THEATRE IN LONDON SPRING 2023

 If you follow my blog you know that one of the main things I always do while in London is go to the theatre. I see a lot of it, to the point that anyone that doesn't like theatre and travels with me, at some point will disassociate from me because of it. This time around I was on my own, so I saw lots of plays, and all of them pretty good. And between theatre, I also visited places I've been or have never been before. 

I saw a lot of shows this time. Sometimes two a day. And I thought I took pictures of every show I attended but it seems I didn't but here are a few of them. 

From musicals based on films to old classic mysteries to modern adaptation of Greek tragedies, I saw them all. 

I don't think I have a favorite show because I enjoyed watching plays and musical in London. Although "Back to the Future, the Musical" is on my mind as my favorite musical. I dislike "Six." I understand the premise and the message but, um, they are all actually dead and that wasn't really their lives so I don't see the point of the musical. My two memorable plays were "Black Superhero" at the Royal Court and "For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy," an ensemble lyrical piece at The Apollo Theater in the West End. And my most memorable comedy is "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" at The Lyric Hammersmith Theater." 

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND 2023

 This was my second time visiting Manchester. But, unlike the first time, which was just for a couple of hours while doing some grocery shopping, this time I was there for three days visiting my dear friends Travis and Giovanna. 

Travis is an American and Giovanna is an Italian. Both of them are immigrants living in England. Travis teaches theatre and Giovanna works for an airline company. Travis used to work where I work. And the plan was that he was gong to marry Giovanna and she was going to move from England to the USA. But months before her wedding, the orange became president so she refused to make the move. Travis then had to leave his job and move to the UK. 

A couple of years ago they bought a house in Manchester, and I was due for a visit. This is my second time visiting them. The first time they lived in Liverpool and were renting. To tell you the truth, Giovanna's move to stay in England, is the best decision she could have made. 

I found Manchester to be a great city, full of life, culture, arts, and sports. After all, Manchester is, um, the home of Manchester United.  

Next: Theatre in London

BARCELONA 2023

I must start this entry by confession that I had never had the desire to visit Spain at any time in my life. The reason(s) are my own and I don't wish to disclose them. 

Yet, here I am, blogging about my visit to Barcelona, and the reason is simple: One of my closest cousins lives in Barcelona. She has been living there for more than 20 years. She went to visit her sister, who is a nun, and she ended up staying. She goes back and forth between Barcelona and Mexico City to visit my uncles (her parents) and her siblings (my cousins) at least once a year. My other cousin, the nun, now lives in Italy.

Because I never had plans to visit Spain, I never had the desire to research about the country, its cities, and what to do when visiting. And even now that I knew I was going to Barcelona, the only research I did was to find out where my Airbnb&B was located in relation to the airport. That's it. Everything else was going to happen in real time. 

The first thing I need to say about Barcelona is that it is a very clean city. I walked that city up and down and I did not find a piece of trash anywhere. Another fact about the city is that it is beautifully green, with long wide avenues and trees all over the place. The last thing I want to say is that Barcelona is very unique for you have the beach, the city, and the mountains and you can go from one extreme of the city to the other in a couple of hours. 

The time I spent in Barcelona was very enjoyable. I walked the city's streets, rode public busses, took the metro, went to the beach, hiking, expertly navigated the tourist areas, and ate food and desserts to my life's content. Of course, spending time with my cousin was the cherry on top of this trip, and also the main purpose of my visit. 

There were things I didn't do, mainly because by Day 3 of my visit I had decided Barcelona was a beautiful city and once I needed to come back with Miguel. So, I purposely left a few "city attractions" untouched, because for sure, I will be coming back. 

Next Stop: Manchester, England.

ITALY 2023

SF 2 Venice (Lufthansa/Air Dolomiti)

One of my personal dreams was visiting Italy. And thanks to my sabbatical, I had the opportunity to do so not for one month but for six months. I was also able to share my trip with Miguel. This trip happened during winter/spring 2023 (February to May.) Because of the trip's length and because traveling in Europe is much easier than living in the USA, I also visited, London and Manchester, England and Barcelona, Spain.

