[Gocamino] (no subject)

[blaroli@aol.com]

Hello you all,
Valencia is a heck of nice city.  In addition to the Holy Grail, the town is full of history and wonders.  (By the way, of the three Spanish Popes two have been from Valencia).
Among its many marvels the city sports an aquarium to end them all. It is called Öceonografico¨, and among other awe inspiring live exhibits, it has long underwater, in glass, tunnels where one can walk surrounded by the sea and its people. In one of the tunnels there are a number of sharks; believe me, it is something else to see a huge sharks swimming a couple of feet from you and above you,  There is a mother shark in there suckling its two baby sharks, swimming and swimming..... Have you ever imagined twin baby sharks hanging on to their mother´s breasts? 
In the artic part there is a beluga whale very pregnant; her male swims around her most solicitously  everlasting, even an air bubble, away from her, full of attention and tenderness.  (Whatever happened to  human male husbands?).
There are sea creatures, huge, that I´d never even heard of, and zillions of sea birds of all colors and sizes. (And here I thought that the pink flamingos in Florida were dyed).
The one thing that the Aquarium does not have is Orcas, whom I love deeply and about which I have a personal tale..... for another time.
Valencia is full of Italians who are, at present, impossibly full of themselves ever since they won the World Cup.  They go around making it understood that besides being the soccer champions they are the most beautiful and cultured people in history and that they gave the Western world our civilization.... Well, as Mohammed Ali used to say: it ain´t bragging if it´s true. 
In case I can´t get to a computer tomorrow:  Dear Grant, Have a very Happy Birthday.  It is quite a distinction to have been born on ¨Ferragosto¨, the most celebrated European holiday.  It is also the day of the Ascension of the Virgin and the feast day of San Rocco (Roche, Roque?).  Tomorrow in rome there´ll be a procession around the San Rocco´s church, by the Augustus Mausoleum. Many dogs accompany their masters in the procession around the square outside the church, and in the church a little dog dispenses pieces of bread (wrapped in tissue paper) to the parishioners, to commemorate that dog that licked San Rocco´s wounds and brought him food as he was lying in a cave near death.
San Rocco, by the way, who was French, had made the pilgrimage to Santiago, and he got into trouble in a pilgrimage to Rome.  After being saved by the small dog, he spent the rest of his life helping pilgrims and the sick.
You can recognize San Rocco´s image in any church:  he is dressed as a pilgrim, with the shell on his hat, and has a little dog with a piece of bread on his mouth standing on one of his legs while the other shows an open wound.
Well, dear Grant, have a Happy Birthday.... I´ll raise a few glasses of Cava to toast your health.
And a big hug to all!
Rosina
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