Category Archives: Travel

Travel & Culture Books: “Mexico City” (Assouline)

Assouline Publishing (December 2023) – With a history dating back to the fourteenth century, Mexico City blends indigenous pre-Hispanic roots with colonial architecture and Spanish-baroque influences.

Mexico City

This unique fusion, crafted from local materials like cantera and tezontle, inspires artists and architects alike. Iconic structures like Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Museum and Juan O’Gorman’s Cave House proudly embody the city’s rich history.

Today, Mexico City serves as a vibrant backdrop for renowned filmmakers such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Michel Franco. Discover a city of wonders, where history and creativity come to life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Mexico City, Aleph Molinari is an editor, writer, art director and photographer. He is the co–editor in chief of Purple magazine, as well as a contributor to Materia Press, Art Observed and other publications. His work focuses on materializing culture through publications, exhibitions and campaigns. Among his projects, he co-curated the Purple Festival at the Palais Galliera in Paris, created a botanical sculpture for Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith’s exhibition Evidence at the Centre Pompidou, and worked on the programming for Soundwalk Collective’s project The Third Eye at Karl Lagerfeld’s 7L Library. He lives in Paris.

Anfisa Vrubel is an editor, writer and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of art, culture and politics. Vrubel is an editor-at-large at Art Observed and Purple magazine, where she contributes original features and interviews with artists and top thinkers in the fields of politics, ecology, art and culture. After studying government at Harvard, she pursued an editorial career, working for publications such as The Brooklyn Rail and its offshoot publication, The River Rail, which is devoted to environmental art and criticism. Vrubel grew up in New York City and lives between there and Mexico City.See all books by Aleph Molinari, Anfisa Vrubel.

READ MORE

Travel: A Christmas 2023 Tour Of Vienna, Austria

Christopher Putvinski Films (December 12, 2023) – Christmas 2023 in Vienna, Austria’s capital, which lies in the country’s east on the Danube River. Its artistic and intellectual legacy was shaped by residents including Mozart, Beethoven and Sigmund Freud.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Vienna During the Day 1:35 – Vienna at Night 2:41 – My Favorite Architecture

The city is also known for its Imperial palaces, including Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs’ summer residence. In the MuseumsQuartier district, historic and contemporary buildings display works by Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and other artists. 

TV: David Attenborough’s “Planet Earth” At 20 Years

BBC Earth (December 10, 2023) – Over the past two decades, Sir David Attenborough has travelled to the furthest corners of our planet.

20 years. 7 continents. 3 series. 1 planet.

He reflects upon the incredible animals and habitats he has seen, and what the future could hold – for both us and them.

Travel & Culture In Spain: Salvador Dali’s Figueres

The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres
The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres

The Times and The Sunday Times (December 10, 2023) Inside Salvador Dalí’s childhood home — and his old haunts. Our writer visits an immersive new museum at the artist’s striking childhood home in Figueres and takes a tour of his favourite spots in northeastern Spain

This northeasterly nook of Catalonia’s Costa Brava, between the Pyrenees to the north and the Mediterranean to the south, was the landscape that Dalí called his “ongoing inspiration” and is a recurring motif throughout his work.

While the Casa Natal Dalí took me on a tour of Dalí’s life, its near neighbour, the gigantic Dalí Theatre-Museum (£15; salvador-dali.org), just five minutes’ walk away, was designed by the maestro himself. It opened in 1974 and showcases his style at its most eccentric, not to say egocentric.

With its pink façade and giant white eggs on its roof, like decorations on a cake, this is where you’ll find not only the Mae West “lips” sofa, but also numerous grandiose paintings and drawings, trompe l’oeils and painted ceilings — as well as Dalí’s tomb in the crypt.

READ MORE

Travel: A Tour Of Porto Moniz, Madeira, Portugal

Living Walks Films (December 9, 2023) – Located in the extreme north of the Island of Madeira, Porto Moniz features volcanic pools, mystical forests and breathtaking landscapes.

Between the imposing mountains and the calm surface of the ocean, the municipality of Porto Moniz also dazzles with the charm of its picturesque parishes, which overflow with rich customs.

