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I have been to Barcelona probably around half a dozen times or so. This time however was the first time that I had the pleasure to visit the Casa Mila, Park Guell and Sagrada Familia. I had visited previously the Casa Batllo but never any of the other examples of Gaudi architecture. Most likely because each of the other visits were for business and one occasion where I spent the weekend with a girlfriend and we were completely caught up in shopping mode and didn’t see a single site!

This time in Barcelona, I was with my husband and since he appreciates architecture we spent more time on viewing Guadi work and art galleries than shopping. We only had a weekend so we visited as much as possible without wearing completely out our feet!

Casa Batllo

On our first full day we visited the Casa Batllo and I must say while I had found Gaudi architecture interesting before, I had no understanding of it and thought it was all aesthetic or some really good (or bad, depending on your POV) drugs.

In our visit to the Casa Batllo we discovered that even the university from which he graduated was unsure if he was a genius or a lunatic. Actually as you learn the inspiration behind his ideas you are fascinated by his genius.

Casa Batllo Model

He was fascinated by nature and was therefore inspired by nature in his designs. When you look at his work you can easily see structures which resemble backbone vertebrae, spiral stair cases inspired by shells, tiles inspired by honey cones and columns by bones and trees. When you understand these ideas, you cannot help but think of him as a genius and wonder why more of his ideas were not more widely adapted.

Casa Batllo Spine Inspired

Casa Batllo Tile

If in Barcelona, I would highly recommend a visit to Casa Batllo for education of the ideas and then Casa Mila for the aesthetic appreciation of Gaudi architecture.

Casa Batllo Terrace Chimney

The Pompidou as you know if you follow this blog is one of my favourite museums in Paris.

The first Sunday of every month, the Pompidou along with all the other national museums in Paris are free. Our plan was to wake up early and get into the Pompidou before the crowds.

Just as we were arriving at the street where the Pompidou is located we noticed that the street had been shut down by the national police. We assumed that it was just for a motorcade of some sort and went around the blocked off street.

Pompidou Photographers

As we arrived at the front of the museum we noticed that no one was being allowed down the hill to the entrance, again blocked off by the national police. I approached one of them and asked what was going on. He replied that it was closed due to a visit from the “American President” (in French of course). I asked when it would be open and he replied in the afternoon.

Front of the Pompidou

Well we had hoped to get in during the morning and I had not planned anything else until lunch time. We decided to wait for a while and have a coffee on one of the cafes out front in Beaubourg. Finally the national police allowed everyone to go to the front of the museum. The crowds rushed to the front and of course there was a big line up. We decided to skip it and come back later in the evening where there would likely be less people.

We had lunch at my favourite falafel restaurant in the Marais, Las Fallafel.

Las Fallafel

After lunch we walked to the Louvre and enjoyed a couple hours there instead.

In the evening we walked back to the Pompidou and were happy to see the crowds had left. We did make the mistake however of not purchasing a ticket for the special exhibitions so we had to go back down to the reception and purchase our tickets. At 12 euros each and headsets at 5 euros each this was no longer a free evening.

We started with the Kandinsky exhibition and while I did like it, I admit I don’t get it! We then moved on to the Calder exhibition and completely enjoyed it.

Alexander Calder is an American sculptor who worked with wire as his medium. Born in 1898 he first trained as an engineer and then as an artist. His career as an artist really took off when he arrived in Paris in 1926. The exhibition at the Pompidou focuses on his work during his time in Paris.

Calder Fish Bowl

Facinating work, really worth a visit. It is truly amazing how realistic Calder can make objects look with a few simple telephone wires.

The third annual Dada exhibition is currently running in the Maison des Arts in the little town of Saint Faustin in the Laurentians. The exhibition is on May 3rd to May 30th.

Dada Poster

It is the first time that I have had the opportunity to visit the exhibition. I had wanted to go last year however the timing did not coincide with our visit to Mont Tremblant.

While the exhibition is relatively small. You can visit the whole exhibition in about an hour. It is very well done. The interpretation of Dadaism is amazing and all done by local artists.

Dada or Dadaism can be explained as a cultural movement that began in Zürich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement is primarily express through art forms including visual arts and poetry. The works of art focus on political and social messages. The art forms reject traditional art standards and use a mix of unusual materials to communicate their thought provoking messages.

One work of art challenges the idea of oil for profit and another the impact of our consumerism on the environment.

One suggestion I would have is if you do not speak/read French well, take a little mini translator. It is not necessary to appreciate the art but each work is titled and understanding the art’s name for the work can help you to better understand the idea they are trying to communicate.

As you know from my previous post I am at my chalet in Mont Tremblant and while enjoying the wildlife up here I got to thinking about how the colours of nature are inspiring me for fashion colours. Here are a few examples.

Robins Egg Blue

Robins Egg Blue Inspired

Moss

Moss Inspired

Salmon Moss Inspired

Chipmunk/Deer/Baby Robins Natural Beige and Nudes

Baby Robins

Honey Jade Bracelet

To see these nature inspired artisan jewelry pieces check ou Pangea-Collection’s website.

