Gulangyu, a roaming love story

On June 20 17, I took my son to Gulangyu Island and Xiamen Island and arranged a five-day trip. It is fresh and literary, quiet and warm, suitable for strolling, staring blankly and strolling. This slow-paced life is really what I imagined. We stayed in Gulangyu and Xiamen for two days, wandering aimlessly, looking at the beautiful scenery and eating local food. We also met some warmth and touch during the trip, and gained the "meaning of travel" in my heart.

On the return flight, the son said, Mom, will we come again? I love Gulangyu! I replied, I will. When I was in Gulangyu, I made an appointment with the carambola yard there, the kitten who ate bacon, the flowers in the alley and the beautiful and quiet sea. So, we will definitely come back! The son smiled.

It has been two months since I returned to Shanghai, and I am still thinking about Gulangyu Island. Maybe I have been fascinated by this fresh and free island! Therefore, I want to use words to relive the warmth and touch, harvest and income of this trip. This is also an account of your heart!

I never join a group when traveling, and I don't like to do any raiders. I always like to be happy. If you want to care in advance, you can only stay. I will spend a lot of time reading the comments of netizens on various platforms. First of all, I will screen out two or three hotels according to word of mouth, and then determine the final choice from the aspects of hotel transportation, software and hardware, characteristics, catering and surrounding environment. Facts have proved that such a prudent choice is very worthwhile. Every time I travel, the hotels I stay in are very cost-effective. Generally speaking, they are very suitable for my taste, leaving me a deep memory and a good impression.

Therefore, if you want to see the introduction of scenic spots and other raiders travel notes, you must not expect anything from me. When I travel to a city, I may not be able to visit several places, because my time is spent in places that many people think are not worth it. I may spend an afternoon at the seaside, watching the waves lapping on the beach, watching my son play with sand and build a castle; It is also possible to sit in the coffee shop you met halfway for a long time, watching people coming and going, listening to the waiter's interesting chat, and reading with his son; You can also visit a favorite specialty store for a long time, buy some interesting souvenirs and chat with the owner; It is also possible to spend an hour sitting next to wandering artists, quietly listening to their songs and sharing their feelings; More likely, I will sit on the balcony of the hotel for several hours, read books, listen to music and even sleep in the hotel room because I have to trim my state.

So, strictly speaking, I am not a traveler suitable for traveling together, because I am too arbitrary. Generally no one can stand a companion like me, except my son, because I have taken him on such a trip since he was very young. So in his mind, travel should be like this.

On this trip, I booked the famous hotels in Gulangyu-carambola Yard and Anhai Road Branch. Those comments on the Internet attracted me deeply, which made me believe that the carambola Garden must be a very suitable hotel for me. So, after several days of constant inquiry, comparison and entanglement, I finally booked this homestay in Gulangyu.

After the plane arrived at Xiamen airport, we called a taxi and arrived at Sanqiutian Wharf smoothly. Before departure, I booked a boat ticket online, just need to print it in the window, which is very convenient. If only adults travel, this procedure can also be ignored, just use your ID card to check in and take a boat.

Sitting on the ferry at Sanqiutian Wharf, we soon arrived at Gulangyu Island, and it was nearly evening. After disembarking, my son and I searched all the way according to the short message sent by Yang Taochang in advance. It takes about fifteen minutes from the dock until we find a carambola yard full of green plants and flowers on Anhai Road.

When I arrived at the gate of Carambola Garden, the light was already on.

Take a good look at the carambola garden before entering the door. The arched gate is plastered with red brick walls, and the signboard hanging high reads "Carambola Garden Coffee Hotel" in Chinese and English, which is particularly fresh and quiet against a large cluster of yellow flowers and beautiful green plants. I'm almost sure this is my favorite place.

Entering the gate, there is a very big yard, and this outdoor space is divided into several patchwork areas.

There is a very large wooden long table, which looks like natural wood, without any carving or decoration. Because it retains the original color of wood, it looks particularly simple and unique. There are several rattan chairs around, and small glass bottles with one or two flowers are randomly placed on the table. There are several tourists sitting at the table chatting, which looks like three or two friends who are traveling together.

