La Traviata

Posted on by goldenlifemusings

It was only my second time at the opera, and it was even more magical than the first time. La Traviata, an Italian love story. As a hopeful romantic (I rebuke the term hopeless) and a lover of all things Italian, I immediately accepted the invitation from my opera-buff friend for an afternoon at the Kennedy Center. When she shared that it was the opera featured in one of my favorite movies of all time, Pretty Woman, I immediately envisioned myself as Julia Roberts in her striking red gown adorned by six-figure jewels, and got even more excited.

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Even though my friends and I attended the closing matinee show at the Kennedy Center in our hometown of Washington, D.C., we decided to play dress up and pretend like we were at the MET. We stood out like a sore thumb lol, but we got compliments literally all afternoon and we felt like royalty.

As a lover of music and the arts in general, I live for moments like these at the opera. This particular piece, La Traviata, was the full entertainment experience. Everything from the wistful, dramatic and at times spiritual tones of the music, to the captivating staging and scenery, and the superb acting and singing all left me co-signing my audience-mate’s sentiments “Brava!” in my head at the end of every scene, particularly the lead character Violetta’s arias.

In a nutshell, La Traviata tells the story of a young woman, Violetta, who is suffering from a serious illness, yet catches the attention and ultimately heart of a man named Alfredo. After initially rejecting him, Violetta falls deeply in love with him and they get to live happily for a short period of time until outside forces, over which neither have any control, threaten their relationship. Ultimately though, love prevails and they are reunited shortly before her [SPOILER ALERT] untimely death.

Yes, La Traviata means “the fallen woman” and she does die at the end. However, the entirety of the production leaves you feeling more joyful and peaceful than the title, or even synopsis suggests. Violetta’s arias alone left me absolutely mesmerized. And I don’t know if it was the fact that my friends and I attended the closing show at the Kennedy Center or if I was just caught up in my Julia Roberts moment, but I found myself with the rest of the audience jumping to my feet for a standing ovation, wildly applauding the cast with tears in my eyes at conclusion of the performance.

Opera may not be your thing, but if you ever decide to step outside your comfort zone and give it a try, I recommend La Traviata. There is a reason it is the most frequently performed opera of all time. Even if you aren’t a hopeful romantic like I am, I believe this love will win you over.

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Review: My Cuban Adventure

Posted on by goldenlifemusings

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As the case for many others, just a few years ago Cuba was not on my radar. But ever since the ban for travel of US citizens to Cuba was lifted, the little Caribbean island that has brought big political controversy over the decades sat prominently on my vision board as a must-see destination. I thrive off of visits to destinations that are rich in culture and history, and it’s an added bonus when it exists in a tropical climate with beach and sun. So, imagine my delight when I heard my parent travel company was hosting a cruise to Cuba inviting all of us travel consultants to attend, making it not just a bucket list trip, but a tax-deductible excursion as well. Winning! [Note: We cruised via the Norwegian Sky, a ship I had previously sailed to the Bahamas. For a review of the Norwegian Sky click HERE. Also, if you are used to 4 and 5 star luxury accommodations, I recommend cruising, as the hotels there aren’t quite up to American standards yet.]

As a caveat, let me start off by saying I had not done a whole lot of research on Cuba and what to expect prior to my visit because I wanted to learn and get the full experience of the country and the culture while I was there. I knew that it was a Communist nation but I hadn’t really thought fully about how that impacted the country and its residents. Needless to say, this probably was one of the most educational and mind-blowing travel experiences for me to date.

Thanks to my senior intern and research assistant, aka my mom (smile), my family and I had one of my best tour experiences to date out of all the countries I’ve explored. If you are visiting Cuba, definitely reach out to Fernando FerTours to schedule your tours! Our tour guide Alejandro was super knowledgeable about everything, having been born and raised there, and he was amenable to pretty much everything we requested along the way, including indulging us ladies stopping at every shop we saw in Old Havana LOL. Because we were a small group (7 of us), we were able to customize the trip to our liking and see and experience what felt like all of Cuba within the two days we spent there.

I’ll get to our exploration of Old Havana in a second but can you indulge me while I talk about my favorite part first? Can you guess what it is? If you guessed the food, you would be correct and you get a gold star (smile)! Me being the foodie I am, that was one of my most anticipated parts of the trip and Cuba did not disappoint. Alejandro, who did not lie when he told us he was taking us to the best restaurants in town, explained how fresh the seafood was to the point that your fish that you ate in the afternoon was actually swimming earlier that morning. So guess what I got an overdose on? Yes, fish and crustaceans! Because Cuba is a multi-ethnic society you get the best of the Caribbean, Spanish and African parts of their heritage in their foods. Each dish was prepared and seasoned to perfection and many of the dishes were styled so beautifully, I ALMOST didn’t want to disturb it because it was plated so masterfully. You notice I said almost right?

