Polanco is the most upscale neighbourhood in Mexico City. This is where the elite of CDMX…
During the winter months, so many of us pine for the hot sun and relief of blistering wind chill. So it’s rare that we would seek out a winter vacation anywhere that doesn’t involve sunlight and warm weather. But, for the first time in my life, I decided to opt to travel to the cold and darkened streets of wintery Scandinavia over the holidays. And if that doesn’t sound appealing to you, I implore you to read on! I was utterly mesmerized by winter in Scandinavia and found it to be absolutely magical.
Frida Kahlo is Mexico City. Not only did she live there, grow up there and die there, but she also embodied everything I have come to love from this vibrant city. One of the greatest ways of exploring a city, especially if it’s your second visit, is to explore it through the eyes of someone you admire. It’s like being able to step back in time or imagine yourself as that very person you might be so curious to learn about. Even the smallest detail (or street corner) sometimes can reveal so much.
If you’re anything like me, your house is one of the best little peaks into your personality. In each and every corner of my house, I have curated little galleries dedicated to the things which inspired me, which tell stories of my past and keyholes in my future. A home is the most private place in a person’s world, a place where they can feel whole and safe. For Frida Kahlo, this could not be truer. Her home, La Casa Azul or “the blue house”, was the place where she was born, grew up, learned to be an artist, lived with her husband, got divorced and remarried, and where she eventually died. It was her sanctuary but also her cage since for most of her life she was bedridden from injury and sickness. She spent more years of her life inside these cerulean walls than perhaps anywhere else in the world and as such, it is one of the most intimate looks into her life you can experience.
When visiting Tokyo for the first time, one sleepy, jetlag heavy morning, we stubbed around the area we were staying and ended up on the west side of Ueno Park. Not knowing much about it, we wandered around aimlessly, discovering time after time the most peaceful, serene and beautiful little visual scenes which felt iconically Japanese. We loved it from the instant we stepped foot onto the lotus leaf-covered boardwalk which leads into the park. Ever since, when we return to Tokyo, we make a point to spend an entire half-day here exploring everything this place has to offer. Below are my favourite 13 things to do on your first trip to Ueno Park!
In the cosy, seaside village of Yokohama, you’ll find the fabled Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Although it’s dubbed a “museum”, the experience you’ll have is more in line with a trip to Epcot. The museum is almost like visiting a food-themed amusement park which sends you back in time in tastes and visuals.
From the minute you step into the bright, shiny, neat and tidy, perfect curated aisles of the huge warehouse that is the Pinball Hall of Fame, if you’re anything like me and have a soft spot in your heart for nostalgia, you’ll have found your nerdy heaven.
When I first visited Washington D.C. I thought it would be nothing more than plain white political powerhouses and generic American architecture. Boy was I wrong! I was shocked to see what a beautiful city this was. The central sightseeing portion of this city is extremely walkable so its easy to just wander around from place to place taking snapshots of the bright, bold and brilliant art and architecture which makes Washington such an incredible place to visit.
The Heavenly Bodies collection at the Cloisters focuses on the quiet, reflective nature of faith. The outfits are more complicated, require more thought and observation, and due to the remote location, allows you to have a more personal experience with the objects.
The Byzantine Galleries focus on designers who were influenced by Sacred Spaces; the interior of Cathedrals and churches, and who brought elements from those spaces into the garments. The dresses are paired with fragments of floor mosaics from the 5th century as well as pieces of Byzantine jewellery and silverware. The mannequins each stand high aloft of tall plinths. The dresses are still clearly visible and yet are somewhat separated from the historical art along the walls.
Heavenly Bodies explores “fashion’s ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and traditions of Catholicism.” The Vatican collection provides a great reference for seeing the modern fashion in the rest of the exhibition.
There are hundreds of museums all over the world, and almost every one of them is worth a peek inside, but probably my favourite oddball museum is the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco. This place is truly a one of a kind collection of mechanical oddities saved by a devoted collector. Together they tell a story of a bygone era.
The Hakone Open Air Museum is located in the heart of the Japanese countryside. Nestled in between the green hills and valleys of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Almost most people who travel to the Hakone region come for the views and the onsens, not the art, I highly recommend making a stop here, trust me, you won’t regret it!