From Bath to Cork with Baby Grace

 Audioboo: Your first day at "big" school http://boo.fm/b174863 - the audio version broadcast via Audioboo on 1 September.

Hello Grace,

Today is your big day. Your first day at what you call "big school".  And you’ve got so big.

A tiny little thing in Mummy’s tummy, the smallest little creature ever born.  This is the day you popped-out here to say hello.  And you brought a lovely little smile into my heart. It was the biggest little dream I’d ever seen.

You were a baby on this day, five years ago you came to stay, and you’ll never ever go away from me. Because I love you like a star, you’re above me from afar, and this day’s another step in precious life. 

There’s a slice of life you’ve eaten, a sweet you’ve partly touched.  But today you’re ready for another.  You’ve grown up & up the tree, so there’s more you now can see, I’m so happy you’re off to school  - as if ’twas really cool to jump into a green swimming pool.

Your uniform is green, the best you’ve ever seen, it’s a thrill for you to carry all those books.

You’re birthday’s also here, so you’ll never forget this day, it’ll be pink & gold across your mind. There’s a fluffy little dog who’ll wag his tail, he might even bark goodbye as you climb into the car. You’re a star for everyone, as you set out on these steps, but it’s your life you’re leading now, and I trust you’ll take a bow.

Because you’ve done it big big girl, you’re the one who’s ready now, you’re the leader of your life on every day. There’s no more I want to say, I simply want to cheer you on today.  

May your teacher, Miss Nalty,  also turn into a star, and show you lots of lovely things that all ring true. 

May your friends be right beside you, every step along the way.  Together, may you love the school as much as any party.

It’s your birthday.  It’s your schoolday.  It’s a way, it’s a play.

You deserve it, let’s observe it, you’ve the nerve for all that is to come.

Welcome to this day. 

I’ve promised Grace I’ll give her a gift of some of my writing.  Since she’s almost five, she may not read this blog for years - and then may not be interested in it for ages. Maybe even my grandchildren will value this most?

Rather than leave everything in Moleskine Notebooks, I’m going to do the "modern" thing - publish here…  

The act of sharing my diary will help me too… I may surprise myself.

So this is going to be a very long blogpost.  The Lourdes pilgrimage journey in June became spread over many posts.  This time, I’ll put everything from Galicia together - gradually until I complete the task.  There will be plenty of snaps too.

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To set the scene, a few snaps

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Episode 1

Give me a word to start the poem, Grace…

"Dfu"

A double Bombay
laced the icebergs
floating in tonic

Maiz or Millo
salted, almonds crunched
- welcome to Pazo O Rial

The child on my knee is obsessed,
crisps on the brain,
her fruit juice neglected

My gin slipping down nicely 
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This was my first drink in Spain, after first swim in the pool, after the surprise that the shallowest part was 1.6 metres.  The implications clear: I’d have to hold her up in the water - she couldn’t play without attention. 

This is the new hotel - we’ll eat here this evening.  It is fabulous the way the sun shines long into the bar.

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This is pure cliché
dappled wicker
stone lit, shadows firm,
the warmth of evening song,
the comings and goings,
Spanish movements through the bar,
my Bombay going down,
the Schweppes on ice
already … a little pissed
Martini Basarana Tanqueray
Ballantine’s Bacardi Beefeater 
Zoco Drambuie Calisay
100 Pipers Ron Barcelo
Jack Daniels Cointreau
even the Cutty Sark is too much
now that the company’s gone
and "Prohibido Fumar" reigns
supreme behind the counter
- what price a coffee now?

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It was so pleasant to feel the warm sun baking my shins, and see the pattern change on the old castle walls.  I’d drunk a big Gin & Tonic - so that even the bottles looked exotically shaped, and the quiet attractive.

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I will drink the sugar,
pour the stars of glucose
onto the tea spoon,
and sprinkle refined grains
on the surface of Galician
Expresso.

I will cherish the remainder
that lingers in the sachet,
wet the pad of forefinger
- licking it softly -
before cleaning the counter.
I like to flick fallen sweet.

I will go back to my hotel room,
leave behind a night sky
on hard wood.
There is Venus there,
Mercury, Mars, Neptune reflected
from the sapphire bottle of gin. 

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I broke open a sachet of sugar to temper the coffee. The sugar spilled on the counter, littered it so that I saw a clear night sky of stars in front of me. I then played with the debris, licking my finger.

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Wisps of curled hair hung over ears,
the child’s necklace chimed,
her elbows sat glued to the story
told by her thirsty mother.

Night fell
stars appeared
the sky formed
over Pontevedra.
There’s a party coming. 

