city trip

Toulouse – the ingredients of the liveable city

Personal, Travel

It’s a very long overdue post, as I’ve drafted it a year ago. It was a very challenging summer last year and I never managed to complete the initial thoughts and impressions after my trip to Toulouse. I re-took the writing as so many happenings remind me of that time of the year and I somehow manage to reconnect with the experience I made.

First of all, it was early in July and Europe was already experiencing an extreme heatwave, similarly as this year. I was dreading how hot will it be in South of France, with no access to the seaside, and I was pleasantly surprised. Toulouse is incredibly green which lowers the perceived temperature by good couple of degrees. Despite reaching 38-40 degrees Celcius, the city was perfectly walkable and discoverable by foot.

It’s been years since I went to France for the last time, and the last gem I visited was Bordeaux. Surely, the highlights of staying in France is the haute cuisine and not even, the markets, daily stuff you consume (such as: croissants!) is just of such a great quality.

Toulouse is also a very diverse city, inhabited by students, creatives and digital nomads, namely for more pleasant climate and affordability which can be noticed by a vibrant street life, people hanging out in the parks, dancing tango or playing games.

In July happens plenty of summer open air festivals by the river bank where multiple performers played jazz, soul and classical music till late, and you could enjoy the sounds of it overlooking the sunset, and even spotting birds like night herons wading in the river.

The heatwave itself was bearable, taking into consideration the shade, the options to explore different experiences, and even get away relatively easy to the seaside easily with SNCF. Another great experience of Toulouse is to visit the Airbus museum and even without doing so, spotting the magnificent piece of design as is Beluga or Beluga XXL approaching take off or landing. The meta story of it is that it often carries the industrial pieces needed to build the new planes.

With all that, I remind myself of my last year experiences, that heatwaves have also so many psychological effects on you. I think about it right now, going through yet another wave this year, often locking myself for days inside to avoid sunstroke (and I am lucky to have shelter and A/C). While summer has been one of my favourite seasons for its energy, happenings and being outside, heatwaves take such a toll on our lives, that staying in is one of the best possible ideas. And as we’re not as far away from the pandemic experiences, this calls too close home, pun intended.

Jeu de Carcassone

Personal, Travel

A recent heat wave reminds me of last summer, and the previous one. Usually, this is when I am trying to escape Malaga at least for a while. Sadly, travelling around doesn’t help climate change, but also, through avoiding air travel in the past years (and taking no long-haul ones at all), I believe my individual impact doesn’t change much. Avoiding eating too much meat, or having children are another actions I am actually taking in order not to overwhelm the planet.

Digression aside, time flies and I just realised I have never posted anything related to my last year’s trip to France, after many years. I have been also surprisingly busy re-visiting Poland, Berlin, Madrid and Switzerland in the past weeks.

So last July I have picked Toulouse and Carcassonne, partially fascinated by the board game: Jeu de Carcassonne, which evokes a truly political/strategic/diplomatic spirit in me. The region is well known for its fantastic culinaries, vibrant student culture and also green parks, nature and lovely little towns in the vicinity.

It is very convenient to travel around with SNCF train connections, also all the way to Provence which helps with the sustainability mindset. During my stay, Carcassonne reached boiling 40 degrees Celcius and although dangerously hot, the shade of the trees, green parks and lanes, helped me recover, even if I wanted to lay down on its meadows like the peasant from the game.

Carcassonne is famous for its Castle, which is indeed impressive – even walking around its fortress, leave you in absolute awe for the medieval art. I have spent most of my time meandering around this fantastic heritage, but would like to mention, that the less historical La Ville Basse, was full of interesting galleries, restaurants (especially the brunch at Les 4 Temps!) and boat trips on the Aude river. It was simply a day trip, but a very fun, and rewarding one for both history, nature and city getaways buffs.

(He)Art Basel

Music, Personal, Travel

This month I visited Basel thanks to my dear friend’s invite. We connected a while ago in our professional circles and been talking about change management, life and spotted we vibe life at a similar frequency. We also both love jamón serrano, writing, dogs, among other things.

I’ve been to Switzerland several times before, but never to Basel, knowing mostly it is a cultural hub, especially around June, where Art Basel festival takes place. So I decided to experience Basel fully, and organized a trip around the festival’s dates.