This has to be one of my favorite ceviche dishes to date. (Habana 61)
My awesome garlic shrimp dish at El Biky
Cheers to a delightful food experience at Habana 61!
Can you tell I was excited to have my very first authentic mojito experience at Habana 61?
My aunt’s lobster feast at Habana 61
Our tour guide Alejandro’s mouth watering fish dish at Habana 61
Alejandro told us the best pizza on the island was at El Biky so we indulged!
The snapper was grilled and seasoned to perfection at Habana 61!

After talking to my colleagues who had taken other tours I realized that not everyone’s experience was created equal with the food. I also talked to some friends who had previously visited who did not have a good food experience either, primarily with the hotel restaurants. Therefore, I’m referring you to the places where we ate so you can be sure to have an enjoyable experience! Definitely visit Habana 61 (where I had my first authentic Cuban mojito!), El Biky and Vista Mar, with the latter being my favorite food experience of the trip. That had to do partially with the view, as it sat right on the water (hence the name – Vista Mar, translated view of the sea) and had a beautiful pool and lighting. I indulged in the seafood platter, which was amazing!

Me in front of our beautiful view at Vista Mar
My family with our awesome tour guide Alejandro
Delectable seafood platter

It’s essential to note, each of the restaurants I mentioned are known as paladares – small, family-run restaurants, usually in a converted part of a home. In addition to the quality of the food being better because it’s not mass produced, they have more of a homey, welcoming feel to them. Naturally, these types of establishments are harder to do with larger groups but if you can get to one, you should. Just thank me later.

During our excursion in Old Havana, which consisted of a walking tour around different squares where we saw many churches and museums, we learned a lot about the history and culture of the city of Havana, and of course the country as a whole. Some interesting things we learned: because education is completely free and they do not allow privatization of schools, Cuba has a nearly 100% literacy rate and close to 95% of Cubans graduate from high school. Also, due to free healthcare, the infant mortality rate is of the lowest of all of Latin-America. While homelessness is also pretty much non-existent, poverty is real there and close to 100% of the population makes less than $1,000/month (more than 80% earning less than $200/month). Nevertheless, the people for the most part were very welcoming and friendly and of course they loved us spending our American dollars there. Word of caution: women dressed in traditional garb will run up on you to take a picture with them and then tell you after the picture was taken you owe them $5. It’s a nice hustle, but trust they won’t ever get me again! In the words of George W., fool me once…lol.

My second favorite part about Cuba was the music, with the artwork at a close third. Being a lover of music, dance and everything entertainment, I truly enjoyed our “Havana nights” experience at the Buena Vista Social Club. The band was grooving all night with multiple artists coming up to perform and give you a taste of their own unique flair. I also had an opportunity to brush up on some of my salsa moves when one of the waiters propositioned me for an impromptu dance (see video here)! We even encountered an all-female band (two of the members were missing when I captured the video) at the cigar and rum shop we visited. How cool?!

We had an opportunity to join the band and dance with the singers so I couldn’t resist. 🙂

My final unexpected surprise of the trip was the beautiful artwork we encountered at the old train station, turned market in Havana. The pieces bring out every part of the country’s diverse, multi-ethnic culture, leaving you a bit overwhelmed upon your departure. All of the artwork is fairly cheap with none of the pieces costing more than $200, and it helps that the market sellers allow you to bargain with them a little bit. I had an opportunity to purchase a striking piece of artwork that I’m excited to find a place for in my living room, among the other Afro-centric artwork that line the walls.

I could not complete my review without sharing my final highlight of the trip, which was having an opportunity to ride around for the afternoon in Cuba’s infamous classic cars. There are literally thousands of old American cars from the 1940’s and 1950’s that contribute to a significant portion of the transportation on the island, many of them serving as taxis. It was fascinating to see how well-kept and preserved many of the cars were. If you’re a car buff and thinking about buying one of them, think again. Most of them are owned by the government and if they are sold from owner to owner, they can only be sold to other Cubans in the country. Sorry folks!

