spain´s geographic heart

yes... really, it´s happening. we are actually leaving this place. after 2 weeks, and falling blindly for the love and beauty here, we have finally managed to get tickets on the bus and we are heading to madrid! it´s hard to believe actually. it´s like we are leaving home and only now starting on an adventure. because it has felt so much like we were at home here. so now we head to spain´s geographic heart!
about madrid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid
about madrid in polish: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madryt

bierzo with a view

Jose said he wanted to show us something, some things, more, more than what we had seen. but there was no time, it was 7pm and we were supposedly leaving that night. of course we had no ticket for the bus and we weren't packed. jose sped through the small streets to reach the chestnut trees before it was too dark for pictures. there he gives us a proficient explanation on the illness that plagued them some time back and how they weren't saved due to bureucratic stagnation.

before that we were at a vineyard which also has a restaurant and boutique hotel, with a spectacular view of the area. so by night fall we had agreed, we were staying on. jose of course already knew that.

the next day we went driving into the hills, and up into an area where monks used to live. we visited an old monastery and walked up to the cave where the monks would meditate.

the views, smells, the fresh air, the sound of the river, the nap under the chestnut trees, it was all wonderful!


thank you jose!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/nisargaanddeepa/TouringBierzo#

El mejor guia de Bierzo!

Jose esto esta especificamente dedicado a ti. Este post se trata especificamente de tu generosidad, pasion para tu tierra, amor para nosotros, tu conocimiento y la sabiduria que llevas dentro de ti para la naturaleza. Nos tratastes como si fueramos reyes, dandonos el major tour posible, intentando a maximizar el tiempo que teniamos. Y nos mostrastes tanta belleza, y tus ojos brillaban con el “wonder” de un nino descubriendo todo eso por primera vez. Ademas, muy pero muy profesional y extenso! Conocias alguien en todas partes que nos pudo dar un atencion especial, o dejarnos ir en rincones escondidos, hasta que eres amigos con arboles que sirven de cunas! Nos quedemos tan encantados con esa energia tuya que nos quedemos 3 dias extra, principalmente para compartir en esa energia… y ser mimados por ti. No sabes el regalo que nos distes. Solo nuestros corazones lo podran explicar, en su idioma. Habra mas en el blog sobre las excursiones contigo pero esto lo quiese escribir en espanol para ti. Disculpe los errores en esta humilde nota de agradecimiento, se que entiendes lo que quieremos decir.

Te recordamos mucho y te quieremos mucho mas todavia. Siempre estaremos agradecidos por los momentos que nos regalastes, durante un tiempo prestado. Con mucho amor y abrasos, tus amigos Nissio y Antigoni

Camino to the Pulperia!

We were so moved by the pilgrims we saw walking by the house on a daily basis, on their way to Santiago de Compostella, that we decided we too would do part of the walk.

Ok, how many of you actually believed that we decided to go on a religious pilgrimage? For those who did: no, neither one of us has changed THAT much. Here’s the real story.

I was craving octopus like you wouldn’t believe. I saw it all over the place in Santiago and it really hit a soft spot in me. It reminded me of the octopuses I used to see hanging outside on lines by the port on the islands where we used to go to vacation during the summers of my childhood in Greece. The fishermen would bring them in and they would hang them there under the hot sun. I remembered walking by these scenes with great wonder, these amazing underwater creatures, purple and with tentacles! It was quite a spectacle for my young eyes. I remembered my mother’s story of having swam far out in the ocean one day, during one of those summer vacations, the way she loved to do, and feeling like something was pulling on her leg. She thought seaweed was getting caught around her legs and tried to shake it. She felt it several times and then decided to just head back to shore. As she got out she saw behind her a guy in a diving suit coming out with a spear in one hand and a big octopus in another. She said she almost fainted. I remembered the simple, and by today’s standards luxurious, plate of black rice with an octopus (or a big chunk of one) laid on top of it. I was craving octopus big time!

