A Little Side Trip to South America

 

Rainbow at Logan

We have an auspicious beginning to our South America trip of 2 weeks: a rainbow.  After a month of stress worrying about how to get a visa for Brazil, we were notified last week that Brazil has moved the deadline to April.  I think that all the tour groups, cruise ships, Brazilian hotels and airlines gave them heck because of cancellations.  We also would never have been able to go because as of today, our departure date, we still do not have a visa.  BUT we are now excited and will be landing tomorrow in Rio.  

Logan to JFK

Without humility I must say that flying 1st class is worth selling your first child for.  1.  There is the club area at the airports that is quiet, comfortable and offers free drinks and food.  The Admiral Club at Logan was like the best top notch hotel would be.  The JFK Admiral Club is not quite as elegant, but still nicer than the boarding gates.  

Music, Movie and Movement

 Today we met Daniel (Dan) Egan, who is to be our guide through the medium of Opera.  He is the Academic Coordinator for Explore New York/Road Scholar.  He also performs and it shows in his presentations.  He is engaging, funny, interesting and interested.  Today he introduced us  to our week of opera (what is opera) including what it takes both physically and via training to sing operatically.  Also presenting was Mary Jo Heath who discussed New Media and the Met.  Many in the group have only seen opera at HD theaters.  Mary Jo explained how the Met moved from in house only presentation to HD, online, and other out reaches to increase audience "attendance".  She went through the Met website.  

After lunch we braved the subway for a ride up to Lincoln Center  for the Performing Arts.  It's a 16.3-acre complex that is home to 11 resident arts organizations. The Met Opera House was not available for a tour.  We were guided through the Philharmonic and the NYC Ballet.  At the ballet we quietly watched a ballerina practice for The Nutcracker.  

Following the tour, we took the subway back downtown for dinner at the Joyce Public House.  We are beginning to become acquainted with others in the group.  This evening we sat with Niel and Susanna from Houston.  They are Danes who have lived in Houston for years and years.  He was an engineer with big oil.  

The Big Apple and Big Music

 We are in NYC for 6 days with the Road Scholar tour program.  We drove down this morning, arrived at 3:40. Perfect timing to meet the 4pm registration time.  But NOOOOO.  Unlike the program said, there was no valet parking.  The door man gave instructions on where to park.  But due to one way streets, no right turns, police blocks, it took us one hour to go about 100 feet to the garage.  Very frustrating and head ache inducing.  We were late but it didn't seem to matter as introductions came after we arrived.  Kevin, our guide for the week, gave a rundown of the program, escorted us to dinner in the hotel and after took us on a walk-about.  He is 2nd generation New Yorker, obviously loves and knows the city.  He took us to Herald Square, through Macy's, over to Penn Station and Moynihan Train station.  

La Boheme

 Our morning was spent learning from Marcia Sells about the Met's diversity initiatives.  She delved into the vastness of the Met's departments.  The Met employs over 3000 people.  Wow!  I learned about the paid intern program, too. After our break, Will Berger, who is all things made public at the Met, walked us through the plot of La Boheme, our evening performance.  He made points about the development of the score and its marriage to the lyric/voice of the story.  This afternoon Pamela Jones, soprano, sang various arias for us focusing on how a singer will 'act' with voice, movement and expression to portray emotion.

This evening we got to the crux of the trip.  After dinner at a local Turkish restaurant, we walked in the rain to Lincoln Center.  Our seats were in the nose bleed section, balcony D.  At this distance one needs opera glasses to see facial expressions and sometimes even know who is singing.  But the sound was not diminished in the least.  We got the best view of the chandelier lifting.  Is it a surprise that the voices were beyond comparison.  No.  Mimi especially soared.  Wayne and I both felt the ending was not climatic.  But, Puccini obviously wanted that sombre feeling to remain in the memory.  

Review, Retain, Relax

 Dan led us through a discussion and critique of La Boheme.  It's insightful to hear others in the group reflect upon their experience.  We were all more or less in concert with the overall impact and all loved the 2nd act staging in the city center (larger super numero cast, horse, parade, etc)  Having these discussions really help me retain the plot, staging, place of performance.  

Dan later interviewed Eve Gigliotti, a Plan member of the Met, asking her to describe her path from student to performer.  We then had a group photo and were sent out on our own for the remainder of the day.  

