Granada at night

John G wasn't feeling great, so Marcia and I walked to town tonight to attend a party at a friend's house. Unfortunately, we didn't find the party. But fortunately, it's a blast to walk around Granada at night. Everyone's either at the park, hanging out at sidewalk cafes, or sitting in chairs outside their front doors (which are right on the sidewalk).

Earlier this afternoon, we designed and printed flyers (below) to hand out in the barrio, inviting people to come to an outdoor dance tomorrow at 4:30 pm. When we left for the party this evening (and never found it) Marcia passed out the printed invitations to people who were hanging out in front of their houses. I shot video of this process, including some insanely cute little girls giving us a preview of their Latin dancing skills. This is going to be probably the greatest dance video ever made. These Nicaraguans are like Dance Fever Pro 2.0.

After failing to find the party, shooting night video of Granada as we strolled along, we stopped at Nectar, a cool night spot along a street lined with cool night spots and outdoor tables. We had a drink at a sidewalk table as we watched the Nicaraguan world go by. Young and old out for a walk in the cool night air.

When we returned to Marcia's house, the party that had started several doors down the street earlier today was in full swing. I'm inside but the open-air roof is like a giant amplifier pumping the band's music into my room. The tuba player, the drummer, and the trumpet player, whoever they are, are damn good. And they're probably setting a world record for non-stop Latin music. I fully expect to be listening to this party for the rest of the night, followed by bombas (explosives) around 4 am. And this is a religious celebration. I hope I get to visit when it's really party time.

Which reminds me, when we walked past the Cathedral earlier tonight, you could hear a choir inside practicing. It was beautiful, in a New Orleans/Negro spiritual/hand-clapping style. Very cool stuff. YouTube clips coming soon.

The singing at the party next door has started now. I'll sign off so I can listen for a few hours.

A fast food stop in the Market, downtown Granada.

Granada's Market

Walking through the market is like being in an Indiana Jones movie. Action on all sides, scary stuff like pig heads laying around, and passageways to explore that are rabbit warrens, weaving walkways that go from dark to light, open to crowded, food and produce to furniture and clothes. And, of course, getting there is half the fun - walking through downtown.

Granada - downtown

Downtown Granada is a busy place on weekends. Maybe every day. I'll let you know. But I haven't been shoulder to shoulder with this many people since I visited the Cairo Bazaar. Since Marcia is fluent in Spanish, John G and I just follow her and shoot away.

Granada - as in Nicaragua

Granada, Nicaragua. Less than 24 hours here and I've already been awakened at 4 am by the sound of bombas (fireworks explosions), singing, and mariachi music wafting in from the open roof of the house I'm in. Some sort of religious holiday is happening this weekend, so it'll be another early wake-up call tomorrow morning. But that's cool, because when in Nicaragua, do as the Nicaraguans do.

Santa Fe friend, John Gough, and I flew down here yesterday to visit (and stay with) his amazing sweetheart, Marcia, who's been living here for four years. She remodeled a crumbling, traditional barrio dwelling into an amazing, contemporary work of art. I'm not sure how many other residents on this street have a small swimming pool inside the front entry, but I'm guessing not too many. Between the pool and the Wi-Fi network, this is the best place to stay in Granada. But you have to have connections... Bwhahahaha!

This afternoon, as I downloaded the morning's photos, I heard a band playing. It sounded very close. A trumpet or two, a bass drum, snare drum, tuba, and trombone. I ignored it, figuring it would be gone by the time I ran downstairs and went outside. 30 minutes later it's still playing so I grab the video camera and run downstairs and out to the street. About three doors down a band is on the porch of a house playing for what looks like a birthday party. Very cool stuff. People stare at me with curious looks as I slowly circle the small crowd, aiming the video camera at them and at the band. I'd be paranoid about being intrusive, except I figure they're thinking "I don't know who he is, but he's gotta be staying at Marcia's house." Marcia later confirms that they were thinking exactly that. Later tonight I'll put a clip on YouTube and post a link to it.

This place is fascinating. Colorful. Unique. Friendly. Happy. Where else do you see a funeral home with a sign like this? Unbelievable.

For a fun time in Chicago…

First, call Jim and Don and tell them you're taking the El to Oak Park so they can pick you up at the train station. From there, just go with the flow, because these two guys are fun to hang out with.