Eva mentioned there was a nice pulperia (a place where they serve octopus) by her place. It was 4 kilometres or so away. We decided to walk. The weather was great and we wanted to be outside. We were told that if we took the route the pilgrims take it would be very scenic and beautiful. Indeed it was!

While our mission was different than that of the pilgrims, our passion and determination was of the same calibre I believe. Check out the pictures! We found the pulperia, and we stuffed ourselves with pulpo. It was delicious and well worth the 7-8 kilometre roundtrip walk.

getting over hang ups...

this was the first time i was preparing food for so many people, and i think i have never prepared food for others in all my life put together as many times as i have over the past two weeks (excluding partners). i really got over my hang up about not being able to cook. there was guacamole, yuca frita, puree de yuca con frijoles negros y queso, and various salads. i was quite proud of introducing the entire group to yuca, these spaniards were missing out on a great food from their former colonies which was available at the local grocery store. thanks mom for introducing me to it!

and i got closer to accepting that yes, i can feel energy. in my way, in some way, and im working on unblocking myself from this self imposed belief.

the loving, accepting and supportive environment here has done wonders for both of us.

sharing...

during the workshop, one morning i led yoga and it was the first time i had to do it in spanish, and with so many people new to yoga, and with no mats! but i think it went well.

nisarga gave reiki sessions to every single person in the group, at least once. and he also conducted a reiki iniciation for 2 of the members, jose and arturo. that night they were glowing so beautifully, there was so much tenderness in the air, we all felt we had returned to a certain level of innocence seldomly touched. it was joyous!!! nisarga went into his fasting mode and didnt eat for 3 days (no surprise), to the horror of several of the participants. ha! nisarga practiced a few times his recent training in lomi nui massage, and i must admit, its great!

i also must admit, it was such a turn on to see my partner in the spot light. usually i'm the one in the spotlight and it was so beautiful to watch him flow and do his thing. yum!

the work...

there was a week long workshop led by eva and jose on family constelations, which also included active meditations in the morning, and other work in the evening such as osho meditations, tarrot readings, story telling, walks in nature. there were 11 of us total including the leaders, we all slept at the house, and took turns cooking.

this was the first time either of us was receiving tarrot readings, and they were powerful! very. (thank you octavio for dedicating your time for this and for your insights and advice.) and this was also the first time we were participating in a family constalations workshop, although i had served as eva´s translator in delhi once. it was intense!!! there was a lot of deep and hard work for both of us, which sometimes left us exhausted, overflowing with energy, confused, dazzed, in pain, angry, light, surprised, and everything in between.

the effects of the work are surely to be felt in time to come. as of right now, we are very proud and excited about the personal work we have done. and we are honored to have been led by eva and jose, they have great experience and are wonderful facilitators, pushing us further then we thought we could go but knowing when to stop and let the energy settle. for those who don't know about family constalations, here is an explanation i found in a quick search on google. if you do your own search i'm sure there is plenty more. and if you are interested in eva and jose's work, or their blog, and you read spanish, you can visit: www.elviajedelalma.com .

http://picasaweb.google.com/nisargaanddeepa/TheWork?authkey=2B4Eh-SBVEU#


What in the world is a family constallation?

Our deepest wish is that we and our loved ones thrive and that our families be filled with love and joy. When instead we experience ilness, failure and conflict, we want to know why. Allergies? Dysfunctional family? Bad genes? German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger has a different answer. His Family Constellations begin with the idea that instead of originating in an individual‘s biographical history from birth to the present, dysfunction and suffering often relate to painful events in the family‘s past.

In his work with several thousand families, Bert Hellinger uncovered what he calls age-old “Orders of Love ” deeply embedded in the unconscious of family groups. disturbances in these orders, and in the sense of belonging that is essential for a sense of well-being, often manifest in dysfunctional patterns that reappear in a family system generation after generation. Sometimes our way of belonging is to suffer like those who came before us. One may become “entangled” in the difficult fate of an ancestor and unconsciously draw unhappiness, failure, addiciton or illness into one‘s own life. the purpose of a family constellation is to reveal the hidden dynamic of such a situation and point the way toward resolution.

An individual wishing to work on an issue chooses representatives for various members of his/her family from among the circle of participants at a Family Constellations workshop. S/he positions them spatially in a way that seems right. In a short time the representatives begin to experience physical sensations, emotions or urges belonging not to themselves but to the family members they represent. It is as though they have become antennae, receiving information from the “family soul”. Through questions, observations, trial statements and repositioning, the facilitator and client come to see the situation in a new way and create a resolution picture that enables the client to break his/her identification with the ancestor‘s difficult fate.

Illness and healing occur at five levels (physical, energetic, mental-emotional, intuitive, and spiritual) of health. Any disturbance in the physical realm manifests also, in another form, on the other four levels. Family Constallations address the fourth (intuitive) level, an area previously ignored by more familiar interventions. Many practitioners now acknowledge this and incorporate constellation work into their practices.
from: http://www.theconstellationsgroup.com/articles/constellation_summary.html

for more information on bert hellinger and his influences for family constallations: http://www.hellinger.com/international/english/about_bert_hellinger.shtml

el camino para los flojos...

of course we visited santiago de compostela! ...

But instead of walking the path we drove out there for the day and back. Actually Jose drove, Nisarga slept the whole time back and forth, Eva read and I watched out the window. The view was as if we were in Scotland, at least how i imagine Scotland since i’ve never been. The drive from Asturias through Galicia was not like anything i had expected from Spain. Until now i only knew from Catalunya to Andalucia, along the coast. And this was so different: rolling green hills, pine forests, lots of mist, sheep, rivers, tunnels through mountains. When we got to Santiago i realised i had expected typical Spanish hot weather and i was way off; it was breezy and crisp, sunny but far from hot.

Santiago de Compostela is a major pilgrimage site for catholics, second only to rome and the holy land. People come here from all over the world, some on bikes, some walking, some driving, some on horse, and i’m sure others by various combinations. I suppose since it’s a Catholic thing there is a whole lot of penance involved in the whole matter, therefore you can’t just drive up and be rewarded. You got to sacrifice, give up something, face obstacles, the journey becomes the destination kind of thing. And once you make it, you get some stamp (or were you joking with me jose?) on some paper or something, which shows you made it, and that’s recognised by the Vatican. “For what?” i asked. To get into heaven i was told... sarcastically. Ok, so who knows for what, but there it is, the end of the camino de Santiago, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

This route came about because Santiago, a feisty apostle also known as Saint James, walked this path, with sandals not barefoot i’m told. Legend has it that good ol’ James brought the message of jesus christ the saviour to the celts in the Iberian peninsula. However, in 44AD he was beheaded in Jerusalem, ouchy! His remains were brought back to Galicia but his tomb was abandoned in the 3rd Century. Legend continues that his tomb was rediscovered in 814AD by Pelavo, a hermit, after witnessing strange lights in the sky. The then Asturian King was informed of this miracle and he ordered the construction of a chapel on the site; he subsequently became the first pilgrim to the shrine. A church was constructed, burned down, another was built, and so it went until the end of the 10th Century. Talk about taking a long time for his remains to rest in peace! So surely we could at least go and show some faith!

We made it just in time to catch the end of mass. This was a highlight because the world’s largest censer is in here and it was in full swing! A dome contains the pulley mechanism to swing this “botafumeiro” which is a “thurible”; you'll have to check the picture to get an understanding of what that means. It was created in 1851 and weighs 80kg (176 lbs) and measures 1.60 m in height. It is normally on exhibition in the library of the cathedral, but during important religious high holydays it is attached to the pulley mechanism, filled with 40kg (88lbs) of charcoal and incense, and swung above the heads of the visitors. Eight red-robed tiraboleiros pull the ropes and bring it into a swinging motion almost to the roof reaching speeds of 60km/hr and dispensing thick clouds of incense. Everyone tells us that the original reason for the botafumeiro was to mask the stench which filled the cathedral coming from the pilgrims who arrived and congregated there after weeks or months of trying to reach.

oh, and for those who don't quite make it, for whatever reason, there is a stop at another cathedral, some 200km before santiago de compostela, where you can go and get your stamp. it's called "la puerta del perdon". i guess for those who sprain an ankle, run out of money or time or something like that.