A Winter of Music & Art Boston

We had the most wonderful winter.  It was so wonderful that we got too busy to even keep this blog.  But not to forget our experiences, I will just give some notes.

On February 11, 2023 we heard Eli Ferguson and Rukus: Fly the Coop in the Calderwood Studio at WGBH.  They were so, so good, playing on period string instruments except for Emi who plays the flute. 

March 17-19 we celebrated Wayne's birthday at the Chatham Bar's Inn.  There was Irish music included with the prix fixe meal.  It was so minimal and repetitive that we left at the break.  

On March 26, 2023 we went to Jordan Hall to hear Boston Baroque Mozart's Jupiter Symphony.

April 1, 2023 Always a funny guy, David Sedaris throughly entertained us at the New Bedford Zeiterion.  Thank you, Adam for a great gift.

April 8, 2023 Mahler from the New Bedford Symphony at the Zeiterion. Really memorable and beautiful performance.  (P.S. I love Mahler)

May 13, 2023 Commonwealth Shakespeare with Martha and Oleg.

Wherein We Buy a Car

 

BMW 440i xDrive Coupe

We got lucky on Saturday.  For a few weeks we've been test driving BMWs and found one we liked, a 340 sedan.  However, these cars are manufactured in Germany.  US dealers must compete for a production time.  The earliest we could get the 340 was August. On a whim we went to Herb Chambers in Boston to look at other models.  The sales man said he didn't have the 340 sedan but he did have a 440 coupe that was brought in yesterday with 1200 miles.  SOLD!  This car has everything technically imaginable.  It drives like a dream, the radio sounds like a recording studio and the road noise is negligible.  As Wayne says, it's like driving a computer.  We pick it up next week.  

Sunday was our first concert this season at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Calderwood Hall. A little over a decade ago, Renzo Piano designed a new wing for the Gardner.  This was not without controversy due to the necessity of demolishing the carriage house.  The addition is a very modern contemporary design which also does not meld with the Gardner or the neighboring buildings.  However, the interior is a delight with a restaurant, a sitting room, tons of glass, an exhibition space and a unique concert hall. The acoustics in the hall are impeccable, and it's made for live acoustic performances. The space is essentially a stageless cube with the musicians performing in the middle of the floor and the audience seated on all four sides, both on the floor and on three levels of balconies that line the cube up to 3 balconies.  Each of the balconies has only a single row of seats. 

   

This afternoon's performance was by the Claremont Trio.Here you may listen to a bit of their music and read the biographies.    

A Little Romance

 

Ying Li, Pianist

We went with Alice to the Cape Symphony in Barnstable today.  She fed us a wonderful brunch first, and all we needed do was transport her.  What a deal!  The program focused on the Romantic Era, one of which I like a lot since I'm a romantic at heart.  I also like baroque, but that's for another concert.  I was surprised to learn Wagner was of the Romantic Era. When I consider the music it is perfectly clear.  But when I think of the man and his the Nazi connections, I get a totally different vibe.  

Ying Li, the pianist, was superb.  Amazingly, she played the entire Liszt piece without sheet music (or the now present iPad). Also, today Stuart Gunn, Principal Tuba who is retiring, was recognized for his 40-year service.  That's a lotta air, man. The Konzertstuck gave opportunity for him and the horn section to shine.  The Cape's music director, Jung-Ho Pak is a personable, smiling conductor who radiates enthusiasm and a desire to educate, share and promote music.  

Program

KONZERTSTÜCK (CONCERT PIECE) FOR FOUR HORNS AND ORCHESTRA
Robert Schumann

ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE
Johannes Brahms

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1
Franz Liszt

PRELUDE TO DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG (THE MASTER SINGER FROM NUREMBERG)
Richard Wagner

 

A Winter in Boston: A Side Trip to NYC

 