I have spent the last week up at our chalet in Mont Tremblant, QC. One of the things I love most about the area beyond the beautiful trees, mountains and endless activities to do is the wildlife. The deer, birds, chipmunks, squirrels and more.

We have names for all of them.

The deer are called Prudence. The deer crossing warning signs on the roads here show an image of a deer and the word Prudence which of course means caution but we picked it up as the name for deer so all deer are now named Prudence.

The chipmunks are all called Joey. This goes back to my childhood summers spent at a family cottage in Northern Ontario. I don’t know why but my grandparents always called the chipmunks Joey and that stuck with me. So all our chipmunks are Joey except we discovered a new chipmunk here this year which seems to have his tail bobbed off so he’s Bobby.

Red is a squirrel we haven’t seen since our first winter here but during that first winter we were so excited to see the deer in the backyard that we bought some deer food (we know it’s wrong and we don’t do it anymore!). We put the food out on the snow for the deer. We hadn’t anticipated that a squirrel would discover it and feel like he hit the jackpot. It was the funniest thing we had ever seen.

The red Squirrel discovered the seed on the ground and started zipping back and forth to his nest with as much seed as he could but realised he could never take it all back so he started burying it in the snow just a few feet away from the original pile. He would stick his face into the snow drop the seed then (I’m not kidding) fluff up the snow around the seed to make it look like it was covered and not a stock pile.

The name red is based on the fact that he is red coloured but also that he’s zippy fast.

This year for the first time we have a nest of Robins on our deck. We arrived last week and our first thing to do is go out onto the deck and look for Joey (he has a home at the end of the deck). As we were exiting the house a bird whipped by our head we looked over and saw her nest in the deck roof. The next day we had a look at the inside of the nest to see if there were any eggs inside. There were four beautiful blue eggs. We’ve been trying ever since to avoid going out on the deck to let her stay with the eggs.

Yesterday her behaviour changed she wasn’t leaving the nest at all. I had the feeling that the eggs were hatching. We had a quick peak when she finally left the nest and the eggs were just starting to hatch. You could see the tiny featherless bodies popping out of the eggs. I did not want to disturb the mother so we quickly got out of the way.

Today we took a picture of them. Here is the picture of the babies. It’s a tiny bit blurry, again I did not want to disturb the mother. The names of the robins are Roberta, Robert and now the babies - Bambinos.

Baby Robins

Pangea Collection has been added to Frugal Fashion Focus.

Frugal Fashion Focus is described by Laura roach, creator of Frugal Fashion Focus as “a passionate group of budgeting Fashionistas bringing together the very best content on fashion savings and sales.”

Check out the latest in saving on fashion for jewellery to clothing to shoes.

December 20th
Today was all about the markets. First we wanted to visit the area in Palermo Hollywood and see the market there. We took the metro and walked from the nearest one taking a look at the interesting boutiques and shops along the way. In general this was a nice area for boutique shopping. We arrived at the Plaza Serrano and took a quick walk around the fair. This is a very small market and can be seen in a short period of time.

We stopped for lunch at one of the many restaurants and cafes in the area before catching a taxi to the Malba museum. The Malba is a beautiful building with modern Argentinean art, definitely worth a visit. There is also a nice café inside which is a perfect place to take a break.

Malba Foyer

After visiting the museum we walked to the Plaza Francia stopping to see the giant robotic flower “Floralis Generica” monument along the way. The flower is stunningly beautiful and opens and closes daily.

By the time we reached the Plaza Francia we were already hot and tired but this is by far the best market in the city (in my opinion anyway). The booths in the main circle are all manned (according to their rules anyway) artisans who handcraft their goods. The quality and selection of the crafts here are fantastic. I would not suggest a visit to Buenos Aires without visiting this market. I would also suggest that you take at least a couple of hours to visit. Since the market backs up on the design mall you may even consider taking a break in one of the many restaurants in the design mall while visiting the market.

We were completely exhausted after walking around the market and decided to go back to the hotel to freshen up and relax for awhile.

Since we had spent a long day seeing the sights we decided to have dinner at the nearby Puerto Madero even though we had felt it was a bit touristy when we had walked there the previous night. It was nearby and we had read that there was a good value Parrilla there called La Bistecca. We decided that we would take a taxi to save our legs.

If you love buffets here in North America, you’ll love La Bistecca. For us this is really not our thing. I’d rather have a small amount of high quality food than a huge amount of average food. Overall it was a fine experience we have fun being together and the food was fine just not great. Again we found that the vegetables are not particularly well prepared. There is a lot of meat choice and also you can have pizza and pasta made to order as part of the all inclusive buffet. Our bill including wine was 171 pesos.

Read the previous posts in this series:
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX

Check back for more tips on Buenos Aires travel tips.

December 19th
Since when we went to Recoleta we hadn’t visited the cemetery we decided to do it today. Normally going to a cemetery is not my idea of how to spend time, however I had seen some pictures of the cemetery in advance and was really intrigued by the monuments and the whole areas being almost like a walled neighbourhood – strange but you have to see it to understand what I mean.

