Notes On The Underground
Beware next time you take the Moscow metro. Under new rules, the private trade in metro cards is now forbidden, ending the lucrative bootleg market outside many stations. However, good news comes in the form of new escalator workers, who will manage crowds in the busier stations, instructing passengers as to which side they should [...]
Beware next time you take the Moscow metro. Under new rules, the private trade in metro cards is now forbidden, ending the lucrative bootleg market outside many
stations. However, good news comes in the form of new escalator workers, who will manage crowds in the busier stations, instructing passengers as to which side they
should grasp the handrail. So the idea is whatever time you lose lining up for the ticket booth, you’ll make up once you’re past the barriers.
UP WITH THE LAAX href="http://www.rocksresort.com">www.rocksresort.com
Think Alpine architecture means cuckoo clock style chalets? Not for Laax’s Rocks Resort, 90 minutes from Zurich. This
contemporary development is the latest in Alpine chic. Designed by Swiss architectural practice Domenig, the Rocks
buildings set themselves apart from the nylon and plastic interiors of mass-market piste accommodation. Outer walls are built
from locally sourced quartzite rock while the interiors are furnished with roughhewn oak, chalk and linen. Coming on like
Japanese minimalism in an apple strudel setting, the Rocks blocks complement their environment while staying utterly up-todate.
MULTI STORIES
When photographer Michael Wolf scanned his image of a Chicago tower block looking for flaws, he came across some surprising finds: magnified, the tiny panes in his
shots transformed into miniature studies of modern life. Office workers stared out from their cubicles, couples cuddled up to view the TV. His study of a single
skyscraper had in fact captured many more images of everyday life. Now both the highrise landscapes and the blown-up portraits feature in Transparent City, Wolf’s
exhibition of Chicago cityscapes, which are reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s famous paintings of American urban scenes.
Transparent City is at The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College,
Chicago, 14 November – 31 January 2009.www.mocp.org
Famous Footsteps
Michael Douglas
“It’s a combination of its physical beauty, its wonderful mix of cultures, and then there’s an exotic, spiritual sense – I’ve
ended up spending a good part of my life here for the past 25 years. When you’re well known, you tend to find places that
offer you privacy.”
Michael Douglas waxes lyrical about Mallorca. The star owns a Moorish mansion on the island’s north-west coast.
DAMMAM PLANS
Fahd Airport in Dammam is soon to become into a full-scale business city, according to its director, Khaled Al-Muzael. The coastal airport is already the largest in the
world (in square footage). Now Al-Muzael announces that, thanks to new investments, the complex will soon boast adjoining hotels, conference halls, an aviation school
and a number of playgrounds. “We started working on the plan about six months ago; it will be ready by the beginning of next year,” he told Arab News. Book your
conference now, and remember to pack your snorkel.
ATTENTION TO RETAIL
For the capital of a nation of shopkeepers, London rarely opens new shopping quarters. Be thankful then for Westfield London, the largest in-town shopping mall in
Europe, which has just opened in Shepherds Bush, west London. Just half an hour’s drive from Heathrow, and surrounded by four underground stations (one of them,
Wood Lane, is brand new), it’s just as accessible as the central London destinations. Beneath the tree canopylike glass roof are over 250 blue-chip retailers, including the
kind of international designer brands who normally wouldn’t dream of appearing in a shopping centre: think
Louis Vuitton, Versace and De Beers.
www.westfield.com/london
BLING ON THE BUBBLY
There are a few unusual things about champagne house Moët & Chandon’s new London store. For starters, it is only open for four weeks (from 4 December). Secondly,
as well as the vintages, Moët has gone glam by offering to personalise selected bottles (from £50 for a 75cl bottle). You can engrave a name, date or very short message,
so keep it snappy and chic. 70 Bond Street, London W1, +44 (0)845 871 1743; www.ateliermoet.com
CURATE MINDS ALIKE
When it comes to 20th-century art in Venice, one collector looms large over others: Peggy Guggenheim. Yet a forthcoming retrospective at the late American’s gallery
proves that a native curator equalled the heiress in his vision and connections. During the 1940s and ‘50s, Carlo Cardazzo opened galleries in Venice,
Rome and Milan, and exhibited the likes of Miró, Picasso and Kandinsky. Further proof that Italy possesses both Renaissance greats and avantgarde gems. Carlo
Cardazzo: A New Vision For Art, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, +39 (0)41 240 5411;
www.guggenheim-venice.it
SWISS WATCH
Voyager raises a glass to toast Zurich’s Elmar Ledergerber, named the world’s second most outstanding mayor by the London-based think tank, The World
Mayor Project. The Project singled out Ledergerber for his “ability to build bridges between the wealthy sections of society in the city and the less well-off”. Though he
lost the top spot to Cape Town’s mayor, Ledergerber was praised for his strong environmental credentials, and, Voyager readers note, his open-hearted attitude
towards ex-pats. Says the WMP: “The Mayor believes everyone, Swiss or non-Swiss, living in Zurich should feel the city is their home.” Are you getting all this, Boris?
www.worldmayor.com
alt="Italian supermodel Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann, daughter of Isabella Rossellini features in The Seduction, Photographer Annie Leibovitz captured Italian sensuality
for Lavazza’s new calender. She is currently exhibiting at London’s National Portrait Gallery">
BELLO ANNO
For two Italian manufacturing giants, the new year can mean only one thing: time to unleash another jaw-dropping calendar. Italian tyre magnates, Pirelli, start in pole
position, having produced their first girlie year-planner in 1964. Since it is never openly sold, theirs has become something of a collectors’ item.
On the other hand, coffee brand Lavazza’s calendar, though not as well known, has been running since 1993 – in ‘95 they featured future first lady of France Carla
Bruni on the cover. For 2009, they’ve invited the American master, Annie Leibovitz, to interpret Italian style in a series of bold set pieces. Though the images were shot
in Leibovitz’s studio, they still manage to evoke the mysterious allure of Latinate sexuality.
So, which wins out? After exhaustive examination, we’ve decided that we’re tired of tyre girls, and declare Lavazza’s calendar Voyager’s wall candy of choice for
2009.
If you’d like to win one of our 10 copies, email voyagercomp@ink-publishing.com
with your name, address, contact number and the answer to this question: which two cities in Italy does bmi fly to? Last date for entries is 2 January 2009.
HORSE PLAY
Yee-hah! The premier cowboy event is coming to Las Vegas this month. Saddle up, all parttime cowboys. The 50th annual Wrangler National Finals Rodeo takes place
between 4 and 13 December at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas. Commonly referred to as the Super Bowl of rodeo, the NFR pits the top 15 contestants from
around the country against each other in a variety of frontiersman events. Look out for bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronco riding, barrel racing
and bull riding. Tickets for the two-hour spectacular cost $41.50 and plenty of participating hotels have laid on shuttle buses, so there’s no need for you to ride there
yourself – unless of course, you choose to. www.nfrexperience.com
Professional cowboy Red Lemmel, pictured at a previous National Rodeo event in Las Vegas, has been on the circuit for over 20 years, and is still one of the
best in the US.
