A NOTION THIS WEEK...WABI SABI

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Love/Hate…

Perhaps not the most tactically clever lead-in to a post referencing next year’s ‘The Architecture of Japan’.  Non-tactical but true.  I have a love-hate kind of thing going on with Japan or more exactly with Japanese objects of beauty.  That much intentional beauty is thrilling on an almost physical level. On the other hand, I can get antsy around so much restrained gorgeousness.  

Bonsai make for a convenient example here. I saw my first bonsai on a family trip to California during the now long ago ‘68 summer of love. Seeing them honestly made me feel like some kind of new door had opened up in me.  Not just a new-to-me pretty thing but a whole new way of being beautiful.

They also seemed in their own way simple.  Plant. Pot. Dirt. This magic might be replicable even by a particularly impulsive twelve-year-old. At the time my attention span would probably have had a hard time safely sustaining a daisy over the course of a season. Bonsai age is, of course, measured not in seasons or even years but in decades. Not surprisingly my first attempts--ultimately my only attempts--at creating bonsai--ended soon and badly. Not just with dead trees but ones that had all the hallmarks of torture.

Honestly, to my adult self all bonsai have at least a hint of torture.  Can’t a poor tree be left alone to grow as it will? No wires. No clipped roots. No twisted limbs. If you want the pleasures of a wind-swept tree can you please just go outside?  And yet…and yet…they are so beautiful. 

The uncomfortable truth is the lure remains as strong as ever. Because they always have this thing. This very Japanese thing of wabi sabi. Loosely translated wabi means ‘austere beauty’ while sabi means ‘with the ‘patina of age’.  And I am and always will be a sucker for wabi sabi of all sorts and in all places.

I think the tension I feel is partly personal.  The impulsive twelve-year-old still walks these inner halls drawn to the beauty while incensed by such complete order. I suspect it is also cultural.  I am an American through and through.  Surely a kind of knock-about exuberance courses through our collective cultural veins. A ‘let’s stir things up and see what happens next’ impulse that if not always serving well then certainly tending towards the lively.

Ironic it may be but in the end I can think of no better reason to visit Japan. To get to know its beauty more thoroughly.  To increase my tolerance for its profound aesthetic perfection.  To be an American who has seen some things beyond her shores and returned home with a larger sense of the ways of this world. 

A CITY A WEEK...GDANSK, POLAND

The Baltic.  What do we know about the Baltic? There are the Baltic States—Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia but these are not the only Baltic states. These are not the sum total of the nations that touch this vast almost-inland sea. Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Sweden as well as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Nine countries in all range around this great round bowl of sea. Long before there existed consistent and fixed lines around nations there was this sea.  Commerce and connections formed across a sea rather than within national boundaries. As a result, Gdansk, Stockholm and Hamburg developed to have more in common with one another than with cities within their respective modern-day countries.  After all, countries—however frantically we may assert their there-ness—are an invention.  We drew the lines that make them. On paper. But the sea made these relationships. And this is the key to appreciating Gdansk, a Baltic city as much as a Polish one.  A city that has always lived through its sea.  Boatyards with eight centuries of continuous history. A historic core with an architecture all its own.  And a strategic location that has often made it the pivot upon which hinged great historic events. World War II began here.  Polish Communism ended here.    

Rebuilt in the decades since the devastation of WWII,  it’s once again a gorgeous city.  And it’s an absolute delight to visit. That rebuilt historic core is dazzling. So there is that. But there are also two standout museums—The Solidarity Museum-–more properly known as The European Solidarity Centre—and The Museum of Second World War. These museums, opened in 2007 and 2017 respectively, are unmatched in the skill with which they bring to life a vigorous sense of history as lived experience.  On recent visits, I was struck by how vividly they both tell what I had presupposed to be pretty well-worn narratives. I found this particularly surprising at The Solidarity Museum. I thought I knew this one—it was about a labor strike. An undeniably pivotal labor strike but surely the retelling would be pretty thin gruel. How wrong I was! The story is the story of a decades-long struggle for dignity and self-determination.  Very well told. It just doesn’t get more gripping than that.  

So go to Gdansk either with us—we’re there in June 2020 and click here for the full itinerary—or on your own. It’s fascinating, beautiful and full of surprises. 

A GARDEN THIS WEEK...GARNISH ISLAND, IRELAND

Dreaming. That’s what I keep coming up with. That the west coast of Ireland has a dream-like quality that is not connected to its beauty. Not solely to its beauty. Drive along one of its peninsulas and it’s easy to see visual parallels to, say, California’s Pacific Coast Highway. A horizon overly filled with sea. Sunlight that seems somehow parallel with the horizon. Like it is in your eyes all of the time, making you stupid with the glare and with a beauty you can never finish fully focusing on. It’s breathtaking and occasionally terrifying. But the Pacific Coast Highway has never made me think of mermaids. Really no place does that but this place. It’s always the same. This sense of a charmed landscape.

So much beauty naturally means there are gardeners. Smitten gardeners. Besotted gardeners. Gardeners who have abandoned all else in pursuit of the beauty in this place. And, in fact, all of the above is really just by way of background, offered to allow for the proper introduction of one particular garden, Garnish Island.

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A century after its completion, this Edenic landscape idles away its days in a temperate micro-climate created by its proximity to the Atlantic Gulf Stream combined with its sheltered position in Bantry Bay. Thirty-seven acres of island surrounded by sea, the gardens were developed in the first decades of the 20th century by British architect and landscape designer Harold Peto at the behest of Belfast native Annam Bryce and his family. Garnish Island—or Illnacullin as it is also known--is the perfect blend of Italianate gardens, architectural follies and natural beauty. This exquisite formality within an equally exquisite unstructured wildness makes it the very definition of a what is compellingly known as a ‘captured landscape’, a great phrase, that.

I first saw this garden thirty years ago. In the intervening years, the garden’s name and many of its particulars had fallen away and it simply became a memory of myth-like island somewhere off the wild west coast of Ireland. And so it was with special delight to recently come across Garnish Island again. This time on a list of must-see Irish gardens. No surprise there. It has most definitely made the cut for our upcoming The Gardens of The Irish Landscape. We spend a good half day there immersed in dreams of Eden. I hope you will consider joining us. Trust me when I say there is no other place in this wide world like it.

A PLACE A WEEK...CRANBROOK

How to capture the sense of a place that one has never visited? It’s nearly impossible and yet, of course, we try with the only tool ever to available to us--our existing knowledge of the world. We make the places we have not experienced fit into the places that we have; make what we don’t know fit into to what we already know. 

