MY FIRENZE (HOT SPOTS)

I’m listing some of my favorite places in Florende, a city I love and I’m familiar with because I spend 2 months a year, there. 

KONNUBIO- shabby lunch- Via dei Conti, 8r - www.konnubio.it

MERCATO CENTRALE - indoor street food – Via dell'Ariento - www.mercatocentrale.it

BURRO & ACCIUGHE - fish recipes - Via dell'Orto, 35 - www.burroeacciughe.com

I’ PARIONE - traditional trattoria - Via del Parione, 74/76 r - www.parione.net

VIVOLI - ice cream - Via dell’Isola delle Stinche, 7/r – www.vivoli.it

IN FABRICA - restaurant in a silverware workshop - Via del Gelsomino, 99 – www.restaurant.pampaloni.com

ANTICO VINAIO and VINAINO - schiacciata –Via dei Neri, 74/R - www.allanticovinaio.com

LA MENAGÈRE - restaurant, lounge and flower designer- Via de' Ginori, 8 -www.lamenagere.it 

QUINOA - vegan lunch- Vicolo di Santa Maria Maggiore, 1 - www.ristorantequinoa.it

DITTA ARTIGIANALE (the one in Via dello Sprone 5) - hipster place- www.dittaartigianale.it

AMBLÉ - light bio-lunch- Piazzetta dei Del Bene, 7/A - www.amble.it

RIVALTA – fashion café - Lungarno Corsini -www.rivaltacafe.it

PROCACCI- truffle bar –Via de' Tornabuoni, 64R - www.procacci1885.it

IL SANTO BEVITORE – traditional trattoria-Via di Santo Spirito, 64/66 R - www.ilsantobevitore.it

TRATTORIA CENT'ORI - traditional trattoria-Via di S. Niccolò, 48

GESTO FAI IL TUO - light lunch –Borgo S. Frediano, 27/red - www.gestofailtuo.it
LA CUCINA DEL GARGA - traditional restaurant –Via S. Zanobi, 33 – www.garga.it

BERBERÉ - pizza gluten free-Piazza de' Nerli, 1 -www.berberepizza.it

LA PROSCIUTTERIA - traditional aperitif (charcuterie, cheese) and wine- Via dei Neri, 54r - www.laprosciutteria.com

IL SANTINO - wine bar - Via di Santo Spirito, 60/R - www.ilsantobevitore.com

TRATTORIA CAMMILLO - traditional trattoria - Borgo S. Jacopo, 57/r

BUCA LAPI- traditional trattoria – Via del Trebbio, 1r - www.bucalapi.com 
CAFFÉ FLORIAN - historical bakery and restaurant – Via del Parione, 32 - www.caffeflorian.com

RASPUTIN - secret bar –

FISHING LAB - fresh fish bar - Via del Proconsolo, 16R - www.fishinglab.it

LE MURATE - food&sculture - Piazza delle Murate - www.lemurate.it

LUISA VIA ROMA – top Italian fashion store -  Via Roma, 19/21R - www.luisaviaroma.com

ALICE ATELIER – masks workshop – Via Faenza, 72- www.alicemasks.weebly.com

OFFICINA PROFUMO FARMACEUTICA – historical perfumery - Via della Scala, 16 - www.smnovella.it

RICHARD GINORI – fine porcelaine - Via dei Rondinelli, 17/red - www.richardginori1735.com

TRASLUCIDO – antiques - Via Maggio, 11/R - www.traslucido.it
BOUTIQUE NADINE – vintage fashion stores - Lungarno degli Acciaiuoli, 22/red - www.boutiquenadine.it

GERARD – fashion store – Via dei Pecori 36/R - www.gerardfirenze.com

PANDORA – antiques - Via Por Santa Maria, 15/red – www.pandora.net

CLET ABRHAM STUDIO – street art - Via dell'Olmo, 8 -

PAMPALONI – silverware shop - Via del Gelsomino, 99 - www.pampaloni.com

SCARPELLI MOSAICI – artistic mosaic -www.scarpellinimosaici.it

THE MALL – fashion outlet mall - Via Europa, 8 Leccio Reggello -www.themall.it

MUSEO FERRAGAMO - Via de' Tornabuoni, 2 - www.ferragamo.com/museo

MUSEO GUCCI - Piazza della Signoria, 10 - www.guccimuseo.com

FONDAZIONE PALAZZO STROZZI - Piazza degli Strozzi - www.palazzostrozzi.org

VIEW FROM PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO

LEATHER SCHOOL – leather manufacturing school - Via S. Giuseppe, 5R - www.scuoladelcuoio.com

L’APPARTAMENTO – cultural association - www.appartamentofirenze.org

Note: all photos taken by me but Buca Lapi, Rasputin, Fishing Lab, Le Murate, The Mall, view from Piazzale Michelangelo, leather school, l'Appartamento downloaded from internet 

T.T.T. TOP TRAVEL TIPS - EAT, PRAY, LOVE – THAILANDIA

EAT and PRAY 

LOVE – NATURE, YOURSELF, LIFE in Ko Pha Ngan

It’s an island in the Gulf of Thailand in South East, famous for the uncontaminated nature and its parties.

