A Letter For St Valentine's Pt 2 (Palma de Mallorca)

As far as I know, Mr G has never ever had sex in his life. He told me this as I was wanting to kiss him over our coffee and llagosta at Bar Bosch, in one of the most famous squares in Palma. This bar is probably the best in its specialty, those cheap and yummy sandwiches with ham and cheese. It is also the oldest bar in town, and the waiters working there seem like they ran away from a classic movie. After our coffee, we walked hand in hand up Jaime III and down El Parque de la Faixina. You see, with Mr G I have always felt like a princess. It is the thing about love, and Palma. Even though time changes the original feeling, the elegance still remains; sometimes it is easier to see than most days, but the hope that Cary Grant will appear next corner never fades away.
I was thinking so as Mr G made some joke about singles. I never listen to his jokes. We were walking and admiring Paseo Marítimo. The wind made the sea curl into a grey and threatening mass, crushing loudly on the sea sore. I look at Mr G, and we walk back. It has always been fun to see the same people at the same places. You see, that's another virtue of Mallorca, you get to know everybody.
That's why Mr G was never my Cary Grant nor my Frank sinatra...He was, I think, my George Peppard, my beloved true friend. And he still is.
We haven't walked Jaime III for a long time now. Everyday I walk by our favourite ice-cream store (San Miquelet) I think of the good days. Mallorca is him. When you are a foreigner in Mallorca, you love it, though the people living there don't want you to stay. The reason is, if the Mallorcans are clever, they wanna be foreigners.

A Letter for St. Valentine's Pt.1 (Palma de Mallorca)

Everybody has their own story. It is a simple fact. The sad thing about us, men and women of the world, is that we honestly believe our very own story could be turned into a book or a movie (or both, for some). Well, the truth is, would you read your own story? Would you watch something you know what, how, when, why and where it happened?
This can also be applied to the stories of the REAL people we just don't know. Reality, as it is, is boring. However, when we read something we know for a fact that is impossible, it becomes far more appealing. You see, it is far more entertaining to dream about something that might never happen than to accept that real people have real lives, and real love stories, for that matter.
My point is, would Frank Sinatra's songs be so wonderfully romantic had they been written for your best friend? The answer, obviously, is no! In the case that happened, you would probably laugh while dying of jealousy inside.
In order to understand the story I begin today, you have to pretend it is ficticious (for if you don't, you will be terribly bored, as I have just explained). Play some vintage music such as "Bye, Bye, Blackbird". Dance to it; slowly, so painfully slowly you are aware of every single one of your movements. Lit a cigarrette, one won't hurt. Pour yourself a drink and find that status of complete and absolute relax.
Vintage music does the job for me. It is in one of this moments, while listening to Sinatra, that I decided to write this letter, or two, or three. What the heck! I could even write a book if I wanted to!
On St. Valentine's eve, it occured to me that I have always dream of a knight riding a white horse to my rescue. He would be caring, respectful, perfect. Our song would be "It had to be you", by my beloved Sinatra, and he would propose in one of those social clubs in London or Manhattan.
As you might have assumed, my knight has not appeared yet, but this is a tale of all the toads that tried to replace him.
The first one? His name is G, and he is from my hometown, Palma.



Mr G and I met in this city one cold afternoon, but I'll tell you the full story next Sunday, once this romantic frenzy is gone and forgotten.
Miss me a bit, xx

Madrid

So I tried to write an entry about Madrid. I have so much to tell it's almost impossible. However, as I think about it more, I'll leave you with the picture of an Argentinian magician I found at Calle Preciados. He made me smile. Genuinely smile. He was just another misunderstood artists among the thousands one can find in cities such as Manhattan, London, Paris, Rome or Madrid. Enjoy!

Check my new camera!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=16588045&l=f53640f255&id=699740461

I am so in love with it :)

This is my new (or should i say, old? :-D) acquisition. It is a beautiful, amazing, faboulous Fowell Cinefilm 35, with a 50 mm lens, three diaphragm otions (7.7, 11 and 16) and two exposition modes (instantaneous for daylight and Tiempo, aka B, for longer exposures). This model is originary from Spain, and was only made between 1949 and 1955. It is actually a great copy of the American Spartus 35F, so there was I thinking that the Spanish had done something original...when not. Anyways, the important thing about this beauty is its simplicity of use, basically it can't break, and the mystery around it (as it is extremely rare) only ads emotion to the pictures I hope to take soon! I haven't had a chance to try it out yet... but you just wait, because it will be soon :) I also love the bag that comes with it, brown leather :) The truth is that this camera has been sitting in my garage for over 19 years, and nobody remembered anything about it until my mum decided to do a massive clearance, so the leather looks more like cardboard now, but it still looks veeery aesthetic.
Hope you like it as much as I do!

Welcome to Lemon-Town, POSITANO

Good evening, travellers, and welcome to 2011!
I hope this new year presents itself with many upcoming trips and that you will discover new places and cultures. I have been a really good girl and have brought these pictures from Positano, a lovely town near Naples where I spent the best week of last summer.
It is not an easy journey to get into this town, although the road that leads to it is probably one of the most beautiful roads that have been built as it runs through the Italian coast most of the time.
About Positano, I am sure you have tried lemoncello at least once. Well, this town is lemoncello's hometown, and when you see the fruit this licour is made of, I assure you that you will never see regular lemons with the same eyes ever again. Positano is characterized for the tiny and curvilinear streets, the beach, luxury, relax and the great and welcoming Italian culture. As it is close to Naples, the historian tourist can visit Pompey in a day trip, as the journey there does not take more than 1 hour car-ride.
I won't tell you anything else as Positano is a place one must discover alone, but, if you go there, I recommend you walk the beach at sunset, wake up early to see all the shop vendors prepare for the day and, of course, visit the art gallery that is in one of the streets that lead to the beach. Even though it is a small gallery, the artist that was exposing when I visited was one of the nicest men I have ever met, and took the pleasure to explain my sister and I all the secrets of his paintings.
Hope you enjoy!

P.S.: Special thanks to Cynthia and Domenico, the most beautiful Italian couple. I spent a lovely afternoon with you both and I enjoyed photographing the two of you, I hope this year brings happiness to you :-)






 

Welcome to London

I cannot say London is my travel destination because I consider it my other first home. However, if you are planning on visiting, don't limit yourself to Oxford Street, the Thames, Portobello and Camdem Town. My best trick is get into the first tube station I see, close my eyes and get off whenever I feel like opening them...Here is a bit of Kingsway Road, home to LSE and 3 more universities. Thank you, Clara, for showing me around and helping me with my shopping :) I would have loved to take my shiny tripod with me on this visit, but I guess you all know about Ryanair restrictions!!

Welcome to the Cardboard City!

Welcome to my new blog! This one is gonna be focused on travelling, an activity that I absolutely love. I'll upload pictures and places I liked and recommend, so visit often!

Take care and update me when you travel!