Happy Birth-month!

I have been appalling at keeping up with this blog ever since my move to London. I am so sorry!! By now I have my room for the brief stay here, but have also been travelling constantly. For my birthday, I have been lucky enough to fly over to Spain for a week, to spend some time relaxing in the sunny Barcelona and Madrid. It was not my first times there, I had already been four years ago, but it was interesting to revisit the cities and see how they - and I - have changed.
Barcelona is still a cool city, though my first impression of it had not been so nice. Third time round, I still admire all the Gaudì's works, his bold and naïve imaginations, his strong link with nature, his sense of colour. Then there is the darker side of Barcelona, the old gothic side, which is equally fascinating. It was this dark side that had lured me to Barcelona in the first place, after all.
The highlight of the Madrid visit was definitely Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. I can't get over the dense complexity of this triptych. It's mind boggling how much detail has gone into this fascinating work, so sci fi that seems so utterly modern and still bizarre enough now as it must have been then. What was going inside your head as you drew these half human forms, Hieronymus?!
There was a small present in a box. There was a tiny cake, uneaten, on my actual birthday. I treated myself a pair of heels with bows. But my birthday celebration, stretched out over the space of one special week, was so good. I am overly grateful to have spent it with my loving parents, who came all the way over to Europe to see me. It had been too long! Thank you so much. Thank you for making me possible, thank you for raising me to be who I am today, thank you for always being there for me. I love you so much.
My birth month is almost, but not quite, over. One more week, and I get to see my other favourite person. The perfect last birthday present. Thank you for making my birth month so special.