Ko Pha Ngan has always been a place for relaxation and reflection: there are plenty of retreat centres, meditation schools and secret hideaways where one can find peace and space for learning in harmony with nature.

Nature is the key word: the island offers also many outdoor adventure: rich coral reefs run along the north-west coast, tropical rainforest and several waterfalls.

WHERE TO STAY – RESORT and SPA (and WEDDING)

1  THONG NAI PAN NOI bay

SANTHIYA and AYURVANA Spa (tripadvisor 4,7)Traditional Thai-Style eco-Luxury Beach Resort - http://www.santhiya.com/

SANTHIYA RESORT and SPA - PICTURES UPLOADED TO THE INTERNET

2  THONG NAI PAN NOI bay

PANVINAM and VIMAM Spa (tripadvisor 4,4) -http://www.panviman.com/kohphangan

ANANTARA RASANANDA and Spa (tripadvisor 4,6) - http://phangan-rasananda.anantara.com

3  HAAD RIN beach

SAKIRANTANG (tripadvisor 4,3) - http://sarikantang.com

STRAIGHT TO THE FIFTIES

The Fifties has to be one of the most feminine of decades when it comes to fashion. From nipped-in waists to cropped pants and pumps, there's a certain romance about the decade that gave us the elfin looks of Audrey Hepburn and the elegance of Grace Kelly.

In the post-war 1950's, high style and fashion returned with the help of these important designers: Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy.

Good news for the passionate of Vintage style, because 50s were back in 2012 and you can easily create 50s fabulous outfits   

RETRO EASY CHIC

RETRO BON TON

RETRO GLAM 

PICTURES UPLOADED TO THE INTERNET

The BIENNALE D'ARTE of Venezia from my personal point of view - HI-STORY

HI-STORY 

Akram Zaatari at the Lebanese Pavilion - Letter to a Refusing Pilot – video

Weaving new footage into five decades’ worth of archival material, including photographs alongside snapshots from family albums and images Zaatari made in his youth, the installation presents a non-linear narrative that blurs the boundaries between an elusive past and the tangible present. Letter to a Refusing Pilot combines elements of civic architecture, small-town gossip, the archeology of memory, family history, the politics of fear, the grace of flight, and the punishing realities of war. As never before in a single work, Zaatari has pulled together all of the disparate interests he has been pursuing in his practice consistently but separately for the past twenty years.

Delving into the story of an Israeli fighter pilot who refused to bomb a school in South Lebanon, the installation raises a number of difficult yet trenchant questions about heroism, nationalism, and integrity in relation to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has confounded artists in the region (and beyond) for generations. Zaatari’s great sensitivity to form and everyday poetry, combined with the uncompromising rigor of his ideas and arguments, takes Letter to a Refusing Pilot far beyond the usual polemics of what is perhaps the most intractable political impasse on earth, and gets to the heart of how one behaves when confronted with starkest of choices.

Gilad Ratman at Israeli pavillon– The Workshop – video, sound, sculpture

The Workshop is based on a fictional underground journey from Israel to Venice taken by a small community of people. Their epic voyage starts in the caves of Israel, weaves through treacherous subterranean passages before bursting through the floor of the Israeli pavilion. On arrival, the group turn the pavilion into a workshop, sculpting themselves in clay they have transported from Israel.

Gilad Ratman’s presentation reflects on the Biennale as a utopian model of nations’ connectivity. Whilst present-time political reality all over the world operates according to the “nation state” concept and a system of globalized capitalism, The Workshop presents a scenario where transit takes place across national borders in hidden underground networks – free, undetected and unidentified.

Ratman’s narrative manifests itself in a non-linear presentation of video, installation, sound and a physical intervention in the fabric of the Pavilion itself. The site-specificity of The Workshop – the videos and the sound – offer the viewer a reflection of an event that has taken place at that very location. In doing so, the work creates a fictional, yet true, history.

