Slowly I'm returning to my usual self. I'm just back from a much needed holiday in Madrid. I had never been to Spain and I loved it. I struggled at first with the language, but by the second day I was already able to have a simple conversation with the locals! When they learned I was Italian they stopped answering to me in English and let me experiment with my elementary Spanish, which was fun. I took Spanish in school but that's like more than twelve years ago (at least)...I remember liking it very much but I never used it until this week. I was surprised at how much it came back to me speaking it.
It was also my first experience at travelling alone and it was definitely a hit. There were so many other people travelling alone and always ready for a chat or to join me to explore the city. I met some very strange but joyful people, and ate lots of delicious food (mostly tapas). I will post the pictures as soon as I develop and scan them (yes, I still don't own a digital camera...)
This holiday also brought me back to books. I started reading The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint on the plane. I chose a short book as I didn't trust myself to read something too long. But by the end of the first day in Madrid I had finished it. So I went book-hunting. I found a bookshop which had books in English and bought My family and other animals by Gerald Durrell and I am enjoying it very much. Then I also got a YA book in Spanish, cause I plan to keep re-learning it. I've already read two chapters, for which I'm really proud. The book is El coleccionista de relojes extraordinarios by Laura Gallego García, who, according to the local bookseller, is a good author. I'm really intrigued by it so I'll let you know my thoughts on it.
I decided to leave Enna Burning at home, cause I only have the last few chapters left, and didn't want to finish it too soon and then carry it around for nothing. But I will finish it today or tomorrow. I did love it, although it has taken me ages to read it.
OK, so now for the music part of this blog post:
I love love love the Slow Club. I wish they played here. I wished they did the Electric Picnic, it'd be perfect. I need to see them live! I love almost all their songs but this one, I can't get enough of. I love singing along to it, it's lovely.
ps: I was sure there was a beautiful music video for this song, but I can't find it anymore.
Another band I'm loving for their soft 60's sound is Camera Obscura. This is their best song i think:
As most of these artists, I've only started to listen to Cathy Davey very recently, but I immediately loved her style. She's playing here soon, but I'm still thinking whether I should go. 26 euro seems a lot for someone I just started to know, but I know I would enjoy it. Hmm, dilemmas...
This is her latest single:
On an extremely different note, I'm loving the latest Beth Ditto look on Gossip's new video for Pop goes the World. The song is cool, but her hair is the best part. It's purple! And Blue! And her make-up! And her whole thing! Fantastic.
GOSSIP - POP GOES THE WORLD from V Magazine on Vimeo.
I'm finishing here with a treat for myself, basically. It's Florence's new song. She debuted it in Dublin, but I couldn't get tickets. Thank the Internet Gods for Youtube. I knew she was going to play something new, and I couldn't wait to listen to it. You can barely understand any lyrics, but it doesn't matter. It's Florence's new song for Pete's sake!! What else could *you* want?!
