La Paz, Bolivia

Posted: January 24th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: travel | Tags: bolivia, city, travel | No Comments »

Our biggest news of the moment is that we got sick. We both got some kind of parasite and got completely destroyed for about a week. We’d looked forward to spending a few days in La Paz, but ended up staying here for 8 days, most of them in bed and/or staggering to/from the bathroom. Our hostel set us up with a nice doctor who happened to speak english and he got us all sorted out and de-parasited. Despite that nasty ordeal, I really fell in love with La Paz and wish we’d had more time here!
Anyway, we arrived in La Paz on an overnight bus from Tupiza, getting in very tired at 6:00 on a Sunday morning. We expected to find the town quiet at this hour, but as soon as we walked out the front door we found ourselves in the middle of a parade. We wandered on down to the huge Iglesia de San Francisco and were immediately overwhelmed by traffic, mothers carrying babies, vendors selling everything, churchgoers and heaving, colorful crowds of all kinds.

For me, this seems like quintessential La Paz. Everywhere we went, it was always wildly chaotic, festive, crowded and crazy with colors and decorative details. A large percentage of the population of La Paz are indigenous people from various groups (the two main indigenous languages spoken are Amayra and Quechua, but I think there are a wide variety of different groups represented), and that gives the city a flavor distinctly different from any other city I know. La Paz is incredibly high up (around 3600 meters elevation!) and very cold, surrounded by snow-capped mountains on all sides, even in summer. The city is set on mountainsides and all the streets are steep, which makes it slow going for foreigners unaccustomed to the lack of oxygen at this elevation. The main street, El Prado, basically follows the bottom of the valley that forms the city, while the city climbs up the hillsides and mountains on either side. No matter where you are in the city, to get to the main street, you just walk downhill.

The architecture is a mixture of really elaborately decorative old buildings and modern, shiny towers. The part of the city where we stayed, downtown, has a really old feel – beautiful historic buildings, some newly painted but many with a deeply worn texture, centuries of peeling paint and wear. The textiles here are incredible, there is so much talent and tradition in the elaborate and bright textiles that are used and sold everywhere.

We ended up being in La Paz at a really festive time; while we were sick, President Evo Morales was inaugurated for his second term in office. The first day, he attended a summit of indigenous nations just outside of La Paz and did a formal and very festive all-day inauguration ceremony there. Evo Morales is the first ever president of indigenous heritage (all the previous leaders of Bolivian were of European descent) in a nation that is predominantly indigenous, so his appearance at this summit was an important first. The second day, he was formally inaugurated in the government building in La Paz, and the party moved in to the city. From our hospital room we saw bits of the ceremony on the TV and on the second day we heard parades drumming and marching through the streets outside our window.
Then Sunday we were feeling better and tried to head out to see some museums, but it turned out to be another holiday, Alsitas, January 24th, a Bolivian holiday where you buy miniature versions of things that you hope to have in the coming year. Tiny houses, tiny stacks of dollars, tiny cars, tiny food, etc! When we wandered out towards the main square in La Paz, we found the streets choked with vendors selling tiny toy EVERYTHING – there were tiny buses, tiny vegetables, even tiny masters’ degrees! It was impossible to get around and visit museums, but it was exciting to see all the action. Every vendor had a pile of hot coals burning, and it seemed like the thing to do was buy your miniatures, toss some incense or scented wood on the coals, and wave your miniature bounty in the smoke for good luck. We saw a few statues around town of Ekeko, the Bolivian god of abundance.

the one museum we managed to visit was really cool: the Museum of Musical Instruments on Calle Jaen. They had tons of crazy and interesting Bolivian and world instruments, and they had a great section where you can play instruments! I really loved the traditional ceremonial dancers’ masks too.

Other noteworthy stuff in La Paz: the Witches’ Market, where you can buy potions and incenses claiming to cure any problem from indigestion to poverty to a broken heart. They also sell a lot of dried llama fetuses, which are apparently supposed to be buried near the foundations of your home for good luck.

And “Cholita” wrestling, which is like a Bolivian version of Mexican wrestling, with the twist that some of the wrestlers are ladies, dressed up in the traditional skirt-braids-and-bowler-hat outfits that most of the indigenous women wear here. The whole event was really silly, but fun to watch.

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a(n incomplete) designer’s guide to buenos aires

Posted: August 10th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: design | Tags: Argentina, buenos aires, city, design, tourism, travel, turismo | 1 Comment »

every now and then friends ask me about art-and-design-related stuff to do and things to see in Buenos Aires. It’s fun answering this question; the city is bountiful of eye candy. I’ve been sticking together a rough and of course incomplete list of memorable places and things to suggest to like-minded design enthusiasts, here’s what i’ve got so far:

DESIGN SHOPS:

Papelera Palermo = Palermo Soho. beautiful space selling handmade and hand-printed papers, notebooks, art books, etc… retail store at Honduras 4945. they also have a workshop where they give classes (and make most of the stuff sold in the shop) at Cabrera 5227

CouCou = gurruchaga 1783. Palermo Soho. very cute little shop that carries lots of fun objects made by independent designers: home goods, stationery, jewelry, lots of cute tote-bags, baby clothes, etc. The owner Emi is very nice and friendly! She has a great eye, the store always looks super cute and she has a wonderful selection of interesting things!

Fabrolab = Nicaragua 4677. Palermo Soho. big space with some of everything.

