“Caroline Phillips is a tenacious and skilful writer with a flair for high quality interviewing and a knack for making things work.”
It would be hard to get closer to the sea without being on a boat. Spyglass is a bijou erstwhile fisherman’s cottage which was once part of a fort – all whitewashed outside and shabby chic maritime inside. It’s reached along the tiniest pedestrian-nly lane, by iPhone torch if you’re late (which the kids will love).
Florence, cradle of the Italian Renaissance and the place where Leonardo and Michelangelo worked, packs more beauty per millimetre than any other city. There’s something gasp-worthy wherever you go, from architecture to 15th-century frescoes, bas-reliefs and al fresco statues. Plus there are cobbled streets with botteghe (artisanal workshops), piazzas for relaxing with a cappuccino or a glass of Brunello di Montalcino, trattorias for ribollita (traditional bread soup) and (thankfully, given the crowds) a pedestrianised central zone. And then there’s all that Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana that just has to be bought.
Amsterdam may conjure visions of wayward stag parties, slow living and windmill peripheries but the city is fast becoming the creative hub of Europe, a marked return to its golden age of merchant prosperity and artistic flair…
The reopening of the Stedelijk, Van Gogh and infamous Rijksmuseum after years of renovations are testament to this, as are a host of new design-led hotels, restaurants and bars.
It’s not too late to book these British boltholes for May half-term. From a set of converted barns in Norfolk to the manor where the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, find your dream destination here.
High-end luxury has yet to make a big inroad in Ethiopia. Outside of Addis Ababa, you may get patchy Wi-Fi (the government tends to switch the internet off from time to time), bumpy rides and restaurants where many of the choices on the menu are unavailable. But don’t let this deter you. This is perhaps the most intriguing country in Africa. A place of scale, biblical beauty, canyons and chasms. Of historical treasures aplenty. And, above all, of a colourful, gracious and welcoming people. So here are some of the fabulous options for a trip there, many of which are hidden secrets that you won’t find with an internet search, because they don’t have a website.
Coco Chanel, who never had a good word for anyone, called Cristobal Balenciaga ‘the only couturier in the truest sense of the word. The others are simply fashion designers.’
There are people who have created global businesses after doing it. Others who have seen their profits leap after attending a seminar. FTSE 100 companies that swear by its approach.
‘The first thing I want to do is get rid of this mystique,’ says Barry Webb, an English scholar and former Oxbridge admissions tutor, as he kicks off the first session of a three-day intensive residential course for Oxbridge interview preparation with a talk about what our interviewers will be looking for.
No calorie counting, no low fat, no deprivation. Just excellent, abundant gourmet meals. Who knew that losing weight was so much fun? Or who realised that the gut is the control centre of good health? That there are the on-going clinical trials that have used a gut-friendly diet to reverse early onset Alzheimer’s, improve diabetes and treat depression? And that you can sort out digestive issues and improve sleep and skin conditions with food? Welcome to The Gut Makeover Retreat in Menorca. The brainchild of Jeannette Hyde, an erstwhile journalist turned nutritionist. And author of The Gut Makeover – a four-week programme to revolutionise your health. She’s evangelical about the gut – having burnt out ten years ago and, finally, healed herself with ‘real’ food.
Hundreds of people are weeping and wailing for those recently deceased. They’re shrouded in white shawls over their heads, and their bodies are draped in white cloth, like exotic ghosts. They’re sitting on the ground paying their respects. This is a regular Ethiopian Orthodox Christian practice. Meanwhile, an eagle soars above in a cobalt sky.
The men in saffron robes walk the streets holding out their begging bowls. It is called tak bat. I get up at 5.30am to see it. The monasteries are empty and their monks are seeking aims. The pious – and tourists – sit on low plastic stools, as if kneeling, and hand out sticky balls of rice and cereal bars to these holy men. In this way, the former gain spiritual merit and the latter demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility.
‘It’s all about the light,’ insists Rebecca Wakefield. ‘I need it! Don’t we all? A simple thing, but it makes me happy.’ This explains why, as the owner of this sun-saturated ground-floor apartment in southwest London, Rebecca’s smile is rather bright and shiny too.
As flats go, this one is huge. A converted space in a Victorian bakery factory, which after spells as a children’s nursery and an architect’s studio was discovered ‘unloved, but full of so much potential’
Sunday 14 December. It’s a perfect afternoon: sun, sand, surfers. I’m in Sydney visiting my two Londoner daughters who are here living the Australian dream. My 28-year-old, Ella, is at the beach with friends; her elder sister Anya, 30, is out with her boyfriend. So I go for a swim alone at…
My life is currently as challenging as a long-haul budget flight full of stag-party revellers, hope mislaid like lost luggage. The reason? My marriage is…
Facialogy? What’s that? It’s a combo of a blissful Vaishaly Signature Facial with a relaxing, health-promoting reflexology.