ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the Observations category.

At the Cathedral Basilica

Pictures taken from an inside tour of the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis only a few hours ago. The visit was impressive, the tour guide was nice, knowledgeable and warm. She’s a retired chemist.

The mosaics on the walls and ceilings of the building were nothing short of spectacular, telling stories of the church’s history as well as some key aspects of Christianity as well. There are no painting in the building. None at all. All the drawings on the ceiling and the walls were mosaics all handmade from glass and gold sheets. The St. Louis Cathedral Basilica holds one of the world’s largest collection of mosaic drawings, with over 41 and a half million tiles used for the drawings since the building was completed in 1914. The mosaic drawing was “finished in 1988, uses about 7,000 colors, and covers about 83,000 square feet.” (wiki)

It was only incidental that on this same day, I have got to visit a mosque, and also a synagogue in St. Louis (even participating in a Shabbat service, along with moving songs and readings). More on this later. The experience was worth the journey it took to get there.

At the Cathedral Basilica was published on October 16th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the adventures, Art, Observations, Travelling category. There are currently 4 comments on this article so far.

In Bedlam

Sleepy eyed in a quiet town, with just a bed-time snore to brand the night for all it was worth. A giggle there, a whisper there. The night rests sombre along the shore of reminiscences. A closet of dreams and a nightstand of slivers and sheets rest beside. An empty plate with a fork looking up. A camera and a lamp long dead from a burnt out fuse. A cordless mouse. Two books and a jar of cream, and pens, and two name tags that point to a faraway place.

Cream-coloured paint on the wall, a dreamy clinic for wandering night eyes; the vent, smoke detectors and invisible sneaky bugs of a metal bush. Deodorants just twenty feet away beside a basket of goodies that now just cups the wisps of air from behind the curtain. Either that or loose coins that make their home into the cracks of its browning chest. Others are straws, and hangers, and toilet rolls strutting underneath the shade. A padlock  here made of silver: Chicago-bought, and a white floor littered with shoes.

Then, a snore and a sigh: the city sleeps.

In Bedlam was published on October 15th, 2010, with the tags , under the Observations, Soliloquy category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Fall, Again

Fall, my most favourite season of the year has kicked into full force. It is mostly characterized by a changing, unpredictable weather along with beautiful leaves falling onto the ground. Everything about this season is like a deja vu for me, and every step reminds me of what it was to take them just a year ago. It also presents a problem of writing about it without being unnecessarily repetitive. The leaves are the same, all brown and ever present like dry concrete tears of the dying season. The cold is the same, and the air still smells like harmattan from a faraway place, and all that would it would take to make it similar to an equally stimulating experience in the autumn season in Jos Nigeria would be rain, and total dryness.

The dying here is gradual, and equally beautiful, depending on where one is: driving by the Mississippi river on the way to Principia or riding a bicycle to school through a long path of trees and a charming lake. What can never be said enough is the sweetness that accompanies every breath taken in the cool sun of October, except of course one is standing under a set of trees where hard dry nuts are also falling down in droves.

Fall, Again was published on October 10th, 2010, with the tags , , under the Observations category. There are currently 1 comment on this article so far.

Random Sights of Signs and Lights

Hope you had a nice weekend.

Random Sights of Signs and Lights was published on October 10th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Observations category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

On the Nobel Week

With announcements of the winners in Economics, Medicine, and Physics earlier in the week and the winner in Literature to be announced tomorrow morning, the Nobel Week has lived up to its promises of secrecy, surprises and newsworthiness. Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’o is one of the favourites to win the prize for literature. I hope he wins.

In this age of electronic books, blogs, e-readers and e-lives, I am hoping that the Nobel prize will one day catch up and give a nod in that direction. Nobel Prize for peace to Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook would not be out of place for instance perhaps if shared with the founders of twitter, blogger and Youtube as well. They have brought the world together and provided new means of understanding and expressing ourselves to each other.

On the Nobel Week was published on October 6th, 2010, with the tags , under the Observations, Opinion category. There are currently 4 comments on this article so far.