Lilly in the world

My dear little diary, a while ago I went to Holi festival of colours in Barcelona and now I would like to reflect on my awesome time there. It was also my first time in this wonderful city and even though I only spent limited amount of time there, it was definitely love at first sight and it has stayed my favourite Spanish city ever since.

Holi festivals are now gaining popularity in Europe too, but they originate in Hindu religious tradition which signifies "the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair ruptured relationships" (wiki). People are throwing colours at each other and simply enjoy the festival full of music, dance and, most importantly, colours. Simply put, total paradise for every portrait-photographer! However, you shouldn't take your camera to such dusty environment without any preparation/protection and as I didn't have time to do so, I decided better not to risk it. I had some hard times in doing so (as you can read below), but later I was luckily ok and didn't succumb to my camera-dilemma.

As I have never experienced anything like that before, for me, the festival was super cool. People were relaxed, the sun was shining splendidly... It didn't matter who you are, everyone could participate and simply have fun. People dress in white clothes but don't you worry! It won't stay white for long because as soon as you walk into the crowd, people start throwing colours on you! We could choose from yellow, blue, purple, green and some more. The thing I liked the most was the beautiful metaphor I constructed for myself: 'Everyone can have fun with everyone, we are the same colour after all':). And believe me, at the end of the day nobody will recognise herself/himself in the mirror... As soon as we left the festival, people (including some Asian tourists and ladies in metro) were taking pictures with us on a street because we quite obviously didn't fit in the pattern of normal population. Funnily, all colours washed quite easily off afterwards in the shower where I've made my new personal record of the longest shower ever!

Now, let me introduce you to my little inner dialogue with myself during this trip:

01:30 (at Louise's birthday party) oh, I love these people here and I'm so lucky I've met them:) 

01:47 well, goodnight chica:D You should really go to sleep now...

06:00 wake up

06:10 seriously, wake up

06:12 wake up.

06:14 WAKE UP YOU LAZY LITTLE BITCH!

06:40 no, for Christ's sake, you're not taking your camera with you! I thought that you already made a resolution about this topic yesterday! You can't protect it from the miniature colour-dust particles, so NO, you are not bringing it along! 

07:30 (running to the bus station)

07:35 ufff... ok...I did it: I'm in the right bus on the right time! Good job, girl :D!

07:45 (repeatedly contemplating absence of my camera) hmmm... It's the first time in years I'm travelling somewhere without my precious camera. Yeah, it's been years indeed... hmm... feels weird... feels handless... feels powerless...

11:20 (arrival to Barcelona) hell yeah, such a wonderful city!

12:30 (while waiting in a huge overcrowded queue to get inside the metro) hmm... there will probably be a lot of people there :D... hmmm... I have never seen so many people in a metro.

12:52 so this is the way it feels to be different (completely white t-shirts among colourful people)! But I am sure it won't be like that for too long! 

13:12 fuck, so much colours... explosion of colours... where is my fucking camera?!?

13:14 this is amazing! but my camera is not here :(

13:15 JUST FORGET ABOUT THE CAMERA and enjoy!

13:16 where is my camera with all these beautiful colours and smiley faces around? CALM DOWN GIRL and enjoy! You can still take pictures on your phone!

13:17 attack, attack!

13:22 "put some yellow on my face please!" :D

14:10 let's have some beer...

14:12 this sunny weather is simply wonderful :)

14:14 ok, these pictures from phone look quite good too;)! Yes, I'm fully enjoying it now :)