Liechtenstein Passport

We stayed for a couple of nights at the flat of Rahel and Evelyn, two Liechtensteiners from Vaduz. In the evenings we had coffee and asked them questions about their country. We wanted to know what life was like in such a small country. They told us that they knew almost every Liechtensteiner from their generation and that everyone knows each other in Vaduz. As a matter of fact, when we arrived in the capital and asked for directions on how to get to their flat, we were asked who we were looking for instead of which street.

We had a look at their passports and inside we saw a map of Europe with an amplified shape of Liechtenstein to help other people understand where they were from. Evelyn explained to us the problems she had when she travelled around Central America, not even border officers knew where Liechtenstein was!

Hochschule Liechtenstein

Feller's Mash Project - Hochschule, Liechtenstein

From Bern to Vaduz

BERN, MINT GREEN CHOCOLATE

WG Tranquillo, Bern

On Wednesday night, we moved to Severin's cinema-flat in Moserstrasse. The flat, shared with three other Swiss; Tobias, Mike and Simon, is officially called WG Tranquillo and has its own website. On Wednesday nights, friends gather at the flat to play table soccer and during the week, Severin's white bedroom wall becomes the screen of an alternative cinema open to anyone.

On Thursday, we went to the market and walked around the centre with Severin. We visited the Zytglogge, a big old clock with a moving golden puppet, and went to see the bears that live at the Bärengraben, an old bear pit. We were surprised to learn that the name of "Bern" came from the word "Bear" because the founder of the city vowed to name it after the first animal he met on the hunt.

We then walked up to Rosengarten, a big garden full of roses with a great view of the city. We faced the Sun and watched/listened to the colours of the capital. Our last stop was Paradisli, an amazing big wooden house used as a cultural and activity centre with an old attic used as a live music bar.

La Cucina

Einstein listens to colours

When we arrived at Mägie's house, we were introduced to some of her flatmates and to David, a boy who had worked in a chocolate factory for more than 5 years. Mägie works as an actress at the Theater Szene. On Tuesday morning, we went to watch a rehearsal of Jules Verne's "In 80 Tagen um die Welt" (Around the world in 80 days) in which Mägie played the role of Jean Passepartout.

We walked around the streets of Bern searching for its colour and ended up at Albert Einstein's house. Einstein and his family lived on the second floor of Kramgasse, 49 from 1903 until 1905. It was there that he created his famous formula E=mc2 and developed his Relativity Theory.

The following evening we had supper with some of Mägie's friends and flatmates. At night, we went to the Dampfzentrale, a theatre beside the river and to Das Theater at Effingerstrasse where Jordi Galceran's "Grönholm Method" was being performed.

Bern smells of chocolate

We arrived in Switzerland on foot. We crossed the border from Como to Chiasso and hitch-hiked from there to Bern. Nino, an Italian lorry driver from Sicilia, took us from Chiasso to a small town near Luzern. During the 4-hour lift, Nino kept us entertained by telling us amazing stories about his love life. When we crossed the St. Gotthard Tunnel (the 3rd longest road tunnel in the world) we left the summer and the sunny weather behind. From central Switzerland we hitch-hiked towards Bern. Our first impression of Bern was a strong smell of chocolate. We had been dropped off on the outskirts of the city near one of Bern's many chocolate factories. From there we crossed the fields and took a bus to the centre. As we had no Swiss Francs, we exchanged 6 euros for 10 Swiss Francs with the bus driver so we could pay the fare. We got off at Zieglerstrasse and went to Margrit's house.

From Monaco to Bern

MONACO - SALMON AZURE

The city-state of Monaco, located on the Côte d'Azur, is the most densely populated country in the world. The many yachts and cruise liners seem to work as a luxurious blue extension of the city's lack of space. The navy blue sea and the light blue sky create an unmissable strong horizon.

Monaco-Ville, has no colour dissonance. Salmon coloured houses are present in every single street, some streets are even completely salmon. Tones between pink, orange and yellow dominate the city's walls and give a sense of harmony.

The smell of Mediterranean cuisine and the scent of expensive perfume combine perfectly well with the city's salmon and azure colours. Monaco is salmon-azure.

Friday night in Monaco

On Friday we continued our search for Monaco's colour until dusk. At night, we received a text message from the guy who we thought would be able to host us in Monaco. It said that he wouldn't be at home that night but that we could meet at 12pm at the Place du Palais. We went there and sat on a bench facing the square and the palace. The square was completely empty; there's no nightlife in Monaco Ville, at night everyone goes to Monte Carlo (one of Monaco's quartiers). We waited for him until half past 12 when we received another text message from him saying "is that you in front of me?". We looked in front of us and at a distance we saw a guard standing by the entrance of the palace. We walked towards the palace and met Rodolfo the palace guard who couldn't host us because he was on night shift. He helped us find another place and in the end we spent the night on the 16th floor of Le Schuylkill building, situated on the Boulevard de Suisse of Montecarlo. From up there we could almost see the whole country and we were able to perceive the colours of Monaco from above.

