Day 5 - Montefalco

Another day eating excellent pasta and chasing shadows and archways but this time in the small Umbrian town of Montefalco.

The day ended with a tour of Eileen & Lorenzo’s cantina where they make their wonderful natural wine. We learnt about the process whilst eating delicious pecorino and bruschetta.

Day 2 - TRIP TO TODI

We start the day as we mean to go on with some eggs ( laid by the resident chickens at La segreta of course) before heading to another town perched on a hill but a much bigger one than Collazzone so a little more to explore.

As we come into the town we are greeted by 2 large iron sculptures that contrast beautifully with the texture of the town and the natural landscape, I discover from Eilleen of la Segreta that a retrospective of the artist Beverly Pepper is taking place in the town. Making discoveries like this is one of the reasons I love travel as a source of inspiration so much. Its getting away for the algorithms and the corners of the internet where everyone else is looking. I doubt I would have found Peppers work had we not made this trip to Umbria.

Pepper has another 2 sculptures outside a wonderful symmetrical church, Il tempio di San Fortunato. There is much to like about this building but I’m particularly drawn to the fact that the bottom half is detailed and decorative and the top has been left completely unfinished , whether they ran out of time , money or patience it makes for an interesting contrast. Inside is a similar story with beautiful simplicity in the materials and small areas of excessive decoration.

Day 1

Surrounded by the seasons.

Waking up in the most rural location I have ever stayed is pretty spectacular. Surrounded by rolling hills and an amazing picture of the seasons changing. My plans initially were to create a colour palette inspired by the Umbrian landscape and our first day confirmed this was a good idea. From the lush green of the hills to the pink blossom starting to flower on the trees and the toasted orange light on the landscape as the sun sets.

Having no car was always going to be a challenge in a location like this but being enthusiastic walkers we plan our first hike to a nearby village called Collazzone. I love the contrast of manmade and nature so a small village like this, perched on a hill is perfect for our first Umbrian adventure, of course I am drawn to the oddities along the way, things that jar or contrast with the incredible beauty of the location. The interior decor of our lunch spot particularly floats my boat with some pretty unique paintings of lions - the food and wine are both excellent too. ( Al Leone in Collazzone)  

I think markets are one of the most interesting things in this city. All localities have markets. Two days ago I took a taxi from Lodhi colony to the hotel where I’m staying. After 3 minutes, the driver told me that the traffic had changed the time it would take to get to the hotel. What was at first 7 minutes, was now more than an hour.

Traffic in India is unpredictable even while using google maps. I decided to walk as it was only 5 kilometers. It was one of my favorite nights here, lost between lights, sounds and smells. I walked almost 2 hours to find my way back to the hotel.

I have arrived! I landed in Delhi on Monday the 4th february at 8AM in the morning. The vert first thing i faced is the grey color hanging all around. It looks like fog, but it’s just the pollution of this city.

The first two days I spent my days walking around the Lodhi pork, deer park, hauz khas and Old Delhi. It provided a great contrast between the peaceful and the silent green of the parks, and the crazy busy streets where people, like ants, walk in all their different directions.

Day 5 trip log - Barcelona

Day 4- Trip Log- Barcelona- 

We planned to wake up early on this Monday and put a full day in on the streets Skateboarding and filming... The jet lag was still terrible- None of us slept at all, but we still managed to wake up and get out on the streets by 9:30am . It was cold and damp out, and the puddles of water from the previous days rain were still lingering.... We were all pretty hyped to skate so, we just decided to go all out anyway... We began the day at the awesome spot 2 blocks from the apartment called Parra'lel.  The place was looking in bad shape... Puddles everywhere, as well as a lot of broken glass..  It took a long time for us to warm up, but after about a half hour Osei managed to get a couple tricks, and I managed to get a nice a single trick and a line. Eric was filming and having a good time with it. Brad was watching all our stuff.... The one thing that becomes really obvious quick, is that all these spots in Barcelona are incredibly photogenic. The place looks so good on film.  

After a long first night here in Barcelona and some pretty severe jet lag, we woke up a little later than we had wanted to , and did not hit the streets until around 2 pm. Amazingly enough the amazing skate spot, Parra' Lel is just 2 blocks from the front door of our apartment, so we decided to go hit that spot first. We skated down there in just under two minutes. What a nice skate spot. Very smooth and vast flatground, and some nice ledges and cement blocks. Super fun spot.The place was cracking with many people skateboarding, eating food, and also kids playing stick ball. We quickly met a couple of locals who were very nice, and welcoming. For me, it is so nice to see these simple public plazas being utilized to the fullest by many different walks of life. We skated for a few hours and then headed back to the apartment.

It was Saturday night, so of course, we were planning to hit the city and see the night life. Everywhere you walk around the city there are amazing things to see. I really love seeing old brick walls, old buildings, old monuments and statues, and Barcelona provides this every step of the way. I have been heavily influenced by this type of stuff over the years, and you can see the effects very clearly in my work. I love how plentiful it is around the city. 

TRAVEL LOG- BARCELONA- DAY 1 My Friends Brad, Eric and I arrived here in a Friday afternoon. To my pleasant surprise, My German friends Patrick and David would be meeting us for the first night here in BCN. Patrick arranged us a nice car service from the airport, which was lucky for us, because currently there is taxi cab strike here. We did not waste any time. We checked in to our apartment, and immediately hit the streets walking. Our first destination for the evening was the world famous MACBA, Art Museum and Skate epicenter. This was a short walk from our apartment, which was very exciting to us. Despite the fact that it was getting dark, the place was absolutely cracking with activity... Skateboarders, people dining and drinking, and just hanging out. In an hours  time, i could feel a very distinct vibrant vibe to the city. Something very unique is going on here. There is so much activity and energy everywhere. If its this cracking in the middle of the winter here, i can only imagine what it may be like in the summer.  

At a first glance, the architecture, some what reminds me of Milan or parts of Italy, but with a way more tropical vibe and a little bit more detail. By nights end, we had walked the city for 12 miles, had a great meal with our German friends, and welcomed our other friend Osei, who arrived later in the day from the states. Even though it is quite cold for, our California blood, the excitement of being here made it totally bearable. I am totally looking forward to cruising around the city on our skateboards tomorrow, and seeing what we might find....

FRIDAY

Didn’t get much sleep after last night earthquake action but the jungle was looking beautiful again as the rain broke and the sun came up. Saw a few huge blue butterflies with a super bright blue color on one side, looked like something out of dystopian sci fi movie. Turns out they are the Blue Morpho butterfly and have a wingspan of up to 15cm. Was nice to see those as we hiked out with our gear for one last breakfast at base camp. Said goodbye and thanks to all the crew at Finca Bellavista and got a ride to the Golfito airport to get back on a 12 seat plane to San Jose airport. From San Jose to Panama then back to good old Chicago. Landed back home to 20 degree weather, quite a change in one day. I had such an amazing trip, saw so many plants, animals, birds, bugs and everything in between. A huge thanks to Jeroen and The Jaunt for having me go on this adventure for them. I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity and am very inspired by what I saw all week. It was so different from my normal studio days so I’m excited to see what ideas comes from it this week. Also thanks to my old friend Jared Eberhardt for meeting me out there and thanks for the good photos of our trip, It would have been a tough trip to pull off solo. Also turns out after speaking to some of locals that the snake we stumbled upon on the trail is very poisonous (and the bite is known to cause progressive paralysis), so a lesson to all the kids out there to not mess with snakes you find in the jungle.

 Peace Sign

Cody Hudson

THURSDAY