Showing posts with label On the road again.... Show all posts
Showing posts with label On the road again.... Show all posts
Postcard from Mallorca: Reads Hotel
If you've been following me on Twitter you would have read my comments about some of the stunning boutique hotels we've stayed at, including Son Brull, Reads, La Residencia, Esplendido, Portixol and Maricel among others. Generally, we've been very impressed and what has set these Mallorca hotels apart from the rest has been their stylish decor and attention to detail, luxurious amenities (including beautiful toiletries in most), superb restaurants, enormous swimming pools and spas, an array of facilities (Read's for instance has a bike room with over a dozen state-of-the-art bikes, from mountain bikes to road bikes, and all the gear that guests can borrow), hands-on managers, and attentive staff.We still have some time left on Mallorca, and more hotels to test out, so I'll wait until the end of the trip to give you a full rundown of the island's best, with more detailed reviews. In the meantime, here's a pic of our Arabian Nights-inspired suite at Reads, which features Moroccan furnishings and carpets the owners picked up on a trip there. One of the things I loved about Reads was the individually decorated rooms (no two are the same) and the idiosyncratic character of the property - the result of an eclectic decor that has developed over the years as the owners have gathered intriguing objects. While the building is grand, the decor is elegant and occasionally whimsical, and wandering about the rooms is as much fun as exploring a fascinating museum. More on Reads and Mallorca's other wonderful properties soon.
Postcard from Mallorca: Portocristo
As we've been on the road in Mallorca working - Terry has had a massive photo shoot and I've been updating a book - with long, busy days and no time for anything else but work, I haven't had time to blog. However, a reader has asked that I post some photos instead. So here goes, a series of pretty pictures from Mallorca (mine of course, not Terry's), that I'll call 'postcards' accompanied by shorter posts than I usually write...There's no denying that PORTOCRISTO on the east coast of Mallorca is incredibly touristy, however, I couldn't resist including a pic of the place because the bay is so beautiful, surrounded by low cliffs, with floating pontoons you can drive from, and the sandy beach looked striking with the umbrellas lined up in rows. It was a scorching hot day as you can detect from the shadows on the sand. Unfortunately, due to Terry's tight shooting schedule and the fact I didn't have any sights, hotels or restaurants to check for my book, we spent a whole half an hour here...
On the road again... Melbourne, Singapore, Dubai, Venice, and Mallorca
Melbourne, Singapore, Dubai, Venice... we've been doing some intensive globe-trekking these last weeks. It's this kind of constant travel that causes us to wince when people say they envy our lifestyle - while it might be fine if you're on holidays, it can be hell when you're on a gruelling work schedule. First it was Melbourne to Singapore for a couple of nights for meetings about future projects and camera-/tech-shopping (for Terry), then Dubai to catch up with friends, review Pierre Gagnaire's Reflets for Gulf Life (Gulf Air's in-flight magazine), check our mail and run some errands. From there it was Venice as guests of the UAE Pavilion (it was their first year here) for the preview days of the Biennale and to work on some food-driven travel stories. And tomorrow it's off to Mallorca for a month where Terry has a huge photo commission and I'm updating a book, and work begins from the moment the plane touches down. But who's going to listen to a travel writer complain, right? I'll update you in more detail as soon as I can.
Inspiring Italy and The Grand Tour
We've been on the road in Northern Italy for a couple of weeks doing guidebook research and we're both utterly exhausted and yet completely stimulated. How can we not be inspired in a country like Italy where we're surrounded with such history and culture, art and architecture? Wherever we drive, it's not long before we come across a Medieval tower, a Renaissance palazzo, or a Gothic church. Poppies and ruins may have moved the 19th century travellers, but for me it's lakeside geraniums and leaning towers. As I write, the bells are ringing in the 12th century tower of a church I can see out our window. It's easy to understand why The Grand Tour-ists treated the country as their finishing school. There's no better place to be stirred by the beauty of the surroundings and be motivated to learn. And that was what The Grand Tour was about after all - just take a look at this wonderful Getty exhibition on The Grand Tour. While the term may be hip once again (and perhaps we played some tiny part in that when we started writing our travel blog Grantourismo two years ago for Charles and Marie?), these days it seems to be thrown about and attached to any extended sojourn or backpacking trip without any real understanding of what it means. The New York Times' Frugal Traveller, Matt Gross, claims his current 12 week jaunt across Europe is some kind of reimagining of the classic Grand Tour, and as interesting as Matt's posts can be, his main concern seems to be staying within his €100 budget each day. His trip's link to The Grand Tour is tenuous and he seems to be coming away from his experiences of destinations having learned little more than how to hitchhike or find the best budget eatery or pensione. The Grand Tour was about so much more. It was about being inspired by history, beauty, art and literature, but most of all it was about learning, about becoming cultured, civilized, cosmopolitan, about getting to know the world.
On the road again... in Northern Italy
After a few days regrouping (oh, and researching of course) in Turin, we're hitting the road again this week in Northern Italy, to explore the country's beautiful lakes, mountains, valleys, and vineyards, as part of our guidebook research. While we're staying in some exquisite hotels, unfortunately they don't always have great internet access - even when their websites say they do! - so if you don't hear from me, you know where I am. I'll get back to you with some more tales from the road and give you more of a taste of our experience of Italy as soon as I can.
On the road again... in Calabria!
We've been on the road in Calabria, the 'toe' of Italy's boot. But with little internet access, so please forgive me for the silence. We've been researching and shooting a new guidebook, the first by a major English-language publisher to this little-visited region. (Ah, but how 'little-visited' is it? More on that soon.) Today the speedometer hit 2,670 kilometers as we completed our loop of the region, and with it most of our research of the area. We've visited every major city and all of the most interesting towns and villages. We've criss-crossed Calabria several times, and at one point as we drove down the gorgeous (albeit very narrow and extremely winding) road from Gimigliano to Tiriolo we could look to one side and see the azure-coloured Ionian Sea and to the other the equally alluring Tyrrhenian Sea. It must be Italy's narrowest stretch of land. So far (we still have another four or five days left), it's been a trip that has both exceeded our expectations as much as it has disappointed, and one that's confirmed many of our preconceived ideas about the place while being full of many surprises. But isn't that what travelling is all about? More on Calabria soon! Being on the road is exhausting and I desperately need some sleep.