Travel | The Daily Norm

Nov 17

Move to Mallorca: First days

If I could describe the sensations, thrills and excitement of moving to a new life in the heart of the old town of Palma de Mallorca with an analogy, it would be to compare it with the overwhelming exhilaration of entering a department store at Christmas, full of sparkling temptations, gleaming pleasures, grand architecture and flashing lights across every square centimeter: a treasure trove of excitement so intense that your body quivers with anticipation and shakes with the indecision of not knowing where to explore first. Such has been the irrepressible thrill of moving to Mallorca, to an apartment set within a maze of streets so intensively packed with the charms of Spain and the prettiness characteristic of any historic quarter that we can barely breathe for happiness.

Palma viewed from our apartment

Not only are we like children around a Christmas tree when it comes to exploring our airy new modernista-style apartment, but look outside the window and the bleak busy grey road view of our previous London home is replaced with a burrow of streets lined with apartment blocks painted in every colour of an artist’s palette, enhanced with ironwork balconies, lamps and other decorative embellishment, and brought to life by the residents who lean from their balconies watching the world go by, hanging their washing out to flap away in the warm autumn breeze, or putting out their little caged birds and fluffy puppies to breathe the optimistic fresh air of the new day. With so much to look at out of our 8 balcony windows, and such a plethora of vantage points to watch the constant day to day buzz of this bustling little quarter of Palma, I am reminded of Hitchcock’s Rear Window, where James Stewart’s character would sit day by day living vicariously through the many lives he could see unfolding amongst the apartments opposite his own.

All the charms of Palma

But of course far from living vicariously off others, our greatest pleasure has been to leave our new apartment and explore the charmingly charismatic streets of this region and beyond. A mere 48 hours into our new life, we have sampled the local fluffy pastry, ensaimada, over a creamy coffee, riffled through a shop’s worth of traditionally made baskets and weaved furniture, strolled along the golden sandy beach and alongside the popular boat-filled marina of Portixol, scraped clean a huge pan filled with a moist and richly caramalised seafood paella, gulped down a good glass or three of chilled white wine in the surprisingly hot Autumn sunshine, strolled around huge deserted churches lit by flickering candles as though awaiting our visit, and shopped more than we ought in order to add some local touches to the London interior schemes we are importing to Spain.

…and here’s a few more

There has been so much to see and do that I could split these mere 48 hours into a panoply of Daily Norm posts. But to do so would be to deny you, the reader, the full impact of a city ripe with a resplendent array of visual treasures, and consequently in posting photos of the first two days, I am bringing you a sampling of many treats we have discovered as we began our new life in Palma de Mallorca last weekend. And what a life it is set to be…

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Nov 10

Comparing Seascapes: Sussex and Spain

Two Seascapes, one England, one Spain. In Sussex in England, the sea is a silvery shade of grey. No surprise there, as it is an inseparable reflection of the cloudy skies above, whose repressive covering is broken only by a single glimmer of hope as a glint of light shines through. The seas are active, but not rough, but the winds are sufficiently energetic to catapult the kite surfer across the waters. At the shore the sand is dank and wet, it’s lightening colour resaturated with each swift revolution of the waves.

The only thing Marbella in Spain has in common is the sea. But its colour is a startling warm blue, glimmering almost independently from the yellowing evening skies above. Above the beach, a golden paseo maritimo is fringed with regal palms whose large canopy of leaves hang as silently still as the warm balmy calm air around them. Through the leaves, the multiple strata of a mountain layered landscape each deliver a different shade of soft pink, while in front the white harbour wall of Marbella’s port colours gently to cream in the face of the setting sun.

Seascape III: Silver Surfer (2008 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Seascape IV: Marbella (2008 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

I painted these two seascapes in 2008 when I was making a more intentional transition from acrylic into oil. These were part of a series of studies I made as I tried out the medium for the first time. Today, they hang at my parents house in Sussex, and it was when I was there this weekend that I was given the opportunity to reflect upon them, and the marked difference between seaside landscapes.

