Author: Kate Wilson

Instincts Stone 15

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Small Stones : I have signed up to a project called River of Stones.  The brief is to search for moments every day of January and write a short piece about what catches your attention.  The idea is to encourage people to write and to focus on the present moment. The challenge for me is to keep it short!  These posts will nestle in alongside my other ones. And if some days I ‘fail’ to collect a stone – then so be it.

Our dog is ready to mate
Her tail sweeps to the side suggestively.
But does she really want puppies
and all that this involves?
I think that if she is spayed
she will forget all about it.
And we will know we have not caused more dogs to suffer in this world.

Rambling

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I don’t think I have written anything about La Rambla – the tree lined street that runs downhill from Plaça Catalunya towards the port and the sea.  I often find myself threading my way up or down it, and equally often I am trying to avoid it as it is so much nicer to walk through the little streets on either side, but I have to admit I also enjoy the feeling of “Well here I am! In Barcelona!”
The first time I cycled up La Rambla I was so excited I missed my turning and then had the less than pleasant experience of whizzing round Plaça Catalunya, too proud to dismount and and walk in safety

After my recent visit to Santa Maria del Mar I started walking back to catch the train at Passeig de Gracia. And my route took me along the top stretch of La Rambla. This part is called Rambla de Canaletes taking its name from a famous fountain which replaced the much more ancient water trough near the old city walls

Admission time…. I knew the name of this section but I had never heard of the famed fountain nor it’s reputation for providing drinkers not only with water but with a magic spell which will always bring them back to Barcelona. Only now when researching for this post I read about it and noticed that one of my photos features the fountain. But I had to dig it out of the Trash first – perhaps I am the only person who has never heard of it before.
Many towns have Ramblas. It means a street which at times has water flowing down it towards the sea. Many little streams would fill with rain water and come together in the Rambla forming a river. This doesn’t happen now in Barcelona as the ancient natural waterways have been piped underground

Rambla de Canaletes is lined with wooden seats arranged in groups so that people can sit together talking and discussing the themes of the day. One thing I have noticed about Catalunya is that if you install a new bench or seat then within hours someone will start to use it. It is like magic! They are magnets. And if you put them at an angle together then several friends will come and start to talk.

Or they will stand and talk – perhaps because the tourists have sat on all the benches

Or just read the newspaper to have something to talk about later. Did you notice they were all men?

The Cathedral by the Sea

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

Today I visited Santa Maria del Mar – Saint Mary of the Sea – the incredible 14th century church which is at the centre of the novel Cathedral by the Sea by Ildefonse Falcones.
The title in Catalan is L’Esglesia Del Mar

I am reading this great fat heavy weight of a book in Catalan at the moment – slowly, like the progress of the medieval men who had to carry each stone on their backs from Montjuic to the Born.
The church, which at that time was by the edge of the sea, was designed by the architect Berenguer de Montagut and the foundation stone was laid on 25th March 1329 – the last stone put in place in 1383.

I sat on one of the benches and looked up at the beautiful ceilings. High up, flying between window ledges, there was a bird, too far away to see what it was. I wondered if this was its home or was it trapped?