Days ago I was at the Eric Bonduel workshop, once a photography studio (Eric was my photography teacher in the early 80's and his studio provided all the professional service I used to do in those days) now a place where vintage cars get a new life. This multidisciplinary French have -almost always- the answer or the right contact for every question you may ask, nowadays an invaluable resource of knowledge. This song was playing at Eric's once I was there. Early working days.
Since heavy rains have been pounding the country for the past months I didn't ride to much. Today's morning was clear and this was an invitation to take my bike and hit the road. Green hills, cattle, a dog who accompany me part of the time and lots of beautiful sights surrounded by silence kept my mind clear and let me listen to my inner sounds, my heart, the movement in my bones, my thoughts. God bless nature and the power to admire it.
This is my place of work, here I spend 9 hours at day solving graphic design issues, coffee ideas or the next art show. Clients, friends and fellow artists come at least one day of the week to take lunch with me or sip a P11 cup, sometimes to play some music, sometimes just to talk, kids use to come to play games in the computers or just for doing homeworks. In this place I find myself totally, here I do many of the things I enjoy the most, things that help me to create, to invent, to dream, and this way of living makes me real happy.
Last Tuesday I took my way down to Antigua, the excuse was to visit Lorenzo, a childhood friend who manages -with his partner Paco- a beneficio in the neighbor town of Jocotenango. The place also have a coffee museum and a coffee/handicrafts shop -where Paco is also the designer of the jewels-. Later I visited Arturo Monroy, a fellow artist who lives in Antigua. We went to eat at Saberico, a nice place with nice food and nice prices, down there; Mercedes, Maria Elena and Daniel completed the group. At the end of the afternoon I drove back home, dreaming of having one down there to never leave.
I took these couple of photographs of Pacaya volcano before its eruption on May 2010, one from the CA9 highway that lead to Guatemala City from the South coast and the other from beside the crater in front of a river of lava.
Inspired by fighter planes, from its aluminum-wrapped curves to its padded leather seat and back, this chair will transport you to World War II action flights. See more at restorationhardware.com
Sun coffee farms produce a lot more but also depend on pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, and coffee bushes that grow unprotected need replanting (plants live shorter) more often and cause major soil erosion and lead to environmental degradation. Shade-grown coffee bushes mature more slowly and require more hand labor than technology intensive sun plantations. Shade-grown coffees tend to come from smaller family farms that usually are models of sustainable agriculture: a canopy of diverse indigenous trees nourishes the soil, prevents erosion and provides habitat for all types of fauna, including many bird species. The slow-maturing coffee plant varieties that grow in the shade deliver deep, complex flavors that are unparalleled and impossible to replicate in sun-grown conditions. P11 coffee comes from these small family owned farms in the highlands of Guatemala and the perfect managment of the cropping process and posterior procedures makes it a real experience. Coffee Time!
With passion and sensitivity coffee can turn into a life style. That's the reason we include posts about art, music, architecture, design and thoughts that we believe are best companion to this wonderful drink.
From Ricardo Arjona's last work "Poquita Ropa"... Enjoy!
Habana, siempre a las mitades, tan mitad española, tan mitad africana saben bien las olas que en cada ventana siempre hay un testigo Habana, juran los que saben que no saben nada pa' entender lo tuyo.
Habana, tan cerca y tan lejos como esos espejos que reflejan nada unos al bloqueo otros a un trineo que jamas vio nieve Habana, no ha podido Dios ni los 600 santos entender lo tuyo.
Mientras la Florida que es como esa tÃa que se fue a otro lado se sienta a extrañarte en la Hialeah de las coincidencias y yo que no toco vela en este entierro muero por la pena, de no hacerle al mago y construir un puente de 90 millas para que los primos corran a abrazarse como se merecen y la ideologÃa no se meta más en lo que no le importa, que la historia es larga, y la vida es corta.
Hay un cubano en La Habana, vendiendo habanos prohibidos se le han quedado en la cama tantos sueños dormidos un cubano en La Habana, que es inventor de futuros bloqueado a la americana, al enemigo cianuro, un cubano en La Habana, un cubano en La Habana, que no es culpable de na'.
Hay un cubano en Miami, rencores por tradición South Beach es su Varadero, la Ocean su malecón un cubano en Miami, tercera generación, te habla de asere y consorte con la misma canción un cubano en Miami, un cubano en Miami, que no es culpable de na'.
Que se sequen los pies los que persiguen la Florida, que otros se lavan las manos con jabón de diplomacia ni el bloqueo es remedio ni aferrarse es la medida, cuando manda el orgullo siempre reina la desgracia.
Puente, habrÃa que hacer un puente, pa' unir a tanta gente, en medio del conflicto ha vivido y vive gente.
Puente habrÃa que hacer un puente, pa' unir a tanta gente, quizás la diplomacia no ha sabido hacer un puente.
El tiempo va gastando el reloj de arena en tanto esperar...
Vamos hacer un puente, un puente hermano vamos a unirnos todos con este tumbao, Que fácil ve el bloqueo, un yupi en la oficina, domingos al buceo, merienda en la piscina.
Vamos hacer un puente, un puente hermano vamos a unirnos todos con este tumbao, Guaracha a la cubana con Celia y los Van Van hay rastros de La Habana en Londres o en Milán.
Hay ruidos de La Habana por toda la ciudad Coral Gables, Hialeah, Calle 8, Lincon Road. Cubanos que a escondidas extrañan la otra orilla. Baracoa, Santiago, Pinar del RÃo, Camaguey, Matanzas, Varadero. Y allá en la vieja Habana Vedado Miramar. Hay rastros de nostalgia por alguien que se fue.
Cubanos del mundo con acento asicopado En Roma o Budapest. Tocando sones del pasado en D.F. o Key West. La clave, el swing, las curvas de mujer.
For all of you that love coffee's best friend, this is the new creation of brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, Q elevates the chocolate bar to new heights of gastronomy. Read more at: Q on Cool Hunting
This beautiful volcano is on the shores of lake Atitlán, with 3,020 mts of altitude it can be hiked in a matter of hours, at its skirts is a village of the same name: San Pedro La Laguna.
Last months all the country have suffered of persisting rain and several tropical storms, gray days, cool mornings and a deep desire to stay in bed. Antigua is not the exception although the reward of a good coffee in a cozy atmosphere is always at hand.
Guatemala has a rich variety of complex soils. Its amazing diversity of microclimates delivers coffee with very singular characteristics. We have selected the best and carefully cultivated Arabica beans from our fertile Highlands, harvested by skillful hands; it is blended among selected Guatemala's coffee regions and roasted very tenderly to deliver an exotic drink with complex flavors and an incomparable aroma. P11 will delight you by giving you an opportunity to recognize the subtleties of premium coffees coupled with an intense sensory experience.
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