TAWOMG - The party is (almost) over

Dear Friends,

Long time no news. I apologise! Some friends are writing and asking my whereabouts. Maybe they didn't pay attention when I wrote on the second last posting that I was at home in Barcelona. So, here I am, back to Spain, looking forward to celebrating Sant Jordi tomorrow - in my opinion the nicest day in Catalonia.

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After Hong Kong I flew to London, where I spent two days. As I was coming back home and didn't have to care about the luggage weight anymore, I went to my favourite bookshop and bought more books than I can possibly read in the next few months. Never mind, it was a pleasure to go back to Dillon's, on Gower Street, Bloomsbury. They don't know it, and certainly haven't noticed, but I have been a good customer for the past twenty years. I was very sad when it was sold to a bookshop chain, but the truth is that in this case it didn't really make a difference. You still find almost everything that you are looking for (when it is available) and the staff is very knowledgeable. Hope they keep it just as it is for very long!

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This time I could also go to "Les Misérables", a show that has been running for as long as I have been Dillon's customer. I was very curious how a 1.500 page book could be adapted into a two hour musical. Somehow it could. For those that have read the book it was very easy to follow Jean Valjean's misfortunes, Javert's obsession in sending him back to prison and the love of Marius and Cosette. The music is beautiful, the escenography is creative and it was good fun. Nevertheless, I still think that the book is a lot better.

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When I read "Les Misérables" I was surprised how much one of the characters, Monseigneur Myriel, the Bishop of Digne, remembered Don Pere Casaldáliga, once the Bishop of São Félix do Araguaia in Brazil. I can't think of anybody else in the Catholic Church that I respect more and that I admire more than Pere Casaldáliga. It would be very easy to say that if all priests were like him, the Catholic Church would be a much better institution. As a matter of fact, I think that if more human beings shared his values and his approach to life, the world would be a much better place. Sometimes I ask myself whether Pere Casaldáliga read "Les Misérables" and what he thought of Monseigneur Myriel. Whatever his opinion may be, one thing is certain: in this case, art anticipated reality in almost one century.

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In London I also visited the Freud Museum, on Maresfield Garden. It is located in the house where Freud spent the last year of his life. This house was his youngest daughter's home until her death in 1982. Anna Freud bequeathed the house and the museum opened its doors in 1986 (again, twenty something years ago). I had been to Freud's Vienna apartment before, on the Berggasse 19, but the London museum is a lot more interesting. Freud could manage to have most of his books and antiquities, as well as some furniture moved to London before the War. His famous coach, where psychoanalysis was first practised, is in the museum. I was there in a quiet afternoon, a day very different from those in 1939, before Europe went on war. I couldn't help thinking about the ups and downs of this continent. Almost seventy years later, it is actually surprising that the EU now is formed by 27 countries and we live in peace. Long may it last!

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During the trip there was another Felix, a very distant place from the one mentioned above, not only geographically, but also in nature. It was the Felix Bar, on the top floor of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. There I had the last Dry Martinis of my trip. It was one of the bars that I had to visit, according to the bet with Jan. The other one was at the Bayswater Brasserie in Sydney. The Bayswater is a very fancy restaurant and the bar has a big reputation. One of the barmen won different prizes in Australia. Bueno, it may be the right place to be, but this does not guarantee you will get one of the best DM in the world. When I went there, my first DM was prepared by a young bartender. When I drank it, it was just average. My disappointment must have been evident, because the kid's boss asked me how it was. I told him about the bet and said: "I travelled a long way down here expecting a great Martini, and honestly, this one was just OK. I expected a lot more." He was not happy with my answer. He asked the prize winner to mix another Martini. After I tasted it, he asked how it was. It was a lot better. He then said, referring to the young barman: "The kid has yet a lot to learn."

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So, that was it so far. The trip around the world was not quite around the world and I fell short of the 80 Martinis I planned to have. And the bad news is that the sabbatical year may also turn out to be just less than half a year. The party may soon be over. I'd better enjoy the trip to Italy next week, to meet the Cologne friends, because it may be the last one in many months to come. Or not. Qui vivra, verra!

Wish you a nice rest of the week.

Maurício