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i came back to lyon just in time to partake in this crazy electro music festival called les nuits sonores. it basically takes over the whole city and turns everything into a techno party. above is a picture of the street in front of alexandre’s apartment.
here’s a shot from his window.
“there’s something about a city on the beach.”
that was my quote of the day as we walked down this street in barceloneta on monday, my last full day in barcelona. apparently, twenty years ago there was no beach. barcelona was just a massive port of trade, but now the beach is a draw and augments the city’s debaucherous reputation - giving a daytime leisure equivalent to bcn’s world class nightlife. it’s like los angeles but spanish - and with more art. cities are like cake batter. you add various elements to affect sweetness, texture, etc. the addition of hollywood to any beautiful beach town will inevitably lead to a kind of sourdough, bitter, fluffy cake. in other words - barcelona is like the los angeles you can actually live in.
but would i actually live there?
that’s the question i ask whenever i go to a new city. barcelona was kind of my main reason for coming to spain at all. i had heard so much about it and i wanted to see if it lived up to all the hype. as you may have read here, my first impressions of barcelona were not necessarily the best. thankfully i was able to meet some amazing people that showed me an amazing time, and now i have a markedly higher opinion of the city. as for permanent residence, i can’t really say. madrid seems to still be my spanish love, but the art scene in spain definitely lives in barcelona. as a designer, it would absolutely be the most fruitful place for me to be in spain. from the galleries and shops in el born, to the contemporary art museum in el raval to poble nau’s open studios, barcelona is a perfect climate for new and innovative design.
my new friends in barcelona include print-makers, painters, documentary film-makers and dj’s and they all absolutely rock. from lovely dinner parties to tapas to all-nighters at razzmatazz, every social interaction i experienced was genuine, non-pretentious and fascinating. if by any chance any of you are reading this : you’ve got a place to crash in nyc! (that means you, clare, becks, tom, james, dix, ninian, john, hiroshi, steve & all you other awesome folk!)
in 1808, the citizens of madrid rose up against the french who occupied their city. it sparked the spanish war of independence. the above photo was taken at the plaza de dos de mayo in malesaña, the neighborhood in madrid where we stayed and explored in depth.
wikipedia says :
The 2nd May was chosen as a public holiday in the region of Madrid. The place where the artillery barracks of Monteleón was located is now a square called the Plaza 2 de mayo, and the district surrounding the square is known as Malasaña in memory of one of the heroines of the revolt, the teenager Manuela Malasaña, who was executed by French troops in the aftermath of the revolt.
Several memorials to the heroes are located over the city, including the Monumento a los Caidos por España.
more photos in and around malesaña on this national holiday of independence, and (go figure) one of the largest parties in madrid.
the above combo of three pictures is of a cloudy day in (ironically named) puerta del sol - or the door of the sun - which is the times square / tourist trap / pickpocket heaven of madrid.
i came to madrid almost ten years ago with my high school spanish class and experienced the city through 17 year-old on-a-tour-bus eyes. this time, although my level of spanish comprehension is comparable, i feel like i am getting a much richer experience.
last time we stayed at sol, in a ritzy hotel that had bidets - something me and my roomate mike were fascinated with. however, we didn’t, in any way understand the extent of the diversity of the city or it’s many neighborhoods. this time, jess and i have made particular effort to explore the neighborhoods of malesaña, la latina and chueca on the suggestion of my friend natalie. this weekend is supposedly the largest party weekend in all of spain, and i happen to be spending this night in the internet room of our hostel with several other euro-destitutes glued to g-chat and facebook instead of participating in monstrous fiestas.
that didn’t stop jess and i from visiting about 6 different bars eating tapas and drinking for the last several horus.
that’s just how we do in spain.
i always heard that the spanish were severe party-ers, but i had conveniently chosen to deny it. alas, after last night’s debauchery (which i will not go into on this blog), i have learned otherwise.
so tonight i take a break and save up for tomorrow’s festivities.
el dos de mayo (the second of may) is like american independence day or french bastille day - except with more alcohol, public intoxication and many more cigarettes. boundaries between public space and pub space seem to be non existent here, but somehow everyone seems to get along and stay happy and safe.
i have many more pictures to post of various architecture and fascinating things here in madrid (as well as some photos from my escapades in la parc de la tet d’or in lyon), but i will endeavor to post those when the sun is on my side.
until then… aurevoir - adios.
*yes the above nasty images are a result of me being drunk on champagne and falling into a pebble wall in lyon, but i want to say that this was no fault of my own. french people, particularly artistic ones, seem to like to celebrate as much as possible when appropriate, and if it wasn’t for their generous hospitality, i would not have downed glass after glass of champagne and dance like i’ve never danced before.
like my friend cécile (who lives in paris) said : “of course they had free champagne. we make it here.”
viva la france!
miraculously i still haven’t had a cigarette for over a month - despite being inebriated to the point of face-planting it into an inanimate wall and being surrounding by nicotine fiends.
i heart you lungs.
liver? maybe next time.
[p.s. the above photos were taken by my friend jess in the bathroom of our super cool hostel room in madrid]
so right now i’m sitting in a bunk bed in a hostel in madrid, catching up on various internet correspondences and design work, and i figured i’d let you all in on the kind of cri-zazy party we had the other night at the closing of les subsistances’ ça tchatche #2 festival.
for more ridiculous pics like the above of the fabulous miss heather christian, checkout the galleries i just uploaded on facebook :
Ça Tchatche #2 PARTY - 1 of 3!
Ça Tchatche #2 PARTY - 2 of 3!
Ça Tchatche #2 PARTY - 3 of 3!
some other updates :
big dance theater got a smashing review in Le Monde, which is the biggest newspaper in france. it basically said that we were the cream of the crop so to speak at last week’s festival in Lyon. we also got the above huge color photo in the printed version of the story - apparently a huge deal for theater/dance in france!
read the full article (in french).
and here we have it. two days later. you should see the other guy.
this black eye is the result of me drinking a shit load of free champagne and then face-planting it into a really old french pebble wall. awesome.
it doesn’t hurt as much as it looks and in a few days it’ll just be super sexy.
last night, jess and i saw david byrne play in madrid and hung out afterwards. everyone said my eye made me look sexy. DB says hi, by the way.
soon i will finally leave the mod confines of my hostel and explore esta ciudad.
more to come, folks.
xoc
this past weekend jess, katie, her friend matt and i went out to fire island for a bon-voyage weekend. we had the whole house to ourselves as the entire broadway cares staff was busy working ‘broadway bares’ (which was awesome btw). i had to be out there to sell tickets so i rented it out to my buds for super cheap. jess left before this night of awesomeness ensued so she doesn’t grace any of these photos.
we went over to cherry grove during the day. that’s the neighborhood next to the pines. it’s kind of crazier and ‘freakier.’ lovely. katie and i bought matching t-shirts. then we ran into some guys i knew from metropolitan (gay bar - williamsburg) and i invited them over for dinner at our fabulous ocean-front house. they came, brought booze and friends.
in this house we stayed in there was this ‘cupcake tree’ for displaying massive amounts of cupcakes for children to grab easily (and stylishly). we seized the opportunity and made some yellow cupcakes with fresh whipped cream and strawberry frosting. yum. here you go (captions below) :
katie pours oil in her fabulous shirt.