
You genuflected outside the gothic cathedral
the day after I got officially old.
My nose was running and cold and
I turned from the great grey edifice
to see the only familiar face
for miles. On that face,
the expression I tried to capture:
irreverent yet strangely penitent,
maybe just tired from walking
or overwhelmed by unfamiliar vowels
or musing how new it feels to feel this old.
Tag Archives: travel
Yesterday I accidentally posted a blurb from my “about” page. (Serves me right for fiddling with stuff I don’t understand.) My apology comes in the form of a photo of FunkyPlaid at La Pedrera in Barcelona. And a sincere promise that more photos are on their way!
FunkyPlaid at La Pedrera.
We spied Gehry’s golden fish, or El Peix, on our stroll along the beach today.
Lunch on the Med. vine.co/v/bg0VYjzlpMB—
(@cygnoir) February 26, 2013
Gehry’s golden fish.
I wanted to share one of the many delightful things we have seen so far. This is one of the wild parrots (parakeets?) of Park Güell. My dSLR skills are quite rusty, but after post-processing this shot I’m getting excited about taking proper photos again.
Park parrot.
Getting older in Barcelona.
The noise of traffic just outside our window was so much louder than usual, a steady, slick pulse over the rasp of the rain. The cheery light of my phone reminded me of the date, which reminded me that I wasn’t in Edinburgh anymore at all. And then I remembered the night before, and the day before that, and the year before that, and it all got to be too much so I turned over and dozed off on the morning of my birthday in Barcelona.
The day before my birthday, I worked myself up over packing. We flew a budget airline that is notorious for its stringent carry-on baggage policies, and I had running gear and a camera to manage. In the end, I decided the camera was more important. We’ll be doing a fair bit of walking, and I’d be sad if I returned to Barcelona without a proper camera. I shoved everything into my laptop backpack (sans laptop) and that was that.
The flight was painless, and even on a mostly-full flight we were lucky enough to get a row to ourselves. Before long we were landing, through customs, on the shuttle, and navigating La Rambla on our way to our rental flat.
There was a bit of a snag with that, but our host accommodated us at his B&B in L’Eixample. With a view of the spires of La Sagrada Familia from the balcony. I’m not complaining.
This bed ate all of our sleep.
I am writing this in the breakfast nook, and this is my view.
And I have cheery budgies keeping me company as I finish my tea before today’s adventures.
There is also a Yorkie, but he bounds around too fast for me to capture him in a photo.
Last night we had our first tapas together. FunkyPlaid took lots of snaps, but I was too blissed-out to bother. As the clock turned midnight, we toasted with wine (so much wine) and felt deeply grateful for the opportunity to be in such a special place. Now to go explore it!