No matter how fantastical and fine my notion of a place may be there is often a real if muted shock once I am actually there.  Fantastical and fine, yes, but rarely in the way I had imagined—or in a way I could have imagined having never been there before. Each place is, in fact, not a simply some dot on a carefully drawn map but a whole new way of experiencing the world.

Even so I persist in creating an anticipatory notion of a place which usually runs along the lines of ‘this place will be a lot like that place with some of that other place thrown in…’

…that is until now.  Now I seem to have met my match in Cranbrook. I cannot quite get it to fit into one unified whole, one imagined place. Is it a school?  Well, yes, it is a renowned graduate school for studio art, craft, architecture and design.  But it is also a boarding school for boys.  And it’s a boarding school for girls. (Thankfully that at least has a semi-separate name—Cranbrook Kingswood).  Cranbrook is a world-renowned art museum.  But then again the name can also refer to one or to both of two house museums, an early 20th century grand manor house and a 1950’s modernist’s dream.  For some Cranbrook may denote an important botanical garden.  Cranbrook is the proud and visionary legacy of the Booth Family, publishers of the Detroit Free Press.  On the other hand, Cranbrook will be forever considered the proudest achievement of architect and educator Eliel Saarinen.  Forever linked with the Arts and Crafts Movement while at the same time forever linked with Mid-Century Modern design.  See what I mean?  I simply can’t get all of this to fit into one fixed notion. The more I learn the less able I am to make all of the pieces come together.  Despite my best efforts Cranbrook resists being contained in one pre-visit picture...  

There are some places in this world that have no parallels.  Cranbrook seems to be one of one of them…

That is why I am particularly pleased about our upcoming visit to Cranbrook, offered as an optional excursion following our early June trip to Detroit. At long last I will experience this glorious place firsthand.

Click here for our full ‘Detroit Pop Up’ itinerary including information on our excursion to Cranbrook, one of two optional day trips.

By the way, the complexity that is Cranbrook is well-reflected in the recent obituary of one of its renowned alumnae. Frances Knoll Bassett died earlier this month at age 101.  An extraordinary life of achievements shaped by her early experiences at Cranbrook. 

A CITY A WEEK...CHIPPING CAMPDEN

What is it that can make evidence of age so elegantly appealing? I don’t exactly what accounts for this powerful allure but I had a ready reminder of it just this past week when I got to the second or third book down on my happy Christmas pile.  The book in question is Bitter Orange, a novel that I have to admit was a bit of slow starter, at least to me. ‘Dark’ and ‘simmering’ said the reviews and the opening pages gave no anchoring clues as to where we would head.  What was this all about? But then it happened—the pace did not immediately quicken but my pulse surely did when we were introduced to the location for much of the action. The book concerns a house.  Not just any house but an English house. An English country house. And all of it, ever window, wall and cornice, covered over in the rich and lustrous patina of age. The new parts of the house were built in the early 19th century.  There are, not one, but two follies. The bridge over the lake in the park might be Palladian and the orangery most definitely is magnificent.  Oh my. I was and remain in heaven as I now barrel through what has turned into a gripping tale, along with its continued doses of delightful house-focused detail.  

 …but what of Chipping Campden? If you have been to this most charming of Cotswold villages then you may already know the answer. The rich and lustrous patina of age. Chipping Campden positively lives in its honeyed glow. A patina made all the more compelling by the local building material of soft Cotswold stone.  As the centuries roll by, the stone’s mellow tone remains but its  lines and edges soften.  And there have been many, many centuries for Chipping Campden. The original portions of St James Church, one of England’s great medieval ‘wool churches’, date from 1260. Perhaps the town’s most iconic building, Market Hall, was built in 1627. And what of the magnificent if mysterious ‘pepper pot’ structures, adjacent to St James and pictured above?  These were once the lodge gates for the manor house of Sir Baptist Hicks, Chipping Campden’s great 17th century merchant and patron.  The house itself is long gone…and in this case, I mean very long gone, having been burned to the ground during the English Civil War.  

What I like most, though, about Chipping Campden is what I always like most—an ancient place with plenty of life left in her yet.  According to the website Cotswold Info ‘Chipping Campden is quite simply one of the finest towns in the Cotswolds—well-preserved and full of history, but also full of life and bustle’ (The italics are mine).

And it‘s true. When I was there in mid-December, well out of tourist season, there was evidence of the lively local life all around me.  School boys in uniform on their way to school; a crowded pub at lunch and yes dare I say it—excellent shopping opportunities.  I was particularly taken with the charming Sam Wilson, a shop selling mostly—though exclusively—design goods from this eponymous British graphic artist—who also happens to live just down the road from the center of town. 

Chipping Campden is on our itinerary for our September The Architecture of England trip, done in partnership with Preservation Greensboro.  I hope you will consider coming along with us so you can see for yourself--Chipping Campden is a great town and in my book one of the all-time great examples of the allure of elegant age…

A CITY A WEEK...ZAKOPANE

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I have to admit to being on a Polish kick. In fact, I write from Poland where I have come to review plans for our upcoming May 2019 trip. A hunch that Poland might defy all expectations is proving to be spot on—and in all the most wonderful ways.

In the coming weeks, I look forward to posting on the individual cities on our itinerary—Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk—but I want to start with a smaller, more out of the way spot—Zakopane, a beautiful mountain village two hours from Krakow that was suggested to me by a local Krakovian. I’m not sure why—Krakow is rich in day-trip options—but I suddenly felt an urgent need to go to Zakopane—and so I happily did.

The village is in the Tatras region of the Carpathian Mountains. The Tatras are a vast wilderness area, beloved by Poles in much the same way as the Black Forest is by Germans—and Zakopane is this region’s unofficial capital. Since the fall of Communism there has been the inevitable commercial development which seems to be the fate of many attractive spots. The town center is now full of tony shops, restaurants and other amenities but its essential soul is still there and this is a soul based solidly in its Goral—or highlander—heritage. The most well known expression of this heritage is the ‘Zakopanian Style’ of architecture, though in truth this is a relatively recent phenomenon. Much like the Arts and Crafts Movements elsewhere, this style grew out of a desire in the early 20th century to marry the local and indigenous with concepts of then contemporary design. The resulting buildings seen throughout Zakopane are charming in the extreme. Much is made these days of the Danish concept of ‘hygge’, beautifully executed expressions of coziness. I would say in Zakopane I found this concept practiced at its highest level. It made me want to stay on. Settle in. Get ready for the holidays and wait for the next snow.

