Gastronomy in Prague: Ginger & Fred

Having recently written about Frank Gehry's newest architectural marvel in Paris, I was eager to see the building he has designed for the city of Prague, and as it so happened, the restaurant we had chosen for lunch is located in a building designed by him.  I have decided that the next exhibit I see will have to be at the Pompidou Centre where there's a current exhibition on Frank Gehry. I may as well take it all in while there's still all this attention on him.

Ginger & Fred is on the seventh floor of this Gehry building in Old Town. Oddly, no signs reveal its location. The charming young lady at the reception asked where we were headed before directing us to the seventh floor. Oddly mysterious. Very spy movie-like, given that we were in a city where most spy movies seem to be set.

The restaurant was a lovely surprise given the austere building and its minimalistic interior decor of the grey, beige and white colour palette.

Exploring Old Town, Prague - A Photo Tour

Exploring Prague's Old Town was a morning filled with the sights and sounds of a truly vibrant city. Armed with our list of places to visit, we headed out early to avoid other tourists. We walked along the famous Charles Bridge, so named because it was commissioned by King Charles IV in 1357. It is a cobble-stoned pedestrian bridge that spans the Vltava River and is a very important part of Prague's history. A sighting of the Astronomical Clock at the Old Town Square saw us competing with the hordes of people also out to do the same thing: view the hourly chiming of the clock with its moving figures, a marvel really, given that the mechanism dates back 600 years.

A photo journey inside the St.Nicholas Church, Prague

Described as one of the 'most impressive example of Prague Baroque ', the St. Nicholas Church  in Lesser Town Prague, is described in superlatives in almost every reference one reads. It is a beautiful church.
It dates back to 1703, but was built on a former parish church site that dated back to the 1300s. It is also the largest of Prague's churches founded by the Jesuits.
We took our time in this one, and you can see why.

On Prague Castle, the Changing of the Guard and...Starbucks

Fuelled on a huge breakfast, we decided to walk through the city and make our way towards Prague Castle, loftily situated up a winding road, and overlooking the city.
First off though, we spent an inordinate amount of time inside St. Nicholas Church - with some of the most impressive interiors of any church I have ever seen. From the frescoes to the statues, we took our time taking it all in. Who knew that spending time in a church would hold everyone's attention that much. The church is still used for masses, and the solemnity within probably explains why we didn't rush the visit.

A contemporary Eurasian feast in an old European city

Service: Excellent
Food: Excellent
Though admittedly the ambience could have been warmer, the impeccable service and scrumptious food more than made up for it. Dinner with the family last night, as we plotted what the rest of the weekend in Prague would entail, was a feast. Essensia at the Mandarin Oriental was a true delight.

On reading everything and not taking myself seriously

I am always scouring websites, blogs and newspaper articles on books - looking for recommendations by readers, writers, bloggers,...Oprah!
My FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is not socially-related, it is about the books. As a result I am plugged into everything to do with books. It is not just news about the new that holds my attention, it is also everything about the old. But lately I have grown rather weary of those lengthy lists drawn up by a somebody of the literary world, listing the books that one can read, tick off,  and comfortably declare themselves as well read after.

So in protest to what feels like mandated reading, I have been reading a lot of Young Adult (YA) fiction, and am loving it. It has taken off the pressure of having to read the 'serious' books, and by serious I mean high brow literary fiction that comes with literary awards - as opposed to teenage books about dystopic worlds that come with movie deals.

Books: FRANCE'S GOT TALENT by Peter Gumbel

Title: France's got Talent : The woeful consequences of French elitism
Author: Peter Gumbel
Published: 2013
Genre: Non-fiction

I have been sitting on this review for a while. Whilst I really enjoyed Peter Gumbel's book, in it giving me a whole new understanding of some of the workings of the french education system, it left me hungry for more.
Peter Gumbel writes of his experiences as the Communications director of Sciences Po, under the then director of the university Richard Descoings, who was a fire-brand and controversial anti-elitist figure. He covers the differences in teaching methods of french tertiary institutions and how they often do not allow for as much debate as say  American institutions; the hierarchical structure amongst the teaching staff; the elite nature of the Grand ´Ecoles and how they have been, are,  and will remain the breeding ground for France's ruling class. But moreover he points to the fact that the elitism in France is, by international standards, not normal.

Paris gets arty and controversial

Winter's finally come and with it enough art exhibitions to see us through to January. We have set our clocks back and are once again familiarising ourselves with the shorter days and longer nights. This is not my favourite season but I am approaching it with a positive attitude and  a fuller appreciation of what it can also offer.

Paris has been abuzz with all things art this last week. The annual contemporary art fair,  FIAC came to and end yesterday. American artist Paul McCarthy's controversial installation at Place Vendôme met its demise swiftly after Parisians decided that it had no place there, given its form - a view that was not supported by the artist, who defended it as... art, of course.

The art of tattoos at Musée du Quai Branly

There is an interesting array of shows and exhibitions currently on and upcoming at the Musée du quay Branly - making for a potentially busy autumn and winter. I quite enjoy the exhibitions at the MQB ,more so than at other museums because it showcases art and music of African, Asian and Oceanic origin, adding a bit of flavour to the extensive other museums which focus solely on European art. It has exhibitions that are always interesting for both children and adults alike.
I took my daughter to the Tatoueurs, Tatoués (Tattoists, Tattooed) exhibition. The exhibition is an extensive presentation of the world of tattooing from the Oriental, African, Oceanic and Western worlds; from the ritual to the purely decorative.

At various places around the exhibition are silicone models of body parts that have been used to illustrate some of the more detailed works of old and new artists. There are jars of preserved tattooed pieces of skin for the more gory sections, and some of the more basic tools used in past and present.