Europe’s Silence, Vallarta’s Song
My sister, Patrice, and I spent a couple of weeks in northern Europe this summer, mostly in Sweden, for the wedding of our niece Evelyn. Whatever city we were in, we walked for miles and miles. We rarely had a destination in mind, but roamed wherever our feet wanted to take us. We got lost often, and that was okay, too.
We talked the whole time, as we do daily, on the phone when she is back in Canada. Comparisons were made every second – ranging from, ”I have never seen that before” to ”that would NEVER happen in Vallarta!” Something was missing the entire three+ weeks I was away, and it wasn’t until I got home to Vallarta that I could put my finger on it.
There is no music in Europe. Oh, there is in the hundreds of concert halls, and we did attend an outdoor event in Stockholm at the Opera House, and another outdoor concert where our other niece, Adele, sang with her band in the middle of nowhere in Sweden. That concert started at 11 pm.
I mean music in the street. I recall buskers in London a hundred years ago, when I was there last, but they are gone now.
Just yesterday, I could hear a man singing as he walked down my street—a lovely tenor, singing in Spanish. Nobody sings in London on the streets; they don’t even hum. They walk because they have to be somewhere that evidently precludes singing.
Patrice and I saw one busker in six countries. He was playing guitar and singing in English outside the train station in Cologne, just beside the enormous Gothic cathedral. Just the sight of him made me smile for blocks and blocks.
There are no loudspeakers inside shops aimed at passing foot traffic. Not one. I sometimes wonder at the volume played here at Similares, for example, but it would be an escape to go IN to the store because no way it would be that loud inside! There is method to that madness.
It likely boils down to our lack of civilization. That we burst into song because we can, so far it’s still legal to sing or hum a tune beyond the confines of our showers. Just one more reason travelers love Mexico in general and Vallarta in particular – the city sings with glorious happiness.
Speaking of happiness – our very own Angeloo won the State singing contest La Voz de Zapopan for Boys and Girls last Saturday. A trophy, 50,000 pesos, and I don’t know what other accolades and rewards will find their way to him, but he will certainly be celebrated for a long time in Vallarta.
I looked into this contest a little, when Angeloo had first qualified. The first two years – 2025 was the third – garnered 6,000 participants! I assume that was the accumulated total of talented children under 19 in this state for two years.
La Catrina Cantina will likely give him a hero’s welcome back from the big city for his regular Wednesday night show on October 01. Join me at 8 pm to shower this young man with appreciation, who at 12 years old has the world of music at his feet—applause, applause.