Santiago has one of the oldest universities of Spain, dating back to the 16th Century. We walked through the old town, which is also a UNESCO world heritage site. As we walked by shops we were repeatedly offered to sample the local pastries, made with almonds! Yum!!! Reminded me of Greek pastries from childhood my grandmother used to make. Behind glass, like expensive gems, were cheese, giant octopus, huge oysters, chunks of different animal parts, lobsters, crabs, etc. Something for everyone!!!

This was a lovely excursion. Thank you Jose and Eva.

http://picasaweb.google.com/nisargaanddeepa/SantiagoDeCompostela?authkey=2VxPs5wpGmg#

checking out santiago de compostela

for more on santiago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_compostela
for polish: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela

and for the camino: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_santiago
for polish: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droga_św._Jakubakipedia.org/wiki/Droga_%C5%9Bw._Jakuba

and we will sing and dance...

we arrived at Bierzo to a weekend of music at a nearby music festival along a river with a backdrop to only dream of. the water was freezing but there was so much great energy we couldnt help ourselves so we jumped in. music was good and the people were great, just chilling out, enjoying themselves, couples, friends, children, dogs, families, it was lovely.

we enjoyed guru purnima (the full moon in july that is dedicated to teachers, guides, gurus, etc.) by a lake with a beautiful reflection and a small fire. unfortunately, due to so many fires in the area, it was a bit of a stressful small fire since we were worried that if anyone saw the smoke and called it in we would get fined. but the moon was spectacular, bright enough to light up the area as if it was around dawn. and there were fireworks somewhere around the lake, which is surrounded by hills, and you could hear the fireworks in surround sound, it was spectacular. you'd first see the firework and hear a small pop, then hear the pop travel a full 380 getting louder and softer and then finally disappear.

happy purnima everyone! thank you teachers past and present, living or in the beyond already, thank you ancestors for paving the way, thank you to all those who have come before us ...

welcome to shangrila...

We arrived to Narayola, just outside Ponferrada in the Bierzo area in the northwest of Spain along the camino de Santiago, very excited to start our Spanish tour! Dear and beautiful friends: jose and eva, and their kids alvaro, cris and rodrigo... were waiting with open arms.

I met Eva in Goa in January, at Akash’s Gurdjieff movements workshop and we instantly clicked. She was due to fly back to Spain after the workshop, which she did, but within a couple of weeks she was back in Goa with Cris and Rodrigo, had rented a house close to the beach, was signed up for more Gurdjieff workshops and Jose was expected within weeks. She had no doubt that that is where she needed to be, and where she and her family would thrive, and she wasted no time in returning! I met the rest of the family when they came up north, to Mcleodganj in May, and Nisarga met them there too. It was like we had all been friends for years. And it’s like that still. We’ve so been looking forward to seeing them again, their energy challenges you and moves you, and as a family they inspire us.

Its almost like a Shangrila here, as Eva jokes. or maybe like a hotel California... you can check in but you can never check out! Actually, we just don’t want to! Time passes without us noticing. We flow and find ourselves quite at peace. We cook, hang out, a bit of yoga, a bit of reiki, a bit of massage.

Among the things that we adore about being here: all the love they shower us with, the fresh village air, the mountains that surround this valley, the roses in the garden in full bloom, the beautiful flowers everywhere, the vineyards which stretch out as far as the eye can see in every direction, the rivers, the churches, the picturesque towns that are dotted across the hills and valleys, the deliciously fresh octopus, the organic wine, the chestnut trees that are so big you could live in them, Jose screaming Nissio all the time and the noises he makes which are meant for horses but are aimed at the dogs, blenda the miracle dog who has lived way past her expected years – a lady of grace and patience and love, Cris’s hospitality in giving up her room – which comes with a double bed AND a massage table AND a massage from her!,... just to name a few...

http://picasaweb.google.com/nisargaanddeepa/ComoEnCasaEnNarayola?authkey=Y6fkr4pKqAI#

bodega celebration

so it was built and we came! and we had quite an opening celebration. we participated in a sufi based osho meditation, "no dimentions", and wirled until we dropped.

then we had some bubbly, some traditional cake from santiago, and cheese, cheese, and cheese. there was a special guest performance by rodrigo, eva and jose's son, who wowed us with magic tricks.

and we stayed talking and laughing, inagurating the space with lots of love, laughter, and hope. thank you for building it... thank you for inviting us...