I have to sign for

1. huge G&T €8
2. Agua Grande Sin Ga €3
3. Copa Rioja Tinto X 4  €8 (Albarino)
4. Ensalada Mixta €5
5. Copa de Halado €4 (ice cream)
6. Revuelto de Gambas €7 (eggs & prawn)
7. Pasta salsa carbona €9
8. Brochela de Polla €5 (chicken curry)

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Friday 6 August 2010
on the sofa in the hotel lobby with Grace & iPad

I woke first.  Omanimot & Grace asleep on the other bed.  
Warm.  Hotel wakes.  Lights moving on & off.  Voices. Sneezes & coughs.
"Angry Birds" on iPad.
A couple wheel their infant into the lobby, the man speaks Spanish - I can understand nothing.
The peace is now gone - we are now public.  It’s warm - frighteningly hot promises the day - I am afraid we’ll be burnt.  I’ll be fried.

There are five open locks on "Angry Birds", and no sound.  This is an artificially lit place, the bowel of the castle.
Faux fortress battlements - a bit like Blackrock Castle.
The infant says something - sounds off.  Mother bends over him? Is it a boy? Is that blue?

"Daddy, can we go for a swim?"
"Maybe when Mum wakes up…
"Dad, can I get a sweet?
"No, where from?
"Daddy, there’s a  man in there, he said Hola to me… And I said Hola back to him… My oil’s a brown one.
"Do you want to swap?
"You’re brown like me.
"We can swap anyway. I’m going to wrap mine in a wrapper.
"I’m going to wrap wrap wrap it up like me… (sings)
"Like me.
"You’re like an ee." Pops sweet in mouth. 

"Will we go exploring?" I suggest.
No reply, ignored - she’s in her world…
"Will we go exploring?" More ignoring.  A man walks by in pristine runners - looks as if he’s been out running.

"Can we go swimming?
"We can but not now" - I wonder what’s up that stairs?
"Just bedrooms & bedrooms & even more bedrooms" - still sucking her sweet.
What’s this Daddy?
"It’s a thing for a curtain."
Grace dives on top of me, like a cat… grabs my sweet.

Going on a mission, a special mission, to see, to find out what’s upstairs from the half-landing…
"Daddy, there’s even a better place upstairs…  

"It’s fantastic, double fantastic, it’s so pretty, even better than this room… wait til you see it, you’ll like it too."

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First breakfast (0940-1010)

Cold meats X 3 Coffee X 1
Croissant X 2 Peach X 1
Tea (Barry’s) X 1 Roll = chorizo + cheese X 2 + tomato 
Almond Cake X 1/2 

The coffee’s bitter here,
beans dark roasted hard,
flavour for waking up
- I see Cezanne on the wall,
a fire extinguisher,
a smoke-free zone,
even water can’t soften the taste,
exploration calls,
echo of earlier conversation,
poplars wave, leaves flash,
sunlight shortening shadows
under the apple trees.
A bronzed girl hangs her jacket
on the back of a chair. 

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Lunch 

• Pimentos de Patron
• Awesome bread
• Grace = gambas
• Fish soup - monkfish + another (peas, red peppers, onion, potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes) X €22
• Albanina 2009  12% Rias Baixas €9
• Coffee X 2 

 

The Wine Festival
dregs of the bottle
opened last week.
Artisan broach-maker,
ringman born in England,
a girl with braces, 
bright sparklers 

a stall on which to taste
the languages of X,
shish, almost extinct
thanks to Franco from Fustar,
charcouterie from Léon
to Combarro with love
From Cambados
a playground cooking,
children swinging. 

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Lunch  

Embutidos (cold meats) X 1  €9.90
Ensaladas  €5
Gambas ajille  €9.50
1 Lager  + 2 Water
1 X Halado

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The day flowers
a sunshine bloom
shadows rest
on baked stone
- time reclines

Nada
strikes me
the table supports
left-overs
crumbs of rustic bread
loiter in crevices  

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Saturday evening @ 2117
Sitting in hotel room - omanimot gone to find the beach - Grace watching basketball Spain V Lit (Lithuania?) (her choice) 

I fell asleep for about 40 minutes - while the others went to the pool. Unusual for me: went to WiFi zone in hotel lobby - intended to start putting up "The Galician Writing" - frustrated by iPad.

It let me into my blog via Search (not Wordpress) - let me start to  compose blogpost, write the title - but not the body of the post.

Why?
Weird.

iPad would be great if …

(1) I knew how to work it better
(2) It was better
(3) I was different
(4) It was different

"The Simpsons" in Spanish - Grace got fed up with basketball - how long before she tires of Bart & Co.?

The window cells
rectangles
against sky and homes.
Evening spreads its quiet
fade
- the heat of the day
stays in my cheeks. 

I saw a bat dash across the courtyard,
flit faster than a swallow after a fly

You may be content with moths’ wings
and other electrical thicks in the light

This is an evening with Venus. 

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Sunday 0905  The sofa in hotel lobby with Grace & iPad

Random doodle (saved to photos)

This is like a train station, people passing by in couples & individuals. I’ve had a lousy night - woke dehydrated four times - so thirsty - didn’t get up in case I’d wake the others.

The plastic back & backpacks leave the hotel speaking Scandanavian.  Benjamin is in Ibsenland now.

