Lifestyle
In August I travelled to Spain with my family for the first time in five years. It was a whirlwind of activities and experiences. I revisited old favorites-cafes, restaurants, shops-and discovered new ones. We took a side trip to Vienna for a few days, a gift to my son who is interested in the history…
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Certified Decorator Last year, I finally received my certificate in residential decor from the continuing education program at a local college. It was seven years of attending evening and night courses after my full-time day job. There were long rides on public transportation lugging drafting equipment, and bulky mood, or presentation boards on cold winter…
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My two-night stay in July 2017 at the Parador of Granada was one of my best family vacations. It is one of the best known and most popular of the paradors. A 14th-century Moorish palace later converted to a Franciscan convent, the style of the architecture, decor, lighting, and art reflect the two heritages. One of my…
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Opened in 1910, during the Belle Époque era, the original building of the Ritz hotel in Madrid was designed and built under the supervision of hotelier César Ritz. Now part of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid recently reopened in April after a three-year historical restoration headed by Spanish architect Rafael de La-Hoz who retained…
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Asturias-based photographer Érika Anes shot these images of La Palmera del Indiano restaurant on the terrace of Barceló Oviedo Cervantes hotel exclusively for Spain for Design. Situated in the heart of Spain’s elegant northern city of Oviedo, the five-star accommodation, part of the Spanish hotel group Barceló, opened in 2007 in a refurbished early-twentieth-century Indianos townhome. Indianos is a distinctive vernacular architectural style of residences…
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Turbulent. Frightening. Surreal. Opportunity. Change. The “new norm.” We will recall 2020 as one that marked the before and after of some key moments in our personal and professional lives. Spain for Design asked members of the design community in Spain profiled in these pages about their experiences and thoughts. What has 2020 meant to…
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Spain for Design commissioned Oviedo-based photographer Erika Anes to shoot five commercial spaces with standout designs in Gijon, Asturias’ largest city, and Oviedo, the capital city. The Collector Concept Store (Gijon) The owner of the Collector Concept Store created a space in which art, culture, and fashion comfortably coexist. The upper floor displays a masterful mix of…
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Asturias has no shortage of architecturally significant buildings and monuments, including the most complete collection of late medieval architecture in Western Europe. Dating from the ninth and early tenth centuries, they are unparalleled for their quality and preservation in their original state. Asturias is known for pre-Romanesque architecture, six of which have UNESCO World Heritage status, one…
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“Asturias, paraíso natural” (“Asturias, Natural Paradise”) is the official slogan of Turismo Asturias, the tourism office of the Principality of Asturias. Parts of this northern region of Spain are on the Northern Route of the Way of Saint James, popularly known as the Camino de Santiago. It has a breathtaking landscape, where the mountain and sea…
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Ibiza Bohemia Maya Boyd (Text), Renu Kashyap (Producer), Published by Assouline (June 2017) Every once in a while, one comes across a coffee table book so engaging that it not only feeds us with knowledge and induces us to linger at the images, but it also encourages us to immerse ourselves in a place. Ibiza:…
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This is the final installment of my four-part series about my month in Spain in the summer of 2019. August 6-9, 2019 August 6, 2019 My month in Spain is coming to an end. We returned to Madrid from Cala de Finestrat yesterday afternoon and are at the ibis Madrid Centro las Ventas Hotel, where…
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I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. Micheal Jordan As many know, Spain has been one of the countries hardest hit by the…
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