Travel

Gucci Garden

| Design & Culture by Ed

Florence is Gucci, Gucci is Florence. Gucci Garden is a must-see in this city, but I wouldn’t take it too seriously. I mean, it’s not a museum written with capital ‘M’. Still, it’s an experience, like anything Gucci and Alessandro Michele pull off together. Inside the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia, the museo is housed, conceived by creative director Alessandro Michele. The newly designed space features a store with one-of-a-kind items, the Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura and the Gucci Garden Galleria exhibition rooms curated by critic Maria Luisa Frisa. Divided into a series of themed rooms, the Gucci Garden Galleria narrates the brand’s new vision while celebrating the archives including old advertising campaigns, artisans’ images, retro objects. From the Double G motif to Michele’s Guccification, the house’s universe is presented in a subverted, slightly surreal way. ‘Paraphernalia’ is a room dedicated to signature codes and symbols that define Gucci’s identity while ‘Cosmorama’ reveals the historical jet-set customer of Gucci. My favourite part? Anything by Tom Ford (the white slit dress, iconic kamasutra bomber jacket…). Was quite surprised the brand completely erased Frida Gianini from its history, though…
Photos by Edward Kanarecki.

Trattoria Sostanza in Florence

| Design & Culture by Ed

A fact: Trattoria Sostanza is the best restaurant in Florence. Please, if you’re planning a trip to Tusany’s capital, book your table here (at least three-four days in advance). This small restaurant, with a toilet located in the back of the kitchen (yes, you have to go through the entire kitchen, which also means meeting the very Italian cooks!), is the best kept secret of the locals. It might be classical, Tuscan cuisine, with dishes that sound like regular Italian plates. But the taste of every single thing here is heaven. From the Florentine steak and artichoke pie to tortellini stuffed with signature ragout and a plate of tomatoes from the chef’s garden, Trattoria Sostanza really shows what finest Italian food is, in an unpretentious, home-made way. If you’re lucky with the season, you will get wild strawberries (straight from a Sicilian farmer) with your meringue cake – which is a masterpiece. Again, go there. Thank me later.

Via del Porcellana, 25/R / Florence

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.

Florence

| Design & Culture by Ed

The moment London fashion week was reaching its final moments, I was on the way to Italy for a quite impromptu trip to Florence and Rome – two cities I’ve visited when I was a child and clearly needed a sort of revision. Not in scorching, Italian summer, with crowds of tourists that make you remember just a flood of people going through the corridors of Uffizi, and not Caravaggio’s masterpieces. At the end of February, when Italian spring is already in full bloom, but it’s still the perfect temperature outside to wear a trench coat. And, thanks God, nearly no tourists at all. Ideal way of discovering any place, especially in Italy. Of course, I will post my favourite addresses in both of those cities in the upcoming days. Here, I leave you with some of my favourite moments I’ve captured in Florence – Tuscany’s capital, as romantic and delicious as they say.

Baptistery on Piazza San Giovanni; the street that lead to our villa, hidden in the Tuscan hills just two kilometres from Florence’s city centre; patio of the villa; marble painting at Il Papiro; my mum, wearing a Dries Van Noten fur jacket.

On our way to the centre; pink tights at Uffizi Gallery; typical street situation in Florence; inside of Santa Maria Novella; Prada’s headband.

Bottega Veneta clutches that made us all lose our minds; Santa Maria Novella – completely in love with this place; a very ‘postcard from Tuscany’ clichés (which was actually our view from the villa); Medici’s Palace; mum’s vintage Prada tote from the 90s; Campari!

 

Caravaggio’s Medusa at Uffizi Gallery; Ponte Vecchio (tourist-free as well); a sculpture detail from I can’t really remember where…; another vintage from my mum, 90s Chanel; a street photo booth near the river; Botticelli’s Birth of Venus at Galleria Uffizi – it might cause a heart attack.

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.

International Wardrobe

| Design & Culture by Ed

The next time you’re in Berlin, please visit International Wardrobe. As the name suggests, it’s a store that sells hand-picked garments, accessories and curated objects from all over the world. The owner finds unique pieces in Ukraine (like the jacket from Hutul region), Transylvania region in Romania, Vietnam, Bolivia and other destinations, then thoroughly examines them in the very precise labels attached to each piece. The world’s most beautiful cultures under one address in the Mitte district. Learn through fashion, and let the one-of-a-kind craftsmanship into your wardrobe. Really, it’s all about the joy of styling!

Almstadtstraße 50 / Berlin

All photos by Edward Kanarecki.

Prague’s Addresses II

| Design & Culture by Ed

In addition to my Prague addresses I discovered back in autumn (read about them here), here are three more places I found worth visiting in the Czech capital.

What makes Prague locals and well-informed tourists go to the rather sleepy Karlin district? One word: Eska. It’s a restaurant with a bakery which brings together the traditional and the modern – on the plate, and in its arty/industrial interior spread across two floors. It’s a spot from Ambiente (Prague’s leading culinary collective) that brings you food made of Czech ingredients with the daring touch of the head chef Martin Štangl. Here, you will enjoy breakfast, a lunch or an intimate evening meal made of several courses. When you leave, don’t miss the fire-baked bread, organic dairy, selected meats from Naše Maso and a take-away coffee at the Eska store.

Pernerova 49

Your culture time should be spent at the Veletržní Palác. At the time of its construction (completed in 1928), this was the largest building of its kind in the world and the first ‘Functionalist’ building in Prague. Today it serves the needs of the National Gallery. A unique collection of Czech and international contemporary art, it includes some well-known examples of French and European art, including major works by such names as Picasso, Toyen, Renoir, van Gogh, Klimt, Gauguin, Cezanne, Rodin and many more. Take your time to see all the four floors and the temporary exhibitions.

Kantýna is another address coming from under Ambiente’s wing. The concept is quite surprising – it’s a literal canteen, but aesthetically pleasing. With a butcher store in the front and a restaurant space in the back, this place is for true meat lovers (or even, maniacs). I wasn’t really impressed with the sausage I ordered, and I’m not a beer-loving type of person, but I guess there are people who enjoy this sort of culinary ‘adventure’. I came here for the interior!

Photographs by Edward Kanarecki.