`ello, London!

We added another travel spot to our annual line up: London!

It's going to be so nice... people speaking English, endless book stores, awesome restaurants, seeing the Olympic build up, Pierre Hermé, and Indian food!

I think I'm most excited about the instillation by Yayoi Kusama and the Damien Hirst retrospective (his very first solo) at the Tate. One would be reason enough for a visit, but both is a dream!

In the meantime I'm compiling a list of restaurants and places to visit while we're there. Chances are good we're not going to make it to all of these, but it will be nice to have a list for next time.

As always, I'm open to suggestions and recommendations if you have any to share!

London Pop Up restaurants + shops
Pollen Street Social 
Zuma
Ottolenghi (I have his vegetarian cookbook, Plenty, it's great!)
Dock Kitchen
Fernanadez & Wells
Sketch bar

(When I think of London it always brings smile to my face, because I think of my mother-in-law telling me about a family trip when Stefan was child. He heard his Dad speaking English with the hotel reception and said, "Das will ich auch machen!" / "I want to do that, too!")
(old photos from one of my in-laws' trips)

Florence

Florence or Firenze is a city of prestige, style, and art.

This was the most powerful city in Europe for 250 years or so and really helped Europe come out of the dark ages with currency. It's also credited with creating opera, the most authentic Italian spoken,  and Pinocchio. The Renaissance and Neo-Classical architecture from Brunelleschi and Alberti changed the way cities would be built forever. As we walked through the streets I kept thinking it would have been incredible to live during this age of discovery and creativity.

One of the most memorable courses I took in my art history studies was Italian Renaissance art. Seeing many of the things I learned about with my own eyes was really something special.

The landscape alone made such a gorgeous tapestry of colors with the late Autumn leaves, purple mountains, and rolling hills. It's certainly clear to see why it's an inspiration for artists.

We were lucky to visit during the off-peak season. The city itself while sprawling, has a concentrated area for the touristy things, so it probably doesn't take much for it to feel slightly congested. Before our trip I read the Florentines are their own type of people: elegant, cultured, and sophisticated.

Our apartment was right at the Palazzo Vecchio (where the David originally stood) and the Uffizi in the Santa Croce district, which is reputed to have some of the best restaurants.

I think we ate cannolis every morning for breakfast... and maybe a small one after dinner if we weren't enjoying the cantuccini + vino santo.

There seemed to be no shortage of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving in Italy - from the college students biking around to the older tour groups.

I was able to cross a few things off my list of impressive art and architecture to experience: Bottecelli's Birth of Venus, Michelangelo's David, Brunelleschi’s dome, and Giotto's Tower to name a few. We also picked up a kitschy ornament of the David he'll remind us of our trip for holidays to come.

It intrigues me how so many artists had patrons with ties to the church, powerful families, and endless amounts of money. Seeing how art, math, and engineering combine to create some very impressive works makes that money well invested.

We pre-booked tickets to the Galleria dell'Accademia and Uffizi, which turned out not to be necessary since there weren't so many tourists. A little tip if the pre-booked tickets are sold out is to head to this little window between the Palazzo Vecchio and the Cathedral. They have tickets from cancelled reservations for the various museums.

Here are some of the pretty things we saw, ate, and experienced: 

Ponte Vecchio

Meats, Cheeses, Cantuccini + Vino Santo

Baptistry Doors

Catholic street art

Giotto's Tower + The Cathedral Façade

Osteria Pepò ... for a terrific wine filled lunch

Medici Palace

The view from Giotto's Tower 

gelato + pastries

The Florence Marathon... one of these two won

The Occupy Florence movement

Pretty street decor

Ospedale degli Innocenti by Brunelleschi

Ospedal degli Innocenti details

Motorbikes along the Arno

Ponte Vecchio's jewelry shops

Christmas lights

Uffizi Gallery

Palmanova Starfort... something cool we spotted from the plane window.

As always, I wish that we had more time to explore the city and to visit the outskirts as well. 

The Tuscan area certainly has an allure to it. 

I'm looking forward to looking at some of the photos my parents took (slides actually) when they visited Italy and Florence on their honeymoon. I'm sure the fashions from the 1970's alone will be a treat. 

Bird's eye: Venice

As soon as the weather starts cooling off we tend to venture somewhere warmer.

On our latest trip we spotted Venice down below.
(By clicking to enlarge it, you can read the island names.)

Here's the another map I made of the Venice Sestiere.

And while I'm at it, I found a few more vintage photos of Venice amongst my collection.

1933 Christmas

I was looking through some of my vintage photos and came across this Christmas tree from 1933.

Notice the German details - real candles as opposed to lights and the bushy shape, which I had never seen before moving here. I'm curious what types of gifts were given during this time.

Hopefully we'll get our tree up in the next week or so, but we won't be going so traditional with real candles.

Auer Dult

It's the time of year again... lots of kitschy tschotskes for sale amidst carney rides and German fair foods at Mariahilfplatz.

The vendors tend to be the same with many of Munich's antique shops being represented. I always appreciate the paper products - old maps, photos, and occasionally interesting books.

I spotted some chairs similar to the ultra Bavarian looking ones at the Alpentraum. With a couple layers of bright paint they could be modernized in no time. They were 65€ each or 4 for 200€... that is if you can resist the temptation to purchase that lovely antler chair next to it. I don't even know where someone would get inspiration to make that monstrosity.

I didn't leave empty handed though. I bought Josh + Mieka a couple of soft pretzel squeak toys. I'm really looking forward to visiting them in June!

Stranded Tourists

Since I interact a lot with tourists and the travel industry, I am always hearing stories about people stuck on their holiday - or seeing it for myself. It's probably fair to say many of those won't be visiting the city they are stuck in again anytime soon, if they are able to help it.

Yesterday, virtually my entire group complained about the hotels inflating their rates. One man was originally paying 125€ / night and they increased the prices to 300€ / night. It's not as if every hotel is overbooked since many vendors couldn't even get to the large builders exhibition.

I checked rates myself - right now a room at the Mandarin Oriental costs as much as, or even less than a Holiday Inn! That is ridiculous.

Truth be told I'm slightly sad I'm not trapped in Iceland. I love that place.

(How do you like the vintage Mount Vesuvius photos? It last erupted in 1944. I'm not sure when these photos are from)

antique photos

One of my guilty pleasures is riffling through boxes of old photos at the antique stores. I love photos, so I find it very hard to imagine how someone could part with these. Surely they have many stories and a history behind them. There are babies, weddings, parties, and my favorite - vacations.

Some are the historical scenes of the lives that cities once lived, while others are people. I admit, I am the creepy person that has photos of people I don't even know.

My favorites are the kids at the zoo or people wearing lederhosen, just because they are funny. I'm not entirely sure what I will do with them - perhaps display them or introduce them to the 21st century and make them digital so I can share them here.

My city collection now consists of:
Rome
the Vatican
Florence
Venice
Capri
Paris
Pompeii
Dubrovnik
Salzburg
Brussels
Trier
Hamburg

I think about how far digital cameras have come and how precious these snap shots and limited film supplies once were.

Now someone's memories are having a second life and making me wonder about the experiences that made them worthy of being captured for posterity... even if posterity means a random American girl living in Munich.