Off the Toulouse lauTrack

Okay, bad jeux de mots, I know. I've returned to Toulouse from the Périgord region where I had a few rural days. Despite the rumours of the entire population of France being there for their summer holidays, I didn't find it that crowded or crazy.
I think I should get some form of honourable mention for being able to find my hotel on a back country road, in a small town I’d never visited before, in the dark. And after a harrowing 14 hour trip trying to get there from Barcelona.
My troubles started really the day before when the baggage handlers at the Barcelona airport went on strike. I wasn’t planning on taking the plane, but thousands who were headed off to the train station bought up every available ticket to Montpelier. This left me with the slow train to Cérbere (on the Spanish border) instead. There followed two more train trips (one sizzling hot) before I arrived in Toulouse. Being late, I decided to rent a car to get to Sarlat (my destination), but had another shut down with my credit card (see previous entry), phoned VISA and finally got the car at twice the cost (the other car was now gone so I had to take the last ginormous one with seating capacity for eighteen. There ensued a madcap drive though Toulouse and onto the French equivalent of the Autobahn (toll booths and all) all the while me not knowing how to put the car in reverse (should I need to). Finally, I stopped at a rest stop and asked some kindly Frenchman if he could show me how to put the car in reverse. Can you Imagine? Moi, ¨Escusez-moi Monsieur. Est-ce que vous m’aider? Je me sens trés stupide.¨ Humility 10: masculine pride 0.
The Dordogne Valley deserves at least three weeks of my full attention - it's so beautiful AND tasty. Had the best lunch of my lifetime at a café underneath a medieval castle (pictures to follow). There is a good reason why French cooking is considered the world's best.

Notes to Self

Things I did right on this trip:
Bought the Keen shoes (excellent choice)
Prebooked first part of trip
Packed light
worked on language skills
created web log
rented car when public transport became unreliable

Things I did wrong on trip:
Didn't notify bank of travel plans
Didn,t have adequate back up plan when they shut down ALL my cards
Should not have run rented car into tree

In conclusion:
I'm a little stressed, but reminding myself that no holiday is complete without a touch of the unknown. All is well.

Photos from BCN

Underconstruction since the 1880s, work continues with almost no end in sight. The Sagrada Familia defies all superlatives.

La Pedrera by Gaudi

Clever store front on Passieg de Gracia, one of the most fashionable streets in Barcelona.


Angels trumpet the nativity from the Sagrada Familia.

Humble nurse at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau.

A visit to the Sagrada Família

I overcame my touristophobia today by visiting the Sagrada Família (Holy Family Cathedral) promptly at 9 am when it opened. I like to call it the Sagrada Fromaggio on account of its sensuous food-like appearance. I will upload some pictures soon, but I know they won´t and can´t do justice to a live encounter with this building. It is one of the great masterpieces of Mankind without a doubt. I was reminded of my similar experience on visiting the Kennedy Space Centre - there can only be a few places of such significance on the planet and I am at one now. The Sagrada Família is something of a triple-bill attraction because it is now an old building (started in the 1880s), yet it is still under construction and will continue to be under construction for many more years. Who will be alive to see its official unveiling? This building is naturally very religious, but it is also a breath-taking homage to nature. The columns stretch up like tree branches and the ceiling filters dappled light like a canopy of leaves. All the stone is so alive and with images that are so simple and dear to everyday humans. On the nativity side, I suddenly caught sight of a little group of chickens (in stone of course). The bell towers are capped with bunches of fruit in mosaic patterns typical of Gaudí. I took the elevator up one of the bell towers, and then walked the circuitous route back down. A journey not for the faint of heart: tiny staircases, rather dark at times, with lots of verticals (up and down) and all the while, walking within feet of scaffolding and workers with noisy machines. Crazy. I promise to upload some of the harrowing pictures I took when I find a café that will allow me to do so.
Well, it´s 21:30 and almost time for dinner here in Barcelona.

A simile is like...

I decided today that I hate similes. And I don´t means these :}
Not that I needed to travel 1/4 way around the world to do learn to hate them, but be that as it may, I decided it today:
¨His eyes were dark like coal.¨
Boring! Simile is only one step removed from cliché. There must be a better way to describe things without simile.
¨He stared out from the depths of a coal shaft¨.
or
¨He stared with his coal miner eyes¨.
Another one:
¨We were like ships in the night.¨
Blech!
¨We passed one another, unchampioned and unchallenged - penants fluttering, canons quiet.¨

First day of school

The first day of my Creativity Workshop went by today with just a few hitches. Firstly, I was kind of shocked at the number of participants (about 30) and that they all appeared to be middle age primary school teachers. Not to cast aspersions, but I was imagining budding Salvador Dalis to be more attracted to a course like this. Also, brought up some delicate memories of being 11 or 12 and taking a decoupage course with momma, then only to have a similar group of women say, 'what's a boy doing here? He should be out playing hockey'. Yuck.
Well, be brave. There are many demons and monsters on the road to deep creativity. I just didn't imagine that they would be wearing stretchy jumpsuits and had left their husbands behind in Dayton, Ohio.

