Last night we had to say adios to Barbi, our generous, funny, kind, and patient Spanish teacher as she returns to Bahia Blanca this morning. Many hugs and kisses later, I’m reflecting on our experience here in South America as part of my language learning process. Our days were filled with many mini-Spanish lessons as… Read More Non-stop Spanish lesson
Last night we were back at Teatro Colón, this time for a performance of Swan Lake (El Lago de los Cisnos) by Piotr Ilich Tschaikovsky, the Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón, directed by Mario Galizza, and the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón directed by Carlos Calleja. It was an excellent production all around, the music,… Read More Swan Lake and more
When I was planning this trip to South America, I made arrangements in advance to see the organs in Montevideo and the Buenos Aires Cathedral, but I certainly didn’t expect to find early music. When we toured the Teatro Colón, however, I saw a poster for the Gabetta Consort, which I suspected was an early… Read More Over-the-top early music!
Today we visited the Catedral Metropolitana of Buenos Aires … surely a unique experience for my companions, especially for our Spanish teacher, Barbi and her mom, who had never been in the Cathedral, much less in the organ loft. We were fortunate to meet Enrique Rimoldi, the organist, who invited us into the organ loft… Read More A unique experience
Our Spanish teacher, Nacho, came to our hotel this morning to have breakfast with us and to say goodbye before we took the Buquebus to Buenos Aires. The Buquebus is something we read about in our class, in the novel La Uruguaya, a very fast ferry between Uruguay and Argentina. Even though it takes about… Read More Buquebus to Buenos Aires
Back on December 10, 2022, I did a Google search: “Uruguay organists” and the name Cristina Garcia Banegas popped up. I recognized her name from previous American Guild of Organists conventions and luckily found her on Facebook. I knew I was taking a chance, but I contacted her through Facebook Messenger, and was so surprised… Read More Una nueva amiga (A new friend!)
We often joke about living in the Marble Palace because all the floors in my condo are marble, but today we saw a REAL marble palace, the Legislative Palace of Uruguay, a Greco-Roman eclecticist style building, whose facades, interior walls, vaults and columns are covered with different marbles from Uruguay, it took almost three decades… Read More The REAL Marble Palace!
Last night our Spanish teacher, Ignacio “Nacho” Medina, set up an informal get-together at Mercado Ferrando with some of his local students whom we have come to know through Cada Día Spanish: David, Libbie and Hanna. Along with Janice Hayden (and her husband Elliot Quint) and Marsha Walker, all of these people are those whom… Read More Meeting in person for the first time!
Yesterday morning we took an Uber to meet Nacho at the Parque Rodó, not far from our hotel. The Uber ride was amazingly cheap, about $4 one way. The Parque Rodó is a large public space with a central lake and an open-air stage. The park also features a castle, a gazebo, an Andalusian-style patio… Read More Sightseeing day in Montevideo
On our walking tour of the old city on Wednesday, I neglected to mention that we also made a short visit to the Catedral Montevideo. It is located right in front of the Cabildo across Constitution Square, in the neighborhood of Ciudad Vieja. Did you know what organists do when they walk into a large… Read More Organs and cemeteries