art

Then we take Berlin

I´m just back from a trip to Berlin and boy  was it  invigorating! I love that city, there´s no doubt in my mind that it has everything you could ever want from a metropole, except for the sea, perhaps. I´d settle for that anytime!

I was in Berlin for a conference; in a way it was the excuse I needed to allow myself 4 days off.  The conference about community interpreting was intense and inspiring, although I found out mostly what I already knew, that the world is compromising more and more for the sake of saving a penny and that availability precedes quality.

However, that didn´t stop me from having a good time. We did some shopping, we dined French, Asian and Italian. We walked till our feet hurt, stopped for a beer and then walked some more. I´m not very much into German cuisine, except for the curry wurste and the pretzel, which I had my share of this time, too.

On Sunday we went to the Mauerpark for the flea market, but since it was Memorial Day there was no market.  What else to do than eat some organic pizza and have more coffee? We then walked all the way to Mitte through Prenzlauer Berg with its colorful  buildings, shops and falafel stores. Berlin was chilly and grey and yet not distressing at all. They´d just started Christmas decorating and somehow I felt I was a couple of weeks early.

Yesterday we wrapped up by cake and coffee at KADEWE, the amazing shopping center of West Berlin, where you find whatever you could ever dream of from exclusive handcrafted bags to chocolate truffles and eclairs. We had amazing eclairs and bought some small gifts and magazines, I am now the proud owner of the latest CEREAL edition! Later on we visited the Bauhaus Museum and found yet some more inspiration in the clean lines and visionary buildings. I am currently on my couch in my pjs and life has never been as sweet.

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A lovely Parisian corner

My husband is back from Paris and he was so inspired I felt it was a good choice to stay at home and let him experience the big city on his own. He was lucky to stay in a lovely apartment in Bastille and the owners made him feel so welcome he felt at home at once. I fell in love with  the apartment the moment I saw the first picture! For those of you planning a trip to Paris anytime soon, check out Tanguy´s place on airbnb.com. The owners are New Yorker Tanguy and Parisian Lou and they´ll greet you as if you were their own friend. Their home is warm and cosy and mirrors their extensive travels, a successful mixture of American humor and French refinement. Take a look and see what you think! We´re planning a trip there in spring and guess where we´ll stay?!;-)

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Art

I´m very much into photography and graphics. I won´t pretend to know a lot about art, but that´s besides the point, as long as it awakens any sort of tremble within me, it´s art enough.

I seldom have epiphanies on account of an art work and the few times I do, the pieces are usually so over my means that I have to swallow my pride and leave. Nevertheless, I won´t ever forget Kana Otofuji´s exhibition in Bygdøy allé, 10 years ago. I had just started dating my husband and we wore broke as never before and never since, walking around purposely, happy just to be together. We entered this gallery and I was stricken with awe when seeing her pictures on aluminum. They presented me with such an ethereal beauty I was just blown away. I remember having thought that if I had the money, I wouldn´t have hesitated, even though it would have been the equivalent of three months´rent. I´m still waiting to “grow up” so I can afford a couple of her paintings.

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Being creative

Yesterday was a good day. I had a short window of time between jobs, so I  raided one of my favourite interior decoration shops- Norway Designs where I discovered Kristina Dam! A lovely Danish artist who combines graphics and modern art in enchanting pictures, I just had to have one! I´m fond of photography and graphics and definitely a collector in every sense of the word. At the same time I´ve never felt I could splurge on a certain art piece, so I go for prints in the shops and I trawl flea-markeds and thrift stores where you can buy many small pieces without ruining yourself.

Kristina Dam

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