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 Enga mellom fjella: where from across the meadow, poems sing from mountains and molehills. |
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Enga mellom Fjella  Sentinel Marked as if you own me I bow before the Bitterroots and just like you my rocky soil, my withered grass lays prey to the empty sky. © Kåre Enga 2007 "Sentinel"   Reader's Choice of Poems: "Sentinel" "In the midst of silence" "In search of Iris" "I, Katrina" "Starbeams on Tulsa" Reader's Choice of blog entries from my old blog "L'aura del Campo" :"Death of Jeannie New Moon" "Winter: 18 Mas'il (December 29)" "Even in chaos ... More hockey poems." "Footprints in the snow, in memory of Nyia Page" "Il pleure (poem). We R puddle-luscious, aujourd'hui." FACES     PLACES            Kåre  Enga~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop The Fish |
| No... not bored... just slogging through each day. Today was better after a great night's rest. Missed one mass at the Santiago de Compostela cathedral but got to the next. The level of disrespect inside really bothered me yesterday but folks behaved better today. I've taken tons of photos, spoken to people from so many places, called family and friends, kept in touch on facebook, wrote in my journal, eaten a variety if foods... Still not thrilled. I suspect I'm expecting too much as trip has been far more interesting than my blog. I haven't been in much of a writing mood. Tomorrow I'm off to A Coruña. |
| Still not happy even though... 1. Bought train ticket to Santiago through Vigo. Cost about €25. 2. Arranged for place to stay in Santiago. 3. Went to old cathedral and took pictures. I need to get up early, miss breakfast, as train leaves at 8:15. After watching an older woman feed the birds I met an almost 2 year old born the day after my 60th birthday. He offered to share his lollipop. So sweet.  Good moments, yes. But I'm still too tired to really enjoy them. |
| Portugal is stone and tiles. There are ruins everywhere. In Braga the train station has the remains of a pre-Roman bath. The Greeks of the day wrote about them. Newer ruins are everywhere. Buildings just don't burn down. They sag. Windows gone, roofs gone, walls still solid. I'll need to write about how it affects me emotionally. But right now? Tiring day. Visited Braga by train, then got lost in the Ribeira in Porto. No energy. No appetite. Couldn't finish a meal, a francesinho (sausage, bacon, meat, cheese, egg...). Now not happy about trip to Spain, a real pain to plan. So... basically still doing so-so. Lovely gardens in Braga though and lots of tourists and visitors for Holy Week. |
| Today... ? Nothing I'm likely to share. I did visit the train station, São Bento. Marvellous azulejos (tiles). Also went to the Bolhão market, but the day was wasted mostly as I had no energy. Breakfast was better at hostels in Lisboa and Coimbra but enough. I have no appetite. Ate a panado de peru (whatever that is) and goat cheese for supper. At least Pingo Doce has cheap food and it's around the corner.Almost 10 pm and place feels ghostly. Nice chat with young French women last night... but no one here in common room at moment. I can only hope folks aren't loud when they reappear. Groups of travelers can be very disrespectful of others. It's as if no one exists outside their circle. I did better with Portuguese today. If I were here a month, especially if I were studying, I'd do okay. People in Porto seem nice. |
| I wish I were thrilled about this trip. The highlight so far was a ride with Rosa in her car. Lovely lady. She speaks excellent English due to work and clients in the UK, USA And Sweden. Even had a tiny Swedish flag in her car. She showed me some small places without tourists around Alcobaça. Today I'm in Coimbra. So little energy. It's a shame really. I'm looking forward to spending more time in Lisbon before I leave. I arrived exhausted and then didn't feel well. Hopefully I can keep posting photos on facebook as folks seem to enjoy them. And NOT share how depressed I really am some days. That I can share here. Off to Porto tomorrow. |
| Me: I'll be leaving Monday the 7th. I'll try to keep in touch while I'm gone for two months. I would really like to write more articles. Lord knows I have experiences and opinions! But: 1. journal - now over 10 years. 2. facebook and photos... 3. poetry - have written 3 this month, 27 more to go. 4. new vampire stories... one of the reasons I'm going to Portugal. 5. editing old stuff... thousands of bits and pieces... So, I want to write more in depth useful essays, etc. However, I'd have to make it a priority to fit them in. We shall see. This trip is more than just photos, a travel journal of senses, observations, thoughts, more than staying alive. The staying alive part is key though. To paraphrase: "I know I'm going to die but I'm not dead yet." So, I'll just keep moving until then. |
| I wrote a poem yesterday. If I write one today... 2 down, 28 to go. NaPoWriMo is upon us. If I discipline myself I can use the time in Portugal to a real advantage. Still working on hostels, choice of city. Gdañsk in Poland is still a possibilty. Ah... the angst. LOL I bought SD cards for my cameras. With 64gb available I should be fine. I ran out last year. One learns. Bought mothballs for my woollens too. 2 months is lots of time for wee hungry moths. I cancelled my phone service for the time I'll be gone. That should save $50/month. Got a call from the court today for jury duty. NOT. Need to put that in writing before I leave. All-in-all, I accomplished some things.  |
| ...on May 8th. I fretted as I saw affordable flights disappearing so I just went ahead and bought tickets. About $145 with TAP. That means whole there and back again cost me under $1,200. 50.333 |
| Meeeeee: Couldn't sleep for two hours last night. What if I do this... what if I do that... At least I realized it's Norway's bicentennial. May 17, 1814 ... duh. Remembered Kristi Himmelfartsdagen on May 29th too. That's Acension in English. With April 23rd anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal and Labor Day on May 1st it becomes tricky planning a trip. Ssslllooooowlllyy... it's coming together. Ask me how my plans went awry when I get back!  2 months... now to check music festival conflicts in Bergen, whether I can find a cheap place in Kristiansund, plan number of days in Portugal which may cancel or limit Spain. Is there a cheap-cheap ticket to Poland? Also... bus and train routes. I really like looking out at the scenery. Scored some wonderful sour dough pancakes yesterday, informed the bank, wonderful chat about being young, Mormon and gay with Michael. Didn't start packing yet... soon. |
| ME: I bought my tickets. Argued with the computer and the dates and the times and... ...decided that I'd had enough. I leave April 7th for Lisbon, arriving the 8th in the evening. I return from Bergen, Norway on the 5th of June arriving in Montana just before midnight. Am I thrilled? A bit. But mostly I'm relieved. The indecision was killing me (probably literally). Now I need to find a place to stay the first two nights, make sure I have a place to stay the last night in Norway, decide how/when I go from the south to the north (there are direct flights from Barcelona). I also have to work out Holy Week in Portugal soon or I won't have a place to stay. Same with the 17th of May in Norway. Luckily, pinse (Pentecost) is June 8th and not a factor. However... 1st of May is celebrated in both countries (and Spain and Poland), May 3rd in Poland (Constitution Day). The 25th of April is Freedom Day (Carnation Revolution) in Portugal and I'll have to be careful planning around that one. Holidays can create all kinds of havoc for the traveler if caught unawares. I have personal experience... So. I need to do my work. I hope to: 1. Write and take notes in Portugal so I can write more vampire stories. 2. Improve my Norwegian and my Portuguese. 3. Visit new places and old in Norway. I'm sure I'll do okay. Must be ready to take thousands of photos though. Last time it was about 8,000 in all. |
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