Calma Chicha = Honduras 4925. Palermo. home & interior stuff, modern poppy vibe. i think they specialize in argentine-made goods.

Pic Nic = Nicaragua 6080. Palermo Hollywood. patterned wallpaper, pillows, etc. Not really original designs, but fun and colorful.

Cualquier Verdura = Humberto 1º 517. San Telmo. a beautiful house filled with good-quality vintage stuff, tchotchkes, kitsch, toys, games, a few clothes, mid-century modern furniture, fun stuff. Even the bathroom is fitted out with fun vintage stuff for sale.
Wussman = Venezuela 570. San Telmo. art gallery in the front and a wonderful stationery shop with fine papers and gifts and a letterpress printing operation in the back and an art-books-store downstairs.

El Mercado de las Pulgas = Niceto Vega y Dorrego. Palermo Hollywood. Flea market with lots of modern home stuff.

La Pasionaria = Godoy Cruz 1541. Palermo Soho. wonderful warehouse filled with a jumble of vintage 20th century objects, , Palermo Soho. (open 4pm-8pm mon-fri, 11-8 sat)

Canasta = Delgado 1235. Colegiales. a tiny little gallery/bookstore/shop. minimal, eclectic and cute. open tues-sat 2pm-7pm.

CLOTHING:

Lupe = El Salvador 4657, Palermo Soho

and on the same block, Rapsodia. El Salvador 4757, Palermo Soho

AY Not Dead = Soler 4193, Palermo Soho

Pesqueria = armenia 1493. Palermo Soho.

Juana de Arco = El Salvador 4762. Palermo Soho.

Objeto = gurruchaga 1335. Palermo Soho.

Tramando = Rodriquez Peña 1973. Recoleta. interesting textiles and clothing by designer Martin Churba.

DAM = Honduras 4775. Palermo Soho. wacky stuff.

CAFES / RESTAURANTS / etc

Lepi Boulangerie = Roseti 1769. Chacarita. Cute bakery.

Oui Oui = Nicaragua 6068. Palermo Hollywood. coffee shop, bakery, café

Arevalito = Arevalo 1478. Palermo Hollywood. Delicious, filling, homey vegetarian café. Good coffee too. And they serve food all day long (many other BsAs restaurants close down between 2pm and 8pm which often causes visiting yankees searching for an afternoon snack to become hunger-crazed and desperate during these hours!)

Olsen = Gorriti 5870. Palermo Hollywood. lofty scandinavian restaurant, good brunch and impressive design (from the menus to the plates to the architecture of the restaurant itself)

Milion = Parana 1048. Recoleta. Cool, fancy bar/restaurant in a converted mansion. It’s a beautiful space. It’s always nice to have a mojito in the upstairs bar. (the bar-top is glowing alabaster!)

Cusic = El Salvador 6016. Palermo Hollywood. Cute, quiet café with two nice gardens.

Home Hotel = Honduras 5860. really cute boutique hotel with a nice bar/restaurant in the back, lovely view of the garden and pool from the café, i think in nice weather you can eat in the garden. It’s a great spot for brunches or afternoon tea. They have different cool wallpaper in each room, it’s worth taking a peek around. And they have a wonderful spa if you want to drop a bit of cash on a massage or a day of pampering.

La Catedral = Sarmiento 4006 (corner of Medrano). Almagro. Scruffy, dark & atmospheric tango bar, upstairs in an immense dusty warehouse.

COFFEE SHOPS & BOOKSTORES etc

Eterna Cadencia = Honduras 5574. Palermo Hollywood.a beautiful space, bookstore and cafe.

El Boutique del Libro = Thames 1762. Palermo Soho. another cozy bookstore/cafe. A great place to take a break from wandering around Palermo, or to bring your laptop and get some work done while you drink coffee. (ED: since this post was written, this bookstore has changed names. El Boutique del Libro opened a new location on Plaza Armenia; this bookstore is now operating under a different name but is otherwise unchanged!)

Helena = Nicaragua 4816. Palermo Soho. Cute coffee shop (no books)

Ateneo Grand Splendid = Santa Fe 1860. Recoleta. This is a really impressive bookstore, converted from an old movie theater, and the café is located on the stage!

ART & GALLERIES

Espacio Fundación Telefonica = Arenales 1540. Recoleta. Arts foundation with exhibitions in gallery spaces, also an extensive library of art books, workshops, events, etc.

Fundacion PROA = Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1929. La Boca. Contemporary arts museum & gallery space

Hollywood in Cambodia = Thames 1885. Palermo Soho. Graffiti art gallery and bar. Open 5pm – 9pm

Jardin Oculto = Venezuela 926. San Telmo. Art gallery

713 ARTE CONTEMPORANEO = Defensa 713. San Telmo. Art gallery.
http://www.arte713.com

Centro Cultural Borges / Galerias Pacifico = Viamonte esquina San Martín. Centro. art museum (CC Borges) is located upstairs from a very luxe shopping mall (Galerias Pacifico) in a beautiful old building.

MISC:

Graffiti Mundo tour = sounds like fun! It’s a tour of walls, galleries and studios to learn about different artists in the Buenos aires graffiti scene.

A FEW INTERESTING LOCAL DESIGNERS AND ARTISTS:

KOMware

Ana Laura Perez

Patricia Tewel

Lala Ladcani

Marina de Caro (Bola de Nieve)

http://www.proyectopanda.com.ar/

Cristian Turdera

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