At the beginning of next week, I'll be meeting with students who are leaving our little yellow high school at the end of June. We will be talking about how it feels to be leaving. I will encourage the kids to create rituals for saying good-bye to their friends, to the school, to the city. We'll talk about organizing celebrations with friends and finding time for one last visit to their favourite restaurant.
Everything I say to the kids is equally true for DP and me. With our move just three weeks from now, I have begun making a collection... of photographs and memories... of my favourite Barcelona moments. These are some of them. (To see the photos in a larger format, just click on them.)
What would you miss most about your hometown if you left?
For more travel photos, Deb Dubrow has invited you to join her for Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Leaving Barcelona
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12 comments:
You're teaching those kids an amazing lesson that we could all draw upon. When we stay in one location for an extended period of time, it IS so important to depart with the right frame of mind.
Not only does it give some closure, provide an opportunity to stay in touch but also to help re-entry back at home.
Love your photos and the use of the polaroids.
What a great advice to the kids. Also it's good that you do it as an example for them. Lovely pictures!
I'm leaving Costa Rica in 3 weeks too, and am doing the same. Seeing all the things we love the most.
Photo Friday - Dominical Beach - The True Surf Town and So Much More!
lovely photos. wow!
what would i miss? our lake. i LOVE it.
Beautiful. Sentiment and images. Thanks for sharing it all.
such lovely photos! I was just commenting to a friend about how I always miss the food more than anything else when I leave a place.
More beautiful polaroids...great way to capture your favorite spots. Hope your final weeks are memorable. We are also getting ready to move. Always find this stage so challenging...trying to juggle my desire to savor and visit everyone/everything we love and will miss while also trying to take care of all of the necessary details that come with moving. I like your advice about making time for some good-bye rituals. Good luck to you in your upcoming move.
Nice shots, many of which seem to evoke a sweet sadness about your upcoming departure.
i like the aged feel your photos have.
Ah Barcelona, I was there only once, but I think I left my heart there--and I think that you have left your heart there, too. There is a sweet sadness in your photos. I call it nostalgia.
Saludos!
Looking forward to reading your blog, no matter where you go.
@Wanderluster
Thanks for your lovely comment and for linking to TMW. I really enjoyed your post about re-entry... I think most people are not ready for their return to be challenging! But "home" will have changed while we were away... as will have we.
@Amy @ The Q Family
I haven't shown these photos to the kids yet... I should do that, though. Great idea!
@Marina Villatoro
Good luck with whatever comes after Costa Rica! Enjoy these last few weeks and all of the precious good-bye moments!
@JessieV
Thank you! (You are always so lovely and generous with your compliments.)
@Jackie
Sharing makes it easier, actually. The sharing seems to inspire other people to share their stories and then you realize that you aren't the only one feeling weirdly stuck between your two worlds.
@Debbie
I always miss the food too... leaving Mexico nearly killed me. While I have enjoyed Spanish tapas, the truth is that I could go a while without eating any more ham :-) We are really looking forward to Thai food. Hoo boy!
@Dim Sum, Bagels, and Crawfish
The rituals are really important for me... and I am so busy with work that it would be easy to let those little celebrations slide but I would regret it later. I know I would. I have even taken photos of our apartment!
@Dominique
You are absolutely right... the grouping of photos does evoke a sweet sadness. How beautifully said.
@Nomadic Matt
Thanks, man. It's the poladroid. Now that I have a real polaroid, I am going to go broke!
@Clementina aka "La Traductora"
You know, for me, it's not so much about Barcelona, the city, but about Barcelona as the centre of my European experience. We have travelled so much and, as someone from such a new country (Canada is just 142 years old) I love how old everything is. New buildings in my neighbourhood of Gracia are 100 years old. I will miss Barcelona... but Paris has my heart!
Amazing pics, some lessons need to be learned by everyone.(especially a child).
Amazing photographs as well.
Barcelona apartment
Thanks for sharing.
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