This extraordinary moment we find ourselves in — grounded for days by forces beyond our control — contains a silver lining for some. Stranded in unfamiliar locations, travelers are forced to explore their surroundings in greater depth and my hope is that they will find gems that will, on balance, make their time out valuable and fun.
Friends of mine are slowly making their way home from the South of France to London. Today, the leg takes them by car to the port city of Calais in the hopes of finding space on a ferry bound for the Cliffs of Dover. If there is no room aboard, I have suggested that they drive an hour and a half into the Belgian countryside to the city of Ghent, a beautiful city which stands at the crossroads between the cultural centers of Antwerp, Bruges and Brussels. Renowned for its 18th century splendour derived from the wealth of the textile industry, Ghent is a charming city with much to see.
Hotel Verhaegen, an 18th century Hotel Particulier converted in to a four-bedroom small hotel is the place to stay. The owners are interior designers and the attention to detail is meticulous, sophisticated and, still cozy. www.hotelverhaegen.be
Cape Town is one of the world's great cities. The setting alone is worthy of top billing. And then you have a vibrant culinary scene, a fascinating flora and fauna representative of its microclimate, a diverse population and the logistical advantage that makes it a gateway for visits to the wine lands, to the garden route and north into the bush. In spite of the aforementioned, what makes me vibrate with anticipation in Cape Town is its flourishing art and design scene, its world class museums and galleries, its artisans, many of them passionately committed to ensuring that hand and design skills endure. The person who knows as much about this sector of the Capetonian landscape is Marion Ellis whose company, Cape Insights, designs whole or partial itineraries that feature - among other subject matter - the flourishing arts of the city. Marion's knowledge has both the breadth and depth to take you on a meandering journey across the media - from paintings and ceramics to photography and art installations - and behind the scenes to meet with collectors and artists, teachers and innovators."
["post_title"]=>
string(37) "Art & Design Flourishing in Cape Town"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(35) "art-design-flourishing-in-cape-town"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2018-10-29 11:18:44"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2018-10-29 15:18:44"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(31) "http://lisalindblad.com/?p=8743"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
}