Writing is not that easy, but in the past few years I have being training
myself because the need to express my experiences, feelings, ideas and
concepts.
Today I like to share with you some of my writing...
I always remember my
dad used to tell me that travel was everything: "¡Hija! si no has
viajado no has vivido." He
was the one who took me on my first trip to New York City. We arrived at
the airport and took the bus straight to Central Station at Port Authority,
on 42nd Street (which was very extravagant at the time). And I
remember my first reaction, emerging onto the street and seeing the New York Times building, was to look up
in amazement at the architecture from different
periods contrasting with the blue sky. We were visiting in early March, at
the start of spring, just as the city was beginning to thaw. It was one of the most beautiful things I
have ever seen.
I confess: I fell for Manhattan right there and then.
And ever since that first trip to the city that never sleeps, I have not lost
my sense of wonder. My last visit was no exception, because this time it was my turn to show my children the
magic of the “Big Apple.”
The days went by a
whirl, at the cutting-edge of architecture,
art, history and fashion, days that I’m sure my children will remember
forever.
Apart from visiting
contemporary art museums such as the Guggenheim
and the MomA, the Frick Collection and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, we also toured the Chelsea art galleries to take in some contemporary conceptual
art.
We walked the High Line, the mile-long linear park built
on a disused railway line, enjoying great architecture and design from every
angle. We admired the impressive combinations of concrete, wood, innovative materials and vegetation that have been turning
Manhattan into an awe-inspiring and sublime city, not just in its exterior
spaces but also in its sober, elegant and modern interiors; my fellow interior designers
here are using bold colors and fantastic textures. The furniture and decorative objects have been perfectly chosen to
convey a sense of “ordered chaos” in which everything always looks like it belongs,
due to that fact that is openly visible and available to all the senses. And so
to take advantage of all the Big City has to offer, we entered all the hotels,
restaurants and bars that our legs could carry us to; we wondered at the
interiors full of majestic marble, luxurious carpets, magnificent candelabras
and beautiful bronze filigree work found on many of the handrails and doors.
We visited a range of hotels, from those with the longest histories and traditions such as the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the Pierre Hotel and the Plaza Hotel, to the more contemporary and modern Standard, High Line, ACE Hotel, NoMad Hotel, and the Bryant Park Hotel in the American Radiator building. We also explored every corner of Noho, Soho, Greenwich Village and Tribeca.
And since every trip must have an element of surprise, the three of us headed to the Upper West Side where my children and I ended up dining on hamburgers and milkshakes at Tom's Restaurant, just like Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine Benes, Cosmo Kramer and George Costanza use to do.
Our trip coincided with
various important events, including the Spring-Summer 2015 "Design Fashion
Week" in Manhattan. The catwalks were overflowing with
incredible designs, prints and colors: this season’s three most important aspects,
which are being combined in free-spirited and geometric forms, with great
contrasts. Primary colors again! Yellow, Blue and Red are the dominant colors. Black and White are the canvas for the rest
of the palette.
I think the Venezuelan
designer
Carolina Herrera deserves
all the praise this season. However, ultimately everything is relevant,
especially here in the capital of art, fashion, design and the avant-garde,
since trends and fashion are made by the people who wear what is created by the
catwalk and underground designers.