søndag 21. oktober 2012

Temazcal - therapy for body, mind and soul

Finally I am happy to say I have tried Temazcal!! :D A mexican traditional, spa, sauna, therapy treatment for body, mind and soul.
It was truly amazing. we had our body and face painted with a delicious chocolate mask. The Temazcal is a tiny igloo, with hot stones covered with herbs and water.

It was sooo hot, the man that performed it chanted and told us how amazing we are, how we are in charge of our life! you are strong, you are special, you are the centre of the world. The past is in the past, you are living today! He asked us to state our names and say what bad things we have in our life. then later what good things we have in our life. We were in there for 20 minutes at a time, he helped us breath and helped us relax and guided our minds to concentrate on the line that goes from the centre of the earth and through our bodies.
Every 20 min, we went out and he gave us a prayer, and then we had a cold shower where he urged us to scream and get everything out. Then in again to the temazcal and we got a new body mask...
And so much more! its impossible to explain, cause u go into a sort of trance and I dont remember everything... such a weird feeling. I was in the middle between my to friends and i felt like i got the energy from them, so sometimes my body just feel apart, then it was really hard to breath, like i was drowning and then i was completely relaxed.... wow... this something u must experience for urself!

http://www.temazcaltonantzin.mex.tl/frameset.php?url=/intro.html




Today i feel so calm, relaxed and happy.. The temazcal-man welcomed me to mexico, and said this is mexico! today you are mexican.... 
 :)








lørdag 13. oktober 2012

Mexico City! Thankyoumoreplease :)

Everyone who has been, tells me Mexico City is the shit! :)So i had no choice (oh what a shame;) and went this week as I had a few days of from work. As I am the worst planner in the world, I bought my ticket 20 min before it went and booked the hostel on the bus there. But you know, it always works out ;) I made plans for dinner with a friend of a friend that lives there and I was on my way! :) 

I must say I just love traveling alone, because well... obviously I am the best companion ;) But its soo nice deciding exactly what to do, when to do it and how to do it.
Now, mexico city is gigantic! And its not an easy city to get around in 3 days... but i think i covered the most important places, I made time to chill out at cafes and I got a taste of the famous nightlife.
I stayed at a hostel in Roma, a pretty sweet neighborhood with everything u need right outside the door. Roma is next to Condesa which is a hipster area known for its nightlife, its safe too walk around alone at all hours and u can get food and drinks from all corners of the world :) I must say though, I reeealy HATE staying in dorms! but I guess thats what u get when u book the same day. :P Not only does it suck coming home at night not being able to put the light on, stumbling over backpacks, not sure ur choosing the right bed, people snore, I snore.. Its all a big mess!! But in addition, the 40 year old german in the bed next to mine, sleeps NAKED!! WTF?? so no thank u to dorms!! 
Otherwise... Use ur contacts, take the metro, bring a map, take the tourist bus, visit the pyramids, get lost, eat a lot, and remember to stop, breathe and enjoy.... ;)

PICTURE TIMEEE!! :D

Look at this little monkey flirting the whole way to Mexico City from Xalapa :D soooo cute! i almost kidnapped him... true story..

As i stated before, taking a tourist bus is the best way to get an idea about the city. bring a coffee, sit down and enjoy the view :)

Ya.. there is sooome military in the streets...

The gigantic beautiful cathedral at the Zócalo


El Ángel de la independencía

Basically all mexicans are musicians, that results in entertainment... everywhere :)

Contacts are alpha and omega when traveling alone! Meet Guillermo, a friend of my american girlfriend Anna that i was in Buenos Ares with. Thank you Anna :) Someone always knows someone where ur going, so just ask :) We had a great time together and it was so good going out with someone that knows the city and can tell u the inside scoop ;)

Live music everywhere! add wine, tapas and good company and u have urself a good time :)

And these silly girls of course ;)

The next day i was feeling pretty sorry for my self... buuuut being hungover in Mexico City is surely not the worst thing in the world, and it was all worth it! :D 

Happy again after some coffee and ready for the pyramids! :)

Come on! you would have written ur name too!!

HOT HOT HOT! a little pit stop between the pyramids :)

My butt is still sore after this...

On top of the world

Pyramid de La Luna - Come on!! its ridiculously amazing! Majestic, impressive, massive and... everything! everyone must go here!!


Yeeeah!!

And bring money! They sell so much cool artifacts! as i am the queen of bargaining, here is my tip: put a little money in different pockets and say thats all u have... then they have to go down to ur price! i bargained a heavy, awesome aztec dagger down from 1200 --> 200 pesos. The guy almost stabbed me with it :D thats when u know its a good deal ;)
A little pyramid silliness must be allowed ;)

So frikken amazing!

The last night we went to a singles night at a 60s club with this silly bunch! Haha! can u imagine?? Such a weird place.. 

Model sandwich :)

Gotta try the hipster glasses


The metro! My saviour! seriously.. this city is huuuuuuuge! but the metro system is soooo easy! BEST way to get around

I always fall asleep when im on the metro, bus, car, plane, bike..you name it :P nice to see im not alone ;)

Yo soy 132 at monumento a la revolución -
 There is an ongoing movement in Mexico called Yo soy 132 (I am 132)  centered around the democratization of the country and the medias bias cover of it. shortly explained, It started with the 2012 presidential election with students at a private university in Mexico City, now president-elected Pena Nieto was holding a speech there and the students protested. But the media covering it claimed it was not the students from that university that was against Nieto, it was other people from a lower class. So the students then went out and made a movie where 131 students from that Uni held up their student ID and stated that they had been there and demonstrated. So to say yo soy 132 is in solidarity to the movement (Like, I'm the next member)  

Such a beautiful city :)

I love this country!! they have fountains like this everywhere. and people go crazy running through it, dancing, screaming....
Kissssssssing.... :D Amazing!

Ceremony for Día de la Raza, also known as Columbus day... (The day for indigenous people) It is such a horrible history, and the ceremony was beautiful...

Is it weird that i think he is hot? :P




Looks fun :D

This little squirrel ate a nut out of my hand. cuuuuute!
Yes!! Mexico truly is as amazing as everyone says! But 3 days is not neeearly enough time. Oh well... just have to go back then! ;)






fredag 5. oktober 2012

La Ceiba - where creativity comes to life

Creativity is contagious and La Ceiba certainly bares the fruit of all the different characters that are connected to this place. 
La Ceiba Grafica is a community or a hacienda for artists in Xalapa and Coatepec. Its a huge beautiful mansion with workshops, studios and chillout zones for all different styles. There are dorms for people to sleep in, a huge kitchen, gardens, balconies, equipments, machines, flowers... you name it! As far as i understood it is now owned by the government and artists are provided with scholarships to work there.
I was so lucky my friend and his girlfriend are working there so we got to hang out for a day and breath in the inspiration. 

The rustic entrance

So peaceful

The grand La Ceiba tree in the backyard as the sun sets


Come on! how beautiful is this??

Walking on the ruins of an old café.. trying not to fall :P






Curious brothers :P there were huuuge spiders everywhere






The Berman brothers






:)

hammock chill out.. thats it! im moving in! :)



Old rustic bathrooms

Andres cooking in the gorgeous kitchen :P

View of the Citlaltépetl, a stratovolcano, highest mountain in Mexico :) Not too bad huh? :P 


:)

Hammer of Thor :P



Front yard

Dani processing an artpiece the old fashion way


The result :)

Art is messy :)

Los Bermans -  Handsome men right? :P

So if you ever find yourself in the area. Track down an artist and demand that he takes you here! Cause you do not want to miss out on this place :)