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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  • In Avila

    My buddy, Gilberto drove like the wind and brought me to Avila. On the other side of the highway were traffic jams of people going away for the May 1 holiday. It is labor day and May 2 is the province of Madrid holiday as well so people were streaming out of the city. I…

  • OnlyTwo more days

    It seemed an eternity stretching out but all of a sudden it’s time to pack my bags properly and think about the return home. All of us are tired. I think if one is going to do this sort of work there should be one day off per week just to have a chance to…

  • The French Family with a tablecloth!

    They were ten people including 5 kids. In spite of their attention to dining graciously the boys, all under 10, were running wild when I noticed them scaling a wrought iron gate liberally adorned with vicious looking spikes. I did warn them off and drew their mother’s attention to the danger of them being impaled…

  • Ten minutes before my shift

    There are already over 50 pilgrims in the albergue and it is only 4 o’clock. My worst nightmare will be turning someone away. One of my colleagues is an early bird and she goes off to bed quite early. The kitchen as jumping lady night and I admit to being a bit grumpy when people…

  • A Camino Moment

    I have walked on the Camino and I know what it is to worry about getting to an albergue, about getting a decent bed, about arranging for a meal. My three companions and I have formed the habit of going for a coffee in a nearby cafe when our cleaning chores are done. Just as…

  • Mid point

    We four hospitaleras/os are at mid point in our two weeks of service and we haven’t yet run away, burst into tears or strangled each other. Put two Spanish men and two Canadian women all over seventy into a totally unfamiliar situation where they have to deal with fifty strangers who do or don’t speak…

  • Exploring

    The view from the upper windows here is lovely. I made up my mind that I would get into that beautiful field somehow. I only achieved my goal at the end of my walk today as entering the field proved harder than I could have imagine. Instead I got side tracked to an interesting point:…

  • Up to the Castle

    You’re going to have to read up on them because I just can’t delve into their very long and important history here. The castle though! I loved it! Huge, spectacular, imposing… with a library of impeccably reproduced medieval books! I was in heaven yesterday wandering through this place. The weather is cooperating too!

  • Settling in and figuring it out

    Last night there were fifty pilgrims in the Albergue. A lot of them cooked supper in the communal kitchen. One American guy made vegetable dumplings! Some Korean ladies threw together a feast and there was a lot of pasta bubbling away on the two stove tops. Registering fifty pilgrims and assigning them beds according to…

  • One day in Madrid

    I stayed in an excellent hostel very close to the Prado museum and another one I had never heard of, the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum. The Botanical Gardens were in the same neighborhood. Short story- I visited all three and liked the Thyssen-Bornemisza best. to Georgia O’Keefe Of course, the Prada is Madrid’s shining jewel but it…