San Sebastian – Basque Country – Spain Sanse or Donostia is a pristine beach resort. There are two beaches right next to each other: La Concha and La Perla. They are golden sands with a turquoise, clear ocean where children and dogs frolick happily while parents bake in the sun. For women. Going topless is no big deal and women of all ages sit or lie nonchalantly bare breasted and I saw no males ogling – it all seems just normal here. There are Pitxos (tapas Basque style) with a lot of dried beef but also good seafood – mariscos. I had 4 pitxos with two glasses of wine for about 8 euros which I thought was a good price. Sanse is a gourmet town and is said to have the best food in Spain. This is a perfect place – a “pearl” for a seaside visit for families and couples – as a solo traveller it was just fine I enjoyed my time there. There is a funicular railway that goes up Mt Igelda and right next to the harbour is a hill on which a Christ monument soars high over the area. There was a British standoff here a few hundred years ago and there are remains of a cemetery up there. Great views of the area. Sanse is a gem for beach life and its a classy little town for sure but I had enough in 2 days.....it's a bit of a snob = there is a big rivalry with Bilbao an hour's busride away. There was great joy in Sanse when Barcaleno beat Bilbao in a match earlier this week. Bilbao I was told there wasn't much in Bilbao except Frank Ghery's incredible Guggenheim Museum. I found that not to be the case and I liked Bilbao a lot. It is a city that blends the old with the new very well. It's a bit seedy, ethnically vibrant and has a working-class vibe I liked. It has the old town and the downtown and the seedy neighbourhoods too – it felt like people lived here. It hand an energy lacking in Sanse or maybe Sanse is just so laid back that it doesn't have to do much... Of course my big thrill was going to the Guggenheim – it was everything I expected and more. I was told that the architecture was great but that there wasn't much inside. I discovered there was a David Hockney exhibition – brilliant and vibrant Yorkshire man who had flavours of Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne melded with Hockney's own vibrant palette of purples, reds and burnt orange. I was very impressed by his love of trees and the changing landscape and environment. I could easily live with any of his paintings and never be bored. The building is an endless swaying, glossy titanium rectangles whose shape changes with the refracted light as it moves through the day. It is spectacular, magnificent and vibrant building. I could have spent days walking around it at different times of day witnessing its ever changing visage. Everyone should see this building – there is nothing else like it in this world = space-age and futuristic. It is a brilliant piece of art just by itself. Bilbao is in process of redoing its harbour side and in the not so distant future you will be able to walk along its sidewalk and enjoy the approaching glistening edifice of the Guggenheim, Bilbao.

His for Horus

Landed Heathrow just fine and smooth ride to Liverpool on the train. R waiting patiently for me at Liverpool Parkway...lovely to see the folks and of course the old familiar sights of the homecity. Pleasure to have M and M for a trek around town. The must sees = Penny Lane, Pier Head and the inevitable ferry across the Mersey. Lots of good pints of ale with the duo and hope they had a good time 0 just a glimpse really of what there is to see in Scouseland. Must admit we had the best viewing of the Anglican Cathedral....private tour almost. Stroked the mouse and chatted at the Whispering Wall.....largest in europe and 3rd in world. Mum thin and undernourished - getting legal help but its all so slow....no magic wands there I am afraid.

HEAT - that is the first thought - lovely, dry heat which maxed out at 34 degrees while I was there. Madrid is a very modern, clean and relaxed city. The buses are fast and spotless - drivers helpful and polite. I had no problems getting around this grand city which s easy to enjoy and full of life. Took me a little while to relate to the different pace of life. Siesta and late night life are part of this culture - kids playing games late into the evening after the sun has gone down. Beautiful parks, roses everywhere and great monuments to the triumphs of the Spanish conquests are everywhere. People love their dogs here and they came in all shapes and sizes parading around the city. No problems finding shade to rest in and certainly no lack of restaurants, bars and foods of all types. There are small shops everywhere selling everything. So much to see on every street. The Thyssen was my favourite museum with a blend of art both ancient and modern - Georgia O'Keeffe missing - on loan....Prado a bit of a disappointment but enjoyed it non the less. Reina Sofia had some great Dalis and Picassos plus Mondrian, Kandinsky and so on.... Of course one cannot go to Spain without witnessing a demo and so did I - lots of police presence but no aggro on either side. I did not see any real poverty in the sense of homeless people - yes a few people begging but no more than anywhere else. I felt safe at all times and most folk here were friendly and polite. Madrid is a modern, fashionable town that seems very sure of itself and had excellent transportation, good food and great people watching.

