Italy, Colombia and Spain | Weekend-Engagement 293

Happy weekend everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I'm very excited about one of the topics Galenkp suggested for the Weekend Engagement challenge. Today I'll be sharing three photos I took with my phone, and why they're so important to me... I've been fortunate enough to travel outside my country three times in the last two years, and for a 37-year-old man who had never crossed its borders before, it has been a very rewarding experience.

As you can see in the first photograph, which I've used as the main image for this post, it's a world-famous work of art. That painting is called The Last Judgment and was created by Michelangelo. It's on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined I would set foot in such an important place for followers of the Catholic faith, and although taking photographs is prohibited here, I nervously dared to take out my phone and secretly capture a few images.

Although the picture didn't turn out perfectly centered because I was nervous about being caught, the one I shared above was the best, and I took it with great affection to send to my mom in Venezuela, who was even more excited than I was to visit this place where the cardinals gather to elect the Pope. Between you and me, the sheer number of tourists detracts a bit from the sanctity of the place; there are so many people and it's quite noisy, so to keep from getting overwhelmed, I focused on viewing it as part of the Vatican Museums and appreciating the chapel's frescoes that adorn every corner of the building.

I took this second photograph in Colombia, and it's of a statue of Simón Bolívar, the liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Bolivia. Thanks to him, all these South American nations gained their independence from the Spanish empire in the 19th century. Our trip to Colombia was very eventful, because we left just four days after the electoral fraud that triggered the recent explosive events in Caracas three weeks ago. It was very striking for me to visit another country and see the importance they place on this man, while our own democracy had just been dealt a blow. I took many pictures with my phone during that trip, but I didn't share them, because while we were making music in Medellín, the protests and repression continued unabated in Venezuela.

The location where this statue was situated is beautiful, and the photograph turned out great and impressive. I was waiting for a good opportunity to share it here on Hive; it may be just one photo, but there's so much I needed to say that I kept silent about at the time... Now, to finish this challenge of sharing three photos from my phone, I want to conclude with an image from Spain, the first country I visited after my first experience flying on an airplane.

All my life I've been in love with the beauty of tulips, and I've always said they were my favorite flower, but it turned out I had never actually seen a tulip in my 35 years of life at that time. We were starting our second week of a concert tour in Spain, and it was near the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral that, while I was walking, a planter full of tulips suddenly appeared.

It was very, very impressive for me. It might sound silly to others, but it was like a dream and something I never thought would happen during my time in Spain. You should know that it's not that easy to get tulips, as they have to be imported and require very special care. My country has a tropical climate, and I had only ever seen artificial tulips, and we often decorate with them at home... I don't think my classmates ever understood why I was so impressed. I didn't think they would just have them planted where everyone walks by; honestly, in my country, if there are beautiful roses on the streets, most people pick them, so it was a bit of a culture shock too, because my first impression of Europe was how civilized everything was.

@galenkp, I really enjoyed this topic, thank you for choosing it. I always enjoy the challenge whenever I participate, but some are more memorable than others for me. Thank you to everyone who reads and supports my posts; I hope you enjoyed this post as well, and I remind you that you can still join this challenge, we still have all of Sunday! 😍 My best wishes to you! 🙏