LEAP!

Photo collage by me. Click on the image and the link will take you to flickr where you can click on the "all sizes" icon to see a bigger version.

So this is how I've been distracting myself from my unlucky house hunt... I've been fascinating and exhilarating my brain with TED videos and comic theorist, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. I've been experimenting with ways of combining photos and text to create stories or capture moments/feelings. I'm still in the infancy/experimental phase but so far I'm really enjoying the ride. It reminds me of how important it is for creative people to fight for their creative space, even during the times when life crap looms large. Perhaps we especially need to create in stressful times. Creating for me is both my fuel and my salve and I'd be lost without it.

A Weekend Sojourn in the Huescan Pyrenees

We leave Madrid in the late afternoon, drive through the night, stopping in Jaca for a couple of beers before arriving at our lodgings in the dark. On Saturday morning, we wake up to this pleasant view of Escarrilla:

After breakfast, we drive, weaving along the mountain roads with the top down and the wind in our hair. Ahh... the fresh air is sweet and my lips curl into a smile

We stop to here to hike a little and look at the slim waterfall and the lake.

We drive to Lanuza to swim and get our ankles nibbled by little fish.

We bask in the sun and soak up the picturesque landscape.

We visit Sallent de Gallego, a charming mountain village nestled in the Pyrenees.

Saturday night, we drive to the touristy town of Jaca, half an hour away, and drink hard in a rock bar with a foosball table, iconic rock posters, framed fuzzy handcuffs and 'an altar' to the gods of rock 'n' roll (think Elvis dolls and skulls) behind the bar. Our indulgence in Jaca leads to resaca (a hangover) and so we are slow moving and sore in the cabeza on our return to Madrid on Sunday.

On our way back, we visit the mountain village of Piedrafita and despite my resaca, I am charmed by the pretty doors, stone buildings and streets.

All photos taken by me.

By the time we arrive back in Madrid, I am exhausted and my head still hurts. Although the trip was absolutely worth it, I think it's a bit far for only a weekend sojourn. I wish I could have stayed a week! Oh well. It was still a wonderful trip with wonderful companions, a lot of laughs and more Spanish spoken than I could possibly understand. That's right, this trip consisted of 3 Spanish people and me and so it was an intensivo immersion for me and my terrible Spanish! Apparently, there are no language barriers in the pursuit of fun. Fortunately, they could all speak English so my head didn't explode from Spanish overload and my inability to express myself in Castellano.

On a side note: one of the girls on the trip asked me how tall the Rockies were in comparison to the Pyrenees and I was ashamed to tell her that I didn't know the answer. Some Canadian eh?! Rest assured I googled it when I got home. As I suspected, the Canadian Rockies are taller (highest elevation: 3,954 m) than the Pyrenees (highest elevation: 3,404 m). The highest point in the whole Rocky Mountain range however is Mount Elbert in Colorado at 4,401 m.

Mid-week day trip to Chinchón

As we walked into the town we were greeted by a couple local big heads. The men attending the heads were disarmingly friendly and accommodating.

The clock tower

Chinchón's famed rounded and green balconied Plaza Mayor with a bullring installed centre stage in time for the fiesta.

Photos of matadores and bullfights lined the walls of the restaurant where we enjoyed a meal of chulettas de cordero - a rustic lamb stew.

The portico walk way surrounding the plaza.

An old door in the plaza.

Chilies, corn and garlic hanging in a quaint shop that seemed to belong to another time.

Local señora selling produce on the street.

An entrance mural to a restaurant.

Vista of the town's tile rooftops and a castle in ruins on the hill.

All photos taken by me.

Chinchón is a medieval town 50 km southeast of Madrid. Goya and Orson Welles both loved the place. Goya spent time painting here and Welles filmed scenes from Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story in the town. Word has it that Welles liked to have his anis shots in the morning with the locals, and enjoyed the food and the bullfights. Chinchón is well-known for its Anis (aniseed liqueur) which, unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to sample. Ahhh, next time. Chinchón is a popular excursion for Madrileños who want to spend the day strolling and having a traditional lunch and I can see why - it is a friendly and pleasant place with plenty of rustic charm.

Escape to Atazar

Views of Embalse de Atazar, also known as "the sea of Madrid," near the town of El Berrueco, which is north of Madrid. Built in 1972 during the dictatorship of Franco, this is Madrid's largest reservoir.

We find our spot away from the crowds

and enjoy a siesta.

Later, we head to the town of Atazar to enjoy the miradores and have a chat at a local bar. Below is a photo of the bell tower of the town's the old church.

All photos taken by me.

I've had a crazy week looking for a new home. My male underwear model landlord has returned to the flat unexpectedly and despite our verbal agreement that I was going to rent the room for a year, he has decided to kick me out 3 weeks after I've moved in and use my room as an extra closet for his things! "I'm very sorry," he said, "but I have many things... I need the room for September..." Qué chungo! Qué mala leche! So since Monday, I've scoured rental ads on 3 websites 7x a day, I have posted want ads on 3 websites, I've let all my FB friends know I'm looking, I've sent and received 60+ emails, I've sent and received dozens of text messages, I've made and received many phone calls, I've seen 10 places... all have been unsuitable for one reason or another. Needless to say, I was exhausted and really needed to get out of the city. Very lucky for me, a new friend happened to be going on an excursion and invited me along so I got my much needed respite. Thanks Amaya, you're an angel!

Once I have an ending for the story of my search for a new home, I'll write a post about my adventures.

Fiesta de Lavapies begins earlier than expected

Photo of the dragon sized bbq grill, a posh newcomer to bohemian Lavapies's San Lorenzo Fiesta, taken by me.

