isobelmtl

Writing under a Montreal sky

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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.

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  • Back at Home

    It really is a typical Montreal autumn with beautiful coloured trees I have been away for a long time in Spain. I found, for the first time, that my trip was lonely. I am used to travelling alone but this time was different. I think I will have to get back on the Camino! Fortunately,…

  • Gold in the Gutter

    Gold in the gutter The hour, the golden hour has come For you to flutter, for you to fall. Your song becomes a stutter, a cry The others lie though they too were so proud against the sky. Gold and high but no more can they fly the flag of beauty. Gold in the gutter.…

  • Last Day in Madrid

    À fireplace for breakfast! I was determined to visit the newly-opened Joachim Sorolla museum yesterday so, à quick coffee and Google Maps… don’t fail me now! was full of protest against the housing situation all over Spain. MariCarmen was an 87 year old woman who died after being evicted from her home. She became the…

  • A Little More about Toledo

    Toledo was the capital of Spain before Madrid. It is in a section of the city called the Mancha. Remember Don Quichote and Sancho Panza. Mancha means dry or arris but the region still produces good cheese, olives and wine. The city is on a hill in the middle of a plain with a river…

  • My Daughter was Right

    is “ insane” as she puts it. This is not meant, I’m sure in à critical or derogatory way. But it is pretty over the top. The monstrance That is used on the feast of Corpus Christi. are tremendously ornate and although our excellent guide ( appropriately named Angel) explained a lot – for example…

  • Museum Day

    One of my favorite places in Madrid. Unlike another museum I visited later in the day, no pictures are allowed but just imagine wandering through rooms of medieval art, scores of El Grecos and rooms of Goya. Goya is very dark, of course but Valesques and all those infantas and princes on little pony’s cheered…

  • At Last!

    These are among my favourite birds! I don’t really know why but along with crows, I love them. I had been trying to get a good picture of one ever since I came to Spain mid September. Somehow I knew I would see one in the Madrid Botanical Gardens so I made up my mind…

  • In Madrid!

    Castille and Leon are so different from green Asturias and Galicia. À really nice hostel in Madrid. The metro was undergoing repairs at the station I wanted but I walked thanks to ( and sometimes cursing ) Google Maps. It is very hot here. Just had a “ vino de verano” which was very refreshing…

  • On the Roman Walls in Lugo

    right around the inner city serves as a jogging path, à place to walk the dog, à 45 minute stroll above the modern life of a town in Northern Spain. from the museum of the Roman Walls shows that things were not always so peaceful here! It seems unbelievable that in the first century CE…

  • St Frolian’s Day

    This is when Galician folks show off their costumes and bands. I had never heard of this saint despite a good Catholic upbringing. I think I would have remembered à saint who let à wolf eat the donkey carrying his documents because he was busy praying. As soon as he twigged to what had happened,…