We’ve learned how to move on to a new work of art.

"The iPad did a parp."
"No, that was me,
excuse me, I said excuse me…"

I’m so glad it’s 9 - I feared it might be 6, and I’d be awake, annoyed, tired.  This means I must have slept - even tho I had the impression I was awake for hours.

Oh I am tired, hot, another day of hot sun is here - the heat takes it out of me.

Artificial light inside.

"The snakes are kissing each other…
Look at this, I can even draw a white snake.
Look at this, they are hugging
poor black one…
There, his is very sick, all those spots
cause he is leaning over
he’s ill
He’s ill, look, all those spots…
That snake said
‘I will make you better.’
That’s the yellow
mommy, mommy mommy [squeeking]
mommy… "

I want mussels for dinner tonight
I want a song that’s ever so tight
Let me have my favorite sweet
Nothing you do would be such a treat. 

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Monday morning 

I woke at 0915, with a pain all over my back. Showered in hot water, hoping the warmth would tend the aching muscles.
Slowly I forgot about my back.
I had a while without glasses - couldn’t find them in bedroom - they’d been handed into Reception..

Still trying to get iPad to let me update my blog on Blogs.ie + add a blog to Reeder
- so irritating that I’ve vowed not to Tweet.  Bet I could get an answer of help on Twitter.

Also, I can’t put my photos on to iPad.

Grace plays on "Angry Birds" - we all do.  I read "The Google Story". 

There’s a woman on her iPad in lobby, another woman on laptop & son on notebook.

We’re going to go to Muros.  How far is that from here? The four hours from 2pm are fit only for driving & sitting in cafés.

Galicia…
They say it’s Spain’s Ireland
where the temperature’s not so hot -
the coastline’s rough and crude,
unsophisticated, undeveloped land

they say it’s like going back
to the tone of the 1950s,
but the Irish don’t visit Galicia,
this is an English-free zone -
corn-on-the-cob, vineyard plots,
eucalyptus and honeysuckle…
wind, sun and independence.

It feels so far from Madrid,
a Donegal from Stephen’s Green,
a Belfast from Tralee -  
Monks carried the Albarino seeds
from across the Rhine they say
but the razor-shell clams are homegrown
Navajas
Pimientos de Padrón fly the green flag
sweetening the oil, salted, occasionally fiery,
a surprising explosion of chilli
reminds me of Franco’s birthplace Ferrol
El Caudillo - the shipyards of Harland & Wolff,
the fishing fleet in Killybegs,
memories of the Lanes in Limerick.

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1400
I can set my clock by the heat of the sun,
feel the call of the shade through skin of Irish genes
‘Estrella Galicia, cerveza especial’.
There is no place like stone for refuge,
no far, far better place that I drink now,
than I have ever been
to slake a thirst
conceived by the morning’s pool. 

We have plans to go out for the afternoon & evening, north to Muros, driving with the windows open, or air-conditioning on. We have no map for distances - the WiFi…

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Monday @ 2105
Restaurante Marsquéria in town, harbour of Fisterra
- as the light thins
- on a white paper tablecloth
- the day chills to a close
and the people gather to eat.

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Tues @ 0708

Sent 303kb
Received 1.7mb     Why so high?

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The end of the world

the coast of death
the Camino finish
lighthouse
people wait for an apparition
boots suspended from metal
cameras for eyes
taking up position on the rocks
the tiny flotilla below
a speedboat rounding the Head
inside an Exhibition 
the Cross
the sun on the sea
blinding light
The God of the Sea is expected,
an air of a gathering
bodies arranging themselves

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1043 Getting up for breakfast

fried egg X 2            Pineapple X 2 X 1/2
bacon X 6                Plum
grapes X 1 big bunch  Bread

After writing more of "Social Media for Beginners"
After leaving a blog comment on MWN
After lying on sofa in pajama bottoms
After Grace coming to find me @ 1015
Shower & shave
Can’t believe I’ve been up 4 hours
After looking at photos on iPhone & Fugifilm

Let’s go to Gui on way to Vigo - agreed 

Lot’s of cake & more pineapple.

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Tui (say Twee)
1515 Hot:  31 degrees now - up from 27 degrees
- across from Portugal

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Snack Cantinho
19.40: Kyle from San Francisco, spoke Spanish, Portugese,+ Russian, daughter 3 Maiah
= heading south towards Algarve
Live near Bilbao, 30-40 mins Calabria
Born 1969, knows Santana’s music 

In Portugal I met a man
looking for a church,
his shirt was black
his head was bald.

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Wednesday begins here …. 

Baiona Plan

• Columbus’ Pinta in harbour [10-2pm]
• Medieval walls - walk around parapet
• Footpath beneath walls - small beaches
• Praia de America  2 kms east via village Ramallosa (Roman Bridge)
• Picador Conde de Gondomar (visit)
• A Guneda = Celta (pre Roman hill fort)  = Cromlech (stone circle)
• Ferry €3 X 2 to Caminha Portugal