June 12, 2008

Ask a Local: Fiona Shows Us No Barbers in Seville

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Vitals
Fiona Flores Watson, 39, Journalist and Translator.

What do you do with €5.00 for dinner?
Go for tapas.  Try Calle Mateas Gago (spitting distance from the cathedral) or go across the river to Triana.

What about €10.00?
Cerveceria Giralda on Calle Mateas Gago–red peppers stuffed with prawns.
Bar Europa in Plaza de Pan–salmorejo (thicker, creamier version of gazpacho).
Or any of the places on Cano y Cueto, opposite the Jardines de Murillo.

Who has the happiest happy hour?
Seasonal bar Capote, by the river, is the best place for a sundowner. Tucked away next to the Triana Bridge, it has a beach vibe that´s hard to beat and cocktails that will knock your sandals off.

How much is too much to spend on transportation?
Don´t understand the question; horse and carriage hire is about 40 Euros an hour; otherwise there is a pick-up drop-off bike hire system, tram, buses and taxis

What are your top three free thrills?
Monasterio La Cartuja – 14th-century Carthusian monastery, reached by a small bridge over the river offering great views. The monastery gardens are beautiful, with orange trees, lavender and bouganvillea, and the chapel, cloisters and other rooms are wonderful. Formerly used as a tile factory, the tall, cone-shaped chimneys remain, now an icon of the monastery.

Parque Maria Luisa – hidden, leafy corners; mosaic-tiled pools; a waterfall, and tour of Latin American architecture, courtesy of the remaining 1929 Expo pavilions, especially Peru, Guatemala and Colombia.

Stroll along the river from Plaza de Armas bus station to the Muelle de las Delicias, passing bridges, towers and sculptures. Plenty of places to stop for a drink or an ice-cream, while admiring the picture-postcard views of Triana across the river. 

 

My one big indulgence is…
Small clams called coquinas, cooked with garlic and wine.

If I had all the money in the world, I’d buy…
A gleaming horse-drawn carriage to ride around in like Lady Muck, especially at the Feria.


Photo courtesy FFW

 

 

June 7, 2008

Scene and Heard: Antoni Gaudi Inspires More Than the Alan Parsons Project

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Who He Is: A Catalonian architect, Gaudi’s art nouveau and modern gothic is now immortalized in art and architecture textbooks and along the streets of Barcelona.

Where You’ve Seen Him: Most films shot in Barcelona grab a Gaudi here and there.  Check out Woody Allen’s upcoming Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cedric Klapisch’s L’auberge Espagnole, or the no-brainer Gaudi Afternoon.

Where You Can Catch Him: You can’t throw a few (outmoded) pesos around without hitting a piece of Gaudi in Barcelona.  Make a beeline for la Sagrada Familia or Park Guell for his two most famous works.

Don’t Miss: The Palau Guell, Casa Battlo (House of Bones), Casa Mila, Bellesguard’s Tower, or the Casa Calvet in Barcelona.  Also head over to Leon if you’re a die-hard fan to check out his Episcopal Palace of Astorga and Casa Botines.


Thanks, Speck in Time!

 

June 5, 2008

Ask a Local: Joanne Thinks Everyone’s a Rock Star in Brighton

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Vitals
Joanne Mallon, 39, Life and Career coach for media people, Brighton UK

