Tag: art

8 must sees in Taipei

Like many other Asian cities, Taipei can be a bit chaotic and needs few days to fall in love with. For those who stay and explore, it offers tones of amazing tea houses, cafes, museums and art neighborhoods. We were heartbroken leaving it after a month and we know we will go back there someday. For now we want to show you our favorite spots in this vibrant city.

  1. Get creative at the Huashan 1914 Creativity Park

We discovered this pearl literally two days before we left Taiwan. I was almost heartbroken knowing I could have spent days there. Like many other places on the island, Huashan was a leftover of Japanese business, in this case an ex-sake winery taken over by art and given a new life. It’s a spectacular place with lots of cool, artsy cafes, museums, interesting exhibitions and the most original gifts and postcards ever. There are a lot of events happening there and plenty of green areas so it’s a perfect spot to picnic with a concert in the background. Heaven!

  1. Get even more artsy at Songshan Cultural & Creative Park

Similar idea to Huashan except Songshan is bigger and even more beautifully situated. Pond on one side, park on the other and a green courtyard in the middle made us forget we were still in the city. Obviously it has hyper interesting exhibitions and artsy souvenirs but what sets it apart is its charming, little bookshop/café. In a country where reading is essential and done by everyone, everywhere you really need places like that. Just crossing the doorstep I felt this lovely atmosphere of an old office with this specific smell of books and coffee.

After you're done reading we strongly recommend the best natural juice ice cream we have ever tasted! Location on our map below.

  1. See the army in action at the Martyrs’ Shrine

This pretty new shrine (built in 1969) is dedicated to Chinese soldiers who sacrificed themselves for their country. As many other important places it changes guards every hour. But honestly, this one is the most spectacular that we saw. Sheer precision, synchronization and shoes almost creating music. We stayed even after the "performance" to explore the beauty of the surrounding. Thankfully it misses some new, kitsch additions which leaves just perfect repetitions and a shrine that looks old and traditional.

  1. Feel the grand Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Built in memory of a former president of China, Chiang Kai-shek, the memorial hall is one of the main sites in Taipei. The hall itself is not extremely impressive for someone coming from Europe … but the change of guards is mesmerizing and the square on which it’s situated is massive and gives this feeling of a massive empire.

  1. Get cultural for “nothing” in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum

I was shocked a country famous for producing electronics and cheesy goods would have so much art. I completely didn’t expect that they would do even more. Spread art for everyone. Fine Arts Museum is another example of that. Entrance is just 30 NTD so less than a euro and you can literally spend a whole day walking around and exploring different exhibitions. We were especially interested in the exhibition about victims of the “Made in Taiwan” phenomenon.

  1. Emerge in a “weekend” garden on Chien Kuo Weekend Flower Market

Da'an’s flower market is a perfect event for all the flower lovers. You can literally find all the flowers and herbs that I’ve ever seen and also some micro plants kept in lab-like flasks. There are also lots of other curiosities like little fish kept in separate plastic containers or fresh honey on honey comb. Just next to the Flower Market there is also a Gem market.

  1. Get the best views on the city from the Elephant Mountain

Some might argue that the best views on the capital are from Taipei 101. For us it’s simple, why pay a lot of money to go on a tower when you can sweat for 20 minutes and see the whole city, tower included, for free? For us it was an easy choice. And judging by the biggest tripod crowds ever, we weren’t the only ones with that opinion. The mountain offers plenty of viewing platforms, the further you go, the more options and different angles you get. We decided to go there in the late afternoon to get the sight of the city during the day as well as with the sunset and at night. We never regretted those few hours, it was magnificent although crowded.

  1. Shopping around Taipei 101 and Xiemending

Especially Xiemending reminded us of shopping districts in Osaka or Tokyo. Obviously on a smaller scale. There and around Taipei 101 you can get everything: fine tea, clothes, electronics, souvenirs, nice Taiwanese cosmetics. You name it!

Taichung in a day

Taichung is the 3rd largest city on the island and a perfect stop on the way to the Sun Moon Lake. It offers amazing street art, stylish cafes and a true Taiwanese experience but without the crowd of the capital. Even better... all of the spots are reachable by public transport and buses are for free!

