#The Fountain of Neptune in Sevilla

[roselynvictoria]

The Fountain of Neptune in Sevilla by Ernst Schiess

[imsfire2]

Out of darkness: chapter two

(Author’s note: So I started a fix-it fic for “Solo quiero caminar”; it was going to be a one-shot but I couldn’t resist taking the story a bit further.  Not sure now how long this one will end up being, though I hope not quite on the scale of “In a dark time...”  Anyway, you can read chapter one on AO3 now, and here’s chapter two).

He starts in the only place he can.  Algeciras. The sea is fiery blue in the spring light, the town comfortably dirty and alive.  Kids drinking cola on the sea front; a market, a shopping mall, a few tourists; ferries putting in and heading out, and the perpetual smell of fish and dust in the air.  The big British rock at the end of the bay, a bulk like an elephant turd, streaked with chalk-white.

A simple place to stay the night, right on the waterfront, Hotel El Bahía; unpretentious, nondescript, the room is small but the bed is good, and he pays extra for a window looking onto the sea.  The sea, not the ocean; not the waters he dimly remembers from some long-ago trip, the memory of warm Pacific waves and sand, all tangled with a child’s fears and hopes and desperations; this is the Sea, the Mediterranean, the hot enclosed sea of legends and histories and myths that are not his own.  Aurora’s sea.

Did she ever pass this hotel, look at this self-same view?  He drinks his coffee in the ground floor bar, looking out at the azure water, the dusty sun umbrellas.  Gulls drift by in the distance, white as torn paper between blue and blue.  

There’s a public library, and a librarian who smiles, and remarks on his accent; asks “Are you trying to trace family here?”

“An old friend.” Gabriel smiles back.  It’s strange how the untruth doesn’t feel like lying. Did he even exchange a hundred words with Aurora?  Yet the memory of her feels as real as any in his life; she’s everything vivid and concrete, her complete certainty of self, calm and brave with him, her face bending unhesitatingly into the kiss and then not looking back.  He smiles at the kindly woman looking up at him from the desk, and accepts the help she offers without looking for motives.

It still feels strange to do this, living without calculation, finding and understanding his own emotions, smiling just for himself.  He’s barely known what it is to feel at all, the last few years.  He must remember to be calm with himself, not to panic and shut his mind to this strangeness.  

His heart is on fire as he reads the local telephone directory.  The air-conditioned reading room is cool and quiet, and the cool and quiet do nothing but inflame him further.

There are dozens of Rodriguez’s but no Aurora.  The cold place under his rib opens up again, it aches with the certainty of coming failure. He’ll never find her – he’ll find her and she’ll be gone – he’ll find her dead - or find her married after all, he’ll find she was a woman who would lie to console a dying man and that mere small kindness will kill him now – and he tells himself Shut up, shut up, cabrón, shut up you idiot and closes the pages, flips to the publication date at the front.  The directory was issued last month.  Just to be certain, he takes it back to the desk and asks for last year’s.

Waiting for it to be fetched his hands are shaking and again the inner voice starts up with its chatter. He never had an inner voice before. He’ll find her gone, he’ll find her and she won’t remember him, or she’ll look at him with ice in her eyes and he will go back to Mexico to find out what it is to grow old and be this much alone…

He turns whole slabs of pages thumping together, D to M to R, and individual sheets crumple as he leafs through them.  His thin fingers slip on the coloured paper: Radigüer, Rafael, Reyes, Rocio, Rodrigues, Rodriguez – and – Abraham Alvise Amaral Antonia Antonio – a stack of Antonio’s –

Aurora.

He’d breathing deep and fast, his nostrils flaring; he has to blink back moisture in his eyes and for a moment his mouth works with shock, before he permits himself to go into the place of emotion again.  To feel this shock, this hope, so intense, almost painful.  To smile this hard.  He’s found her name, and the street she lived on, a year ago.

He thinks of paying bribes or offering threats, of what once would have been his only move now, and his smile shifts sideways and grows even more incredulous as he realises he will not do any of that.  It’s an idiot grin, but he’s an idiot with happiness.  He never really had any hope of it before, he thinks, this thing called happiness; all the hope was just threads, like hairs tickling his skin.  

Dark hairs, long dark hair, he remembers the silken feel of that hair gathered in his hands, heavy, unbound.  If he’s to merit this, he must be whole in his commitment.  No more of Félix’s methods.

He’s not there yet, but it’s a start, and he’ll follow as far as he can, walking down this road.

