STUPID VOLCANO!!!

Forgive me if I vent for a while...

BUT DAMN THAT STUPID VOLCANO IN ICELAND THAT'S KEEPING MY SISTER AWAY!!!

I'm currently in the midst of a big family reunion in Mallorca... a twin communion and a sweet little baptism... and my sister's stuck in London! Grounded due to that massive cloud of volcanic ash high up in the atmosphere that's made almost all of northern Europe into a NO-FLY zone...

Check out this map from BBC news:

Extent of the volcanic "ash" cloud from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8623534.stm

It's created a lot of chaos, with stranded travellers, holidays cancelled, and I'm guessing low attendance at tomorrow's state funeral for the Polish President and his wife who died in a plane accident last week... Mother Nature making herself felt in all her glory! And in Iceland the government has asked people not to go near the volcano to "check it out", I'll admit if I lived there I'd be tempted! :p

7 years living in a city surrounded by volcanoes, never any problems, and now this thing in another country is screwing with our lives! 'tis indeed a small world! One volcano in Iceland starts acting up, and European air transport gets paralysed.

Sigh!!! Stupid atmospheric currents...

My sister would definitely prefer spending time with this:

than "stuck" in her flat in London...

Primer aniversario

"Es muy peligroso, Frodo, cruzar la puerta. Vas hacia el Camino y si no cuidas tus pasos no sabes d�nde te arrastrar�n. �No entiendes que este camino atraviesa el Bosque Negro, y que si no prestas atenci�n puede llevarte a la Monta�a Solitaria?"

Hoy hace un a�o que escrib� la primera entrada de este blog. Fue el primer paso de un viaje que, contra lo que yo pod�a imaginar en aquel momento, contin�a. Y no es del todo casual que hable de pasos, viajes y caminos en esta entrada aniversario, no; por si alguien todav�a no se ha dado cuenta, el propio nombre del blog hace referencia a cierta canci�n de La leyenda de la ciudad sin nombre...

Exacto. Al fin y al cabo, no sab�a muy bien hacia d�nde habr�an de llevarme mis propios pasos pero tampoco me preocupaba demasiado. Como los girasoles, mis ideas girar�an hacia aquello que llamara mi atenci�n en cada momento. Muchas veces tambi�n, y eso s� que lo ten�a m�s o menos claro, girar�an entorno a sue�os, recuerdos, reflexiones, etc. que ocupan o alguna vez ocuparon mi mente. Y de ah� viene el subt�tulo que define este blog: Nuestros sue�os son nuestra �nica vida real, frase atribuida a Fellini, que suscribo casi por completo, y que hice �nica gu�a de esta bit�cora personal. �Qui�n sabe hacia d�nde me seguir� llevando este Sol errante? Ya veremos. ;)

Primer aniversario

"Es muy peligroso, Frodo, cruzar la puerta. Vas hacia el Camino y si no cuidas tus pasos no sabes d�nde te arrastrar�n. �No entiendes que este camino atraviesa el Bosque Negro, y que si no prestas atenci�n puede llevarte a la Monta�a Solitaria?"

Hoy hace un a�o que escrib� la primera entrada de este blog. Fue el primer paso de un viaje que, contra lo que yo pod�a imaginar en aquel momento, contin�a. Y no es del todo casual que hable de pasos, viajes y caminos en esta entrada aniversario, no; por si alguien todav�a no se ha dado cuenta, el propio nombre del blog hace referencia a cierta canci�n de La leyenda de la ciudad sin nombre...

