Ecosystems of South America

Rony recently returned from an amazing trip to South America. Here she shares some of her travel diaries from three main destinations – Ecuador, Galapagos and Peru.

Ecuador Highlands

Ecuador is home to the Andes mountain range, which includes some of the tallest active volcanoes in the world.

Quilotoa Volcano lake

Cotopaxi Volcano

Ecuador interiors

What to wear
Horseback riding gear while riding horses through the mountains: traditional poncho and chaps.

Amazon rainforest

Comprising more than half of the world’s remaining rainforest, the Amazon rainforest is home to an incredible variety of animals, trees and plants that seemingly only exist in fairy tales.

Canoe ride through the Napo river into the heart of the rainforest

Lodge in the heart of the jungle

What to wear

Wear your jungle pants and lots of insect repellent to keep from getting bitten by the hundreds of species of insects!

Canopy walk above the forest

Quito

Being a city girl at heart, Rony was of course drawn to Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and its rich culture, history and architecture.

Galapagos

Made famous by Charles Darwin’s studies and consequent theory of evolution, this archipelago is well known for its diversity of endemic species and how well preserved the wildlife is.

Landing on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos

The most famous of Galapagos’ creatures, the giant tortoise

What to wear

Always have your wetsuit at the ready in order to explore the incredible wildlife under the sea, such as dolphins, penguins and the world’s biggest sea tortoises who just swim by you as if you were another fish!

Swimming with the penguins sea tortoises and sea lions

Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru

The sacred valley of the Incas in Peru spans from mountaintops to beautiful valleys in rural Peru and includes some of the most important sites in the history of the ancient Inca Empire.

Enjoying the view at Ollantaytambo

The Incan archeological sites are absolutely awe-inspiring in their locations and in how architecturally advanced the Incans were in such ancient times.

Machu Picchu – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

What to wear

Explore the valley and the mountains in your most comfortable clothes and get ready to do some serious hiking! Don’t forget to bring your sunglasses and apply lots of sunscreen, at +3000 km altitude radiation can get pretty intense!

Cusco

To young Israelis travelling in South America, Cusco is Peru’s Tel Aviv. The city is rich with history, culture, explorers from around the world and a vivacious scene.

At times the city seems very modern, but it’s never a surprise to run into a llama walking down the street.

From a fashion and textile design standpoint, it was intriguing to see the indigenous women’s traditional clothing and how they hand dye and weave their clothes using different natural materials.

We highly recommend visiting, and very much look forward to exploring the rest of South America’s countries in the future!

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xx
V&R

A Trip to Nature

Hello fashion darlings,

Israel is known for its rich natural scenery and landscapes that seemingly change with every step you take. From beautiful forests and green mountains up north to Mediterranean beaches to never ending deserts in the south, there’s lots to see here. This time on our travels we visited the Golan Heights, close to the northern border of Israel.

The Golan Heights with their green mountains are known to be hiker friendly with lots of caves and historic areas among the sites. One of the latest sites that we discovered is Ein kshatot (“Um El-Kantar”), an archeological site of ruins of a Roman-era Jewish city, most prominent of which are the remains of an ancient synagogue. This amazing site is still under reconstruction but one can already experience the rich history of Judaism imprinted in this site. The synagogue is assumed to have been built somewhat between the 1st and the 2nd century A.C and is one of the most significant historical sites to have been discovered in Israel. The site was discovered in 1885 by Lawrence Olliphant, a British writer and diplomat, who had written in his findings that the place was abandoned. The site was later on rebuilt and refurbished (and is still undergoing reconstruction) by an Israeli archeologist, Yeshua Drey.

Vera was the perfect mountain girl in a green and turquoise flannel buttoned up shirt, jean leggings and a green oversized cardigan. She completed the look with turquoise Keds sneakers and black and white woven scarf!

So get your hiking shoes on, grab a camera and share with us the natural sights you have in your area! Share your snapshots on our facebook page!