If you build it they will come

That’s what Eva believed and convinced Jose of it and sure enough… they – we – did! She decided to fix their basement so that it could function as a work space for meditation, family constellation workshops, yoga, whatever. When we got there Jose was still working on the floor, with his son Alvaro. Eagerly and lovingly, Nisarga offered to help out if they needed it. The next day he was on his hands and knees laying out cement and tiles along with Jose and Alvaro.

Thank you Wiesiek for employing him in your construction company while he was in school so that he learned the basics of how to do some of these things. Thank you Jose for trusting him with the floor…

heading to the wild wild west! 11 hours on the renfe (spain´s national railways), crossing almost the entire north of spain, we head from barcelona to ponferrada, where eva and christina pick us up and take us to narayola, the smaller town next to the small town of ponferrada! where the sun sets at 10:30 and the land is covered in grape vines, and a beautiful family opens their arms and doors to us...

for more on ponferrada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponferrada

el regalo de barcelona

Originally we headed to Barcelona because it was the place where we knew we could get to from Nice, and from which we could take a train to Ponferrada, our first stop in Spain. We figured that while we are there it would be great to leave some things behind, instead of dragging them around on our backs for 6 weeks, and we knew we wanted to spend time in Barcelona so we figured we would just end our Spanish tour there and pick up our stuff before heading onwards to England. Just the day after we figured out how to reach Barcelona from Nice, i read an email from a friend who said he has a friend in Barcelona we could stay with if we needed to. Perfect! So we had a place to leave this crap and to rest in between trains. We were scheduled to arrive late night and we planned on leaving the next morning. We were told we didn’t have to buy tix in advance, but when we reached Barcelona the train we wanted was booked for the whole next day. So the universe saw it fit to provide us with a full day in Barcelona. We accepted the offer and lived a life time in that day!

We headed out at 10am on what would be the first real day of sightseeing for Nisarga and I. So far in Nice we lounged around in bed, got food together slowly, then around 3 or 4 wandered over to the beach, a 3 minute walk away, and then we’d come back home around 7, shower, hang out with the family, have more food and wine, go to bed late and repeat the next day. Well that’s what you are supposed to do when you haven’t seen each other in weeks, and you are in front of the beach. But this is Spain! I’ve been dreaming of this vacation for the past 8 years, since i was last in Spain; 1-2 months dedicated to just traveling around spain! So when Nisarga suggests getting on one of those tour buses that takes you around town, or getting into the metro to get to where we are going, i cringe. I try everything to convince him that the best way to do this is to walk. He resists, he feels it’s better to take transport to where we are going and then walk around where we will be. I insist. We agree that we will try walking and then if it’s too much we’ll get on the metro. Because really, we aren’t going to any one particular place. We are walking and getting to know the city through the walk, and we are heading to areas, no particular places, no maps marked. This was after all a last minute surprise, present, so there was no plan.

So we start walking. And it’s ohhhhh so lovely. Really! The city that i fell in love with 8 years ago is still enchanting for me. We wander through different parts of Barcelona, slowly, lazily, enjoying the atmosphere. Neither one of us has walked this much in who knows how long! It ends up to be a 12 hour walk! Yes, we reach home at 10pm, not once having gotten on the metro. We end up in parks, see the Olympic games area of town, sit in a couple of churches, stare at the port from a hill above, check out a sex shop with a peep show, wander around the gothic part of town and the old town admiring the architecture. We aren’t ever really lost because we aren’t headed to anywhere specifically, just headed in a direction.