Racoleta Cemetery

You can buy a map outside the entrance to keep as a souvenir or just follow the crowds of people to find Evita’s family grave. It is certainly not the most impressive of the graves but a mandatory stop.

Evita's Grave

Before going to the cemetery we visited the design mall which is very near the cemetery. The mall includes indoor and outdoor areas and has wonderful restaurants with terrace seating. There are also many shops and furniture stores inside. You may consider having lunch or a break here either before or after visiting the cemetery.

Design Center

In the evening – Puerto Madero
We had yet to visit the Puerto Madero area so we decided to take a walk there from our hotel to check it out and maybe have some dinner. We walked from our hotel all the way along the port to the very end. The area is filled with restaurants (basically there are only restaurants and hotels there). It you like eating at touristy areas this is the perfect area for you. We found the restaurant to be generally overpriced and had a feeling of urban gentrification. None-the-less we did enjoy the walk along the port and watching the young couples in love cuddling up on the many benches overlooking the water. I am not exaggerating when I say every single bench was built for two and occupied by such.

Along out walk we came across the Catholic University and were completely perplexed by the egg carnage that was all over the sidewalk. We later learned that this is a tradition in which those graduating from University are targets for eggs and flower. There must have been two solid blocks of egg and flower all over the sidewalk.

If you decide to take the walk along the port, may I suggest that you do not start at one end and walk to the other, it is a very long walk and the university takes up big portion of it in the middle and there is really nothing to see at that part.

You may visit the well known restaurant Cabana Las Lilas which is near the beginning of the port. The other end of the port has less expensive restaurants and if going there you may wish to take a taxi (save your legs).

We were tired after all of our walking and decided to call it a night rather than have dinner.

Read the previous posts in this series:
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII

Check back for more tips on Buenos Aires travel tips.

On Saturday, Pangea Collection participated in The Elle Show. I had the privilege to be set up next to two vendors selling the cutest accessories for spring/summer. And just to be cliche, they were accessories covered, head to toe!

Erin from Bel Ami, hand crafts pretty and oh so look at me perfect, I’m going to make a statement when I go out, headbands. These pretty headbands are adorned with petite rosettes, feathers and or tulle. Very pretty.

Check out Erin’s headbands on her Etsy page Bel Ami.

And Lola Sandals are a leather sandal with interchangeable ribbons that you wrap and tie up your ankle. A pretty ribbon combination to match every summer outfit. What more could we want?

Check out Lola’s facebook page

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and there is an important reason to celebrate mom this year. Pangea-Collection.com with your help is giving back to moms around the world. Purchasing a piece of fair trade artisan jewelry from Pangea-Collection.com is a gift that gives – to your mom and to moms around the world, though a $1 donation from every online order going to Opportunity International.

Pangea-Collection.com offers a distinctive selection of handcrafted fair trade and artisan jewelry from around the world. Starting from just $20, the site’s mother’s day gift guide has a perfect gift selection for every personality. Moreover, many of the pieces on Pangea-Collection.com are exquisite works of jewelry art created by artisans, the majority of whom are women.

Opportunity International is a microenterprise development organisation. They provide small loans – sometimes as little as $50 – and training to help entrepreneurs in the developing world start a business. As business grows, the entrepreneurs develop steady incomes, enabling them to feed, educate and provide for their families. By giving the entrepreneurial poor a “hand up” instead of a “hand out”, Opportunity International helps uplift entire communities through job creation. Founded in 1971, Opportunity International now serves over 1.2 million loan clients. Loan repayment rates are 98%; about 85% of loans go to women. On average each loan supports five family members.

Pangea-Collection.com is on “Mission Mom” honouring mothers but also Fair Trade Day which falls on May 9th, the day before Mother’s Day. There is a meaningful connection here: According to the Fair Trade Federation, 70% of the fair trade artisans are women, who are often the sole wage earners in their homes. Of all the impoverished, women are the poorest. The UN says women do 67% of the world’s work, earn only 10% of the world’s pay and own only 1% of the world’s property. Women are paid 30-40% less than men for comparable work. Women in developing countries work an average of 60-90 hours a week.

Whenever possible, Pangea-Collection.com is committed to working with Fair Trade organisation worldwide, as is witnessed through the variety of Fair Trade Jewelry collections available through the site.

Shop Pangea-collection.com from April 20th to May 4th 2009, and $1 from online orders will be donated to Opportunity International. Offer mom an alluring piece of the world, and cascade it to moms around the world.

As Patricia Pinkney creator of Pangea-Collection.com states, “After years of working in the corporate world, I wanted to do my small part to help enable artisans around the world, especially women. It is especially meaningful on Mother’s Day and Fair Trade Day to recognise the privilege we have living in this wonderful country while at the same time acknowledge that there are mothers around the world who are struggling to support their families. Together we can help them achieve the art of self reliance.”