Author: gringopotpourri

Gringo - aka Scott - was born outside of Chicago and has lived most of his life in or around big cities. He spent two years of his adult life in Mexico City (talk about big cities!) and fell in love with Mexican food and culture all while weathering the challenges of life in a city with over 20 million people. Life's unpredictable journey has since brought him to Tennessee, where he is close to family and to the natural beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains. Scott also enjoys movies, hiking, top ten lists, and travel in general.

Where I Come From – Part One

My genealogy is fairly straightforward: mostly Polish on my mom’s side and Norwegian on my dad’s. There is a smattering of other ethnicities as well, most of them Anglo-Saxon: Lithuanian, Scots-Irish, Welsh, Dutch, English, Danish, etc. And Cherokee Indian. No, seriously. According to a family tree that my father sketched out as far back as he could, my great-great-great grandmother was a Trail of Tears-era Cherokee by the name of Running Fawn. I wish there was a photograph of her in existence somewhere.

Where am I going with this? Well, Father’s Day was 10 days ago, and I’ve been spending a lot of time with my own father these past few weeks. My mom has been visiting her daughter and granddaughter on the other side of the state, and it has given my dad and I time to get to know each other better. Our recent time together has confirmed something that I long suspected: although we are sometimes so different that I wonder – jokingly – if I was adopted, I know that most of the time, I am my father’s son.

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Photo Locale of the Month – June 2015

So far in this monthly series, I’ve taken us once to Asia, once to Europe, and three times to Latin America. The most recent entry transported Loyal Readers to roaring Iguassu Falls, at the “Triple Frontier” of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

But it is officially summer as I write this, and I thought I would take us to a site near my hometown that looks great during the summer months, a site that, despite its name, celebrates its 11th anniversary: Millennium Park, Chicago.

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Four Days in Cuernavaca

My love affair with Mexico has lasted for many years. It was over 12 years ago, in April of 2003, when I made my second trip to Mexico City, with my eyes set on an extended weekend destination one hour to the south of DF: Cuernavaca.

Often called the “City of Eternal Spring,” Cuernavaca sits in a 5,000-foot valley south of Mexico City’s volcanic southern slopes, and features a wonderful year-round climate. Cuernavaca has been a long-time weekend destination for many wealthy Chilangos (Mexico City residents), and I’ve heard – but have not been able to verify – that Cuernavaca has more swimming pools per capita than anywhere else in the world. Fun fact: according to Wikipedia, the Shah of Iran once had a house in Cuernavaca!

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Adrenaline Rush

I recently read about a roller coaster accident at Alton Towers amusement park in the UK. Apparently, one carriage on The Smiler ride crashed into a second, empty car. Several passengers on the moving car were injured, one critically. This BBC link details the full story.

I love roller coasters. Back in 1999, I received the computer game Roller Coaster Tycoon and spent countless hours designing theme parks of my dreams. There isn’t a coaster in the world that I won’t ride; I raised a few eyebrows after telling friends that I rode every coaster at Happy Valley, a Disney-esque amusement park in Beijing (wiki site here). China does not have a great reputation for quality control, but I survived the experience without even a trace of whiplash, and would rank Happy Valley as one of my favorite amusement parks anywhere. Far scarier was Rutschebanen coaster at Tivoli Gardens, in Copenhagen. On this 101-year-old wooden coaster, the operator responsible for braking is a passenger on the ride!

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40 at 40 – A GringoPotpourri Q&A

I turned 40 two weeks ago. The feeling is a bit surreal. On the one hand, most people tell me that I look young for my age. On the other hand, I can’t believe that I’ve completed four decades of living, and I’m disappointed that I’m not “where I should be” in my life considering that I’m a college graduate who has traveled around the world. At least that dreadful phrase “Over the Hill” has become passé.

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Photo Locale of the Month – May 2015

The fifth month of this feature takes us back to Latin America (see other Latin America-themed photo entries here and here). Latin America is one of my favorite corners of the globe, not just because of the people, the food, and the architecture, but also because of the stunning nature.

South America is particularly blessed with natural beauty. Two mighty rivers meet near the “Triple Frontier” of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam, which tames the mighty Río Paraná, is one of the premier technological wonders of engineering. Also near here – and splitting the Iguassu River in two – are the majestic, unforgettable Iguassu Falls.

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A Day Trip to Knoxville

Last Monday I joined my parents on a day trip to Knoxville, Tennessee’s three-time former capital and the biggest city in the eastern half of the state. My parents travel to Knoxville (about an hour away) every eight weeks or so for Target and Publix runs, and this time their destination was a high-end international grocery store called Fresh Market.

Fresh Market is a stone’s throw from downtown, so when they asked me to tag along, I suggested adding on a visit to the East Tennessee History Center, with the caveat that we could grab lunch somewhere near Market Square, a center of pedestrian activity and a gathering place that is flanked by sidewalk cafés. (Market Square also plays host to countless Knoxville festivals, including the annual “HoLa Fest” that celebrates Latin food and culture. I attended HoLa Fest last year and blogged about it here.)

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Five Days in Guanajuato

I was up late the other night, channel surfing like a zombie, when I stumbled upon the 2002 film Once upon a Time in Mexico. This action movie, the third in director Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi trilogy, packs more plot into its 100 minutes than four normal action movies.

I decided to watch the remainder of Once upon a Time in Mexico, and came into the film at the beginning of the movie’s climactic shoot ’em up. I did a double-take, however, when the University of Guanajuato’s main building flashed across the screen. This building, located in Guanajuato, 4.5 hours north of Mexico City, features one of the country’s most recognizable exterior façades. I already knew that portions of the movie were shot in the mid-sized cities of Querétaro and San Miguel de Allende, but I was not previously aware of lovely Guanajuato being another film location.

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Tennessee-Born?

Tennessee continues to fascinate me. On the surface, the state appears to be very well run. Its Republican Governor, Bill Haslam, was instrumental in quick disaster response and aid to families affected by The Great Tennessee Snowpocalypse of 2015. Additionally, its roads are in impeccable shape, despite their high traffic content. Take I-40, for example. This east-west interstate highway is the third-longest in the country and passes through eight states. The 455-mile Tennessee stretch of highway receives more vehicle traffic per mile than any of the other seven states, including California. Yet Tennessee’s I-40 is in outstanding shape, its rest stops spotlessly clean.

Look deeper, though, and you find cracks in the veneer. Meth addiction spiraled following the financial crisis of 2008, and it’s not uncommon to encounter one or more toothless, recovering addicts on a daily basis. And while the state’s Appalachian Mountain culture is fabled as a place of folk music and simple living, the reality is closer to the movie Winter’s Bone than one might want to believe. Additionally, the state’s job growth rate is one of the lowest in the nation. Tennessee is a place of $10/hour factory and warehouse jobs; “white collar” jobs are especially hard to find once you leave the “Big Three” of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville.

Still, a diverse number of companies have chosen Tennessee for their corporate or manufacturing headquarters. Let’s take a look at some of them!

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Photo Locale of the Month – April 2015

For the fourth month of this feature (see last month’s entry here), we travel to Europe. Perhaps one-third of the way down the left side of Italy’s “boot” lies the former port city of Pisa. Land has since reclaimed the port, however, and the Tyrrhenian Sea is now several kilometers to Pisa’s east.

Athough sailors no longer stop off there, the city of 90,000 Pisanis still draws thousands of tourists each day, most of them making a mad dash from the train station directly to the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa and Piazza dei Miracoli.

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