The Dead Shall Rise - Mexico City 2010

To be honest, Mexico was never high on my list of places to visit...  the heat, the sun, the water, the heat, my fragile stomach, the heat...  did I mention the heat?

However, 4 years ago in Germany of all places, I met two amazing people from Mexico City.  Every year we would meet at the same place in Leipzig for a music festival, and every time they would tell me to come and visit.  Finally in 2010 I had the chance of a lifetime.  I not only had money, but I was between contracts, it was October and Dia de los Muertos was fast approaching.  Going to Mexico for Day of the Dead is like going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras...  kinda the best and only time you *should* go if you truly want to experience the culture at it's finest.

Dia de los Muertos was unlike any other experience I have had traveling.  The spiritual nuances filled the atmosphere with a vibrating electricity.  The vivid colours were a constant assault to your eyes and the delicate scent of flowers and incense lingered enticingly on the air.  It's a time of reflection and remembrance.  My dear uncle had passed away the year before so I took this opportunity to honour him at Mixquic Cemetery with a traditional Day of the Dead ritual ceremony, with the help of my friends.

The best blessing of course was that my friends in Mexico City were the perfect local tour guides a girl could have dreamed of!  If I were alone there was no way I would have experienced the wonderful things I did.



The Dead Shall Rise by BLITZ & shadow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.  If you would like to use my photos for something, please use my 'view my complete profile' link to 'contact me' via email.

Hallowed - England 2008 - 2010

The first time I visited the UK I was 18 years old.  It was a graduation gift from my parents, and it is an experience that has been branded into my memory until the end of time.  I wouldn't say it had any profound impact on my life at the time, I was only 18 of course, but I would say that it wetted my appetite more travelling in the future.

The next time I set foot on English soil was 5 years later.  This time I was affected spiritually, but again, I was 23 and looking to party in London, Liverpool and Manchester, with the occasional trip to a cemetery (how very goth) and more importantly, Stonehenge.  At this time, England was to be my future home.

Skip ahead another 10 years and you find me again in the UK.  Older, more mature, more money, not just here for a good time, but here to experience culture.  From Highgate Cemetery to the Glastonbury Abbey, from the Chalice Well to the Tor on the hill.  For the next 4 years in a row I pay a yearly visit to England, and in this blog post you will find a few of my impressions.



Hallowed by BLITZ & shadow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.  If you would like to use my photos for something, please use my 'view my complete profile' link to 'contact me' via emai.

GLASTONBURY/AVALON

The mists of Avalon...

LONDON

Cognizance - Japan 2007

In 2007, I was going through some major life changes, contemplations and reflections.  I did a lot of critical, internal judging and viewing, and through this I discovered that I had not been very true to myself for many years...  and that was about to change for the good.  Where better to start this new self-awareness but in Japan?

I began with two months of Japanese language lessons, copious amounts of research about Japanese customs and sewing a Haori to bring along.

I went alone.  After travelling for close to 26 hours by plane, finding out I was sold the wrong train ticket, in Canada, to get from Osaka to Kyoto, having the president of Panasonic Tokyo witness my troubles, get me on the right train and then walk me to my ryokan (traditional Japanese B&B) in Kyoto, and falling into a blissful slumber of 15 hours, I woke up to a gloriously, sunny day in Kyoto, minutes away from the Geisha District of Gion.

My travels also included Tokyo, Mt. Hakone, Kamakura, Kawagoe, Mt. Fuji, Hiroshima, Miyajima Isle, Nara and Iga Ueno.

This time of new self manifestation is documented here.  I hope you can find some pleasure in these images.



Cognizance by BLITZ & shadow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.  If you would like to use my photos for something, please use my 'view my complete profile' link to 'contact me' via email.

KYOTO

TOKYO

MT. HAKONE & MT. FUJI

KAMAKURA

KAWAGOE

HIROSHIMA & MIYAJIMA ISLE

NARA & IGA UENO