It comes at a pertinent time: in just a few days I will leave England, including the Sussex seaside town where I grew up for 18 years and which is featured in the seascape above. I will then move to Palma de Mallorca, the archetypal Mediterranean city, fringed with glorious palms and benefitting from sunshine almost the whole year around. Yet despite the very obvious benefits of moving to such a paradise, there will always be a part of me that will miss the English coast – for in its silvery wind swept beauty, the sea in England is just as special as in the Med. It’s just that more often than not, you may need a scarf and some gloves in tow to appreciate it.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Oct 28

Tahini Marbella: Dedication to the Sea

As the name of the town suggests, the sea is the heart and soul around which the whole of Marbella is Southern Spain revolves. Its calm cerulean waters sensuously stroke and steadily sculpt the length of long sandy beaches which attract thousands of visitors to the town every year; its sparkling steady waves reflect lovingly on the gleaming white sides of the super-chic yachts which habitually pack Marbella’s various marinas; and it provides the wealth of super-fresh, mouth wateringly delicious seafood which is at the apex of Marbella’s breadth of superb gastronomic offerings.

And of course few would disagree that the best way to sample that seafood is barely cooked and fresh out of the waters, served simply and elegantly so that its full flavours and textures can shine through. Consequently, it would be hard to find a cuisine better able to capitalise upon this fresh Mediterranean cuisine than sushi, but until now, few restaurants in Marbella have managed to create sushi which offers a fitting tribute to the wealth and quality of Marbella’s seafood offerings. Until now.

Marbella Tahini

Following hot on the heals of the unrivalled success of Grupo Cappuccino’s first Marbella Cappuccino Grand Cafe in 2011, set within the lush surroundings of pine tree covered gardens at the foot of the Gran Melia Don Pepe hotel, the group have now opened their first Tahini restaurant, a mere stone’s throw from Cappuccino, in the same Eden of pine trees, palms and unbeatable Mediterranean views. Situated just above Cappuccino, Tahini is the younger sister of the sensational Mallorca restaurant of the same name. Nestled just off the harbour side of the fashionable Puerto Portals, the Mallorca Tahini is like a secret garden paradise. My first visit there in May 2013 opened my eyes so wide as I took in the magical wonder of its low lit restaurant and picture-perfect candlelit garden, and tantalised my mouth so thoroughly with the exquisite freshness of its cuisine, that it has remained utterly unrivalled by all subsequent sushi experiences both in Spain and around the world.

The interior

But happily, Tahini’s success is now being replicated a second time, with the same stunning quality of sushi being offered to diners in Marbella in so spectacular a setting that each of their senses will be tickled and enticed with equal measure. Outside on the terrace, polished minimalist tables reflect the abundance of palm trees which hang proudly over the marble-lined paseo maritimo just outside the restaurant, while every seat provides that perfect sea view overlooking the Straights of Gibraltar to Africa. Inside the restaurant, a cosy elegance suffuses the atmosphere, as diners eat alongside walls loaded with Mediterranean pottery of every shape and size, while a glass cube at the heart of the restaurant offers an unrivalled view of the Tahini chefs, plying their trade and ensuring that every detail of this note-perfect menu is taken care of. And don’t miss the corridor out to the toilets at the back of the restaurant: lined with crates and boxes filled with what looks like ice and every variety of fresh fish, it is in fact a clever recreation of a market scene, with glass ice and ceramic fish, emphasising that only the best and freshest of ingredients will be used by the chefs at Tahini. And was it my imagination or could I hear the bustle of a market subtly sounding in the background as I walked through this make-believe fish market?

The Tahini “market”

But beyond this incredible setting, Tahini’s success comes down to that food – cuisine which is not only apt dedication to the sea from where it came, but a brilliantly sophisticated take on the sushi concept, with fish so fresh that it melts on the tongue, and food so beautifully presented that, like me, you will probably spend more time taking photographs than enjoying the flavours as they dissolve so lovingly into every corner of your mouth.

A true dedication to the sea

Tahini’s new family member more than lives up to the standards set down by its Mallorca sister, and is a glittering new jewel standing proudly in Marbella’s ample gastronomic crown. For more information, see the Tahini website.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Oct 27

Marbella: After the Rain

Come October, Marbella, Spanish seaside destination of the rich, famous and unfortunately also the cast of TOWIE, takes on a different air. Gone is the exasperating closeness of balmy sunny days (my absolute favourite) when the heat envelopes like an all encompassing electric blanket. In its place, a slightly fresher air, with shorter but still sunnier days that remind of the summer just past, often with temperatures getting almost as close, but with that total immersive heat now absent. In a way, for someone as obsessed with the summer as me, an October late summer has something of a melancholic air about it, although it remains entirely welcome for an English visitor who, back at home, is already well used to the onset of cold winds, dark mornings, yet darker evenings and a pavement littered with half decomposing leaves.

After my busy weekend braving the crowds and pandaemonium of the Fiesta del Pilar in Zaragoza, we took the fast train all the way down the Iberian peninsula to Malaga in an impressive four hours. From there it was a short bus journey to Marbella where we were joined by my father in mass celebration of my mother’s “big-0”.

There followed a weekend of wining, dining, dodging the rain and basking in the sun. And as the title of this post suggests, these photos were taken just after the rain, a feature of a typical Spanish October, when wall to wall sunshine is no longer guaranteed, and it pays to have a brolly about one’s person. But as these photos show, the rain did nothing to dissipate the inherent beautiful of this most aesthetic of Andalusian towns, bringing a new freshness and vitality to the plants, places and people already tired after the demise of the long hot summer.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Oct 23

The Zaragoza files: Photos that didn’t fit anywhere else

Sunny mornings reflecting on glistening damp cobbles and fountains playfully dancing in the soaring glint of the light; a modern bridge’s reflection making a perfect ‘X’ in the River Ebro, and an old tower’s noticeable lean giving rise to the question why Pisa is so famously unique across the world; bonze statues and balloon sellers, curly pillars and chocolate coloured leaves, and the charismatic lottery seller who plies his trade on wheels – these are the photographs of Zaragoza which didn’t quite fit into my other posts of the city; a miscellaneous study of the spirited old town in the early mornings and late at night, when the roaring Fiesta del Pilar was not otherwise shaking the city with its party beat.

These photos are about reflection: from the ancient church tower reflected in a modern mirrored glass window to the Basilica del Pilar so perfectly captured in my mother’s sunglasses. They are also about the buildings which may go overlooked besides the vast four towered-spectacle of Zaragoza’s main Basilica, and about the Basilica itself, its four towers soaring skywards in the twilight. They are about the overlapping layers of history portrayed in a photographic composition – with ancient Visigoth walls in the foreground and a modernist market behind; and they are about the sheer beauty of the colours of the streets and the trees stood alongside them which looked so stunning in the sunny autumn light.

I give you: Zaragoza.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Oct 22

Zaragoza – Day 2: La Ofrenda de Flores

Looking out of the window in the city of Zaragoza on Sunday the 12^th October was a bizarre experience. On the streets there was not a single car or vehicle which resembled modern times, but instead, passers by and groups of people walked along and gathered in the otherwise empty streets wearing incredible period costume. Decked out in heavy silken dresses, embroidered cloaks, wooden clogs, extravagantly frayed shawls and floral headdresses, the inhabitants of Zaragoza looked either like they had gone back in time, or were appearing as extras in a Hollywood blockbuster. But before I could conclude that I had somehow awoken in a dream, scenes from local television flashing up on the television screen at the end of my bed betrayed the truth: that this was no Hollywood blockbuster, but an event surely worthy of the live film reel remitting images of the event onto TV screens all over Spain. Showing extraordinary images of the streets of Zaragoza packed to the rafters with locals wearing traditional costume and carrying bouquets of flowers, the cameras had captured the very centre point of the Fiestas del Pilar – the Offering of the Flowers.

Floral dedications being carried by traditionally dressed locals towards the Plaza del Pilar

La Ofrenda des Flores (the offering of flowers) is a great demonstration of the people’s devotion to the patron saint of the city, the Virgen del Pillar, during which hundreds of thousands of people, dressed in the traditional costume of Aragon or of any other region in Spain, bring flowers to the Virgin, a statue of whom is placed in the centre of the Plaza del Pilar. Around the statue stood on high, an army of volunteers slot the flowers offered into a vast pyramidal structure, tiling a huge sloping flower mantle around the Virgin, which remains in the square for the rest of the festival so that all the people in the city can see it. From an early beginning, when the first bouquets filled the area of the mantel immediately below the glinting gilded statue, we were lucky enough to see this vast floral cape as it gradually filled with floral tributes, while thousands more offers flooded into the square, brought by locals queuing patiently in their lavish local costumes and entertained by a wide variety of superb traditional dancing and music shows.

Handing over the flowers and the vast floral mantel built around the Virgen del Pilar

It was an incredible event to watch and be part of, from regarding the vast human river of flower-carrying locals slowly winding its passage all the way down from the main thoroughfares North of the city to the vast Plaza del Pilar, to seeing the great floral mantel slowly develop flower by flower. The air was filled with human spirit, with shared happiness and with a tangible expression of positivity and celebration, and was certainly an unmissable event in all of my adventures in Spain.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Oct 21

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Zaragoza Focus – All the fun of the fiesta

From the moment we arrived in Zaragoza in North Eastern Spain, continuing right up to (and no doubt beyond) the time we left, the city was tangibly pumping with the rhythm of fiesta. The leafy squares and vast piazzas standing amidst Zaragoza’s world-famous cathedrals were alive with open air concerts playing throughout the day and evening; the streets were packed so full of people that it took 10 minutes to make one’s way even down the shortest; the skies periodically erupted with the pop and crackle of a distant firework display; tapas bars and restaurants were full to over brimming; and the air was filled with helium balloons of every shape and size and bubbles blown by children. And despite all of the inconvenience and noise that this festival inevitably created, there is no denying the magical atmosphere that filled the air, as the whole city seemed bound by an intangible electricity of celebration, and almost the entirety of its population came out to enjoy the party, to stroll in the crowds, to listen to the live music, to dance in the streets.

This selection of photographs attempts to convey something of the atmosphere which filled every inch of Zaragoza when we made a visit the weekend before last. The reason for the festival was the Fiestas del Pilar, an annual ten day celebration, centred around a religious festival when huge crowds pay homage to the patron saint of the city: the Virgen del Pillar, but actually incorporating a packed programme of traditional music, modern pop, excuses to dance, and occasions to get out, eat and meet with loved ones and friends. And no wonder it was so crowded: for this annual festival is not only the biggest in Zaragoza, but one of the largest in all of Spain attracting thousands from outside of the city, and indeed the country: like us. It certainly was something unique, and made our visit to Zaragoza a hundred times more memorable.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Oct 20

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Zaragoza – Day 1: Cultural Calm before the Fiesta

The city of Zaragoza, the 6th largest in Spain and the capital of the landlocked region of Aragon to the West of Catalonia and Northeast of Madrid, has always drawn me with promises of its majestic river setting along the banks of the Ebro (the longest river in Spain don’t you know) and it’s vast Basilica del Pilar, a church so grand they had to give it four bell towers. But because direct flights from the UK are not all that common, and largely involve braving the distinct downgrade to comfort-stripped Ryanair, I had never made it there despite visiting Spain with the same frequency as the changing seasons. But this year, what with it’s being my Mother’s big birthday (don’t worry I won’t betray which one) I considered that it was time to give Zaragoza a go, even if it meant suffering Ryanair’s cushionless cramped flight to get there.

And to be fair to Ryanair, they got us there with the full efficiency of carefully oiled machine, all the earlier then to gain our first views of the much promised Basilica del Pillar which was every bit as stunning as its reputation suggested, as well as enabling us to get a feel for the buzzing electric spirit filling the city. For by sheer coincidence, we happened to be visiting the city during the high point of its annual calendar: the Fiestas del Pilar – 10 days of unrivalled partying, street concerts, traditional costumes and religious devotion. Despite the excitement on the streets, we were keen to sleep after our night time arrival, and all the sooner to wake up to our unbeatable hotel room view: not one, not two but all four of the stunning bell towers of the Basilica del Pilar creeping up from behind the residential street opposite. And as if this scenic view needed to get any more picture perfect, there was even a hot air balloon rising high into the sky besides the great church. What a start to our Zaragoza story!

Breakfast did not keep us from seeing the city for long, and walking out into the warm autumn sunshine, we made our way to the Basilica, stopping en route to delight our senses in the local market, where every kind of fruit, vegetable, sweet and savoury treat were on view to delight and entice, although some products were perhaps more enticing than others – I should warn you that those sensitive to gruesome sights may want to look away now!

After the market and an amble through Zaragoza’s old town streets, we were able to get a fuller view of the majestic Basilica from the very best viewpoint – across the River Ebro to the gardens which line the riverbank opposite the old town; gardens whose sun-bleached auburn leaves provided the perfect frame for this most wonderful of city views.

Having satisfied ourselves with the ultimate view of the city, and having enjoyed the basilica from all angles, we soon discovered that the city of Zaragoza, asides from being a city bustling with festivals and containing one of the most architecturally magnificent of all Spanish churches, is also a city of considerable cultural offerings. As we traversed the characterful streets of its old town, we literally stumbled upon museums without having to so much as open our guide book.

The first cultural event we found ourselves wandering into was the exhibition of Enrqiue Larroy – Chapa y Pintura – held in La Lonja. Like many such “Lonjas” in other Spanish cities, La Lonja of Zaragoza is a former merchants hall constructed in a palacial gothic style with soaring ceilings and pillars reaching darlingly up to the vertiginous height of its lofty stone latticed ceiling. But this beautiful architectural site was perfectly set off by the contrasting bright colours of Larroy’s acrylic works, which not only presented wonderfully dynamic, zinging paintings in their own right, but as an artistic installation worked fantastically as they were reflected into the shiny stone floors of this important historical space.

Just up the road from La Lonja is the Museum of local sculptor Pablo Gargallo. Sculpting in the height of the roaring 20s, Gargallo’s work is a wonderful mixture of avant garde figuration and cubism, as the sculptor managed to create three dimensional portraits with only a few hard cast features, allowing the interplay of light and shadow to fill in all of the missing details.As with so many of the art museums I have visited in Spain over the last decade, the Gargallo museum is yet another which is set amidst a stylishly renovated palace, meticulously conceived creating a seamless and highly polished exhibition space.

But having had our fill of art for one day, we found ourselves ending this first day in Zaragoza back where we started – at the magnetic nuclei of the city: the Basilica del Pilar, where excitement for the oncoming festival was tangibly building. Inside the great Basilica, large queues were forming of pilgrims wishing to catch a closer sight or even kiss the pillar on which Mary was supposedly once sighted and around which the entire church was built. Meanwhile outside, huge stages were being constructed in the main squares, people were out dancing in the streets, and more and more visitors seemed to be pouring into the city.

Amongst all this excitement, we took refuge in the charmingly old fashioned Grand Café Zaragoza. Reminding me of Florians in Venice, it provided the perfect sanctuary from the madness on the city’s streets, as well as a throwback to the past which seems to be so prevalent in this city where tradition and folk law is enthusiastically celebrated. As for us, we ended our day contenting ourselves with our own tradition – a welocme cup of earl grey tea and a chocolate covered palmera pastry: the perfect way to look back and reflect on this first exciting day in Zaragoza.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Sep 29

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Interpretation No. 11 – Castagneto Carducci

Last week’s Daily Norm was a glorious panoply of Tuscan views, scenes and sensations and it’s not quite over yet. For hot on the heels of my Tuscan weekend comes my 11th interpretative landscape – part of my Interpretations collection which I began some three months ago after being inspired by the sumptuous landscapes and cubic shapes of Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Back in Italy this September, and one glimpse up through the vine-packed fields of Donoratico to the emerging landscape of Castagneto Carducci made me realise that this pretty hill top town was an obvious contender for an interpretative overhaul. For with its tightly packed cluster of pastel coloured houses all set up on a Tuscan hill, Castagneto offers a wonderful synthesis between petit-urban development set amidst a stunning landscape, which is exactly what the Interpretations series sets out to emulate. And I think this 11th Interpretation is probably one of my favourites of them all.

Interpretation No. 11 - Castagneto Carducci (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Sep 26

Sunset on Tuscany

Just as this week of Tuscany posts began with an essay on a sensational sunny morning, when the sun was slowly rising over the calmest of seas, so now it ends with the most sumptuous of sunsets, as that round ball of fire on which we are all so inherently reliant made its 180 degree course through our northern hemisphere before dropping gracefully beyond the reach of the equator to pursue a further path on the other side of the world.

As the Tuscan coastline universally faces west, wherever you are on that beautiful stretch of pine tree lined coast, you are guaranteed to be treated to the most stunning of sunsets, whatever the time of the year. Over just a short weekend in Tuscany, we witnessed three incredible shows, and with each the panoply of colours striding through the sky seemed to increase. From a lemon yellow deepening through to mango, when the sun eventually plunged beneath the horizon, the sky was shot with the most exquisite shades of rose and raspberry ripple so that, by the time night descended, the sky had danced its way through a cabaret of colours, inspiring fruit filled cocktails and artists aplenty in its wake.

But just as the sun had to set, a little earlier each day, so too did the time have to set on our little trip to Tuscany. For the nature of a weekend is the inevitable onset of work the following Monday, and with this damned thought in mind, we made our long way back, besides a fading purple sky, along the dark winding road to Pisa.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.