All posts filed under: Travels

Palma in my heart

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What can I say. I love this town! It has everything really. It’s beautiful, cosmopolitan, vivid, has amazing cuisine, a wonderful climate, bags of culture, beautiful old buildings, a cathedral, old churches, a beach, the list goes on… As a wonderful coincidence my family is also here at the same time as I am. They arrive in intervals and we meet up a couple of times when I’m on my road trip around Mallorca. Here are some snapshots from Palma. Strolling around town and enjoying the ambience. Palma has some awesome architecture. Lunch at Duke. Heavenly salad. Cool small interior shop in La Lonja, Viveca. I really like chocolate ice cream and look what we found. Lucky me! More of these cool tiles, here at Hotel Cort. La Rosa is a wonderful place to have a few tapas before heading out for dinner. Having one of the best dinners ever here at Canela. The food is amazing! It’s the last night with this gang. Family, friends and a random guy. Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer …

Getting about Mallorca

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I’m very happy to arrive in Alaró, the third stop on my trip. Once again I’m in the Tramuntana mountains. I instantly take to this pretty little village and I adore the central position my apartment has, right in the middle of the village by the market square. I have a small balcony overlooking it, and I at the back I have a terrace overlooking the village, the mountains and one lonely palm tree.  I like that I only have to cross the square to buy fresh bread at the bakery in the morning. And also to have good restaurants on my very doorstep. But the best part here is that I have a sneak peak at village life from my vantage point on the balcony, without being noticed. The restaurants are frequented by locals and occasional visitors, not the other way around. I’m happy to see that there is a very active local scene here, just like in Esporles, after my brief visit on the southeast cost where tourists seem to dominate the scene. Though I’m sure there are still some nice unspoilt places there too for me to …

Road trip in Mallorca

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I love Mallorca and I decide to explore more of the island than I have done previously. Said and done I plan a route that take me to different areas, from small authentic villages in the mountains to popular costal areas where the tourist flock. I plan to stay in private homes as I always do. I book a flight, a car and set out in the height of the summer.  My first stop is in Esporles, a small but beautiful old village with honey coloured houses nestled in the Tramuntana mountains. Here I have my own room at the top of an old town house and I have a private roof terrace with this amazing view. In the morning the locals meet and chat outside the local shop. This shop hasn’t got any signs or displays outside, so arriving the previous evening there was no trace whatsoever that there is a shop here. It looked like an ordinary house like all the others. No garish signs are in your face when you enter either. Just …

Snapshots from New York

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New York New York. I feel exited to be here at last. I have a hectic schedule while I’m here so I barely have time to land before I’m off to work. But how rewarding isn’t it? I meet wonderful people! And get to see amazing homes! I’m down in the subway in no time. I discover, since it’s Sunday, that this isn’t the best of days to travel by subway, because a lot of maintenance are made on weekends and therefore some of the lines are closed. Which leads to a general confusion, not only for me, on finding the best way to get to one’s destination. And the journey back home takes forever. Oh well, all the more time to people watch then. I people watch and people talk too, as I continue to strike up conversations with whoever I meet. This artist I observed while he was sketching some people on the train and we had a nice chat waiting for the next train. He is armed with his sketchbook, pencils and …

Mexico II – Frida Kahlo

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Of course I just had to make time to go to Frida Kahlos family home and studio La Casa Azul in Coyoacán while I’m here. And I’m not disappointed. I love visiting this famous and colourful home of an amazing artist and woman. She was born here and much is intact from when she lived here. This is the kitchen.  Even at the colourful entrance to La Casa Azul I feel exited. Coming here is something I have been looking forward to a long time. And I’m not disappointed. I like this museum because there are rooms still decorated the way they were at the time when Frida lived and worked here, so you get a sense of her life. Frida Kahlo became bedridden after a terrible traffic accident when she was young and she was seriously injured by it. She broke her spine and pelvis and had eleven fractures in her right leg and her right foot was crushed. As if that wasn’t enough, a handrail in iron pierced though her abdomen and uterus. It’s heartbreaking …

