…Bring Mayflowers

It´s officially the end of National Poetry Month, and today is Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day. I´ve been looking through all the poems from this month and trying to choose a poem to print out, and sadly have a whole folder of unread poems in my email account from all the previous years. The best thing about Poem-a-Day is that you´re led to discover poets that you never knew about, brought to you right into your inbox. So I thought, to give more thought to them this year I´ll put up my favorite lines from each poem of this month. Because even if you don´t like something, there´s always something positive you can get from it. So go out and read some poetry today! Starting with one of my favorites of the month, here:

Crannóg
by Moya Cannon

Where an ash bush grows in the lake
a ring of stones has broken cover
in this summer’s drought.
Not high enough to be an island,
it holds a disc of stiller water
in the riffled lake.

Trees have reclaimed the railway line behind us;
behind that, the road goes east—
as two lines parallel in space and time run away from us
this discovered circle draws us in.
In drowned towns
bells toll only for sailors and for the credulous
but this necklace of wet stones,
remnant of a wattle Atlantis,
catches us all by the throat.

We don’t know what beads or blades
are held in the bog lake’s wet amber
but much of us longs to live in water
and we recognise this surfacing
of old homes of love and hurt.

A troubled bit of us is kin
to people who drew a circle in water,
loaded boats with stone,
and raised a dry island and a fort
with a whole lake for a moat.

Prague, Enchanted City

We took a weekend trip out to Prague in February, to escape the drizzle and misery of Madrid for even much more freezing weather. Javi´s friend Jose and his wife decided to join us.

I´d always heard about the beauty of Prague and how it´s a must-see for anybody traveling through Europe. And it certainly was beautiful, with the scenic views of the river, the bridges, castles and towers, the color of the old buildings, the plazas and charming side streets. However I expected it to have more of an Eastern European feel to it, and to be more breathtaking in atmosphere rather than picture perfect for tourism.

I think I feel that way because of my trip to Budapest during the winter holidays last year. Prague could be comparable to Budapest because of their similarities — the bridges, rivers, weather, transportation, language. But Budapest was gorgeous not because of any picture you can take or even anything specific I can remember. I just remember feeling a sense of awe while standing on one of those huge bridges looking down at the Danube river, between the two different sides which form the city, in the dead of winter with snow and a blanket of fog over everything — a feeling of smallness in the silence of a grand city. Also, it really improves your taste for a place when it doesn´t scream tourism.

Our hostel in Prague was in the center, so we were within walking distance to all the places of interest. It pretty much has all the main features of an old European city: a castle, a palace, bell towers, nice churches, cobble-stoned plazas, places with good views of the entire city.

It was cool when we visited the palace because we got to see the changing of the guards.

Also, the best thing about visiting new places is trying the food. Even though my Spanish friends would disagree, I enjoyed Czech food — hearty soups, goulash, lots of meat and potatoes. Jose and his wife complained about the lack of variety in the food…. I couldn´t hold my tongue any longer, and then came the inevitable argument about the quality of Spanish food. Haven´t I learned already not to criticize Spanish food in front of Spanish people?

Being on one of the bridges at night was memorable — the view of the river, the lights of the city, the old-fashioned streetlamps, the violinist playing a romantic tune. Prague is a great city for lovers.

Also, one of the best things were the marionette stores. In them you could find awesome witch and babushka marionettes, magicians, princesses, jesters, knights and ladies, and the Czech people really seemed to value their wood craftsmanship. We brought home two marionettes with us, the witch Estepanska and the magician Gambrinus (the name of their beer). More pics of them to come.

One of the best things we saw in Prague was the Jewish quarter. We did a little tour, which included five synagogues, one of them incredibly beautiful, and an old Jewish cemetery which was crowded with gravestones.

We also had a coffee in the Franz Kafka cafe, a famous place where the writer used to frequent. We had a good time, we really did.

Overall, the trip was an excellent weekend escape, even with the below zero temperatures. A bit of spiced mulled wine helped, as well as the tasty vendor sausages that warm your soul… Stay tuned for more adventures.

April Showers

I have a lot of posting to do! I´ll find the time one day to just sit and blog about my trips. In the past couple of months, we´ve made it out to Prague, Morroco, and Athens, so a lot of pictures are pending. The school year is fast coming to an end, and warm weather has more or less finally arrived in Madrid, probably followed on its heels by blistering heat. When school ends in mid-June, I´ll be flying out immediately to Philadelphia, and then about a week later to Vermont, where I´ll start the Middlebury graduate school summer program.

I´m excited to go back to school, excited to go to Spanish boot camp and read a crapload of books, and yes, even though I promised that that Lorca thesis during senior year was the last paper I´d ever write, I´m excited to start thinking again. I’ve heard a good many things about the program, so hopefully I’ll be coming back to Madrid (for the last time?) with some new insights and better Spanish.