Train Ride To Anywhere

One of the things on our long list of Summer To Do's is to ride the train with the kids - the Light Rail, specifically. The kids have ridden the MRT in Singapore countless times, but I don't imagine that Kate remembers much of it. But Jenna and Emily do - at least enough to know that train rides are fun. Today we finally did it - and although we didn't care where we rode it to,

we decided that maybe somewhere was better than anywhere, so we got off at the downtown Farmers' Market on Nicollet Mall.

I used to frequent that pretty street when I lived downtown/by the river as a carefree single/engaged person - so it was a nice revisit now that I had three smalls with me and one stroller. Not quite so free to stop in at every high-end department store to check out their shoe selection, for instance, but much more fun.

We walked by all the stands, deciding what sorts of things we wanted to buy (and eat). The kids were amazed that they could find Target, Walgreens, real department stores and familiar chain eateries all within a stone's throw of the market stalls. And all in one street. We gawked at the towering skyscrapers, pretending that we'd never seen anything like them before. Emily, whose first words upon entering the train were, "It smells like an airplane! I feel like I'm in an airplane!", now said of the market, "It feels like Singapore! I'm homesick for Singapore!".

It started to drizzle a little when we got to the end of the row of tents, so we turned around and ducked into the Barnes and Noble ("Wow, Mum - there's even a Barnes and Noble here! And it has an upstairs! Can we ride the escalator?") for tea. We sat and shared cheesecake, a gigantic sugar shortbread cookie and lemonade. And I had tea. We talked and took turns to throw wadded up paper balls into the trash can, just to see how the revolving lid worked. And waited for the drizzle to stop.

Then out we went again, picked plums for Dad, grapes for Kate and Jenna, and teeny tomatoes for Emily. And Jenna chose that bouquet of flowers for Mum (who paid for it). And overstayed our welcome at the salsa stand. Kate held one precious green grape in her little hand all the way back to the train station - "my save it for the train ride".

Then back to the Megamall station by train (some of us napped), and then home by car.

What a very fun day. We must do this again- maybe in the winter when the streets are decked out in lights and snow and we can look in the store windows and get all excited about Christmas. I miss shopping on foot, walking down street after street, stopping at little cafes for hot chocolate, and watching the world go by. Here in the suburbs we spend far too much time driving everywhere. I miss living downtown (or in the city, really). And it somehow feels wrong to drive downtown in our suburban minivan and park along the street just to be there. But today, though, by train and on foot - it felt just right.