A Chorus Line - In Spanish!

After enjoying Ireland in August, we started planning various trips to finish out 2021. We selected Sicily for early November because we figured we would have decent weather there. The best way to get to Sicily was to fly from Madrid, which gave us the opportunity to visit our dear friends Carlos and Ploy, who moved there earlier this year. And it also meant we could do something we had not done yet in Spain – go to the theater. While we’ve seen movies, concerts, and even a magic show, we haven’t seen a theatrical production. (I’m not counting the local high school production of “Legally Blonde” we saw a while back, which was cute and well done, but was still a high school show.)

I knew that Antonio Banderas had put together and starred in a production of “A Chorus Line” at his theater in Malaga, and when I saw it was playing in Madrid and that there were reasonably priced tickets available, I thought, why not? It’s not a complicated show after all – the plot line is simple, and the entire show happens in one place. (Sadly, Antonio wasn’t performing in Madrid.)

It wasn’t clear how much of the production would be in Spanish. Sometimes dialogue is changed to Spanish and musical numbers are in their original English version, but sometimes not. Plus, the previews online were showing the signature number “One” being sung in English. Of course, many of the songs in “A Chorus Line” serve as dialogue. Just in case, we “watched” an English version on YouTube while making dinner over several nights. Being familiar with the music in a show can sometimes be helpful regardless of the language of the performance.

The entire show was performed in Spanish, except for the encore/finale performance of “One.” So, it was good we had listened to it before attending. Overall, we understood nearly all of the show. The typical obstacles were present – fast and quiet speakers/singers and noisy audience members. Other than the overly warm theater (typical of the US as well), we enjoyed the show.

Chalk it up to one more “we did it in Spanish” experience. We’re not ready for plays or comedy in Spanish yet, but now we know we can handle familiar musicals.

Blog posts about our trip to Sicily coming soon!

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff

Hondalea -- Art on an Island

 

Having lived in San Sebastian now for more than 4 years, we are embarrassed to admit that, until recently, we had not visited Santa Clara – the tiny island that sits in the entrance to the La Concha Bay. We have intended for some time to swim there, but even though we swam several times in the bay this summer, we still haven’t made the journey. (The swim is less than 1 km depending on which beach you leave from so we would have no problem making it.) On October 28, we finally made our first island visit. The occasion was a guided tour of Hondalea, the newest art installation in San Sebastian by Christina Iglesias – a local artist.

As you’ll see from the photos, Hondalea is a unique artistic concept. It is built into the abandoned lighthouse on Santa Clara and is intended to reflect the peculiar geology of the Basque coast. It takes a place of sanctuary to provide an opportunity to reflect on nature and human interaction with it.

We read about the city’s plans to underwrite the artwork and make it free to visit, other than the cost of getting to the island by the local tourist boat (swimmers can go for free!), and as expected the plan provoked a “polemica” (controversy) over the use of public funds for “art.” Of course, the best way to evaluate controversy is to see it up close.

We met our tour group after a fabulous lunch with friends. It was a 2-hour tour of the island and of the art installation – including the boat ride over and back. (Yes, the “Gilligan’s Island” song came to mind – although that was a 3-hour tour.) Interestingly, hardly any of the locals on the tour had visited the island recently. Thus, Hondalea has already stimulated an increased interest in the island. Here’s a photo from the trip over:

Our guide provided a history of the island and explained the artwork, but ultimately it was up to us to experience and interpret the art for ourselves. I had the mistaken impression that the art incorporated the water’s natural flow around the island. When I learned that the water flowing in and out of the piece was pumped in, I was disappointed. The piece is simple – the water flows in and out like the ocean’s current or waves. It can be mesmerizing and peaceful to contemplate as you stare into the sculpture, which can be viewed from multiple angles and heights:

Thus, the artwork achieves its intended purpose. But one can’t help but think about the cost of the installation and whether the city’s resources could have been used in a more effective way. Hondalea will generate interest in the island and the environmental preservation concepts it is intended to elicit, but is it worth it? The arts are important, and Europe is far better at supporting the arts than the US, but does San Sebastian need a lighthouse with a poured bronze art installation? Maybe yes, maybe no. Who am I to say?

We enjoyed the tour a lot – all in Spanish, of course. It was the perfect way to spend one of the last sunny days of early fall. I’m still contemplating the value question a few weeks later.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

Back to Lisbon

When making our plans to travel to the United States, we discovered that not only did TAP (the Portuguese airline) have the best flights/prices, it gave us the option to spend up to five nights in Portugal for no additional cost either going to or returning from the US. Since we have enjoyed Lisbon so much on our two previous visits, we decided to take this opportunity to spend a further three nights in the city.

As usual, Lisbon did not disappoint. First, even after having been in Lisbon before, there were still things we had not done, including the National Tile Museum. Although this didn't sound that interesting to me, Shana wanted to go, and it was a relatively small museum so... In the end, it was  quite enjoyable (if a bit poorly organized). It included a lot of traditional tiles, which can be seen all over Portugal, but also some more modern takes on the genre, which we both particularly enjoyed. 

