"The Yucatan Trova"

 On my recent trip to Mexico, I went to Mérida to see friends.  The anniversary of Mérida was being celebrated at the time with lots of music and dancing.  One especially charming custom is the parade of the Trova groups.  Everyone dresses up.

 

"The Yucatan Trova" is considered a national treasure, and is also the result of a literary and musical culture flourished between 1900 and 1940 Merida, at which time the serenades and veiled artistic formed an integral part of social life in that city."

 

"In Mexico, the tradition of trova takes the form of songs originated in the Yucatan peninsula, and generally known as “trova yucateca” or Yucatecan trova. These songs are considered a true national treasure. They were the result of a literary and musical cultural movement that took place in Mérida between 1900 and 1940. During this period, serenades and musical soirees were a key part of social life in the city. "

 The various unions march together, each group singing their own song.  The ladies wear their dress huipils which are richly embroidered and very fancy.

 

Calesas are also dressed up with flowers.

Most of the musicians are getting on in years.  This is a lovely tradition.  These musicians could be found on the zocalo waiting for people to hire them to play for parties or serenades for birthdays. This evening, we followed the musicians to the zocalo where they performed again and then fireworks were set off at midnight into the night sky.

March on the Capitol

Today we marched again on the capitol to demonstrate for our right of collective bargaining.  Our new governor wants to dismantle our rights and many services in Wisconsin, a state known for a history of progressive politics.
Students, teachers, fireman, state workers and union members have been marching for a week now to stand and represent for our rights.

 

The governor has threatened to begin terminating state employees.

He wants to privatize the University so students can't afford it.

 He's telling us he needs to balance the budget.

It's not really about the money.

It's about collective bargaining.  Education.  Health care.

Handing our rights over to the corporations.

The union has agreed to the budgetary adjustments but

that is not enough.  He wants to take away our rights to

bargain for anything but salary

People from all over the world have been sending pizza to the protesters from Ian's Pizza

Thank you everyone.  It was delicous!

Beachcombing

One day I went to the windy side of the island.  Not as many people go there.  The waves roll in.

 

And with the waves come shell, rocks, and sea glass.  This time I decided I wanted sea glass for jewelry projects.

  Not so many people come to this side of the island...

But some do...

It's a perfect spot for beachcombing...

And relaxing...

Feels as good as you might imagine!

And I brought home a baggie full of beach glass for jewelry projects!

I'm not sure how I found out about the Sketchbook Project, but I decided, "Why not?  It might be fun." So, I signed up and got a sketchbook.  Since I like to work in Photoshop, I made my "sketches" in photoshop, putting together various images and layers based on the theme "The View From Up Here"

To me, that theme brought to mind various memories, and ideas.  I always liked being up high.  As long as I was sure I wasn't going over the edge:

 

I also considered whose view it was...

 

Some views were memories...

 

Others were flights of fancy...

 

Some considered what exactly represented up?

 

It was a lot of fun making all the collages and I'm hoping anyone who looks at the sketch book will enjoy looking at as much as I had fun making it. The exhibition will be in several US cities.  Be sure and stop by if you get a chance!

I arrived in Mérida with a reservation at a hotel near the Santa Lucia park, just a few blocks north of the zocalo.  As I trudged up 60th searching for my hotel, I found myself walking more north that I thought it should be.  Just as I was about to turn around and give it another try, I spotted this unusual spot.  Hotel Trinidad Galeria.  The minute I stepped into the lobby, I was enchanted.

 

Lobby - Hotel Trinidad Galeria

Here was an amazing conglomeration of art of all sorts in a spacious, plant filled room.  The whole hotel is a gallery of art and around every corner is a new visual treat.  Before taking a room, I like to have a look.  The tour included a look at the pool.

Pool - Hotel Trinidad Galeria

My room was tucked away from the street noise.  The room charge included breakfast in the morning.

Breakfast on the balcony

Two nice ladies were waiting to fix breakfast for the guests.  Toast, fresh fruit and coffee overlooking the lobby to one side and palms to the other.

Lobby

This hotel was the brainchild of Manolo Rivero, a wealthy art collector who started with one old home in downtown Mérida and added on until the place rambles this way and that, full of art and other collectibles in a wonderful crazy collection.  Before his death, he also had several shows in the galleries in the hotel.  Guests at this hotel have included artist and film director Julian Schnabel, actor Dennis Hopper, the late Joe Glasco and an endless list of Mexican and Latin American artists.

An to think I had a reservation at another hotel!

Spotted in passing...

Yes.  There we are, plain as day. ordering our breakfast at Mañana.  How did I find this photo of myself out on the internet?  After doing a couple of reviews on Trip Advisor, I was cruising around looking at other people's reviews and photos and found that one reviewer had been there the same time as me and I looked at her photos.  Imagine my surprise when I found my friend and myself, ordering our breakfast, in her photo!
I'm sure I'm not the first person this has happened to but it's still a crazy experience!
Mañana really is a nice place for breakfast, by the way.  You can sit at the fancifully painted tables and chairs or the comfy sofa.

Or at the counter windows with bar stools and watch the world stroll by.  (Or zip by in golf carts.) Order at the counter and your delicious food is brought to you.  Great way to start the day in paradise!

Dondurma

Before going to Turkey, I'd read about Orchid Ice Cream and was interested to try it.  They use salep, a  flour milled from the dried tubers of wild orchids as a thickening agent.  This makes for a different treat than we are accustomed to.  I was told that the "real Turkish ice cream" doesn't melt and must be eaten with a knife and fork.  I didn't try this, but the dondurma in Istanbul is interesting enough.
We stopped for a bite to eat in a restaurant in the Sultanamet section of Istanbul and were seated directly behind the ice cream stand out front.

Reaction to entertaining ice cream servers

We got to enjoy seeing the delight on the faces of kids as the servers stirred and stretched the ice cream in long ropes.  The thickening agents cause the ice cream to freeze hard if it is not mixed.  This makes for some pretty good street entertainment as they pull out the ice cream on the mixing paddle in a big glob and stretch it out to impossibly long strings.

After our snack, we went to the other side of the window to have a sample.  The servers are great showmen and getting an ice cream is as fun as eating it.  We pick our flavors and they are scooped into the cone in dainty scoops of chocolate, strawberry, pistachio and other flavors.  Then, the as the server hands you your cone and you reach out, it is suddenly up, down, closer or farther away than where you expect to reach for it.  This goes on for a bit until they finally take pity on the hungry customer and they let you snatch your cone.

Maybe this wasn't the "real dondurma"  but it was delicious and the show was definitely worth the price of admission.