The olives we collected

Xx
V & R

Green is Always in Fashion!

Hi everyone!

Fashion is not just about clothing and accessories; it doesn’t only have to do with what’s trendy and fabulous. As Coco Chanel said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening”.

Men and women that are aware of their appearance and have their own sense of style will always look fashionable, no matter what they wear.

So really fashion is all about the visual – whether it be a Chanel jacket, modern urban architecture or a beautiful garden.

This weekend we discovered an amazing park just forty minutes outside of Tel Aviv where the visual was an awe-inspiring one. The park, called Ramat Hanadiv, was created in commemoration of Baron Edmond De Rothschild and his close family. The baron was a wealthy French man who donated a lot of his wealth during the British Mandate in Israel for the welfare of the first Jewish settlers of the new state.

The park is divided into several different gardens and offers visitors a range of pleasurable pursuits. Throughout the Park are different hiking trails where one will pass through typical Mediterranean terrain, beautiful views at the observation point, sites of prehistoric settlement, and hidden spring – all meant to help preserve the ancient landscape of Israel.

We were highly impressed by the level of maintenance of the beautiful gardens and by how the ecosystems in the park are being sustained. The trees and the foliage are a combination of European and Mediterranean species, creating a visual that is very European with Spanish influence, and at the same time very Israeli.

The park Information Center building is the first and only existing LEED certified building in Israel – a building which follows international rules of sustainable architecture. The building was built inside of a hill, maintaining the natural terrain and designing architecture that goes along with its natural habitat. Electricity at the site is created solely from solar power collected using special solar panels. The plants and trees are all grown at an onsite greenhouse and are watered by a recycled gray water irrigation system.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Courtesy of Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects

Courtesy of Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects

Courtesy of Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects

As designers and architects we were inspired by the design solutions achieved at the park’s landscape and architecture!

Whenever you feel you have had enough of the city we recommend visiting a beautiful park and taking a breath of unpolluted fresh air!

Photos are taken at Ramat Hanadiv, Zichron Yaakov

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xoxo
V&R

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A Desert Escape

Israel’s Beresheet boutique hotel and spa was recently named one of the world’s sixty best hotels. Of course, we had to check out what all the fuss is about.

Beresheet sits atop a cliff overlooking Ramon crater in the southern Negev desert of Israel. Ramon crater is part of Israel’s biggest national park, the Ramon Nature Reserve.

The aptly named Beresheet (named after the Hebrew word for Genesis) appears to have risen from the sand in its primeval landscape like the beautiful rock formations surrounding it. The architecture was designed by Israeli architecture office Faigin Architects in cooperation with the British ARA Design.

We were deeply impressed by the architectural attempt to blend into the desert landscape and create something inherent to the site rather than something foreign.

The hotel offers top quality facilities and dining, a pool overlooking the crater, and a spa complete with amazing massages and treatments with which to spoil yourself.

What to do in the area:
The vast desert area offers lots of beautiful trails to hike through, whether above and around the Ramon crater or further north into the desert.

You’re sure to run into some mountain goats or the local ibex.

By the northern part of the hotel, right along the crater is a sculpture garden which you can hike through and enjoy breathtaking views of the Ramon crater.
If you crave a bit of fashion and style, the nearest town, Mitzpe Ramon has some very cool (and very cheap) vintage and second hand shops you can browse through to take a break from the hot desert sun.

On our next travel guide we will be covering some beautiful and exciting destinations in South America. Follow us for some more travel, styling, fashion, what to do and what to see, and of course, What We Wear!

xx
V&R
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What We Wear in London

Last week I went on a weeklong excursion to London to explore the rainy city post-Olympics, as well as  do some shopping as London is home to some of my (and Vera’s) favorite shopping destinations! Here are some of my favorite attractions in the city, best places to shop and of course, what I wore!

Favorite shopping areas:

Soho – Soho, particularly around Carnaby Street, has some amazing stores which I loved not only for the merchandise but also for how it is displayed and how the stores are designed.

