There is a road from the eye to the heart
that does not go throught the intellect
-K.Chesterton

3/27/2010

"opposites attract "

In these current days you can see ethnic and contemporany fushion ,combining two concepts that were long time hardly considered to be explored :Nature & Design .However it's on this special fushion that rests the style and charm of this new trend..




















We can see pieces entirely sharpened in wood and also combining natural resources such wood with material as trendy as iron ,leather ,rubber or glass .Beyond the desings everything helps to create unique atmospheres.
























There are many people fascinated by superb personal settings decorating spaces by adding warm .The highest quality teak , mahogany oak wood... provide city and country homes with an exclusive natural but sophisticated atmosphere ...the utmost quality and exclusivity create exclusive spaces that will remain fashionable even with passing of time




















A home featuring traditional wood crafts, folk art and hand-carved furniture exemplifies a unique style of beauty .






















I think those open rooms where the light feels free to go all over and into every corner set the mood and reflect an own personal taste .A home that is a tranquil oasis in a busy world .
Those kind of spaces are closely linked to a lifestyle .I love open minded people who don't fear to try anything new .They blend key elements of numerous styles and their homes are like a white canvas where nature ,modernity ,design ,concret ,wood ,steel ,leather,East ,West ...past and present take part of the whole thing .
(Hotel Pachá - Ibiza -Spain )

"Opposites attract because they are not really opposites, but complementaries." - Sydney J. Harris

















(The photos were published in the Spanish magazine Hogares .They took them in Ibiza )













3/12/2010

Valencia.....the triumph of fire!

Does the smell of gunpowder excite you? Does the sight of flames make you smile? Do you harbor pyrotechnic urges that are only socially acceptable on the Fourth of July? ...Well, Las Fallas de Valencia is your kind of event--a loud, smoky, rowdy fiesta where the whole town is literally set ablaze!"


VLC Valencia Incredible But True

Ari

Vídeo MySpace


La Planta " officially starts today, lasting until tomorrow morning when all the Fallas monuments should be completed. It's a 5-day long party on the streets with beautifully crafted , colourful monuments on every corner of the streets that can be as high as 23 meters, spectacular fireworks at night (Valencia has a good reputation of complex yet aesthetic fireworks), heavy explosions during the daily 7-minute "mascletá" that are so skillfully orchestred they become "melodic", women in beautiful traditional dresses on the streets, food stalls with thick hot chocolate in which you can dip "buñuelos" (fritters)...... and much more




.


There are a few different theories regarding the origin of the Falles festival.  One theory suggests that the Falles started in the Middle Ages ,when artisans put out their broken artifacts and pieces of wood that they sorted during the winter then burnt them to celebrate the spring equinox. Valencian carpenters used planks of wood to hang their candles on. These planks were known as parots. During the winter, these were needed to provide light for the carpenters to work by. With the coming of the Spring, they were no longer necessary, so they were burned.

 With time, and the intervention of the Church, the date of the burning of these parots was made to coincide with the celebration of the festival of Saint Joseph the patron saint of the carpenters. 


Las Fallas is undoubtedly one of the most unique and crazy festivals in Spain (a country known for unique and crazy festivals). What started as a feast day for St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, has evolved into a 5-day, multifaceted celebration of fire.


Valencia is usually a quiet city with a population of a half-million, but the town swells to an estimated three million flame-loving revelers during las Fallas.


Las Fallas literally means "the fires" in Valencian. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of ninots--huge cardboard, wood and plaster statues--that are placed .


The ninots are extremely life like and usually depict bawdy, satirical scenes and current events (lampooning corrupt politicians and Spanish celebrities is particularly popular


They are crafted by neighborhood organizations and take about six months to construct (and often cost upwards of US$75,000). Many ninots are several stories tall and need to be moved into position with cranes .The ninots remain in place until March 19th, the day known as "La Crema."



All Fallas burn all over the city the following night (including the winner of the competition) in a tremendous spectacle of fire and joy. Starting in the early evening, young men with axes chop holes in the statues and stuff them with fireworks.





The crowds start to chant, the streetlights are turned off, and all of the ninots are set on fire at exactly the stroke of midnight.And each year, one of the ninots is spared from destruction by popular vote and exhibited in the local Museum of the Ninot along with the other favorites from years past a bawdy Disneyland, the Fourth of July and the end of the world!"

 


Over the years, the local firemen, have devised unique ways to protect the town’s buildings from torching along with the ninots, such as by neatly covering storefronts with fireproof tarps. 
 
