A Years Worth of Perspective - Part 1

     And so one year later I will attempt to revisit the few final days I spent travelling as well as wrap up some general feelings and highlights from the trip itself...

     Leaving any of the places I spent time travelling in was always a challenge, I never felt like I had enough time, but was always eager to see the next place: new colours, new language, new people and new experiences to be had. Mostly, let's be honest, new food to eat. Leaving Mallorca I had all those feelings of excitement of going to new unexplored territories and finding new secrets, unearthing new treasures, but it was also one of the hardest places for me to leave. During my time spent in Algaida I had a different kind of travelling experience. I put my hands in the earth on Mallorca, helped citrus trees grow, I harvested sea salt on a windswept cliff edge while waves caressed the rock face with all the tenderness of a herd of wild horses charging across an open field: wild, fierce, free, complete. I made connections to people and animals alike in this place, so much so that I felt as if I'd been there for years, not just a few short weeks. There was a sweet marriage there of simple farm life and exploring uncharted territories, everything was new and also somehow familiar. 

     My last morning I helped Sarah go feed all the dogs and ponies and cats and said goodbye to each little soul, trying to communicate to them that I was leaving, that I was sorry that we had forged this bond only for me to go away again and that I hoped one day I would return. As Sarah and I threw hay to the ponies she said something to me that even now a year later makes me tear up. "Wherever you go, whoever you meet, whatever friends you have or people you work for or people who you fall in love with, those people are so lucky to have you in their lives, you are such a truly special person with so much to give, know that you are something remarkable. And please come back ;)" What a gift. I have been blessed with a great many gifts in my short lifetime, and this one was pretty huge for me, and took a long time for me to believe and embrace as part of me. It's still a work in progress, but I am getting there.

    And onward to Barcelona, and to round out my travel experience - having flown, driven and trained all over - this time we traveled by sea. We (Renee and I) watched the sun set over the open ocean, no land in sight as far as the eye could see and packed our frozen selves into some plastic chairs to snooze the last few hours til we arrived on the mainland. We knew we could've hired a car or taken the bus to our hostel which was a ways into the city but I had found the right gal in a traveling companion and elected to drag our big ass backpacks across the city by the glow of the street lights. Barcelona was the city for me. Tiny alleys curving back on themselves with music echoing out from a distant alcove, the smell of sizzling meat and tomatoes and olive oil wafting from sprawling open patios that cascaded out onto the street, people wandering leisurely in the warm night-time air, friends calling out to each other from balcony to balcony. It was dirty, but in a tarnished silver kind of way. I never liked the way polished silver shines and shimmers, handling it at all leaves it smudged and smearing and you can see nothing but the greasy streak left by a clumsy thumb. Give me the years of meals spent laughing and drinking, give me a thousand pies forked to salivating mouths, give me the stories and secrets that lay quietly in the shadows, in the bends and folds of an elegant soup spoon. Give me a tarnished city any day, they shine much brighter and their bellies are full and warm of stories and laughter and passions. Barcelona is no exception.

And now I am tired and I know how I tend to run on, so I will end this missive and conclude another day with part 2 

All my love

Alex