running into myself | Saturday in Shanghai

Yesterday, to celebrate the end of classes for the semester and the completion of a week of speaking exams, I spent Saturday in Shanghai, taking the 8:14 am train from Suzhou and returning the same evening. It makes a nice day trip; the express train only takes 25 minutes. The weather was cold, but the sun was out, but I still spent the whole day coughing from pollution. I just call it my “China cough.” When I returned to the USA last summer for 3 weeks, the cough disappeared after about 7 days.

I explored parts of the French Concession, a section of the city filled with old villas and many older buildings ranging in style from classical to art deco. I visited a French cafe and bakery, Farine, I’d just read about online. I had my first Kouign Amann, a Breton pastry, as well as a croque monsieur and a an espresso. The sunlight streaming through the front window took away the chill, as did the atmosphere and smells of the bakery. The breads looked tempting, but were quite expensive. Nearby was a Marseille wood-fired pizza restaurant that I’ll try next time I’m in town.

I next took the subway to the disappointing Tianzifang area, a traditional enclave of narrow alleys re-colonized by artists and craftspeople, but now tarted up as a tourist destination with upscale eateries, Hard Rock T-shirts, and quasi-artsy vibe. Then it was back to the central city, to walk along Fuzhou Road, one of my favorite areas, with bookstores, a shop specializing in Yixing teapots, and a pretty good foot massage place I frequent when I’ve been walking too much. Lunch was a Reuben sandwich at Tock’s Montreal smoked meat deli. The meat was delicious, but the sandwich couldn’t compare to my memory of Miller’s Pub on Wabash in Chicago. Now that was a Reuben. Oh yes, I visited V Coffee Roasters for a bag of almost-freshly-roasted beans. The coffee was a delicious way to start my day this morning.

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Curls and shadows, Shanghai French Concession

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Farine cafe and bakery, French Concession – home of authentic French baked goods. I read online that they import their flour from France. The espresso isn’t bad either.

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