sweet sorrow

it is said that parting is a sweet sorrow. i have to agree.

tonight we had our last family supper together. we enjoyed shrimp, squid, stuffed eggplant, marinated then fried chicken, tomato mozzarella olive "skyscrapers," bread and white wine.

after supper a few friends came over to have a glass of cava (spain's champagne, very good) and bid me farewell.

santanet, natalia's partner, made me a mask. it is of his face and painted with gold and it is beautiful.

vanesa gave me her latest painting: Medusa. it is amazing. i can't wait to get home and frame and hang it. looking at it will make me happy.

my eyes are tearful and my feelings are mixed. today has been bittersweet.

tomorrow morning we go to the airport in barcelona. i head to jfk in new york and then to chicago's ohare airport. tomorrow night i will sleep in my chicago bed.

i miss my friends and family in chicago a ton, but i am very unready to leave my friends and family here. ay, ay.

august will be fabulous. i'll keep you posted.

Paris

i spent the weekend in paris. my aunt irene from california is there on vacation and she invited me to join her for a few days. she is vacationing with a friend whose daughter has been living in paris for the past 3+ years.

we had a fabulous time. we did an historic walking tour, visited some museums, churches and cathedrals, did a boat tour on the seine, ate lots of cheese and drank some wine.

my aunt and i got the chance to know each other better.

i took almost 300 photos. since the advent of the digital camera it is super easy to just click away. i am now tasked with sorting through the images and selecting the best to share with you.

in the evening the eiffel tower is illuminated. on top of that, at the top of every hour it literally sparkles for 5 minutes. photos simply don't do it justice.

there is so much to do and see and eat in paris that 3 days don't even begin to do it justice. however, at least now i have had a taste and know that i like it. someday i hope to go back to see and learn more.

for now, i am back in celrá for a few days until my vacation comes to an end and i return to chicago. i must admit that i am reluctant to leave. i love it here in catalunya.

i do also love all of my friends and family in chicago and i will be seeing you all very soon. for those of you waiting for postcards, i am sure that i will arrive before anything else...and i hope you weren't expecting a spanish stamp.

photo gallery

a myriad of photos from various excursions and experiences in Catalunya and southern France. i believe that if you click on the photo it will take you to the picasa web album.

23-27 junio

avignon road trip

last weekend vanesa, her mother carmen, and i did a road trip up the coast into the south of france (the border is about 55 kilometers from here). our final destination was avignon, to visit the town and view an exhibit of the art of Miquel Barceló.

along the way we made several stops. the first was in a town called Cèret where we wandered through a local market, signed a protest against bull fighting, and stopped in at the museum to take in some art. the featured exhibit was works by an artist by name of jean-pierre pinceman.
the permanent collection features many famous names including Chagall, Gris, Matisse and many more. there is a decent sized collection of Picasso's ceramics (more than on display in the museé picasso in barcelona).

from here we made our way up to the town of Sète for lunch. the waterway runs through town, somewhat reminiscent of venice, or so they claim. after lunch we walked for a while and we stopped into a bar for a coffee and to watch the argentina v germany match. my hostesses are from girona by way of argentina by way of girona. vanesa was born in argentina; her mother was born here. the french were all for germany. we left at the half, when argentina was down 0-1.

next we stopped in a town called Aigues-Mortes. here we wandered through the narrow streets of a fortress and stopped for a beer. by this time we had learned that argentina had failed miserably in its attempt to progress in the copa mundial; the final score was 0-4 for germany.

we went on to Arles to find a hotel, shower and look for supper. unfortunately, this particular weekend was that of their town festival, so all rooms were booked. we continued on towards avignon, and there we finally found a hotel, showers and food.

the next morning we set out to view the Barceló exhibit, which was actually parceled into three buildings: the Palais des papes, the Museé du petit palais and the Collection lambert en avignon. at one point in history (i believe it was the 14th century) the papacy fled rome to avignon. inside a section of this palace was installed part of the Barceló exhibit. his creations were everywhere, including some placements of masks on the heads of some of tombs. this was quite cool and fun. apparently barceló was following in the footsteps of picasso by exhibiting here.


the exhibits continued with a small selection in the petit palais and an extensive collection of paintings in the Lambert collection (no cameras allowed).

after sating ourselves with good art, we grabbed some sandwiches and hit the road back home.

unfortunately, we all wound up with colds. summer colds are no fun and i'm having a particularly difficult time kicking mine. i thought it was on its way out and today it decided to move back in full force. erg.
i have to kick it because this weekend vanesa and i are going to cadaqués...

bp oil slick

my friend Ellen is volunteering with clean up in Alabama. this is a link to her blog.

http://cleaningupafterbp.blogspot.com/


i know that i owe an update on my doings and i am working on it. i managed to catch a cold and was down for the count for a full day. i have my energy back, but with energy come full days.

besos.

barcelona

i spent another couple of days in barcelona visiting museums and such. it was very hot, but i had a good time. i went alone and stayed with a friend of vanesa's. i spent the days museum hopping and the evenings chatting over beers and sandwiches. the couch i slept on was only about half as long as i am, but i happily managed.

i visited La Pedrera (Casa Milá, by Gaudí) and la Fundació Tápies the first day.



the pedrera is amazing. above you can see the building from the street and here some of the sculptures on the roof. the self guided tour takes one through an exhibit about the building and about gaudí's approach and style. one then goes to the roof to experience an amazing view of the city, alongside the amazing view of the roof. there are organic sculptures and terraces throughout. then there is a tour of an apartment inside the building (no longer occupied). this is a truly amazing building.

the exhibits at the tápies museum were interesting. there was an exhibit of eva hesse that was built around her studio works - basically smaller studies and experiments, some finished and others not.
the second exhibit was called alma matrix and it featured the work of two artists unknown to me: Bracha L. Ettinger and Ria Verhaeghe.


the second day i went to the Fundació Miró, the Museu Picasso and the church of Santa Maria del Mar.

i was not disappointed at the fundació miró. i was greeted at the entrance by this sculpture.
inside and on the roof there is a very complete collection of miró's work, donated by himself, family and friends. there are also donations of artwork by many of his friends and there is a gallery that is dedicated to such works.

the museu picasso was mobbed so i was not super excited to be there. they have expanded it since i was last here and they now include some of his ceramic work. i wish there was more of his sculpture. i also remember that last time i was there his work was display in a manner that gave a better insight (for me anyway) into his evolution as an artist and what life experiences had particularly inspired and influenced him.

the church of santa maria del mar is impressive, as are most of the churches and many other buildings in this area.


tomorrow vanesa, her mother carmen, and i are going on a road trip. we are following the coast up to avignon, france. there is an exhibit of miquel barceló's work in avignon. we'll stop in a couple of groovy towns along the way and we are probably going to dine and sleep in sète. this should be fabulous!