The second week of January I flew to Lima (Peru) for an important business meeting. It was a hard trip: overnight flight from New York, straight to meeting, and overnight flight back. But there was no other way to fit the trip in my schedule.
A few days later I flew with my fiancée to Valencia both for business and for pleasure.It was a cloudy and “cold” week (for Valencia anyway, because 58ºF could hardly count as “cold”, considering it is 11ºF now in New York).
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This year I spent Christmas at Niagara Falls.
While it is one of the natural wonders of the world, I had not thought about visiting it before because I did not expect it to be “worth it”. How wrong I was! Not only it is a lovely area (the Canadian side, at least), albeit certainly quite “touristic”, but the waterfalls indeed are amazing. You stand so close to the water, intense green, that you can feel it rush, precipitate, and crash.
If the world ends today, this is my goodbye soundtrack gift to you.
If it doesn`t, tomorrow it will be the soundtrack of a waterfall, my new beginning gift to you.
In any case, the first composition that I ever share with the world ("Waterfall in the winter"). Straight from my open heart. Enjoy. Peace. Love. Happiness.
On Wednesday Stephanie [thank you!] invited me to see “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at Richard Rodgers Theatre (Broadway, New York) with Scarlett Johansson.
Although I had seen the movie, perhaps because I was too young to understand, or perhaps because in the movie the plot is not as clear, the truth is that I enjoyed and understood Tennessee Williams play much better this time. And it has a much broader appeal than what I initially guessed (being a _Southern Gothic_ work).
Red dyes sky and “sea”, as they call it, as the sun sets over the Rio de la Plata.
The promenade fills up with Montevideans with their mates. They smile, oblivious to, or despite of, life`s drama.
This intense red bursts, invades, dyes and covers like a curtain. I must share it with you.
It`s ephemeral, I know it will pass, but now it feels as if nothing can escape its spillover, which drags along my attention, my sensibility, my pain, my life.
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December 2nd I flew to Montevideo. I stayed at the Radisson Hotel, Plaza de la Independencia. Very conveniently located with some impressive views from the top floor. Good thing it had a pool, because it is not easy to keep my exercise regime when traveling so much.
Besides very productive meetings with IBM (very nice, professional, and friendly executives, by the way) and presentation to several hospital groups (one of the meetings at the Presidential Building, another one at the country`s largest hospital, and a presentation at the Solis Theater), I enjoyed the promenade by the river which seems like a sea, the old town, and a weird Ice Bar.
November 27th I flew to Boston, and back to NY in the same day, for a couple of important business meetings (Massachusetts General Hospital, and a Law Firm) with Ken and Laura, with whom I had lunch in a restaurant located inside a hotel that was formerly a prison.
November 28th I flew to Chicago for the RSNA trade show.
I stayed at the very nice Public Hotel, attended the crazy big RSNA show, had dinner at Petterino‘s with Brazilian friends, and flew back to NY.