I found nature, culture, vibrant and young city life, strong electronic music culture, interesting pop ups, contrasts of the brutalist and modern architecture of Klein Basel and the medieval, classical Gross Basel.

Since I travelled in June, the days were incredibly long, the sunsets were coloured with all possible shades of pastels – being an art masterpiece itself.

What I enjoyed the most was the relaxing vibe around the Rhein river, happening in parallel to the festival, where Basel people would take their inflammable fish-backpacks aka Wickelfisch and simply throw themselves with the crystalline waters and float until they reach French or German border!

Yes, water in Rhein is so clean one can safely enjoy the summer in the city centre. The location at the border of France and Germany makes Basel truly a meeting point, and is sort of absurd you can end up ‘abroad’ simply taking a stroll or a tram ride a few stops away. A famous techno club Nordstern is located exactly at the peninsula where all the borders meet.

The heatwave was so bearable also because of the presence of multiple parks, fountains where both humans, dogs and birds took refreshing baths. All such activities permitted.

The cathedral, situated in Gross Basel at this time of the year was a central place for Parcours – various art happenings and installations, a free part of Art Basel festival. The cathedral itself is so inspirational with its Hogvart-like courtyard and facade.

My friend took me to her fave marketplaces, bookstores, designer stores, and cafes – a perfect plan on a Saturday morning. We spontaneously bought some flowers, Swiss design as in watches, dresses and tiny gifts for my friends and family.

In the afternoon, we mostly hang around the river, joining Swiss style – pardon my Spanishness here, but actually the Latin community was mostly driving these activities – chiringuitos (beach bars), asados (grill) and pop up DJ sets.

What about Art Basel? I feel like it pictures the city and the world of art in a contained universe of Messe. The building of the Messe is a masterpiece itself, a huge ‘eye to the universe’, and walking around the exhibitions of Unlimited, Galleries and Design Miami one could easily spend days.

I stumbled upon the pieces known and unknown, and I ‘like the art’ although I am far from being an art buff. I noted some of the most moving pieces, so that one can have a look and analyse it for themselves. Not in particular order nor always correspondent to the pictures, which is a part of the game.

Brigitte Kovanz – Light Steps (1990), Francois Morechet & Tadashi Kawamata – Pier and Ocean (2014), Selma Selman – Painting on Metal – Mercedes Benz (2023), Jorge Mendez Blake – Dismantled Wasteland (2023).

Christian Merclay – Doors (2022), Annette Messager – Le crabe cancer (2016), Anish Kapoor – Random triangle mirror (2018), Firelei Baez – A taxonomy for tenderness (2023).

Bruce Nauman – Two leaping foxes (2018),Robin Kid – Kingdom of Ends – I (2023), Mario Merz – Bisonti (1992).

The Picassos, Warhols, Kandindskys, Lichtensteins, and Schieles were for sale, too – and it was interesting to see the prices. Though can’t afford them, if someone does, and likes art, maybe diversifying is a good idea in the vibecession times.

Following inspirations: George Condo – Untitled (2001), Auguste Herbin – Vendredi (1951), Max Ernst – Foret (1927).

Conny Maier – The Source (2023), Bronwyn Katz – /xabi (2021), Radcliffe Bailey – Upwards (2018), Augustas Serapinas – Gym (2023), Christine Streuli – Right in your face (2023), He Xienguy – Inherited wounds (2023), Jesus Rafael Soto – Esfera Amarilla (1984).

Ed Ruscha – You and Your Neighbours (1987) – probably my fave painting by now, Jean-Michel Basquiat – Onion Gum (1983), Antoni Tapies – Aixeta (2003).

At the end of the Untitled exhibition everyone could participate in the Scrabble game, answering with limited amount of letters “What makes you creative?”. I added a few from my end – guess which ones.

I could go on and on reciting on my favourite art works, such as: Monica Bonvicini – Never Again (2005), Giuseppe Penone – Spine d’acacia – Contatto, aprile (2006), Yu Hong – The ship of fools (2021), Ron Terada – TL;DR (2020) but I’d rather stop. Half-day through Art Basel I got so overstimulated by the works, I needed to nap – and I was surprised to see some fellow visitors napping in specifically designated areas. Dreaming of colours, shapes and thoughts they carry in the eyes of the spectator.