Morning at the Rainbow Village

The Rainbow Village is the absolute must see and the only busy spot in Taichung. But early morning is pretty peaceful even there. Later in the day it's only busy when the tour buses unload and storm in there but after 15 minutes of chaos they are mostly gone and the village goes back to its calm state.

15 minutes sounds like very little time for a whole village but in reality it’s not that much of a village. It's just a small area of few houses with a square and few little streets. But still it’s worth the visit and I would even dare to say: a slow one:) 

Rainbow Village has been created by a veteran who goes by the name of Rainbow Grandpa. Those houses were dull and practically on the edge of ruin when he decided to give them a new life. He started painting everything from walls to floors, including details like lanterns. Although the patterns look childish, together they create a unique, colorful and heartwarming feeling. There is nothing like to wake up in the morning and have a rainbow of colors bringing you to life.

Rainbow Grandpa still hangs around there so you can definitely spot him in the village... we did 🙂

A stroll full of art in Stock 20

Although the area is not very big, it’s situated next to the central station which provides a very convenient location. It still needs a lot of work, there is just one café and the opening hours of the ateliers are not clear but… it’s just such a charming place full of art and murals. When the ateliers are open it’s even more interesting with some amazing stainless glass beauties, paintings and other handicrafts. It’s hard to believe that those were just some old warehouses used during the Japanese occupation and left for decades since then.

Coffee and a cake at Fermento

Fermento is a really lovely café with hip furniture and art. Not to mention the joy of light coming through glass walls. It’s a perfect spot to have a cup of coffee or taste some of the delicious Taiwanese teas. To go with it they have a selection of cakes. If that wasn’t enough Fermento is situated in a very nice neighborhood with plenty of nice restaurants and artistic shops. There is even a shop dedicated to masking tape with millions of designs. That one is a true art on its own that is now extremely popular on the island. From there it’s nice to walk around on the Greenway. The most popular green area in Taichung that offers so needed shadow at any time of the day.

Read a book in the National library of Public Information

Taiwanese love reading. In fact I don’t think I ever saw more people reading in my life. Even bookstores are actually encouraging their clients to stay and read with nice tables, stylish lamps and comfy chairs. We were told they try to earn money on other merchandise and in house restaurant instead.

It made us wonder how a library would look like so we decided to visit one in Taichung. It was quite an experience, people were reading everywhere and it looked more like a stylish café than a dull library. Not to mention the building itself is futuristic and worth a visit even without a book in your hand.

Cool off with a big cup of bubble tea

Coffee might be the new hip thing but its still tea that leads the way. Taiwan produces 20% of world’s oolong tea and it proudly grows also green and black varieties. What better place to try some bubble tea than Taichung, where it was invented in the '80s.

Bubble tea comes in a variety of flavors, it can be green, black or oolong, with fresh or powdered milk, with tapioca or other kinds of pearls. They often even put jellies in it. We tried many different shops but only one made us come back over and over again. Europa served in our opinion the nicest tea bubble or normal. Although the guys preparing it looked clueless, what came out of their hands was delicious.

Explore some fine art for free in the National Taiwan Museum of Fine arts

The museum itself is not an architectural pearl like many others are. But it offers a variety of interesting exhibitions and it’s actually for free. When we were there it presented amazing work of an artist creating moving art with light installations on it. It was literally the most soothing exhibition I saw in my life as the objects were almost floating above and next to us. Another room was all about explaining gravity in a beautiful, approachable way. 

Get some dinner at one of the night markets

Taichung just like any other place on Taiwan is all about night markets, they are literally everywhere and they vary in size and quality. The biggest one is Feng Chia. Although not as good as in Kenting or Taipei, it’s still satisfying especially if you pick up their barbecue meat and veg with a decadent sweet sauce. It’s not exactly picture perfect so you will have to see it with your own eyes:)

Kaohsiung- the street art capital of Taiwan

Kaohsiung was never on our list of places to visit on Taiwan. We thought there was nothing to see there.

