GABRIEL BALDERAS SAXAPHONE

THE BEST JAZZMAN IN MEXICO CITY

Gabriel Balderas is not famous – yet – but I consider him the premier jazz player in Mexico City.

And that’s no small statement, as there are easily a half dozen or more jazz venues in the cultural capital of the Americas.

I lucked out when I walked into Parker and Lenox – in the Roma neighborhood – and heard Gabriel on the sax.

At the end of the show, I started out in my horrible Spanish and we quickly switched to his English to talk about jazz greats, Mexico City and music.

A few nights later, I was at Jazzatlan Capital, also in the hip Roma neighborhood, and caught Gabriel sitting in with the night’s featured act.

Seeing me twice in one week, he was so kind that he gave me a CD of his fabulous Voices From The Border.

You can check him out at many different streaming services, including Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/58qSHv8M0ELKIDSObDqEFH?si=nX3om57RS3-AKvy6VeXDOw&utm_source=copy-link&fbclid=IwAR2T6GfpMUrYh9PtCPZFno_gtz6fgbNuMfBe3dSOoAZa2_98A-Z1O3GsN_0&nd=1

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

MY SOULMATE HEIDI HAS BEEN BY MY SIDE FOR 34 YEARS

We have dashed across the jet airplane runway that separates southern Spain from Gibraltar.

We have balanced the neighborhood delights of the 11th arrondissement with the legends and landmarks of Central Paris for our 30th wedding anniversary.

I watched proudly while Heidi delivered a key presentation at the American Institute of Architects' National meeting just after Michelle Obama gave her first post-White House public speech.

Heidi rooted for me while I was an award-winning reporter at the Columbus Dispatch Newspaper in Ohio and when I served as the senior policy advisor to the Chair of the Miami City Commission in our adopted hometown.

We took an all but condemned house in Little Havana and turned it into a showplace of both wheelchair access and preservation of a nearly 100-year-old home just footsteps south of famous Calle Ocho.

We discussed policy with Filipe, then the newly-married Prince of Spain and now King.

We have explored wheelchair access in Monument Valley, Moab, Zion, Bryce Canyon and other treasures of Utah.

We enjoyed the natural beauty of both Hawaii's Big Island and Costa Rica.

We often spend the Christmas week either in Mexico City or New Orleans.

We have documented universal design from London to Barcelona.

We have spent cumulative months exploring inclusive mobility in Los Angeles and New York.

We have sharpened our Spanish speaking skills from Santo Domingo DR to Andalucia.

We have a lot more on our plate.

185,000 READERS

TODAY WE CELEBRATE MORE THAN 185,000 UNIQUE VISITS TO THIS BLOG

This blog launched around Memorial Day 2010.

It has more than 2,100 posts.

It has shared more than 2,000 original images, all taken by Steve Wright.

The total word count is enough to fill up more than two thick novels.

We have covered wheelchair-accessible adventures in Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Cartagena, Granada, Istanbul, Cappacocia, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, San Juan, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, Monument Valley, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, San Jose, Mexico City, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and countless other destinations.

Heidi Johnson-Wright, an award-winning author, has made hundreds of guest posts ranging from reviews to travel stories to cross posts from her earthboundtomboyblog.

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 7

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

The entire American Airlines flight crew from the Miami to Mexico City flight should go straight to hell.

I send them all straight to hell for smugly refusing to move two pieces of crew luggage into the ample overhead bin space on the far from full flight.

The selfish pig bastards deserve to lose their mobility.

Maybe then they would drop their inhumane “me first and to he'll with a disabled person’s needs attitude” when they realize a working wheelchair is crucial to my wife's mobility. 

The Mexico City St. Regis’ fabulous service only served to underscore how much contempt and mean spiritedness America Airlines harbors towards its disabled guests who pay trough the nose to be treated like garbage unfit to fly. 

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 6

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

In Mexico City’s airport, a kindly customs agent gave us enough tape to make do with very primitive repairs to Heidi’s wheelchair so we could limp to the taxi stand.

We explained during check in that American Airlines wantonly damaged Heidi’s wheelchair and asked if anything could be done while we got situated in the room.

We hoped for a repair man miracle.

The stellar St. Regis made believers of us.

The St. Regis engineering crew arrived within minutes to our luxury room and started hand crafting enough parts to get Heidi's wheelchair in working order for the rest of the visit to the big city. 

For those keeping score, St. Regis crew - even on sacred Christmas Day - deserves to go to haven for the way it patiently rescued Heidi from a week of no mobility due to an airline’s extreme negligence.

 

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 5.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 5

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

Cargo stowage of fragile wheelchairs causes breakage, half ruined trips and little beyond a sneer and finger pointing us toward the baggage claim.

That’s right.

Wheelchair damage is not considered a human being issue, it’s considered a baggage issue.

That says a lot about how American Airlines, and all carriers for that matter, classify disabled customers as things that are a problem to deal with – not as human beings with mobility issues.

