And love

You gotta love this city. There's no way anyone would go to Tokyo and won’t fall in love with it, and its…

 Gardens, real lungs producing oxygen to all the inhabitants of the largest city in the world

All those tall and avant-garde buildings

 And the hip shops in the Ginza district (designed by some of the most renowned architects)

 The Mori Tower (and the energy of the Roppongi Hills in general) and its amazing views 

 The rainwbow bridges that connect the several parts of this city made of more than 200 islands, small or big, each one of them with an unique identity

 The lights and colors of the "Electronic" district

 And of Shinjuku, once the night falls!
 

Peekaboo

And talking about Japanese artists… There you go some pictures from Tokyo, the first city we’ve visited during our 2013 summer tour in Asia. But if some of you (and by “you” I’m actually referring to my friend Ivan [you asked to be mentioned in my blog, and so you were]) are already getting confortable in the sofa, preparing from what is about to come, I’m sorry to tell you… not so quick! The rest (and the best) is yet to come. Just not today! Today I only bring you a taste of the capital of Japan. 

Despite the briefness of our stay in Tokyo we were able to see the “All You Need is Love” exhibition in the Mori Art Museum (this very cool modern art museum is inside the Mori Tower, one of the tallest buildings in town and the best sightseeing point, which is exactly why we went there in the first place), where I came across with this art installation. It is called “Love is Calling” and is from the Japanese visual artist Kusama Yayoi. You can learn more about her in here and about the piece in here and hopefully feel what I felt… how it perfectly reincarnates the spirit of that amazing city: colorful, vibrant, fun, slightly childish, modern, interactive… perfect from anywhere you see it!

Meanwhile in Madrid

The Retiro Park is one of my favorite places in town! On my free days I usually walk from home until the park just to sit there for a while, reading a book, sunbathing (even during the winter… aren’t those sunny and warm winter Sundays one of the most amazing things that Madrid has?!) and listening to the sounds of nature. But the best part of this “ritual” is that I always get surprised. In the middle of the Park is the Glass Palace, an oasis of creativity in the very heart of Madrid. It is actually just a glass greenhouse, but a couple of years ago the Reina Sofia National Art Center bought this place and often uses it as a shelter for some cool art installations. The coolest I saw in there so far was last winter, it was called “Two Golden Rings” and it was an installation from the Czech artist Jiří Kovanda with wires and, of course, two golden rings that really suited this place giving it an even more ethereal feeling. 

And this spring/summer (until the 2^nd of September) there is also another very interesting intervention. Mid way between the art installation and the architecture, “Imagined Memories” is a piece from the Japanese Mitsuo Miura. It is actually very discrete, only a dozen of circles with washed-out colors distributed by the space and crowned by hanging circles in the exact same color. But the way both sets of circles are placed in the floor and ceiling of the Glass Palace creates vertical lines that, depending from each one memories, remind us of imaginary columns… or trees. 

I came across it a couple of weeks ago, when I was in town for a weekend between travels and, once again, I though “spot on”! The art installations in the Glass Palace never disappointed me and this time was no exception. Actually this minimalist piece, that creates an invisible (but yet very tangible, because as you can see from the pictures, no one steps the circles that lay on the floor) “forest of columns”, makes more sense in here that in any other place. Because it brings together concepts such as nature/organic, urban and culture it totally benefits from this location. Nowhere else but here the piece could change depending from the month and the time of the day. The light that comes from outside, and that neither the tall surrounding trees nor the glass can filtrate, contributes to change the colors in the chromatic surface of the circles, transforming this installation in a brand new piece every time you see it! Judge by yourselves… Isn’t it beautiful the way the structure of the place and the different elements of the installation complement each other?!

Ohlala

For a lot of people Paris is the most amazing city in the world. For me, not so much, but I must confess that every time I visit the capital of France I fall more and more in love. Last May I spent a long weekend there which, as I say as a joke, was perfect to have lunches and dinners with friends. But, I did more than that, and after my 4th visit to the city, finally, our romance began. Finally Paris got under my skin! 

The day I arrived was the sunniest day I had in town (actually, the sunniest day I had in a while because apparently, this year, Summer decided to arrive early to every capital in Europe and got a little bit delayed on its way to Madrid. Now it is finally hear, but it took it a while!), so we decided to spend the afternoon in Canal Saint Martin. From my previous visits I already knew this is one of my favorite neighborhoods in town, so my first request to my friends was: Take me there! I love to spend time there, with my feet hanging, drinking sidra and watching old men (and not so old, since it is a very fashionable sport now) playing petanca, Parisian girls enjoying their Sundays and life passing by. 

Although the weather, as the hours passed, got fuzzier we still could see the Eiffel Tower ray of light from my friends’ living room, in their new flat in Bastille. 

The next day, taking advantage of the fact it was a Monday and that museums (the ones that are open) are not as crowded as on Sundays, I walked until the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville for the free exhibition of French designed and made Haute Couture gowns. Although the space was very narrow, the way the whole exhibition was putted together and the pieces presented definitely turn it into a major “must-see”. It is over now, but you still can see some information and images in their web page, in here. 

 In the afternoon I went to another exhibition that I was sure was open, despite the fact it was a Monday, because it was “created”, amongst others, by my friend. It was also part of the reason I went to Paris that weekend, to visit her “little baby” since, for the first time in a while, after major exhibitions in Asia in which she also collaborated, Chanel finally had a new exhibition in Europe. The Nº5, the iconic perfume of the brand, was the theme that joined pieces even older than the maison itself with pieces as emblematic as the Marilyn Monroe’ speech about what she wears when she goes to bed. This exhibition was also free. Plus, you could ask for an audio guide to help you understand everything you were seeing, and even bring home the booklet in French or in English. It was in Le Palais de Tokyo only for a month, from the 5th of May until the 5th of June, and I'm really really glad I could see it. 

From the very well placed, but very far from home Palais de Tokyo, I walked until Bastille, which allowed me to see different new angles from the city. 

For dinner, of course, we ordered some spécialités (foie gras with jam & escargots) to close my Parisian day with style. 

And talking about typical Parisian… There isn’t a better way to describe my last day in town. Le Musée d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou (to check their Museum shop that always has interesting nouveautées and to have free WI-FI for at least 5 minutes during my touristic day), Les Galeries Lafayette (to crave the brands, and for some more free WI-FI), La Place du Musée du Louvre, Notre Dame, walking along the Seine... As I said, very very typical.

At night I met another friend from Paris and the three of us head to Montmartre for a lovely dinner, with French wine, a delicious Oeuf Cocotte and lots of girl talk. At the end of the night we had some "smoky" cocktails in another of my favorite places in town, La Familie, in the same neighborhood and “call it a weekend”. The best I ever had in la cité des lumières!