Frankly we ended up picking it when our Airbnb in Tainan got canceled and we couldn’t find any better solution. Kaohsiung was close and cheap enough to be our base to explore Tainan on a day trip basis. The street art and city itself captivated us so much that we ended up staying there every single day…

The Pier-2 art district

I often don’t enjoy twisted modern art galleries. Sometimes they really go too far and conceptual for me. But I love how modern art can be applied into forgotten spaces and bring them back to life, keeping the old vibe and soul at the same time.

That’s exactly why I loved the Pier-2 art district. Situated next to Kaohsiung Port it had all the potential to be useful and beautiful at the same time. Yet it was abandoned for years. Thankfully art came its way and nowadays it’s as vibrant and lovely as it can be.

The neighborhood is divided in 3 areas. Penglai area in the north has the Taiwan Railway museum, exhibition warehouses and a park with steel sculptures…  The park is mostly an oasis of piece except for those unlucky moments when a whole bus of a school excursion unloads.

The central area (Dayong area) has exhibition warehouses, a cinema and a bookstore with beautiful cards and artistic souvenirs from Taiwan. Inside the shop there is also a charming café.

The southern part of the neighborhood (Dayi area) is where all the hungry souls and bellies should go. And that’s where we spend most of our time, mostly window-shopping.

Stunning cafes are combined with art galleries and restaurants, something for the spirit and body at the same time. Except for hip places to eat there is a very colorful flower shop that has the most jaw dropping floral compositions.

Just around the corner there are a few very cool shops, one of which is a fair trade shop with local arts and crafts from all over the world. This one especially has beautiful jewelry, wooden kitchen stuff and piles of things that I just wished I could buy.

All 3 areas are full of murals, sculptures and little art work so we kept our eyes open at all time. We especially loved the 3D train station mural, dogs’ sculptures hanging off the wall and a whale watching over the whole street. As weird as they all sound, they are just terrific!

Cijin Island

We naively thought the word “island” and “ferry” would scare people away from going there. As soon as we saw the massive crowds in the port, we knew we were wrong. After few minutes when we reached our destination a whole flood of people went straight to… the streets of the food market. Leaving the rest of the area deserted. And there is quite a lot to discover.

First we went for a small walk up a mountain to admire views over the city and a small lighthouse. It didn’t take our breath away but we didn’t expect that in Cijin.

Until we strolled along the beach side and found Cijin Seashore Park, calm park just by the beach with beautiful street art. At that point I was wondering how come Kaohsiung was not on every “must see” list of Taiwan.

The Dome of Light

The Dome of Light is the largest glass work in the world and it’s hidden right in the heart of Formosa Boulevard metro station. 4500 glass panels form a massive 30 meter in diameter dome…

I read on Wikipedia that it would be offered as venues for weddings. I can’t possible imagine how it would be possible with metro passengers crossing it all the time and quite poor light. That said, it did not stop quite a few newlyweds from taking their wedding shot over there.

Nagoro- the weirdest village of Japan

Nagoro also known as the doll village is actually not known at all… Every single Japanese person that I mentioned it to didn’t know what I was talking about. Like if it didn’t exist, like if it was a ghost town. Which it is…

The village is situated between the charming and ever green valley and rivers of the Shikoku region. Just like many other rural areas it suffered from closing a nearby company which was a big employer for hundreds of people. And over the years it became deserted. Some wanted opportunities and education and some well… passed away.

Tsukimi Ayano was one of those who left but she never forgot her childhood home. After years of working in Osaka she returned and without having much to do she decided to start her own garden. Unfortunately birds ate all her seeds and that brought her to an idea to create her first scarecrow. That one was supposed to resemble her father. Now 10 years and 350 dolls later Nagoro is the weirdest village I have ever seen.

To get there we took a few buses which are not very frequent and take hours. No wonder because no one is going to send a bus for 35 habitants as that’s the alive population… We knew immediately we got to the right place, the dolls were already waiting for us at the bus stop. With a bit of mist, rain and not a living soul in our sight, it was a scene straight out of a thriller. But it’s not meant to be like this. The artist wants to show people she knew that passed away or left just how they liked living… So the dolls smile, drink beer, cycle, work in the garden, fish and anything you can imagine.

Since 2012 when the last two students had left the school, also there people have been replaced. Unbelievable considering that the school looks pretty new and has a nice, big gym attached to it.

