Entries categorized as ‘travel’
After seeing pictures of Hotel Fox on Ungt Blod, I’m feeling compelled to somehow squeeze a stop over in Copenhagen into our honeymoon, too. The lifestyle hotel’s 61 rooms are designed and styled by 21 artists from across the globe. My personal favorites are designed by Kim Hiorthøy of Norway, Birgit Amadori of Germany, and Antoine et Manuel of France. See below for room details.
Kim Hiorthøy — Room 306. Pico Pico.
Antoine et Manuel — Room 124. Spare.
Birgit Amadori — Room 510. King’s Court 2.
Categories: artists · design · interior design · travel
Tagged: Antoine et Manuel, Birgit Amadori, boutique hotels, Copenhagen, Denmark, Hotel Fox, Kim Hiorthøy, lifestyle hotels, travel
September 29, 2008 · 2 Comments
After the last garbled post from Amsterdam — I think the Hero Chirac got the best of me — we’ve arrived home safely, at least in the physical sense. Mentally I’m still trying to figure out how we can relocate and start a new life as ex-pats, and I’ve spent the weekend trying to get my wits about me as I battled a stomach flu.
In other very exciting news, we are now engaged to be married. That’s right! Ryan proposed (inquire within for details)! And so, in this instance I willingly give in to my disdain of cliches, by saying, “We’ll always have Paris.”
Categories: current events · travel
Tagged: Eiffel Tower, engagements, Paris, proposals, travel
Tomorrow we leave Paris on a train headed for Amsterdam. It will be sad to leave her, but I am also quite excited- I have a feeling A’dam is in fact this boys Mecca, and I am eager to visit. But more on that later (and dear reader, I have a feeling you can expect some very humorous and confused posting over the next few days).
Today we enjoyed several hours at the Pompidou Centre, certainly one of my favorite modern art museums. I was so excited to be back after a few years, I only wish we had more time…
After dinner we finished our stay in Paris with a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Touristy, yes, but still very spectacular. We took a lift to the top for the view, where I noticed hundreds of names and initials left behind by previous visitors. I quickly left behind my own “ryan loves kim” near the South column in black marker. If you find yourself up there, look for it, and leave your name beside our’s.
See you in Amsterdam,
Ryan & Kim
Categories: Graffiti · art · holidays · travel
Tagged: holiday, Paris, pompidou centre
September 20, 2008 · 1 Comment
Bonjour!! It’s the end of our second day in Paris, and we’ve done quite a lot so far…
Kim and I spent the morning nursing our extremely crippling hangovers (thank you, picon bier) and finally finding comfort in some excellent lunch, all while browsing street markets and photographing some most excellent graffiti.
We visited the humongous (perhaps too humongous) Printemps department store, where our very good friend Olivier played a short set with his band Go Go Charleton. From there we strolled through the grounds of the Louvre, looked for the perfect Swatch watch (what’s a guy to do?), and made our way over to Colette. If their web site is any indication, you’d think Colette would be a design lover’s Mecca, but it turned out to be somewhat less than impressive, unfortunately- perhaps it was too crowded.
We finished the day with a wonderfully decadent dinner at Closerie des Lilas, a very romantic walk by Notre Dame at night, and a long walk (after several drinks) back to the hotel.
We are enjoying ourselves very much, saying “no” to very few things, and witnessing what must be some of the most beautiful people in the world.
Ex-patriotism, here I come!
Take care, Ryan & Kim
Categories: Graffiti · holidays · travel
Tagged: drinking, holiday, Paris, shopping
Things are good so far. The hotel is awesome, the city is beautiful, and while trying to order sausage, I accidentally asked our waitress, “suck…?” Quite funny! I wonder how often weird American men accidentally proposition her?
We went on to dancing at Pop In and drinking a mixture of beer and some orange liquor. It reminded me of carbonated cough syrup, which is probably why I feel like I’m dying this morning.
Oh well! On to another day!
-talk soon, Ryan and Kim
Categories: current events · holidays · travel
Tagged: Paris, holiday, hangover, dance, pop in
September 18, 2008 · 1 Comment
We’re hoping to post a bit while traveling . . . until then a view of Paris from the Centre Pompidou.
Photo by Rita Crane.
Categories: current events · travel
Tagged: centre pompidou, france, paris in autumn, photographs, Rita Crane photography
Our trip to Europe is officially one month away. In preparation, I’ve been skulking around the Internet for beautiful pastries to consume while in Paris. And I am certainly hoping we pop in to Sadaharu Aoki’s patisserie.
I really love the shop’s minimalist appearance (including the typeface used for the sign above the entryway), it’s very clean and simple. But interior design aspects aside, it’s Aoki’s pastries that leave me in culinary anticipation. They’re goregous! Each one like an edible work of pop art.
Pictures found on Flickr, here, here, and here. If you have any other suggestions for great patisseries in Paris, please let us know!
Categories: current events · design · travel
Tagged: bonbons, cooking, cuisine, desserts, eclairs, french pastries, Paris, patisseries, sadaharu aoki
Despite the rising fuel prices and decreasing value of the US dollar, it is still entirely possible to take a European vacation — you just need to know where and how to skimp.
My boyfriend and I are going to Paris and Amsterdam in the fall. Instead of staying in a hotel, we decided to rent an apartment during our stay in the Netherlands. Not only does this option allow us to integrate with the city’s culture and experience life as a resident, it also affords us the luxury of staying in the city center without fleecing our pockets. The rental process is easy: you book your flat, pay a retainer fee, and then pick up your key upon arrival. If there are special instructions, such as specified arrival times or preferred methods of payment, the rental company alerts you upfront.
We found our apartment through StayAmsterdam.com — which also rents apartments in other European cities like Paris, Dublin, Marbella, etc. For our stay in Paris, we used Paris35.com. This Web site features, hotels, hostels, and holiday rentals starting at 35 Euros/person. Most of the rentals are centrally located, and each description includes a map of the lodging location in relation to popular Parisian destinations.
In the months ahead, I predict that many travelers will turn to apartment rentals as an affordable lodging solution and a way to keep traveling during the looming recession.
Categories: travel
Tagged: budget travel, budget travel Web sites, Europe, hostels, hotels, recession, rentals, vacation
I’m hunting for a specific travel guide. Ideally, it will be sleek, graphically pleasing, comprehensive, compact, and contain numerous recommendations for restaurants, sights, and shops — it would be an added bonus if it contained 4-color, fold-out maps. A knowledgeable travel expert might naturally suggest Wallpaper* City Guides or Moleskine City Notebooks, both of which seemingly fit my criteria for said travel guide, unfortunately, these books fall exceedingly short.
Both guides offer 4-color, fold-out city maps, they’re both quite cute (sleek and compact) — one might even venture to say Wallpaper’s* guides are sexy, with their bold colored covers and white spines. But they’re both lacking! Wallpaper’s* lists of destinations (restaurants, shops, scenes) is minimal, maxing out at 4-6 suggestions for each category, and Moleskine seems to dedicate too much space to note taking, with it’s removable pages, customizable labels, and sticky notes. Neither guide book seems worth the coinage, especially since I have to buy one Wallpaper* or Moleskine guide and another more comprehensive, “this book says i’m a tourist” Frommer’s guide or what not.
When will the travel industry get smart and target its material to the influencing consumer who wishes for the perfect marriage of smart design and all-encompassing information in one unassuming paperback? Ugh.
Well, while I wait for the publishers to get savvy, can anyone else suggest a worthy travel guide?
Categories: sundry goods · travel
Tagged: Moleskine, Moleskine City Notebooks, Phaidon, travel, travel guides, vacations, Wallpaper* City Guides