There are two or three tables for four, with awnings, glass-pressed lace tablecloths and small vases with flowers on them, which are simple and fresh. Presumably, in rainy days, tourists can sit down here, drink a cup of coffee, read a book, enjoy the beautiful scenery in the yard and see the tourists coming and going. There is nothing better in life.

There is also a small area similar to rockery, which is higher than other areas as a whole. Some tables for two are everywhere, and the space is relatively private. There are one or two couples talking and laughing softly here.

Another area is the hotel bar, which is very artistic and fresh. It's what I like anyway. This bar is also a reception area for travelers, which is used to check in and check out. There are several hotel guests sitting in front of the bar, drinking and chatting. The years are so quiet!

Looking around, I put down a hundred hearts. I made the right decision. This is really my favorite place.

When I entered the courtyard gate, a waiter rushed forward, took my suitcase, smiled at us and led us to the bar. That warm and familiar feeling is very wonderful, just like saying to me: welcome home! When I checked in, I was sitting in a chair at the bar, chatting with the waitress inside while checking in, and suddenly I had an illusion when I looked at the bright smile on her face. Isn't this my first time here? How can you feel so familiar? What makes you think you've been here before?

Led by the waiter, we came to the second floor along the stairs. I reserved a terrace garden room, so the room is spacious and there is a big terrace outside. Looking out is the bar downstairs. From a distance, you can see the whole yard. There is a small round table on the terrace with two small chairs beside it. I stood on the terrace and enjoyed the fresh air at night, and the fatigue of the journey was swept away. Tomorrow I can sit on the terrace and drink coffee, read books and watch people coming and going in the yard. How nice it would be!

At this moment, I can finally tell myself for sure, Gulangyu, I am coming!

After a good sleep, I woke up around eight in the morning. Go to the terrace and look outside. Two waiters in the bar downstairs are busy making coffee, baking bread, frying eggs and bacon. In the yard, there are already tourists in twos and threes eating breakfast in the open air, some talking softly, some alone, eating breakfast quietly, and occasionally looking up at the carambola trees in the yard.

I stood on the terrace and watched it quietly for a while, then I went to have breakfast with my son. We didn't go to the open-air yard, but chose an indoor restaurant that we had to go through from the room to the yard. The restaurant is tastefully decorated, with two or three lovely meows inside.

The waiter brought the hot standard set meal, two or three slices of toast, two slices of bacon, two fried eggs and a cup of freshly ground coffee. My son asked for freshly squeezed juice. The food is fresh and rich. I feel at home with a good friend. It's very homely and comfortable.

Bai Yueguang's piano music is playing softly on the stereo in the dining room. At the moment, in the carambola yard of Gulangyu Island, I cried when I heard the melody. Without warning. Maybe, it's just a melody that touches a corner of my heart! Yes, everyone has a sad period, and everyone has some past, but time will help us repair everything. Even if things change, I just hope that we are still as innocent as before. Facing life, I have cried, laughed and experienced, but I am still full of expectation and hope.

After breakfast, my son and I are going to play with cats for a while. While we were eating, a little white cat kept staring at the bacon on my plate, so I specially left a piece for it. I put the plate on the floor and motioned for the cat to come and eat. The kitten sneaked over and ate bacon beautifully and kept licking the plate. So cute!

After teasing the lovely cat for a while, we said goodbye to it. We went back to our room to get the map, put on our backpacks and started our trip to Gulangyu.

Gulangyu Island is indeed a city suitable for walking slowly and feeling slowly. My son and I walked out along Anhai Road at the gate of Carambola Garden and visited the Oriental Fishbone Museum, Organ Museum and Bagua Building. In other words, when I see a new place, I will discuss with my son whether I want to visit it. If we are both interested, we will buy tickets to enter the house. All the places are very close, and walking around is not tiring. And each place does have its own characteristics, so we still have some gains.