Escaping from the rain we entered the old cultural center where dolls were in the middle of the reunion. Old, young, in kimonos, with cigarettes, smiling, angry… every single doll was different and it felt like they had a soul on their own.

In so many places we really had to look twice if it was a doll or a person, especially from the back many looked very convincing. During the whole day we saw two people in the village and many, many great human imitations. There is no shop in the surrounding, no café, not even a vending machine. And when there is no vending machine in Japan, it certainly means that it’s a god forsaken town…

Tsukimi is now in her sixties but she is the youngest of the whole community of 35. Maybe she will outlive them all and turn it into a Ghibli studio village… I still don’t know if I liked it but I’m certainly happy we saw it. Somehow I feel that special places like this one are only possible to exist in Japan.

Jandirk is still doubting whether it was worth a 2 hours walk to the nearest bus stop and 1.5 hour wait till it came… So be warned if you decide to see it.

For art fans Tsukimi or the dolls, make nice pottery and other small things that are scattered all over the village with price tags and a box to collect the money.

Zalipie, Poland

The Painted Village- Zalipie

The journey to Zalipie starts easily, just by a bus trip from Kraków to Tarnów. And that’s where easy stops. Getting out from the bus I ask the driver if he could tell me which buses could take me to the Painted Village. He repeats the name a few times in disbelief and tells me he doesn’t know where it is. “Why would you go there, is there something to see?” he asks intrigued. I tell him about the folklore painted houses and he doesn’t seem impressed. From him I go to the next bus driver and to the next one. I guess the fame of the village is worldwide except for the closest city… Finally, one of the drivers calls his company and finds out how I could get there. So from Tarnów I go on a mini bus to Dąbrowa and then on another one to Zalipie. From the road to the actual museum and village it’s still about a 1 km walk.

Firstly, I decide to go and visit the museum of the lady who brought the wall painting of the houses to the next level- Felicja Curyło. She loved the floral ornaments and was a brilliant painter and propagator of the art. Thanks to her and the effort of the generations now, some of the houses are real pieces of art, including her house which is a museum now. It’s run by her granddaughter who is just the most cheerful and charming woman ever. She herself started painting when she was 4. “It’s in my blood, I wouldn’t be able not to paint” she smiled even talking about it. The house although small is really busy with all of the charming folklore art. It turns out that Zalipie is not only about the painted outside. Everything is painted starting from the whole interior, ending on clothes and except for the floral patterns there are also incredible paper curtains and paper spiders which are also very famous here. In the museum even the ceiling is impressive and each pattern is unique. The granddaughter now has an idea of moving a few more houses on the land and creating kind of a folklore antique building museum from them. In the garden I can see the first one which is white and has stunning floral patterns on the walls.

Unfortunately, Zalipie is not a village built around one street but rather big patches of land and houses scattered there. Thankfully the museum has a map where houses with something or everything painted are indicated. And there are 45 of them. Walking in between fields I admire the polish countryside. It seems like time has stopped here. Fiat 126p passes me, then a drunk man and then another one on a bicycle. I guess here you still can’t get things done without any booze. Obviously not all the houses are painted so I pass a lot of normal, modern houses.  But when it’s painted it’s usually all the way.  The painters don’t limit themselves to just their houses, the school, fire station and church are also painted and even some of the abandoned houses. I guess the colors improve the mood in the village, everyone is cheerful and happily wants to talk to me. One lady even drags me into her house to show me how beautiful it is. She won the yearly competition for the most beautiful painted house. Unfortunately, except for oh and ah she wanted a bit of money. I give her 10 zl and she seems happy enough. She even gives me some grapes from her garden. And she is also interested in just one thing: if I am married and why he is not here with me. To every single one of the ladies, I have to explain how he, Jandirk didn’t feel it was something for him. I also try to explain and hide my hands because I know what the next question will be- where is the ring…

How to get to Zalipie?

Firstly, from Krakow to Tarnów. It’s really easy, the buses go from the central station and they cost 15 zl one way. Once in Tarnów you have to take either a direct bus (3 a day at 12.48, 15.10 and 18.40) with destination: Gręboszów/Bieniaszowice or a bus to Dąbrowa. Bus to Dąbrowa costs 2 zl and from Dąbrowa to Zalipie it’s 2.5 zl. All the buses stop exactly in the same spot so you don’t need to search for them. But the problem is the timetable from Dąbrowa to Zalipie. You can check the schedule here.

