people and soon we headed towards the Thames and walked across the Millennium Bridge and walked further along the Thames. We drank tea in one of the many cafes and then headed towards the Fulham Kitchen restaurant, where dinner was waiting for us. The restaurant is small in space, but very pleasant. With dinner, we were greeted by musicians with an accordion, alongside which we sang a few old hits, well known to most of us. We were joined at dinner by Lolita's friends, also Macedonians, and we were all together a happy team that enjoyed socializing, singing with great food and drink. I was looking forward to čevapi, a traditional Balkan dish that was excellently prepared and which we all enjoyed. The music carried us until late into the night and one of Lolita's Macedonian friends stood on a chair and sang enthusiastically in an ecstatic moment.
We returned to Cambridge by bus and the ride was very pleasant because the bus was almost empty, and the driver was funny and made us all laugh. We went to bed around 4 in the morning and it still took me some time to collect all the impressions from that exceptionally beautiful trip to London.
Kristina
Tuesday January 16th, 2024
Ponovno doček 2024.
Prošli vikend sam u društvu prijatelja po drugi put dočekala Novu Godinu 2024. koja se po Julijanskom kalendaru, dočekuje u noći sa 14. na 15 siječnja. Moja prijateljica Lolita, Makedonka po nacionalnosti i pravoslavka po vjerispovjesti nas je pozvala na organizirani doček pravoslavne Nove Godine u jedan srpski restoran Fulham Kitchen u Londonu. Iz Cambridgea nas je trebalo ići ukupno šest, četiri Hrvatice Mara, Matea, moja Sara i ja zajedno sa Lolitom I njezinim suprugom, isto Makedoncem. Nažalost to se jutro Matea probudila sa Covidom i nije mogla ići sa nama što je rastužilo i nju i sve nas. Mi ostali smo ipak kreuli već oko podneva u pravcu Londona vlakom. U Londonu smo prošetali od Covent Gardena, preko Leicester squera do Trafalgar squera na kom se održavao veliki skup podrške Gazi, a protiv Izraelskog genocida. Ponijelo me to kolektivno saučešće palestinskom narodu i bilo mi je žao što nisam imala svoj palestinsko/jordanski šal koji su mnogi Englezi oko nas nosili.
Nismo se dugo zadržali u toj povećoj masi ljudi i uskoro smo se uputili prema Temzi. Šetnjom smo prešli Millenium bridge i hodali dalje uz Temzu. Popili smo čaj u jednom od brojnih kafića i potom se uputili prema restoranu Fulham Kitchen u kojem nas je čekala večera. Restoran je mali po prostoru, ali vrlo ugodan. Uz večeru tamo su nas dočekali svirači i uz harmoniku smo otpjevali nekoliko starih hitova većini nam dobro znanih. Na večeri su nam se pridružili Lolitini prijatelji Makedonci i svi smo zajedno bili jedna vesela ekipa koja je uživala u druženju, pjesmi i odličnoj hrani i piću. Ja sam se radovala čevapima, tradicionalnom balkanskom jelu koje je bilo odlično pripremljeno i u kojem smo svi uživali. Muzika nas je nosila do kasno u noć, a jedna Lolitina prijateljica Makedonka u jednom je zanosnom trenutku stala na stolac i ushićeno pjevala.
U Cambridge smo se vratili autobusom i ta je vožnja bila vrlo ugodna jer je autobus bio gotovo prazan, a šofer je bio duhovit i sve nas je nasmijao. U krevet smo legli oko 4 sata ujutro i još mi je neko vrijeme trebalo da saberem sve dojmove sa tog izuzetnog lijepog izleta u London.
Kristina
Utorak, 16. siječnja 2024.
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