This week we spent a few hours exploring the Phoenix Art Museum, one of the largest art museums in the Southwest. The collection spans centuries and continents and they had a good mix of exhibitions during our visit.

Mary Corse – Untitled, 1966

Mary Corse had to take quantum physics courses(!) just to get certified to install the Tesla coils that power this piece. They’re hidden in the wall behind it and there are no visible wires, no plugs, just a glowing white rectangle. I almost walked right past it. It looked so unassuming, it had to be pointed out to me.

Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room

I’ve been to two other of her rooms at The Broad in Los Angeles and Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, but this was probably my favorite. The colors slowly shift and it feels like you’re floating in space. With the other ones you can always see yourself in the mirrors, with this one almost not at all, which made it feel like the trippiest of them all.

Art of Asia: Chinese Qing Dynasty Cloisonné

The Art of Asia galleries house a collection of Chinese cloisonné enamelwork from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). These two pieces stood out to me with their popping colors

Cloisonné enamel on bronze with gilding.

Radical Clay: Japanese Women Ceramicists

This was one of my favorite parts. It’s a special exhibition featuring contemporary Japanese women artists working with clay, and it was astounding. These pieces don’t look like anything you’d expect from ceramics.

What struck me most was the sheer amount of labor in each work. One sculpture is built from hundreds of paper-thin clay
layers. Another is covered entirely in hand-applied curls of clay, inside and out. When you get close and see the detail, you
start to realize just how much time and dedication has gone into each piece.

It’s hard to see, but it’s filled with tiny little spikes throughout.

Covered in these tiny curled clay shavings. The texture is almost coral-like.

The gallery also featured a live ikebana display, the Japanese art of flower arrangement

Travel

Phoenix Art Museum

Chef’s Table

Eska is also a bakery!

Open kitchen, greeting you right when you enter the restaurant

Bread and Butter

Burnt potato in ash with potato espuma

Fermented red wheat with sous-vide egg and button mushrooms

Zemlovka: Bread pudding with apples in an espuma of vanilla and rum

Smoked beef tartar, shallot, mustard, grilled bread, from lunch two days later

At my team’s meetup in Prague this month we went on a four-hour food tour, organized by Taste of Prague. Jan, our guide, was great, taking us from blue-collar, traditional Czech food, to the Vietnamese influence, to Czech wine, and finally to a higher-end place that combines old Czech cuisine with the new.

Eska, the final restaurant we went to, was outstanding. From the design, to the way the kitchen is set up, to the food presentation, it left a lasting impression. An impression so good that we came back for lunch a couple of days later. This post should probably be titled “Eska” since all pictures are from that stop, but they are just the most shareable.

If you’re ever in Prague, make sure to get in touch with Jan and Taste of Prague, and let them take you beyond the tourist traps around Charles Bridge.

Food, Travel

Prague Food Tour

Radish, mustard, sesame, shallot.

Warm spring onion vinaigrette, spinach, hazelnut.

Avocado, green peppercorn, lemon.

Ras el hanout, chickpeas, feta, herbs

It was that day’s special.

Key lime, graham cracker, condensed milk

In a recent interview I mentioned Central Provisions to be one of my favorite places to eat, so when I was in Portland, ME this past weekend I made sure to drop by again. I got to go with a co-worker of mine as well as my dear friend Meredith, the people who run Map & Menu and who’re to blame for my new found appreciation for ridiculously good food.

Central Provisions is insanely popular and doesn’t take reservations, so we went extra early to make sure we’d get a table. By the time we got there just after 5 pm, there was already a 90 minute wait! Well worth it, especially when you get to pass that time with Bread and Butter and delicious drinks in their downstairs bar. Make sure to stop by when you get the chance.

Food

Central Provisions

Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Angostura & House Blackstrap Bitters.

Roasted beets, goat cheese crema, pistachios, dill & olio.

Seared and thinly sliced beef tenderloin served with arugula, goat cheese, red onion, lemon juice, parmigiano shavings & olio.

I had dinner with Jackie, Chris, and Erick last night and ended up ordering the above. The food and the Old Fashioned were good, but with the lack of real entrees I probably should have ordered a pizza instead of a second starter.

Drinks, Food

Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana

Pictures from my first real¹ vacation:

Room 1035. I should have cleaned up before taking the picture.

The room came with a big balcony and ocean view.

View from one of the tables at The Lounge Bar.

Loved this: Gettig in touch with hotel staff through iMessage or WhatsApp!

They invited me to an Aperol Spritz event.

Sunset over one of the pools.

The first sight I visited, the Fort of Saint Nicholas.

Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights.

Cavalier, one of the gates to Old Town.

Courtyard of Marco Polo Mansion. One of the best restaurants in town.

I went on a sailing tour, a highlight of my trip.

One of the stops on that sailing tour was…

…Anthony Quinn Beach. Great water and colorful fish.

Colossus Rhodes on our way back to the harbor.

The Sheraton’s private beach.

View from one of the lounge chairs on the 6th floor pool level.

Loved the color of the water in contrast to the chairs. From The Lounge Bar.

My view at breakfast, where they had a separate are for SPG Gold & Platinum members.

Afantou Beach, a quieter beach than the ones by the hotels.

The beautiful theme of white structures and the blue ocean.

The east coast’s all inclusive hotels.

Rhodes from a dirt lot in the hills.

Seven Springs with Konstantin. We waded through ankle-high water…

…in a pitch black tunnel, to reemerge…

…at a small pond on the other side of the hill.

Seven Springs waterfall…

…with two Konstantins.

The path we followed became a little more adventurous than anticipated.

An architecturally valuable church.

Spring water.

I tried to capture one of those Greek boat scenes but failed.

After lunch on the island tour.

Greece!

Last stop was the ancient Kameiros.

View from the Akropolis.

A typical home.

The big square.

Second Aperol Spritz reception.

Lindos, view of the Akropolis and town.

It’s at a beautiful sandy beach.

Very popular with tourists of course. View of the Akropolis from the beach.

The bay from the Akropolis.

Beautiful view of Agios Pavlos.

Lindos town as seen from the Akropolis.

Here you can see the bus station on top of the hill and the town’s square to the right.

Again tiny streets filled with people.

Dinner at Mavrikos. I was not impressed.

View of the hotel property from…

…the entrance area of the hotel. The hills on the horizon is Turkey.

Tiny little alleys!

The Street of the Knights.

Entrance to the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights.

I loved the small alleys in Old Town. Notice the tiny stones they used to cobble the streets!

¹ A vacation where I did not visit anyone.

Travel

Rhodes, Greece

Torre Monumental

Casa Rosada

The Obelisk

Look inside the Palacio San MartÍn

What does that mean?

I took a few days off before the start of the 4.3 release cycle for WordPress and decided to explore Buenos Aires. These are only a handful of pictures that I took on that trip.

Travel