It takes a few days, a few times standing in front of a stranger and asking plainly for help; but by mid-week he knows where she moved to.  In the course of those questions and requests he hears the word “stalking” used and feels that inward fear again, though the speaker says it only in passing.

Am I a stalker?  Will she see it that way?  

Should I go home now and put this insane idea out of my mind?

And then he is standing in the hallway of an apartment building, outside the door of flat 1A-left, as the naïvely chatty occupant tells him that 1A-right has gone away on holiday and won’t be back till Saturday.  He asks “Where did she go?” and is told

“Mexico.  Mexico City.  She was pretty excited about it.”

He’s shaking.  For a moment it’s hard not to sink down on the tiled floor.  All the excitement and anxiety of the last few days is suddenly a focussed point like a laser, and it strikes him in the side, there where each muscle lines up along the memory of that killing blow and that pain.

“Oh no.  No, no, no. I’ve just come from there.”

“I thought you had that accent,” says the neighbour.  He leans on the door jamb, amiable and very young, and stoned, his frayed yellow jersey hanging around him, too long at the hips and in the arms, a roll-up in his grinning lips.

Gabriel would like to tell him he needs to be more careful.  If he were a stalker he’s just been told far more than he has a right to know.  

But he isn’t, and he won’t come back to the apartment until she invites him.  He’ll watch from outside.  It’s still stalking, it’s disconcertingly close to the way he staked her out, before; but what else can he do?  He came here to find her.  

“Here” is Granada; she moved inland, into the mountains, into the city.  He has a hire car now, and a room in another hotel, a high-ceilinged room overlooking the Plaza Bib-Rambla with its fountain and its café tables.  A bronze Neptune above the fountain exhorts passers-by to raise their eyes to heaven. Beneath the god’s feet is a row of stone lions’ heads with green moss dripping in their eyes; pigeons bathe in the lower basin and tourists sit on the edge as the afternoon sun beats down on them.  Gabriel sits on his balcony and pictures Aurora below, stopping, looking up at him. She must have passed those weeping lions so many times.  

Locals sit under the arcades in the shade, and above the square the squat bell tower of the Cathedral rises in the heat.  Over the rooftops he can see the Torre de la Vela and the walls of the Alhambra, pale and rose-gold on their hillside.

He could be perfectly happy too, he thinks, living here between Neptune and Christ, looking up to the hills.

He can’t rest.  The remainder of that day and all of the next he quarters the streets, looking, seeing, touching.  It’s a consolation to his eyes in her absence.  Her roads, her cafés and stores and market stalls, all the places where she lives now, the pavements where she walks.   He is in her world, while she is in his.  He imagines her visiting her sister’s grave, carrying an armful of flowers, granting herself the blessing of farewell.  Until she returns, he can watch over her streets and know that if he leaves now he’ll cause her no grief, no thought at all.  Until she comes.  

There are long shadows and the Calle Marqués de Gerona is cool in the shade and busy with the beginning of evening.  In the Bar La Riffeña the TV is showing the UEFA cup, and when he orders a drink it comes with a dish of olives and cubes of cheese, and a small slice of bread.   Gabriel takes a seat on the terrace, where he can enjoy the evening air and watch both the street and the screen.  The second rum, half an hour later, brings a spoonful of scrambled egg with asparagus, and more bread.  By now he’s enjoying the match even though neither of the teams is his.  Sevilla have just equalised, to the delight of the regulars at the zinc.  

The third drink gains him a tiny dish of Russian salad, tangy with gherkins.  At this rate he’ll have an entire meal gratis if he orders enough drinks.  ¡Viva Andalucía!

At the next table two exhausted Italians are poring over a spread map and downing large beers. There’s a goldfinch in a cage hung over the terrace; it hops about, singing over the buzz of talk and street noise, the rapid glee of the sports commentary.  At first he doesn’t hear the sound of suitcase wheels, and then thinks nothing of it when he does, such an ordinary noise, rattling and meaningless. Then he sees her.

Aurora Rodriguez, in her scarlet jacket, wheeling a bulky grey case towards him.  His eyes go to her as to a fire in the street.

He’d forgotten, he thinks, though he’d thought he remembered every nuance; her lips, her hair, her way of walking as though the guilty world were laying its heart beneath her shoes.

