Kon Hans Traveler

The eternal beauty of Rome The Tiber River, ancient, with all of its serene majesty, slowly flows amongst monuments of human grandeur. On one side the imposing St. Peter’s Cathedral stands high, in the middle of its large circular plaza aligned by columns and on the other side the Coliseum, which rises high, a solid and impressive structure covering with its shadow the ancient Roman Forum. Two symbols of different periods in history, but in the same amazing city. A city of a glorious past, and a colorful and tasty present, with heady aromas and unique beauty, that awaits you to enter its magical labyrinth. The “eternal city”, as Romans call Rome, does not belong only to them but to the whole world, and you can also make it a part of you, forever. Roman Pantheon The historic center of Rome, the Roma antica , will be, in reality, the core of your exploration, but first you will have to solve the issue of your accommodation.  In Rome, there are, actually, thousands o...

Kallidromiou Street building The downtown district of Athens, Eksarcheia, is a dynamic and vivid neigborhood of a thousand different faces! "Two months have gone by since we have not seen each other, a whole century and nine seconds. The stars have lost their shine when you left". Poetry is written on the walls of Exarcheia, -a downtown district in Athens-, filling them like open notebooks.  Every city has the need of its Eharcheia, as a refuge for souls who seek, who search and want to be searched, or just flirt with the spirit of revolution.  Kreuzberg in Berlin or Lavapiés and Malasaña in Madrid demonstrate their unique character: a youthful spirit combined with an unyielding power and energy that stems from colorful, noisy and vivid neighborhoods. Perhaps the most multicultural district of Athens and all Greece, Exarcheia is definitely open to all, despite the various tags that many have occasionally tried to stamp to it.  Its dynamism, its multicolored crow...

BIRKE vol.II "the watchful tree" by  "Forvitinn" Aris Chantzopoulos For those lucky enough to be in Berlin during November and December, a unique fairy tale- exhibition is taking place in CELL63 Art Platform , in Neükolln.  In the heart of the cold winter, a world of mysterious sylvan beings is being brought to existence by the genuine imagination of a young Greek artist, Aris, known as “ Forvitinn ”.  It is as if the woods and their majestic spirit come alive to share with us their inner secrets, dark and mischievous, like the human soul.  At the end, it is nature that reflects our inner beings and only through nature can we sometimes conceive our deepest and darkest desires. "Hybrids, half human-half birch tree figures, in their everyday habits, are placed in between the barks of a forest, spreading their branches trying to show us their presence.. Creatures of high sexual  behaviour , emotional, curious, social, lonely, eccentric, aggress...

Visting TAF in Athens, Eharcheia downtown district and finding out the secrets of the finest coffee in the city! by Kon Hans At a recent article in Buzzfeed.com , a big praise was given to the coffee culture (among other things!) of the Greek capital: Athens has more cafes than Paris and Rome have, and even a greater worship towards the fresh aroma of the coffee and its strong flavor.  After being to TAF at Benaki Street, a small café and a coffee grinder at the same time, and meeting Christos Loukakis, an awarded barista, I could only agree to the above statement after drinking the third espresso! Q. How long have you been a barista? A. I have been a barista for about 14 years. It has been a conscientious choice; I have even abandoned my studies to follow my vocation, as I believed it to be back then.   Afterwards, I have realized that it was the right choice for me, and TAF has played a significant role in this. Q. What is being a barista for you, wh...

A family-vacation island of mysterious beauty (updated with links!) by Kon Hans The "Chora" of Serifos (main settlement on a Greek island) gazes from up the hills the vast blue horizon and defies the winds with its pure white graciousness.  Around it, the imposing arid landscape of the Aegean island is littered with deserted mines and rusty machinery, like huge iron talons popping out and grapping the earth, mechanical ghosts of a bygone era, carrying still the lost voices of the miners.  These otherworldly industrial monuments, the smooth lines of the landscape, the sandy beaches, the bustling port and the local rich cuisine have blessed Serifos island with a unique beauty, sought out by many travelers of the Aegean Sea, in Greece. As the boat passes by Sifnos, the great sister of Serifos, the beautiful port of "Livadi" will welcome you to the island with all its colorful shops and taverns parading by the sea.  Some nice hotels and beautiful studios can ...

La Biennale di Venezia:  An inspiring visit to the 14th International Architecture Exhibition by Kon Hans Canal in Venice (photo by Kon Hans)    The famous vaporetto boats traverse the Venetian canals, while the serene waters reflect the flashes and the smiles of the tourists in a sunny, summer day.  As always, every summer gives to the Serenissima a unique cosmopolitan shine, as the greatest cultural event in the world opens its doors to the lovers of art from every corner of the earth:   The Biennale di Venezia, with the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, welcomes you. Rem Koolhaas is the maestro of this architectural "symphony", its central theme being the Modernism in Architecture in a conceivable period from 1914 until 2014.   The sixty-five countries participating with their National Pavilions, are invited to show their architectural wealth and its advance under the dipole of Historicism and Modernism.  An interesti...