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| Indeed... |
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Cult of Maria Lionza of Venezuela
A recent discovery of mine for Voodoo Bordello via Al Jazeera, my favorite and most trusted news site (Please don't sue me. I'm giving you respectable and free PR.......to about 10 people).
Photo Credit: Girish Gupta
The Venezuelan Cult of Maria Lionza seductively appeals to the vulnerable psychosis of those who seek a cure for heartache, illness, and general misfortune -far too many options to mention.
"There are reasons why people in the United States might go to a psychologist but many people in Venezuela prefer to seek a practitioner of Maria Lionza," according to Wade Glenn, an adjunct assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Tulane University in New Orleans who has spent about four years researching the cult as part of his PhD. People also come for help with physical ailments, sometimes believed to be caused by witchcraft.
Photo Credit: Girish Gupta
"According to legend, Maria Lionza lived on Sorte Mountain in Venezuela in the 15th-century, after her Indian chief father sent her there for safety.
One day, when staring into the river a giant anaconda ate her."
......Buzz-Kill......
"But from within the anaconda Maria Lionza promised the mountain to disintegrate herself there if she were saved. When the mountain agreed, Maria Lionza and Sorte Mountain became one."
Photo Credit: Girish Gupta
"Where established institutions - whether government, the Catholic Church, health services or the security apparatus - in Venezuela are lacking, Maria Lionza is filling a gap." For the full piece written by Rhodri Davies on the Cult of Maria Lionza, visit Al Jazeera.
Most importantly, take in the spectacular photography of Girish Gupta. His large body of freelance work is not to be missed. -Lisah Horner
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Perils of Bonifacio
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| Cap Pertusato, Bonifacio~Cliffs of Lime |
A year ago I couldn't get near this place. Booking a hotel in the most southern point of Corsica 6 months in advance was hopeless. Population 3,000 and 6 miles north of Sardinia, the unobtainable quickly became the deeply coveted. I obsessed. Ask my friends...
Bonifacio had been conquered by the Moors, the Romans, the Pisans, the Genoese, the King of Aragon of Spain, an organized yet unknown sea-faring tribe, the French (it's a touchy subject so don't push it), and Corsican pirates. With evidence of being inhabited by the unknown as far back as 6570 BC, it is widely recognized that the giant cannibalistic Laestrygonians described in Homer's Odyssey were the 7th century BC inhabitants of Bonifacio. And, who are we to argue?
Bonifacio had been conquered by the Moors, the Romans, the Pisans, the Genoese, the King of Aragon of Spain, an organized yet unknown sea-faring tribe, the French (it's a touchy subject so don't push it), and Corsican pirates. With evidence of being inhabited by the unknown as far back as 6570 BC, it is widely recognized that the giant cannibalistic Laestrygonians described in Homer's Odyssey were the 7th century BC inhabitants of Bonifacio. And, who are we to argue?
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| Escalier du Roi d'Aragon Overlooking the Strait of Bonifacio |
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| Escalier du Roi d'Aragon Overlooking the Strait of Bonifacio |
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| The Backbone |
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| The Backbone and The Lighthouse |
Violently carved and beaten over centuries by wind and water, the lime cliffs of Bonifacio have eroded so that they resemble bones, brittle and porous. The ramparts of the citadel were constructed to protect the haute ville (old town). But, the remaining architecture has been whittled into a skeleton and is all that stands protecting the cemetery and upper town that teeters on the edge with the straits waiting patiently, perilously below. Gravity + time + weather will certainly continue to dictate the fate of Bonifacio.
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| Bonifacio |
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| Weathered Citadel Crypt |
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| Weathered Citadel Crypt |
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| View Over the Entrance to the Port |
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| Inside the Crypt from Above "Enter with Respect" |
Escalier du Roi d'Aragon Overlooking the Strait of Bonifacio
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| Escalier du Roi d'Aragon |
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| Old Town ~ Haute Ville |
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| Old Town ~ Haute Ville |
I'm not a hostel person. I no longer camp. I am not wealthy. I am not well-off.
But, I do know how to vacate.....
Research long enough -and with the directive of a treasure hunter- you will find gems that can serve as your home base for a few days, not break your wallet, and be completely rewarding when you return to the hotel later in the day. And, when you do....linger. Talk to your bartender as an explorer -not a tourist. Tip well -even when you might not need to. And, remember that YOU, no matter which country you are from, serve as an unofficial ambassador to your homeland when you travel internationally.
