Una specie di riassunto

Hello everybody! I'm happy the blog hasn't completely died in these past few months. My intense activity of job applications and finishing up with my projects is still going on at its peak. However, I have at this point a strong desire of writing about something other than chemistry for once.
The title of this post is rather ambitious: 'an attempt of a summary', which obviously won't include all the *** no adjective here *** events of my recent life, but at least will give a few snapshots of the good parts of it.. because in the end, that's what's worth trying to remember, right?

So here we are. The first thing really worth writing about is my trip to Mexico. Mexico is an amazing place and I'm thinking to write a post specifically about it. However, this is a summary-post, so I'll just pinpoint a few things.
Mexico city: crowded, full of life.
(this dance was performed in the main square - El Zocalo -. The square and all the huge surrounding area was filled with people).

European-looking architecture mixed with skyscrapers.

Wonderful food at every corner.
(here are some typical stands: tortas=mexican sandwiches, and aguas frescas are the best fruit juices ever. I tried to resist the temptation at the beginning, then started to try them after a while - I didn't die, so I guess there weren't too many bacteria in the ice that they used. :) )

Best archeological museum in the world.
(Melynda and I spent an afternoon in this museum, and were overwhelmed with awe at each room)

Filled with spirituality
(this was in the Cathedral)

Close to Teotihuacan, the most amazing place ever. This is a view of the pyramid of the Moon from the top of the pyramid of the Sun.
And these are the people climbing on top of the pyramid of the Sun.
It was rather tiring, but getting on the top was an unbelievable experience, which made me feel strangely powerful and close to the Sun. :)

Tulum: AAAHHHH.. I so much want to go back and be there now! The place is the most amazing place I've been in my whole life. We had a 'cabana' on the beach, which meant that I could enjoy this any time of the day and of the night:
In fact, I could fulfill my dream of swimming in the ocean at midnight, and of seeing the sunrise on the ocean.
Both experiences - the stars in the sky and the white foam as the only thing visible around you, at night, and the sun slowly lighting the whole sky on fire, in the morning - were the most unforgettable experiences of the trip, for me.

The other amazing thing of Tulum are the ruins, which we saw at night. Another unbelievable experience: everything was dark and silent, except for the waves hitting against the rocks, and we were immersed in this city of the past, lit with changing colors.
It was truly another experience for the soul.

Two more things were amazing of Tulum: snorkeling at the reef, where we were able to swim with a sea turtle, an amazingly elegant creature, and see wonderfully colored fish, which I had seen only in aquariums before; and swimming in the 'cenotes', natural caves formed by the rain in the carsic terrain of the Yucatan. The water is rather cold, and the landscape is surreal: a castle of stalactites and stalagmites under the water.
(this was part of the complex 'Dos Ojos', highly recommended)

More in the Yucatan: Chichen-Itza. Impressive. Although, a little too touristic. I couldn't feel the same atmosphere as in Teotihuacan, for the huge amount of tourists and vendors that were all around.
However, the big pyramid was amazing. Clapping against the center of each wall create a really strange echo, which I never heard anywhere else, sort of like a bird.

The last memories from the trip are the wonderful people I was with:
My dearest friends Jorge and Luisa, who hosted us in the Yucatan (in Merida)
And of course, my wonderful friend Melynda (here in the 'blue house' in Mexico City).

There are a lot more places I visited in these past few months, for a shorter time (day trips, or weekends), which I would have liked to post about. So again, just one picture per trip:

Point Reyes
Point Reyes is a _huge_ park very close to Berkeley. I really recommend anybody in the area to go there. I've been there only once and really want to go back. This was the ocean view path, in the south side of the park. You can walk miles, close to the ocean. The view is breath taking. And there are small lakes, where one can go swim or canoe, and small waterfalls on the beach, too.

Visit at my friends Simona and Robert, in Trinidad.
Trinidad is in North California, very close to National Redwood Park. Simona and Robert have an amazing house, with a view on the ocean that's just unimaginable. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it. It's even more beautiful than this, which is the view that you have from the light house at Trinidad:
And this is a picture of the redwoods, on my first hike with Simona:
It's hard to capture the atmosphere of this amazing park in a picture.
Last picture for this summary:
I had never seen these beautiful animals before, in 'real life'!

Ok, this is it for now. I still have to show a picture of myself with my newest and shortest haircut. I'll do it as soon as I have a good occasion to take a picture. :)
Also, I'll try to upload all the pictures of the trips on my web album, so there will be a lot more to see. Last but not least, I will try to publish at least some of my recent culinary creations and explorations.. looking forward to finding some time to blog again. :)