A CITY A WEEK...LORETO, MEXICO

I have a special affection for Mexico, one that only grows over time as I discover more and more destinations that have that unique combination of soulfulness, joy and profound sense of place. This is especially true of Loreto, this little hidden gem of a town, really not much more than a village on the Sea of Cortez in Baja, California. We were there last February—and will be going again this next February—to help mighty whale warrior Michael Fishbach count blue whales. This is something Michael does every year and you too can join him on one of his week long, small group, working adventures. Click here for more on Michael and his mission.

But it surely will come as no surprise to hear that I just can never pass up a good chance for a look-see around a new town so one day I took a break from the sea to stay on shore and explore. To have it’s attractions enumerated click here for a '13 reasons why’ post on Loreto’s charms and activities.

I’ll just say that what I loved about Loreto was it’s sense of completeness, perched as it is on this watery edge of the world. The local economy is solidly based on fishing in the vast Sea of Cortez and this gives the town an air of self-sufficiency, of having enough of what it takes to make it a nice place to live for its 18,000 citizens. I loved it and I loved the Sea of Cortez. Truly one of the great places of magic in this world. As is so often thee case, the pictures can take it from here—and say it far better than I ever could…

A CITY A WEEK...CHOBIELIN...

…and a few other this and that’s…

This busy week before Thanksgiving is a time of easy distractions—at least for me and I suspect for many another American. Family’s coming, the house needs to be ready and the menu not so much finalized as whittled down. (This year there seems to be a particular obsession with pies. I have seen so many ‘must-do’ recipes for pies just in the last week that I already feel like I have eaten one too many. What a happy problem. Too many pies...)

And so this week of easy distraction, I offer more of ‘small plate’ approach—a few things I want to make sure to mention, beginning with Chobielin.

Chobielin, a mystery destination if ever there was one, that is unless like me you have just finished 'Radek Sikorski’s Full Circle, A Homecoming To Free Poland. Chobielin is both a tiny dot of a village and the name of its manor house. Sikorski and his family spend the 1990’s, the first post-Communist decade for Poland, restoring this gracious country house, a restoration focused on warmth and rightness, on making the ruined and centuries-old house a home again. It’s a fascinating tale that in the end is not so much about the house itself but the history that has washed around it for its many centuries. It’s a gripping read, one that brings the necessary granularity to each epoch without ever devolving into a mere history lesson. A rare feat especially when one considers the epic sweep of Poland’s story. I finally feel like I begin to have context for that which has been eluding me for quite some time now—Polish history’s ‘big picture’ and how that has shaped its culture. I highly recommend the book to those who will be traveling with us to Poland next year. I also highly recommend it to those who will staying home. It’s just a good book and history lover’s dream.

Another and I think terrific ‘that’…we’ve added an ‘Option #2’ to our Detroit Pop Up Trip: an excursion to Cranbrook House, Garden and Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. Click here for a bit more info.

Next up--there are a few more spots left on The Architecture of England—and I’d like to include a special shout to our new friends in this adventure The Beaufort Historical Association.

And finally if you need one more reason to consider our summer trip to Scandinavia, check out NYT’s 36 Hours in Oslo from November 1. We’ll be there a bit longer and in all honesty, we’ll be going a bit deeper—but it’s still a fun read. And come on—a floating sauna? How cool is that? 

Happy reading and all the best for a very happy T-day! AT

A CITY A WEEK...PHILADELPHIA

This one’s just for fun—a reminder of the joy of the unexpected.

I love Philadelphia to bits. I’ve lived there, led numerous trips there, have a child who lives there. I even married a Philly boy. For me it is truly my ‘2nd city’, the one I know almost as well as I know home. Even so and like any dynamic place, there are just always new and wonderful things to be experienced.

In October. on a flying visit to Philadelphia, I finally made time to visit Magic Gardens. It’s not new, not out of the way—in fact, not in anyway inaccessible. I’d just never happened to have been to this multi-decade, mosaic-crazy wonderment—and I’m so glad to say I finally have! It’s an absolute, positive dazzler.

So next time you’re in Philly you should go—and if you do then you may want to buy your tickets in advance. They tend to book up early. I may be late to the Magic Gardens party but the rest of world seems to have long known that it’s a very special place.

Oh and while you’re exploring you may also want to make time to visit another amazing spot in Philly. This one is in Fairmount Park—Shofuso, a traditional Japanese tea house and garden. It’s gorgeous, simply gorgeous. Profoundly sublime to precisely the same measure as Magic Gardens’ over the top exuberance. My guess is that you’re going to love both of these not so hidden treasures in the marvelous/topsy turvy/raucous/stately City of Brotherly Love where the list of things to see and do never seems to end.

A CITY A WEEK...DETROIT

Anywhere.  Any time.

That about sums up the way I feel.  

If Benjamin Briggs, director of Preservation Greensboro, recommends a spot, then by golly we’re going! 

Benjamin and I have partnered on quite a number of trips at this point--seven, I believe by last count—and even though we already have a trip on for next year,  we’ve added a second. We just couldn’t seem to stop ourselves.

 Benjamin recently visited Detroit and absolutely, positively could not stop raving about this unexpected delight of a city hence what we like to call one of our ‘pop up’ trips--a quick in and out weekend deep dive to this great Phoenix of city.

Between Benjamin’s excellent advance work and his equally excellent contacts we think we’ve pulled together a terrific introduction to the Motor City, one that showcases the city’s glorious story through its many decades. Detroit-based Christman, the restoration group behind Greensboro’s Cascade Saloon as well as Hemingway’s Cuban retreat, Finca Vigia, and such closer home projects as the Fisher Building, the Michigan Central Railway Depot and Fair Lane, the Henry Ford Estate, are excited about our visit, so much so they have signed on to help by opening doors and making contacts to ensure a truly exceptional, one of kind tour.

So I ask you—what are you waiting for?

Click this link for the Detroit Pop Up itinerary.  

Click this link for the itinerary of the Architecture of England trip next September.

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…and read on for a few words from Benjamin on as he puts it  ‘The Motown Lowdown’…

Perhaps you heard that Detroit has begun a remarkable rebound, but you can’t fully understand the scope and scale of revitalization efforts in the Motor City…unless you visit!

