Gayle Brennan Spencer – sending random thoughts to and from South Austin
Above: “I Wonder if Iolanda (a Portuguese singer) Ever Notices Me…”
Oh dear, my posts truly lag behind our trips. The first installment of this appeared here more than a year ago. Trying to play catch up, and street art is meant to be viewed without explanatory words anyway.
Continue reading “Postcard from Palermo, Sicily: Street art stands on its own”
Above: Speciale de Claires oyster at La Boite a Sardine
A fair number of French will tell you in unguarded moments that ‘Marseille is not France,’ and what they mean by that is that it’s too Arab, too Italian, too Corsican, too mixed up with foreignness to be truly and adequately French. But, anybody who knows me knows that’s exactly the kind of mixed up gene pool I like to swim in and eat in. It is a glorious stew of a city, smelling of Middle Eastern spices, garlic, saffron and the sea.”
“Marseille is a Must-See City in France,” Anthony Bourdain, CNN, October 2, 2015
Offering up a quick alphabetical tour of restaurants we came across and enjoyed while in Marseille this past spring.
A trendy, upscale yet casual, lunch-only spot attracting neighborhood millennials to the point where reservations are recommended, Cantoche is not in a location you would simply stumble across as a tourist. But it’s definitely destination-worthy and less than a fifteen-minute walk from the Vieux Port.
Continue reading “Postcard from Marseille, France: Seafood, spices and mysterious black vanilla”
Above: “Waiting Has a Price,” Rodney Zelenka, 2021
Visiting this past summer, I found myself awestruck by the contemporary political and social issues tackled by exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Querétaro (MACQ). Although housed within the walls of an ancient convent, the museum’s international art is far from the conservative colonial paintings long associated with the city.
“Incomprehensible Realities,” a show by Panamanian artist Rodney Zelenka (1953-), delivered the universal plight of migrants to the forefront with the powerful precision of a karate chop, to be expected from a painter with a Black Belt. Many of his surrealistic works featured suitcases, shoes, hats – things that get left behind – executed in bright primary colors normally associated with happiness set against a backdrop of gray splotches resembling abstract gravestones.
Continue reading “Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: MACQ confronts contemporary topics”
Postcards from Barton Springs 