Cyborgs not allowed- Casino Monte-Carlo

Although entry to the hall of the Casino Monte-Carlo (Monaco) is open to everyone, cyborg Harbisson was kicked out of the casino's hall for "looking like an alien from Mars". As he entered the casino, he was immediately approached by a security guard saying "le martien est arrivé!". Harbisson was then taken to one side and was questioned by a senior security guard. Harbisson told the guards what the device was and why he was wearing it but his explanation wasn't taken as serious. The guards laughed at him, took him to the exit door and asked him to go back to his planet and never come back.

Monaco and Grace Kelly

Yesterday, we arrived in Monaco, a country wallpapered with images of Grace Kelly. The city was full of luxurious cars with chauffeurs, fashionably dressed citizens and children smelling of perfume. Monaco is one of the wealthiest cities in Europe and the most densly populated country in the world. A capuccino by the Monte Carlo Casino costs €5.00 and if you fancy 30grams of Bulgarian caviar for supper at the Cafe de Paris it will cost you €230.

Nice is nice

On the night of 12th September, we arrived in Nice and stayed at the Villeveille-Lebon flat, Guillaume and Nadine's home, 20 kilometers from Monaco. Nadine, a physics and chemistry teacher from Réunion, an island located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, and Guillaume, an "auteur de mots et créateur d'images" (author of words and creator of images), showed us the close relationship between cinema/art and chemistry/physics and talked about the big differences between Nice and Monaco despite being neighbouring cities.

From Andorra to Monaco

ANDORRA LA VELLA - GREEN FUCHSIA

Located in a valley in the Pyrenees, at an altitude of over 1000 meters, Andorra la Vella is one of Europe's highest capitals. Its high location affects the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the city. Strong colours created by the powerful sunlight contrast with the dark green shadows from the surrounding mountains.
At night, the purple electric magenta lights from the numerous shops illuminate the streets of the capital. Some street lights are also violet and the blue red yellow flags of Andorra decorate lamp posts.

The capital has a strong mixture of natural and artificial colours. The city's backgound is always forest green that is contrasted with fuchsia lights.

Andorra la Vella is green-fuchsia.

Andorra Airport Terminal

On Sunday, we walked along the streets of Andorra la Vella and we discovered that there was another town attached to it: Escaldes-Engordany. The high streets of both towns are connected, Avinguda Meritxell and Avinguda Carlemany.

Andorra is quite unusual due to the large number of shops in such a small place. Supermarkets and local shops are stacked with cheap tobacco and alcohol. We were stopped several times by consumers willing to buy our devices. Some people even tried the teleidoscope glasses on and listened to Andorra's colours.

Andorra is a country with no airport but the tax free shops, the feeling of security, the "air conditioned" fresh air and the number of people from different countries made us feel as if we were walking along an airport terminal.

Andorra la Vella - Closed

We arrived in Andorra la Vella on September 8th, the day of Nostra Senyora de Meritxell (Our Lady of Meritxell) who is the patron saint of Andorra. All shops in Andorra were closed and nothing seemed to be happening in the whole country. Shops are usually open every single day of the week, including Sundays, but not on the 8th of September.

We stayed at Henrique's flat, situated on Avinguda Mertixell, Andorra la Vella's high street. We had a view of the surrounding mountains and of the colours of the city from his flat windows.

Henrique speaks Catalan, Andorra's official language, but he comes from Portugal. Andorrans are actually the minority in their own country!

Madrid-Andorra

MADRID, AMBER-TERRA COTTA

In contrast to Lisbon, Madrid's dominant colours are darker and warmer. Madrid is a dry city miles away from the sea. Its river, the Rio Manzanares, is situated in the south west of the city far from the centre. The reason why the sky in Madrid is so blue is because of its dryness. The colours of Madrid are clear but not bright or light. Orange-brown bricks are present in every single street. Even churches and public buildings are built with terra cotta bricks. Landmarks such as La Puerta del Sol or the Plaza Mayor are brown-orange-red. Undergound trains have seats and handle bars in different shades of terra cotta.

We asked what colour the walls of the Plaza Mayor were to the painters and artists that work at the square every day. Some of them said red-brown, others said orange-brown.

Terra cotta is somewhere between orange red and brown. It's the mixture of blood and earth, just like the colour that unfortunately still appears when the bull's blood gets mixed with the sand of Madrid's Plaza de Toros.

Amber is between yellow and orange or between yellow and dark orange. Madrid's roofs have an amberish tone. Many houses are also painted in this colour. Most Spanish guitars, displayed in shops, in "Guitarrerias" and in the streets are also amber.

The red and yellow Spanish flag is also present in many institutional buidings as well as Madrid's flag which is red with yellow stars. Yellow, red, orange and brown are Madrid's main colours.

Madrid is amber-terra cotta.

Madrid underground cubist

Under the streets of Madrid, in an orange train that was taking us to the north east of the city, we met Manuel Lopez Sheriff.