I'm amazed as we walk and go into and out of shops and places, how many immigrants from spain's former colonies in latin america are in the service sector. we almost run into no spaniards behind any counters. wow!

For lunch we stop at a menu, and Nisarga is amazed at how this restaurant can make any money. For 9 euro we get large portions of what we order: a starter, a main dish, a desert, and a whole bottle of house wine to split between the two of us; we pass on the coffee. By now we are tired and a bit drunk. And full to the rim... bursting at the seams in fact!!! We walk some more. We get ice-cream hoping the sugar helps. It works for a very short while. We sit on a bench in a plaza off of the ramblas. We then find another refuge, a plaza with a guitar player, and a nice little corner for us on the pavement. We need our siesta big time! that mid day bottle of red needs to come with a bed!

When we end up home our feet and legs have had it with us. We crash with smiles on our faces. Thank you Barcelona for a wonderful first day in Spain! Thank you universe for this lovely surprise!

Monaco by car

So what did we do on Bastille Day? (A major French holiday) We headed to Monaco! Well, it was our last day in the area and we had a car and it’s just next door and so why not? On our way there we stopped at a lovely look out point and sat on a bench and had a picnic of the usual: cheese, fruit, bread, dried sausage for me, carrots for him. And it started raining. We went on to Monaco hoping it would not be raining there, but it was. So we drove around a bit, basically from one end to the other which took about half an hour. We parked the car at a cliff overlooking a small beach and we waited out the rain. Then we tried to find the botanical gardens, apparently Monaco’s touristic highlight: huge cacti. Exciting right? By the time we found it Nisarga’s father had called and informed us it was bright and sunny over there, so we decided we could head back to Nice and still make it to the beach; and so we did! Thus I’ve been to Monaco, but never got out of the car. Yes, it was a particularly lazy day for us!

Polaskies

In my 32 years of this life time I have never met a Polish person, at least I don’t remember one. I know nothing about the culture, stereotypes (other then the American jokes about Poles being dumb), food, geography, etc. Nothing! It has never occurred to me to visit Poland, I have never heard the language being spoken, and I had no idea who its neighbours are. I was bluntly honest about all this with Nisarga. I was also honest with him that I thought it was too early, way too early to meet anyone in his family, and that I was nervous about it. After all, I was only the second girlfriend of his they have met. We stayed at his brother’s apartment in Nice, his brother’s girlfriend was in Poland visiting family, and Nisarga’s father also stayed over sometimes. So here I am meeting his brother and father for the first time AND we are all staying in the same apartment. I was horrified at the thought. I felt embarrassed! This is no exaggeration, on the first night when they came home from work I couldn’t find it in me to leave the bedroom and walk to the living room to meet them. I tried a few times, opening the door and taking a few steps and then turned right back around and went into the bedroom and shut the door behind me. Nisarga finally picked me up and carried me to the living room planting me on the couch, while I kicked and screamed and turned tomato red even more horrified and embarrassed. I guess it had to be done or I might not have left the room at all.

On top of that, they don’t speak English, obviously I don’t speak Polish. The way it worked out was they would speak to me in French, I would get the idea, I would respond in English, and Nisarga would translate my response in Polish since neither one of us speaks French although I understand some.

I was worried that the cultural difference between the Polish and myself would be huge, but it wasn’t! It wasn’t at all! They are loud, bossy, overly hospitable, chivalrous, show-offish, love to eat and drink, laid back and casual, humorous, gossipy. My Greek and Latin background more than prepared me for this. With the exception of the language, I felt quite at home. I fell in love with Nisarga’s father soon after I met him. He is like a big teddy bear of a man. A huge man, who may feel at times like an elephant in a porcelain shop, afraid of hurting others and by now very used to conforming to others’ expectations of him to match his size with his demeanour. But he is quite emotional, touchy-feely, funny, charming, talkative, intelligent, eager to please. Our energy clicked right away. I’m very glad to have met him.

