Landscape Teacher

On Thursday, even though I had to walk part of the way, I finally arrived at the Museum of San Carlos.  The museum is housed in a palace in neoclassical style that was designed by Manuel Tolsá, one of the most important architects of the late colonial period.

The museum is devoted to European works of art from the 14th to the early 20th centuries.  I have written about it numerous times, even though it cannot begin to compare to the great museums of Europe.  Its collection does not contain many of the "big names" of art.  In fact many of the paintings are by rather obscure artists or in some cases by "artist unknown".  However, I return time and time again to this modest museum because they frequently have interesting special exhibits.

There are currently two exhibits at the museum.  The first one is a collection of works by Eugenio Landesio.  Yes, another obscure artist with whom I was completely unfamiliar, and you probably have never heard of him either.  However, his story is rather interesting.

"Self Portrait"

1873

Landesio was born in northern Italy in 1810.  Later his family moved to Rome, and it was there that he studied art.  He gained a reputation as a landscape painter, a genre that was only beginning to gain recognition in the world of painting.

The National Academy of San Carlos, the premier art school in Mexico, was hiring European artists to teach at that institution.  In 1854, Landesio accepted a position at the academy to teach landscape painting and perspective.  When he arrived in Mexico City, he found that the school was lacking in materials.  He himself wrote several textbooks to use in his classes.

After teaching at the academy for two decades and influencing an entire generation of future Mexican landscape painters, Landesio was later relegated to oblivion.  During the French intervention in Mexico, he had worked for Emperor Maximilian von Habsburg, and after the ill-fated emperor's downfall, Landesio refused to sign a document supporting the restored republic.  He eventually returned to Rome where he died in 1870.

It was only in recent decades that art historians began studying his paintings and his influence on Mexican art.  This exhibition, organized by the San Carlos Museum, the Secretariat of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts is a part of that reevaluation of Landesio's importance.  It gathers together works from 25 public and private collections.  I love landscape painting, so for me this was a very interesting show.

The exhibit begins with some of Landesio's works painted in Italy before he came to Mexico.

"Vallinfreda" 1839

(Vallinfreda is a town outside of Rome.)

  

"View of Rome from the Villa Freborn" 1853

"The Apennines and Sub-Apennines" 1853

(The Apennines are a mountain range running down the peninsula of Italy.)

"The Virgin Water of Trevi"  undated

"Roman Countryside"  undated

"View of the Aqueduct" 1833

(attributed to Landesio)

"Landscape of Rome"  undated

"Roman Landscape" 1845

"A Great Oak Trunk" 1844

"St. Paul and St. Anthony the Abbot, the First Hermits"  1844

"St. John on the Island of Patmos"  1844

These last two paintings were purchased by the Academy of San Carlos and were instrumental in the decision to hire Landesio as a profesor at the academy.

More from this exhibit in the next post...

Another Snowy Peak

 A few days ago, I showed you a photo of the volcano Popocátepetl covered in snow.  The other day, another friend of Alejandro, one who lives in Orizaba, sent him a photo of another snow-covered mountain.  The friend lives in the city of Orizaba, about 170 miles to the east of Mexico City in the state of Veracruz.

Orizaba is located less than 50 miles from Pico de Orizaba, also known by its native name of Citlaltépetl.  With an elevation of over 18,000 feet above sea level, it is the highest peak in Mexico and the third highest in North America.  This dormant volcano is one of the few in Mexico that still has permanent glaciers, but with the heavy precipitation that we have been having in the past week, it is currently covered in snow.

Blocked Again

On Thursday of this past week, I was tired of sitting in the apartment.  So, even though the forecast called for more rain, I went out.  There was a special exhibition at the San Carlos Art Museum that sounded interesting.  The Metrobus that runs the length of Insurgentes Avenue would take me within a few blocks of the museum.  When I got to the Metrobus stop near the apartment I saw that once again the northbound buses were only going as far as the roundabout known as the Glorieta de Insurgentes.  "Oh, no," I thought.  "Another demonstration blocking the avenue."  (You may remember that about a month ago protesting teachers were setting up blockades along major arteries of the city.)

I momentarily thought about just going back to the apartment, but I got on the bus and went as far as it would take me.  I then set out to walk the rest of the way.  I eventual saw where the avenue was blocked next to the Reforma bus stop.

I managed to get close enough to read their signs and figure out who they are and why they were protesting.

They are the public defenders, lawyers who defend those who cannot afford counsel.  All of the public defenders in Mexico City are on strike.

Signs hung over the street listed their grievances.

An end to labor harassment, we demand respect for our labor rights.

Lack of materials

Salary increase

Retroactive pay

Enough of threats

We demand dignified treatment.

Their complaints may be very justified.  However, they are not going to get public opinion on their side by disrupting traffic.

By the time I left the museum, the protestors were gone, and I was able to ride the bus the full distance. 