What to see in Zalipie?

  • House-museum of Felicja Curyło opened daily except for Monday from 10am to 4pm. It will give you a lot of insight into the history and how it all started. And you will be able to see an amazing house which is a piece of art really.
  • Dom Malarek- The Painters’ house is a place where you can admire even more of the folklore art and also see it being done. They also do workshops and they are the only place where you can get a cup of coffee 🙂 you can check when they are open on here
  • The church in the village- it has an incredibly painted tiny chapel that you absolutely have to see!
  • The nice old lady that will show you her house! She is one of the very few who doesn’t mind showing all her work and talking about it. Her house is indicated on our map.
  • Just walk around and explore! 🙂

Textiles and fashion in Bolivia

Everywhere I heard crying kids but I saw none. "Look it's in the cloth" pointed Jandirk. And so it was a crying cloth and not just one but multiple. And so we realised that Bolivian women just carry their kids in beautiful, colorful sheets on their back mostly without oxygen access. "They cry so they can breath" said always calm Jandirk. That was the first thing we noticed and straight afterwards we noticed long, long, braided hair, all exactly the same length, style and always two, always in the back, sometimes joined with a black wool pocacha. Except for that the ladies wear a variety of colorful pleated skirts, polleras. Brought here by the Spaniards they were forced on the indigenous people, now they are a symbol of a proud indigenous women. To complete the outfit all of them wear practical aprons with pockets and hats. All of the elements change depending on the occasion, wealth, region and simple own taste:) so it's a lively theatre of colours, patterns and different kinds of materials used.

Textiles are definitely the most impressive part of the Bolivian culture. Used as coca bags, table cloths, caps, skirts or just wall art, the most typical ones are still handmade with an extraordinary method pallay which hasn't changed in years and involves a wooden frame, wooden sticks, animal bones as tools and a crazy amount of woolen strings. On the Sunday market in Tarabuco (village famous for it's textiles) we found out a process of 3 months is required to get one medium size textile. And that's by a skilled person obviously. All of the ladies were also very enthusiastic when telling the stories of how the textiles represent everyday life in the village like celebrations, chicha (corn beer) preparation, harvesting or typical legends or, children tales told generation to generation. And they also understood when I complained how my husband Jandirk has all our money and how he forbids me spending any of it. Poor life of a wife, even European one:)

After the market we packed ourselves into a local micro bus. Literally packed beacuse Bolivian buses leave when they are full, full Bolivian style. So if a tiny lady or a kid can fit in between your legs, it is gonna be there. And so we travelled with kids and people on the floor and between the sits. A Bolivian girl sitting next to me was showing me effective sleeping poses, which I couldn't apply just because of my slightly bigger size. She started laughing at my efforts. And we started talking about life, family, what we do in life etc. She was a map seller but probably she didn't look at the maps that much as she didn't know where Poland was. "beautiful hat! Is it from here?" I asked her as an introduction to an interview about typical Bolivian hats. "You want to buy it? I can sell you. There are plenty on the market". I didn't want to buy neither the hat nor the map. But I used the husband excuse. And after a few more questions and another lady joining in the conversation I found out that for example ladies from the La Paz region wear bombín that look like an English gentleman bowler, Chuquisaca region (so around Sucre) they wear more of a cowboy style hats and Tarabuco (village famous for it's textiles) wear indescribable pieces of art. Same counts for the "babe/groceries cape", the most popular are colourful, cheap, China made ones but there are also women (like in Tarabuco) that wear black, handmade pieces with a pattern in the middle.

Visiting local museums and fair trade shops I found out that weavings from Tarabuco are often symetric and mostly show real life scenes in many different colours although funeral scenes are mostly presented in blue, green or purple. Potolo, another village close to Sucre, is more famous for their black-and-red less realistic, scary designs. All absolutely stunningly beautiful. Other regions are still yet to be discovered for us. Too bad the prices of all are less of a Bolivian standard so less accessible for us "poor" backpackers. But we at least get rich in pictures:)))

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