My 4 day trip to Dorset (Day 1 - morning) - Bournemouth - St. Peter's Church - The 21st of April 2016

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I finally made it to St. Peter's Church which is said to have been built over  a period of 24 years from 1855. It displayed a number of unusual paintings and a remarkable stained glass work.

 

I was the only visitor but that didn't disturb me because there is quite an intimate relation between me and the worshiping places.  I took my time to look at its beautiful interior because having made my way back towards the East  Upper Cliff drive.

 

 

 

 

(To be continued) 

 

 

 

 

 

My 4 day trip to Dorset (Day 1 - early morning) - Bournemouth - Strolling along the East Upper Cliff Drive; Hinton Road - The 21st of April 2016

I woke up fairly early in the morning so as to visit the Russel-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery but once it  only opened at ten I decided to walk along the East Upper Cliff Drive overlooking the sea and the Pier that I could see in the distance.  The sight was particularly beautiful and apart from the odd runners down on the beach path and the overflying birds there was nobody to be seen  walking the drive.

From there and rather than walking towards the pier I veered left along the Lower Gardens and into the city centre, with its still empty Burlington arcades towards the Dean Park, where I  sat for a while.

(To be continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to Bournemouth via Faro; The SunCliff Hotel, Bournemouth - The 20th of April 2016

I got to the Oriente Train Station early in the morning so as to catch a train going South which would take three hours (an hour more than the flight to Bournmouth). I must confess I slept most of the way  despite having wanted to stay awake. The cosiness of the Pendular Alpha train had such a magic spell that I kept me in a rather doziness type of state.

Upon having reached Faro and as I was walking from the train station to the bus terminal just a few metres away it started to rain rather very heavily, which came as a by surprise, not only because it was unexpected but also because according to the meteorological forecast it was supposedly going to rain in Northern Portugal and I was in the Southern part where the sun is said to shine most of the time.  

I felt the Ryanair aircraft I flew in was a lot better than the one I had flown some years back. For some sort of unknown reason I slept most of the way only to have woken up as the captain announced the descent. I coudn't help taking some photos as we were approaching the Bournemouth area, which looked quite interesting.

 I was supposed to have caught a Yellow bus going into town soon after having gone through passport control, which never came so the few passengers who had opted to get on it like myself had to wait for an hour until we finally managed to board it. Because of works on the main road leading into Bounemouth centre the twenty minutes ride turnd into a fastidious trip that took over one hour.

By the time I had walked to the hotel I was booked in for the night I was beginning to feel really tired, so the moment I checked into the hotel bedroom all I seem to have done was to briefly look at some rather interesting sketches hanging on the walls, have a quick shower and get into bed.    

... I don't remember much  apart from having set the alarm for an early awakening call because I soon fell asleep, It wasn't until the following morning that I realised I had actually been travelling all day long, thus the obvious tiredeness.

The latest book I have read ...

Having already been to Turkey and Armenia as soon as I read the synopsis of this novel I was almost instantaneously drawn to it despite not knowing anything about its author (which is a shame on my part, taking into account the fact that Elif Shafak is an award-wining novelist known to be one of the most widely read women in Turkey).

I found The Bastard of Istambul to be brilliant and intelligently written as it gradually introduced us into the story of two young ladies and their families - one Turkish and the other one Armenian American, as well as the extent in which their "histories" were secretely and mysteriously interwoven.



In my opinion the conflict between Turks and Armenians and the denial of the Armenian genocide is dealt with in the novel in a rather understanding and at times even compassionate way with numerous underlying questions, some of which will remain as such, though it nearly cost the author a three year prison sentence for having therein insulted the "Turkishness" 

I could have copied down many ot the book's meaningful sentences, yet chose to just write down a few and re-read the  whole book again sometime later, when not under its contageous spell and certainly in a less avid reading pace.

"If you have no reason or ability to accomplish anything, then just practice the art of becoming."

"Imagination was a dangerously captivating magic for those compelled to be realistic in life, and words can be poisonous for those destined to be silenced."

"Once there was. Once there wasn't. God's creatures were as plentiful as grains and talking too much was a sin, for you could tell what you shouldn't remember  and you could remember what you shouldn't tell."

The bastard of Istambul is really worth being read and re-read and one thing I am sure I'll certainly buy more of this particular author's books.

Last considerations on the Cape Verde trip ...

As I was handing out the last  letters the Cape Verdian children wrote to their "godparents" and some of the "delicacies" ("feijão pedra" typically used in the making of the traditional catchupa and "doce de leite" cakes) they kindly sent I wondered how many of the Portuguese "godparents" who got these did really grasp and understand the scope of the gestures on the part of these genuinely beautiful Cape Verdian villagers. 

I have recently written an article on the Calheta project which will soon be published in the enterprise magasine so as to sensitize those who haven't yet had the chance to go to Calheta and experience the overall atmosphere (not that everyone who has gone there did). 

Whether it is important to understand the local people we are trying to help or not may be irrelevant, so long as we continue helping them but I feel they deserve to be understood in their essence ...  and beauty ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to ... or Dorset here I go ...

I can't deny I am really looking forward to getting to know a Southern UK region I have never been to but which looks like it could be rather interesting judging from the photos Mia has sent me recently ...

But most of all what I am really looking forward to is seeing her again ... and finding out in loco if she is as happy as she seems to be since she left three weeks ago ... and maybe get to know some of her working colleagues ... try out some of the cooking specialities ...

Four days may not be enough to get to know Dorset ... but they'll certainly be more than enough to hold my daughter in my arms again and whisper in her ear how much we have been missing her ...