First Stop: VENEZIA

Venezia

We spent a month in Venice, exploring the labyrinth streets and the water channels. We were there during Il Carnevale, which was a three-week festivity filled with dance, music, food, parades, and commedia dell'arte. Truly, the time we were there passed incredibly fast. 

From Venice we visited other places, such as Il Teatro Olympico in Vicenza and Il Museo Internzionale della Maschera Amleto e Donato Sartori" in Abano Terme. 

Once the festival was over, we moved to our next destination: FIRENZE.

Firenze

Florence is the capital of the Italian Renaissances. The amount of museums, architectural historical landmarks, paintings, statues, and sights is overwhelming. Florence is a very romantic city but it is also filled with tourists, students, and... one just needs to be ready to deal with all those things. From Florence we visited Pisa and that was a very nice and enjoyable trip. 

Pisa

We left Florence behind after a couple of weeks and trained to NAPOLI. 

Napoli

Being in the southern part of Italy, Naples is a very multicultural city. This is in fact, the first city, where we saw a lot of immigrants, mostly people of color. This is also the city where we saw people selling stuff on the streets, something we had not seen anywhere else. And since Miguel and I are persons of color, we fit right in. 

Pompei

From Naples we visited Acerra, Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri. Unfortunately our visit to Sorrento and Capri wasn't that great because it was non-stop raining, windy, and cold. Still, we made the best of it buy drinking and eating as much as we could. 

After Naples we took a train to ROMA.

If there is a city in Italy where I want to live, this is it. Everything about Rome was spectacular. The massive buildings, the architecture, the historical Roman sites and the modern Roman neighborhoods. Everything, and I do mean everything was just breathtaking and imposing, like an empire. 

Once our stay in Rome ended, we traveled north again. This time to MILANO.

Milan is considered one of the world's fashion and design capitals. But we weren't there for the fashion but rather to enjoy the city, and enjoyed we did. We spent two weeks walking and enjoying the city, we ate in so many different diverse places, visited museums, landmarks, attended theatre performances, and walked around a very famous cemetery.

The highlight for me was the fact that our AirB&B was right next to Milano Centrale so my downtime was watching the trains come and go. I love trains. 

BERGAMO was the next stop.

This city with its "Città Alta and Città Bassa" structure is a breathtaking town in the Lombardy area of Italy. What I personally like is the fact that Bergamo is only 19 miles away from Switzerland, of course, you are separated by the mountains but still, only 19 miles away. 

You can walk to Città Alta (it's a long uphill walk though) or you can take a bus or the funicolare. My choice was the long uphill walk in order to enter through their massive arcs and the funicular for the experience. 

Last stop: BOLOGNA

A very medieval/renaissance city, Bologna is known for its two towers, yes, like in the movie except that these towers are well, different, for its porticoes, and for its food. After all, the city's nickname is "La Grassa" (the fat one) for a reason. It is also knowns as "La Rossa" for the color of its buildings, and "La Dotta" (the erudite) for the oldest university in the world is found here. 

Whatever the city is known for, I have to say that the food here is delicious. The massive churches are breathtaking and the decorated and illuminated porticoes remind me of those I've seen in Mexican cities such as Puebla and Morelia. At night, because of cobblestone streets, red buildings, and golden lights, the city glows, which brought me back to the City of Guanajuato in Mexico. 

Next: Barcelona, Spain

SUMMER 2022 (Part 2: Chiapas)

Originally this trip was planned with my friend Luis for summer 2020. Unfortunately the pandemic arrived and sadly my friend Luis passed away from Covid-19 complications. Once traveling was allowed, his brother Jorge and I decided we needed to make the trip in Luis' memory. 

If Oaxaca is a state filled with color, music, and folklore, Chiapas is a state filled with nature, archeology, and mysticism. 

We spent so much time traveling from place to place, hiking, swimming, eating indigenous food, drinking artesanales drinks, climbing pyramids (where permitted), visiting churches (when allowed), and so much more, that uploading all my images would take a very long time. 

One of our tours took us all the way to the Guatemalan Border where we ate some of the local food. 

And of course, we ended up buying some great pieces of hand-made art. In this case, wooden masks.

At the end, we paid tribute to our now gone friend Luis, and Miguel and I solidify our friendship with Luis' brother, Jorge. 

May you rest in peace, dear Luis

Next stop: Italy!