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Canaletto à Venise – Discover Venice in Paris
During the eighteenth century some young French artists, despite having the French Academy, preferred to study in Rome and Venice. Today, you have the chance to discover their works at Maillol Museum, which pays tribute to the Venice of 1700 with an exhibition that showcases the best works of Canaletto (from the 19th of September to the 10th of February 2013). Giovanni Antonio Canal (known as Canaletto, 1697-1768) was a famous painter of urban landscapes in Venice, who became the greatest precursor of Veduta, the eighteenth century Italian painting genre. The vedute, portrayed almost as a mapping, the Venetian landscape of the time, while describing in great detail rivers, canals, bridges, architecture, etc. Maillol Museum, in collaboration with other museums and private collectors, gathered more than 50 Canaletto’s works, selected with great rigor. This is a great opportunity to contemplate the best paintings of Canaletto. Landscapes and views, as well as tradition, history, drawings and prints, are now gathered in this magnificent display of the best artist of this kind of art, while renewing and modernizing him, to become a global icon in painting. Canaletto’s techniques were varied; direct painting, sketch or finished on site work. Referring to the latter one, the Venduta’s painter used an optical camera to project an image and frame landscapes. Caravaggio also used this device, but Giovanni Antonio Canal better developed what today is known as wide angle. Thanks to Dario Maran studies, there is a recreated copy of this wonderful machine showcased in this exhibition, so that the viewer can interact with it and understand how Canaletto did those aerial view of Venice....
El Molino in Barcelona
Lovers of Moulin Rouge style burlesque theater will be thrilled to find that the atmosphere of the Parisian cabaret is recreated in Barcelona’s stellar El Molino. The signature windmill design on the front of the edifice is immediately reminiscent of the famous Moulin Rouge, and in fact, when it changed ownership in 1908, it was even called the Petit Moulin Rouge. The red windmill, however, didn’t make an appearance until 1929, when it was added to help the building stand out from similar surrounding establishments. The history of the building in fact dates back for over 100 years, to 1898 when it opened under the name Catalan Aviary and was used as a performance space. It carried on under that name until it was sold in 1908 and began operating under the name Petit Moulin Rouge. For many years, the Petit Moulin Rouge operated in the Parallel area of Barcelona – an area distinguished by its many French styled cabarets and nightclubs. For years, the club was known as the Moulin Rouge of Barcelona; however, when the Civil War ended and the Spanish “nacionales” came into power, any “Frencified” name was obliterated from buildings and businesses. Thus, the name was changed to El Molino. Throughout the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s El Molino enjoyed huge popularity in Barcelona, thanks to its uniquely liberal flair, blatant eroticism and grand, decadent luxury. Legendary artists graced its stage, including such stellar performers as Mary Mistral, Lander and Leanna, Yvette Rene, and Gardenia Pulido. In the 1980s the theater hosted artists like Amparo Moreno, Lita Claver and Merche Mar. Unfortunately, poor economic choices...
Children’s Play Day on the Island of Lokrum
Brief History The name of Lokrum Island was first heard in 1192 when it provided shelter to King Richard during his return from the Third Crusade. As a gesture of gratitude, King Richard built a Romanesque cathedral. During the 17th century, a quarantine area – Lazzaretti – was developed in Lokrum Island, to prevent epidemics. The remains of the Lazzaretti can still be seen when you walk across the island. Franciscan monastery is another historic place on the island. It was built in Gothic-Renaissance style in the 15th century. As soon as you step inside the Franciscan monastery, you will feel as if you have gone back in time. Botanical Garden Maximilian of Habsburg, brother of Francis Joseph I, also once controlled Lokrum Island. In 1859, he bought the island and made beautiful gardens. These gardens can still be seen today as part of the botanical garden. It is thanks to Maximilian that you can walk among 500 different types of flowers, trees, bushes, and plants. Maximilian liked to travel a lot and brought various kinds of seeds from all across the world. In the botanical garden, you can see flowers, trees, and plants from Chile, south and middle California, South Africa, and east and south Australia. Enjoy the meadows You will see a large meadow beyond the monastery and beneath the olive groves. You will also find small football and volleyball fields on the meadow. Children will especially love this place since swings and other games are also available here. Pine trees and cypress provide shade to the swings and other games, so the children can easily play...
