All posts filed under: Travels

Buenos Aires IV – Interior design gems

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As an interior designer I of course want to dip in to the scene and see what is on offering. There is a lot of nice interior design. Here is a pick of some of the stores I found in Palermo.  One of the coolest stores that just opened when I was living in Palermo Hollywood was Editor Market on Av. Dorrego. It’s the new hip place on the fashion and design scene. Set on three levels it houses interior design, clothing and a cafe. The interior design have in parts a distinct Scandinavian feel. The bench here is from Net. By chance I came upon the wonderful little store Enseres Bazar on El Salvador where I started talking to Barbara here in this photo, who is the sweetest of persons. Enseres is the place to go for a nice selection of cookware and accessories. I then met the owner of the store, photographer Cecilia, who kindly invited me up to the rooftop, as she was in the middle of a photo shoot in her studio there. And it …

Buenos Aires III – The ultimate cake

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The cafe culture in Buenos Aires is famous. And boy do they do this to perfection! The locals from the city of Buenos Aires, called Porteños, chat leisurely and lengthy with friends over cordados or capuchinos in the many cafes. When they are not in the heladerías, eating their beloved ice creams. The art of making ice cream came with the Italian immigrants from Italy. I must confess that I’m not a coffee drinker. So I will not gripe over the quality of coffee that so many foreigners seem to like to do. But I scoured Palermo’s cafes with an interior designer eye looking for nicely designed spaces as well as indulging in my new passion… My newly discovered passion is eating cake, chocolate cake to be precise. And to my delight I found the best chocolate cake in the world here! Hidden away in a small backyard is the loveliest of cafes, Decata, with this the best of the best delicious and mouth-watering masterpiece. That there also is a teashop called Tealosophy, a tiny plant …

Buenos Aires II – In graffiti paradise

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The first thing that hit me when I came here was the lavish amount of graffiti on the walls of the houses. Not just a bit of dabbling here and there but often complete graffiti painted houses. Imaginative and accomplished street art, they never ceased to inspire me. Talking one day to a graffiti artist, steeped as I am in the rules and regulations of Swedish bureaucracy, I asked him if it was allowed to paint a whole house as he was doing now? He just laughed and replied, ”This is Argentina. We do what we like here!” This is the end result. Quite impressive, isn’t it? Enjoy this small selection of wonderful street art in Palermo! Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer

Buenos Aires I – Palermo in my heart

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Charming, bohemian and colourful, the barrio of Palermo in Buenos Aires went straight to my heart. I spent days endlessly walking the tree-lined streets and enjoying soaking in the very special ambience of this part of the city. Buenos Aires is called Paris of Latin America, due to the large amount of immigrants from Europe in the 19th century and the culture and building styles they brought with them. The leafy streets gives much needed shade and a sense of nature in this big city. The architecture in Buenos Aires a mix of styles, eclectic to say the least, with French and Italian neoclassical, colonial, art nouveau and art deco buildings as well as Italian and French Renaissance-style palaces and of course modern high-rises. Not only influenced by European building styles as I first thought, but also complete buildings were brought here, stone by stone, sometimes complete palaces, prefabricated in Europe. Impressive. Sometimes one is unaware that, because the trees are so dense that they almost form a roof, the city continues to spread upwards. I enjoyed …

Cape Town VIII – Khayelitsha, a township

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This is Khayelitsha, a township situated on the outskirts of Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for New Home. Founded in 1985 it was one of the apartheid regime’s final attempts to enforce the Group Areas Act. Today a staggering 400 000 or more people live here today, mostly black, spread out in an area of about 45 square kilometres. Xhosa is the predominant language spoken here, but also Zulu, Afrikaans, English, Tswana, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Venda, Southern Ndebele are spoken, which gives an idea of the mix of people and the influx from different areas of Africa the people have migrated from. There are more formal areas with small 2-room brick build houses, so called Mandela houses, which they started to develop after ANC came to power in 1994. The Mandela houses are mostly home to a small but growing middle class/upper working class population. And then there are the informal shacks that house around 70 percent of the inhabitants. These street-photos were taken whilst we were driving around. No spontaneous stopping and no …

Cape Town VII –Cool & colourful Bo Kaap

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My final week I moved to Bo Kaap that has it’s own flavour and feel. It’s known for it’s brightly coloured houses situated at the foot of Signal Hill. Many of the residents are descendants of slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia and other African country that were imported to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves were known as Cape Malays, and Bo Kaap is known as The Cape Malay Quarter. It’s the home of the Cape’s Muslim community and have several mosques here. First I stayed with fashion designer Olivia with her own brand Lalesso and her husband Wesley, a confirmed surfer, production manager for photo shoots and film production, and now co-owner of the new barista company Frothing. They have a lovely house in Bo Kaap and I spent a coupe of days in their home, with them and their Rhodesian Ridgeback Chesa. Olivia is from Kenya and Wes is from Cape Town. Here is Wes with his barista truck stationed at the corner of Buitensingle and …

Cape Town VI –Organic food heaven

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I absolutely love the local farmers markets that they have here! Especially this one in Granger Bay. They have a large area packed with lovely organic products of all kinds every Saturday. There are also stalls here with delicious food and with freshly pressed juices to enjoy while you are here. Tons of vegetables of every kind. Straw on the floor. Inspiration! Eggs from happy hens. Organic produce of different kinds. Beautiful flowers. And really nice and friendly feel to the place. I wish I could spend every Saturday here! Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer

Cape Town V –Design & delight in Gardens

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I moved to Gardens next, to the wonderful family home of Doreen and Meyer. I loved staying here! Doreen is fantastic and interesting woman. She has worked as an editor and stylist at Elle Decoration amongst other interesting jobs, and now she now runs her hospitality business InAweStays.  Their house is the old vicarage that belonged to the next-door church and it’s absolutely beautiful. As are all the charming and tasteful cottages that are on the premises, all done up with Doreen’s skilful eye for design. I loved my new home, an L-shaped loft with magnificent views through the glassed facade towards the Table Mountain. It was not only the stylish design. Or the beautiful setting of this home. The attention to detail here was amazing. A blackboard with a welcoming message. Handmade toiletries on the bathroom shelves in InAweStays own brand. Masses of thick and fluffy towels changed on a daily basis. Wonderful treats in the shape of trays with all kinds of delicious nibbles and goodies, appeared like magic when I needed them the …

Cape Town III –Quirky & trendy Observatory

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I moved to Observatory for the next couple of weeks. Named so because the South African Astronomical Observatory is here. Known as Obs to the folks here. Also known as a student neighbourhood because of the proximity to the University of Cape Town.  During the years of apartheid this was one of the few ”grey” suburbs where all races lived together. It still is a very multicultural area today, with a lively, quirky and bohemian feel to it. Though I can’t say I felt totally at ease when walking home at night here. Crime is a problem. Still there is an Observatory Neighbourhood Watch close by and they are working on making it a more safe area. Saying that nobody walks in general in Cape Town. Everyone takes their cars or Uber. Never taken so many Uber rides in my life as here. And due to that I had one of the most interesting conversations with a taxi driver ever! Who in the thirty minutes or so that it took to drive me to the airport …