Francesco Arena at Italian Pavilion- Massa Sepolta – 80 cum of soil, wood, cement, metal

Towers clad in wood and braced with steel rise up from low concrete platforms in Francesco Arena's Massa Sepolta (2013). One must read the wall text to discover that the towers contain dirt-an amount that, in Arena's calculation, equals the displaced earth from mass graves in several 20th-century conflicts: from Burgos, Spain during 1930s Spanish Civil War; from Benedicta, Italy during Mussolini's dictatorship; from Batajnica, Serbia during the civil war and ethnic cleansing; and from Ivan Polje, Kosovo, during the conflict there in the 1990s. The looming towers shield the soil from view, but the knowledge of what they contain lends their presence a solemn dignity.

(moussemagazine.it and artinamericamagazine.com – pictures: taken by me)

The BIENNALE D'ARTE of Venezia from my personal point of view - HUMAN FRAME

HUMAN FR(eedom)-A(mbient)- M(ind)-E(nergy)

Waheeda Malullah- A villager's day out in Kingdom of Bahrain pavilion

This series of photographs follows a day’s outing by a young village girl, full of excitement and adventure but reverberated by apprehension through her shrouded abaya.

Maria Cristina Finucci - The garbage patch state- Ca’ Foscari University

In an effort to raise awareness of the five big patches of plastic waste forming in the centers of the ocean's gyres, UNESCO has declared them to be a new nation at the "High Seas, Our Future! Conference," held in mid April in Paris.
Floating bits of discarded plastic-bottle caps, fishing nets, bags and sundry tinier pieces-cluster together in the north and south Atlantic, the north and south Pacific and the Indian oceans. The plastic "islands" form in the dead zones in the center of the major oceanic gyres, which circulate the ocean. The currents warm Europe and bring things like hurricanes and conquistadors to the Caribbean.

The most famous garbage patch, which we dove into a few years back, (see the below) is in the North Pacific and is sometimes known as the Pacific Trash Vortex. It has been estimated that plastics account for up to 80 percent of ocean pollution and the gathering debris carries with it a cloud of chemical pollutants. The pollution varies in concentration, which is why some people say it's bigger than Texas, why some people say it's bigger than two Texases, and why at least Maria Cristina Finucci decided it should be a country: Wasteland 
http://www.garbagepatchstate.org 

Walter de Maria – Apollo’s Ecstasy

(text: artpostblog – pictures: me)

The work of Walter De Maria has been associated with Minimalism, Conceptualism and Land Art, though it has never fit comfortably in any single category. De Maria was one of the first contemporary artists to Envision large-scale land works. The works of 55° Venice Biennale is Apollo's Ecstasy (1990).
With 20 solid bronze rods arranged in diagonal rows, alludes to a dichotomy from classical mythology. Apollo embodies the principles of reason, form and classification, in opposition to the ecstatic Dionysus, a champion of debauched pleasure and the breakdown of  boundaries and categories. The work suggests a site in which opposites exist in delicate balance, with the pure, defined forms of the brass rods counterpoised against the boundlessness of an infinite Mathematical sequence.

Kaspars Podnieks and Krišs Salmanis, North by Northeast -Latvian pavilion

This work explores the artists’ energetic relationship to the natural and ever-shifting man-made world—including perceived borders and centers in Europe—and that investigate the concepts and conditions of identity, uncertainty, and the ‘in-between.

The BIENNALE D'ARTE of Venezia from my personal point of view -BODYSSEY

BODYssey

Ali Kazma- Resistance- Turkey pavilion

(pictures universes-in-universe)

A girl in bondage shaped by a man, male bodybuilders, beauty docs, tattoo artists, and other body shapers caught the eyes of the visitors at the Pavilion of Turkey. Especially the bondage video attracted many visitors.

The five-screen installation 'Resistance' by Ali Kazma display body-shaping scenes. The images of the videos are metaphors for today's body consciousness and how the body is controlled by our society with its scientific, social, and cultural tools (- and I wouldn't exclude fashion magazines from being tools). Whether the images at the installation 'Resistance' represented esthetical or sexual desires, the body seemed to be reduced to an (exchangeable) object.

Yuri Ancarani – Da Vinci - Arsenale

Italian filmmaker Yuri Ancarani’s “Da Vinci,” a film about a surgery-performing robot (controlled by a human surgeon)  bearing the name of the Renaissance artist and polymath, takes us inside the landscape of the human body

Pawel Althamer – Venetians - Arsenale

He’s a polish artist of multiple media known for his willingness to alter his own state of mind and body for the exploration of deeper realms hidden within his own psyche.

Working in collaboration with his father's plastics manufacturing company, cast the faces and hands of local venetians in plastic before attaching them to bodies composed of extruded plastic ribbons, to realize that the body is only a vehicle for the soul.'