There’s no chance to think through what he will say, or to hide himself.  She’s forty metres away, thirty, twenty, and still walking.  She’s looking straight past him; her eyes are tired and both glad and sad, so that he wonders what she’s seen in Mexico City; does she know something now, for sorrow or for peace, that she did not know before? He’s looking at her approach as if she’s just marched down from paradise with her case in tow, and as she comes nearer he turns his head involuntarily to keep her in his sight.  A slow movement, focussed upon her, like a fixed star. She sees it and it draws her eye, her glance catches onto his, a hand catching on a rough edge of silk.  She takes two more steps and comes to a halt, ten metres away, with her lips parting.  Impassive, watching; then very slowly, slow as heaven, smiling.

The last time he saw her, her lip had still been split, her face bruised, from Félix’s fists.  She’d looked at him with defensive eyes.  He’d known he would have died for her, to atone for what had been done to her and her family, if he had not already been dying.

He stands, to meet her on his feet.

He’s never been a man given to fear; he barely recognises it, it’s so unfamiliar, this thundering of his heart against his sore, scarred ribs.  She is smiling at him and he is afraid.

He’d wanted to smile at her. In all his dreams of this moment he has been smiling.  But his lips will not move, except, for a second, to open, breathless, silent.  He exhales.  His throat tightens on a thousand unsaid things.

Aurora takes the next step, and the next, careful, deliberate.  The suitcase bumps heavily on the cobbles behind her each time.  

“Gabriel?”  So guarded; she was always ice, she was a loaded gun, an averted head, a figure walking away…  Her smile wavers and grows cautious, readying herself to strike or to turn away, and his heart tears apart.  He forces himself into a smile as frail as breathing.

“It’s you.”  

Which of them was it who spoke?  There’s so much tension in his ribs, his spine, he’s a steel guitar string, taut and tightening, coming into tune at last.

“Aurora.”

One more step forward, one more crunch of the suitcase wheels; and Gabriel inhales and flexes his hands, and takes a step also.  Suddenly he’s almost panting for air; but light seems to flood into him as his smile anchors itself in her.  “Aurora. Aurora…”

“Be careful,” she says. “You’ll hyperventilate.”  Her smile grows again.  It gives him life.  All the muscles in his face seem to be twisting, a stupid grin coming and going, helplessly shy.

His hands are shaking, that brief mortal fear still racing in his veins.  He reaches for her and she for him, their fingertips touch suddenly and she presses her lips together and then beams, quivering with mirth that is half shock.  “I’m glad to see you.”

“Would you like a drink?—“

The electrifying touch on his fingers, the dark eyes on his; humour, astonishment, joy.  Their hands slide into one another and clasp.  He’s not sure whether it’s her that is trembling, or him.  Where the boundary is.  She’s barely fifty centimetres away and he can feel the warmth of her body and smell a clean herbal scent coming off her, not perfume but some pleasant everyday thing like shampoo.  Her skin is unblemished, a slight blush of suntan on her brow, her nose, her cheekbones.

“To drink?—“

“Something to drink?—“

They’re speaking over and through one another, still holding hands.  He begins consciously to try and slow his breathing.  “A drink, yes.”

“Perhaps a – a beer…”

“Of course.”

Somehow, he’s holding a chair for her; somehow he’s managed to let go her hand for a few moments. She sits, looking up at him as he tucks her seat in; and as he takes his own again their hands find one another and grab, and hold on.

He eyes her lips her touch…

He’d like to bring her hand to his forehead in fealty; to his lips, in worship.  She’s here, she’s beside him, he found her.

[worldhotelvideo]

