Life Trove: London years

Showing posts with label London years. Show all posts

23 November 2023

Nostalgic music from my 30's

31 August 2003

Trip to Brazil and the Iguazu Falls

One of my highlights from 2003 was visiting Brazil. It was a business trip but I got to spend 4 days exploring the region around the Iguazu Waterfalls. The falls themselves are stunning - over 200 separate falls melding into a churning mass of frothy water and spray. This is where The Mission was filmed (remember that unforgettable scene of the cross going over the falls).

The most exciting moment for me was when I got to see my first wild Toucan - these colourful, big billed birds have fascinated me since I was a child and it had been a life goal of mine to see one.

13 July 2003

Croatia

I'll never forgot my shock of looking outside our hotel room and seeing a naked couple walking past. And two minutes later, another. Turns out our balcony was situated on a nudist beach. Turns out there are more nude beaches in Croatia than normal ones. Wouldn't be a pity if they attracted the toned and the beautiful, but it seems to work the opposite way. Mountains of wobbly flesh proubly put on display...

I got to try a bit of nude tanning myself but forgot to put sun tan on my flanks (too busy protecting other obvious bits) and got horribly burt. Dubrovnik was beautiful and we were there right in the middle of a large festival so got to see it at it's most festive.

8 April 2003

The Trip

This poem describes a bad experience I had after taking two hash muffins in a coffee shop in Amsterdam.

The Trip

Two muffins and the puff of a joint.
Amsterdam coffee shops – aren’t they great!
Sitting by the canal - Adam, Kerry, Ally and me
A waitress arrives for orders
“What does she want?” I chunter and glare
Oh, I feel weird. Oh, so weird. Woozy, like a dream
Pressure in my head
“I feel funny Ally”
Adams tries to distract me with numbers
“Ally! Oh god, I feel bad Ally, I feel bad”
The horribleness comes in waves. Horrible Horrible Horrible
I wrap my arms tight and fidget my legs
Can’t keep still, we walk around
Ally takes me to the hotel, self consciously trying to distract me
Does she know? Is this a ploy?
What if I fell or yelled or ran or died, would anyone notice? Is anything real?
Back in the room, I say sex might help
My mouth is dry, her’s too and down there also
Hell’s sex with no wetness - dry to dry
“I’ll be back in a minute” – she’s gone
This is like a dream; except I can’t wake up
A nightmare.
I can’t wake up!
This is hell. Hell. This is hell. Hell
Ally’s back. “Oh my God, I’ve seen HELL!
“Graeme!”
“No, no - I’ve SEEN HELL!”
Door. Corridor. In a rush.
When did I die? Stuck in this. Horror. No escape. What have I done?
“NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO”
Corridor. Door. Eternity.
NO ESCAPE
I’M IN HELL
This can’t be happening
I’M IN HELL
“Graeme!”
HORROR HORROR HORROR HORROR HORROR
So this is what we flee from all our days - thinly veiled, lurking beneath: Terror
HELL HELL HELL HELL HELL HELL HELL

UNENDING HELL
Escape. The window.
End it. You can’t end it. Try! At least try.
“GRAEME!
Pulling. Shoving. She’s hanging on. So sad. I must.
GRAEME! GRAEME! GRAEME! GRAEME!
Looking down. Not high enough. I can’t end it
“GRAEME!”
Ally and Kerry hanging on
I’m tired. So tired. Weird that I am physically tired in Hell
They corner me in. Holding on.
I’m nude. Blanket covering me down there.
There’s two others here now – a boy and girl - they talk, gentle talk
Oh, how exhasuting life’ll be
knowing that Hell lurks beneath
We walk down the stairs
Not enough space to jump
People around. A movie on TV. I know the actor and the movie.
But it’s all surreal.
I’m going insane. Trapped in my mind. Why me?
Someone else is spacing out
I sleep
I walk round Amsterdam with Adam
I sleep
I wake
Chuckle self consciously
They chatter as if nothing has happened. Ally, Kerry and Adam
“Oh my god, did I try to jump out the window?” I say
An uneasy pause
Then chattering resumes.

Written 2003