isobelmtl

Writing under a Montreal sky

Recent Blog Posts

about

Isobel Cunningham has published short fiction and poetry. Her book, Northern Compass is available on Amazon. She was born in Wales but Montreal is her adopted home. She speaks French, Modern Greek ( it’s a fun story) and a little Spanish…oh, English too, of course. She welcomes comments on her blog and looks forward to chatting with you over cyber-space.

Author: isobel cunningham

  • More sights from Santiago

    Santiago is an old town. Even Google maps has the little arrow going round and round. There are many squares and the address of some buildings you might want to visit are simply the names of the squares. I spent a good half an hour circling a church ( lots of those) looking for a…

  • Images of Santiago

    I loved the look of this little fountain and the many camellia petals on the white stones. Today was a calm happy day. I went to liturgy, enjoyed the warm temperatures, walked on a park far from the bustle of town. I had a conversation in Spanish with the Colombian lady who owns the restaurant…

  • Off to Finisterre

    This looks to me so much like a beloved island in New Brunswick, Grand Manan. However it is the point the Romans believed was the westernmost point of land in the whole known world. It isn’t of course but it is very impressive and beautiful. I had hoped to walk the trip I took today…

  • At the Cathedral museum

    When this swings it is a spectacle. Today in the library, where exceptionally photos are not allowed, I asked an attendant why another similar huge incense burner was stored there. Why had it been retired? She was tactful and evasive at first but then it was revealed that it’s particular butofumaro was decorated with insignia…

  • A little tea and sympathy

    I took few pictures today because I was busy making friends. It seems the cosmos noticed that I needed a little encouragement. I managed to have a nice conversation over breakfast tea with a charming Estonian who knew about fifty words of English. Breakfast was enlivened by a slide show on his computer of how…

  • Dealing with things

    This certificate is issued by the Franciscan order just because you ask for it. A sort of – you got blisters getting here – you deserve it. They make you fill it in yourself too. I was wretchedly tired having woken up several times in the night and worried. Tonight I have fished out an…

  • Twists and Turns

    When I did my last Camino I never got a picture like this . As I was walking across the square someone called me. It was a lady whom I met in the Montreal airport as we were both setting off on our Caminos. We struck up a conversation for a few minutes and she…

  • Thank heavens for busses

    And no! I did not get here by walking. I will write a whole post about the last alberge I was in, Casa Fernanda, but one of the decisions I came to there was that I was not going to walk the Portuguese Camino any more . The main reason was that my titanium hip…

  • Aaand this is how things change!

    Pain This cow – I’m pretty sure it was a cow – blocked my path yesterday but I managed to bypass her! Less easy to get past is a nagging hip pain. In spite of a wonderful walk yesterday ( mostly) the walk along the roads are fearsome! I decided to take a bus/train/something? and…

  • Two Days Walking

    Out of Porto I took a metro to a tony beach spot and started to walk beside the sea. Everyone had told me how wonderful the seaside is along this coast. They were right. It was how and there was no shade. A sort of panic gripped me . I had set myself a challenging…