On our walk back from the Tile Museum, we walked through the city's old Alfama district and got a great look at one of the city's old public trams, which still run in this part of the city.

We also learned something that we had not known about Portugal: bull fighting used to be popular there. We learned this on our way to dinner our first night in the city when we got off the Metro and saw a really cool building that we had to check out. It turns out that the building is the former bull ring that has been turned into a multi-use space with restaurants, shops, etc. Notice the very Moorish look of the building -- the Moors ruled Portugal as well as Spain.

The other cultural thing we did in Lisbon was attend an exhibition by the Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei Wei who now lives in rural Portugal. The exhibit and his methods of using his art to make political statements were extremely interesting. His use of traditional Chinese Zodiac symbols in various forms including kites were very cool:

The carpet that is below the kites is even more interesting: it was made from an imprint of the tracks made by a tank on a dirt track southwest of Beijing and are intended to recall the tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Even more interesting to me were the works relating to refugees, which included a number of documentaries, and two HUGE replicas of the boats used by refugees fleeing various countries in North Africa and the Middle East for Europe. One was made of the same cheap rubber material that the boats are made of, but Ai used that material to make both the boat, and the anonymous people on board (oh, by the way, the boat is over 300 feet long!). Kind of creepy:

Finally, no trip to Lisbon would be complete without a wine tasting with Adriana at our favorite place in the city, Lisbon Winery. Unfortunately, Adriana and her partner shut down their location early on in the pandemic to save from having to pay rent while being unable to open. Fortunately, although they have not identified a new location yet, they still do tastings at various restaurants around the city. Our tasting was in a downstairs room with one other couple, and included a tasting of three olive oils, lots of cheese and meat, and of course wine.

The other couple who joined us at the tasting were Canadian (so, of course, we liked them), but it turned out that he is not only a chef, but was the winner of Top Chef Canada 2019! In fact, he calls himself the Competition Chef as he won the last three cooking competitions he entered. Hopefully, we will get a chance to have him cook for us one day, although they live in a small town on Victoria Island, which is a four hour drive from Victoria! We will see.

As you can see, it was a full three days in Lisbon, but we felt it was a good reintroduction to Europe after more than three weeks in the US.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana

A Long Overdue Visit

After nearly two years since our last visit to the U.S. (November/December 2019), we finally were able to return to California in late September. It goes without saying that the vaccine gave us this opportunity to see family and friends and to attend a very special bat mitzvah.

We started out in Northern California where we celebrated the Zoe's bat mitzvah with her and Debbie. It was a spectacular event full of joy and friendship.

We had a terrific day hanging out with the Holl clan. My brother Adam gets a shout out for making the special effort to meet up with us as well.

We then spent a week in Kauai with Jeff’s parents doing absolutely nothing in one of our favorite places on the planet. It was nice to see that the north shore hasn’t changed too much since we were there last. We hung out with Loki – a very loony nene (the Hawaii state bird) – by the pool, played cards, ate well, and relaxed.

After catching up with several other special friends in Northern California we headed to Los Angeles to catch up with our “cuadrillo” – which is how the Spaniards refer to their closest group of friends. We always run out of time before we can see everyone we’d like to see. We are grateful to everyone who made the effort to work with our packed calendar of “meet ups.” And special thanks to our hosts with the most, Dena & Jay. We can’t express how much we enjoyed drinking good wine, eating good food, and watching the MLB playoffs live on a screen bigger than our laptops! We didn’t take a lot of photos in LA, but we did get one with our old ‘hood in the background.

These trips just fly by and before we knew it our return date arrived. We did get lucky as nearly every flight we took was not even close to full. Our next trip to the U.S. will be to Seattle in May 2022. It is hard to believe that we have not been back to the PNW since we left in July 2017.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff 

San Sebastian International Film Festival 2021

 

Although we could write more about our Irish journeys, we’re moving on to other experiences. September brings our favorite event in San Sebastian – the film festival, which means it’s time for our annual summary. This year I saw a total of 9 movies, while Jeff saw 8 – not as many as we might normally see, but we were only available for five of the nine festival days. For the first time we did not see a single movie in English. That meant A LOT of subtitles, which we don’t mind because we always watch Netflix with Spanish subtitles turned on. This year’s festival included similar COVID precautions to 2020 – limited capacity in the theaters, assigned seats, and obligatory faces masks. Overall, we thought we fared well with the films we selected. Here is a brief summary:

One Second: A Chinese film set during the Cultural Revolution about an escaped prisoner who wants to see the one second appearance of his daughter in a propaganda newsreel and the challenges he faces in getting to see it. The film highlights the value of the communal experience of movie watching. It had some very comic moments and some very brutal ones.  

Rosa Rosae: A Spanish short film (shown before One Second) based on the filmmaker’s childhood during the Spanish Civil War. It was visually beautiful and haunting in its message.

