rejoice: some passable photos today, and, what I'm reading.

July 29, 2016

Sucre street going uphill toward the view-point.

Mirador café, with view down over whole city, especially good for watching the sun set.

I was lucky to have some cloud, rather than a bare sky.

The following is something I wrote as a spoof. A journal page from the 15th of July,, a bit clunky, in pedestrian mode, shall we say.

"I woke up at seven. Had two eggs for breakfast and got on the road for nine.

There was a long long hill away from town, which had me puffing for air. By the time I'd reached the top, it was already lunchtime.

Sitting eating lunch on the hilltop was cool. An icy wind had risen, so I didn't hang out much longer than it took to eat my tuna sandwich.

Horrendous wind passed all afternoon, meeting me head on. I should've had an extra egg for breakfast, I realise, as I battled on. Then fortunately nearing sunset I found a sheltered spot to camp.

I cooked pasta for supper. Then wrote this you're reading.

Went to sleep at eight.

A cute puppy put its nose to my face, which woke me, and the realisation I had been dreaming sank in.

Well, Crazy Guys and Gals, that was my day. No, wait! A light has gone on in my head. I remember something from this afternoon I should've written, but didn't. Oh yes, that's right, I met another cyclist. We had a fascinating chat for almost an hour, but I can't remember what about, nor do I have any recollection of what this cyclist looked like. The light has gone off and all is dim."

Hehe, I won't be repeating that. I transcribed it nevertheless, just to show everything I write is repeated here.

Other newsworthy items are: I haven't quite got round to moving to a hostel with a bit more zest. I keep meaning to, but, this last couple of mornings, I've been getting this journal finished up, up to date.

Besides, yesterday, lots of people checked in. For the first time I've other people in my room. Haven't spoke to them yet, as they're always out. Also, two chatty Spanish girls.

I'm out of reading material, having finished off a book "Death in Brunswick" I picked up in a hostel a couple of months ago. What will I do now? I'll be dependent on whatever interesting reading I can find on the Net.

Accidently, however, I stumble on quite a lot of good reading on the internet, such as this: "Beatles Music History beatlesebook.com" primarily about every song the band every recorded. With each song given a whole page, starting from where the lyrics originated, through to working out the instrumentation in the recording studio, etc, through to mixing. The difference between the mono mix and the stereo mix of the song. A good read. Here's a snippet to do with the Revolver album song, Eleanor Rigby.

"I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it" remembers Paul "just like the comedian Jimmy Durante. The first few bars just came to me, and I got this name in my head - Daisy Hawkins, she picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been...Those words just fell out like stream-of-consciousness stuff, but they started to set the tone of it all, because you have to ask yourself, what did I mean? It's a strange thing to do: most people leave the rice there, unless she's a cleaner. So there's the possibility she's a cleaner, in the church, or is it a little more poignant than that? She might be some lonely spinster of this parish who's not going to get a wedding, and that was what I chose. So this became a song about lonely people."

Which leads me to a conclusion regarding reading material for future cycle tours, namely, its time I went digital. I will travel with some kind of e-book device, such as a kindle. Also, I miss BBC radio, so will acquire a player to upload podcasts on.

Another to do for the next tour, to get my head around emailing journal updates. I tried at the beginning of this trip, having read Neil's help page, but the emailed test page I wrote failed. I tried a few times more, but they failed too. Though, I'll get to the bottom of it, working out what I'm doing wrong. When I succeed, the aim will to keep the journal as actual, ie, the latest page no more than three or four days behind, through daily writing off-line. It'll take a battery with more than the six-hour life my currant computer has. I'll have to look into it.

More relevant at this moment though, there's a stretch in the evenings. Presently it 18.20 on my watch. The sun has just set as I sit up at the "Mirador" café and it won't be fully dark until about quarter to seven.

It feels like Spring is on its way.

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