Opera in the Italian Cultural Garden with The Cleveland Opera & Cleveland Ballet

 Dedicated in 1930 as "a symbol of the contribution of Italian culture," the Italian Cultural Garden hosted opera concerts in the 1930's and 1940's.

In 2008, Joyce Mariani led the effort to revive the concerts for the public and to showcase two of Italy's highest at forms: opera and ballet.

The annual Opera in the Italian Cultural Garden was held on Sunday July 24, 2022 and featured The Cleveland Opera and the Cleveland Ballet. The volunteer crew at the Garden included Matt Silvaggio, Robert Lippucci, Chuck Giomuso, Mike Spena, Tom Antonello, Tom Berardinelli, Brittany Giomuso Kroboth, Susan Varga, Laura DeCesare, Cori Lupton, Mary Anne Baucco, Connie Adams, Barbara Walker.

See photos and videos from the Opera/Ballet

One of the fun parts of the Opera is the people watching. See a full page of people at the opera. Who do you recognize?

Japanese Obon Festival

Obon is an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one's ancestors. It is believed that each year during Obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives. It is a major holiday in Japan.

The annual Obon Festival was held on Sunday July 17, 2022 at the Cleveland Buddhist Temple.

The Sho-Jo-Ji Japanese dancers showed the audience how to perform many different traditional Japanese dances and the audience danced along with them.

The Yume Daiko taiko drummers also performed. 

See photos and videos of the Obon Festival

Cleveland Tall Ships Festival

 Cleveland Tall Ships Festival returned to Lake Erie for a 4-day maritime celebration.

Serving as the second host port of the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Great Lakes 2022 race series, Cleveland was honored to welcome a fleet of historic tall ships from harbors through the United States, Canada and Spain.

Nao Trinidad Tall Ship from Huelva Spain

Sparred Length: 93', Rig Height: 80'

Watch this short video of a few characters from the Tall Ships grounds including Ginger Whimsy, Buccaneer Bob from Put in Bay and others. We also take a quick look at a ship from Seville Spain and the Pride of Baltimore II Clipper Ship.

     

In addition, Cleveland maritime attractions were a part of the 2022 festival.

Photos and videos from the Tall Ships Festival

Jovan Ducic Bust Dedication in the Serbian Cultural Garden

The Serbian Cultural Garden in Cleveland continues to grow. A new bust of Jovan Ducic was dedicated on Sunday July 10th in the Serbian Cultural Garden.

Jovan Ducic (1871 - 1943) was a renowned Serbian poet, academic, diplomat and patriot. He served as Yugoslavia's Ambassador to multiple countries about which he wrote in his poems and travelogues. Following the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941 Ducic went into exile in the US where he led the Serbian National Defense Council fighting for the interests of the Serbian diaspora.

A blessing and dedication was held Sunday July 10, 2022.

See photos and videos of the Jovan Ducic Bust Dedication

Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization Picnic

 The Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization (CAMEO) has been in existence for 52 years. C.A.M.E.O. is designed to articulate the political interest of more than 275,000 Northeastern Ohio residents of Middle Eastern Heritage, Arab Americans.

Photos and video from the CAMEO picnic

Bastille Day Celebration at the Tall Ships Festival

 As Larry Miller, President, French-American Chamber Commerce (Ohio) said, it was fortunate that the Tall Ships Festival took place in between the 4th of July and Bastille Day celebrations. Not to mention during early stages of the Tour de France.

Yannick Tagand, who was appointed Consul General of France in Chicago in September 2021 with jurisdiction for thirteen States, visited Cleveland for the celebration and to honor Cédric Le Rouge as the new Honorary Consul.

Cédric Le Rouge, Yannick Tagand and Larry Miller

See photos and videos of the French celebration

Tour de France

 I admit that I knew very little about the Tour de France outside of hearing names like Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong and about the yellow jersey.

But while flipping through TV channels my sister and I saw some of the race and became hooked. 

The peloton is particularly intriguing with the large group of riders mere inches from each other and the strategies for drafting and more.  There are also meaningful green, white and polka dot jerseys.

The 2022 Tour de France began on July 1 with the Grand Départ in Denmark and ends July 24 in Paris. 

Watch the special episode of Fun with Maps about the Tour de France.

See more Fun with Maps episodes

Fun with Maps - Macau

 In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson discusses a Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) of the People's Republic of China called Macau.

 Macau is known as the "Las Vegas of the East", and some call it the gaming capital of the world.  It has a gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas.  

The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and with a population of about 680,000 and an area of just 12.7 sq. miles, it is also the most densely populated region in the world. 

This episode covers the history of the Portuguese settlement of Macau by Jorge Álvares to the transfer to China on December 20, 1999 after 442 years of Portuguese rule.  

This episode looks at maps of the region around Macau including Hong Kong, the Pearl River Estuary and Delta and Guangdong Province and Guangzhou which you may know as Canton. 

If you like learning about the world and its people by studying maps, consider subscribing to this series.  See more Fun with Maps episodes