Official Competition: A Spanish comedy starring Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas in which she plays a non-conventional director putting her two lead male actors through the ringer with hilarious challenges as they prepare to shoot a movie. We laughed out loud throughout. Comedy is tough to do well, but this film really nailed it. Extra bonus: we were at the showing where Cruz and Banderas, with others, presented the film.

Maixabel: In 2019 we saw a documentary about the title character in this movie and her meetings with one of the former members of ETA who assassinated her husband. This year’s film was a dramatization of her story (in Spanish and Basque) starring well-known Spanish actors. Having seen the documentary, Jeff decided to skip this one, so I went with one of our former teachers. This movie was incredibly powerful and its message about restorative justice is fascinating. If you get an opportunity to see it, I can’t recommend it enough.

The Crusade: A French movie about efforts by children around the world to solve the climate crisis by selling their parents possessions to pay for solutions. The first 20 minutes were fast-paced and highly clever. At 67 minutes the film packed quite a punch. Louis Garrell, the star and director, presented the film with his young co-stars.

Hilda’s Short Summer: A Uruguayan movie that was the loser of the bunch. Suffice it to say that it’s not even worth describing.

Inventory: A Slovenian movie whose protagonist, a regular everyday guy, is shot at twice one evening while in his home. As the police try, without much success, to find the shooter, he is left to ponder his relationships and whether he is as “well-liked” as he thought. It posed an interesting psychological question: how would you react to a seemingly random attempt on your life? Would you suspect those closest to you? How rationally would you respond?

Wheel of Fortune: A Japanese collection of three short, thought-provoking vignettes about relationships. In the first a young woman realizes that her friend is dating her former boyfriend; in the second a student’s attempt at seducing a professor takes a strange turn; in the third a woman goes to a high school reunion and thinks she has met the former classmate she came to see. Each was interesting and included a fun plot twist.

The Good Boss: A Spanish comedy starring Javier Bardem as the owner of a company competing for a regional government honor and the trials and tribulations he experiences in the week leading up to the inspection by the award committee. A fun film that kept us entertained by the lengths Bardem’s character would go to get what he wanted. Apparently, it will be Spain’s Oscar entry. Because it was predictable, we don’t see it going far in the competition.

Aloners: A South Korean film about a young woman who is a loner and is faced with interacting with her father, a new employee, and a new neighbor in her building. The film explores how being a loner is often not the best defense to your insecurities.

There were several other movies we would have liked to see, but alas we were leaving town. Still, it was a good festival, and it was nice to see the city get back it’s “vibe” a bit.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

The Cliffs of Insanity!

When “The Princess Bride” is one of your favorite and most quotable movies you can’t miss seeing the real life Cliffs of Insanity, aka the Cliffs of Moher, while visiting County Clare. For five miles, the cliffs rise as high as 650 feet above the Atlantic. We got to see the cliffs both from the paths above and the sea below.

The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Center was one of the only inside locations in Ireland where we felt overwhelmed by tourists. It was a very windy day out on the cliffs, but at least outside there was plenty of space for all the visitors.

Another day, we took a ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, where we spent a memorable day cycling the island. Included in our return ferry trip was a ride out to the Cliffs of Moher to see them from below. They are just as stunning from the sea as they are from above. 

In addition, our visit to Dun Aengus, an Iron Age stone fortress sitting on the edge of a 200-foot cliff above the Atlantic, and Inishmore's most famous site, also produced some great photos.

Have fun (and good luck) storming that castle.

Shana & Jeff 

County Clare: The Burren

Another favorite place we enjoyed exploring in Ireland was County Clare, and specifically the Burren – an exceptionally interesting landscape. The word Burren is derived from an Irish word meaning “rocky place,” which it definitely is. 

We visited the Burren National Park and took a guided tour that explained the geological formations, flora and fauna. Our guides were terrific, and we learned a lot! The Burren may look like a barren moonscape, but the limestone is a unique ecosystem supporting species from different millennium and regions that have adapted over the past 10,000 years. The greatest diversity of plants in Ireland can be found here. You can find Mediterranean and Arctic wildflowers blooming side by side. Without the guides we would have missed so many interesting things. 

We even saw the location of a “turlock,” which is a disappearing lake (and apparently an Irish first name). During the rainy season, the shallow water table rises forming a lake, but in the dryer, summer season, the water table is low enough that there is no water. Since the true rainy season had not started, we were able to walk through an area that would soon be covered with water again.

Here are a few photos of the Burren, which is part of the European Geoparks Network:

The Burren area is also home to many prehistoric sites, including Poulnabrone Dolmen, a large portal tomb dating to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC and 2900 BC. It is one of 172 dolmens found in Ireland.

Finally, the Burren is where some of Ireland’s most fascinating artifacts have been found. In 1930 a farmer found the Gleninsheen Collar, a gold necklace from the Bronze age, while hunting with his dog. We saw this piece in Dublin at the National Archaeology Museum. It was found in a rock cleft in the limestone.

We enjoyed County Clare and its small villages. We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast. Imagine our surprise when we ran into the Dutch family that had been part of our cycling tour in Kilkenny staying at the same place!

Never a dull moment,

Shana & Jeff