For a generation, Detroit has been the tagline for commentary on the ills of urban America. As cities like New York, Cleveland, and Buffalo have achieved revitalization their city centers, Detroit seemed left behind…until now. Within sixteen months of emerging from the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy, partnerships between city and state government, business leaders, and the city's philanthropic community have led a massive community re-investment including the construction of an iconic 912-foot tall mixed use development, new developments to attract Millennial urban dwellers, and the recently announced Ford Motor Company rehabilitation of the abandoned Michigan Central Station. Detroit is experiencing a remarkable revitalization that you should see for yourself!

                                     BB November 2018

A CITY A WEEK...LOS ANGELES

WE’RE GOING!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ITINERARY.

Read on to hear more about LA and why our very special partner, Weatherspoon Art Museum, means this trip will not just be any trip to LA but an art-filled full-emersion experience .

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I have special fondness for trips done in partnership with UNCG’s Weatherspoon Art Museum. Long before Studio Traveler, the museum was an important part of our lives during our time in Greensboro, acting as our center of gravity in many ways. The excitement, quality and depth of the exhibitions drew us in. The relationships that we made through the museum with both staff and patrons became just as dear to us. Then Studio Traveler came along and with it the start of a new professional partnership with WAM. The very first trip I ever led was with the museum—Chicago in 2012. Two years later, Studio Traveler’s first international trip was once again with Weatherspoon—Venice for the Biennale in 2014.

Who wouldn’t love a place that has added this much richness to one’s life?

…and I am pleased to say this happy relationship continues despite the physical distance that now separates us. This time Weatherspoon and Studio Traveler are off in LA. That marvelous city, so full of surprises, energy and most all bursting, brimming, overflowing with contemporary art.

We see as much as can possibly see in our 3 day trip in April.

…and read on for Weatherspoon Director Nancy Doll’s thoughts on ‘Why L.A.’…

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Why L.A.?  Why Not?

Los Angeles is rapidly giving New York a run for its money in terms of influential artists, galleries, museums, and collectors. Edgy, scholarly, and inspiring exhibitions can be found across the city -- from the Museum of Contemporary Art to the L.A. County Museum of Art, and the Hammer and Fowler museums at UCLA. 

A number of long-time New York galleries have either moved to Los Angeles or opened second homes there. Mixed in are upstart galleries in Chinatown and Culver City, and La Brea Avenue is seeing a kind of renaissance of art venues. 

While the art scene may not be reviewed in the depth that New York’s does, the Los Angeles Times does a respectable job and NY Times writers such as Holland Cotter regularly fly west to let “the rest of world” know what’s happening there.

In short, Los Angeles is no longer the art world’s “Second City.”

N.D. OCTOBER 2018

A PLACE A WEEK...SCANDINAVIA...HEPSIE ROSKELLY GETS US READY

There’s no doubt that Scandinavia is a beautiful part of the world, with its mountains and gleaming waterfalls, its fjords and flowering hillsides. But I think its real appeal is not just in thrilling scenery but in contrasts. It’s the home after all, of both Brunhilda with her horned helmet and Abba’s Dancing Queen. In the summer, Scandinavia’s sky is famously light long into the night; in winter notoriously dark far into the day. It celebrates equally Eric the Red and red-pigtailed Pippi Longstocking, It embraces people’s historic fierce endurance and their warm community spirit. It’s a land that loves the health of the outdoor life and loves just as passionately—cake!

Norway, Sweden and Demark share so much history and culture, but they are also delightfully distinct from one another. Each has its own language, habits, and history as well as complicated relationships to one another.  We’ll discover many ways—food, historic sites, neighborhoods, art and architecture—that each country preserves its special character as we explore the striking countryside and the charming cities, learning what it is to feel hygge  (cozy and welcome) in our new environment.

With all this in mind, I’ve picked a few things you might like to take a look at to get ready for our Scandinavian adventure. I’ve chosen some texts from all three countries to begin to hear some of the voices of the cultures we’ll learn about as we travel.

Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology

   Lively retelling of the myths—Odin and Thor, wicked Loki and beautiful Freya, along with some of the most enduring tales that find their way into the work of Wagner and some Bugs Bunny cartoons too.

 Per Petersen. Out Stealing Horses.

     A complex love story of land, poverty, and father and son dynamics in rural Norway.

Fredrick Bachman, A Man Called Ove.

    Ove and others learn how to  find community in a suddenly cosmopolitan world.

 Isak Dinesen, Babette’s Feast

     A fairy tale of redemption in the wilds of Jutland in Denmark. Watch the beautiful movie version.

 Ingmar Bergman.

     Watch Wild Strawberries  or The Seventh Seal to hear Swedish and discover complications of history and family relationships.

Listen to Grieg. Listen to Abba. Listen to Wagner.

Now you’re ready!

THIS WEEK'S PLACE...SCANDINAVIA

Different destinations yield different rewards. ‘Sites’ feature prominently in many. Mention Paris and visions appear almost unbidden: the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Tuileries…a seemingly endless list.

The same is true of London, Florence, Barcelona, St Petersburg, Kyoto, Beijing or Buenos Aires. One does not even have to have visited a certain place to be familiar with an impressive list of iconic must-sees.

Equally compelling are rewards of a different sort. The rewards of not only seeing a destination’s sites but experiencing how a place and its culture feel.

This thought was much on my mind this past August, as I worked on the itinerary for Scandinavia 2019. Together Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, have almost irresistible appeal. And to be sure in each there is absolutely no shortage of impressive buildings, museums and boulevards—of things to see and do. But is that the primary reason to go? I would argue not. There is something even more valuable to be gained in a visit to Scandinavia and that is a chance to know its ways of life.

In Paris, we may delight in the classical beauty of Venus de Milo. In Copenhagen’s harbor we delight in the Little Mermaid sculpture for her connection to Hans Christian Andersen—and we delight in him for his enduring stories that connect us to both his native culture and to universal truths.

It is a particular pleasure to offer next year’s trip to Scandinavia precisely because it offers this sort of reward. UNCG English Professor Emeritus, Dr. Hephzibah Roskelly will be our traveling companion and resident expert.

We think the trip promises to introduce participants to the sites, the heart and the soul of Scandinavia.

Next week, Hepsie, suggests some reading to get us ready.

A PLACE A WEEK...'WHY POLAND?', PROFESSOR JEFF JONES RESPONDS...

As promised last week, DR. Jeff Jones, our accompanying expert on next year’s trip—and UNCG’s Associate Professor of History—offers his compelling response to ‘Why Poland?’

Poland is in the heart of Europe and has been at the center of much of the continent’s history for centuries.  Medieval Poland adopted Catholicism and became part of a powerful Federation that along with Lithuania ruled a vast region from the Baltic to the Black Seas, vying with Muscovite Russia and Sweden for power and influence in the area.  In the early modern period Poland found itself caught between the emerging powers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Prussia, and especially the Russian Empire; partitioned between them, Poland ceased to exist as an independent entity near the end of the 18th century.  A key battleground of the Napoleonic era of the early 19th century, Poland has thrice served as an avenue for invasion by European powers into Russia: by Napoleon in 1812; Kaiser Wilhelm II’s German Empire in World War I; and, of course, Adolph Hitler’s Nazi German forces in World War II.  Poland reemerged as an independent state after WWI, only to be once again wiped away during WWII by Nazi Germany and the USSR.  In that conflict Poland, home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, was ground zero for the horrors of the Holocaust as the site of Auschwitz and several other death camps.  Occupied by Soviet Russia as a communist state and “buffer zone” during the Cold War years, Poland with the rise of the labor union “Solidarity” in the early 1980s was in the forefront of the East European satellite states fighting for their own independent course.  Now a member of the European Union, Poland has continued to face economic and political challenges since the collapse of communism three decades ago.  As a result of the country’s difficult and challenging path through time the Polish landscape is dotted with rich layers of history from medieval castles to spectacular Catholic cathedrals to Nazi death camps and Soviet prisons—Poland speaks to is visitors through a thousand years of history. JWJ

…and because history is not a static thing you may also be interested in an interview done just last week with prominent modern historian Anne Applebaum (click here). NPR’s Fresh Air host Terry Gross and Applebaum discusses contemporary Polish politics.

Want to know more? Click here to review our trip itinerary.

A PLACE A WEEK...POLAND

Next year Studio Traveler is offering a trip to Poland in partnership with UNCG’s Emeritus Society. ‘Why Poland?’ is the question I have been asked numerous times since announcing this destination—and I can understand why.  The sole impression most Americans have of Poland is drawn from certain dark episodes in the country’s history.  The tragedies and crimes are real and undeniable—and for passionate history lovers certainly reason enough for a visit.  Like Germany, a visit to Poland is a chance ‘to walk in the footprints of history’.  With this in mind, next week I will post Dr. Jeff Jones’s response to ‘Why Poland?’—and he makes a very good case indeed based solely on the country’s role in history.  But, also like Germany, there is more to Poland than the dark and the traumatic. So this week for my first blog post in quite some time I take a stab at my own version of ‘Why Poland?’.

The truth is there is a strange romance for me in the very notion of Poland. It is the same romance that was promised by all European travel in the 1960’s.  In those long-ago days, Europe represented something older and more beautiful than home. To the child I was then it was a marvelous, strange and boundless mashup of cuckoo clocks, baguettes, berets, Vespas, the Mona Lisa and  Maria von Trapp.  And who could possibly forget the allure of Europe on Five Dollars A Day? For me, the thought of the book still evokes an almost painful longing to just go.

And Poland? It is and always has been short on berets and cuckoo clocks but it abounds in the enduring, ineffable richness and charm of ‘Old Europe’—the Europe we once found in other countries before the homogeneity of modern travel leveled out so much of the essential experience of ‘being in another place’.  Poland has cities shaped by centuries.  A distinctive cultural richness evidenced in both everyday life and in World Heritage treasures. A cuisine that marries sophistication with earthiness (and here I cannot resist including a quote from a recent review of Polish cooking ‘…dinners of venison and wildfowl, mushrooms and beets, fresh eggs and thick creams.’)  And yes, of course, history but a history not limited to the monstrous events of the 20th century but including the splendid Royal Wawel Hill Complex, dating from the 9th century,  the massive Malbork Castle, pictured above, erected by the Knights of The Teutonic League in 13th century or Warsaw’s lovely central market square dating from the 16th century. And in another nod to long ago days, Poland is a bargain, a rock bottom bargain.  Our ten-day trip is the least expensive international tour Studio Traveler will be offering next year and yet participants will enjoy Poland’s finest hotels and restaurants along with first class train travel and our always excellent guides.   

There is one more reason on my personal ‘Why Poland’ list.  It is not yet much visited by Americans. To be ahead of the inevitable crowds is a delightful extra.

I hope I have piqued your curiosity. Click here for our itinerary. And check back next week for Jeff Jones’s far more erudite response to ‘Why Poland?”

CAMILLE COGSWELL WINS 2018 JAMES BEARD RISING STAR AWARD

We are crazy proud to announce that Camille Cogswell, until recently our NYC restaurant reviewer, has won this year's Rising Star Award from the James Beard Foundation. We think that's pretty grand. Click here for more. 

Oh and look for ST's blog to return in Summer 2018.  We can't wait!

A CITY A WEEK...SALZBURG, AUSTRIA

Several years ago, at a particularly traumatic moment of dashed hopes in the Middle East, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that he was spending a lot of time watching the Golf Channel.  That was all he had left in him by way of response.  Just a break from this real and traumatic world into a calm and orderly one with its attendant joys of understandable rules and outcomes. 

I have been thinking about this a lot lately—yes, maybe extra much since Tuesday’s election result—but in truth that is a side note here.  

I have been thinking about it because I was recently asked to develop an itinerary for Salzburg.

I have actually visited Salzburg only once and that was decades ago. At the time, the city struck me as veering dangerously close to becoming the cultural equivalent of a Mozart-inspired box of cheap candy—a reaction no doubt magnified by my then teenage disdain for all things that weren’t ‘real’.

How ironic since my other relationship to Salzburg is any but real.  Longstanding, yes. Real, no.  This other Salzburg is the one that I got to know long ago as the backdrop to The Sound of Music; that charming, stirring, heroic and gossamer tale where everything turns out right. 

I watch it very occasionally and only as needed. 

It is my Golf Channel.

It is also one heck of showcase for Salzburg, something, oddly, I had only noticed peripherally until my most recent viewing.

I watched it a week or so ago for all the usually reasons—‘real’ reality can be just too much sometimes—but as luck would have it, I had also just begun work on the aforementioned Salzburg itinerary.

I saw the movie in a whole new way.

 Goodness me, Salzburg is one beautiful city. So old and elegant and yet of smaller scale than so many other ‘must see’ cities. Suddenly—and inevitably—I could not wait to go there!

 This will be no surprise to long-time readers.  I fall hard and easily when it comes to travel. 

And what do I love more than a beautiful city?

