Asakusa’s door shutters

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Ginger

In Japan, as in many places around the world, shop owners secure their shops with roll-down metal shutters when they go home at night. In the morning, they roll the shutters up, bring out whatever signs or wares they place on the street near their door, and open for business.

In Asakusa, many of these metal shutters are painted with wonderful pictures–so full of Japanese life and vitality. Sometimes the picture gives a clue to what kind of shop is sleeping behind it; and sometimes not–though the writing probably takes care of that function in many cases. Here are some shutters that we saw as we walked the streets in the morning, when the shops were just starting to open.

Here’s a particularly detailed and complicated one:

I’ve saved my favorite for last–that trompe-l’oeil fabric over the entry just makes me smile!

Prague — human figures are everywhere, part 4

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Ginger

This is the last post on human figures on Prague’s buildings, I promise. (Though not the last on other aspects of Prague’s buildings, to come.)

You may remember the courtly gentleman and lady in yesterday’s post. Today, we have a pair of farmers near the top of this much-painted building.

Here are some close-ups.

I’m sure there’s some allegorical significance in the figures on the next building. The man on the left appears to be holding a hammer; the woman on the right is holding a basket, perhaps for harvesting. But what to make of the central figure? She wears a crown and carries a sword, and the infant beside her has a shield. (Don’t look at me; I’m just the reporter.)

I’m not going to be much help with the next building, either. Perhaps the central figures are Adam and Eve, with a golden apple. At the left, a young man watches a flight of giant swans; at the right, a young father points out some pretty futuristic buildings to his son.

The next building has a row of pictures all along the roofline…

…but what I really want to show you is the lovely naked people (at first I thought they were angels, but that appears to be fabric, not wings) at the corner…

…and (this is really too much) cute little cherub heads in the stonework just below.

Finally, we come to a building whose figures I do understand. And I can get with its program. I cannot vouch for the Hotel Koruna as a hotel, but it appears to be advertising its Happy Hour…

…with Bacchus presiding up above…

…and one of his Bacchae, somewhat disheveled, carrying a jug of wine just below.

Palermo Soho

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Ginger

There’s a lot to be said for the Palermo Soho neighborhood of Buenos Aires. And believe me, I will say it. 🙂 But first, let me mention that Dan and I were staying in the fashionable, high-brow Recoleta district at the incomparable Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Hotel, an establishment whose prices would have been well beyond our budget without a little help from American Express points earned by the sweat of Dan’s brow. Or, well, by the extent of his business travel. Recoleta is lovely in a sort of Beacon Hill way. Lovely and ever so proper. We liked it. We were eager to see someplace else.

Soho beckoned.

We went there to see the boutiques and restaurants. Which were nice enough. But we fell in love with the street art. There was such an air of freedom and exuberance about the place! (Lots of pictures later in this post.)

First, the streets themselves were attractive: brightly colored buildings set along tree-shaded avenues and colorful alleys. Here’s one such alley.

The shops and restaurant interiors also did not disappoint. From street cafes to formal restaurants to shops, they were lovely inside.

But the real treat of visiting Palermo Soho was the street art. Many of the shop and building owners decorated their exteriors with wonderfully painted storefronts that ranged from the interesting to the positively exuberant. I can’t resist street art. Here’s a sampling. (There are a lot of pictures in this section. I like them all so much, it’s hard to choose!)