La Mercè in Barcelona
Traveling to Barcelona is a magical experience, as this city is always able to fascinate you with its exquisite blend of art and tradition. One of the best times to enjoy getting to know more about its history and admire the folklore and customs that make up the character of Barcelona, is La Mercè festival. To discover the origins of this celebration, which coincides with the beginning of autumn, we must go back to the late seventeenth century. At that time, Barcelona suffered the misfortune of a locust plague and its inhabitants started praying to the Virgin of la Mercè to get rid of it. When the plague ceased, the city named the Virgin of la Mercè as the protector of Barcelona, although it wasn’t official until 1868, when Pope Pius IX ratified it. Since then, Barcelona celebrates its most cheerful festival on the la Mercè’s day. Today, the festival has a distinctly popular character and a complete agenda of events around the Mediterranean culture, taking place in many public spaces in the city: parades, concerts, traditional dances and street arts, etc. The 2012 edition of this festival will be celebrated from the 21st to the 24th of September, and its theme will be innovation and creativity. Montreal, one of the most creative cities in the world, will be the Festival’s guest city. What can you see at La Mercè? The festival has hundreds of activities planned, so it is hard not to miss anything. Here are some of the activities you should consider: The Correfocs are an ancient Catalan tradition and one of the most spectacular acts that...
The Born This Way Ball Concert by Lady Gaga in Berlin
Everyone knows that one of the biggest musical phenomenon of recent times called Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga, the famous American singer, record producer, composer, pianist and dancer, that charmed the entire world with her incredible talent, will perform a great concert at the O2 World in Berlin on the 20th of September. In 2008, she launched her debut album “The Fame” and just a year later, she was already the diva we all know today. Her songs “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” catapulted her to top positions in the charts around the world, while dethroning Madonna as the queen of pop. The 23-year-old singer is particularly known for her exceptional staging and provocative performances, that have led her to win 5 Grammy Awards, while being finalist in twelve of them. Since then no one can stop her. Lady Gaga is also a great songwriter, who has collaborated with many renowned artists such as Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls. In 2010, Lady Gaga made her first appearance at the O2 World concert hall, and two years later, she returns to Berlin to perform a magnificent show, as part of her tour “The Born This Way Ball”. What could be better that a short trip to Berlin and watch Lady Gaga’s concert, while exploring one of the most vibrant and emblematic cities in Europe? As everyone knows, the German capital was almost three decades divided by the famous “Berlin Wall”. You can still see the remains of this wall, which became an iconic site of the city after its fall in 1989. While in Berlin, you can also visit some...
Bicing Barcelona
Biking is a great form of public transportation in Barcelona. It’s a practical, sustainable, and very simple way to travel comfortably around the city, without strain, jams, smoke or noise and it’s designed especially for you. When combined with other public transport options, you can use the “Bicing” system to travel around all of Barcelona. The Good: Getting around by bicycle in a city like Barcelona is usually quite comfortable. It’s cheap. With an annual fee of 44 euros, each time you rent a bike you can have it for 30 minutes absolutely free. There are many bike lanes throughout the city that make biking more pleasant. The city has been designed for you to use the bicycle as a complement to traditional public transportation, which means there are bicycle stations very close to the metro, trains and public car parks. This is an environmentally friendly way to travel without any emissions. It’s good for your physical and mental health, since you’re having a cardio workout while avoiding traffic jams and crowds of people. It is very well organized. The Bad: You’ll have to pay extra each time your ride exceeds 30 minutes. If your ride exceeds more than two hours, you’ll have to pay a small fine. The third time you exceed 2 hours you will be automatically dismissed. The fact that you have to pay an annual fee and have a DNI or NIE makes it unsuitable for travelers from outside Spain. As you can see, there are more pros than cons for using this service. And like in many European cities, the popularity of biking is...