An interesting one—and as it turns out, as I have researched Salzburg for this upcoming trip, that is precisely what Salzburg turns out to be.  Rich in history, yes, but also brimming with contemporary culture—especially contemporary art.

Sadly, my upcoming trip is for a private group so I cannot invite you to come along  but what I can do is share just a bit of what I have learned of Salzburg's more unexpected charms.

It has not one but two very fine museums focused on modern and contemporary art—the Museum der Moderne and the Salzburger Kunstverein—as well as a number of important galleries including Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, considered to be the most important gallery in Austria. There are also quite a number of contemporary artists working in Salzburg including Elisabeth Schmirl, Stefan Heizinger and Erich Gruber along with numerous important private collectors.  In an interesting twist on the impulse to collect and to share, Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz has developed Hangar 7 which features not only a large and permanent collection of antique airplanes but changing exhibitions of contemporary art and Ikarus, a two Michelin Star restaurant thrown in for good measure.  Other restaurants worth considering include Carpe Diem Finest Finger Food and  Gasthaus.  Where to stay?  Two notable choices here are the Blaue Gans and the Hotel Elefant.

As I say just a little taste of a very real place.  

That other Salzburg, I will continue to cherish—that one where Julie Andrews is still a very young women and a whole family walks over the Alps with suitcases.  That Salzburg affords what one sometimes most needs--a break from all that is real and into a place where everything turns out right.

  But this other Salzburg--the one that exists in the extreme western pocket of Austria, nestled between the Salzach River and the mighty Alps, that Salzburg is very real and in the way of real places, full of complexities and unexpected pleasures.

A CITY A WEEK...CAPE TOWN...AND AN EXCITING UPDATE

Three weeks ago we were all braggy about Nancy Doll’s connections in the art world.  As it turns out that was before we even knew... 

Mark Coetzee, incoming director of the (fabulous) Zeitz MOCAA—and yep, a friend of Nancy’s—has now been in touch to give us a little inside scoop. 

Zeitz MOCCA’s opening date has been moved from spring to summer.  If we’re going all that way, do we will really want to miss Zeitz MOCCA?

So there’s that.

Nancy, co-trip sponsor Benjamin Briggs of Preservation Greensboro and I were already doing a deep dive on changing up our trip dates when Mark was back in touch to say ‘please come October and I will be happy to help pull together some special experiences for the group’. 

Can you imagine??? And even more to point--how could we say ‘no’?

So, dear reader, we have done it. 

Same amazing trip (only perhaps now even more amazing…) just different dates~ 

October 15th to 21st, 2017.

Springtime in Cape Town.

What could be better than this…can’t imagine a single thing…

Check out the full itinerary below

Oh and want to get in some 'virtual' travel to South Africa before next fall?

Then come to our next Travel Talk at Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro, NC, on Thursday, November 17, at  7:00 p.m. when we will discuss Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer's novel Burgher's Daughter. 

Set in 1970's, this once banned book addresses South Africa's anti-apartheid struggles and  references such real events and people as the Soweto Uprising and Nelson Mandela.  

The Nobel Committee said of Gordimer when awarding her the prize in 1991 that this was in recognition of 'her magnificent epic writing which has in the words of Alfred Nobel been of great benefit to humanity'.  

Burgher's Daughter is a shining example of her both her storytelling powers and 'her magnificent epic writing'.

Hope you can join us!

---

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA  

SCROLL DOWN FOR ADDITIONAL OPTIONS INCLUDING A SEVEN DAY SAFARI, A FOUR DAY WINE COUNTRY TOUR AND/OR A FOUR DAY SAFARI

OCTOBER 15th to OCTOBER 21st, 2017*

*Please note that these are new trip dates

Offered in partnership with Preservation Greensboro and Weatherspoon Art Museum

$4350

Includes 6 nights accommodation, double occupancy, 6 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners, 1 high tea and all trip-related guides, admissions and transportation costs.  Does not include airfare, airport transfers, alcoholic beverages (with the exception of those included in the vineyard tour) or activities listed as optional. Single supplement $950

ACCOMMODATIONS ::  MOUNT NELSON HOTEL

 SUNDAY OCTOBER 15th

TOUR BEGINS AT 1:00 p.m.

WELCOME MEETING

WALKING TOUR

A chance to get acquainted with the complex history of Cape Town through a guided walking tour that introduces some of the city's key historic sites 

 TABLE MOUNTAIN CABLE CAR RIDE

The top of Cape Town’s iconic landmark provides spectacular views of the city, the South Atlantic and Robben Island

EVENING TEA AT THE MOUNT NELSON

‘The best high tea in the world’ may be a grand statement but it is one that is often said of the tea at the Mount Nelson.  A charming--and satisfying--end to our busy first afternoon

MONDAY OCTOBER 16th

MORNING STROLL THROUGH THE BO-KAAP HISTORIC DISTRICT

Initially home to Cape Town's Cape Malay population, this 200-year old neighborhood of cobbled stone streets and brightly colored houses stands as a reminder of the global trade routes that have shaped this city over the centuries

DISTRICT SIX MUSEUM 

An award-winning museum, District Six documents the forced relocation of 60,000 residents and subsequent destruction of their homes after this residential district was declared ‘whites only’ in the 1970’s

Lunch :: NOOKA

Nooka’s magic is not that is vegetarian—which it is—but that it gets rave reviews from everyone—including committed carnivores—it's that delicious!

 SLAVE LODGE

 Slave Lodge is in one oldest buildings in Cape Town and while it has been many things over the course of centuries it is now an outstanding  museum dedicated to slavery's dark history

RUST EN VREUGD

This well-preserved urban estate dates from the 1770’s and is renowned not only for its architecture but also for the Fehr Collection of pictorial Africana and for its parterre gardens 

DINNER :: KLOOF STREET HOUSE

Great food with a fun, funky vibe and just steps from The Mount Nelson

JAZZ EVENING

It's just a bit early to announce which performance we will attend but trust us--of the many reasons to come to Cape Town—jazz is right up there near the top of the list--and we plan to sample some of the best!

 TUESDAY OCTOBER 17th

ZEITZ MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

‘Cape Town is about to become home to one of the most influential art institutions in the world’—and we will be amongst the first to view this major new museum set to open in 2017

 LUNCH ::   AMADOD ABRAAI

We enjoy a braai—or as we might say here in the States 'grilled everything'—at this very local spot in Woodstock

GALLERY VISITS

We may refine (or expand…?) the list below depending on  exhibition schedules but as you will see there is no shortage of choices—and these and other galleries excel in exhibiting both emerging and established artists from South Africa and abroad.

