If I start putting up a post for every time I feel nostalgia, or feel dejavu, or i feel I've been sucked into a memory world without the least of provocation this would be a much more active blog. However this morning the nostalgia is of chronic nature, its hardcore and I must do something about it. I would have saved the trouble of posting now if i had actually blogged about wondering about Europe... well when i was wondering about Europe, but never mind, this morning it was being sucked into one sunset at Montjuic. One might ask what the hell Montjuic is, one might suggest that perhaps it is a mountain, and indeed it is, well close enough, its a hill, alright enough of weird talk (maybe). It is a hill, literally meaning hill of Jews or Jupiter, whoever said the name the first time must have been mumbling because they aren't sure whether its one way or the other. It is located in Barcelona. So what is so special about this one mountain? maybe nothing let me rattle however.
Its been the site for world fairs, formula 1 races (alas way before my time), strategic point for bombing the city when people were not behaving as they were expected to, mass murder via killing squads, military prison, political prison, the olympics, and also strangely enough for a complicated experiment which measured the distance from North Pole to the Equator.
So why nostalgia for this such a mishmash of history, I guess I have to thank luck for that. As "luck" would have it, the time I reached Montjuic was that of late afternoon in fact an hour away from sunset. I could see the whole of Barcelona spread out before me from my vantage point, the light falling on it was perfect shade of fire, golden, alive, intoxicating. It was one of those moments when you disconnect from the real world, I had, i was in a dream. From the Teleferic i made my way towards the top.
At the top, befitting the dreamlike quality of this whole episode is a Castle, a medieval fortification residing in a space shaped like a starred pentagon, surrounded by enormous moats complete with bastions and buttresses. Though by now the light is waning the place had not been lit up by flood lights and much to my relief. The only place I would have wanted to be in here was the top of the castle, and to the top I went, chose a spot facing the setting sun, and I watched it drown into the Mediterranean, and the sky dance with hues of sunset and then night. Thankfully floodlights still had not been stirred. and you could see the first stars, the harbor, the ships, the lights of Barcelona glittering like rubies, and sapphires and citrine diamonds, the moon shined ever brighter for the contrast I had witnessed, I could see it shining on top of the Keep. As the last traces of sun went away, and the floodlights were switched on it was time to go, I took it all in and left.
Okay the last two paragraphs were rather "heavy" in nature, but then again so is my nostalgia, I would not mind one such sunset again., and what made it special was the fact that I was completely at peace, no conflict, no struggle, no distraction, just peace. Okay maybe there might have been minor distractions like people in the way of a photo I wanted to take but nothing major.
Maybe if I find my way there again, it wouldn't be the same, maybe it was just a special one-time spell, but I think I'm going to try and find my way there again anyways.