However, I prefer the colorful flowers in the alley I met on the road. I prefer to watch my son's back running happily on the ancient stone road, and sometimes I have to turn around and wave at me; I prefer to watch the painter's focused eyes when painting landscape sketch on the roadside; I even prefer the creeper I met on the road, which was covered with walls. You see, I'm really not an ordinary traveler.

In front of a painter, my son and I asked him to help us draw a colorful cartoon with the mother and son in the same frame, which was very childlike and lovely. I think it's also a good idea to keep.

We walked to the most lively Longtou Road and wanted to solve lunch here. Then we walked around and found that we didn't need to have lunch, because those delicious special snacks had already fed us.

People who have been to Gulangyu must know how lively Longtou Road is and how familiar those famous shops are. Zhang Sanfeng, Sue, Miss Zhao's shop, the Federal Tea Bureau, Zhu Tousan and Lu Ama are numerous.

And those local food stalls sell all kinds of local snacks, fried oysters, grilled squid, fish balls and grass, which is indescribable. My son and I went shopping until we couldn't eat any more.

We bought some accompanying gifts and some strange gadgets, sat in the square of Longtou Road for a while and looked at the tourists coming and going around. The square is almost full of people standing, sitting and squatting to eat. It's crowded and noisy We suddenly lost interest in shopping and decided to go back to the hotel to see if there was a coffee shop where we could rest.

After walking for more than ten minutes, I saw a small coffee shop on the corner, with a name on the signboard, slowly floating. It's a literary name and the style of entering the door is small and fresh, so we decided to go in, have a drink, read a book and have a rest.

Walking into the coffee shop, I found that this shop not only sells coffee, but also provides postcard delivery service. There are many shops in Gulangyu delivering postcards to tourists.

And this store is doing its best. There are rows of small drawers in the store to store all kinds of postcards according to date, from 65438+ 10 1 to 65438+February 3 1, and one drawer is used to store tourists' postcards every day. It is said that there can be such a mailing method. You can have a wonderful day in a coffee shop, and then one day every year, the coffee shop can send you a postcard, some for your lover and some for yourself. It sounds so romantic and warm. I suddenly understood the meaning of this store name. It turned out to be "slowly drifting"! Postcards drift from the warm Gulangyu Island to the destination, and year after year, the recipient gets every touch and warmth slowly in the passage of time. I fell in love with this special coffee shop instantly.

My son and I ordered something and read the books we brought with us while drinking. Also just have a rest. From time to time, several people ask to send postcards on their behalf, most of which are sent to themselves. Perhaps, this is a hope that "Gulangyu's self" sends to "the city's self" where he lives!

Sitting in the coffee shop for nearly an hour, it's almost dinner time, thinking of going back to the carambola yard early and enjoying a day's rest. Before that, we can enjoy a light and beautiful dinner in the restaurant "Regeneration Sea" that passes by. When we came out in the morning, we had seen this restaurant near the carambola yard. I was fascinated by its name, the decoration style of the store and the food photos on the signboard at the door, and thought of pulling weeds here tonight.

Walking back all the way, we looked at the beautiful scenery and passed strangers. We came to the gate of Regenerated Sea Restaurant.

There are not many diners in it, but it is quiet, the tables and chairs are antique, and the shop is dotted with many succulents that I can't name. A mother and son jointly run this restaurant. My mother, in her fifties, is gentle and kind, speaks softly and slowly, and has a particularly kind taste when she smiles. My son is in his early twenties, wearing glasses and being polite and shy. All these elements combine to form my favorite tone.

We ordered beer, ginger duck, boiled asparagus, salted mackerel, and I ordered seafood. The staple food was rice. My son ordered clear soup and seafood noodles. The food was served quickly and all the dishes were served. It looks like light, fresh and delicious food. My son and I suddenly felt hungry. It seems that all the food we ate at the guide in the afternoon was gone, and the mother and son feasted their eyes. Within an hour, the food was swept away by us. Then, my son and I decided to come here for dinner before leaving Gulangyu tomorrow night.