The Homeland - return journey

Nostalgia - it is a word that conjures a variety of responses. Is it a good thing? The word emanates with emotion, loss and seperation of the past. The illusion of something no longer tangible, a memory of the senses, of time and space long past....and yet we search for that point in time and try and relive it.

For me returning to my home city is full of loss and seperation...things just aren't the same but I still carry these illusions around with me.

The River seems narrow, the ferry ride not as long or splendid as my childhood memories would have me believe. My school is now a Tesco Supermarket and my old house in Wavertree is a mecca for student housing and appears barren and lacking in any character. And yet so many memories linger there for me - and that is what nostalgia is truly - only memories.

There is no connection between past and now - only illusion or nostalgia if you like to use a sweeter word. It is all Maya - illusion and as in Buddhism one of the first major teachings of impermanence....its a hard one to accept.

I think perhaps the focus on this hour, this minute and this day is the ony way to survive nostalgia...be in the moment and live it to the fullest. Yet there still is a part of me that wants to rediscover somewhere here to give me a glimpse back in time to the world I once lived in.....such is life...

A Brief Landing in Amsterdam

A few days in this lovely city visiting with the K Clan is always relaxed and enjoyable.

You know you are in Amsterdam when the first thing you see is a man riding his bicycle carrying a double base - also the sweet and exotic scents emanating from various establishments purtaining to be "coffee shops".

The Reichsmuseum still under wraps but the art available for viewing is remarkable and I am so in love with the amazing, delectable and still images captured by the phenomenal painter Vermeer....

Very groovy meeting up with G, my Victoria friend and having a nice glass of vino in the unexplicably gorgeous Tuschinski Theatre foyer.

Ahh ..goodbye Amsterdam ...until the next time!

Constantinople

I have mixed feelings about being in Turkey - I love the history and the age of the place and the mosques and monuments are phenomenal. This city was once called New Rome before Constantine came alone ...it was the centre of the Western World - almost the Western world.

Actually only 3 percent of Turkey is in Europe and the rest of the country is in Asia or as the Turks prefer _ Anatolia. Istanbul is a huge city and he one of the most unfathomable I have been in. When I arrived I saw the hundreds of homes with swimming pools - I thought I was flying over California - there is a rich elite here and yet like most 3rd world countries the animals wander hungry in the street.

It is a stark difference to Nepal where everybody seems poor - almost. Not to be judgemental as the Turks seem, for the most part to be nice and friendly and open. The younger people anyway. I find the older men difficult to relate to. They talk at me and not to me - usually trying to sell me something and speaking to me in a polite but patronising way. One shopkeeper told me he had everything I wanted...haha - I could have given him the finger as we say but he wouldnt have got it.

There are lots of Muslim women in headscarves but looking fashionable and engaged in the modern world. I find it very difficult to accept the full black garb with a slit for the eyes - yashmak - I saw one family with the woman in full blackness and her husband and son dressed in modern western wear - it was very odd and displaced...I just don't get it...

Some of the Muslim traditions are wonderful and have a purity to them - the lack of idolatory in the Mosques is interesting - simplicity reigns supreme and there is a positive quality there that I understand.

What I like about Turkey is the seperation of church and state as we say in the west. Politics is seperate from religeon and in a country that is 95 percent Suni and 5 percent Shiite. The food is pretty good except for the ice cream.

I haven't tried the ice cream but two Brits I met on a tour said it is terrible stuff and has the texture of chewing gum and bears little resemblance to ice cream as we know it.

Went to Princes Islands today - well one of them - it was like a Greek Island full of tourists and cafes and nice but in no way special for me. It was my second trip on the Bospherous and the novelty has worn off...too spoilt with my own view of mountains and ocean in the Big C.

Interestingly though as the Bospherous leads to the Black Sea there is a lot of traffic but the ships have to wait their turn as the sea is getting narrower and there is now control of shipping lanes. No one pays to go through this sea that seperates the two parts of Turkey and war ships are not allowed to pass.

The other thing I like about Turkey is the fact that they are taking in the refugees from Syria..good baclava too!