The Obama Administration would do well to investigate this situation and pass landmark legislation that improves and protects the rights of millions of disabled business people and leisure travelers who can barely use air travel for mobility.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 4.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 4

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

The crass and unapologetic crew ambled right past us and stranded Heidi in a painful position with a broken wheelchair. 

This kind of despicable behavior toward disabled fliers is the RULE, not the exception from American Airlines.

We want to support American, because it employs thousands in our hometown of Miami.

We have to patronize it because American dominates the trade for Latin America and beyond at our local Miami International Airport.

But time and time again, its workers are rude beyond belief and they seem to almost take delight in manhandling Heidi’s wheelchair.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 3.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 3

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

Here’s a recap of our 2011 holiday season nightmare.

Even though our Miami to Mexico City flight had tons of room to stow Heidi's wheelchair on board, the surly crew whined about saving the closet space for their own roomy luggage storage.  

Heidi's wheelchair, her legs in effect, was tossed down below with zero regard for how essential it is for her mobility.

When it came up from the cargo hold in Mexico City, it was severely damaged.

This was Christmas Day, so there was no prayer of finding a repair shop that would be open. 

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 2.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 2

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

When Heidi’s compact, but expensive wheelchair gets stowed in cargo, it breaks.

We currently are awaiting a damage assessment from American, to see if it will even pay to fix the damage it did.

Of course the air carrier will never offer to compensate us for the hour wasted at the airport, waiting in a long line to deal with poorly trained baggage complaint people.

Nor will they compensate us for the pain Heidi suffered when the wheelchair malfunctioned as a result of American’s damage.

She hurt her hip and will suffer for weeks.

This unacceptable disability discrimination from American Airlines is an almost exact repeat from the week between Christmas and New Year’s 2011.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 1.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 1

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

We sat down to write about our nearly perfect trip to Mexico City last year.

It was facilitated by our outstanding hosts at the St. Regis Hotel Mexico City.

What wasn’t perfect?

Our treatment from American Airlines.

American, and all airlines, treat disabled people horribly.

We never have risked ruining Heidi’s $20,000 power wheelchair by putting it in the hands of American Airlines.

We have been burned time and time again even when traveling with a simple, lightweight manual wheelchair.

It happened again this Thanksgiving, with American refusing to place Heidi’s collapsible little wheelchair into the closet on board.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow November 30.

OUR FAVORITE TOUR GUIDE THAT WE'VE NEVER MET -- part 2

Hector Guillermo Gerardo Barraza Ugalde


Outanding ideas for wheelchair-accessible walking tours in Mexico City from our Hermano Hector:

a) A Downtown tour. We could arrive to the Zocalo by car and visit the Cathedral which is easily accessible, then we could stroll along Madero street which is a pedestrian street visiting the Profesa church and the Casino Español, then another accessible building would be Iturbide Palace, Count of Valle de Orizaba Palace and the old cloister of the ex convent of San Francisco, we could see from the outside Fine Arts Opera House and after it the Franz Mayer Museum, if your wife and you are in the mood we could finally see the Rivera Mural on the alameda park.


All of the above are easy access buildings, if i don´t mention i.e. the National Palace is because they could be very cumbersome to visit.


b) Coyoacan, could be very nice to explore, there is only a small area with cobbled stone streets that could be not entirely accessible, but the rest is flat, shady and with very interesting buildings to see, the Blue House (Frida Museum has too many stairs)


c) San Angel. This area is full of cobbled stone streets and very hilly, but very nice, it could be a bit up hill, but I can always help you, it is the area where you will find the Old church of Chimalistac, el Carmen or San Jacinto, with lovely squares and the beatiful San angel Inn Restaurant.


d) Chapultepec park. The Castle is a must see, we could visit the ground floor, with most of the rooms dedicated to Emperor Maximillian and Empress Charlotte, with a great view of Reforma avenue and the surrounding areas, after it, the anthropology Museum of very easy access (two or three rooms).


Cost. Downtown and Chapultepec park, US$130 (4 to 4.30 hours)


Coyoacan and San Angel, US$150 (4 to 5 hours)


Transportation, we could hire a cab by hour, some US$12 per hour or to take taxis from one place to the other, I always take with me a Taxi stand phone number and we can call the cab, once we are done with the walking.

http://mexicocityelitetours.com/aboutusEN.html

OUR FAVORITE TOUR GUIDE THAT WE'VE NEVER MET

MEXICO CITY ELITE TOURS



As we count down the final days of 2011, our theme this week is to give thanks to exceptional people who we have "met" via the interet.

Héctor Barraza is a sucha person.

He's helping us plan a trip to Mexico City for sometime in 2012.

From his bio:

I am a lawyer with more than twenty years of experience in private international
banking. I am a native of Mexico City, but I have also lived and worked in Los
Angeles, Houston, and London. My passions are the history, art, and architecture of
Mexico, and I have now chosen to spend my time sharing my knowledge with
visitors. I approach Mexico City and its surroundings from the perspective of social
history, establishing a link between the stones you see and the stories of the men and
women who built and lived in these places.