Out of the sea of regeneration, we walked for about 5 minutes, and then returned to the carambola garden. When I first saw it last night, it still smelled. Tourists in twos and threes talk softly in various areas, and some tables still have candlesticks; Several young people are sitting in a bar, drinking and laughing happily, but it doesn't make people feel noisy; There is a hanging chair under the carambola tree, which is fixed on the tree with a rope, like a swing. There is a 4-or 5-year-old boy sitting on it, and his mother is gently pushing the chair next to him. The chair rocked back and forth slowly, and the boy gave a crisp and loud smile. In addition to the sweet carambola flavor and the smell of the sea floating in the distance, there is another gentle feeling flowing slowly in the air in the yard. I just stood there watching, and time seemed to freeze at this moment. Writing here, my eyes are red and I miss that moment. What should I do? )

I took my son across the yard, ready to go back to my room. After passing the bar, the waiter inside smiled and said to us, are you back? My son and I smiled and replied, yes, we are back. This feeling is really good. Just like going home.

Back to the room, my son took a bath by himself, then read, draw and play games. He is very busy alone.

Boiled a pot of hot water, made a cup of jasmine tea bought at Longtou Road in the afternoon, and sat on the terrace. The wind was a little cold at night, so I covered myself with a thick coat and sat on a cane chair. Beautiful music is slowly drifting from the bar downstairs, which is my familiar and favorite melody, California Hotel. I don't know why, I always hear this song by the Eagles on my trip. Listen, I fell asleep in a daze.

The next day, breakfast was still in the carambola yard, and the kitten was still there. Should it be waiting for my bacon? This time, I left two pieces of bacon for it, then touched its head and said, Miao, wait for me, and I'll give you bacon when I come back next time! Unconsciously, I used the word "come back". In fact, on the first day of breakfast, my son went to add drinks, and the waiter asked my son, have you been here before? Why does uncle think he has seen you? When my son came back with a drink, he described what had just happened in a curious tone. It turned out that I felt this way not only when I first walked into the carambola garden. It turns out that both sides have a feeling of deja vu. Is this fate? Or what other reasons? I don't know.

The next day's trip, I arranged it simply, only going to Xinzhuang Garden, and then taking my son who likes marine life to the underwater world. The rest of the time, I will give the carambola to the yard, because tonight, we are leaving.

Starting from the carambola yard, we walked to Longzhuang Garden, which took almost half an hour.

Xinzhuang Garden, built in 19 13, was originally the private villa of Lin Erjia, a famous local gentleman, and was dedicated to the park in 1955.

When we entered the garden, at first glance, it was an exquisite and elegant Jiangnan courtyard, with a little taste of Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden. But walking, you suddenly find that you have come to the seaside. And this is the most special place in the village-the garden is on the sea and the sea is in the garden! So there is a small bridge and flowing water on this side of the garden, which is warm and elegant. You think that "the lakes and mountains are the best place for Weng's family to live, and the locust trees are shaded and the wild paths are oblique", but when you walk, you suddenly see the vast sea and the magnificent seagulls flying, so you change the feeling that "three Wan Li rivers enter the sea and five thousand mountains climb skyscrapers". So, in an instant, you can express your feelings directly.

It didn't take long to walk out of Xinzhuang Garden and reach the underwater world. I went in to watch the sea lion show, visited the exhibition hall, and soon finished shopping. For me, the ocean park or underwater world in every city is similar, but children like it. As long as time permits, I will definitely take him to have a look.

Today's planned trip ends at two or three in the afternoon. My son and I decided to visit Longtou Road again, buy a notebook with Gulangyu characteristics and poke it in some favorite shops. Then, find a small shop that can send you postcards and send a postcard to yourself in Shanghai. After returning to Shanghai, I can receive a memory from Gulangyu.

After these two things, we walked back slowly, arrived at Regenerated Sea Restaurant at four or five o'clock, ordered the same food as last night, and had a delicious meal. Then, I walked back to the carambola yard for five minutes and went to the bar to pick up the luggage left before I left in the morning.