Pierre Moliner – Arsenale

fetishistic photographs, through his photography, he obscured the line between the sexes and celebrated fetishism and his own hermaphroditic nature

T.T.T. TOP TRAVEL TIPS - South American Legend’s

SALAR DE UYUNI DESERT: nothing compares 2U

When mountains possessed body and spirit, the immense Tunupa volcano was a splendid woman and it felt in love with Cusco, a strong and beautiful mount: they decided to get married and their first son was born very soon.

But the joy did not hold over for long time because Cusco got involved in the seductive limbs of Cosuna, the fascinating adjacent mountain.

When Tunupa discovered the betrayal, wanted to be revenged on the most important and loved thing for Cusco: their son, been born from not long.

In spite of her husband, with the breast swollen of milk, she dug a basin in the valley and she slowly poured the milk in, creating the "Salar de Uyuni".

World's largest salt lake known as Salar de Uyuni is a visually captivating place, one of the most stunningly beautiful places you will ever come across in South America.

Covering an area of over 12,000 square km, some 40,000 years ago the region was covered by the giant salt Lake Minchin and nowadays is a reserve of 10 billion tons of salt.

The desert could be crossed by a jeep and, necessarily, with a guide (my suggestion is Mister Epi employed by Cordillera Traveller, based in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile) during 3 days of a surreal vision created by amazing geological formations, geothermal springs and brine, coloured lakes.

1st day. Departure from San Pedro de Atacama at 08:00 AM – by a minibus - to Bolivia border (at 4.400 mt above sea level) where the 18 passengers are shifted to three 4WD jeeps.

During the first day the group is in the Bolivian high plain visiting wonderful places like Laguna Verde (an incredible green lagoon) and Laguna Blanca (white lagoon), located at the bottom of Licancabur Volcano, continuing to Daly Desert where it’s possible to admire a surrealistic landscape, thermal water pools, Sol de Mañana geysers –intermittent springs coming up at a 90º C– and fumaroles, cracks with emerging volcanic lava. The journey ends up at Laguna Colorada (coloured lagoon), main nesting centre for more than 30,000 pink flamingos of 3 different species.
The night is spent in a "folk" building (rooms for 6 people/each) in the middle of nowhere: super funny experience that you could share with people from all over the world.

 

2nd Day. During the second journey day the trip will include Siloli Desert and the Stone forest, high plain coloured lagoons, Chiguana salt flat, ending the day in Chuvica village where is located the De Sal Hotel (an hotel completely built by salt, furniture included).

3rd Day. Finally the most incredible salt desert! After visiting Pescado Island- located in the middle of the salt flat with a formation of chalky rocks, coral and seashell traces- and Pueblo Chico - located in the limits of Uyuni desert – the tour will end in Uyuni City, a typical Bolivian village, famous for his colourful market.

At this stage you have 2 options:

to get to Macchu Picchu, in Peru or

to return back to Chile but with different itinerary, spending the night in a surrealistic village named Villa Mar.

Any decision you wpuld take: enjoy it!

CHILOE ISLAND: Never slept on a stilt house with sirens and elves?

Immerse yourself in the fascinating, cultural and naturalistic experience of Chiloé Island (off the Pacific Ocean coast of southern Chile, in the Los Lagos Region and lodge at PALAFITO 1326.

http://www.palafito1326.cl/

Cross this incredibly green island and arrive as far as Castro, the capital, the result of Spanish colonial style in harmonious combination with the influences of German immigrants in the late 1800s and the most coloured and beautiful stilt houses on the Islands of the Arcipelago.

But during the trip do not get lost into the forest because you could meet Lo Trauco, a man 65 centimetres high but so powerful that with 3 hits of an axe can knock down trees no matter how thick they are! He’s an infernal spirit and hates men and women: if he happens to run into them, he can crook you with his look or kill you! The only chance of salvation is to not look into his eyes and throwing at his eyes a handful of sand because the Trauco becomes ecstatic counting the grains of sand.

In the northwestern area of the island you will remain astonished discovering the great diversity of marine fauna (blue whales, sei whales and humpback whales - chilean dolphins and peales dolphins - sea lions - marine otters - magellan penguins and humboldt penguins) and to eat the best seafood in Chile…but, before seating at the restaurant, double check if La Pincoya (the water spirit of the Chilotan Seas) is performing her ritual dance facing the sea - it means an abundance of fish – or if she’s dancing facing the mountains, her back to the sea - seafood will be scarce.

How to how to recognize her? She is of incomparable beauty with blond hair, cheerful and sensual and rises from the depths of the sea

Paganism and religiousness: myths and moss-covered old wooden churches gracing the seaside at Unesco world heritage site.

Here you are: Chiloé.