A guest post by Marie-Anne Lerjen, a walking artist from Zurich (Switzerland). Her website is in German.
We walked a good long walk (24 kms) from Girona to Banyoles in Cataluña, setting off in a considerable heat (27 degrees) and finishing after dark. Here is Marie-Anne’s Sweat Mapping blog
It’s a quick but good listen on Soundcloud:
Featuring myself and many other walking artists from around the world who had congregated at the Art del Caminar conference.
2024
Girona is a small, attractive and friendly city in Cataluña / Catalonia, 105 kms from Barcelona. Popular with tourists, it has almost all the facilities you need for a holiday – an array of cafés and restaurants (including lots of vegan ones (@b12_bar on Instagram) and a Natural Wine bar), a host of sights and museums and a beautiful park – de la Devesa.
I will be adding photos and information to this blog over time but for now, here’s some useful stuff and pretty pictures.
The Bolit Centre of Contemporary Art is excellent. All the exhibitions I’ve seen there have been interesting and inspiring. Helpfully, it’s next to the Tourist Information on Rambla de la Libertad.
The Jewish Museum and the Museu Trésor de la Catedral (next to the Cathedral) are both well worth a visit.
It is not hard to get to Girona overland. Please consider ditching the plane in favour of the climate and saving carbon emissions.
Here is one way to get to Girona: Eurostar train from London to Paris (book in advance and take advantage of offers by email if you can, as tickets are very expensive.)
SNCF train from Paris to Toulouse overnight (my late June ticket cost €20 (not a typo!) booked well in advance, with a Carte Avantage (senior). The return day-ticket (single) cost €104, also with a Carte Avantage (senior). The SNCF app works much better now.
SNCF train Toulouse to Port Bou via Perpignan (1 hour stop-over) €21.40. Fast train Girona to Barcelona €18.
There are two types of trains – slow, stopping ones (eg Port Bou to Llançà to Camallera and Girona (ends at Barcelona)) which are cheaper; and high-speed ones which are more expensive. It’s hard to book tickets online (RENFE is the national company), so better at the station. Do it in advance (note that, as with the correos / post office, you’ll need a queue ticket from the machine which is in Catalán so, again, allow time to use your translate app if you don’t have the language). The machines that are used to book your tickets are slow, you will need your passport, and the staff tend to be brusque. You may find someone who speaks English.
At the Spanish train stations, the process of ‘getting on’ is more like an airport procedure than that which we’re used to at a British station, so allow yourself time to put all your luggage onto the conveyor belt. There is also a slow and careful ticket checking system. This applies in Girona and Barcelona.
On the plus side, the Barcelona-Paris train guard announces in French, Spanish and English, and addresses you as, ‘dear passengers’.
You cannot change £ stirling into € euros at the Correos / post office. Nor can you do so at the Santander Bank unless you already have an account with them. Note: they and Caixabank both charge €7 to take money out of the ATM, so you are advised to get fewer, bigger amounts at one time rather than smaller sums more often. The ATM at the train station only charges €5. It’s not in the main concourse, but in the building through the car park, the bus / train station, downstairs.
You can change money at the airport, so I’m told though I haven’t tried. Also it’s possible at the big El Corte Inglés department store on Barcelona Street a bit out of the centre (worth a visit if you like shopping or have to replace something that got broken in your air bnb!)
Shops, cafés etc take cards and cash so if you’ve remembered yours / have enough, you’ll be fine.
Although you can buy postcards all over the city, you can only get stamps from the post office / el Correo. It is open all day until 8pm and has a book swap.
Please note that driving in the centre of Girona is not at all recommended – the streets are very narrow and even if you can get in you might not be able to get out again! There is a very large car park by Park de la Devesa (see link in opening paragraph).
Live participatory Performance event by Tamsin Grainger and Natalie Taylor
This event took place on Friday 31st May 5-6pm at the Granton Station Plaza – outside the front of the new Granton Station (formerly Granton Gasworks Station).
We explored the migratory patterns of birds and how it felt to walk alone and together in a ‘flock’ in a structured improvisation. No experience was necessary and everyone was welcome. It was accessible for wheelchair and mobility aid users.
This event was part of the Granton Gas Tower art commission design proposal, and took place on Waterfront Broadway, Granton , Edinburgh EH5 1FU W3W///groom.honest.apples (what 3 words)
Funded by the City of Edinburgh Council.
I’m happy to be part of Kel Portman’s May Day project, an assemblage of artists’ work made on 1 May 2024.
I made a ritual sea swim with women from Granton, Edinburgh then walked from Granton https://w3w.co/porch.asks.rocky to Portobello https://w3w.co/land.fuel.middle
Inspired by Kel’s prompts, I had researched the goddesses associated with this time of year and incorporated them in my words and images.
Though Floralia dawned turquoise and pink, the haar cloaked us in grey.
wearing wreaths of bluebell and campion, we swam in the lace-edged estuary,
Flora, goddess of flowers, Aphrodite,
subtle of soul and deathless, of dove and seashells,
And Àine, the radiant.
Convinced that the sea is a restless woman and she an ordinary person,
She circled from home seeking celandine and comfrey in the hedgerows,
Smell of coconutty gorse and scent of scorched air,
By Stedfastgate, through The Quilts,
Collecting hearts as she went.
Love walked behind her, not quickly following,
Venus, didn’t catch her up.
Kneeling by the water where the stones were stacked,
Nut, sky goddess of the four directions, poured libation,
Isis, her daughter, offered healing,
And Wingéd Ma’at stood for justice, incandescent.
A haar is a sea fog
'subtle of soul and deathless' is taken from Sappo’s Ode to Aphrodite
'a restless woman' comes from ‘Hagstone’ by Sinead Gleeson
Nut is an Egyptian sky goddess
Isis is Nut’s daughter, invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people
With thanks to Natalie Taylor @natalietaylorartist
With me, Suze Adams, Sabine Crittall, Jaqui Stearn, Amanda Couch, Kate Roberts, Therese Livonne and Kel Portman
May 18th 2024 1.30-3.30 Gather at Pianodrome, Granton, Edinburgh. Book via Eventbrite
American Sycamore, Rowan (leaves, bark/trunk), Apple, Whitebeam, Hazel, Wych Elm, Wheatley Elm (whole tree), Willow, Hazel, Cherry, Alder, Wheatley Elm (leaf and bark), fir (unknown name), Himalayan Birch.
We will also see Whitebeam, Silver Birch, Oak, Scots Pine, Copper Sycamore (or is it Maple?), Beech, and the Pianodrome / Granton Apple Orchard.
We will be practising Deep Listening, as developed by Pauline Oliveros, which:
explores the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the conscious nature of listening. It cultivates a heightened awareness of the sonic environment, both external and internal, and promotes experimentation, improvisation, collaboration, playfulness, and other creative skills vital to personal and community growth.
See also the full Knock on Wood story here
The Wall sound walk also by Tamsin Grainger
Walking without a donkey 