 

The origin of Las Fallas is a bit murky, but most credit the fires as an evolution of pagan rituals that celebrated the onset of spring and the planting season. In the sixteenth century, Valencia used streetlights only during the longer nights of winter. The street lamps were hung on wooden structures, called parots, and as the days became longer the now-unneeded parots were ceremoniously burned on St. Joseph’s Day. Even today the fiesta has retained its satirical and working-class roots, and the well-to-do and faint-of-heart of Valencia often ditch out of town for Las Fallas.

Besides the burning of the ninots, there is a myriad of other activities during the fiesta.
During the day, you can check out the extensive roster of bullfights, parades, paella contests and beauty pageants around the city. Spontaneous fireworks displays occur everywhere during the days leading up to "La Crema", but another highlight is the daily mascletá which occurs in the Plaza Anyuntamiento at exactly 2pm.



When the huge pile of firecrackers is ignited, the ground literally shakes for the next ten minutes.

 



Someone said :
It’s exhilarating, alarming, horrendously noisy…and one of the most unforgettable experiences that any foreigner is ever likely to have in Spain .

Mascletá  3-12-2010)  ....I love it !! :D ..It's just crazy !



Here my daugter dressing in traditional suits and ornate gowns .This custom-made dress toguether with the rest of stuff are handmade ...all is a reproduction of all that things the women used to wear in the 18th and 19th .The women's long gowns are brightly colored and trimmed with beads and
 lace.

 
"Life is a flame that is always burning itself out, but it catches fire again every time a child is the born" .

3/09/2010

The blooming of the cherry tree

The blooming of the cherry tree is the purest manifestation of beauty in Japanese culture, but then the blossom swiftly fades and is scattered by the wind. It represents the cycle of life and how our lives blossom and fall .The blossoms, the beautiful changing season has much more significance than just the return of warm weather.


It's is a symbol of how nature works - there are no endings, only beginnings as we honour birth, death and re-birth.As this new cycle begins understand that at some point it too will cease to exist the way it exists right now for that is the cycle of life. It's right now when all around us seem to strech themselves and need to blast the lethargy of Winter and get moving while our senses start to open up on very deep level .It's just the time to look outside

 It's now when we keep in mind, even on shaded apartment patios , enjoy a secret garden that provides privacy .Who wouldn't like to make an unforgettable outdoor living environment on their own patio or balcony ? . I am totally fascinated by japanese gardens and their culture .It provides a perfect place of beauty and tranquility for meditation and relaxation and to enrich and restore the body, mind, and spirit.


















Most of the Japanese gardens are designed so as to create visually separate areas of the four elements that represent ten(sky), kai(sea), chi(land), and ji(time)



You don't need a big yard to create an authentic Japanese Garden at home...a few elements can give a good effect .Simplicity is key and it requires less maintenance than some others



Symbolism is a big part of Japanese design. Gravel can imply water; stone the Earth. Different shapes have different qualities. Decide what you want to express


















Traditional Japanese gardens come in many varieties. One of the most important and intriguing aspects is the use of water.


Even in karesansui, or "dry gardens," sand and pebbles are raked to represent water moving around islands



Water is important in that it has a calming effect on the viewer and adds to the feeling of seclusion.All water sources should appear to be an organic part of the surroundings


Lanterns are often placed beside prominent bodies of water in a garden. This juxtaposition of water and fire creates the yin and yang (actually the in and yo, in Japanese), an important idea in Japanese culture involving the balancing of opposites to create harmony. Water symbolizes purity and the fluidity of life. A Japanese style water garden can work in almost any environment, no matter whether you have a few acres, or just a few square feet. The key is balance and not letting one aspect of the garden overwhelm the others

Finally we  musn't forget to put a Koi Fish in an outdoor water garden,they are greatly admired and essential part of the water streams  in the Japanise culture



One kind word can warm three winter months (Japanese proverb ).....SPRING ! .



3/05/2010

A Weekend in the clouds

Friday at last !!
I was thinking about how to spend my time on this weekend and in my fantasies, I see myself   in the Swiss Alps staying in a wooden igloo at the top of a mountain squeezing the final days of Winter .
Crazy ,right ?.......This is an unique place you don' t find elsewhere.. ..

Whitepod hotel won the tourism Award for Innovation.It's  not just another hotel. It's an exclusive resort .Unique and ecological .
































I think it is a good place for a very romantic weekend, especially when there is much snow and the place looks like in a fairy tale.
The atmosphere looks like very relaxed and informal...


having a drink in front of the fire as the light faded and the stars broke through must be a pretty awesome thing to do ...



Definitely recommended for a different weekend with an unusual combination of catering for both romantic and outdoor activities


They say "Whitepod is inspired by a desire to create a haven of beauty and tranquility where guests can restore tired bodies and jaded spirits in the knowledge that their presence will bear little if no impact at all on the surrounding environment."


Hope you have a nice weekend no matter  what you do or where you are  ;)

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