In a beautiful old factory building in Hamburg, North Germany, we visited GOLDPRINZ Manufaktur. Tanja Isabel Dipner, mother of a lovely daughter, multiple-talent and founder of GOLDPRINZ lives and works in a stunning family-sized loft, which also doubles as her studio/showroom. Here she creates the most beautiful and highest spec wooden children’s furniture in the world, as well as many series of art works using different mediums including canvas, plexiglass and fabrics.
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A famous saying goes: If the mountain will not come to Muhommad, then Muhommad must go to the mountain. So, that´s what we did!
As we still haven´t seen any snow in Berlin this winter, we jumped into the car and drove to the alps. Passing Bavaria (without snow) and Austria (just a hint of snow), we finally reached Switzerland – with a little snow. Is winter retreating to the U.S. this year? A little disappointed, we went to bed that evening… BUT: During our first night in beautiful Sils, near St. Moritz, the skies opened to give us the Winter Wonderland we were so dearly hoping for.When we woke up that morning, the mountains and sky were full of white and between the snowflakes, there was a magical greenblue shimmer glowing. Winter arrived in three short days and three long nights. What a gift! Can you imagine how much fun it was to build igloos with the kids, to walk through the white landscape along the lakes, or up to the fully white Fextal, from where we sled back to Sils Maria in a horse-drawn carriage, wrapped up in lambskin blankets? Finally the sun released us from this beautiful and surreal outtake, and we felt lucky, when the sky returned to it´s deep blue colour. Enjoying some perfect days for skiing we left Europe’s beautiful sugarsnow island and went back to our cherished grey Berlin.
To celebrate a birthday and see what the art world’s up to, we visited Venice – which is quite beautiful in October! (Okay, so a bit late posting this. But better late than never!)
We rented the third floor of the wonderful Palazzo Albrizzi in San Polo, close to the Vaporetto Station San Silvestro. If you go to Venice, you must take a watertaxi from the airport – you will never forget your first terribly decadent arrival in this wonderful Italian city. During our stay, we discovered the lagune and, of course, went to the Biennale. The entire city offers art in every form – from exhibitions at the Biennale pavilions, in palaces, museums and gardens! The kids enjoyed it more than I expected. Continue reading
I, of course, have a crush on all things vintage: old furniture, bags, clothes and jewellery – they all tell a story about their secret past and convey the feeling of being one of a kind. And what else are we looking for in our lives?
When I am travelling, I always find inspiration in fleamarkets and antique stores and have found some beautiful ones in France and Italy. Sometimes I get the impression that one can sense the true, intimate biography of a country and its people most of all through their personal artefacts – beyond the immediate facade of history.
In Berlin I have a favourite antique store: NORBERT HÜSKEN, Antiques and more… on Mommsenstrasse in Berlin Charlottenburg. For my nine year old daughter and myself, it is like entering a treasure chamber and Mr. Huesken always has new surprises in store for us: Costume jewellery collections from the 20’s right through to the 60’s (such as Miriam Haskell, Coro, Trifari, Vendome, Dior & Chanel), beautiful tea-services, silver, amazing bags and hats with feathers, Swedish and French chandeliers, European linen & embroidery, crystal cut glasses – the list is endless. It’s an amazing paradise for connoisseurs and people with a faible for the real stuff. Norbert Huesken Antiques ship worldwide.
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Charlottenburg, an inner city district in the western part of Berlin, is famous for many things – the Gedächtniskirche for example and, of course, not least for the shopping boulevard Kurfürstendamm, where almost all the major fashion houses have a store. Yet it is also famous for the quiet streets leading off it. The fantastic old buildings with amazing flats have something of Paris, but also a typically Prussian feel! Peering through an open doorway, you’ll see full 19th century opulence with fountains in the entrance hallways, stuccoed ceilings and carved art nouveau staircases. Wonderful book and furniture stores, small perfume, fashion and hat boutiques, restaurants and cafés all line the generously wide streets with their majestic trees.
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