Most Memorable Trips We’ve Designed This Past Decade: Peggy’s Travels Through the Australian Outback

Peggy has long been one of ActiveTravels’ most beloved clients because she returns year in, year out to the same destinations, particularly India and Australia. You can’t push the typical highlights tour on her since she’s already peeled that onion back 10 layers. You must dig deep to find authenticity. In Australia alone, she has traversed the remote Northwestern part of Australia from Broome to Darwin, flew to one of the outlying Great Barrier Reef islands, and has crossed Tasmania. But the trip I remember most is the one where she wanted to visit Aboriginal art communities in the desolate Australian Outback. We’ve had clients visit Alice Springs to climb Ayer’s Rock, for example, but no one who wanted to use Alice Springs as their hub to see surrounding indigenous villages, often hundreds of miles away. I scoured the internet and found nothing. Then I want on a Sydney-based travel advisor chat room and found a recommended company called Spirit Safaris that lo and behold offered a weeklong Central Deserts Aboriginal Art Tour. In March 2018, Peggy and the owner of the company, Richard, drove to such obscure outposts as the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art & Culture Centre, Warlukurlangu Arts at Yuendumu, and Aboriginal Art Centers at communities including Amata, Ernabella, Fregon, and Iwantja. Fantastic!

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Ecuador, So Much More Than the Galapagos! A Visit to Otavalo

Guest Post and Photos by Amy Perry Basseches

Approximately two hours north of Quito lies Otavalo, world-famous for its indigenous population, and for the Mercado Artesanal, where locals sell their handicrafts. It’s South America’s largest outdoor market, and you will find a wide range of weavings, jewelry, clothes, wood and stone carvings, paintings, and more. Although Saturday is the main market day, and the whole town is filled with stalls, there is plenty open at Plaza de Ponchos on any given day. I went on a Wednesday, and, believe me, there was A LOT to see (and buy). Ecuador uses the US dollar as the official currency, but small bills are what’s taken (nothing larger than $20). 
 
After visiting the market, we went to lunch at Hacienda Pinsaqui, built in 1790. Lunch is the major meal of the day in Ecuador–usually soup, a full main plate of meat, vegetables, bread, rice, and dessert. Most restaurants close by 7 pm and dinner is not a big deal. At Pinsaqui, we enjoyed a lovely meal in an historic setting. The Hacienda contains more than three centuries of history. At one point, it was the largest in the area, essentially enslaving 1000 indigenous workers who created products for export to the US. Another time, it sheltered Simón Bolívar who prepared here for the Battle of Ibarra (1823) against the Spanish. 
 
Our Otavalo day also included two more highlights:
  • A visit to the traditional weaving studio of Miguel Andrago. If you are looking for handmade, traditional weaving, go directly to this home and workshop just 10 minutes outside of Otavalo. The Andrago family (four generations working together) is preserving backstrap weaving without the use of electricity or chemicals (all natural dyes), trying to save "this vanishing art." They do not sell their beautiful items at the Otavalo market, only at their studio. My daughter was so intrigued that she asked if she could come back and learn their techniques: Of course! For only $35 US, she can spend a day there. 
  • Peguche Waterfall is situated in a small park close to Otavalo. It is considered a sacred place in Kichwa religion, where purification is held before the Inti Raymi celebrations each June. We enjoyed the short hike to the Falls, and getting as close as possible, feeling the mist. 
Thanks to Brandi at Kensington Tours for the introduction to Hacienda Pinsaqui and Miguel Andrago. Tomorrow, onto the mountains, and the famous active volcano, Cotopaxi.
 
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Miami’s Wynwood Walls Continues to Mesmerize

Last time I visited that street art museum they coined Wynwood Walls in Miami, I had lunch at the newly opened restaurant, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar. I remember walking inside and being blown away by the massive mural Shepard Fairey painted behind the restaurant’s bar. Just as exciting was the wonderfully whimsical and colorful work by Brazilian identical twins, Os Gêmeos, best known in Boston as the pair who created the beloved 70-by-70 feet mural of a boy in pajamas that overlooked Dewey Square for more than a year. On that first visit, I met the daughter of Tony Goldman, the real estate developer who wanted to do something special for the start of Art Basel in 2009. Goldman wanted to bring the crowd into the emerging neighborhood of Wynwood, nestled between the Design District and downtown. Much of the industry here once centered around shoe manufacturing. When that went into decline in the 1980s and ’90s, those buildings became derelict. That’s when Goldman stepped in and started to buy some of the properties, envisioning a lively arts scene. 

 
Tony Goldman has since died but his vision of a street arts scene in Wynwood has both survived and thrived as I was privy to last week when I introduced my wife and daughter to the neighborhood. When I first came here 5 years ago, there was a slow trickle of avid art lovers. Now it’s a must-see stop on any tour of Miami, as crowds pour in to see the ever changing walls of street art. The beauty of graffiti is that no work is permanent so the roster of artists is always evolving. Thankfully, the works of Os Gêmeos and Shepard Fairey remain. 
 
