Endless Summer in Copenhagen

Last summer I spent a week in Scandinavia. As I was booking the trip I had this fear that I would be missing out by not spending the week on one of Europe’s quick getaway beaches. I couldn’t have been more wrong and by the end of the first day, any thoughts of missing the beach had evaporated.

What I’m trying to say is that there are some amazing places in Northern Europe, where the sun almost never goes down. If you’ve never been to Copenhagen, now’s the time to get planning. Here are a few events to get you on your way.

First up, from June 1 – 5 is the Distortion Festival. A celebration of life, club and street culture, the festival is all about bringing together amazing bands, parties, neighbourhoods, and most importantly, people. You can party into the night with ‘Club Clash’ where festival organizers will be bringing together an army of bands and DJ’s to take you to the morning light. Keep in mind, this festival is not for the crowd shy – every evening from 4 – 10 pm there’s a ‘Block Party’ in a different location, bringing together between 20,000 – 40,000 people. Yikes!

The Copenhagen Jazz Festival’s fans probably won’t be as wild as those the Distortion Festival, but I’m sure they’ll be no less appreciative. Experience jazz Copenhagen style from the 1^st – 10^th of July. Touted as being one of the largest jazz festivals in Europe, they boast an attendance of 250,000 guests per year. The programme is focused on quality and the locations are top-notch, including an East German trawler, a former printing plant and the gardens of the Carlsberg Brewery. It doesn’t really matter if you’re a long time avid fan or just want to enjoy an atmosphere like no other, you’ll be welcome the snare of a drum beat, the squonk of a saxophone, and some of the best voices on the scene.

Last but not least we’re going to step it up a notch for all the BMX enthusiasts. From the 27^th to the 31^st of July the UCI BMX Championships will take over the city. If you don’t know what the UCI BMX Championships are, don’t worry; it took me a bit of researching to figure it out too. It’s basically hardcore BMX bike races speeding over dirt trails with bumps, jumps, and plenty of places to take a spill. The competition is fierce and the competitors are fearless.

If you’re headed to any of these events you’re going to need a place to call home for a few nights. White Line Hotels edit The Avenue Hotel is in Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg district, so you’ll get a real taste of the local. The area has it’s own flavour, local eateries, temporary galleries, and the style and design the city is renowned for.

Easy London Design

You may have seen the work of Tomás Alonso in 2009 at the Next Level Galerie in Paris.  There, the Spanish-born London-based designer presented ‘Variations on a Tube’, simple colourful pieces of furniture, which, it will come as no surprise, were created using tubes as legs and supports. The furniture got a lot of press because it managed to be simultaneously almost child-like in its simplicity and elegant.

Since he’s moved to London, after living and working in the US, he’s been invited to participate with some of the metropolis’s most renowned creative spaces, such as the Whitechapel Gallery and the V & A.

His latest project was the stackable steel cutlery for Italian wine entrepreneurs Italesse. The cutlery is held together by a small metal clip and can be used indoors or out, also making it simple to take along to a picnic in the park, or from kitchen to terrace. Simplified to the most basic requirements, it avoids any unnecessary flourishes, but manages to look elegant none the less.

The cutlery is a helpful take on the problem of lugging around silverware, but still trying to maintain a sense of elegance. Alonso’s other projects are equally inspiring. Such as his ‘Greenroom’, which supports climbing plants indoors. The system allows plants to grow as they naturally would, but keeps them in their own, easily movable environment. The young designer has already worked with some impressive names, it should be interesting to see what come out of his studio next.

If London design is what drives you, you’ll definitely want to take a break at White Line Hotels edit the Town Hall Hotel and Apartments. The location will put you in the middle of everything we love about London – innovation, inspiring design, and food that will transport you. Added mini bonus hint – if you’re travelling from out side the UK, you can leave your adaptors behind. Every room includes all region adaptors. It’s all in the details.

Italesse photos by Cemal Okten.

Giacometti Weekend in Salzburg

If you’re itching to get out of town but are pressed for time, head to Salzburg to take advantage of White Line Hotels edit the Blaue Gans Arthotel’s Giacometti package. Included in the package is one of the hotel’s 3.0 rooms (a luxurious 30 square meters) as well as full breakfast buffet to get you on your way towards exploring the city. You can spend the day exploring the Giacometti exhibition “The Origin of Space” at the Museum of Modern Art (tickets are included in the package). Rounding off the perfect one-night get away is dinner in the Gewölbe Restaurant, we’d recommend the schnitzel, it’s both a tradition and mighty tasty.

Book your Giacometti package on the Blaue Gans website: www.hotel-blaue-gans-salzburg.at

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Categories: Salzburg, Art

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter

Congratulations to Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca!

You know you’ve teamed up with the right people when they make a “Best in the World” list. That’s why we’d like to join White Line Hotels edit Hotel Omm in congratulating their consulting chefs: Joan, Josep, and Jordi Roca on their recent honour of the Celler de Can Roca being named 2^nd Best Restaurant in the World!

The three brothers are the consulting chefs for Hotel Omm’s acclaimed Moo Restaurant. Their own space, El Celler de Can Rosa, serves up ‘emotional cuisine’ in dishes that evoke childhood memories or transport the diner to a time and place. The focus on the palate’s association with memories and a disregard for traditional culinary techniques has propelled the modest and honest cuisine of the restaurant into the spotlight.

The relationship between Omm and the brothers has been beneficial all around. It’s also fostered a woring relationship between Sandra Taruella, interior designer of the Omm and the Grupo Tragaluz. Taruella was asked to design El Celler when it was still in development phase and the atmosphere she’s created is a welcoming and evocative as the food.

The award was given by Restaurant Magazine. A regional panel of food critics, chefs, restaurateurs, and ‘gastronomes’ chose the restaurants. What makes the award so special is that it’s purely based on food and atmosphere, and every restaurant in the world is eligible.

Congratulations Joan, Josep, and Jordi! We’ll see you soon!

All about El Celler de Can Roca: www.cellercanroca.com

Inspiration from Sandra Tarruella: www.sandratarruella.com

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Categories: Barcelona, Food

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter

Enchanting Plants in Paris

If you were walking past La Galerie Végétale, you might pause before walking in, unsure if it was a shop, gallery or design studio. Don’t hesitate! Enter a lush world fusing the industrial and natural.

Inspired by nature and the preciousness of the materials that make up organic products, La Galerie Végétale is the kind of place that you could pick up arranged bouquet, or a fantastic assortment of ordinary and exotic potted plants, as well as their accoutrements, but it’s also a gallery that is constantly changing, reinvented at the owner’s whim. Run by Michel Lebroton and Solveig Kuffer, the tremendous space was formerly a woodworking studio. It’s now been divided into a workshop and gallery, each side guiding the other.

La Galerie Végétale is deeply invested in organic and recycled materials, encouraging fair trade internationally, as well as traditional artistic techniques, a quality you’ll see reflected in the product carried in the shop. Take, for example, the Bholu creations peeking out from behind plants throughout the store. The imaginative creations are handmade by women artists in India, inspired by the drawings of children.

Practice your French on La Galerie Végétale’s website: www.lagalerievegetale.com

Photographs courtesy of Jillian Leiboff

Hotel des Academies et des Arts, Paris

If you’re searching for a little whimsical magic in Paris, look no further than White Line Hotels edit Hotel des Academies et des Arts. Jérôme Mesnager’s white figures acrobatically climb the walls, even the outside of the hotel, further enchanting an already magical city.

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Category: Paris

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter