Archive for the ‘design + style’ Category
Bruges is hands down one of the most beautiful cities in the world. You’re sure to instantly fall in love with its picture-perfect winding streets, gingerbread buildings, quaint canals filled with swans, and windmills.
As far as Berlin hotels go, you can’t get dreamier than five-star Hotel Adlon Kempinski, one of Berlin’s classiest and most luxurious hotels. This hotel will have you feeling like royalty from the minute you step past the top-hat clad doorman and are handed that first welcome glass of bubbling Prosecco. The Adlon has a long and iconic history of wowing guests, and is practically a sightseeing stop on its own.
It’s official—we’ve moved to San Francisco! It’s been quite a change going from traveling non-stop across 5 continents, roughly 30 countries and over 200 cities in the last 12 months, to living in one city again. It almost feels like time is standing still.
Why San Francisco? Why not? This city has always captured my heart with its hippie ideals, pure California spirit, artistic energy, and culinary devotion. I’ve been a visitor here many times, but living here has come with some unexpected surprises.
Berlin is a city that is constantly changing. Ultra modern building projects glisten beside historically grand structures and the occasional art-covered chunk of the Berlin Wall. In this constantly evolving landscape, there is never a shortage of sleek and stylish hotels either, many which have become some of the city’s most daring expressions of new design. Among these trendsetters Nhow Hotel has to be one of the most beautifully designed of them all.
As Austria’s largest city, Vienna is filled with abundant hotel chains. So where to start? For something really special, give Hollmann Beletage a try. This hotel is an oasis of pampering and relaxation right in the heart of the city. It’s a small boutique hotel with just a handful of rooms, but it has the feel of a roomy house.
Buenos Aires is filled with colorful street art. Everywhere you turn buildings have been tagged, and much of it has been elevated to an art form. You’ll find street art across the city, signed by the artists themselves. These images encompass bold graphics and painted characters, as well as classic typography and iconography. Some of the best street art can be found in two of B.A.’s trendiest neighborhoods: the up and coming San Telmo historic district and the stylish Palermo Viejo neighborhood.
Buenos Aires is an exciting city. For starters, it’s home to the sultry tango. Its buildings seem to have been splashed with all colors of the rainbow and turned into open canvases for some of the world’s best graffiti art. There’s a whisper of European flavor to the city, with strong Italian and Spanish roots that have produced great things, among them top notch helado. Plus the city is packed with steakhouses and everywhere you turn are steaming empanadas. Here you can watch a tango show in the park over cold cervezas, shop in street markets for hidden gems, stay out till dawn in the city’s many hopping nightclubs, and just wander about enjoying the relaxed vibe.
In these photographs of Picasso, shot in 1949 by LIFE magazine photographer Gjon Mili, Picasso traces a light pen in the air, effectively painting with light. You can feel his iconography subtly shining through in these glowing air drawings: bulls, centaurs, figures in flux, crooked cubist profiles, and of course African masks. Beautiful.
We’ve stayed in some pretty darn stylish hotels this year, from urban city retreats to ultra modern design hotels, to charming B&B’s, sleek boutique luxury hotels, swanky 5-star chains, and countryside manor houses. Out of all of them, here are our top 5 choices from 2012:
#1! Cahernane House Hotel, Killarney, Ireland
Staying in an Irish manor house in Ireland is an absolute must if you’re exploring the Irish countryside. One of the quintessential Irish experiences, they can be found speckled throughout the countryside and offer little pockets of homey luxury. I can’t begin to describe how truly beautiful this place is!
Helsinki is filled with cutting-edge modern art. Relaxed tree-lined streets. Hip bars and cafés. Colorful Finnish fabrics. Decorative buildings. Design hotels galore. Heck, even the trees are pretty in Helsinki.
Voted the design capital of the world for 2012, this city is a world-class buffet of design. Here’s a sampling of not to be missed art and design sights in Helsinki:
