What's a Trippy?

It's a short visual trip to places of architectural or design importance.

Where are we going?

 Verona, Italy

What's to see?

Verona is an elegant city in the northern tier of the country, and it's a great beginning spot to visit Lake Garda and other Italian great lakes as well as cities like Venice and Mantova (Mantua). Historic Verona is filled with sights, from a rather questionable Juliet house (as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) to the giant Roman amphitheatre and location for outdoor concerts and opera (see our photos below from the slightly rainy Aida), The Arena. The 16th century is alive and well in Verona's historic city center, surrounded by remnants of the old walls and the River Adige.

What's a Trippy?

It's a short visual trip to places of architectural or design importance.

Where are we going?

Milan, Italy

What's to see?

Everywhere you look in this great northern Italian city, you'll find a design and fashion bent - witness the boxwood-and-begonia flowerbox in front of the Gucci Cafe in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping plaze (top photo). The people's stylish clothes, the architecture, the reverence for current design, and art happenings that bring the world together, from Fashion Week to Salone del Mobile.

Irwin Weiner ASID - I'm a native Cape Townian and love my South African hometown. I was recently there visiting my family and was able to bring back some photos and resources which I'll share with you concerning what can only be called African Style. Stay tuned for more in the coming week or two.

In the meantime, we salute Cape Town and South Africa for its hosting of the 2010 World Cup. Many new stadiums and civic projects have been undertaken in a tremendous movement of architectural and civic pride that is matching the world's enthusiasm for soccer.

April is National Garden Month. We've been enjoying hot-hot early April weather here in the Northeastern United States, and that's been pushing forward much of this country's prime cherry blossom viewing. Every fall we flock to wooded areas to watch the blaze of autumn leaves, tracking peak color viewing times, and it's the same in spring for cherry blossoms. Each type of cherry tree boasts its own blossom show, fragrance, and beauty.

Ever since we saw a photo of the Buenos Aires bookstore Libreria El Ateneo Grand Splendid from National Geographic Traveler, we fell in love with this completely over-the-top setting for book peddling.

The once-scheduled-to-be-demolished 1920s theater was restored to its operatic, ornate original lustre and is an amazing place to select a book from the shelf, retire to one of the boxes, and sip some coffee while you let the world go by.

We did a little digging and came up with a wonderful blog post that pays homage to some of the most beautiful bookstores and libraries in the world.