I provide customized tours for visitors eager to know about the history and culture of
Mexico. I have had the privilege of working for the American Comparative Literature
Association, Johnson & Johnson, Dartmouth College, the University of Houston, the
Houston Seminar, the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), the University of
Ottawa, and many wonderful individuals and families from around the world.

We sent a simple email to Héctor, explaing that one of us uses a wheelchair for mobility.

Tomorrow, we'll share the wealth of information he kindly and rapidly responded with:

Check out his site at:

http://mexicocityelitetours.com/aboutusEN.html

OUR FAVORITE PLACE IN MEXICO CITY THAT WE'VE NEVER BEEN TO

THE ST. REGIS MEXICO CITY

We are not rich people.

We need to pinch pennies and travel cheaply.

We are famed for flying out of town at 6 a.m. on a holiday because it's way cheaper than flying out late afternoon on the day before.

We subsribe to countless services that send updates on discounted hotel rooms, flights, etc.

If we could get half off by washing the dishes at a 4 star restaurant, we'd probably think about doing it for the savings.

Like everybody who is prudent, but not dirt poor, we sometimes toast our victories or drown our sorrows with a little splurge.

Someday, the St. Regis Mexico City will be such a splurge.

Normally way to rich for our blood -- rooms come with a butler that unpacks your clothes for you & the building was designed by famed architect Cesar Pelli -- the St. Regis recently advertised some great deals.

While we were unable to pull the trigger on the pending deal, we were incredibly impressed with the service the St. Regis delivered to a pair of would-be guests simply doing research.

Heidi uses a wheelchair for her mobility, so we found the email of the St. Regis Manager and zapped some messages asking about roll-in showers, common area access and bed configuration in the barrier-free rooms.

Soon, we not only had replies from the Manager, but we also got a phone call from the person in charge of rooms.

In her imperfect English (which we very much appreciated because folks in Miami forgive our imperfect Spanish), she explained all the amenities for people with disabilities.

The person even memorialized our conversation in an email and followed up the next morning with customized photos taken for us to show the bathroom accessibility.

Soon, the concierge was advising us on a driver for accessible transport and filling in details about which museums are best set up with ramps and elevators to serve wheelchair-using visitors.

Wwe could go on and on about the St. Regis' committment to serving a potential booking by a pair of people who would be paying an internet rate nearly half off the usual cost of a luxury room.

Someday, we shall splurge at the St. Regis and get to give our face-to-face thank yous to all the people there who are committeed to serving ALL guests, inlcuding those with mobility needs.

http://www.stregishotelmexicocity.com/

OUR FAVORITE MEXICO FACEBOOK PAGE

MEXICO TODAY


Mexico. Oft-maligned, today it conjures up every ugly American's nightmare of a place where you walk out for coffee and wake up with one of your vital organs harvested.

While there certainly are many places with crime problems inflicting unspeakable horribles on the locals and scaring off cultural visitors aplenty, there are many places that are just as safe as home.

Guanajuato is one of them.

Even in Mexico City, choked with traffic, smog and more than 20 million people trying to feed their families, has dozens of safe places to wander -- from Condesa to Reforma, Chapultapec Park to Polanco, the Zocalo to the Alameda Central, Coyacan to San Angel to many other historic and significant urban sites.

Mexico Today is a government-sponsored site to get out all the good stories (and to obviously combat the US Media image of violence in the pround aned historic nation).

The writing is top notch.

This is no press release and propoganda site.

We highly recommend you visit:

http://www.facebook.com/MexicoToday

OUR FAVORITE MEXICO CITY BLOG

MEXICO CITY: AN OPINOINATED GUIDE

Observations, news and Travel Tips by Jim Johnston


On this lazy holiday day off, we'd like to refer our nearly 20,000 readers to our favorite blogger in Mexico City.

Jim Johnston, author of exico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler, shares his vivid writing about the magical Condesa neighborhood, murals and dozens of other cool things in the historic and bustling Distrito Federal and its 20 million-plus inhabitants.

Since this is a lazy day, we'll simply lift Jim's bio right from his blog:

Born in New York City, Jim Johnston grew up in the woods of New Hampshire.

After studying architecture at the University of Virginia and graphic design at the School of Visual Arts, he worked as a professional artist and potter in New York City for 27 years.

He moved to Mexico in 1997, where he continues working as an artist and writer.

For more information visit the website: www.jimjohnstonart.com.

For Jim's outstanding blog, visit:

http://mexicocitydf.blogspot.com/

Warm Season’s Greetings from Our Family to Yours

We wish you peace, happiness & prosperity and invite you to mark this special time of year by:


• Embracing family and friendship.

• Empowering yourself to make positive changes.

• Celebrating the holidays by sharing with those who are less fortunate.

• Relaxing with loved ones and entering the New Year renewed and refreshed.