We bid farewell to the three or four waiters who provided us with various services these two days. They smiled and said goodbye to us. It was the waiter who took the suitcase from me that day and helped me carry two suitcases to the gate. My son and I dragged a box and waved goodbye to him. After a few steps, we turned around. He still looked at us at the door and waved at us hard. There was a sudden surge in my heart!

I silently told myself that this place, I will definitely come again, definitely!

We boarded the ferry from Gulangyu to Xiamen, and the ferry blew a few whistles, which took us away from this place that fascinated me deeply. The next trip to Xiamen, although also very happy, but in contrast, Gulangyu can touch my heart more. It is a warm, cordial and touching feeling.

The ferry is very crowded this evening, very crowded. After landing, I must quickly follow the crowd and leave the door of the engine room. However, even a female man, like me, has to pick up two suitcases and move out of the cabin door. At the same time, she has to hold her son's hand to avoid being squeezed by the crowd. She also has to take care of her feet and not trip over other people's luggage, which makes me feel helpless. At this time, the crowd has begun to surge forward. I was going crazy when I heard a clear voice in my ear, "Let me help you!" "I saw a girl of seventeen or eighteen, very handsome. She picked up the big box before I could answer. I think she should have made great efforts, and then helped me move it out of the ferry gate and put it at the door. She smiled at us and then turned and left. I thanked her loudly. Her back waved to me, but she didn't turn around. But I seem to feel the smile on her face.

I have been thinking, is it because of the fate of my last life that I built the boat crossing at this time?

After arriving in Xiamen, I still suffered from lazy cancer. On the first morning in Xiamen, I only went to Xiamen University, and spent most of my time sitting in a coffee shop halfway up the mountain, drinking coffee and watching the scenery. In the afternoon, I went to the Convention and Exhibition Center to take my son out to sea by sailboat, and then I went to Zeng Cuo An Village Village in the evening, the so-called place where Wen Qing must go. This is a full-day trip.

Xiamen Yi Rui Hotel, we live in a sea view room with a high floor, so we have a good view. Looking out of the window, we can see the whole Gulangyu Island opposite.

The next morning, I was awakened by the whistle, opened my eyes and suddenly didn't know where I was. It is said that many people will have this illusion when they wake up in hotels. I went to the window and opened the curtains. It turned out that there was a ferry whistling on the Peace Pier opposite the hotel. Gulangyu Island outside the window is beautiful and blurred, adding more mystery than when you are in it.

At the first stop in Xiamen, we went to Xiamen University. We just had a brief visit, but Xiamen University is indeed a very beautiful and distinctive university campus.

When we found a coffee shop halfway up the mountain, the trip to Xiamen University stopped here. On the mountainside, flowers are in full bloom, empty valleys are quiet, and the breeze is blowing gently, just like a paradise.

From Xiamen University, we called a taxi, arrived at the convention center and took our son to sail.

At the end of the sea, it is near dusk. Our last stop today came to Zeng Cuo An Village Village as promised. It is already full of lights and tourists.

Some small bars have also started to open, and the resident singers inside began to sing. I don't know why, it always sounds sad and vicissitudes.

Wandering all the way, I slowly saw its prosperity.

The next day, I walked from the hotel to Zhongshan Road and walked around. My son went to various shops to buy some strange things, and then returned to the hotel.

I called a taxi from the hotel and rushed to Xiamen Gao Qi Airport. The trip to Gulangyu and Xiamen ended perfectly.

When I return to Shanghai, I always think of the white kitten licking the empty plates in the carambola yard, the flowers blooming in the branches deep in the alley, the ferry ringing on the sea outside the window of Yi Rui Hotel, the breeze with carambola flavor blowing from the balcony of carambola yard, and the waiter waving to us at the gate of the yard. All kinds of pictures seem to have left a mark in my heart, which can never be erased.

And these beautiful things, it feels like it happened yesterday, and it seems to happen in a dream. I even wonder if it will be the reincarnation of past lives. . .

Then I understand that my heart has been lost, lost in that very beautiful island. . .