“Dead voices, lost sounds, forgotten noises, vibrations lockstepping into the abyss and now too distant ever to be recaptured!…What sort of arrows would be able to transfix such birds?” Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam Despite the noise, I fell asleep and slept well. I am woken at 4.00 am by a man howling in pain. Long,…
Year: 2024
Slovakia – Kosiče
At me too someone is looking, of me too someone is saying, He is sleeping, he knows nothing.Let him sleep on.” Samuel Beckett Not the best night’s sleep. Music and general revelry. It is the price you pay in the heart of the city. We head out for an early morning walk. The markets are…
Poland – Nowy Sącz
“There is one thing I like about the Poles—their language. Polish, when it is spoken by intelligent people, puts me in ecstasy. The sound of the language evokes strange images in which there is always a greensward of fine spiked grass in which hornets and snakes play a great part.” Henry Miller Clear blue sky…
Bytča and More Castles
“Wherever there is cold there are people who work themselves to the bone and when they produce young they preach the gospel of work – which is nothing, at bottom, but the doctrine of inertia.” Henry Miller We wake to grey skies and cold weather. Breakfast is by the restaurant, which turns out to have…
Slovakia – Where The Castles Live
“The shattered wall,the broken towerhave a story to tell –from the touchstones of ruinsand ancient textswe make a pilgrimage.” Michael Alexander We wake up to blue skies and a crisp morning of 5C. Shell suggests a walk. There are sandstone caves and digs nearby. I realise this random, tiny little village in the middle of…
False Spring
“It was a rainy night. It was the myth of a rainy night.” Jack Kerouac After the warm weather yesterday a change has come in. It is wet and windy and the temperature has dropped to 5C. Which is perfect for sleeping in. Rachelle is up early, which means I am up early. It is…
The Garden City
“I like the posture, but not the yoga.I like the inebriated morning, but not the opium. I like the flower but not the garden, the moment but not the dream. Quiet, my love. Be still. I am sleeping.” Roman Payne I have packed for a cold early Spring. Budapest has delivered beautiful warm weather in…
Cities For Walking
“For age is opportunity no lessThan youth itself, though in another dress,And as the evening twilight fades awayThe sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Sunday My sleep is not great. Jetlag throws the sleep around. I am awake at 3.00 am and my brain thinks it is 6.00 am and…
Arrivals – Budapest
“But I now leave my cetological System standing thus unfinished, even as the great Cathedral of Cologne was left, with the crane still standing upon the top of the uncompleted tower. Herman Melville Thursday Long terms are not much fun, but they are satisfying to conclude. Di is visiting for a few days before she…