This morning I walked around the neighborhood (Michigan and Delaware) taking photos. I finally got a shot of The Casino, next door to the Hancock Building (below). No signage necessary. Members only. If you don't know what the building is, you don't need to know. We, on the other hand, have actually eaten there. Bwahahahaha! (smirk smirk)

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The poor guy below tried the entire week to catch a cab.

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Robin and I took the El so Jim and Don wouldn't have to drive into town. What the Hell, I've always wanted to El, and now I've got video footage to prove I'm an El of a guy. It was a nice, uncrowded and leisurely ride on the Green Line.

I'll be glad when they put an El in Santa Fe.

Hmmmm... (fantasizing): "Take the Mauve Line to Lamy, take the Burnt Umber Line to Canyon Road, or take the Thalo Blue Line to the Plaza."

As we enjoyed mid-morning coffee at a Starbucks, we all decided Jim should really get a new iMac so he could donate his older iMac to Don. So we drove to a nearby town with an Apple Store. The shopping center was larger than Santa Fe, and the Apple Store was bustling with activity, hardware flying off the shelves to eager, fanatical customers, big bucks being spent. And that was just the four of us — you should have seen all the other people and what they were buying.

On the way back to Jim and Don's house in Oak Park, we stopped for lunch at one of their favorite places, a Thai restaurant that's spectacularly delicious. After taking a detailed tour of Thailand's cuisine, we hot-footed it over to Jim and Don's and began unpacking the goodies. It took the rest of the afternoon to migrate files from Jim's old iMac to the new one, zero-out the hard disk on his old iMac and install Leopard on it, create a complete backup on Time Machine, give a few tutorials of our favorite tips, etc.

We barely had time to grab our stuff, jump in the SUV, and drive to The Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier to see A Comedy of Errors. It was a great production. Great actors, great stage design and scenery. It was staged as a 1940s movie production company filming A Comedy of Errors. There were added scenes (an additional plot) in which the movie director and actors played Hollywood people producing the movie version of the play. Occasionally, the director would shout "Cut!" and the actors would leave the Shakespeare dialog and start playing the plot of egotistical actors, a young actor having an affair with the director's wife/lead actress, an actor who kept trying to work in the St. Crispins speech into his role of Dromio. When the actors were doing the straight version of Comedy of Errors, they were the best I've seen and made the play more understandable and funnier than any version I've seen. In fact, it made me appreciate the play for the first time.

After the play we went to a new restaurant discovery of Jim and Don, restaurant/food critics. They love this place (so did we). It's name is The Drawing Room, in case you find yourself in Chicago. Very chic chic. Exquisite and unique food and cocktails. Open late, like in a big city. Charles, the "Mixologist," prepared our drinks at our table, a show in itself. He's created all of the concoctions that appear on the menu and gave us detailed information about every ingredient of the drinks we ordered. This bar and one other bar are representing Chicago in an international bar tender/mixologist competition in New York. The finalists get to compete in New Orleans. It was an amazing after-theater experience. We left there after midnight, around 12:30 I think. Fortunately our apartment was just a couple of blocks away, although Jim and Don had to drive back to Oak Park. Those pooooor people.

A Chicago great time, a successful trip from the Mary Sidney presentation perspective, and some new friends. Thanks to Jim and Don, Virginia and Jim, and everyone else we met.

Presentation at the Newberry Library

Robin's presentation at the Newberry Library tonight was a very successful event, with almost a capacity crowd (about a hundred people). The audience seemed very into it. Quite a few people afterwards said they were convinced. Considering that Robin had to talk fast and to squeeze a two hour presentation into one hour, it was still fascinating, and I've seen it a half-dozen times.

After the presentation, Robin signed books that were purchased in the Newberry bookstore, then we returned to Virginia and Jim's apartment for cocktails, wine, wonderful food and visiting with Virginia and Jim, Jim Price and Don Newcomb, and other new friends Rosemary, Donna, Maria.

Tomorrow we take the famous El (Chicago's Elevated train) to Oak Park to have lunch with Jim Price and Don Newcomb. Later in the afternoon we'll return to the city for dinner and to attend A Comedy of Errors at the Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier.

Robin prepares for the Newberry presentation

While I'm blogging, Robin is rehearsing her presentation.