Into the West.

Yesterday night I had dinner with all my cousins and went to dance. My cousin Rocio was leaving today for Berlin, and we wanted to have a good time with her.

Me with Rocío!

 

At la Vaguada, as always here!

Tshirt - Pull&Bear customized

Skirt - Bershka (second hand)

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Sonia Rykiel vintage

Ribbon - Offbrand

And today, I pass the evening in a hip hop competition, it was great and I had a lot of fun there! We've got here plenty of good guys on this!

Tonight I was going out, but when I was having my dinner, I realized that they were showing on TV "The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King"... so I stay home for seeing it. Yes, of course I saw it before (at the cinema, two times; on DVD -I've got the collection-); but I love those films and those books... you know, there are lots of good books outside here, I know... but for me, TLOTR contains not only a good story, but also means so much for me... Let me show you why...

J.R.R. Tolkien.

It was the 9th of December of 1991, my tenth birthday; and that day, a package arrived home, from my dad. My parents were divorced when I was very young, and I didn't see my father very often, because he lived so far away from me. Sometimes he sent me presents, normally books... and in that time, he realized that I wasn't like the "normal" girls; so he was always sending me books and tapes with awesome music.That summer I spent it with him at Barcelona, and during it, he had been telling me stories about a faraway place called Middle Earth, about a magician and a tree that could speak. My curiosity was boundless, I wanted to know who or what was Tom Bombadil, I wanted to read the poem about Tinúviel ... and he insisted that I should wait, that was not the time yet, but I insisted and insisted ...

So, here I am, my birthday... I opened the package and I found three books wrapped, and a letter. In that letter, he explained to me that those three books were the path to another world, a world full of adventures, good and bad moments; that I might cry, I might smile... but always, always, I should lead my imagination fly and my heart guides me into the shadows, just for finding the light...

He said, "First, you must know Bilbo Baggins, so you must read The Hobbit first. After that, follow Gandalf into The Lord of the Rings... and finally, find the beginning of al the things that cares at The Silmarillion". So I took The Hobbit, opened it and started to read, smiling as I was reading the dedication wrote inside it... "Walk with Bilbo and don't lose sight of Gandalf. In the next book you'll meet Barbol. Leave your imagination fly free..."

And I read...

And in a week, I read the full story of The Hobbit (for a ten years old girl, reading a book like The Hobbit in a week is too fast!). So I opened the second book, The Lord of the Rings, and read the dedication... "So that the paths of the imagination lead you to the truth"... and I read... and read... and read for six months... and I laughed, cried, smiled...

 

 

 

And after those six months... "Meet the beginning of everything, and make your dreams come true", said The Silmarillion...

So for my next birthday, he gave me a Bestiary from Tolkien's world. And a book for learning Quenya.... And I read all the books again, and again...

My father died when I was twelve years old. And I keep all his books and records, and the books he gave to me... Thus, these books are not just nice stories about things I like. They're almost like his legacy, a gift that opened the door to an unexplored world for me, to be who I am today.

He never saw the films of Lord of the Rings, only the old animation ... but I'm sure that, despite the failures, would have liked them, perhaps because it is set in the beautiful illustrations by Alan Lee, our favourite illustrator... I remember talked with him about this...

So, now you know why I love so much this books! And why I always cry and smile when I see the films, read the books or listen to the music of the films!

Thanks for reading and have a nice Sunday! I'm coming back to Barcelona today... yaw!! Oh, and thank you for all the cute comments, tips and advice for the cold weather at Berlin!!

Illustrations by Alan Lee and John Howe.