16 December 03
Back From Spain
Numenius and I arrived back late last night after almost 24 hours of travelling. Sorry for the blank page on Feathers of Hope for the last few days; we will be working on altering some settings.
I lived in Spain from 1964, when Franco was in full throttle, until 1979, and my parents stayed there another ten years. I haven’t been back for nearly fifteen years. Spain has prospered very obviously from membership in Europe. The infrastructure is unrecognizable, particularly the excellent and inexpensive train network. Building is going on everywhere, barely regulated, at an almost frenzied rate. But otherwise things are much the same: most people still smoke (though black tobacco seems to be going away), party hard, love life.
We were there to attend a baptism, and I’ll be writing more about this (and a lot else) later. For now, I’ll just sit with the smell that greeted us when we exited the terminal building at Madrid-Barajas: hard to define, yet so completely “Spain.” It was astonishing: garlic and tobacco were certainly there, plus the omnipresent smog, but other things too. Really good coffee, for instance (new, and horrifying, arrivals include Starbucks and MacDonald’s…). I might suggest a “Smell of Place” topic to the
Photos to come soon. It’s great to be home, though.
- Welcome back! Looking forward to seeing some photos. I love Spain and have been there many times – to the cities and interior, not to the holiday resorts. Haven’t visited for a while though. More recently than fifteen years. It must have been quite an experience for you to visit after all that time. And yes, Starbucks and MCTrash should be on their way to Tikrit and Basra by now….— Coup de Vent 16. December 2003, 05:31 Link
- dear friends, i disappeared into the big hole of the fall quarter, and when i came out learned about your trip to spain. i am happy to see your back. lets get together one of this days, before the year is over! :-) hugs!— Fer 16. December 2003, 07:20 Link
- Welcome home! Was strange checking your site every now and then and just seeing that one last entry of yours. Any plans for the winter holidays?— butuki 16. December 2003, 18:00 Link
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