Back in the 90's I attended a meeting of the International Standards Organization in Madrid, Spain. I was the editor of the ISO 8583 standard that defines how to exchange credit card messages for authorizing and settling transactions. The meetings lasted a week and as was my practice, I would fly in the weekend before to do some touristing. This trip I traveled to Toledo (Toe-Lay-Doe) where I wandered narrow cobbled side streets of tiny shops.
I bought a set of steak knives that I still have, as Toledo was supposedly known for its cutlery; I would never have been able to bring those home on the plane today. I paid a pretty penny for some saffron spice too. There's a frilly fan on my bookcase and the usual bookmark and thimble I would collect when I traveled. We toured the Prado Museum in Madrid where I saw original El Greco and Picasso paintings in brilliant colors and have the book to remember them by.
I picked up the sunny blue and white sundial tile in the picture because I liked the message, Carpe Diem, and the colors and the multi-purpose use as a decoration and a sundial. I put it in my courtyard out front and it eventually ended up by the backyard fountain. It was trampled a couple of times and is rusted and cracked and is being trashed. Goodbye good memory.