Before Pride

Today is the day of the gay pride parade in Mexico City.  Alejandro and I have never been to one, and I doubt that we will attend this year's parade either.  However on Thursday, I was walking through the Zona Rosa, a neighborhood which is the center of much of the city's gay nightlife.  The area was definitely getting ready for today's big event.

Obviously a spot for having your photo taken.

Liverpool Street (all the streets in the Zona Rosa are named after European cities) was closed to traffic for some sort of event.

That's something I would not expect to see... a couple of policemen with rainbow flags.

The window of "Cuidado con el Perro", a popular chain of clothing stores was decorated for the occasion.

"Vivir con orgullo"   "Live with pride."

An electronic billboard on the Paseo de la Reforma had a special advertisement from Ikea.

"El clóset es para la ropa."  "The closet is for clothes."

Many businesses in the neighborhood were flying rainbow flags.

Even outside of the Zona Rosa, there were some flags flying.

The first gay pride parade was held in 1979, and it has grown to be one of the largest in Latin America with around 250,000 people attending.  

Although homophobia still exists in Mexico, particularly in rural areas and small towns, attitudes in the big cities have changed tremendously in the last decades.

The Mail Came Through

I have written numerous posts in the past reviling the Mexican Postal Service as slow, inefficient and unreliable.  One of the reasons for my recent trip to Ohio was to take care of my bank debit card which was going to expire at the end of the month.  I had the bank cancel the old card and issue me a new one.  I figured that it would take months for the new card to arrive at my Mexico address, IF it ever arrived at all.  My private mailing service will not send credit or debit cards.

The last few days I have stayed in the apartment since I had no errands to run, and the weather was chilly and rainy.  I had not seen the doorman since my return to Mexico.  Yesterday, I ventured out, and as I passed through the lobby, the doorman told me that a piece of mail had arrived for me shortly after I had left for Ohio.  I had no idea what it could be.

I opened the envelope, and inside, lo and behold, there was a new bank debit card.  The postmark was May 21st, so it had arrived untampered in much less than a month and before the old card would have expired.  The card had been cancelled by my bank, so it is useless.  However, I was gratified that for once the delivery by the Mexican Postal Service had been relatively quick and efficient.

In spite of that, my faith in the postal service is still not sufficient to have cards sent through the mail in the future.  When my credit card expires in a couple years, I will still make other arrangements.

   

Snowy Peak

The rain continues here.  Every day since our return has been chilly, cloudy, and rainy.  The sun has scarcely made an appearance all week.  I figured that with all this precipitation, the volcanoes must surely be snow covered.  However, whenever I would look at the Mexican webcams site, all you could see were clouds.

Today, Alejandro's friend who is a mountain climber sent him this photo of the volcano Popocatépetl.  The snow extends quite far down the mountain slopes.

P.M. thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next seven days.  So, Popocatépetl will remain snow covered, even if it is hidden by the clouds. 

Time to Paint

It's time for me to start on another painting... the painting that I will use for my 2025 Christmas card.  I know that it may seem ridiculously early in the year to think about that, but it is long process to complete the project.  First, paint the picture.  I already have a photo selected which I will use as the basis for the painting.  Second, after I take a photograph of the competed painting and have the image loaded onto a flash drive, I will go to a print shop to have the cards printed.  The business I used last year did a good job at a reasonable price.  It was just a little shop located in a woman's home.  Hopefully she is still in business.  Once the cards have been printed, I need to sign and address them all so that I can take them with me on my next trip to Ohio in the middle of September.  As in the past two years I will give them to a friend who will kindly stick them in the mailbox after Thanksgiving.  So, yes, it is time to get started on the project.

Of course, as always, the subject of my painting remains a secret until the cards have been sent out and delivered.  So you will have to wait six months to see the finished product. 😉

Another Book Completed

I have finished another book.  I started it before my trip to Ohio, and I took it with me.  Although I didn't read much during my time there, I nearly finished it during the LONG layover on my journey back to Mexico.

The title of the novel is "Belgravia", which is the name of one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in London.  Much of the story takes place there.  It was written by Julian Fellowes, the creator of the successful TV series "Downton Abbey".  The book is quite similar to "Downton Abbey" except that it takes place a couple of generations earlier during the early Victorian era.  It is a portrayal of British society at that time, with the snobbish aristocracy, the social-climbing middle class, and their servants.  As with "Downton Abbey", the novel is a soap opera, but a well-written and historically researched soap opera.

The novel opens on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo.  Edmund Bellasis, the heir to one of Britain's wealthiest and most aristocratic families, marries (beneath his social position) the beautiful Sophia Trenchard, daughter of a prominent merchant.  Edmund dies in the battle, and Sophia is pregnant.  But were they truly married, or was the ceremony simply a ruse to seduce Sophia?

Twenty five years later, is the child of that relationship illegitimate or the heir to a fortune?

If you liked "Downton Abbey", you would probably enjoy this story full of plot twists, treachery and scandal. 

Cats and Dogs

Greetings from "sunny Mexico"!

Shortly after writing yesterday's post about the weather, it began to "llover a cántaros", the Spanish equivalent of "raining cats and dogs".  (It literally means "raining water jugs".)