PICNIC Festival Amsterdam 2012 Speaks New Ownership This Year
Amsterdam’s reputation has gotten a boost by hosting this event for the creative and innovation industries. The festival brings in around 3,500 professionals from all over the world, who are scattered and centered around the technological, governmental, nonprofit, creative and educational industries. This year the theme of the PICNIC Festival Amsterdam is ‘New Ownership: the shift from top down to bottom up’. The festival is going to have an overlook about how technology benefits people, business and organizations. Improvements, new ideas, concepts or even prototypes may be made. The organization may arise questions upon the improvements, which would clarify their mind and help them in using them in their company or organizations as well as, the festival would have a learning environment for them. New Ownership Awareness among the people has arisen to what it used to be, internet and social media play a strong role in it. People now know that matters can be taken into their hands, and every person has the potential to cause a change in the society. The change may be for small scale or even a greater scale. The main goal for the festival is to seek opportunities for transformation: products, models, processes, experiences, services and cultures. The festival is scheduled to be on September 17 and 18 at Amsterdam’s new EYE Film Institute. There would be seven main areas on which the PICNINC Festival 2012 would focus on. Those 7 main areas are: Fundamentals. Governance. Business. Sustainability. Education. Health/life sciences. Media The participants would have a wide range of activities. The program would include 6 of them those are: Co-creation workshops and...
Slash Concert in New York
Everyone knows Slash: one of the best guitarist of all times and one of the founding members of the legendary rock band Guns N ´Roses. With them he recorded an album that has been considered among the best of the hard rock history: “Appetite for Destruction”. This album captured the best of an era of revolt as the decadent years in Los Angeles. By then (1986), the Guns N ´Roses lived a life on the edge, full of concerts, rehearsals and excesses. Slash’s talent would lead the band to become one of the biggest ones in the world. The multimillion-dollar contract, the band signed with Geffen Records, also allowed them to record a double album entitled “Use Your Illusion”, which not only proved that they very talented musicians, but also artists with very high pretensions. Of course, many have questioned the quality of both albums, but it was just a risky move that closed the eighties, before the grunge invaded the international radio stations. Slash on the other hand, after a few attempts in the mid-nineties to continue with Guns N ´Roses, formed his own band Slash´s Snakepit, with which he recorded two albums: “It´s Five O´Clock Somewhere” (1995) and “Ain’t life grand” (2000), with those albums he kept his blues and hard rock style, in a decade dominated by alternative rock. After this project, he founded the super band Velvet Revolver, in collaboration with Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum from the former Guns N ´Roses and the Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland. After several tours, two albums, and many problems with the drug addicted Weiland, the band...
Latino Restaurants in Barcelona
One of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, Barcelona is also one of the most beautiful. Its Gothic Quarter, the beautiful Mediterranean beach and its many architectural gems make it a must-see destination for travelers inEurope. One of the advantages of being a cosmopolitan city is the great gastronomic diversity it offers thanks to its mix of cultures. InBarcelona, you can eat everything, absolutely everything, and it will be prepared well by people who know what they’re doing, by people who have living here for a number of years but haven’t lost the connection to their own cultures. You can find restaurants of all types, tastes and prices, including various types of Asian food and anything found to the East or West. And this is what I’m writing about today, since I’ve had the pleasure of trying a little bit of everything inBarcelona, especially the delicious Latin American food, including the cuisine of Peru, Argentina and Chile. Patio Latino The first of these delicious spots is the restaurant “Patio Latino”. It offers Peruvian food of the highest standard at very good prices. The restaurant is located in the neighborhood of Gracia, in one of the narrow streets typical of this charming neighborhood. It’s in theSan Agustí Street, and you need only walk from the diagonal to the neighborhood of Gracia to find it (very near Gran de Gracia on the right). In this small but cozy restaurant you can sample the famous dry beef or chicken in chili sauce, which are really the best in Barcelona. And of course, don’t forget to enjoy a pisco sour, which I...