What do you do with £5.00 for dinner?
Chips/fries on the beach is always a good budget option. You can people-watch while you eat, which is great fun because everybody in Brighton looks like they should be in a band. Honestly, from babies to grannies, it really is true. And for dessert, there’s Shakeaway, which makes all kinds of unusual milkshakes. Jam Doughnut milkshake anybody?
What about £10.00?
The George Pub–a vegetarian & vegan pub near the train station that serves lovely food. With £10 you’d have enough change for a pint of beer too.
Who has the happiest happy hour?
Suck It and Sea – Brighton’s latest old fashioned sweetie shop. It just puts a happy smile on your face when you visit. (Ed Note: Not a pub, but who doesn’t love that name?)
How much is too much to spend on transportation?
For a city, it’s pretty small so you can walk to most places. Plus it’s quite hilly so you get a free thigh workout thrown in. A daily bus ticket is about £3.
What are your top three free thrills?
The lovely beach–it’s shingle, not sand, which makes it all the crunchier to jump on.
The pier–a real old fashioned English seaside prom to walk up and down.
Open Houses Art Exhibitions–you can walk into a range of artists’ houses and check out the free exhibitions.
My one big indulgence is…
Shopping in the North Laine, where you can buy everything from Bonsai trees to tattoos.
If I had all the money in the world, I’d buy…
The Royal Pavilion to have parties in. But I suspect it’s not for sale.
 

May 26, 2008

HC/LB Extra: We’re Alive. Promise.

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Back story: HC/LB editor and sole employee (unless you count her four-legged assistant) Olivia is working on her thesis documenting young audience cultivation for opera companies.  Yes, it’s an obsession.  100 pages later, I’m really swamped and, unfortunately, have to make some cuts to maintain my sanity.  I’m sorry it has to be this blog, but I assure you we’ll be back in full force June 1st–and we’re currently looking to hire an assistant editor to prepare for this in the future.  I can’t begin to tell you how amazing it has been to see the immense response we’ve received in the 7 months we’ve been running–over 300 hits a day!

In the meantime, I want to hear back from you.  What do you want to see profiled?  Where are you going this summer?  What questions do you have?  Leave them in the comments below.  It’ll give me something to cling to over the next week of defense.


The better half of the HC/LB team.

 

May 13, 2008

HC/LB Extra: A Slight Reprieve

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We’ve gone radio silent again for a bit as another big project wraps up. But we do have some more tips and a Scene and Heard that will be posted retroactively later this week. And speaking of Scene and Heard…

A comment was posted not once but twice in response to our statement that Mozart is the man behind the tune we associate with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Since we’re guessing most of you don’t get e-mail notifications of comments the way we do, we figured we’d share it:

“Wrong. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was originally a french folk tune, “Je vous dirais-je, Mamam”. Mozart took the theme and composed 24 variations on it, but he never composed the theme itself. Please rectify your innacurate [sic] information.”

While we’ll grant it to this anonymous reader that we should have written that Mozart wrote variations on the musical theme, however the tune we whistle now is most likely rooted in his style (he was also the first composer to set the tune to a classical piece of music). He is also responsible for popularizing the song outside of France (and before you gang up on poor Wolfie, musical copying was pretty common at the time). While we’re rectifying inaccurate information here, let’s first note that the French folk tune is NOT titled “Je vous dirais-je Mamam,” rather “Ah! Vous dirais-je maman.” Moreover, Mozart’s variations on the theme total 12, not 24.

We’re all about journalistic integrity and accuracy, so long as it goes both ways.

 

May 6, 2008

HC/LB Playlist: Southeast Asia is For Lovers

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Like Lola Akinmade, Ian MacKenzie is a Brave New Traveler that we luff.  More than that, Ian is the founder and editor of Brave New Traveler, which was recently taken under the wing of Matador Travel.  And because that doesn’t keep him busy enough, he also works in other new media from viral videos to short films.  He also produced one of our favorite year-long adventure sites, One Week Job (in which Sean Aiken traveled the world to perform 52 jobs in 52 weeks with all of his wages–a cool $20,401.60–were donated to charity).

And if THAT wasn’t enough, he also gave us some great sounds of Southeast Asia complete with photo montages on the following five YouTube sites: I II III IV V.

“In spring 2006, I set off for Southeast Asia with my girlfriend.  We were both new to the continent, and were quickly amazed by the beauty and serenity, as much the heat and the noise.  In two months, we traveled across Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and have the photos to prove it.  I then spent two months post-trip putting together a slideshow of our journey, and a carefully chosen soundtrack to accompany the vibe.

