Elegant Cultural Tours

05/11/2024

ON CREATIVITY AND ART AND IDEAS & OUR TOURS

I had a talk last night with a friend who plays a cello at the Gran Teatro de la Habana’s symphonic. As I forwarded him this photo, he replied that their professors encouraged them to play famous pieces in reverse when they needed some inspiration for composing, or a fresh look.

In a modern world I still find it so many times that we want to do it all alone. We refuse to find help with great minds that had done it before us and think we will be stealing their ideas, if we did. But this world and inspiration is here for all of us to enjoy! So why not take from it with a big spoon?!

I love eclectic styles for the very reason: the beauty and the exchange of ideas!

So, yes: we absolutely can take from others and contribute our share 💕

I love to prepare and run our programs with the very same eclectic ideas: sometimes my inspiration is music and I grow a program around a certain topic, and then add pieces (experiences) very precisely so that they resonate with the topic of the day and the day’s atmosphere. At the end we conclude with an eclectic art work that is your tour ⚜️ Alja

04/11/2024

From Cuba to the world- a gift of incredible musical talent and deep feel for the creative expression!

The famoso Chan Chan song of Compay Segundo

24/10/2024

20/10/2024

In the mean time Havana is step by step slowly waking up from a three days’ sleep of no electricity. It still is far from normal, but at least we had seen places slowly lit up with “la luz” and people applauding when they did.

It is hard to describe how I feel here this time. Shaken from the happening (for almost 3 days all across the country there has been no electricity, no air condition, no water, scarce internet, almost no telephone connection… and heavy rain storms and wind) but somehow I’m filled with more courage and hope. It is, of course just me who can leave when I feel like, and also spend my European money. The locals aren’t that lucky

But this people here give me strength and courage and hope when I look at them and how they manage the very hard circumstances that are beyond individuals.

I really love the Cuban people!

We are safe here, and our hotel has electricity from generators. Hurricane Oskar is in the East at Holguin, Santiago, Las Tunas and Grandma provinces and we are in Havana, so very far away and all is Ok with us!

20/10/2024

We are still alive and kicking… but honestly we experienced some really hard days in Varadero and Havana. Staying at official (big) Cuban hotels again paid off… as all of them have their own power supplies! When the rest of Cuba was in a literal darkness (blackout) ever since Friday, we almost had no lack of power… except yesterday evening when our hotel had to stop the AC and water heating and wi-fi.

The rest of Cuba is in the dark, but power is slowly returning (my friends report)… parts of Havana are still dark- Vedado’s streets have no lights and our hotel here has a generator as loud as an airplane engine! But we have the lights, AC and water and internet 💕

What happened? According to the latest reports on Friday one of the main power plants in the country broke down.

We are patiently waiting for the “la luz” to return

In the mean time Cubans are not stressing much. They simply take it easy and play dominoes all days in front of their houses (inside it’s way to hot, and all factories, offices and schools, bars and events are cancelled and suspended till Monday).

In Cuba life is like this… we never know what will happen next and this really teaches us to just take it one step at a time.

(P.s.: all best hotels, even the smaller boutique ones have their own power supply!)

19/10/2024

Can’t say Ernesto Guevara dela Serna (el Che) was my favorite Cuban (from Argentina) revolutionary, but…

A visit to his mausoleum in Santa Clara brings his life story forward on our tours… and illuminates his controversial personality.

The mausoleum with his remains is a quiet and minimalist place (no photography allowed within). It resembles his somehow modest personality and looks like a simple jungle dwelling that he spent most of his life in.

Adjacent to the mausoleum is a small museum with his personal belongings (no photography allowed within) where Cubans and visitors can encounter some of his personal items, including pistoles and guns, as well as the last page from his private diary on the day he was captured in a village of Higuerra and then executed 3 days later. The last note is from 7th of October 1967. To me it is unreadable (his handwriting is that of a doctor :-/).

Do you need to be a passionate supported of the Cuban Revolution to find his story interesting and visit the complex? In my opinion not. He was, after all one of the most famous personalities from the 20th century and in my personal opinion, the many contradicting facts on his life are very intriguing to anybody who wants to learn about the world we live in!

14/10/2024

The wonderful Palacio De Valle

An eclectic mixture of the Arab and the medieval Spanish styles… that is Sevilla and Granada meets the new world 💕

22/09/2024

Ancient Simena (today’s Kaleköy) is a village with no cars. The only approach is by the sea. And it is in the sea that one can find the remains of the old sarcophagi- naming this one.

The Lycians were the people that had a custom of burying their kings in a sarcophagi-like stone structures with a pointed arch lid.

Some claim they exposed them for the winged angels to be able to faster find the soul and transport it to the upper world.
How beautiful is that?!

12/09/2024

Morocco is so rich with details… and those, who take the time and open their eyes (and hearts) can gain so much from this culture and its beautuful everyday life!

⚜️

11/09/2024

Families in Fes, Morocco still bring their bread to the community oven where they leave it for a while and then pick up fresh, warm bread!

But: how do they know which loaf is theirs after it comes from the oven?!

Easy: every family has a significant pattern that they imprint with their index finger onto the dough… and Voila! Their bread (khobs in Moroccan) is ready

All they have to do then, is…. Navigate the narrow alleys of the medina (with a tray full of warm khobs) toward home

Do you love bread?

09/09/2024

Anybody here in love with the dunes and the sun and the sand of the Moroccan Sahara?!

So are We! 🙋🏻‍♀️

The desert vibes are special.... and leave nobody cold!

Photo from our guest- thank you ♥️

08/09/2024

Images of real Morocco ⚜️ Alja

07/09/2024

You know it’s Saturday…. When…. Flowers 🌸⚜️

04/09/2024

Amina garden has it all… and more!

Lush vegetation and Moroccan influenced details

André Heller is the (Austrian) artist behind it- what a creative mind and a nature loving person he is! Every step of the way is a surprise, much like Chinese gardens ♥️⚜️

24/08/2024

18/08/2024

At the Western Coast of Ireland

12/08/2024

Built in the following 40 years after the year 1456, the Rosslyn chapel has been a source and place of many myths and legends regarding its owners, the Sinclair family as well those mentioning the Holy Grail. (Just read Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code)

But it has only recently been discovered that one can also find one of the earliest depictions of Nessi, the Loch Ness monster on the exterior of the chapel’s Southern wall!

Today I learned that from the guides at the Rosslyn and had promised, I will post it under a brand new hashtag:



Just look at how handsome Nessie was back in the 15th century!



P.s.: if you had come so far - the truth! That is an early depiction of a camel (with no legs)… but indeed some tourists have been asking the guides of the chapel where they can find Nessie and so it is come to be 🤣

08/08/2024

Browns… the brown seat belts of KLM planes that I love (the color, not the belt) 🌸💕🌸