National Geographic Traveller – January 2024

Image

National Geographic Traveller Magazine (January 2024): The latest issue features adventures in Argentina, exploring Tahiti’s most remote corners, cycling through one of Italy’s iconic food regions and finding out how to plan a Great Walk in New Zealand…

Also inside this issue:

Emilia-Romagna: Cycle through Italy’s ‘food valley’ for a taste of the country’s iconic produce
Tahiti: The French Polynesian island’s southeast offers coastal hiking and surfing fit for champions
Hampi: Long in ruins, the capital of the ancient Hindu kingdom beckons pilgrims to this day
New Zealand: For outdoor lovers, completing one of the country’s Great Walks is the feat of a lifetime
Manchester: Creativity and craftsmanship infuse all areas of life in this northwestern hub
Montreal: Canada’s second city merges European flair with North American innovation
County Wicklow: Foraging, fine arts and forest paths in an outdoorsy getaway to the ‘Garden of Ireland’
Bali: Local recipes and passionate chefs are the backbone of Indonesia’s food-loving island
Boston: In Massachusetts’ capital city, the best hotels are within easy reach of the culinary and cultural action

Adventure Hiking: The Kjeragbolten In Norway

Amazing Places on Our Planet (December 8, 2023) – The Kjeragbolten hike is one of the most spectacular hikes in the world, featuring a remarkable boulder wedged high above a famous fjord. Kjeragbolten is located in southern Norway near the town of Lysebotn,

Smithsonian Magazine: Best Travel Books Of 2023

BookList-2023-Travel.jpg

Smithsonian Magazine (December 5, 2023) – Whether it’s a deep delve into a Balkan landscape of healing plants and foraging, or a more than 2,000-mile road trip through America’s racial history, here are ten travel books that are more than worthy of this year’s holiday wish lists.

The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey Into the Old West by Will Grant

Amazon.com: The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-mile Horseback  Journey into the Old West eBook : Grant, Will: Kindle Store

In 2019, American journalist Will Grant embarked on a five-month, 2,000 mile journey on horseback from Missouri to California. His goal: to follow the historic route of the Pony Express, a legendary frontier mail system operating between April 1860 and October 1861, which used a series of horse-mounted riders and relay stations to deliver mail from one end to the other in just ten days. Although the express service went bankrupt after only 18 months, it remains an iconic symbol of America’s Old West.

Unforgettable Journeys Europe: Discover the Joys of Slow Travel

Unforgettable Journeys Europe: Discover the Joys of Slow Travel (Dk  Eyewitness): DK: 9780744077803: Amazon.com: Books

The latest in the Unforgettable Journeys series by DK Eyewitness, a publisher of nonfiction books known for its visual travel guides, Unforgettable Journeys Europe highlights the notion that travel really is all about the “getting there.” This inspirational tome details 150 of Europe’s best slow adventures, such as kayaking through Lithuania and crossing the Arctic Circle by train.

Unravelling the Silk Road by Chris Aslan

An extremely well-researched story of three ancient trade routes that helped define a continent, Chris Aslan’s Unravelling the Silk Road “merges trauma with textiles to track the past and present experiences of the people of Central Asia,” writes author Clare Hunter. He explores the roles played by wool, a textile used by the region’s nomads for both yurts and clothing; silk, a commodity that was once more valuable than gold; and cotton, the cause of Russian and then Soviet colonization, since it provided cheap material for the global superpower.

Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance by Alvin Hall

From 1936 to 1967, the Green Book served as an annual travel guide for African Americans, helping them to identify welcoming hotels, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses across the United States during the Jim Crow era. Compiled by Black New York City postman Victor Hugo Green, this essential reference publication included places like Manhattan’s Hotel Theresa, once considered the “Waldorf of Harlem,” and the Moulin Rouge Hotel in Las Vegas, frequented by celebrities like Harry Belafonte and Ella Fitzgerald during its five-month stint in 1955.

READ MORE

Sustainability: Forests On Papua Island In Indonesia

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (December 3, 2023) – Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province, encompasses the western half of New Guinea and several other islands. An area of cultural and biological diversity, its rainforests and mountains are inhabited by indigenous Melanesian tribes and diverse wildlife including tree kangaroos and birds of paradise. Whale sharks swim amid the hard coral gardens of Cenderawasih Bay National Park, a dive site off the north coast. 

Autumn Tours: Saiho-ji Moss Temple, Kyoto, Japan

Yurara Sarara Films (December 3, 2023) – Saihō-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in Matsuo, Nishikyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple, which is famed for its moss garden, is commonly referred to as “Koke-dera”, meaning “moss temple”, while the formal name is “Kōinzan Saihō-ji”