Here’s a few highlights that I feel truly evoke Southeast Asia:

  • E-Pro–Beck
    There’s just something dangerous and unruly about this song, from the way Beck smoothly delivers the verses, to the cheekiness of the chorus.  That’s pretty much how it feels to strap yourself into a $5 rented motorbike and whip off down the uneven pavement of Koh Phangan.  Don’t even bother asking for a helmet – they’ll only laugh at you.  Instead, just swing by the local mini-mart, grab a six pack, and cruise along until you find an open stretch of gorgeous beach.
  • Northern Lights–Lux
    Towering limestone cliffs and glistening spiders as big as your head.  That’s probably not what you envision when listening to this chilled out track.  It’s only when you’ve spent a few nights in Khao Sok National Park that you enter relaxation mode, and lose the ear-splitting hum of Bangkok from you system.
  • One Night in Bangkok–Murray Head
    Speaking of Bangkok, it’s impossible to forget the 80’s synth beat from your memory as you cruise Khao San Road amid the teaming mass of locals and backpackers.  A few bucks scores you a couple beers and a fistful of street-fried bugs.   The world truly IS your oyster.
  • Aqueous Transmission–Incubus
    By all accounts from guidebooks and other travelers, they say you should avoid the slowboat down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang, Laos.  Of course, that doesn’t stop anyone from doing it anyway.  At least with this soothing track on your iPod, the 2 day journey will be slightly more bearable.
  • Soul Meets Body–Death Cab for Cutie
    South of Luang Prabang, the beaten backpacker path passes through Vang Viang.  Also know as “the place you get drunk and hang out on the river.”  I’m still not sure if the locals approve – I have a sneaking suspicion that’s why they allow the infamous tree swing to continue operation…they’re hoping a few backpackers break enough bones to keep them from coming back.
  • Tropicala–Beck
    Another Beck tune is the only track that fits the absurdity of “Buddha Park.”  This statue-filled garden outside Vientianne, Laos is like a religious Disneyland…on acid.
  • Dusk–Matthew Good
    There are only a few places on earth that can truly be marked “evil” – and the killing fields of Phnom Penh is one of them.  Set to the haunting piano notes of Matthew Good, the barbed wire and blood-stained cells are a sobering reminder of the cruelty of men.
  • Sweet Lullaby–Deep Forest
    The ancient ruins of city of Angkor, Cambodia, are a sprawling maze of human achievement, capturing beatuifully in this track by Deep Forest.  As you wander the crumbling hallways, it’s hard not to imaging the sweeping footprints of history echoing from the past.
  • Slip Into Something More Comfortable–Kinobe
    Once again returning to the silky blue ocean of Thailand’s western edge in Phuket, you truly feel like you’re slipping into something more comfortable.  This track makes you want to grab a shaken martini and save the world at the same time…
  • Better Together–Jack Johnson
    The ukulele was made for sunsets.  So was Jack Johnson.  What better way to end a trip to Southeast Asia than with both?


Photo courtesy IM

 

May 3, 2008

Scene and Heard: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Ed Note: We’ve been spending the last six months talking about artists, dancers, writers, and musicians realizing that while we know Forsythe and Flaubert and Fille du Regiment and Frida like the back of our hand, we are, in fact, NOT the world (wide web).   So each weekend we’ll plug a new artist (in the general sense) and let you know where you can find them (in the specific sense) and why you should care.  Cool?  Cool.

Who He Is: Mozart is by far one of the most famous composers in the history of music.  Starting off as a young prodigy (he wrote his first composition by age five…screw The Wiggles) and continuing into a musical master in his adult years (which were cut off at the tender age of 35 due to reasons still unknown today but attributed to rheumatic fever).  He wrote over 600 musical works including 41* symphonies, 22 operas, and between 44 and 70 concertos.

Where You’ve Heard Him: Easy Answer: Everywhere.  From Alien to When Harry Met Sally, not to mention countless cartoons, commercials, and subway stations around the world.  Even that familiar tune we sang as kids–”Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (or, if you prefer, the Alphabet Song) was a composition from Wolfie.  He was also the subject of the 1984 Milos Forman film, Amadeus (and the Peter Shaffer play of the same title).