At The Metropolitan Opera

DAY 1, Jan 6

Driving in from New Haven, we checked into the Garden Sonesta Hotel on East 64th St.  It's a great room with ample seating and a kitchenette.  The staff is gracious, happy and helpful.  Since we had been sitting in the car all day, we decided to walk to Lincoln Center, about 2 miles.  What we thought would be a green and easy stroll on an slow street through Central Park turned out to be a route on a fast busy street with tunnels (the dreaded Central Park tunnels that are in every murder tv series).  But we arrived without incident, took a quick look at the Met's Marc Chagall murals, then headed for dinner.  The Lincoln Restaurant is in Lincoln Center.  Our waitress was funny.  The food was outstanding (smoked short ribs with pearl faro).  The show this evening was Mozart's The Magic Flute.  And, it was magical.  The engineering for the set simply awed me.  It was a complexity of moving, turning structures, giant, giant puppets of flying birds, polar bears, serpent, and more.  The Queen of the night simply shimmered with giant wings of light also controlled by puppeteers. But her voice out shown all.   Five Stars!!!  We did take a taxi back. LOL

DAY 2, Jan 7

We had the Pirates of Penzance at 2pm in the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College presented by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players.  The Playhouse was only a few blocks from our hotel.  We decided to walk there and find breakfast along the way.  Well, it was Saturday in NYC and every spot to eat had a line blocks long.  That was good news for restaurants, bad news for the LaGues.  Not having the patience of the Gen Y and Gen Z crowd out for brunch, we walked and walked.  We did finally find a quite decent patisserie where we scoffed down 4 croissants. The play was delightful as are all the G&S. Then we made yet another country bumpkin decision to order dinner in at the hotel.  Warning!  Do not order from Tony's Di Napoli's Family Style restaurant.  

DAY 3, Jan 8

This was my favorite day. We took a taxi to the Ganesvoort St. High Line entrance and walked the 1.1 miles down to the Whitney Museum of American Art.   The High Line is a raised rail line reinvented into a beautiful, wide, art and flora filled walk way.  Today we had an excellent brunch at Pastis.  We dined outside and were entertained by a very well-behaved Golden Retriever (of some sort) who sat in the booth like a gentleman. I had reserved ticket at the Whitney to see the Edward Hopper show.  He's been a favorite of mine and a big influence on my work since college.  This show was curated to represent Hopper's focus on NYC streets and interiors.  There were pieces I had not seen in person.  The crowd was small enough to see each piece without disturbance.  

That evening we made reservations at downtown at Fine and Rare, advertised as fine food, rare spirits and live entertainment.  We were looking for live entertainment.  Our choice was Cafe Carlyle where John Pizzarelli was playing.  However, they were closed on Sunday.  So, off we taxied to F&R where there are hundreds of spirits lining the walls.  The spirits menu is a small book.  Behind us were private (and viewable) lockers called "Bottle Keep". One can purchase a favorite bottle, enjoy it, tag and store it.  The wine was ridiculously overpriced.  The risotto was bland and the red snapper dry.  The music was so very loud that we could not talk.  Two different tables asked to be moved to a quieter spot after holding their ears and laughing.  It was an interesting experience not to be repeated.  

Photos of the trip.

A Winter in Boston, A Side Trip to the Big Apple: First Stop New Haven

Wayne admiring the Abbey painting of Richard III
Yale Museum of Art

We had a pack-filled three days and four nights this week end.  On our way to NYC Thursday, we stopped in New Haven for some excellent art engagement and also some great pizza.  Our hotel, The Graduate New Haven, practically abuts Yale University.  Our intention was to visit the Yale Museum for a look at one painting, Richard III by the Pre-Raphaelite artis Edward Austin Abbey.   We both love this painting with its strong diagonal lines, its bold use of red and white, and the narrative interpretation of Shakespeare's Richard III.  It also came to be that Hilton Als was lecturing across the street at the Center for British Art.  The lecture concluded with the third and final show in a series curated by Als, The Beautiful Ones by Njideka Akunhili Crosby. We looked at the show prior to the lecture.  I liked her work and was intrigued by her methods.  Als did not address the plastic aspects of the work nor the sources and inspirations.  Disappointingly, he talked extensively about his own history and a small bit about Crosby's history.  The evening ended with our go-to pizza joint and favorite pizza.

Peppe's White Clam Pizza

For a few pictures of the day, visit Google Photos

 

A Winter in Boston, Happy New Year 2023

Oysters, steak, twice baked potatoes, wine, scotch, fireworks, FaceTime with Oleg and Martha.  We actually stayed awake until 2023.  