Exacto. Al fin y al cabo, no sab�a muy bien hacia d�nde habr�an de llevarme mis propios pasos pero tampoco me preocupaba demasiado. Como los girasoles, mis ideas girar�an hacia aquello que llamara mi atenci�n en cada momento. Muchas veces tambi�n, y eso s� que lo ten�a m�s o menos claro, girar�an entorno a sue�os, recuerdos, reflexiones, etc. que ocupan o alguna vez ocuparon mi mente. Y de ah� viene el subt�tulo que define este blog: Nuestros sue�os son nuestra �nica vida real, frase atribuida a Fellini, que suscribo casi por completo, y que hice �nica gu�a de esta bit�cora personal. �Qui�n sabe hacia d�nde me seguir� llevando este Sol errante? Ya veremos. ;)

Semana Santa: Domingo de Ramos en Elche

Palm Sunday. Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey while a festive populace laid palms down at his feet. In many Spanish cities a "procesi�n" is held commemorating this joyous day, with a figure of Jesus on a donkey being carried through the city on the shoulders of the faithful, to the sound of marching bands and the murmur (for Spaniards can rarely ever be quiet!) of the people walking either ahead, behind or watching from the sides. Most carry white palms as a symbol of participation in the ritual, some simple tall leaves from palm trees, others more elaborately twisted or woven together into a lovely design or even a "sculpture" of sorts.

keep reading!

Tag My Tenth Photo Meme

I've been TAGGED!!! (insert big round eyes and scared face here)

OOPS!

I've been really bad these past several months with awards (I promise I haven't forgotten! they're all bookmarked! someday...) or memes... but this one seemed quick and easy. Jono over at e-clecticism has instructed me to open my first photo folder and insert here the 10th photo with a note. Now I've never been very good at following rules... and that iphoto folder contains the pix from my housewarming party in Belgium and some friends would never forgive me if they saw the light of day! That and they're grainy (dark, from a friend's not great camera). So I'm going to mix things up by putting up the first photo in my tenth album which was taken from a zodiac while being transported from ship to shore:

Weddell seals basking on an ice cube in the Antarctic sun

Those blubbery individuals basking on the ice cube are Weddell seals, named after a British sealing captain over a century ago. If you click on the photo for a bigger view you can just make out a couple of tuxedoed fellows on the dirty ice in the background -Adelie penguins-, and above them some odd looking structures that are part of the French Dumont D'Urville base in Antarctica (the place where "March of the Penguins" was filmed)... I really need to tell you guys about my polar adventures some day, don't I? 'cause that's really not one of the better photos in that album... ;o)

Now it's time to pass on the torch! Five new victims get to go digging in their photo archives... who shall it be? Must be someone whom I know takes pictures regularly...

*rubs hands together while cackling wickedly*

And the "winners" are:

• Lily from Blahwg! Life on, and off, the farm shares her first Valentine from her grandaughters!
• DJan from D-Jan-ity * shares a sky-diving wedding!
• Travel and Dive Girl from Journey & Adventure* (no cheating! I want a photo taken by you not your hubby!!!) proves she knows how to use a camera and shows off some windmills on a sunny island!
• Rain from Rainy Days
• Rhonda from Shellbelle's Tikki Hut (if she's finished with her move and has time to check her blog)

...and anyone else who thinks this idea might be fun! feel free to join in! :o)


update: an * indicates I've edited the links so they go directly to the "10th photo" Blog Posts for those who decided to participate so whoever's curious can go Blog-Hopping in search of elusive "10th photos"! :p

Ha sido un largo invierno...

... pero parece que ya toca a su fin. El Sol vuelve a brillar con fuerza y su luz consigue llegar a aquellos rincones que el invierno hab�a hecho tristes y sombr�os. A veces, uno de esos rincones somos nosotros mismos y, de repente, nos damos cuenta de lo mucho que lo ech�bamos de menos y empezamos a desperezarnos. As� que, �qu� tal si lo celebramos? ;)

Ha sido un largo invierno...

... pero parece que ya toca a su fin. El Sol vuelve a brillar con fuerza y su luz consigue llegar a aquellos rincones que el invierno hab�a hecho tristes y sombr�os. A veces, uno de esos rincones somos nosotros mismos y, de repente, nos damos cuenta de lo mucho que lo ech�bamos de menos y empezamos a desperezarnos. As� que, �qu� tal si lo celebramos? ;)