Where You Can Catch Him: Easy Answer: Everywhere.  Born in Salzburg, Mozart lived in Vienna but considered Prague his second home, so those three cities will always have some concert or opera going on in a church or larger hall.  London runs the Mostly Mozart Festival every summer at the Barbican, and also hosts the Classical Opera Company (which as we’ve said before is dedicated to the work of Mozart and his contemporaries).  He’s also a mainstay in opera and concert houses from Paris to Berlin to Amsterdam to Milan to Moscow.

Don’t Miss: The Classical Opera Company, naturally.  Any production of Cosi fan Tutte, one of his operatic masterpieces (which you’ll recognize if you’ve seen the 2004 flick Closer).  His five violin concerti, some of the most exciting pieces for orchestra.  Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, a classic that is amazing when heard in person.  The Latvia-based Kremerata Baltica, an orchestral ensemble that does Mozart proud.  Anything at the Barbican in London or the Salzburg Festival.


Cosi fan Tutte in production.  Thanks, susannaphillipsopera!

*If you want to get technical, it’s been suggested he wrote 68 symphonies however that number has been, and probably always will be, under debate.

 

May 1, 2008

Ask a Local: Mike from London Gets Sadistic With the Underground Transport Chiefs

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Vitals
Mike Zealey, 33, Writer, Stoke Newington, London.

What do you do with £5.00 for dinner?
The Best Turkish Kebab on Kingsland Road, N16 North London. (It truly lives up to its name and is quite famous).

What about £10.00?
Testi–one of London’s first and finest Turkish restaurants offering a wide range of ockbasi dishes. Stoke Newington High Street, London, N16.

Who has the happiest happy hour?
The Griffin in Shoreditch. Frequented by Amy Winehouse and other wannabe hipsters but keeps a down-to-earth traditional London boozer vibe.

How much is too much to spend on transportation?
Buses are the way to go. Get an Oyster Card (from any newsagent) and it costs 90p (otherwise £2). If you are coming from outside of Zone 1 or 2 then you have to take the Underground (subway) always best to travel after 09:30 because you can buy a one-day travel card which gives you unlimited access. If you are just going one stop on the tube, it is so expensive you are better off hailing a black cab.

What are your top three free thrills?
Speakers Corner in Hyde Park (where free speech is still allowed). The view from the top of Hampstead Heath overlooking London. The Tate Modern art gallery on the Southbank.

My one big indulgence is…
Shopping for trinkets and antiques in Portebello Road Market.

If I had all the money in the world, I’d buy…
All the Beluga Caviar from Caviar House in Green Park and use it to smear over the London Underground Transport chiefs. Id then stick them in Trafalgar Square and watch all the pigeons and wild cats go crazy!

 

April 29, 2008

HC/LB Playlist: Cool Scandinavia

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Midnight suns, ice bars, fermented shark…Scandinavia is at once exotic and enticing. And there’s no one better to get the dirt (snow?) from before hopping a jet to Reykjavik, Stockholm, or Copenhagen than Lola Akinmade. A wanderer in general, Lola has been just about everywhere that requires a form of alcohol and a jacket the size and cost of a small studio apartment in Manhattan to keep warm–and she’s managed to defrost her fingers enough to write a significant chunk of it down. A mainstay on Matador Travel, Lola does other online travel outlets–such as Brave New Traveler and Vagabondish–proud with her command of language and inviting writing style. So bundle up, make a vodka tonic, watch the Northern Lights, and check out her picks for music to set the mood.

“Shuttling back and forth between Washington, D.C. and Stockholm for the last two years meant I had to immerse in all things svensk: food, culture, mood, and of course, music. This summer will be no different. In preparation, I’ve been blasting Sveriges Radio AB in the background, trying to subconsciously immerse myself, while coding away at work.