Alive and well in Cataluña

I´ve found an out-of-the-way web café in the east part of Barri Gotic (old town) that is quiet, cheap, and mostly free of tourists. Not that I hate tourists - I am one now! I just eshew all the hawking and commercialism that goes along with it. Took a stroll down La Rambla which pretty much amounts to a Tourist Ghetto. Tomorrow, I´ll revert to Plan A which is to get up really early before all the crazines gets started. Then I can grab some photos of this incredible city too.

First Glimpse of Barcelona

This is the view from my new home for the next 11 days. It's a tiny room (think Smart car, but as a hotel room), and it has this great balcony with a very funky view.

Blob from Toronto

My time in Toronto draws nigh, but I have a few choice photos to share and an anecdote or two. First of all, mother has been so interested in having me visit her new digs that you can imagine her disappointment that the day I finally arrive, something goes seriously wrong with the air conditioning system resulting in water pouring into the walls causing the paint to bubble, the parquet flooring to heave, and other damage to furnishings. Tristan, my nephew, and I moved the carpet from her bedroom to the balcony so it could dry and we've been in dialogue with the authorities to ensure her place is returned to perfection after I go. Here's an exciting picture of some of the damage:

I went for a walk with mamma down to the Portugese part of Toronto(me on foot, she on scooter), supped at this fine café.

Later, we strolled up Clinton Street past the row of five houses once owned by my Great-grandfather Hamly and spoke to a current tenant about their heritage and our family connection. They're tiny, but probably worth a fortune. I'd love to buy one and barge it to Vancouver - can you imagine?

Here's another of all the row of houses with the ubiquitous CN Tower presiding over them all.

My friend Charles gifted me with this flag for my European travels. Surely, I'll not be confused for one of those pesky American tourists armed with this. For the non-cognoscenti, this is the old Red Ensign (Canada), not the provincial flag of Ontario.

Love After Love

My friend Dean sent me this poem for my trip. He thought it would be appropriate to my Creativity Workshop and the adventure I'm embarking on. I found it extremely fitting...

LOVE AFTER LOVE
Derek Walcott

The time will come
When, with elation,
You will greet yourself arriving
At your own door, in your own mirror,
And each will smile at the other's welcome,

And say, sit here, Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
To itself, to the stranger who has loved you.

All your life, whom you ignored
For another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

The photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

From Risking Everything: 110 Poems of Love and Revelation
Edited by Roger Housden

Tommy Transit's 60th

My sister writes:

"Okay guys! Big news. CTV is going to cover our birthday surprise for Tom today!
They love the story of people waiting and greeting Tom at different bus stops on his route to wish him Happy 60th today. So please be there if at all possible!!
I just spoke to the producer on the phone and they would like people to be at the first stop where he starts his shift EARLY, so they can interview some of you. Bring your presents, cupcakes, party hats, blowers, whatever!! Of course it would also be good to have some people waiting at different stops on his route – the first run will be the one they are likely to film.
So: first stop is 5th Avenue eastside just before the Granville bridge. The bus loops up from 4th avenue, turns on Hemlock and immediate right on 5th Avenue. The #4 Powell bus goes to the bus stop there and that’s where Tom picks up his shift. His start time is 3:39 this afternoon..
Please be there EARLY – say 3;00 pm so they CTV crew can interview you. Producer’s name is Brent Gilbert.
Have fun. I’ll see if I can join you – but will have to leave work early and I’ve got a lot on my plate today. Let’s wish those rain clouds away for this afternoon!"

We were all there with balloons and sparkly things, I brought my accordion and we sang Happy Birthday for Tom and the news guys. Let's hope it makes the news.

On the wonder of children

At a garden party on Saturday, I meet the most adorable little girl. She was only four, but very wise in life experience. I walked around the garden smelling flowers with her.
Me: “What does this one smell like?”
She: “Poo.”
When I met her mother, I was surprised to find out the little girl’s name is Rory. I said to her mother, “I was sure she must be an Amelia”. She loved the name Amelia and decided that I had a knack for names. Being pregnant, she asked if I could think up a name if the new baby is a boy.
Later in the evening when I saw the mother I said, “I have a great boy’s name”. “Yes”, she responded expectantly. “Name him Lucifer. You can call him Luke for short”. She laughed and laughed.

News from Reinier

Reinier contacted me to congratulate me on my second place win in PhotoShop Contest for The Attack Begins submitted for the "Fireworks Needed" entry.
He also sent this photo...