beautiful Archives - Moving Peaces

Okay, we’ve been back for over a month now. It’s high time we shared some photos, don’t you think? We obviously took more than a few pictures, so I had no idea how to narrow them down. Lucky for you, I have a blog and can just make plenty of posts.

For those of you who hadn’t heard, we took a two week trip to Argentina back in March. Then we got back and were inundated with everyday life immediately. Sometimes it’s crazy to think we even went at all, but then we look at the pictures and remember how epic it was.

Let’s start with pictures from Iguazu Falls (also known as Cataratas del Iguazo). Not the first place we went, but definitely the first thing we talk about. It was so breathtaking that for two straight days all we could do was look around in awe, beaming like crazy people.

The ridiculous thing is, the pictures don’t even come close to doing it justice.

Iguazu Falls is basically in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of nowhere in northern Argentina. You can either take a super long bus ride or another flight from Buenos Aires. Given our short amount of time (and a long bus ride scheduled later on) we went with the flight. Unfortunately for us, the day we were supposed to fly out there ended up being an airline strike. After a little bit of stress and a lot of rescheduling, we ended up at Iguazu Falls two days later. It was worth it.

It seems a lot of people aren’t aware of Iguazu Falls. In fact, many people had not even heard of it when I said it was a big reason for choosing to visit Argentina. In case you were thinking it was some small local waterfall, you’d be wrong. (For reference, it’s more than double the width of Niagra Falls.)

We spent two days hiking around the falls with all of its incredible walkways. Lush greens, beautiful rainbows and more butterflies than we could have imagined were everywhere.

We even went on a boat. You see that one? Headed straight toward the falls? Yep…it looks teeny but has probably about 40 people on it. And yes, it did go straight to the falls and we did indeed get soaked.

Then we found more water and got soaked again. Because why not? (Oh yeah, and it was 95 degrees outside)

Within the first week of our trip, we saw Iguazu Falls and couldn’t help but feel like nothing else would ever be able to top it.

Update: While I had good intentions of posting more photos from the trip, my awesome husband created a video which seems to cover it.

There are people who play music and then there are musicians. People who are so wrapped up in the emotion and struggle and hopes life can bring that they have no choice but to share those with you through music.

I’ve met a lot of both. I’ve probably seen more than my fair share of shows and at this point, it takes quite a bit to move me. Last night, Glen Hansard managed to make it to the list of tops. Not every musician can play in a way that’s both playful and sincere, harsh yet gentle. But I walked away full of respect for him and his music.

He has a way of making you feel like he has a genuine relationship with everyone on stage (including a section of strings and horns) but also that you as an audience member matter, too. He doesn’t say it out loud or even overtly hint at it. He just does.

Both the hubby and I left inspired. Reminded that music matters. Storytelling can reveal truths and feelings far beneath the surface. Creativity encourages more creativity. Engagement transcends isolation.

He ended the show with an Irish folk song and asked everyone in the audience to sing along as we repeated the chorus in between verses. Members of the crew were invited leave their sound boards and designated spots on stage to each come and sing a verse. The notes weren’t all perfect and it didn’t always make sense, but that’s not what music is about. It’s not what life is about. We all got to sing along to be a part of something simple, something bigger than ourselves and it was hauntingly beautiful all on its own.