TheRadicalReality

Truly a lot better than your worst thoughts.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Cositas to the air...

Para los que hablan ENGLISH...

"He used to leave home for school, every morning, around eight. He took the road by the highway, did a seven or eight minutes walk, and then reached the high school parking lot. A short little hike to fill his lungs with striking pure air, enjoy a few minutes of frozen time and sink in an incredible feeling of well being that shook him from head to toes, even when saggy eyes still marked his face and his mind kept fighting to overcome somnolence. In a way, he felt it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, as he had heard in his English class, just a few days ago. Yes, indeed, being that young, he felt life was worth every single minute. And the vision of that beautiful girl, approaching, by the same sidewalk, heading his direction, irrupted like the confirmation of the fact that things could always get even better.

She walked absorbed in thought - like she did every day-. She felt cold. Very cold. But a victim to her worries, she was not even able to decipher the shivering of her body, nor to search, among the thousand items of her handbag, for a simple scarf to fight the harshness of the weather. In her eyes, the gravel on the sidewalk, the houses on the sides, the huge trees outlining the road, everything, absolutely everything, melted in just one senseless constant blur. Her thoughts, had she wanted to hang with them, for just a moment of her particular trance, held the same threat that trying to jump on a spinning wheel, while still moving. When he crossed her view, like every morning, he said hello. Like every morning, too, she didn’t even notice him."


And now in ESPANOL too...
"Cada ma?ana, alrededor de las ocho, él salía de casa, cogía el camino que bordeaba la carretera y, después de siete u ocho minutos, alcanzaba los estacionamientos de la escuela. Un breve trayecto durante el cual el aire le invadía los pulmones con una pureza inaudita, los minutos parecían congelarse y una increíble sensación de bienestar sacudía todo su cuerpo; incluso cuando las ojeras continuaban marcándole los ojos y la mente seguía luchando por superar la somnolencia. En cierto modo, it was the best of times, it was the worse of times, como había escuchado en su clase de literatura inglesa, hacia sólo unos días. Sí, la vida, para sus pocos a?os, todavía era algo que valía la pena. Y la visión de aquella hermosa chica, caminando en sentido contrario, por la misma acera, irrumpía como la confirmación de que las cosas, aún, podían ser mejores.

Ella caminaba absorta, como cada día. Sentía frío. Mucho frío. Pero presa de sus preocupaciones, su cerebro era incapaz de decodificar los temblores de su cuerpo y rebuscar, entre las mil cosas de su bolso, por una simple bufanda para atenuar las inclemencias del tiempo. Frente a sus ojos, la gravilla de la acera, las casas del camino, los imponentes árboles que marcaban la senda, todo, absolutamente todo, se fundía en un barrido constante y sin sentido. Sus pensamientos, si es que en algún momento de su particular trance hubiera querido detenerse en ellos, encerraban la misma amenaza que intentar subir a una rueda giratoria, en pleno movimiento. Al pasar frente a sus ojos, como todas las ma?anas, él le dijo “hola”. Como todas las ma?anas, también, ella ni siquiera le vió."


Monday, November 28, 2005

Bolero-mood

Bésame,
bésame mucho...
Cómo si fuera esta noche,
la última vez...

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Chapter Numero Uno...

OK.
Finally!!!
A bit about what my vacations were like…

ON THE ROAD TO VENICE…
I left for Venice by the mid of November. The original target of our visit was Berlin, but given the fact that Mrs G and I had at our disposal two weeks of uninterrupted holidays together, we thought it wouldn’t hurt us at all to do a few stops before getting to Germany. This settled, budget minded, of course, we looked for the more convenient option to suit our purposes. And it came out to be a flexible “europass” bus ticket that would allows us several different connections between 30 European cities, within a 15 days period, for the very reasonable price of 236 euros (each). Not that we were going to need more than 4 or 5 connections. But at that price there were no two thoughts about it… At least until we got on the bus and did the 18 hours!!! ride from Barcelona to Venice and we started to remember (especially our delicate butts) why is it that traveling by bus with Eurolines coaches sucks:
- The seats are great, if you are a 12 years old kid’s size;
- You cannot reserve numbered seating (so we had to do a significant part of that first trip separated);
- For some weird reason, through the night, drivers stop every two hours for coffe breaks, thus making it impossible for anyone to just fall deeply asleep and forget about the tiny, painful seats…
The one good thing about all this (not counting the price), any place you finally arrive to after a ride like this you are bound to like it!!! Make that place Venice and then you are in rapture. (if you ever hear about Mrs G dumping me, do not be surprised if anything related to my travel preferences comes out in the conversation)

Anyway, we arrived to Venice. And what can I say about it...
I’m not sure how other people who’ve been to Venezia feel, but I just think I can’t describe it without feeling ridiculously far from the impressions I felt (and ridiculous, in general, just at the attempt).
Whoever thought of building a city that looks as if it were floating on the sea??? Who were the first brilliant minds that saw in a bunch of lonely islands the dreamlike city Venice would turn into??? Because Venice is not just a city built full of beautiful channels and intricate dark alleys (there are other places in the world that would also match that feeble description)… Far from that, Venice emerges from the water only the way The Atlantida would… Majestic, mysterious, often decrepit, but yet so astonishingly elegant, beautiful and captivating… A magic place that sinks deep into the most glorious past and, unbelievably, seems to be born again, every day, plethoric of life and new vibrant energy… Thanks the God I don’t believe in that it wasn’t high season and the place wasn’t crowded with tourists (Italy’s number one plague)… And yet, I doubt even all the tourists of the world could ruin a place than more than a city seems a divine creation…



Again, I repeat, where can I begin to tell without feeling ridiculous … Palaces, channels, monuments, gondolas, vaporettos are all there for real and, luckily, immortalized in million of pictures for the world to see… But Venice is such a surreal display of unlimited marvels in every single detail and every single corner that it becomes also impossible to try to conceive it as a universe of separated elements… Did I like Piazza San Marco??? Of course I did… Did I walk through Rialto Bridge? Sure… Did I take a vaporetto to cruise the Grand Canal? Most certainly… But… Did I enjoy these experiences more than a cigarette sitting by one the countless old water wells and piazzas??? Did I enjoy them more than having a bottle of grappa at night, talking with my girl on any of the stairs and passages leading to the dark and lost water channels??? Did I like the breathtaking statues and amazing building facades better than going into small run down bars, where old Venetian men had their red wine glass with one foot on the bar and the other on the outside, so that they could have a cigarette and not break the law that forbids them to smoke in public places??? Is there anything I enjoyed more than just simply admiring the beauty of simple things like iron window holders or door knockers???? YES!!! NO!!! TRULY, I HAVEN’T GOT THE FAINTEST IDEA… Venice confused my senses and it had me walking though its maze of waterways and alleys like an enchanted zombie in love… So much ordinary and extraordinary beauty than it hurts just trying to remember…

TO BE CONTINUED (AS SOON AS POSSIBLE)

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

TheRadicalReality

Just for info sake of anybody thinking I'm still on vacation or maybe that I could have passed away...
I got back to Barcelona about 10 days ago, but I've had no time to sit in front of a PC and write without being interrupted either by work or other life events...
Hope I can share impressions of my trip ASAP...
In general, the summary is I had a great time...
I'll try to catch up with all your lives as soon as I get a chance.
Not that anybody would care, but I'll let you know for now that I've grown a beard (wow! that's what I call a surprise!)

:)