European Holiday

8 July 2009

Just returned from two sunny and relaxing weeks in Europe.

Spent a few days in Amsteram — one of my favorite cities!

Had a drink with Parra. He’s getting ready for Berlin next month.

I stumbled across the recently opened largest public library in Europe: Amsterdam’s beautiful Openbare Centrale Bibliotheek.

An old friend named Michael Levie gave me a tour of his new hotel, Citizen M. Designed by Concrete, the hotel is made of self-contained shipping container-sized rooms that are built off-site and stacked. A brilliant idea with stunning results — congratulations Michael!

Spent a day in Paris and visited my favorite taxidermy shop, Deyrolle.

Photo: Martin d’Orgeval

As Sarah reported, a fire last year destroyed most of Deyrolle’s collection which was started in 1831. They rebuilt, but not before asking photographer Martin d’Orgeval to document the damage. The printed results are available in a beautiful hardcover edition entitled Touché par le Feu.

And of course, spent some time with our old friend André at his Hotel Amour.

We shot a video, but more on that later…

All in all, a perfect vacation: familiar faces, fantastic food, and plenty of time to read in the grass…

It’s good to be home though.

- Felipe