Most folk arrive into Iceland in the early morning after an overnight flight, the dreaded red-eye, and so it’s a good idea on arrival to take it slow and easy. However, many trips to Iceland tend to be quite short, so there is a counter tendency to want to hit the ground running. On balance, […]
I had my preconceived expectations about the Dominican Republic before setting off. I’d heard it was a place where privileged American college kids go to party at all-inclusive resorts and that there were huge hotel complexes where folk never left the grounds. So I was somewhat trepidatious about what was in store. Conversely: I had […]
On a recent trip to Oaxaca, one of the culinary and cultural hearts of magnificent Mexico, I was lucky enough to experience the wonder, strangeness and joy that is the Day of the Dead (el Dia de los Muertos). I’d always been somewhat flummoxed by the differences between Day of the Dead and Halloween and […]
Our man Anton lives at the pace of a cruising bike in the grand city of London England. There is something special about the pace of a free-wheeling bicycle – it allows you to float past the riff-raff, watching life roll by, almost unseen. The bike, since its invention, has barely evolved, a perfect invention […]
I am a fan of rooftop London. To be honest, I am a fan of rooftop anywhere, but after lockdown was over, I swiftly sought out all of London’s rooftops – to go out, go up and drink in that skyline view. It was like a balm to the soul after being stuck inside for […]
Sometimes, when doing research you can kinda get lost in the prosaic, asking the same questions at each hotel you encounter on a site visit–how many rooms does the hotel have? Do you have interconnecting suites? Is there a 24hr gym? Is wifi included in the rate? It is important to shake free of these […]
I am not a person who wears a hat well. Top-hat or touk, I’ve never been able to quite pull it off. I envy those boys looking beatific in a beret, languidly posing in a Parisian cafe smoking Gauloises. I am not a milliner’s delight. When behatted, I tend to look a little like a […]
Last November between lockdowns, I made it down to Turkey for a glorious trip accentuated by a moment of pure serendipity. Making my way down the Aegean coast, I was in touch with a friend back home, and let him know I was headed to the Troy/Gallipoli area, known as Çanakkale – a place I’d […]
There is much discussion in the shell-shocked world of the travel ‘industry’. What’s lost, what’s coming back, what’s never to return. Goodbye to the city break? Good riddance mass tourism! Farewell fly-and-flop. Well, I don’t know the answer to all that, but I do know that there is one journey I currently cannot get out […]
Turkey spans continents, it defies expectations (mostly by surpassing them), its cuisine is constantly impressive, and then the separate regions within this vast varied country are themselves myriad, from the thriving cultural hub of Istanbul to the Azure Coast, from the interior splendours of cave-like Cappadocia to the historical highlights of Ephesus. You can now add another to […]
We were on our way to the market, as lead by our guide, the ever-capable and personable Paco, when my co-culinary-conspirator, Susannah, mentioned in a hushed tone that she had never visited this market before, as she had been warned-off by friends and people-in-the-know, that it was too dangerous to visit, especially for a non-Mexican […]
When visiting India’s premiere palace and desert state, the grand, gilded, maharaja-strewn state of Rajasthan, you’ll probably find yourself enjoying the pleasures of the Pink City (Jaipur), the Blue City (Jodhpur) and that romantic, cinematic city on the lake, Udaipur. However, key to understanding and enjoying this state of rajas is to get off the […]
Colombo used to be best avoided. It was a mess of an urban sprawl with terrifying traffic, a place to endure rather than enjoy, usually on your way to somewhere better. However, times are a-changing and Colombo is emerging as an interesting destination in its own right. The cruise ships have started visiting, which says it […]
I like a pool, a deep blue, serene swimming pool (green may suffice too), preferably of Olympic length, not because I want to swim laps in it so much, it’s just that a larger pool, when quiet and undisturbed, allows for epic reflections (and consequently good photos for Instagram, and possibly the odd reflection on […]
From the Maldives to Marrakech, there’s no shortage of amazing places to stay. But dwarfed by its brassy neighbours of Brazil and Argentina, the wee land of Uruguay doesn’t get, we don’t think, its proper look-in. So let us present the Vik properties to change all that. First the setting: not far from the jet-set town […]
There are many hidden places of history in London – it is a city of layers that is to be discovered on foot through its higgledy-piggledy lanes and streets. No grid system here. There are, however, many cul-de-sacs and crescents that confuse and confound. Cycling lanes end where cobbles begin and then suddenly you discover […]