WHATIFTHEWORLD, GOODMAN GALLERY, 34 FINE ART GALLERY, GALLERY MOMO

 And AVA

DINNER :: SAVOY CABBAGE

One of Cape Town’s freshest and best dinner spots

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 18th

NATIONAL GALLERY

We tour the National Gallery’s collection of traditional art which includes some 3000 objects from South Africa and the African continent

LUNCH :: DASH

Delicious with views—need we say more?

 STUDIO VISITS

A chance to meet with some of Cape Town's most influential and interesting artists

DINNER :: BISTROT BIZERCA

Bistrot Bizerca--it's is a little Italian, a little French and all Cape Town with its sophisticated and eclectic choices

THURSDAY OCTOBER 19th  

 KIRSTENBOSCH NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDENS

On other side of Table Mountain of Cape Town, the Kirstenbosch is one of South Africa’s great treasures

LUNCH :: KIRSTENBOSCH CAFÉ

We keep things simple and yet delicious with our lunch at the Gardens’ cafe

GROOT CONSTANTIA

A tasting and tour at the Manor House among the oldest and one of the finest of the Cape Town area wine estates favored by Frederick the Great, Charles Dickens and Napoleon

FIRST THURSDAY GALLERY WALK

We return to Cape Town in time for this lively arts event.

DINNER :: OPEN

FRIDAY OCTOBER 20th

PRIVATE COLLECTION VISITS

This is a very special perk of traveling with the Weatherspoon Art Museum and the well connected Nancy Doll—special access to notable private collections. What can we say?  She knows people…

GREEN MARKET SQUARE

Fridays are definitely the days to visit this open air market when in addition to Pan African wonderful crafts and other goods, venders don their traditional garb to haggle their wares!

OPEN LUNCH AND AFTERNOON

DINNER :: BELTHAZAR

It’s a Studio Traveler tradition to have a 'big night out' and this will be no exception.  We celebrate our time together at the wonderful Beltahzar on the lively, happening V & A waterfront.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 21st

ROBBEN ISLAND TOUR

A destination that probably needs no introduction, this decommissioned prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years now bears eloquent witness to the struggle to end apartheid.

CAPE TOWN PORTION OF THE TRIP ENDS LATE MORNING

FOR THOSE WISHING TO EXTEND THEIR TIME IN SOUTH AFRICA WE OFFER A VARIETY OF OPTIONS.  PLEASE NOTE SAFARI OPTIONS ARE OFFERED THROUGH ALLYSON ENGLISH OF TRAVELINK, 336-544-5981.  SEPARATE DEPOSITS ARE REQUIRED.  TERMS AND FULL ITINERARIES CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH BUTTONS BELOW.  DEMAND FOR THESE HIGH SEASON SAFARIS IS EXPECTED TO BE  HIGH AND SPACES ARE LIMITED.  A FURTHER NOTE--THE SEVEN DAY OPTION DOES NOT INCLUDE HOTEL COSTS FOR THE NIGHT OF October 21, 2017. 

STELLENBOSCH AND FRANSCHHOEK

WESTERN CAPE WINE COUNTRY

OCTOBER 21st to 25th, 2017

$1750

Includes 4 nights accommodation, double occupancy,  4 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 dinners,  and all trip-related guides, admissions and transportation costs.  Does not include  alcoholic beverages except of those included in vineyard tastings. Single supplement $450

Join us as we go in depth with tastings and touring in the one of the world's great wine regions with vineyards in and the charming, historic towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, scheduled to allow for Option Three, an additional optional 4-day safari extension.

A CITY A WEEK...LISBON AND FABULOUS PORTUGAL

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My mom had a wonderful expression that I have been trying—and failing—to remember all week.  What it was not is the phrase that keeps suggesting itself to me which for some completely unaccountable reason is ‘keep the ditch in the road’.  Nonsensical and bad advice.  As I say—not it.

I think it must have been along of lines of ‘keep the plow in the row’ only with a bit more lyrical zing.

And why, you may ask, so much thought given to this during this particular week? Because this week despite all best intentions and efforts, the Tuesday blog is coming out on Friday, that’s why. 

You know that kind of week—the kind when one is just sort of glad to be able to claim to have a row much less a plow.  All aspirations of a higher order perfections shoved to the side.  Head down. Full steam ahead until you can at least see the end.

And here it is--Friday! Mission accomplished!!

End of the week and of the figurative row, and may I say, with plenty to show for all the effort despite a certain lack orderliness...

In my case, the week's accomplishments include the new, complete and I think very exciting itinerary for Portugal, my new favorite place.

You’ll find it in its entirety below.

The itinerary starts in Lisbon, moves on to the Alentejo town of Evora then to Porto.  

All fa-bu-lous.

(No kidding, I know I say every place is my favorite but this really is…honest…)

Portugal is gorgeous, delicious, friendly, safe and, based on experience the last bargain on the planet.

You. Need. To. Come. Along.

And you need more info—so read on (or click the tab above in 'Navigation').

In the meantime--Happy Friday, all. We did it.

Time to put up your plow, don't you think?

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PORTUGAL

SEPTEMBER 23rd to October 1st, 2017

Eight days to introduce this fabulous gem of a country? We like to think we’ve done just that with this itinerary designed around the country’s many, many charms.  Whether it is Lisbon’s post-empire glory, the Alentejo’s profound—and delicious—sense of place or Porto’s hip-meets-history vibe, we have created an itinerary that is busy while never rushed; rich with 'must sees' as well as ‘only for us’ experiences.  For a thousand and one reasons the time to visit Portugal is now!

$4150

Includes 7 breakfasts, 1 afternoon petisco break, 5 lunches, 5 dinners, 8 nights accommodation, all trip–related fees, admissions and transportation. Not included: airfare, airport transfers and alcoholic beverages unless otherwise stated. Single supplement $850.

ACCOMMODATIONS :: VALVERDE HOTEL, LISBON; M'AR DE AR ADEDUTO, EVORA; PORTO AS 1829, PORTO

Saturday SEPTEMBER 23rd

Architectural Walking tour

As those of you who have traveled with us know—we love to start with a good walk.  We believe it is simply the best way to get to know a new city.  Lisbon makes this particularly rewarding with its fabulous architecture, walkable streets and vibrant neighborhoods.

‘Tea’ at MEMMO ALFAMA

Another of our first afternoon favorites, this time tweaked just a bit to better enjoy the customs of the country.  This 'tea time' we opt for petiscos (Portuguese tapas) and a favorite tipple or two at this fabulous spot in the Alfama, where the river views are as famous as the fare.

