Archive for category Travels
Raw diet…and planning a trip!
No I’m still not mooing, though I feel like I should fall on all fours and start eating raw grass! The raw diet is going okay so far. I’ve gotten my housekeeper to start preparing raw salads, not just green but corn, tomato and cucumber salads and it’s going okay so far. I feel no extra energy. I’ve lost no extra pounds. But I guess it’s only been ten days since I started… I’m sneaking in a crakcer here and there, but at least I’m making the effort, right? Will keep you posted.
Also, help needed! Has anybody been to Uzbekistan or Tajikistan? I’m going there in January on my annual trip. If any of you have done anything great there, please let me know as I’m starting the planning process this week. I’m also going to be in St Petersburg for four days. What is not to be missed? Have you seen or eaten anything (raw or cooked!) that you’d like to share?
I’d really appreciate it.
Sound of Music
I am off on this evening to Switzerland to present a job we’ve been working on. I’ve been to Geneva once before, but that entire visit lasted only three hours (I went to look at the job site!). It’s going to be wonderful to see the Alps in Summer. This project is a chalet in the mountains, so I have dusted off my lederhosen and I am looking forward to recreating the Sound of Music – who knows, maybe the hills will come alive?
I’m back Friday morning just in time for me to head out to Montauk on Friday afternoon. While I’m away you’ll see some “Ask Vicente” posts up here. If you have any questions you’ve been meaning to ask me, please mail them to info (at) vicentewolf (dot) com.
Johannesburg & Cape Town – Rooms on View
On my last day in Johannesburg I was the guest speaker at a Conde Nast House & Garden reader event hosted by the Editor in Chief Liz Morris, along with the fabulous Nina Campbell. Both Nina and I had a great time with each other and with Liz, talking about our experiences and sharing our woes and our pleasures. It was the first time I’d seen Nina’s work up close and I was quite amused by the fact that she is a traditional designer that does it with a modern slant and I’m a modern designer who adds a traditional slant. So we were literally at opposite ends of the scale, but still with a lot of things in common.
The next day Nina and I flew to Cape Town and were put up in The Cellars-Hohenhort hotel. Another fantastic hotel, it is on nine acres of extraordinary grounds, beautiful gardens with blooming roses everywhere and a wonderful room. I felt like a king.
Nina and I went shopping and I found my favorite, called Africa Nova (go visit their website!) - where I bought some baby toys for friends who just had babies. I also found these great ottomans made out of washed felt that look like pebbles for my apartment and really great earrings for another friend. I am happy to say that Nina beats me at shopping! We visited some other shops in the colorful Bo-Kaap area and then had a luncheon at the publisher of House & Garden’s house, Elizabeth Rhees-Jones. Again, perfectly manicured gardens and a charming home. The luncheon was great with such interesting people ranging from bankers to landscapers to designers and it was an invigorating experience. Not only because I was drinking pink champagne, but the conversation dealt with politics, travel, global affairs – truly rich on every level.
Liz served a combination of different meats and chicken, great little appetizers like glazed red onions on a pastry shell (I think I ate at least 7 of them!) and then we had another breakfast discussion the next day for the Capetonian designers. Again, now that Nina and I knew each other even better, it turned out be a really fun time with lots of laughter and jokes.
From there it was straight to the airport for a grueling flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg, then a 2 hour layover, then a flight from Johannesburg to Paris followed by a 90 min wait and then on to New York, totaling 19 hours of traveling. However, I arrived wide-eyed and bushy tailed after sleeping approximately 14 hours!
My trip to South Africa with Rooms on View was an incredible one and the warmth and creativity of the people I came in contact with has left me with lasting memories. If you’ve been lucky enough to have been there, what are your favorite memories?
Johannesburg – Day 3
Johannesburg – Day 2

The next day I went shopping at Amatuli – I always shop there when I’m in Johannesburg – to find objects for VW Home. I found a great Ethiopian chair, which I had been looking for for a client, as well as some Dogon ladders.
Earlier that day I had walked through the different booths at the convention center to select my top ten exhibitors at Rooms on View. Trust me, it was really hard to choose from all the creativity on display. From African manufacturers to contemporary furniture lines there were so many designers and so many different booths. It was a really fun experience.
I met the wonderful Liz Morris who is the editor of Conde Nast House and Garden and an absolute gem, charming and delightful. We immediately hit it off!
Her magazine’s booth, designed by Maira Koutsoudakis of Life was really exquisite with wonderful objects and it incorporated really refined and outstanding bush elements.