Here are a few cool tunes from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

Sweden

  • För en lång lång tid(For a long, long time)–Håkan Hellström
    With wailing, echoing vocals similar to The Cure’s Robert Smith, Swedish Håkan’s happy-go-lucky sounding tune reminds me of summer. Its lyrics aren’t so happy-go-lucky.
  • Måndagsbarn–Veronica Maggio
    Very sultry and fresh, Veronica’s beautiful voice with its bluesy twang makes this tune.
  • Tonight–Lykke Li
    Tonight by indie singer Lykke is ethereal and very hypnotic. A few too many “don’t you let me go” pushes it to the edge of mildly annoying, but a beautiful song nonetheless.
  • Himmelen–Autisterna
    Morrissey sounding vocals mixed with a 60s jive beat; Himmelen by Autisterna, a band from Göteborg, instantly puts me in a good mood.
  • Slipstenar–Kungers
    An ingenious mix of folk, reggae, and rock, when I first heard Slipstenar with its Latin flair, I had to listen closely before realizing they were actually singing in Swedish.
  • Italy vs Helsinki–Laakso (featuring Peter Jöback)
    While Laakso considers itself more pop than rock, this infectiously melodic tune is very reminiscent of The Verve. Peter Arne Jöback, no doubt, is one of Sweden’s best voices.
  • Through Your Eyes–Nina Kinert
    When SAAB used this song for its worldwide campaign, this Swedish folk songstress was instantly catapulted to fame.
  • Miss America–Måns Zelmerlöw
    Think Duran Duran with this 80s sounding Euro-pop track. Måns was also a contestant on Swedish Idol 2005.

Denmark

  • It’s Close up Far Away–The Kissaway Trail
    This Danish band from Odense is definitely your quintessential emo rocker band. Beautiful and melodic with great lyrics.
  • Aly, Walk With Me–The Raveonettes
    Driving guitars, moody, and dark, this song by the Danish duo with its electronic feel is very reminiscent of Depeche Mode.
  • Lust –The Raveonettes
    Sounds exactly like its title. Another solid song from Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes.
  • The Air We Breathe–The Figurines
    Definitely a 70s hippie-sounding track, this tune by the psychedelic alternative rockers is breathlessly effortless and instantly transports you back to a time when all we needed was love.
  • Come On Come On–Knud Mortensen (Fat Tuesday)
    I remember one cold night in København walking into an almost empty Mojo Blues Bar. Nestled within was a Blues musician belting his soul out to only four patrons – myself included.

Norway

  • My Lover Will Go–Ane Brun
    Simple yet mesmerizingly soulful, this track by Norwegian singer/songwriter reminds me of a mix between Jewel and Jeff Buckley.
  • Suffused With Love–Sondre Lerche
    Bob Dylan (folk) meets Coldplay (alternative rock) is how I’d describe Bergen-born Sondre. His style is very eclectic, and Suffused With Love is one of those songs that instantly drew me with melodious guitar strumming and soft vocals.
  • Movies–Morten Harket
    Best known as the lead singer for the widely popular Norwegian band, a-ha, Morten is coming out with new solo album this year. Soft, gloomy, yet beautiful, what more could you ask from one of the most recognizable voices in music.”

For more on the latest and hottest Scandinavian Music, check out expert Avi Roig’s excellent blog: “It’s a Trap” – http://www.itsatrap.com.


Photo courtesy LA.

 

April 28, 2008

Limited Service

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It’s not that we’re avoiding you; we’re just swamped on this end with some exciting changes to both HC/LB and dishing up travel and culture advice to some of our other favorite outlets.  Through the rest of this week, we’ll be on a shorter schedule, with the Tuesday Playlist, a Wednesday tip, and (hopefully) Ask a Local on Thursday (if not, we’ll still give you another travel tip to nibble on for the weekend). 

Keep checking us out, keep telling your friends, and keep sending us cupcakes, that seems to keep us on a steady work stream (that and listening to Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” on repeat, but we try to keep that part a secret).

Cheers,
The High Culture on a Low Budget team (aka: Olivia and her dog)  

 

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