Happy New Year, 2023

On Sunday the 1st we met Judy and Matt in Cambridge for lunch at The Little Donkey.  All of us then went to Sander's Theater to hear Boston Baroque perform a medley of music.  Two stood out for me: 1) Telemann's Concerto in Eminor for recorder and flute.  Aldo Abreu performed with outstanding dexterity.  One of the recorders was so tiny I couldn't see how his manly fingers could work it Vivaldi's Motet, O qua Coeli with soprano Amanda Forsythe. It was virtuosic.   

 

Sander's Theater above. Judy, Christy, Wayne in the Theater.

On Monday we returned to Cambridge for a visit to the Harvard Natural History Museum. We had never seen the Glass Flower holdings.  It was very interesting.   The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, better known as the “Glass Flowers." is a unique collectionmade by Leopold (1822-1895) and Rudolf Blaschka (1857-1939), a father and son team of Czech glass artists. Over fifty years, from 1886 through 1936, the Blaschkas produced 4,300 glass models that represent 780 plant species.

Wayne in the Ware Collection, Harvard Museums

Lunch was had at Grindel's Den

Which we walked to following in the horse steps of William Daws.  

We ended our New Year week end with some errands.  I needed to drop two paintings at the Copley Society for the Members' Winter Small Works Symphony 2023 show.  Then straight on to Landmark Center to return a vest to REI and buy a new palette knife.  We were planning to eat lunch in the new Town Market at Landmark Center.  However, parking evaded us, Wayne parked in a tow zone, and I took care of business.  

Paintings at the Copley Society for the Winter Members' Show, Symphony.

A Winter in Boston, John Pizzarelli

Gloucester Harbor from the Beauport Hotel

We aren't exactly in Boston, but rather in Gloucester as we continue our pursuit of a cultural winter.  The Beauport Hotel is a luxurious oceanfront hotel.  As you can see in the above photo,  the sunsets are fabulous.  It's a 15 minute drive to Rockport where the Shalin Lui Performance Center is.  There we saw John Pizzarelli.

Shalin Lui Performance Center

The Shalin Lui is a most unique center with a windowed stage backdrop looking overlooking Rockport's Sandy Bay.  John Pizzarelli is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He credits his father, Bucky Pizzarelli as his most important teacher, and referred to him frequently.  He had a pianist accompanying him; the sounds were easy and pleasant as was his chatter.  One funny story was about his recording of Beatles songs which his publicist referred to as Abby Road Kill.  

Before the concert, we had drinks and hors d'oeuvres at the Beauport.  The sunset was so gorgeous. We had thought to eat dinner afterward at Barbara Lynch's new restaurant in Gloucester.  However, it was far from the hotel and didn't seem to have parking.  Instead, we opted to return to the Beauport.  The dinner offering was not nearly up to the hors d'oeuvres.  Nor was breakfast the next morning.  Lesson learned.  

A Winter in Boston, Handel's Messiah

Jordan Hall, Boston, MA

We are so fortunate this winter to have friends, Martha and Oleg, who have offered the use of their Boston condo to us.  They will be sculling in Tampa where they live during the winter months.  The condo is a beautiful South Boston corner apartment with a covered balcony facing east toward the harbor and a second story deck facing west toward the city skyline.  It is luxurious.  

We began our winter festivities with a Boston Baroque concert at Jordan Hall.  Jordan Hall is the principal performance space of the New England conservatory. Boston Baroque is the oldest period instrument orchestra in North America. It was founded in 1973 by Martin Pearlman who remains conductor and harpsichordist. We were here tonight to enjoy Handel's Messiah.  Hallelujah! 

Martha and Oleg invited us to stay the night at their's.  While we were at the concert, they were having dinner with a friend.  They suggested we do a dry run to access the condo. We successfully did so and were settled in with television when they arrived home.  We're off to an excellent start.  
 

Ponta Delgada to Boston

 

This was a day to relax and see friends off home. The Solots were flying out today. So we spent time with them. Kathy and we then walked around the city to find a small lunch. My sleep has been chaotic and I welcomed a 2 hour nap before dinner.  Tonight, with just the 3 of us, we returned to Biai dos Anjos for dinner. The red wines here are particularly good and very reasonably priced. I’m ready to go tomorrow. The island is beautiful but 2 or 3 days is enough for us. We leave on 11/15 at 6 pm. Arrive in Boston at 8 pm with coats at the ready. 