Dinner :: Open

We keep it flexible tonight—you can call it a day, venture out for dinner at one of the many neighborhood spots or stay in for dinner at SITIO , Valaverde’s celebrated restaurant.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 24th

Today we begin with a tour of one of Lisbon’s singular attractions, The Monastery of St Jerome. This UNESCO World Heritage site is a superb example of Manueline architecture built to commemorate Vasco Da Gama’s voyage of exploration. In both spirit and fact, the monastery lies at the heart of the Portuguese soul.

Lunch :: POPULI

We stop for lunch at this popular spot on the grand Praca De Comercio

MUSEU DO AZULEJO

We tour this small gem of a museum which tells the outsized story of azulejos—tin-glazed tiles—and their continuing delight, influence and importance in Portuguese culture.

CASTEL DE SAO JORGE

Saint George's Castle, with its earliest ramparts dating from the 6th century, is a magnificent oasis of calm that belies its  fourteen centuries of turbulent history.

DINNER :: TABIK

Stylish, excellent and a short stroll from our hotel.  I’d say that about sums it up! 

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25th

We depart after breakfast for a two hour bus ride through the gorgeous Alentejo region of central Portugal arriving in Monsaraz in time for an introduction to its justly famous textile tradition. We follow this with a guided stroll through this fabulous ancient hilltop town.

Lunch :: TAVERNA OS TEMPLARIOS

  A charming restaurant with terrific local specialties and equally terrific views.

A QUINTA DO MOUROS

Vineyard Tour and Dinner

The Alentejo is Portugal’s most important wine region. We combine a delicious crash course in Portuguese wine with a vineyard tour to be followed by a private dinner in the vineyard's elegant manor  house.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 26th

EVORA

Charming and very walkable, Evora’s centuries of history are evident at every turn.  In addition to its stunning Roman aqueduct, there is its Temple to Diana, the 13th century cathedral, the imposing 14th century ducal palace and the macabre Capela dos Ossos--Chapel of The Bones--to name a few.

LUNCH :: RESTAURANTE FIALHO

This picturesque restaurant has been Evora’s most celebrated since opening in 1945.

ALMENDRES CROMLECH

The Alentejo region has an abundance of prehistoric menhirs and other megalithic monuments.  The Alemedres Cromlech, located a few kilometers outside Evora, is one of the largest and best preserved of these in all of Europe.

Open :: Dinner

A bit of self-guided time to explore the delights of Evora, culinary and otherwise.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 27th

We depart Evora for Porto. It’s a three hour trip and we thought we’d break it up just a bit with a stop in COIMBRA,

 one of the oldest university towns in Europe.

CAFETARIA DO MUSEU

We have a light lunch upon arrival in Coimbra in this charming 17th century laboratory turned cafe.

UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA BIBLIOTECA JOANINA and

 CEPELA DE SAO MIGUEL

We tour two stunning examples of Manueline Baroque architecture--the university's glorious 18th century library and the adjacent Chapel of Saint Michael.

Dinner :: ODE PORTO WINEHOUSE

We arrive in Porto in time to settle in to our digs, the gracious Porto AS 1829 Hotel, and then stroll to dinner at ODE Winehouse.

 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28th

Walking Tour of Porto

Again, what better way to get to know the history and culture of a city than to see its sites on foot and up close?

LUNCH ::  VINUM

The elegant restaurant attached to Graham Port Lodge has sweeping views and delicious fare.

GRAHAM'S PORT LODGE

Nothing is more essential to Porto than its port lodges--and Grahams is widely considered to have the finest 'caves'. We then enjoy a tasting in their renowned Private Vintage Room.

Open :: Dinner

Whether sidewalk café or Michelin-starred, Porto offers endless wonderful culinary choices.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29th

SERRALVES FOUNDATION

We tour Porto’s superb contemporary art museum, widely considered to be one of the finest in Southern Europe, before breaking for an open lunch and afternoon.

DINNER :: DOP PORTO

This charming and intimate restaurant is one of Porto’s most popular special occasion spots--and its just up the hill from our hotel. The ideal combination!

 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30th

We return to Lisbon in time for an afternoon of shopping, sightseeing—or maybe just chill time by the Tejo River.

DINNER :: SITIO

We keep it close to home on our last night in Portugal with a very festive farewell dinner at Valverde’sSITIO.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 1st

Tour ends after breakfast.

A CITY A WEEK...PRAGUE WITH GUEST BLOGGER RANDY SHULL

I'm a fan and have been for a long time now.  A Randy Shull fan, that is.  

A fan of his paintings, his furniture and of his design work which includes most recently his multi-year re-design of the Black Mountain Museum + Art Center in Asheville, North Carolina.  

All of Randy's varied work shares a fundamental strength—a cogency of concept and shape, not only beautiful but also deeply intelligent. 

In addition to these many talents, Randy is also a traveler. And that brings me to today's post.

 Randy spent August 2016 in Prague participating in an artist residency program that is jointly sponsored by the American Embassy and the Czech Ministry of Culture. 

When Randy and I saw each of recently at a Weatherspoon Art Museum event we discussed Prague as a city of surprises.  

The truth is that many of us think we know the real Prague.  That it is a sweet and appealing jewel box of a city—heartbreakingly beautiful but perhaps just a bit frozen in time. 

Ah, but there is so much more. Historical jewel box, yes, spared from the destructions of World War II as was no other European capital, but also a living breathing city, modern, vibrant and humming with cultural life.  

 As evidence of this one need look no further than Randy's photographs and video taken during his recent visit.  They run the gamut from the Royal Gardens to the city's justly celebrated Cubist architecture (this one with a nod to one of her most celebrated native sons—Kafka) to the DOX Center for Contemporary Art, making it clear--Prague literally spans centuries.

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The Royal Gardens

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One of many examples of Cubist architecture

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DOX, Prague's excellent contemporary art space

The video above gives a view of the courtyard of the Bubec Sculpture Studio, founded by the Czech Republic’s foremost sculptor, Cestmir Suska, and host site for Shull’s  month-long residency.

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Randy's collaged homage to Prague

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A day in the studio

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More of Randy's work from his time in Prague, models focusing on simple object to plane relationships

Come to Prague with us next May and you will see for yourself.  It is a wonderful city, packed full of surprises...

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Oh and one last surprise, this one thrown in just for fun: the giant manmade whitewater course just south of the city.