Celebration of the barrio's patron saint, San Lorenzo, usually begins the weekend before the 10th of August, the actual saint day. So I was quite surprised to see the trucks and stalls being set up as I walked down calle Argumosa on Saturday (Aug 1st).

The smell of cooking churros and meat flooded me with memories of 1 am jaunts for churros dipped in chocolate, skewers of bbq meat for dinner and drinking mojitos on the street with someone who is no longer available for such spontaneous outings and that filled me with sadness - sorrow once again climbed on my back and took me for a trot around town.

Fortunately on Sunday, a girl friend and I went to the fiesta together and we had a very lovely evening talking about men, art, life and spanish idiosyncrasies over sangria and skewered bbq meat. I formed new memories to layer over the the old ones and soften the sting. And I suppose that's one way to cope with living in a place that's haunted by people who have left. You make new friends and new memories so that a new collage of a place is created.

Scenes from last year's fiesta: An August night, Dancing in the streets of Lavapiés

after enough beers, someone inevitably ends up with flashing blinky glasses

Photo taken by me at the Gato Verde in Lavapies on one of many farewell drinking nights with my friends who left us for the land of kangaroos.

It common for wandering hawkers to bar hop with their wares in bundles. Some of them are quite pesky! Usually it's roses, sometimes jewelry but recently blinky neon glasses and blinky lights of all types have been making the rounds. Bruce, featured in the montage above, decided it would be very amusing indeed to sport a pair at 3 am. I thought it very amusing indeed to capture the moment. I think it highlights the spirit of lightness we enjoyed that night. ja ja.

I never think about it

Photo collage by me.

Yesterday I worked on a collage for 2 hours and forgot the mantra of 'save and save often'. So of course, the program crashed as I was putting on a finishing touch. In an inopportune instant, my work disappeared into the scrambled bit and bytes, 1s and 0s of my computer's memory. I tried to look for it but couldn't find any temp files. So today, I began anew, freshly inspired by images I've seen online and research I've been doing on the interaction between images and words. I'm really pleased with this collage, I like it better than the one I lost. So maybe it's a creative godsend that my previous collage vanished so I could create this one from the wisps.

This month has been a hard patch for goodbyes. In fact, I'm going to yet another farewell party of two good friends tonight. Friends and a lover have moved or are moving on to new adventures and so I fluctuate between staying in the now and being flooded by memories of days gone by. Nostalgia is creeping in from the corners of my mind...

Buen viajes mis amigos... you will be remembered and missed.

Ephemeral

photo collage by me.

been getting some positive feedback on this type of image so i've been playing, creating, tweaking and seeing where it takes me.

this image is perhaps a reflection of the mood i'm in. i've been practicing acceptance that all things are ephemeral, so i should enjoy the moments i have NOW for the only constant in this life is change.

“Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone” Jorge Luis Borges

smile

Lavapies Street Art Collage: photographed, compiled and manipulated by me.

El Señor Juez on the Run

Captured by me on Calle Embajadores.

Also from this batch: Our Lady of the Wooden Door, What's New Pussy Cat, Say, PATATAS! , Stalking Beauty

Stalking Beauty

Taken by me just off Calle Embajadores.

Also from this batch: Our Lady of the Wooden Door, What's New Pussy Cat, Say, PATATAS!

Say, PATATAS!

Taken by me just off Calle Embajadores.

Also from this batch: Our Lady of the Wooden Door, What's New Pussy Cat?

What's New Pussy Cat?

Photo taken by me while wandering along Calle Embajadores.

I'm disconcertingly terrible with directions unless I have a map. In the past, M has been the navigator on our excursions and so in my new life as a 'gata who walks alone', I decided to be brave, wander and get lost. While lost in the labyrinth streets, I didn't reach for my map. I took deep breaths and trusted that I'd eventually get to a sign or a landmark I'd recognize. And I did. And so I found my way back home all on my own. A proud moment for me. Along the way I discovered a cache of street art I'd never seen before and so became inspired once again to shutterbug. For the next few posts, I'm going to share with you the fruits of this walk about.

Also from this walk: Our Lady of the Wooden Door

Our Lady of the Wooden Door

Photo taken by me while wandering along Calle Embajadores.

when you gotta go, you gotta go...

This photo was taken by me at Monte Igueldo amusement park in Donostia. The gnome in the centre is taking care of business while his buddies look the other way. What a bizarre sight. Though the toadstool hasn't got a nose to smell the aroma, from the look on its face (cross eyed and mouth agape ) it's about to swoon from the release of gnome stools.

A closer look...

Keep It Under Wraps

Break ups can sometimes leave you feeling like a fatten slaughtered suckling pig flopped in the butcher's window... but you'd better keep it under wraps for there is truth in Ms Ella Wheeler Wilcox's words:

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone. For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, But has trouble enough of its own."

There is sunshine upon her sorrow

This photo was taken by me in the Cemetery of Montjuïc, Barcelona.

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."
Kahlil Gibran

Endings

"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."
Kahlil Gibran

M has returned to his hometown and I now journey solo.

Happy Canada Day, Eh!

Dear Canada,

Today while reading these love letters to you, I missed your faces, your curves, your diverse foliage, your canoes, your loons, your multicultural acceptance of everyone who adopts you. I longed for the ease in which I can communicate with the average Joe - so different from the floundering I do here in an attempt to get the average Jose to understand me. I was reminded how much I identify with your cultural values, your inclusive pluralism. I am tremendously proud to be canoe-loving, poutine-eating Canadian and today I am a little homesick for your wide open spaces... with distance, passion grows more sentimental and this love letter is a rosy goggled melody sung by an expat who is far from the place they call home. But my adventures abroad continues so for now I can only send you besos upon besitos and toast to your health.

Yours true, strong and free,

Shehani