Sunday Brunch

 

Louis’ and Jerome’s Home

Louis, John’s brother (pictured above with Wayne), and Jerome, Louis’ husband, invited us to brunch at their home in Caloura. They have 4 acres of land that is better described as 4 acres of paradise. The house sits above beautiful gardens that roll down to the ocean. Very high above this house, they are building a second home where they will move when it is completed. That home has a view of the ocean to the south. 

Two of the sisters and brother Able were there along with Alves wife and daughter. As can be expected with a large family, it was boisterous, funny, a bit sad, and loving. Oh, and there was the very nice Fred, resident dog. 

Back in Ponta Delgada Kathy, Wayne and I took a walk to find an ATM nd check out a Fado restaurant. The restaurant only has Fado on Wednesday.  Dinner a the hotel.  Pictures of paradise

And the Wheels on the Bus Go ‘Round and ‘Round

 

Us as Twins at the Twin Lakes, Sete Cicades

The 5 of us hired a tour for today. Valter, our guide, has relatives in New Bedford and Providence. No surprise there actually. A very informed man; he speaks 6 languages including Greek and Latin. We circled the coast line of the entire island. For the most part we were high atop the mountains with wonderful views of the calderas and coastal cities. We stopped for lunch at a small village restaurant where I ordered the catch of the day, mackerel. I can’t begin to describe the perfection of this grilled delight. Plus, vegetables fruit and salad on the plate made this a meal for at least 2. It was so abundant that we and Kathy had appetizers at the hotel bar for dinner. Please look at the Photos to appreciate this gorgeous island. 

Adeus João

 

Wayne in Ribeira Quente 

All 19 of us who are here to spread John’s ashes and celebrate him drove to the town in which he was born and spent his first 14 years. It was a small village sitting on the Atlantic much unchanged from when the Limas lived here. John’s sister Ligia told stories of their time here before immigrating to the USA. Brother Louis pointed out their home. The parents immigrated with all six children in order to escape the Facist Salazar. After the ashes were spread, we all went to a bar which was located where John’s father would distill booze. There we toasted John and heard reminisces from the family. Louis drove us back and stopped at Furnas. Furnas sits in a dormant volcanic crater. Although the Furnas volcano last erupted in 1630, you can feel, see and smell the geothermal activity all around you in the form of steaming fumaroles, thermal pools and natural mineral springs. The locals utilize the heat of the ground to cook the famous Cozido stew, and also use the mineral waters in several recipes for cheese, pastries, breads, meats and more. Upon our return to Ponta Delgado we had lunch with Kathy and the Solots at The House of Balcahau where I had a delicious Tower of Bacaulau.  Pictures of our day

And So We Change Continents

 

Beaver Moon Over Dorchester Bay Boston

It should be a good omen to have see this beautiful Beaver moon over Dorchester Bay as we drove into Boston Logan airport. There We met Kathy and Howard and Janet Solot at check-in. We then proceeded to the French airport lounge for drinks and snacks before boarding the plane. The flight was 4 hours, and we arrived at 6 AM, were picked up by a hired transport and taken to our hotel. As our bodies considered it 1:30 AM we checked into the room and slept until noon. We met Cathy in the bar for a quick lunch and then walked around the downtown area.  Tonight John’s brother, Louis, and brother-in-law Jerome will take us to dinner across from the hotel. Pictures from our walk.

Update. Dinner was a loooonnnnggggg table of family and friends with wonderful Portuguese wine. 

The Night Before the Day Before Ilha de São Miguel, Portugal

 

São Miguel Volcanic Lake  “Lagoon of the Seven Cities”

We are traveling to the beautiful Portuguese island of Sao Miguel on Wednesday.  We will be arriving on Thursday at 6am, tired, sleepy but happy to be there.  I have wanted to see the Azorean islands for a long time during the hydrangea blooming season.  That won't be possible this trip as they will be dormant in November. But the island offers more with volcanic lakes, mountains, hot springs and geysers. The visit a somber trip because we are there to support our friend Kathy Lima as she spreads her husband, John's, ashes. John was a dear friend of both Wayne and I.  I have know him for over 45 years and carry loving memories of his generosity, friendship, humor and more. 

