travel

• 01.11.07 Japanese toilet control

  
  

  I’ve always heard about it. I could finally try all the features by myself on a hotel in Tokyo.

• 11.08.07 Heading South

  

  Tomorrow we’ll go for a 7 days round trip 2400km, from Milano to Botricello (Calabria). See ya next week.

• 19.05.07 Nagoya, Japan

  

  At least I could get the feeling of being in Japan, although it was a 3-day business trip.

• 19.12.06 Turks and Caicos turquoise

  

• 02.02.05 Paris… finalement!

  After almost 30 years of life, 10 years of study and practice of architecture and 5 years living in Europe, I finally went to Paris.
  At the university I studied from the Haussmann plan (1853-1870) up until contemporary architecture. Every time I flew to Sao Paulo or Caracas with Air France I could see the city’s plan through the airplane window.
  I was becoming a virtual Paris fan…
  My impressions?
  Champs Elysee is really something, L’Arc de Triomphe is really magnificent, la Tour Eiffel is really beautiful, the Louvre is really amazing, The Mona Lisa really has an intriguing smile, the original croissant is really delicious, so… Paris is really one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

• 15.01.05 Vals

  In the middle of the Swiss Alps, 4:30 hours by car from Milano, you’ll find one of Peter Zumthor’s most famous work: Vals Therme. Last week we spend two wonderful and relaxing days switching from, saunas, to 32C pool, to 32C with rose scent, to 42C and red walls, to 36C open-air (-2C and snowed) pool. Not to mention the fine architecture, concept, details, materials, colours and textures, it is a magical place to stimulate all 5 senses, while enjoying the pleasure of a hot water during the winter.

• 22.08.04 Certosa di Pavia

  
  This beautiful monastery from 14th century, near Pavia (50km south of Milano), is perfectly well conserved. There is a inside tour with one of the priests as guide, where you can admire its original architecture and rich decoration, and feel how was the certosini (hermits priests) life inside the monastery.
  Certosa di Pavia official web site (only italian)
  Comune di Pavia - Certosa (with english texts)

• 17.08.04 Portofino

  We spent a nice Saturday at Portofino (30min by car from Genova), a trendy spot for Hollywood VIPs during the 50’s. It is a very small but charming port, with colored houses, contrast between small and traditional wood boats and big, modern and luxurious Yachts. We ate the traditional gnocchi “al pesto”, local pasta sauce made by olive oil, basil and pine nuts. There is a small and lovely castle up in the hill, from the British Lord Brown, that has an wonderful site-seeing.

  
  image from lorbus.

• 09.08.04 Weekend on Moscow

  

  Last weekend I went on a business trip to Moscow. The city is amazing with this socialist architectural background covered by a capitalist layer. Colorful outdoors; flashy signs; neons; squared, heavy, and gray residential buildings; all known fast-food franchises; huge and impressive monuments; wide streets; non friendly (and corrupt) police; tourists all over; Cyrillic alphabet (which is graphically very beautiful); big malls; matrioska; very rich or very poor people; Audi & Mercedes versus Lada.

  
  I had the opportunity to visit the Red Square, which was closed for the public, and after a 1 hour line I could visit Lenin’s mausoleum. It’s really worthwhile! The architecture is impressive, modern with black and red marble with strong personality and well defined lines; the ambient is dark, very lowlight compared with the outside, you can barely see when you enter; some non-smiling military officers guide you along a course and tell you to stay quiet; obviously no photos are allowed (in fact if you are carrying a camera or a mobile with camera you are not even allowed to enter!); and then here it is: Lenin’s body inside a glass box, perfectly preserved, with a very scenografic light only over his face and hands. To get the feeling you can take a virtual tour in Lenin’s Mausoleum website, which is really loyal to the real one.

  

  I stayed at the Ukraina Hotel, which is one of the 7 big towers Stalin constructed in the 50’s with a unique architecture know as Stalin Classicism.
  The hotel’s architecture and interior decoration is still perfectly preserved from its early years. It really gives you the feeling of the socialism period.

  

• 02.04.04 Lost In Translation experience

  If you, as me, really liked the movie you can “Enjoy Being Lost in Translation at Park Hyatt Tokyo”.
  The hotel offers a package “which mirrors the adventures of the film’s main characters”.
  Lovely!

• 04.03.04 back from Sao Paulo

  We’re back from our 2 weeks vacation…
  (rainy) beach, family, friends, lime caipirinha, family performance of Jobim music, feijoada, shopping at malls, futebol and churrasco on sunday, summer, green leaves, always traffic, my dog Bianca, going to the dentist, carnival, samba & pagode at Ibirapuera park, japanese restaurant twice, lebanese restaurant, burger restaurant… family, family and family…
  Already miss all of it! Saudades……

• 09.02.04 snowboarding weekend…

  Saturday at Foppolo, with Lorenzo, Juanco and Eduardo (Juanco’s brother).
  Sunday, Lorenzo and I just had to go again… we went this time to San Simone. Both make part of Brembana Ski, a ski resort near Bergamo.

• 30.12.03 Merry Christmas!!!

  4 day in the mountain… snowboarding…
  … certainly a cool Christmas!

• 10.10.03 back from vacation!!!

  Hello everybody…
  I’m finally back from my vacation!!! (not back to broadband yet… but anyway…)
  Lorenzo and I spent 3 wonderful weeks with his family! Here are the highlights of our trip:
  One week in Miami: “resort lifestyle”, sun, 3 minutes rain, green all over, 32�C outside, 15�C inside, getting a cold…, sea, swimming pool, highways, always going by car, Hummers, Krispy Kream donuts, Isabel news on CNN, pampiro, Middla, driving an automatic car for the first time, “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” TV show, Don Pan, Abercrombie and Fitch, GAP, malls, Romero Britto, IHOP, Modjito, hablando espa�ol por toda parte, taking more than an hour to complete check-in and pass through airport security after almost undressing myself…
  10 days in Caracas: sun, 3 minutes rain, green all over, 30�C outside, 22�C inside, suffering the cold I got in Miami, �2,00 to put gas in the car, wedding party part-1, parrilla, family reunions, dinners, carne mechada, arepa, unfortunately no chicha this time, Nobu - a nice japanese restaurant, Consolato Generale d’Italia a Caracas, fresh fruit juices, nice and smiling people, crazy traffic going up and down.
  3 day weekend in Isla Margarita: sun and green, no rain this time, 32�C outside, 32�C inside, one day sick inside hotel’s room, wonderful beach, white sand, eating fish food, 60 SPF cream, wedding party part-2, whole day in bikini and pareo, using sandals, Papa, Juan Griego Juan Griego, Tututanga logo (see Lorbus post), meeting Lorenzo’s old friends.
  Statistics: We left Milano with only 2 carry-on’s 9kg each, and came back with the same carry-on’s, plus one duffel bag of 13kg, and Lorenzo’s guitar. In total we passed through 7 take-off’s and landings. In 20 days we spent 25 hours flying and other 14 hours wanting in airports. 2 days we spent sick on bed, I spent 12 days with cough, for 3 days I got sore throat and couldn’t speak at all and 9 days I had a sexy low voice.

  As you can see… we had such a great time!!!

• 07.07.03 Amsterdam

  Last weekend we went to Amsterdam! First time there… beautiful place, cute houses, bright colours, lots of nature, fresh air, nice (and big) people!

• 22.06.03 Gardaland

  Today we spent a nice sunday at the Gardaland, an amusement park by the Garda Lake. Lots of fun…

• 10.05.03 Lunch Break…

  …my friend and colleague Lorenza and I, during our visit to the construction site of our ongoing project at Venezia…

  

• 31.12.02 First-time snowboarder

  It didn’t snow in Milano. No problem at all… last week Lorenzo and I spent 4 days in the montains doing snowboard! It was really cool (pun intended)!
  The ski resort: Valchiavenna; and the city: Madesimo, about 130 km north of Milano, in the Alpes, very close to Swiss border.
  Snowboard… well, it was my very first time. Almost a week later and my body keeps reminding me that I was a freshman in the sport! Knees and butt painfull and purple.
  But I REALLY, REALLY ENJOYED.