So what do Peter Greenberg & Criss Angel have in common?

Let’s start with what a hectic day it was yesterday, September the 20th. Not only the day went by magically as if only seconds have passed by, but was so full of news and exciting happenings!!

First of all I find out that my darling beau CRISS ANGEL the ‘Mindfreak’ illusionist just engaged to Sandra her 21 y.o. girlfriend for four years’ in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Was a bit disappointed at first, for on one of my few but wild dreams, is I’d meet him and eventually you know give place to a possibility of falling in love, hey as an illusionist he is, I imagine it would be the ultimate rush to fall in love for a man like him, and bring to the relationship all kinds of trickery and have it be filled with all sorts of surprises, but guess now we would never know the type of fun it would be to marry me… Oh well.

Anyways that who broke the news to us was Vegas DeLuxe journalist Robin Leach and he walked us trough the proposal soirée that actually took place at The One and Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, he writes “It started just as a romantic sunset dinner on the beach close to the crashing waves. They walked along rose petals that had been scattered on the sand to an intimate table for two with a guitarist playing a discreet distance away. They stayed barefoot when they got to the table he’d arranged surrounded by a circle of flaming torches… At the beginning, it just looked like a romantic holiday dinner, but at dessert there were two hearts made from chocolate and cookies, and that’s where he’d hidden the ring to surprise her.” Gee, as you can see true romance is not only for common people like you and I and celebrities or not we can all feel the love well deep inside our hearts, particularly while enjoying the nice warm breeze, watching the sunset, zipping some fine wine  on any of Mexican beaches, made with love perfect for romance. I know love is expressed easier while in Mexico .

About the love, a really sweet ‘thing’ they did as soon as the couple celebrate their engagement -and that which Sandra insisted on- was paying a visit to a local orphanage there, which looks after 30 children, so they did and with all the trimmings, that is, the recently engaged couple trekked to a store and they loaded up minivans and four flatbed trucks with food and toiletries to give to the Casa Hogar orphans in Baja, and that ladies & gentleman is what I call being happy, thankful and caring, a great way to kick start a new stage on their lives. Oh yeah!.

Anyways, back to our initial ‘thing’ here, who I did met about to be 4 years ago was Peter Greenberg at a travel & Tourism even t in Mexico City, where I participated representing the State of Yucatan, where I used t olive then. Well, Greenberg happens to be Travel Editor for CBS News, and appears on The Early Show, CBS Evening News, and across many CBS broadcast platforms

And after having run into each other a few times before, and particularly in the past year while at the Mexico Tourism Board, yesterday let me tell you was a very special occasion, not only we met we greet, but along came the president, oh yes, I did I mentioned Peter, sort of ‘joint-ad-ventured’ with Mexico President Felipe Calderon into Greenberg’s latest “Royal Tour”.  Yesterday begin a very special day a very VIP list was invited to New York’s Guggenheim Museum to attend the private launch of MEXICO: THE ROYAL TOUR.

This “Royal Tour” which is to air on PBS’s network on Thursday September 22^nd, 2011, and which is intended to  have producer and host Peter Greenberg, showcasing Mexico in a way ‘no visitor has ever seen the country before’ and yes, that is correct, for this time the show will be hosted and guided by no less than the same President of Mexico, a tour that couldn’t have been more personal, the President even took Greenberg to meet his family –and we mean mom, brothers and sisters- at this hometown in Morelia, Michoacan, they sat down for coffee at their living room and chatted, nothing like this I’ve seen before when it comes to featuring a president’s life on this what’s like a sneak peek into a very special family vacation, so I guess he will eventually face a lot of criticism, but then again, that always happens, and since now is the time to focus on what it’s important, so they did, and the well portrayed some of the Mexico -my home country- really is, and in this case what a better example of hospitality, a heartfelt— through the eyes of its leader.

Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism Secretaria Gloria Guevara hosted along with COO of Mexico Tourism Board Rodolfo Lopez Negrete welcomed everyone to witness the truthfulness & quality of the show we had among the VIP guest list the first lady Margarita Zavala; Mexico’s Ambassador in USA, Consul General of Mexico in NY, Ambassador of Mexico and UN representative, Mexico’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, joined by State Governors of Chiapas & Quintana Roo, Mexico, among other public affairs & tourism personalities. Truly outstanding was the attendance of Emilio Azcarraga for example who’s President of Televisa Group (largest TV network in Mexico), Juan Beckham, Casa Cuervo’s President (Largest Tequila company in the world), Kirk Kinsell, Intercontinental Hotels Group President, Matthew Upchurch, Virtuoso, John De Nhysschen, President for AUDI, Edward Bastian, Delta Airlines President David Scowsill, President & CEO of  WTTC, Neal Shapiro PBS / WNET President, Catherine Greteman, CEO for NTA, Sam Gilliland CEO of Sabre Holdings, Terry Dale President USTOA, etc. Here the list’s has got to stop since there were almost 300 handpicked guests on this very impressive list to tough to name all. Amazing experience was to be surrounded by some of Mexico’s fan with most influence on the world of travel & tourism.

So, in this trip that PBS and Peter are taking us in, led by President Calderón we have access to extraordinary locations, landmarks and amazing cultural immersions. In one hour, we will see a 5 day packed experience starting in Los Pinos (the Mexican White House), then Morelia in Michoacán, with a  top at the “Santuario de las Mariposas” (butterflies’ sanctuary) regal home to Monarch butterflies, out again to explore the legendary ruins of lost civilizations, seek out their descendants and find the ancient mysteries these sites have hidden for generations in Palenque & magical Chiapas. From soaring across the skies in a hot air balloon for a bird’s-eye view of Teotihuacan, to whale watching in Baja California, to rappelling stories into a seemingly bottomless pit, the world’s foremost travel journalist uncovers the essence of this captivating and complex nation with the President as his guide. Did we mention also, the visit to great Chichen Itza? or Calakmul in Campeche? Better be prepared, this isn’t for the beach, book & lounge traveler, but the world traveler… They say it is “this is the real Mexico of The Royal Tour”. You want to find out for yourself what is this all buzz about?

Ah, so the question was: what do Peter Greenberg and Criss Angel have in have in common? Well, one response would be: one does magic and another one takes us into close to magical places, one an illusionist and another one as a travel journalist, but hey isn’t; it obvious!?… They all LOVE MEXICO! And they both made my day yesterday, September 21st. Oh yeah! 

 

There you go.

Until next, just love.

 

Carmen

 

Photos: by Robert Landau , SolCaboFotexMX/TVT & Carmen Laborin.