party tagged posts

In Asia, Singapore-Malasia 2008 On  02/08/2008  No comments

We only spent two days in Melaka but wanted to stay more… The city is a mixture of cultures, ethnic groups and religions. Being an important harbor in Southeast Asia, it suffered several invasions (Portuguese, English, Dutch…) and all of them added to its culture.

The very first day we went to a street party to celebrate the city’s nomination as UNESCO’s World Heritage Site. After the party, we walked through the city. I loved the Dutch neighborhood. The night is busy in Chinatown’s market; it’s full of stalls selling all kinds of Chinese food and trinkets. At the end of the street there’s one of the most famous caffs in town: Geographér Café, a cozy place with books, plants, live music… And me, a lover of geography, locative media and maps, fell in love with the place by its very name.

The next day we wandered around to know the place better, ate really well at a local Japanese restaurant and had a massage. It felt like holidays, and it was holidays in a way.

By lat...

In Asia, Thailand 2004 On  30/11/2004  No comments

We arrived in Chiang Mai during the Yi Peng Festival (also called Loy Kratong Festival). Before the trip I had read about the festival in the country, so we tried to schedule that in our itinerary. The festival is based on the lunar calendar; it is commemorated on the 12th full moon of the year.

The first day there we met a Thai family (Pracha, Jam e Gik) in the hotel. They took us for dinner and told us about their culture and the festival Together with them we bough “Krathong” (floating offerings made of flowers where in that top we put a candle and an incense). These are offerings to the mother water as an apology for polluting the waters. We put our offerings on the Ping River in front of the hotel and did same wishes. Another symbol of the festival are the hot air lanterns. Some say that when the lanterns go up they take with them our problems, bad luck, sins… Others say that they are an offering to the Buddha and the light represents illumination...

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On  19/08/2004  One comment

When we arrived in Tallinn it was raining and cold. We went for a coffee and walk a little in the old town. I was impressed by the amount of tourists despite of the rain. We walked on the narrow streets with groups of English, German and Spanish people. They were all with their rain jackets and photo camera. Places with many tourists, specially groups, make me claustrophobic. It was as if we were in Disneyland visiting organized old towns, there was even a trolley to take visitors for a drive around downtown.

I spent a great part of my days on lectures. My mother was walking around town and going to souvenir shops. We found out that the city was not so touristy as we thought, there were only times that groups would invade downtown. In my understanding, it could be the time when cruise ships stopped there for a few hours. The old town could be very beautiful and pleasant, specially on the evenings and hours with little tourism.

In one of the days in town we went to a party on a square ...

In America, Peru 2001 On  28/06/2001  2 comments

Inti Rayme, the most popular Inca party, commemorates the winter solstice. It takes place on June 24^th but the party begins a few days before with parade, rehearsals, music and drinking. The city was crowded, people came from everywhere.

On Sunday, the 24th, the commemorations started in the morning, in Qorikancha (Sun’s Temple), downtown Cuzco. The Chaskis (Inca messengers) announce the party beginning. There is music, parade and by the end the Inca salutes the Sun and invite everybody to participate the ceremony. From there everybody go to Plaza de Armas, together with the Inca, the parade and the musicians.

The most important part of the ceremony takes place at Saqsaywaman in the afternoon. Many indigenous tribes are represented by their dances and costumes. Everybody come to Cuzco to praise the Sun. The ritual involves dance, music and sacrifice...

In America, Peru 2001 On  14/06/2001  2 comments

I planed to arrive in Cuzco a day before the Corpus Christi holiday. The city already was a party and there were commemorations at Plaza de Armas. I met some English friends for lunch and in the evening stayed reading in the hotel. I was tired.

Next day I woke up early to see the festivities. I sat down on the stairs by the cathedral. There was a great number of Peruvians and almost no foreigner tourists. I was looking at the people passing by: jelly, soda and chocolate sellers. They were also spreading out folders explaining each saint story.

Saints from neighbor churches come the day before to “sleep” in the cathedral from where they leave to the parade. After the commemorations they are returned to their original church...

In America, Peru 2001 On  04/06/2001  One comment