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Celebrate Labor Day Weekend at Vermont’s Wilburton Inn

Last time I stayed at the Wilburton Inn, I tried to belly dance, sang children’s songs in a big singalong, and learned about the history of conflict resolution from ancient Greek times to the present. No, Manchester’s Wilburton Inn is not your typical New England inn. Come here for a stay and you leave as part of the multi-talented Levis family. This is especially true on Labor Day Weekend, when the whole family joins in the festivities. It all starts with a Celebration of the Arts cocktail party on Friday night, September 1st, when southern Vermont’s leading artists schmooze with the patrons and the public. On Saturday morning, innkeeper and psychiatrist Dr. Albert Levis discusses how creativity is the best way to resolve conflicts as he takes you on a tour of sculptures on the Inn grounds. Things start to heat up that evening when Melissa Levis turns her year of 50 blind dates into a naughty cabaret with songs of love in the age of Tinder in "The Innkeeper’s Daughter." Brother Oliver Levis and his wife Bonnie, founders of Earth Sky Time Community Farm, host the 3rd annual Moonshine Music Festival on Sunday, September 2 at 6pm. Billy Wylder and Rootbrew perform, while organic pizza washed down with artisanal cocktails are served. The Boston Globe said it best when it noted: "This family is all inn."

 
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Don’t Miss Van Gogh Show at The Clark

The blockbuster show in New England this summer is not at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. No, you’ll have to travel to the northwestern corner of Massachusetts to Williamstown to find the Clark Art Institute. On view until September 13th is “Van Gogh and Nature,” fifty paintings and drawings by Van Gogh from over thirty museums and private collections. We stopped at the Clark yesterday, on the way back from dropping our son off at Cornell, and, wow, was it worth the slight detour. The works from the last 3 years of his life, in Arles, Saint-Rémy, and Auvers, are spectacularly vibrant. There are wonderful pairings of sketches and oils, like two depictions of olive trees hung side-by-side. I also liked how the curator used maps to show exactly where in France these towns are located and provided large photographs to see how they would look during Van Gogh’s time. 

Inspired by Van Gogh’s work, you can take you own walk through glorious nature. Stroll through the Clark’s meadows atop Stone Hill for a wonderful vista of Mount Greylock and the town of Williamstown below. Take a breather on the bench inside Thomas Schütte’s “Crystal,” an open-sided architectural piece newly planted on the grounds. You know it’s just been built because it smells like fresh wood. Then make your way down to the Lunder Center at Stone Hill, also on the Clark property to find another gem of an exhibition devoted to “Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1 (Portrait of the Artist’s Mother),” otherwise known as Whistler’s Mother. Two small galleries of Whistler’s prints and drawings accompany the famous work. One glance at any of these works to see the mast of a ship, portrait of a niece, or buildings so small you’ll need a magnifying glass to find, and you’ll quickly appreciate Whistler’s immense talent. The Whistler show will be on view until September 27th, so make the effort to get here soon. You’ll thank me! 

6 Hidden Art Historical Gems, Including Weir Farm National Historic Site, Wilton, Connecticut

Weir Farm, ConnecticutWhen New York City collector Erwin Davis became obsessed with a painting owned by artist Julian Alden Weir, he gave him an offer that was hard to refuse. In exchange for the painting and ten dollars, Davis would transfer over the deed to a 153-acre farm less than an hour outside of New York in the Connecticut countryside. Weir arrived in the summer of 1882, immediately became enamored with the sylvan setting, and painted the first of hundreds of works he and his friends would create over the next 40 years. To this day, the property remains a rural retreat that continues to inspire artists and is now the only site in the National Park System dedicated to American painting. Walk inside the Visitor Center to see a short film on the life J. Alden Weir, considered one of the fathers of American Impressionism. That’s not to say he wasn’t disgusted with this style of painting when he first encountered it in Paris, calling an exhibition showcasing the works of Monet, Manet, and Degas “worse than the Chamber of Horrors.” Yet, soon enough, Weir was utilizing the loose brushstrokes and plein air painting that would become the trademarks of Impressionism.

View the wonderful photographs of Weir with John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam, two of the celebrated artists that enjoyed visiting Weir at his country home, and see the lone original work in the building, The Truants (1895). Then immerse yourself in the same natural setting that inspired Weir. Trails lead to a pond, barns, old stone walls, a sunken garden, and his house and studio. Better yet, bring a sketchbook.

This entry is excerpted from my latest book, New England in a Nutshell. The book/ebook is slated to published on July 2nd and you can pre-order now at Amazon. The ebook includes all hyperlinks to listings. The paperback includes front and back cover illustrations from Manhattan-based artist, Sarah Schechter, and a small sampling of photos from Lisa, who accompanied me on many of my assignments, resulting in published work for the Boston Globe.

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Winslow Homer’s Studio Will Open to the Public in September

Winslow Homer’s still-standing studio on Prouts Neck, Maine will finally open to the public next month. It has been closed for renovations since 2006, when the Portland Museum of Art acquired the studio where Homer lived and painted many of his masterpieces from 1883 until his death. Several years ago, I wrote an article for Yankee Magazine about Homer’s years in Prouts Neck. You can reserve tickets to the studio through the Portland Museum of Art. To further celebrate the opening, the Portland Museum of Art will display 35 major oils and watercolors painted during Homer’s time at Prouts Neck in a show titled Weatherbeaten: Winslow Homer and Maine. The exhibition will run from September 22 to December 30, 2012. Stay at one of my favorite stopovers in southern Maine, the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, a 15-minute drive from both Portland and Prouts Neck. The Inn by the Sea is featuring a "Seascapes Package" to coincide with the exhibition and studio opening. For $632, you receive two nights in a one-bedroom suite, two rum cocktails named for the artist, two tickets to the Weatherbeaten exhibition, a catalogue from the show, and full breakfast for two each morning. They can also help to arrange tours of the studio, which cost an additional $55 per person. 
 

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