Renwick

In the quest to seek more art, I came across this exhibit aptly named 'Wonder' at the Renwick gallery in the District. It's a small space and the building itself is beautiful, as well as its light fixtures and all of the pieces within. Here are a few:

I highly recommend those in the DC area or stopping by the nation's capitol anytime soon to pay a quick visit. Definitely worth it.

je ne sais quoi

“The gold in you does not rust.”

smoke & coffee

the marked first memory I have of Antigua is the minute we drive  from the airport in Guate city into the small town. It smells of fire with the scent of a familiar clean, wooden smoke. It is dark, in the way American cities will never be. The streets are beautifully lit with soft, yellow street lights and small fires in the corners illuminating only its intimate vicinity. The darkness keeps the surrounding scenes well hidden in the night. The next morning we wake early, not per our usual leisurely traveler schedule to explore the town as much as possible in the daylight. Our first mission is as it has been in every city and every country - finding good coffee and breakfast. Luckily, we are told that there is homemade pancakes, plantains, and beans where we are staying and our roots would never let us stray from this. We eat breakfast on the rooftop and it would have been worth the entire trip to have only seen the views from that rooftop. There are volcanoes to the north, monumental in their stature and Mayan ruins to the east and surrounded by mountains behind us. We are shattered, hearts soft, and eyes once again humbled by the inexhaustible beauty of the creations in this world.

I'll limit this post largely to pictures of the rest of our trip, for in situations such as this, words will undoubtedly fall short of capturing such grandiosity. 

view every morning. Its a surprise we did anything else beyond sitting here all day 

this much romance in just a breakfast

Rooftop views of volcanos and ruins

rainy stone streets of Antigua

Town square, stone streets of Antigua 

you could never fatigue of the amount of color

plantación de café 

If you're not tired of hearing this yet, it still bears repeating...Lake Atitlan is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places Anila or I have ever been to. It is one of those dangerously beautiful places, one in which you could completely lose yourself, in all your senses while at the same time remembering your place in this massive expanse of the world. There is the giant and magnanimous San Pedro Volcano in the middle and it is surrounded by water. The lake is dotted with villages around it and each village boasts a slightly different personality, some renown to be a haven for artists and craftsmen while others have preserved the most indigenous culture of Guatemala. 

To stand at the foot of a 10,000 ft volcán and to look up is to have an experiential knowing of God. 

Arriving in one of the many villages surrounding Lake Atitlan

Drove around the village of Santa Cruz in tuk-tuks of course

Village of Santa Cruz - where a carnival of some sort was ongoing. The entire village was on the streets eating, walking around, and dancing. 

Santa Cruz still has much of the original Mayan traditions, beliefs, customs in practice

 “Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Lake Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing.” Aldous Huxley on Lake Atitlan

que te vaya bien, 

besos.

soneto xvii

No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio

o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego:

te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras,

secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.

Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva

dentro de sí, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores,

y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo

el apretado aroma que ascendió de la tierra.

Te amo sin saber como, ni cuándo, ni de donde, 

te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:

así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,

sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres,

tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía,

tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño

 ---------------------------------------------

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of the carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Pablo Neruda

Cavatina & Quenepas

 if I touch

near the fire

the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists,

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats

that sail

toward those isles of yours
 that wait for me. - Pablo Neruda

Well, hello beloveds. AWOL bloggers here. I have run out of good reasons for our lack of posts except school, which is just an aged excuse at this point. So let's just look past it, shall we?

A few weeks ago, the two of us fulfilled our desire of traveling together by going to Puerto Rico and Guatemala with a group of some of our favorite people and friends. We spent most of our time in Puerto Rico in Old San Juan, which your eyes could never tire of. Every hour is warm, colorful, and filled with music. Also, can I just say that being in any place with native spanish speakers during the World Cup is an experience in itself?? We watched a number of games in small cafes and really loved the camaraderie/pretending we were all rooting for the same team. Anila and I also have recently been reading a lot of poetry by the Chilean Pablo Neruda...his intensity, somewhat tormented but vastly beautiful words are, in fact, everything we love in good poetry. Safe to say that we read a lot of his poems to our friends on this trip in both spanish and english, even if met with the occasional eye roll. We did it anyway.

Old San Juan, PR

Fort Cristobal

Verde Mesa - one of the most magical dinners we have ever had. The decor was something out of Alice in Wonderland, sans the acid trip feel. The flavors in our dinner was so fresh and married each other so well, my goodness. Felt like a dream.

 

Quenepas/Spanish Limes. We were, of course, very excited to try this new fruit which tasted a bit like sour candy.  

The guitarist, Felix Rodriguez, at restaurant Aji Dulce, decided to leave his post and come sit at our table and play for us for about two hours. Can't say that we didn't hope he would. He was exquisitely talented, a "master guitarist" as he called himself. Played some beautiful pieces that I had never heard before, 'Cavatina' being my favorite. It's from the 1978 movie, The Deer Hunter, and it is something that will give you peace, sadness, and chills all at once.

Ponce, PR. Kimono Cardigan:Forever 21

Ponce, PR.

endless color paired with beautiful cobblestone

How pretty are the streets at night??

Flamenco singer; Voice that carried its own soul.

Ruins of the old spanish fort

One should go to Old San Juan just to see all the beautiful doors.

“By hook or by crook, I hope that you will possess yourselves of money enough to travel and to idle, to contemplate the future or the past of the world, to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream”

Besos,
S

french damask & leather gloves

"Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little music played out of doors by somebody I do not know." - John Keats 

Hello, near-perfect afternoon. I would, of course, prefer a fine french cappuccino myself but you do you, Keats. Anila and I quite literally have spent hours talking about fruit and warm weather. As in sitting down and discussing our favorite fruits in all their glory. It's not strange- we just feel very strongly about good coffee, good fruit, and warmth. Especially during days of dismal weather, like that we've been having for the past too many months. Seriously- these cold temperatures have long lost their charm and appeal for me. Anila & Tas came to visit me in my current Southern residence a few weekends ago. I'm sure they were hoping for slightly warmer temperatures but unfortunately, we have never been so lucky with weather anytime we meet. Anila brings the rain and the cold, I'm convinced.

We did however, get a chance to visit the Maymont Mansion - once owned by Richmond royalty and beautifully decorated with furniture and tastes from all over the world. I was particularly fond of the ladies tea room, wallpapered with original french damask fabric in a subtle, dusty pink color. The room was accented with furniture characteristic of the French Regence style in deep oaks and gold.

STUNNING, omg.

Dining room

Library- very Italian

We also visited the Maymont gardens at the estate which are absolutely stunning and doesn't even feel like you're in a city. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously cold that day and we were barely able to stand outside fore more than a few minutes. Lucky for us, just enough to get these pics. 

Pink Oversized coat: "Lofty"
Loafers: Jones New York

Orange-Red Coat: Old Navy 

Black leather bag: Aldo
Black Leather gloves: Dillard's

Camel Coat: H&M
Red leather gloves:

  Other Winter Outfits

Beige blouse: H&M
Mint Bubble necklace: Forever21
Faux Fur vest: Marshall's
Brown Leather Boots: Macy's

Hopefully warm weather soon! 

-S