Benefit’s store, designed like a sweets diner, is too sweet to skip out on!

Some other favorites were Dahlia, which had a gorgeous mix of girly with London punk, Fornarina, whose store had an amazing liquid staircase, and Lazy Oaf, which displayed sunglasses on skull lamps.

Notting Hill – This neighborhood has shopping destinations which offer very unique pieces. From the famous Portobello Road market on Sundays to vintage shops that sell amazing treasures, this is a great destination for one of a kind items.

Primark – Vera and my guilty pleasure, this store sells the trendiest clothes, shoes, bags and accessories for ridiculous prices. The biggest one in town is located on Oxford Street; our advice is to get there as the store opens, it gets really busy and crowded very early and the lines to the fitting rooms get impossibly long. As you can see, my friends and I went a little crazy!

Camden – This northern London neighborhood is home to a multitude of markets, thrift and vintage stores that offer trendy and unique items for very good prices. Camden is known for its goth population and punky bars, so here you’re sure to encounter crazy platforms and spikes on everything.

Art for the Soul:
The amazing thing about London is its museums are free, except for some temporary exhibits, so it’s absolutely a must to visit and see what’s on.

I love visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum every time I’m in town, it has extensive art collections and impressive architecture.

Now on display is a very cool Ball gowns exhibit showing gowns from the 19th century throughout the ages, and contemporary gowns by some amazing and influential designers.

Another very cool exhibit currently on display at the V&A: innovations in furniture. My favorite piece was a chair made by fashion designer Issey Miyake from leftover fabric rolls from his garment designs.

Exhibition Road, on which the V&A Museum is located, is now hosting an outdoor sculpture exhibition featuring works by acclaimed British sculptor Tony Cragg. It was very interesting to see how the crowds interacted with the artwork.

The Tate Modern always showcases amazing pieces by the most influential contemporary artists; Now on display is a special exhibit by British artist Damien Hirst. Some of my favorites at the museum were a sculpture by Marisa Merz which, although it was constructed out of aluminum plates, is somehow so organic and “alive” and reminded me of floating sea creatures.

Other works that I particularly liked were pieces that incorporated video art and installation to create unique thought-provoking effects.

The British Museum is a must-visit even just for its architecture. The museum’s inner court roof was designed by Foster and Partners in 2000 and is absolutely awe-inspiring not just in itself but in the dialogue it creates between old and new architecture and in the beautiful natural lighting that is created in the space.

Favorite unexpected event
Notting Hill Carnival took place on the weekend of August 25th; the event was like one huge street party that included dancing, music, African drums and a very festive parade. The beer was cheap and the atmosphere was jolly!

What I Wore
“Chic Tourist” outfit – For travelling to any urban destination around the world, my motto is to keep it comfortable but never neglect the chic! I wore stretch skinny jeans, a light loose blouse and a jacket in case it got chilly. I wore moccasins which are very comfortable to walk in all day, but are also chic and classy. I kept it interesting by accessorizing with a pearl bib necklace and pink lipstick.

Day to Evening outfit – When exploring around a big city all day you must be prepared for anything. The best idea is to wear an outfit you can transform from day casual to a more evening look. I wore a high waisted black skirt with a loose green blouse, opaque tights, and moccasins. I made the outfit cool for day or night by wearing a print scarf and a rope and gold necklace.

For drinks on a chilly evening I added a fur vest.

Rainy Day outfit – Even in August London is very rainy and at times chilly; the best idea is to wear layers you can take off when going indoors or on the underground, and put back on when strolling outside. I wore a loose long sleeved T-shirt with a print skirt, tights and leather booties. I piled on the layers with my fur vest and warm jacket.

Vera’s favorite London outfit- Vera worked her layered look in layered tops, striped knit cardigan, miniskirt worn with tights, leather booties, scarf, and layered necklaces.

Don’t forget to take your camera and an umbrella!

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xx
Vera and Rony, What We Wear