Here are some photos I took from the "Webcams de México" website of various places in the city during the downpour...

The Paseo de la Reforma near the Monument to Independence

Looking down on Madero Street in the heart of the Historic Center.

Usually on weekends, this pedestrianized street is jammed with people.

The few people who ventured out in the weather mostly have umbrellas.

Looking east from the Latin American Tower.

The nearly empty Zócalo

The camera lens is splattered with raindrops.

A video looking out from the window of my apartment

When it rains heavily, the streets become rivers.

Cool Mexico City

Mexico City is definitely a "cool" city, and not just because it has a myriad of museums, cultural activities and great restaurants.  It is also "cool" temperature-wise.

Since our return from Ohio it has been a bit chilly, and I have been wearing long-sleeved shirts and a jacket at night.  Here is a photo I took yesterday from the Weather Channel...

It has also been cloudy and rainy.  We are still feeling the effects of former Hurricane Erick.  So far this month we have had 6.77 inches of rain.  That already puts us a half inch above the normal amount of precipitation for June, and thunderstorms are forecast for the next seven days.  That's good for filling the reservoirs upon which the city depends.  Unfortunately, some parts of the country experienced flooding from Erick.

Compare yesterday's weather conditions with those of my home town of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, where there is a heat advisory in effect.

I would say that we left Ohio just in time.

 

 

A Very Long Day

Our return to Mexico was going to be a long day.  As I mentioned, I had found a fantastic business / first class fare on United.  However, it involved a somewhat out of the way route with a long layover.  We were going to leave Cleveland at 10:30 AM and fly to Washington Dulles.  After a six hour layover in Washington, we would fly to Mexico City and arrive home shortly after 9:00 PM.  As it turned out, it was an even longer journey home.

We got up at 6:00 AM, checked out of our hotel, returned the rental car, and took the shuttle to Cleveland Hopkins Airport.  We had hardly any wait checking in or passing through security.  As first class, international travelers we could use the United Club lounge, where we had a leisurely free breakfast.

In Cleveland the skies were overcast, and it was sprinkling lightly.  Our flight to Washington left right on time.

It's a short flight to Washington, about an hour from take off to touch down.  Dulles is located far from the city center in the Virginia suburbs.  The landmarks of our nation's capital were not to be seen, at least from our side of the plane.  As we circled for a landing, I could see the Potomac River.

Dulles is definitely not my favorite airport.  I have found it to be crowded, outdated and shabby.  For international visitors arriving here, it is certainly does not give a positive first impression of the U.S.  Fortunately, we were not flying in from another country, because the one time that I arrived here after a trip to Europe, passing through immigration and customs was chaotic.  

We found the United Club where we were going to spend our long layover.  It was conveniently located near the gate from which we were going to depart for Mexico.  However, the lounge was similar to the airport in general... crowded, outdated and shabby.  I have been in United Clubs in Cleveland, Chicago, and Houston, and this one (at least the one on the D Concourse) was the least attractive.  I found it amazing that Cleveland should have a nicer lounge than Washington.  When I went to the restroom, there was no soap, and the waste basket was overflowing.  The food buffet was lackluster in comparison to other United Clubs.

Nevertheless, it was certainly a more comfortable spot to spend those hours than on the concourse.

While we were sitting in the lounge, a severe thunderstorm passed through the Washington area with rain coming down in torrents.  That led to the inevitable flight delays.  Our flight to Mexico City was supposed to leave at 6:18 PM.  It was delayed by the weather and because three of our four flight attendants had not arrived.

The estimated time of departure was pushed back and back.  We finally left the gate at 9:40 PM.  We arrived at Mexico City International Airport at midnight.  Fortunately there was not a long line at immigration, and we did not have to wait long for our luggage.  We took an Uber, and it was 1:00 AM by the time we arrived at the house.  It was a very long and tiring day!

Another Park

During our time in Ohio, we frequently drove through the Cleveland Metroparks, the chain of green spaces that surround the Cleveland area like an "Emerald Necklace".

The Mill Stream Run Reservation runs through Berea, and includes two lakes which were once sandstone quarries.  They are named Baldwin Lake and Wallace Lake after the founders of the educational institutions that today are Baldwin Wallace University in Berea.

Baldwin Lake has a small dam creating an artificial waterfall.

Later on our trip we stopped in the park after a heavy rainfall.  There was a torrent of muddy water going over the falls.

We took a walk by the lake, and on one side we saw several groundhogs.

On the other side of the lake a flock of Canadian geese came ashore to feed.

On the other side of the parkway is Wallace Lake.  That lake is a recreational area with a small beach and a portion where swimming is allowed.  You can also rent kayaks to go out on the lake.

A brand new concession stand recently opened there.  

Among the treats offered is "Honey Hut Ice Cream", a very popular local brand of homemade ice cream.  Since we had burned a few calories taking a walk in the park, we felt that we were justified in ordering some!

Farewell to Ohio