1002 – Burj Khalifa

Scheherazade of the 21sth century or the 1002th fairy tale…

the UAE abbreviation will probably make you stop and think – where the hell…? wasn’t it a petrol area? close your eyes and if there hasn’t been a specific reason to go through the world map in details in this particular hostile area – the probability to get a high mark in geography is very unlikely.

the middle of May,  6 in the morning, we venture outside the climatised volumes of Dubai airport and we are immediately overcome by 35C degrees and more then 90% humidity; one can hardly breathe and during the days to come it won’t become any easier.

Dubai is surreal; I find myself thinking about Scheherazade… with the specific lack of authenticity every fairy tale has, as if – yes, the story itself might be real, but the place is not; in a normal world, in the 21st century a place lake this cannot exist, unreal, criminal, fictional, unjustified, all in all – surreal, like a Dali painting, exaggerated and twisted reality.

a real estate and investment summit is the official reason we are here, but as we would never have come here by our own choice – we are determined to make the most of it and look around; the globe if full of amazing places… our first point of interest, on the very day of our arrival, is the tallest building in the world of course –

Burj Khalifa. 828 m.

It is also the most well advertised building as well – even if you have nothing to do with architecture, you surely have watched at least one of the Discovery movies or just the celebration party on some new year’s eve with the spectacular light and fountain show… you probably not only know the name of the building and where it stands but you also might have remembered the fact that it ventures almost a kilometer into the skies! and have you, by any chance, heard the name of the architect?!!!!????

I arrange our programme so that we are at the top at sunset precisely – meaning 7 in the evening; the terrace for tourists is located on the hundred and thirty-something floor, which unfortunately is just a little bit above the middle of its height; we buy ourselves VIP-tickets, proudly walk along the hundreds of people queue, security stops everyone else so that we can walk on and after a spectacularly short trip in one of the two designated elevators – we are out 500 meters above the flat horizon.

the sun has just set

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Lappi&Finnmark – 6 – aurora

winter is right at our doorsteps and my evergrowing desire to let it in reminded me of a few pictures left from a trip that were never shown to anyone. special pictures. strange pictures.

long after this trip was over I started to realise what hell of a luck we did have there. three nights at Saariselka – three nights bathing in aurora. full moon, no clouds. unearthly nights.

07-08-09.02.2012

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Prague – The City of Fairytales (2)

And so…

Let’s move on… like most European capitals, Prague is also situated on the sides of a river, the Valtava river to be more precise. It is responsible for the city’s unique appearance, it weaves into its tissue and turns into its heart…

The oldest and also the most visited bridge by tourists crossing the river is the Charles Bridge.

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Prague – The City of Fairytales (3)

it is always sad when the end of something beautiful and magical approaches, so I am going to show you one last piece of magic :). Let us fly together above the red rooftops of Prague…

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Prague – The City of Fairytales

It took me a while to decide on a heading for the journey I hope you are willing to take with me… I will do my best to take you to a fairytale city which is what Prague turned out to be for me…

You have probably heard people call it “the City of a Hundred Spires”, “Little Venice”, “the City of Gold” and a dozen different names – well, it is all true…

Celtic tribes are considered to be the first settlers of these lands dating back from the 5th century B.C. The first Slavic tribes arrived from Bohemia around the 6th century. The city’s location made it an important trading ground ever since ancient times up until the beginning of the 10th century. Prague has a large market area, city square and two castles where the king’s dynasty used to rule from, including one of the most acclaimed saints – prince Wenceslaw who was murdered by his brother Boleslaw in 935 AC. The city of Prague prospered during the Middle Ages, especially during the rule of the Great Roman Emperor Charles IV who also established the first Central European university. During the 16th century the power was taken by the Hapsburg Monarchy that ruled for the next 400 year. The 19th century turned out to be a period of nationwide Renaissance and most of the key buildings around the city were built then. Then, during the Second World War, Prague was under German occupation…

And so… once upon a time there was a fairytale city which was ruled by a great, yet strict king. He lived in a big, dark castle…

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Not another Barcelona Post – Part 2

Following the profound interest for Part 1 , here comes an even more exciting Part 2 which aims to make your day a bit more fun, as promised.

THE FOOD

Since the sight of plates full of delicious things is contraindicative during working hours (as much as during non-working hours), I will do my best to stick to the part which has something to do with the architecture and the culture beat of the city.

The first place we had promised ourselves to visit (well, not only promised, we even reserved a table in advance) was 7 PORTES which is a local favorite since 1836 (yes, a 175 year old restaurant)… popular with “the best paella in town”.

The restaurant bears this name because of the 7 beautiful French windows/doors which have served as an entrance for hundreds of world-famous painters, singers, actors, politicians, sports players…

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Iceland, the end – day 12

Iceland – day 12, 05/07/2011

there goes the last day in these magical and unpredictable lands; we can taste our departure since yesterday but we are trying not to pay attention to this bitterness somehow; in order to do that, we have a program planned for the day and, of course it starts with

HARPA

Harpa is the new concert hall in Reykjavik which locals have dreamed of for a long, long, well, really long time; for a nation with roots laced by music, the lack of an adequate place dedicated to Her Majesty – The Music – was painful and bitter; despite the collapse of the Icelandic economy some years ago and the multitude of projects put to a stop, the hall is now a fact – built during the peak of the crisis (probably alongside many compromises and challanges) but, still – a fact.

architectural blogs have followed closely its progress and there are enough videos with interviews with the architects and the designers, pictures and comments for those interested; I will spare you the stories of the authors and the concept and I will only tell you about my personal impression of it 🙂

Harpa (which simply mean “a harp”) can be seen from all sides – it is enough to just go to the coastal street

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Iceland, the fjordland – day 9

Iceland – day 9, 02/07/2011

due to our trips in Kjolur for the last couple of days, the color of our car is indistinguishable; there is a place with brushes, hoses and appropriate draining structure at the gas station just right for people like us; when I ask whether we should pay something, the guy at the counter smiles and says “water is free in Iceland”

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Iceland, the westlands – day 11

Iceland – day 11, 04/07/2011

the thought of getting on the plane tomorrow is already haunting giving us; we feel like we came here just yesterday and, at the same time, it feels like we have been here for months…

after a concise planning of the day ahead, we decide that we are still going for a tour of the western lands – a peninsula to the west which goes into the ocean and ends with a glacier

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Iceland, the Puffin – day 10 (2)

the following is all about a little birdy we’ve been chasing along the Iceland coast for almost a week 🙂 – The Puffin! or Lundi in Icelandic.

honestly, there is no such bird!

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