View of old military equipment on our joy ride in the classic cars
I just thought this guy was too cool for school, I had to snap a pic

I could literally talk all day about my precious two days in Cuba but I really want you to go and experience it for yourself. If you are a travel addict like I am and you want to get away from the norm of the same old travel destinations you visit, Cuba should definitely be on your list!

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Despite the weather, the beach was gorgeous.
Unfortunately, the weather was not conducive to an extended amount of beach time but that just means I just have to return for that experience!

Review: Art Basel Miami

Posted on by goldenlifemusings

I’m really a novice when it comes to knowing and being a collector of visual art but I do appreciate and love the experience of witnessing it on display. So when one of my friends suggested we go to Art Basel (a wildly popular international art fair) for a girl’s trip, I was all in. I had heard of how amazing it was and that it was one of the most, if not the most, popular events in the Miami region so I knew I wanted to see for myself what all the hype was about.

First, it can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t have somewhat of a general strategy in place in terms of what you want to see and how much time you want to devote to it because there is A LOT to see and experience. We spent several hours at the main exhibit in the Miami Beach convention Center and I think we only scratched the surface of all there was to see. There are exhibits all around the area, but the majority of them were in South Beach thankfully because that is where we were staying and the traffic was horrendous. Recommendation, if you want to see the bulk of the art, stay somewhere in South Beach, not downtown Miami or the outskirts. Otherwise, you will spend most of your time stuck in traffic trying to get from place to place.

One of the unexpected bright moments of the weekend was visiting the M.U.C.E. (Miami Urban Contemporary Experience) Now or Neverland Urban Uproar’s Exhibit in Little Haiti. My friend had commented about her disappointment with not seeing much black art and just like that, a couple hours later, we found ourselves in a sea of striking pieces from black artists due to a slight misreading of the GPS on our way to a party two buildings down. The event was not promoted with the rest of the main Art Basel festivities so we literally would have missed it had we not gotten “lost.” Another recommendation, in addition to the listing of activities you may see on the official web site or newspaper reviews, check out social media for some additional options by searching #artbasel or #artbaselmiami hashtags.

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This M.U.C.E. exhibit was by far the highlight for me of the weekend as far as the art was concerned. For me, it wasn’t just that the canvases had black faces on them, which many of them did. It was that the pieces here made more sense to me, even some of the more abstract pieces. Visual art is very subjective, as many art forms are, and I have to say many of the items on display in the main exhibit halls just didn’t make sense or seem like art to me. Many of the pieces quite frankly I felt I could have put together in 5 minutes and called it art myself. Again, I am no connoisseur and in an effort to not completely tear down other people’s work, I’ll just say that many of the pieces were not my cup of tea. Though we did have some fun with the pasta exhibit, which was absolutely crazy!

I honestly don’t know what this was.
Yes this is a brush in a microphone stand.
The pasta exhibit was among the craziest we experienced. When we sat down to snap a photo some thought we were a part of the exhibit lol.

Next to the M.U.C.E. exhibit, the event at the Aqua Hotel was my next favorite. Art Basel took over the entire Aqua Hotel and turned it into an art exhibit. Literally all of the rooms in the hotel were rented out by artists and art gallery owners and converted into galleries to display and sell their art. I found these pieces to be some of the most amazing, thought-provoking, visually appealing works of art I’ve ever seen. One highlight was an artist who created the faces of famous people using their own words in speeches, songs and literature. Another artist created an entire line of art using brown and red packing tape. Then there was a combo painting and sculpture called “Who Am I?” that I literally could not take my eyes off of for about 5 minutes.

Original, fictional images made from packing tape
Images of famous people using their own words
Who Am I?

What I also appreciated about Art Basel was that much of the nightlife scene incorporated art as well. If you are someone who likes to party and enjoys the Miami nightlife scene, this weekend is definitely for you. Many of the events even offered complimentary adult beverages and passed hors d’oeuvres, which is a nice change of pace from the typical high priced food and beverage scene in the Miami area. There were so many parties and events happening, we found ourselves hopping from venue to venue just to try to get a taste of it all. And at each one, there was something visually appealing to see while you got your party on as well.
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Overall, I give this weekend two thumbs up and I would definitely come back and bring others. If you are looking for something different to do in your travels, this can certainly be an option. Even if you aren’t a big art lover or connoisseur, I think the diversity of events offered provides a little something for everyone. If anything, you will definitely be entertained.

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Some of my other favorite pieces
These two pieces were made entirely from pencil
These two pieces were made entirely from pencil

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