Overall, meeting Dominik and Wiesiek went not only smoothly but I actually enjoyed it. One night we all went out to dinner, including a couple of other Polish guys, friends of theirs, and Wiesiek noticed my earrings. Nisarga explained that they were a present he gave me, from Poland. His father immediately took such pride in that these beautiful earrings were from Poland. It was so cute. Then he made a comment that in his days men used to give the present of a ring, not earrings, and that times must have changed. Wiesiek: let me get the earrings, necklace, bracelets and all before we finalize the deal with the ring ok? Dominik is now asking when Nisarga and I are going to have kids, since he already had one. Dominik: we are busy, not now! This is exactly what my family would be saying by now, hilarious!

Nice spelled N-I-C-E

I find it hilarious that Nice (pronounced niece for those in doubt) is spelled n-i-c-e. I just do. I’m sure it’s not funny to most but to me it’s hilarious. All I knew of this place was what I had heard on TV, about it being full of people with money and by the sea. Cote d’Azur, the total high life! And to be honest, I had some reservations in the beginning about meeting Nisarga there, because it’s not really my style. But then again, with a place to stay and the beach a 2 minute walk away, I couldn’t exactly bring myself to say no.

I asked Nisarga if he would be picking me up from the airport in Nice. He said yes. Then I asked him if I should go all the way outside of the airport or where I should wait, just in case he was late or something. He said I should look for a tall guy with dark hair holding a placard with my name and go straight to him. Ha! And what would he like to see me in I asked? A blue dress he responded. Less then a week later, there I was in the bathroom of the Nice airport terminal 2, doing a full makeover. Thank you Conway (for those who have lived or shopped in NYC you know what place I’m referring to) for that cheapo mini hippie blue dress. One rose in hand and a couple dozen waiting back in the apartment, a beautiful set of earrings from Poland, tight hugs, and lots of giggling.

That night Nisarga had a picnic ready to go: wine, fruit, cheese, bread. We originally were going to drive out to Cannes and have the picnic on a sandy beach out there, but we weren’t sure of the way to go and as we were lost we got pulled over by the cops – with whom Nisarga had a little ego tug of war for not wearing shoes while driving – so we scrapped the idea and just stayed in Nice. It was marvellous! We settled close by some guys who were playing music and we sat there under the stars and moon by the water catching up until after 2am. We were not the last to leave. Loved it!

This is a good representation of most of our time in Nice actually. We woke up late, he made brunch consisting of cheese, salad, bread, wine, olives, we would venture out around 3 not going far from home, basically crossing the street to get to the beach, stay there until 6 or 7, come back, nap. Yes, basically we were bums for a week. Totally! It got to the point that his father asked if we usually live like this and Nisarga clarified that there have been times when we woke up at 5am with the sun and the birds, meditated, did some cleansings and breathing exercises, a couple of hours of yoga and then went to eat at noon. His father was relieved I think.

Towards the end of the week we actually made the effort of going to Cannes again, after our usual late start, and this time we made it. Sandy beaches were a nice change to Nice’s rocky shore, but it had less of a town feeling to it (no this is not a complaint, we enjoyed our little excursion very much). And we went walking around one day around Nice’s old town and up the look out point… without a camera unfortunately.

That day we got Nisarga’s ears pierced! His father had looked at him a few days before and commented that he would look nice with an earring, and then I mentioned that I had thought it but didn’t say anything, and then Nisarga said he had also thought about it. So that was it, it was time! We found a place that was open on a Sunday and got Nisarga a new look. The earrings look splendid. Sexy actually, really sexy. When we got home his father looked at him and said that he couldn’t believe it, that Nisarga had actually done it. He said that he had always wanted to do it but hadn’t. We tried to convince him to go the next day to get it done and that we would go with him, but he wouldn’t go for it.

So Nice lived up to its reputation. Lots of sun and beach, lots of doing not much, lots of good food and wine. This was a lovely start to our summer vacation – yes, I know, vacation from what? Its not like we are going back to a job or something… but we can just call it a vacation from our vacation!

http://picasaweb.google.com/nisargaanddeepa/Nice#