Manuel, an 18 year old student from Madrid, has the talent of resolving the colour set of a Rubik's cube in a matter of seconds. He showed us his technique and we watched him all amazed. He has been practising for just over 4 months and is now one of the fastest Rubik's cube solvers in Spain.

Coincidentally, on our way back to the centre, we met him again on the green line from El Capricho to Gran Via. On the journey we filmed him solve the cube with his eyes shut and with one hand. His current record stands at 33 seconds with one hand, and 20 seconds using both hands! He introduced us to the underground world of the 21st century cubists. In October he'll be going the World Rubik's Cube Championship 2007 to be held in Budapest.

Luciano Pavarotti - Madrid

We were awakened by voice of Luciano Pavarotti. The sound came from our next door neighbour who was listening to music. As we went out of the house we saw a bread deliverer pushing a trolley and singing “Nessun dorma” like an opera singer. It wasn’t until we saw a group of people watching Televison Espanola in a bar that we realized that Pavarotti had died. Yesterday, his voice could be heard in almost every street of Madrid. At night, everyone was at home listening to the radio, watching TV or simply playing his music with their windows wide open.

Searching for the colour of Madrid

We are staying at Isabelle’s house, situated on the “Calle Amor de Dios” which can be translated as “Love of God Street” or “For God’s Sake Street”. The street is at the “Barrio de las Letras” (The Neighbourhood of Letters) because many Spanish writers have lived around the area. Isabelle, lives just above the Guitarreria, a well known shop that sells and repairs Spanish guitars. The street also has a vegetarian macro-biotic restaurant and a popular “tienda de disfraces” were they sell all kinds of costumes and wigs.
In the evening, we went around Madrid with Isabelle, she explained to us the character of Madrid and the differences between Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. We were surprised to see so many people having supper, drinking wine and chatting in the streets. The Plaza Mayor seemed to be celebrating a big fiesta. We noticed that the colours of Madrid are quite different at night due to the street illumination. Madrid is definitely not turquoise.

Cafe bar in Chueca - Madrid

After a longer trip than expected, we finally arrived in Madrid, the second capital of our journey.

At 3 pm most shops are closed. Everyone seems to be at home having lunch or having a siesta. Ironically, when the Sun is at its highest peak and the colours of Madrid are brighter and stronger, everyone is at home or asleep.

We went to a cafe near Chueca square where an old waitress felt uncomfortable serving us because we were wearing electric equipment. She told us that we couldn't use electric devices while we drank there because "electricity and liquids are not compatible". We told her that Moon's teleidoscope glasses were not electrical and that Neil was a cyborg. We explained to her how the eyeborg worked and we let her listen to the colours of her bar. She listened and started to sing along to the sounds of the colours of the walls, tables, and menus.

LISBON, LIGHT YELLOW-TURQUOISE

Our time in Lisbon has come to an end. For the past six days we have explored the city in pursuit of its colour. Thanks to the generosity of Raquel and Paulo, a Lisboner who kindly hosted us, we were able to understand and visit the city in depth.

One of the first things that made an impact on us was the use of tiles on house facades. Lisboners don’t paint their facades they cover them with colourful tiles. Blue, green and turquoise are the most common colours used. Many houses have green doors and green windows, including some banks and shopping centres. Traffic lights are also greenish in tone. The odd house with no tiles is usually pale yellow or white.

Transport in Lisbon is yellow, from trams to buses. Even taxis are creamy yellow-white. Yellow is a colour that moves around the city and is used to communicate.

Paulo drove us over the Ponte 25 de Abril and took us up the Cristo Rey Monument so that we could have a proper view of the city from the other side of the Rio Tejo. Lisbon city faces south, its orientation makes it a very bright and warm city. The heat of the river creates a light mist that dusts the city and sky in white. The mixture of sunlight and mist covers the city with a light yellow layer.

We also went along the river Tejo by boat from Alameda to Belem, on the boat we were able to have a close look at the river and coastline. The turquoise river, blue sky and green hills surrounded the city in a blue-green-turquoise harmony under a light yellow mist.

Lisbon is light-yellow turquoise.

Praça Saldanha - Lisbon

Yesterday at 2 am we met a popular character in Lisbon known as "O homem que saluda aos carros". Every night, the well dressed man, with white hair and thick black glasses with yellow glass, stands at the Praça Saldanha and waves at cars. Everyone in Lisbon seems to know him. Most drivers, even police cars, beep their horns and wave at him when they see him standing by the traffic lights, he then waves back with a smile.

Moon and Harbisson are still searching for the colour of Lisbon. Their teleidoscope glasses and eyeborg have caused sensation amongst the citizens. Yesterday, while the pair were on a doorstep at Rua 1 Dezembro they were mistaken for magicians (Lisbon is currently hosting the Street Magic World Festival). A crowd surrounded them expecting some kind of magic show, Moon and Harbisson had to explain to them that they were not magicians and that they were just there to perceive colour.