Fiestas de San Lorenzo

Bernalillo, NM

https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/matachines-dance-bernalillo-new-mexico

Several of my former students from the Pueblo of Jemez invited me to celebrate their Feast Day with them today. This particular day is also known as the Pecos Feast of St. Persingula. It’s an annual feast day that combines Catholic and Native American traditions, honoring the Pueblo’s connection to the now-abandoned Pecos Pueblo. The day includes a Catholic Mass, traditional dances, other ceremonies as well as some of the best traditional homemade food I’ve ever eaten in all my travels.

I started this blog with a selfie and now I’ll end it with one.

I’m done adventuring for now.

I should land in ABQ on Friday the 25th of July, 2025.

Reykjavik is completely cat crazy; there are shops here where the whole attraction is the cat that lives there amongst the art or souvenirs and I am here for it. /ᐠ – ˕ -マ

Kattakaffihusid is Iceland’s first cat cafe. Cats here say mjá-mjá (meow in Icelandic.) ᓚᘏᗢ

I’ll spend a few days in Reykjavik then I’ll take a direct flight to Denver International Airport. I should be back in the “Land of Enchantment” by this upcoming weekend.

First things first:

I know even before landing in Reykjavik that I’m going to stand on business and eat as much phở as I can pour into my 5 foot frame. Soup here is top-tier.

Seconds:

An Icelandic-style frankfurter with crispy onions and covered in a brown mustard called pylsusinnep that comes from a place called Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur which translates to “the best hot dogs in town” does not disappoint. I know that was a mouthful… ; ) p.i.

Third place:

Sundhöll Geothermal Pools

Fourth (for the win):

Sky Lagoon

Skjol!

Skjól at Sky Lagoon means experiencing the traditions of Icelandic bathing culture.

Skjól is seven bathing steps, starting with the oceanside lagoon & cold plunge and continuing through the steps in an Icelandic turf house.

1st Step: Laug

Feel the warmth of the geothermal lagoon, complete with seemingly endless North Atlantic Ocean views at the edge of Iceland.

2nd Step: Kuldi

Immerse yourself in the coldest cold plunge, IMO the best of the best of traditional Icelandic practices.

TBH I plunged way too many times in this lil pool ; )

3rd Step: Ylur

This gorgeous sauna overlooks the horizon through a vast seaside window that is the definition of warmth and relaxation.

4th Step: Súld

A refreshing, cold mist rains down on you during this step.

5th Step: Mýkt

Next, apply Sky Lagoon’s signature body scrub (made to detoxify) which leaves you clean and glowing.

6th Step: Gufa

Let’s just say that things got steamy during this step.

7th Step: Saft

The Skjól journey concludes with a taste of Iceland, a krækiber berry elixir. Krækiberelixir is made from berries grown on the nearby lava fields, that are then turned into a drink that Icelanders have enjoyed for centuries.

Keimur Café inside of Sky Lagoon

On my last day in Italy, I visited this gem called the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano. Starbucks Reserve Roasteries are located in Seattle, New York, Chicago, Shanghai, Tokyo and Milan.

This is how obsessed Italians are with coffee and this is how coffee is done here. This Starbucks is more like a museum/laboratory/palace. It’s minutes from the Duomo di Milano and eons away from any Starbucks I’ve ever visited.

https://www.roastery.starbucks.it/

Ostello del Bigallo is where I’ll spend the next few days. This secluded and restored 13th century monastery is surrounded by olive trees and is located about an hour from the city, in the Florentine hills.

At 16, I visited the Galleria dell’ Accademia where Michelangelo’s David is housed but I waited almost 40 years to visit the Uffizi.

Perché Mai?

It’s known as:

Firenze in Italian

Florencia in Spanish

Florence in English

This birthplace of the Italian Renaissance is also known as:

“Città Gigliata” which translates to “Lily City” which is why the emblem of the city is the giglio fiorentino; a red lily on a white background.

Which reminds meme of something…

Palazzo Veccio

My favorite place in Cinque Terre; The Lover’s Path. After being closed for over 12 years because of landslides, it was recently opened on February 14, 2025. It’s a 1 kilometer-long path connecting Riomaggiore and Manarola.

The trail was excavated through hard rock and winds along the rock-face overhanging the sea. The history of the Via dell’ Amore began when a path was needed by railroad workers to move between Riomaggiore and Manarola during the construction of the tunnel between the two villages. The legend holds that this footpath also became a meeting place for couples from the two villages.

The five villages from East to West from La Spezia are: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso Al Mare.

The Palombaro Lungo

This is the Palombaro Lungo in the center of town, in Matera underneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto. It is a cistern that held water for the citizens of the town for hundreds of years. It is constructed of solid pillars carved from the surrounding rock and it has a vault height of more than fifteen meters. The best description of it is: an underground water cathedral.

The last time that I was in Croatia, I was completely enamored by Dubrovnik so now I’m headed to Zagreb, the capital of the country and to Split afterwards to see how they compare to “The Pearl of the Adriatic.”

Legend has it that Ljubljana was founded by Jason, the hero of Greek mythology who stole the golden fleece from King Aeëtes and then fled aboard the Argo with his comrades, the Argonauts, across the Black Sea and up the Danube until they reached the Ljubljanica River.

You can take a boat ride from one end of the city and cross the triple bridge as well as many other bridges on the way to the other end of the city.

View from inside the castle.

This is the funicular that takes you to this castle overlooking the capital city of Ljubljana.

This was actually the goal all along; which is why I flew into Milan then headed east to Verona, then Trieste and ultimately Ljubljana in Slovenia.

This is the view of Verona from above the city: I’m currently on the Verona hop-on hop-off double decker tour bus that was waiting for me just outside of the Porta Nuova Train Station.

This is a pic of the €25 hostel that I reserved ahead of time like a grown-up. I usually book rooms on the fly so that I don’t have to go on a quest to find them; this place was a bit of a side adventure to find but worth it.

Only Prada, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Armani, Gucci and other lux brands can be found in this iconic outdoor gallery housed in a glass-covered 18th century arcade.

The best dressed people in all my travels have been from Milan. They take fashion uber-seriously in this part of the world.

I have finally returned to the most beautiful train station in the world.

What a small world we live in: As I arrived at the departures area of the ABQ Sunport, in the vehicle behind my Mom’s vehicle was a relative that I didn’t know from Cuba, NM: Jackie Sanchez.

Her parents were also dropping her off at the airport and she was headed to Chicago just like me. Needless to say, I now know a fellow traveler/prima from Shytown so now I have a reason to visit : )