Monday, June 24, 2024
Monday 24 June, 2024 Dear Friends, Welcome to my newsletter coming to you from Barcelona. Last night was noise, noise, noise as Barcelona celebrated the Summer Solstice. I am writing this at eight o’clock on Monday morning and the fireworks only stopped going off a couple of hours ago. After almost three months in Europe, I’ll be starting my journey back to Maui on Wednesday. I’ll be sad to leave.
🎆 Fireworks are going off all around us tonight as Barcelona celebrates the Summer Solstice and the lead up to the Festival of Sant Joan (St. John).
🎆 Fireworks are going off all around us tonight as Barcelona celebrates the Summer Solstice and the lead up to the Festival of Sant Joan (St. John).
Moon rise this evening near to Cadaqués.
Outdoor spaces at Salvador Dali’s house in Portlligat, Spain.
Manuel Moreale’s recent post on Celebrating Failure resonated with me. I’ve read it a few times now.
You can ingest only so many success stories before starting to feel bad for not being one of them. It’s partly why social media mostly sucks. It’s performative. Everyone is showing the best parts of their lives while the shitty moments are kept private, away from public eyes.
At times I feel as though the online world shows so much of the celebratory fun and fireworks - holding a hand up to recognize that I get sucked into doing that. But perhaps sadly, life isn’t always about celebration. There is grind, suck and failure.
If I don’t share failure or struggle, some comes from wanting to keep things private, other comes from shame.
🌧️ We are waking up to a wet morning, the first for a long time. Gentle drizzle accompanying the sounds of small waves breaking. A quick glance at the weather forecast says that we won’t be going far for the next few hours.
🌧️ Waking up to a wet morning, the first for a long time. Gentle drizzle accompanying the sounds of small waves breaking. A quick glance at the weather forecast says that we won’t be going far for the next few hours.
This morning’s view.
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Monday 17th June, 2024 Dear Friends, This one will be brief. My wife and I left Portugal yesterday and are making our way across Spain to Barcelona where we fly back to Hawaii. I hope to pull over during our journey tomorrow to add this to the newsletter - it’s just how the newsletter system works that I use. I have a window to add this initial letter. I’m sitting here in Madrid with a bunch of mixed emotions, reflecting on the last two and a half months which all started in Bristol, England with my mother’s 90th birthday party.
Do you want an ice cream? Selling ice cream cones at Estremoz Saturday Market.
The Caixa Forum, Madrid.
🚗 Starting the journey home. Driving across Spain to Barcelona to catch a flight. Writing this from a hotel in Madrid. The sounds (mainly traffic) of a busy city rumbles below. The wind blows around the terrace. A different world. Change. Reflecting on so much.
🚗 Starting the journey home. Driving across Spain to Barcelona to catch a flight. Writing this from a hotel in Madrid. The sounds (mainly traffic) of a busy city rumbles below. The wind blows around the terrace. A different world. Change. Reflecting on so much.
🐦 I like how in some Portuguese motorway service stations they play the sounds of birds. After the noise and stress of highway driving, the sounds of birds I find relaxing.
🐦 I like how in some Portuguese motorway service stations they play the sounds of birds. After the noise and stress of highway driving, the sounds of birds I find relaxing.
When I was younger and my grandfather came to visit he use to give me the empty end of an ice cream cone. I never knew the reason why, and asking my mother she does not know why either? My wife and I were eating at this very good Gelato place in Possanco, Comporta called Gulato, and I was reminded of my grandfather’s gifts as I bit down towards the end of my cone.
By the way, I can’t say enough good things about Gulato. It is a bit off the beaten track but still not far away from everything else in the area. Hunt it down. Lovely staff, the owner trained in making Gelato in Italy. Delicious gelato all made on the property. A beautiful location.
Some friends in Alcácer very kindly arranged a sunset boat ride for us along the Sado River yesterday evening. This was completely unexpected and a lovely gift. The boat was solar powered and so there was no noise of an engine or exhaust fumes. There was just the sound of water lapping against the boat as we sailed forward along the river, of fish jumping, of the wind blowing through the grasses at the river’s edge. This made for a very relaxing trip.
Drinks and snacks were provided for the ride. The boat’s captain, Manual, shared with us the history of the Sado River, once a busy trade route through the Alentejo area of Portugal and further afield. Earlier that day a new Alcácer acquaintance shared the trade that use to take place between Alcácer do Sal and Cornwall, England. Cornwall had tin and this was used for making steel in Portugal. With the history of human settlement in the Alcácer do Sal area going back 40,000 years, the river has been an important trade route for a long time.
Chatting, eating, drinking, watching, listening, laughing.
If you find yourself in Alcácer do Sal, look up Sunrice boat trips. A good host, great company. We had a wonderful evening.
Views along the Sado River at sunset.
We revisited Alcácer do Sal’s Railway Station today, and this time got to go inside as a goods train rumbled by.
Anyone would think that someone at Apple is making some announcements right now, going by the content of my timeline! #WWDC