That night I went to drinks at one of SA’s top interior designers Stephen Falcke’s extraordinary black and white townhouse. It looked straight off the pages of Architectural Digest. The house is done entirely in black and white and features incredible artwork and his personal finds from around the world. Naturally it was rounded off by his bushy white cat, which would have given Nene a go in the cuteness factor!
I saw so many people whom I’d met ten years ago on my first SA trip and we discussed many things, from the economy – they’re not in the plush either and it was interesting to again have that reassurance that we’re all hurting together – to how the design industry in South Africa has progressed over the last 10 years. It is quite extraordinary. Wonderful new designers are breaking ground in their style and the sense that we are living in a creative global society is truly proven by what I saw there. Many of the spaces could have been in a top New York apartment.
Johannesburg – Day 1
For my fifth visit to South Africa I had a set plan in my mind of what I wanted to do. But once the social / design / lecture / ball started rolling, my initial plans quickly went by the wayside.
I was put in The Saxon Boutique Hotel in Sandhurst, Johannesburg and was able to live the very grand life. I was in the Presidential Suite – not bad for a Cuban refugee, right? – and the beautiful grounds of this amazing hotel set the perfect foundation from which the whirlwind started.
The first night I went to dinner at CIRCA gallery where a collection of South Africa’s top designers and celebrities and architects gathered, invited by Sumari Krige, the organizer of Rooms on View, the show I was the guest speaker at. We had dinner in a brand new and breathtaking private dining room that offered great views of Johannesburg from its terraces. The menu was distinctly African, mixing different flavors trough small dishes dispersed on the table. I was seated next to the Oprah of SA, Jenny Crwys-Williams from 702 Talk Radio, and she told me about a great new show at the Johannesburg Art Gallery featuring work by a Cuban artist. So that went on my list of things that I just had to do.
That first evening was just really the beginning of what turned out to be a wonderful trip. More about it all tomorrow…
Paris: Musee du quai Branley
Posted by Vicente in Inspirations, Travels on June 9, 2010
I just had to share these photos I took in Paris at the Musee du quai Branley. The entire facade of the building is covered in greenery and it is just breathtaking.
This is my inspiration for today – I hope you draw some creative inspiration from it as well!
Luggage
Why is it that one always over-packs? When I returned last week my suitcase looked like a fat pig and weighed as much as an elephant. But I did get to wear everything! I had so many events in South Africa, and for each one had a change of clothing. But of course Paris shopping stretched the seams of my bag to its limits. One of these days I will manage to get it down to two pairs of underwear, two socks, a pair of trousers and two shirts. Where are the days where the trunks were shipped ahead of you for convenience sake?
Have you figured out the key to traveling light? What are your best tips?
Paris
I shopped Prada and Hermes, bought some underwear, went to see a great show at the Pompidou of Lucien Freud’s work and then had an amazing lunch at Georges, the restaurant at the top. If you ever go to Paris and plan to visit the Centre Pompidou, have lunch or dinner there. Great food and a lot of stylish people. A first for me was a visit to the Musee du Quai Branly where the whole exterior is all done in greenery. Amazing.
Went to the Musee Rodin where all the roses were in bloom and it was just such a wonderful experience to be there and enjoy the Eiffel Tower towering over those gorgeous sculptures.
Unfortunately, the flea markets had nothing to offer. I’ve been in Paris many times and I’ve always found things to buy for VW Home. On this trip there was just nothing to find and from what all the dealers say, business is still very slow there. Even in the Left Bank, there was just nothing that I had to have, whether I could afford it or not.
One of the definite highlights of the trip was a retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent’s work featuring approximately 300 dresses from his start to the last one he did. The craftsmanship and his vision…it was so amazing. What he was doing in the ’60s is so right now and absolutely extraordinary.
While standing in line to get into the show, I had somebody come up to me and ask me if I was Vicente Wolf. When I confirmed that it was indeed me, they said ‘Oh I read your blog’! How cool is that?
I bought many pastries, got fatter and had a great time.
You just have to love Paris. (Oh, and I just got back home three hours ago, so this is fresh off the memory banks! I’ll share some photos with you all later.)
South Africa-bound
Today I fly from sunny Paris into the South African winter. First stop is Johannesburg where I will be speaking and attending Rooms on View. I spotted some open spaces in my busy schedule for the week and hope to be able to go shopping at my favorite crafts dealer in Joburg before heading to Cape Town on the weekend for two Conde Nast House & Garden reader events. Do you have any ‘must-do’s’ to recommend for either Johannesburg or Cape Town?
I think I may be the only person on my flight NOT heading to South Africa to attend the World Cup (hoping to get out of there before the football craziness starts!). I promise to share some of both the French and African experiences with you as soon as I get back to New York on June 1st.


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