Talented Streets

One of the things I love about cities are the street performers. I like the violinists, the guitarists, the contortionists, the opera singers, and the fake statues. We have traveled across two continents and seen a LOT of street performers, and we always try to throw a euro or so into their hats when we pass by, if we enjoy the show. Here are some of the highlights from this year:

1. Edinburgh Sword Swallower - Fringe Festival performers on the Royal Mile, including a pretty good sword swallower.

2. Florence Guitar Player - Claudio Spedi plays almost every night on the Ponte Vecchio, and may very well be the greatest street musician in the world. We listened to him every night we could and loads of other people did too, including one lucky couple that got engaged in the middle of Claudio's rendition of A Ti. There are lots of bloggers on the web waxing poetic about this guy, though he never seems to have recorded music on You Tube or other internet media.

3. Seville "Falling Waiter." This guy was somewhere near the Cathedral every day we were in Seville, and the first couple of times that we encountered him were thrilling. When you drop a coin in his hat, he changes position and it's very hard to tell how he does it. (We later walked by as he was setting up, so we discovered the trick).

The Falling Camarero in Seville.

4. Cesenatico Magician. This guy with a generally eastern European countenance set up his show by the canal (apparently once surveyed by Leonardo) as we were walking by, and then mesmerized us for 30 minutes with his rope tricks, his bird, and his disappearing mouse (converted to glitter, seemingly). Definitely worth a couple of euros.

5. Merida Fest. The month of January in Mérida, Mexico, is called Mérida Fest and includes several public displays of the arts every evening, most for free. We saw a Canadian acrobatic troupe called Electro Trad Cabaret (a Cirque du Soleil-style show, with similar kinds of acts including a hair-hanging trapeze and strongman balancing) and Cuba-based Orchesta Failde. Very fun, and a cool respite to the 90+ degree weather we experienced in January.

Orchesta Failde at Mérida Fest.

6. Carnaval bands in Bariloche. We found ourselves in San Carlos de Bariloche for Carnaval, and while they had a few locals with floral headresses, the chilly weather put a damper on any skin-based parading. Instead, they had a stage where a series of local bands played, with colorful outfits, rhythmic music (much of which seems to have been original), and the occasional kazoo or recorder. Very fun.

A colorful band on stage at the Bariloche Carnaval event.

7. Gipsy Kings in Seville (?). An unnamed band that looked and sounded an awful lot like the Gipsy Kings performed in a plaza before a large crowd in Seville, on the weekend of the Latin Grammys. Regardless of who they were, they were good.

8. Random guy playing the accordion on top of one of the mountains between two of the Cinque Terre.