Mexico I – Condesa

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Hola Mexico! I’m so happy to be here at last. And I’m happy that my research proved me right, as I’m delighted to stay in the lovely tree lined area of Hippodrome Condesa. I love Mexico! I have opted to stay in a hotel for the duration of my stay, instead of changing locations for every photo shoot. For this I’m grateful. Not only because I thoroughly enjoy staying in the Boutique Hotel Nuevo Leon with it’s cool design and super friendly staff. Thanks especially to Christian and Alfredo. But also because I have nearly a photo shoot in a different location every day so it’s good to have one base. Love the details here especially the flooring! I enjoy being in the buzz of a city again, after my near monastic existence in San Marcos. From my grand bathroom in this smart Art Deco building I have a near 180 degree view, of all that’s going on the street outside the curved windows. A bath with a view! I relish eating in different cafes …

Guatemala IIII – Chichicastenango

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One day I take a shuttle and go to Chichicastenango, an indigenous town high up on a mountain. The famous Thursday and Sunday markets here are reputed to be one of the largest in Central America. It turned out that the shuttle didn’t come to San Marcos, so first I go in a shared tuc tuc to nearby San Pablo La Laguna and there we meet up with the shuttle from San Pedro. We arrive in Chichicastenango, some thee hours drive from San Marcos, via some scary hairpin bends with much tooting of the horn at each bend. Sometimes along the route, we are overtaken by chicken buses driving at breakneck speed. With packed market stalls and people milling about it’s a veritable feast for the eyes and all of the senses. There are stalls selling wooden carvings, textiles, pottery, spices, flowers and food to mention a few. A religious procession passes by. I just love the colours and the patterns here! It’s a total colour explosion. The 400 year old church of Santo Tomás. Each …

Guatemala III – My month in San Marcos

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Looking out over the beautiful lake and the mountains, and following the shifting scenarios of the day from this elevated point is amazing. It’s also very peaceful. That is when the villagers don’t use the loud speaker system they do seemed to love, especially at 7 o’clock on Sunday mornings, playing music or talking like mad. I never did get the hang of what this is all about. I love writing and occasionally pausing to look out over the volcano and the lake, where the fishermen are out on their shallow boats at the crack on dawn every day. Though after the initial thrill it’s dawning on me that my wish of living in nature is not as easy as I thought. To pop down to the village isn’t a task one does lightly every day. It’s just too hard to negotiate the trek up and down the mountain. So I settle into a routine to go down every other day and to bring with me enough food for the day after. I find a really nice restaurant …

Guatemala II – Arriving at Lake Atitlán

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I’m on my way to lake Atitlán where I’m going to stay for nearly a month. My thought is to stay in one place and thus have the time to settle down to write and to work. I board a shuttle and we set of for the three hours drive to get to the shore of Panajachel. At lake Atitlán, the transports are made by small vessels darting to and fro between the small pueblos that are situated on the shores of this vast lake. It takes about forty-five minutes for my small boat to arrive to my destination San Marcos. Next stop San Marcos. It’s nice to arrive by boat to a new place. This boat ride reminds me a bit of the archipelago of Stockholm in my own country. The inhabitants of this small village consists of a Mayan population and of westerners, a lot of them spiritual seekers, who believe that there is a special spiritual energy here. The billboards are full of activities on offer such as meditation, yoga classes, Reiki, massage and chakra …

Guatemala I – Antigua

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I arrive in Guatemala on a propeller plane and head straight to Antigua. It is love at first sight with this beautiful town, with it’s cobbled stone streets, ruins and amazing colours and textiles of the Maya population. The women here wear the traditional and colourful clothing. The square-cut blouse is called huipil or güipil, the long skirts are called corte, and this is held up by a woven belt called faja. Every region has it’s own distinctive pattern and colour combinations. As a designer I go totally bonkers of delight. The vibrant colours and the intricate patterns of the textiles are so inspiring and I enjoy people watching more than ever here. I like the whole feeling of this old town with it’s beautiful buildings in Spanish baroque style, which used to be Spain’s colonial capital before it was severely destroyed by earthquakes in 1773 and the new capital was moved to a safer place, which is where Guatemala City is situated now. The town is dotted with ruins that remain from the earthquakes. …