So, don't fuck it up!
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| Hôtel Genovese in the Citadel |
The amazing, ridiculously chill, located beyond convenience (with parking on site in the citadel!!!!!!), fabulously hip, Hôtel Genovese.
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| Hôtel Genovese in the Citadel |
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| Hôtel Genovese in the Citadel |
Evening Ritual and Commencement
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Ghost Town of Muna
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| WELCOME to MUNA!! You don't have to go home. But, you can't stay here! |
When someone tells me not to do something... I take it into consideration. But, when I go on holiday and hear about a ghost village way up in the mountains away from my lovely, safe seaside hotel I don't need anyone to bother. I'm going anyway. How many times will I have the opportunity to really experience this again? Seriously. Stick a dead wild board carcass on the road sign near an abandoned 16th century village in the middle of nowhere to keep me out? I'm your Girl. Where's the bar?
Muna, according to Lonely Planet and other trusted sources, was abandoned after WWII. The existing church's exterior is mysteriously maintained as is the granite marker on the facade listing the men from Muna who fought and died during the wars. This is an all too common memorial in each Corsican village. Their dead were etched in stone and the ghosts of those who fought and died are palpable. The wind, the light, and the whispers from the squatters up the mountain make certain that you don't forget you are not alone where you stand. And, once you really become aware of this it is definitely time to leave.
..
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| Looking West Towards the Golfe de Sagone from Muna |
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| MUNA CENTURION & JEAN-BAPTISTE Stick to the Roads ~Steer Clear of the Moors~  |
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Birthday, Les Roches Rouges, and Another Incredibly Intolerable Sunset
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| Birthday Elixirs Les Roches Rouges' Champagne Cocktail & Hotel in Piana, Corsica |
Amazing. Again. I made it to another birthday. I never thought I'd get past 34 -courtesy of a teenage/early 20's indulgent lifestyle and the omnipresent veil of my older brother's death at 34 from cancer. It makes sense that I would think that I couldn't reach 35 and even more sense that my reckless youth was an attempt at self-sabotage to make it so. But, enough about my psychosis. And, pass the champagne!! I'm 46 and Fabulous (whimper......)
Three years ago, I decided to celebrate my birthdays in epic capacity. "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." Thank you, Mae West! I chose to come back to Corsica this year because I'm not finished. I wasn't able to get near some of the places last year that intrigued me due to my limited time on the island and because I couldn't find a hotel in Bonifacio, Porto, or Piana that wasn't completely booked.
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6 months ago I found a 100 year-old chateau in Les Calanches of Piana on the west coast. Les Roches Rouges had all of the right attractions: located on the edge of the Earth, saturated with history, and oozing with the impressions of ghosts. Perfect.
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| Terrace of Les Roches Rouges on the cliff of Les Calanches |
As it turns out, my time on the island would include many moments on the edge. And, the argument could be made that I’m out of my element without that vantage point. Next, the ghost town of Muna.....
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| Room #333, Les Roches Rouges |
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| Elixir Options |
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| The woods east of Piana |
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| The Edge of the Earth |
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Whatever You Do....Don't Ever Visit Corsica
...and tell anyone about it because -first will come the American tourists -then the tour buses competing with cars on the single lane death-taunting roads and Genoese bridges -followed by bats, locusts, scurvy, the Black Plague, malaise, chicken pox, polio, Jennifer Aniston, and IMAX! Just leave it alone.
I mean it. The whole island should go UNESCO.
The port of Calvi from the Citadel, built in the late 15th century by the Genoese
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| Cathédrale St-Jean Baptiste |
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| Cathédrale St-Jean Baptiste |
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| Entrance to the Citadel |
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| Entrance to the Citadel |
My ferry from Nice was not nearly as difficult in the rain as I had expected. But, once we arrived at the port everyone scurried off the ship with their cars in a downpour. The seasonal/daily 2pm invasion of Calvi began. Most left for other villages. I wanted to stay for a couple of days and explore the area -especially the citadel. But the rain was offensive. I was beaten from 5-1/2 hours on the full-to-capacity ship, Sardinia Vera, and quickly checked into the Hotel Belvedere and fell asleep, face-first into bed.
When I awoke three hours later....the sky had opened up for me...and I felt that I was being personally invited to immerse my self again in this place where I know I could lose myself but never be lost.
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| Sunset from the Hotel Belvedere |
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| Sunset from the Hotel Belvedere |
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| Golfe de la Revellata |
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