Sete Cidades

Siete Dias en la Ciudad de Mexico

 

Selfie at Teotihuacan

Following our stint in Imperial Beach, we took a 7 day tour of Mexico City with Road Scholar.  We've traveled with them before and felt secure with their approach to dining, covid and safety.  

Dia Uno 3/7/2022
Our flight to Mexico City (henceforth MC) left at (yawn) 6am.  With a flight change in Phoenix, we arrived at 3pm and were greeted by Road Scholar (henceforth RS) representatives, Haydee and Beatrice.  One of the benefits of booking with RS is transportation to and from the airport.  After checking into the NH Collection Mexico City Centro Historic, we had dinner in the hotel. It was disappointing that Haydee elected not to use this initial dinner for the orientation and introductions.  The large table was full, and we ate alone.  I found this less than ideal.  The hotel is in the heart of Mexico City's historic center, footsteps from Zocalo Plaza which we drove past, the Temple Mayor and pedestrian strolling streets. A bit of travel at Flickr.

Dia Dos 3/8/2022

Our Road Scholar Companions at Zocalo Plaza

Once again, there was no orientation today.  Also, we had to constantly introduce ourselves to people and explain we had no name tags because we weren't home to receive them.  We had our first lecture today from Alma Lilia Roura on the history of Mexico City. She will be our daily lecturer speaking on the history in a chronological format. Today's lecture introduced us to the 3 formative muralists: Diego Rivera, David Sequeiros, and Jose Orozco. 

Following her lecture we toured the Historic District of MC which is centered over and around the Aztec ruins.  We walked through Zocalo Plaza where we encountered the Feminists marching on International Women's Day.  Our guides kept moving us along and preventing us from even observing the march.  The guides claim that the feminists can become violent.  I felt I was denied the opportunity to experience a cultural event.  Our first stop was at the ruins of the main temple of the Aztecs.  The adjacent Museum Templo Mayor holds Aztec artifacts found in the area. The ruins were buried under Spanish era buildings and were discovered when excavations for a new building were begun.  These artifacts and ruins helped historians determine the scope and purpose of the ruins.

Aztec Ruins of Templo Mayor

After lunch and a bit of information about the surrounding Spanish architecture, we took a short walking tour.  Our trip to the Secretary of Education building was cancelled due to the Feminist Protests.  The feminist groups in Mexico have a long history.  Today they have a reputation of becoming distructive during the International Women's Day protests.  It began two years ago when powers that be failed to address the rape of a teenager by policemen and when the continued disappearances of native women were not investigated. Nearly 70% of Mexican women are victims of sexual assault, and around 9 women are killed every day.  So, instead of seeing murals at the Education building, Wayne and I went to the Grand Hotel to see the Tiffany ceiling and have a margarita.  From the roof deck we at last had a view of the Feminist protestors.  See this and more at Flickr.  

Wayne in the Grand Hotel

Dia Tres 3/9/2022

Selfie in the courtyard of the Anthropology Museum

The lecture today was on the pre-Colombian period.  MC was founded and named Mexica-Tenochtitlan by the Mexica people in the early 14th century.  This founding spot happened to be in a lake.  Two centuries later and then the capital of the Aztec empire, the Spanish arrived in 1521, and all went to hell.  Yesterday we had a look at the fallen Aztec empire remains at the Templo Mayor.  Today at the National Anthropology Museum we saw a large collection that covered all pre-Columbian civilizations located in Mexico as well as in former Mexican territory in what is today the southwestern United States. 

After personal time and lunch we stopped at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum.  Only one mural resides here.  Miraculously, it survived intact the 1985 earthquake that destroyed the Hotel del Prado where it lived. The subject of the mural is the Alameda Park, but is packed with over 150 characters including Rivera and Frieda Kahlo.  Can you find them? There may be a better look at Flickr.

Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central 

Dia Quatro 3/10/2022

Selfie at Teotihuacan Archeological Site

It was a very busy day with 3 different stops.  First we visited the Basilica of Our Lady Guadalupe.  In front of a large plaza sits the old Basilica built in 1695. It was closed for many years due to its sinking.  As more water is extracted from the aquifer, many buildings begin to sink.  In 1974 the latest Basilica was built adjacent to the old.  The new holds Juan Diego's cloak.  We heard some pretty questionable information on this cloak from our guide, Paco.  He stated that NASA came to examine the cloak and found it to have super natural powers, that Juan Diego's face was discovered in the Madonna's eye.  How anyone would know what a man from 1531 looked like is beyond me.  To view the cloak, we stood on a moving walkway and got about 15 seconds to admire the miracle.  