Remisens Hotel Kristal in Opatija, Croatia (Europe). The best of Remisens Hotel Kristal in Opatija Hotel. Welcome to Remisens Hotel Kristal in Opatija, Croatia (Europe). The best of Remisens Hotel Kristal in Opatija. Subscribe in http://goo.gl/VQ4MLN The general services in the accommodation are: wifi available in all areas. beach. In the restaurant section you can enjoy: room service, packed lunches, restaurant (buffet), restaurant, bar and breakfast options. For wellness facilities offer sun umbrellas, massage, sun loungers or beach chairs, indoor pool (all year), pool/beach towels, swimming pool, salt-water pool, sauna and private beach area. For the reception we will be able to meet 24-hour front desk and currency exchange and safety deposit box. Within the related areas we can enjoy terrace. Cleaning services included shoeshine, laundry and dry cleaning. If you travel for business matters on the premises you have fax/photocopying. We will be able to emphasize other benefits like heating and lift [https://youtu.be/wVFWlduU8gw] Book now cheaper in http://ift.tt/2DIBtrb You can find more info in http://ift.tt/2GRu7EK We hope you have a pleasant stay in Remisens Hotel Kristal Other hotels in Opatija Boutique Hotel Mali Raj https://youtu.be/CMErUuG5Fc8 Grand Hotel Adriatic https://youtu.be/Rml8q1zt3cU Hotel Milenij https://youtu.be/88L9_wT5Ny0 Remisens Hotel Admiral https://youtu.be/p6jUgLn9EYo Remisens Premium Villa Amalia https://youtu.be/EZW2wF-klGc Remisens Premium Hotel Ambasador https://youtu.be/kXSpV2AA6j8 Remisens Premium Hotel Kvarner https://youtu.be/z-vZXBdqBKE Hotel Villa Kapetanovic https://youtu.be/QjgJMbyBouk Design Hotel Royal https://youtu.be/SD9ggeGrM1I Design Hotel Navis https://youtu.be/YM5jqcIsFrg Remisens Premium Villa Ambasador https://youtu.be/XW7-7v1MJik Hotel Bevanda - Relais & Chateaux https://youtu.be/BGIbbsdVcmk Other hotels in this channel Tryp Madrid Alameda Aeropuerto Hotel https://youtu.be/Y3gjyf_Qawc Hotel Neptun https://youtu.be/DR79ydQyYPk Hotel Reyes Ziries https://youtu.be/fz8ukY26d7Y Hotel Tamisa Golf https://youtu.be/HmoyP4hsCrI Hotel Cenit & Apts. Sol y Viento https://youtu.be/ay_NnC6XCFs Stanhope Hotel https://youtu.be/GHQ-jXGlapE Arcadie Montparnasse https://youtu.be/XBfLEXemEXo Royal Saint Michel https://youtu.be/ur5JehcJi6c TheWesley https://youtu.be/7NkwN7VYC30 GuangDong Hotel Shanghai https://youtu.be/Us4z7K5s1R8 Hôtel Eden Opéra https://youtu.be/FZmUYFzMKGk The Blossom City Hotel https://youtu.be/sWNOu4ye5QI Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve https://youtu.be/snCElS0G7z4 Novotel Barcelona Cornellà https://youtu.be/ANlAiiNWiu0 Bellavista Sevilla https://youtu.be/lNLAFoQoyi8 In Opatija we recommended to visit In the Croatia you can visit some of the most recommended places such as Villa Angiolina, Park Angiolina, Lungomare Opatija, Open Air Theater, Maiden with the Seagull Statue, Saint Jacob, Marina admiral, Hrvatski muzej turizma and Icici Beach. We also recommend that you do not miss Hrvatska ulica slavnih, Slatina fountain, Saint Helen, Helios & Selena fountain, Fiumana Beach, Rosalia, We hope you have a pleasant stay in Remisens Hotel Kristal and we hope you enjoy our top 10 of the best hotels in Croatia All images used in this video are or have been provided by Booking. If you are the owner and do not want this video to appear, simply contact us. You can find us at http://ift.tt/2iPJ6Xr by World Hotel Video

[superdobrze-blog]

22 Days

It’s crazy to think that I travelled for 22 days in places that I never even thought of visiting or knew that I will never get to. I got to experience the wonders of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Monaco and The Vatican with people that I love and hate at the same time (aka 54 other exchange students hehe).  It was the most memorable and fun trip of my life. 

It all started in France. We arrived at Paris in the evening. We drove along the Champs Elysees and the Place de la Concorde. It was so surreal, I spent forever admiring the view. Afterwards, we took a cruise along the Seine river. The lights of the city were spectacular. The buildings and the statues were all lit up dramatically. It was so beautiful especially the Eiffel Tower.

The next day, after a breakfast filled with croissants, jam and espresso we went on a tour of Paris. First stop was the Eiffel Tower. The queue for it was long (it took aroud 2 hrs). I’m not sure if it was worth it because there was so much to see than the tower and we didn’t have a lot of time to see the city. Once up there the view is incredible. We were so high up that I was being blown away by the wind.  Also, there were places to eat ice cream and snacks just outside the gates. There’s a lot of vendors that would repeatedly ask you if you to buy from them. I gave in and haggled and got a big Eiffel Tower decor and 10 keychains for only 5 €. 

We went to the Louvre Museum after. Once again, most of our time was wasted waiting in line. We only had 40 MINS to go inside the Louvre. 40 MINS TO TOUR THE WORLD’S LARGEST MUSEUM!!!! Needless to say I was dissapointed. There were sections and pieces that I was hoping to see like the “Coronation of Napoleon”, “Liberty Leading the People” and many more. For anybody wondering yes I got to see the Mona Lisa. It was underwhelming. I frantically speed walked everywhere to absorb the most that I can from the place. It was incredible to see paintings and sculptures that I only see in photographs. I was overwhelmed by the amount of history and art. The best and the most memorable experience was sitting and gawking at huge paintings. The detail and the quality of the strokes, the different styles and methods incorporated all in one masterpiece. I would loved to spend days there. 

We visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, Montmarte Hill (vibrant place has a wonderful night view of Paris) and the Basilica du Sacre- Couer as well.

That was our last night in Paris. The next day we tasked ourselves to explore Versailles. Unfortunately, Versailles was closed when we came. It was the most French thing that we could have probably experienced. The workers were having a strike. They were not being paid ebough so  they refused to work. 

Therefore, we proceeded to drive to Bordeaux, spent the night there and off we go to Spain.

We only had a full day in Madrid so we toured around a lot of places. We started of at Plaza de Espana. It featured a monument by Miguel de Cervantes. Then we went to Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor and Puerto del sol.

We got to see the infamous Las Ventas Bull Ring. I totally disagree with the sport but I wanted to know why Spain still does bullfighting. I knew very little about it so the museum helped a lot explaining the history behind it. I found it fascinating.

The day after we drove to Toledo, the former capital of Spain. Toledo is so beautiful. Its known as the “City of Three Cultures” because Christians, Muslims and Jews lived there. It was interesting to see synagogues, mosques and churches together in one area.

Day 8 started with a tour of Lisbon. You can definitely see the difference of the Spanish and Portugese culture instantly. We went to the Baixa and Rossio district, its the heart of Lisbon. The streets are lined with cafes and restaurants. Locals said we definitely had to try Ginja. It was so good. Its a sweet cherry liqueur that originated in Lisbon. It apparently cures a lot of illness so children drink it as well. 

We visited the Pena Palace in Sintra, which is one of the major expressions of 19th century Romanticism in the world. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was a colourful palace with a breathtaking view and scenery.

We returned to Spain and toured Sevilla and Granada. In Barcelona, I saw my first ever flamenco show. It was marvelous. The dancers are very passionate when they were dancing that even you wanna get up and dance. They performed really well 🏽🏽

On our way to Monaco we stopped in Provence, France. Sightseeing Avignon was really nice. It smelled like lavender everywhere. The amount of soaps I smelled is unbelievable. They had so much to choose from and made me really want to buy them all.

Casually we dropped by at Cannes to have dinner. I'm very interested in films so seeing where the festival happens every year was so satisfying. They had movie posters up from countries all over the world.

Monaco was Monaco. Everything looked luxurious. The atmosphere was so bougee it felt like I had to pay for the air I'm breathing. Everywhere you look theres a panoramic view of the city. The buildings stacked along the hills were so pretty. 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was quite underwhelming. I thought it would be bigger and placed somewhere in a middle of a field or a park but it wasn’t. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool. 

ITALY HERE WE COME! This is the country that I’m most anticipated to see. Gelato, pizza, pasta, panini!!!!! We started off in Florence. There is so much cultural heritage in this city. Giotto’s Bell Tower, Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio are one of places we visited. The notable sculptures such as a replica of Michelangelo’s Statue of David, the Fountain of Neptune were impressive. 

We departed for Rome. In my opinion, the Colosseum is the most extraordinary of all Rome’s monuments. I can’t help but have fun imagining the gladiators in mortal combat and of course prisoners being eaten by hungry lions (HAHAHA). We toured the first ever gelato factory and tasted so many diferent flavours. I legit cried of happiness because they’re banana gelato was soooo good (I can still taste it now). If you know me well you know I get emotional when it comes to really good food hahaha. 

Verona is my 3rd favourite city the whole tour. We got to freely walk around for hours so I enjoyed it more than the other cities. Everywhere we go is hectic so it was nice just to relax and slowly appreciate its wonders. I see why they called it the city of love. Besides the fact that Rome and Juliet is set there,walking the beautifully paved and narrow streets sets a romantic mood. 

20 days later, were touring our last city :( It has come to an end and Venice is the perfect city to close it with. We started with a boat ride to the city. Its overwhelmingly beautiful. The bridge is one of Venice’s most famous landmarks and it’s also great place to get a good view of the Grand Canal. Each street leads to a canal so you need to be careful not to aimlessly wander off (shoutout to Kat slippering and almost diving to the canal hahaha). 

Well that was a long post, hope you had a nice time reading my adventures. This month will be filled with more travelling as well. I would be traveling to my favourite Polish cities one last time and visiting other places like Prague, Belfast, London and Budapest. I’ll write soon!