Thanks. Gracias. Merci. Grazie. Danke. Tak. ありがとう.

Commercial centre in Frankfurt, Germany

Visiting the big auto show that takes place in Frankfurt every two years is a dreamland for a gear head like me; the Frankfurt Messe is packed with shiny new cars and concepts of all sizes and shapes, from tiny electric city cars to giant commercial trucks. This is the playground of German automakers, which all of them call the Bavaria region home. Actually I got too flashed by Lamborghinis and Audis that were left out of many other displays because of the show schedule, however, it is amazing the abundance of brand-new high-end cars you can see on the streets, and experience how fast they can go on the Autobahn.

Frankfurt is a financial center for the European continent – in fact, the European Central Bank is based there – and thus the money is evident in abundant luxury shops and modern skyscrapers with bank names atop. Well-heeled clientele usually demands great design and Frankfurt is not an exception – designer names are everywhere and typical German esthetics is everywhere, orderly & stylized.

Audi Ring at the Frankfurt Auto Show 2011

Moving away from Frankfurt at high speed in the ICE train, take us to Munich, where the craziness and disorder of Oktoberfest is somewhat muted by the happiness of the people in the town  We could not truly contemplate the glory of this big city, so we took the Autobahn to visit a German icon, the famed Neuschwanstein castle (which inspired all Disney castles). The castle is Germany’s number 1 tourist attraction and we witnessed that first hand. With its high, white, somewhat minimalist walls it is very modern yet fairy-tale looking from afar. Inside it’s another story as the king who built it, it seems, got carried away.

After visiting fairy-tale buildings, we headed to Ingolstadt, home turf of Audi AG and its amazing Audi Forum, a complex of museum, restaurants, concert halls, dealership and offices, all inside contemporary architecture of glass, steel, aluminum and other materials, excluding bricks. The museum is not cluttered and even the bar has a polished design! Not to mention all the Audi cars on display.

Neuschwanstein Schloss, Bavaria, Germany

On the other hand, the intense competition makes Miami a vibrant place, always evolving, always re-inventing itself. Yes, it’s a town full of vanity, full of egos, but also it’s where many dreams are built and many fortunes created. Miami is the entry point of many artists from Latin America and Europe to the American scene, therefore its huge pool of international influences and flavors.

Besides all of the above, nowhere else I can feel more at home with my “cafesito” (Cuban espresso coffee) and shouting “asere” (Cuban for ‘buddy’) outside of Cuba.

Eric, Robin & Rodney

This tour is an idea we have been cooking for a while, and although a very bad year (2010) put things on hold, 2011 started in the right way, and I can thank that to the great people at The Marion Group, an advertising agency in Houston, for giving me the chance to lend them a hand and in return to build up the coffers for this great coming adventure.

I always enjoy the opportunity to work with and learn from the Marion team, this time the course spanned an entire semester! We will be gone for several months, some times we call it vacation, but the truth is that as freelancers we never really have a 100% work-free trip… blame it on the technology! This trip, however, will be approached slowly and is intended for us to absolve the lifestyles and design trends of the Old Continent; we intend to meet designers and artists and learn a thing or two from them while sharing our points of view and know-how of the American market, thus enriching our careers.

We’ll keep you updated thru this blog and share lots and lots of pictures and movies of things, places and people we find interesting. Keep coming back!