Our next stop was the Teotihuacan Archeological Site. It is an ancient Mesoamerican city reaching its apex 1 AD to 500 AD when more than 125,000 residents lived there. It is unclear who settle here, but most speculation suggests people from Oaxaca.  Across the access road to Teotihuacan are the ruins of Tepantitla, a residential complex that contains a number of murals painted around the year 450. 

Finally, we managed to visit the Ministry of Education, a visit previously cancelled due to the Feminists' protests. Originally this building housed the Spanish convents. It was secularized in the 19th century and taken over by the Secretary of Education.   Here we saw Diego River's first large-scale mural project completed in 1928. His and other murals cover nearly all the walls of the two inner courtyards. See more of our exciting day at Flickr.

Dia Cinco 3/11/2022

Where's Waldo?  Here we are in Casa Azul

This was my favorite day so far.  Early morning we drove to Coyoacan, a borough of Mexico City. The name comes from Nahuatl and probably means "place of coyotes". The Central Garden Park pays homage to this with a fountain topped by coyotes.  This great bohemian neighborhood was home to Frieda Kahlo, Trotsky, Diego Rivera and other well-known artists and political activists.  We toured the Casa Azul, Kahlo's home, visited the San Juan Bautista Church, and took a very interesting lunch boat tour on the canals.  A fun virtual tour of Casa Azul is here.  The day is much better depicted in photos at Flickr.

Dia Seis 3/12/2022

Road Scholar Tour Group at the National University of Mexico

Today we went to college in search of more murals.  We walked into the campus past the University Olympic Stadium. This was the site for the 1968 Summer Olympics where the infamous Black Power salute debuted.  I was more excited to think of that than viewing the Rivera mural done in relief with stone.  The main campus is built around a huge field that was filled with people of all ages taking part in a variety of activities.  Tossing balls for dogs, tai chi, dance, drumming, etc made the place seem more a civic park than a campus.  Our main focus was on the numerous murals and mosaics. The University is in the area of San Angelo which is near the Coyoacan neighborhood we visited to see Freida Kahlo's home.  In San Angelo proper there is a weekly Saturday art bazaar in the San Jacinto Park.  It was really large with many artists and crafts people.  We were left on our own to shop for 2 hours.  Wayne and I spent about 30 minutes, got bored and went looking for something else.  We explored and found a hotel with garden dining where we had truly the best margaritas yet along side the Mexican one percenters.   Dinner was out tonight at Restaurant El Bajio.  So far we have been less than amazed at the food choices.  It was one thing I was excited to experience.  But our offerings, other than the soups, have been bland.  Pics at Flickr.

Dia Siete 3/13/2022

Palacio de Bellas Artes

We spent the majority of our last full day here at the Palacio de Bellas Artes where we attended a morning performance of the Ballet Folkloric of Amalia Hernandez and afterward visited the great murals in the same building.  In the performance hall the stage curtain is a mosaic of almost on million pieces of glass made by Tiffany. The ballet has been performed since 1952. It brings together in one performance the music and dances that reflect the various regions of Mexico from pre-Columbian through modern day. The costumes were the best for me...so, so colorful.  After the performance, we entered the building again and viewed the murals that surround the second floor.  They were by the 3 big guys: Sequieros, Rivera and Orozco.  Most notable was Rivera's, "Man, Controller of the Universe" which he reproduced in response to the Rockefeller center mural, Man at the Crossroads, that was destroyed.  

In preparation for flying home tomorrow, we had a covid test and passed.  Everyone in the group passed.  Kudos to Road Scholar for keeping us safe; Kudos to the citizens of Mexico City for the complete compliance with Covid cautions.  Pics at Flickr.

Restaurants we dined in.

• El Mayor which overlooks Templo Mayor
• La Casa Churra
• Gran Teocalli where we were entertained by Aztec dancers
• El Comal de mis Amores in San Angelo where we had stuffed poblano peppers
• El Bajio
• la Parrilla Leonesa
• Mercaderes