About 10 years ago I remember sitting opposite my then very new husband, in the Chewton Glen restaurant, feeling distinctly uncomfortable, not with him I hasten to add but rather the environs of the restaurant as it was. There was a distinctive ‘Conservative Club' feel about the place then, lots of over 70s in blazers and 'old boy' ties with a 'blue rinsed wife' sitting opposite…and the Child Catcher had obviously successfully rounded up any stray under 10- 40yr olds before supper. These days you are just as likely to find Chris Evans in his bare feet and PJs and his wife (having had an afternoon of fun in the hotel pool with their kids) sitting across the way from your table ordering another bottle of ridiculously expensive wine… In other words things have moved on at CG to a much more relaxed, less stuffy but very stylish place to enjoy a meal with a  husband ..or a bunch of girlfriends!  

 

 

 

 As anyone that reads this blog on a half regular basis knows one of my favourite places to eat and be (too close to us to justify a ‘sleep’ really, although I did get to stay overnight on my recent birthdays ) is Chewton Glen hotel in Hampshire.

Why? I think mostly because the service level is as close to right as it comes in a luxury way.

 

 Let me explain, we have a couple of cool Babington House’- like places near us down here in the New Forest, or at least trying hard to attract that sort of trendy ‘get out of London’ for a w/e crowd. The trouble I sometimes think  with these incredibly cool haunts, is they all seem to employ a bunch of very beautiful 20-somethings and don them in designer jeans to manage the service. Ok in itself you might think but my theory is when someone is that beautiful and young they weren’t really born to serve and certainly not in Hudson jeans and an Equipment white shirt…I rest my case.

 

Not to say that Chewton Glen are an ugly bunch of waitresses of course, that are perfectly attractive souls but you don’t get the impression from them that they think they are way up the food chain from you and actually they just get on with the job they are paid to do with a smile and an ease.

 

Anyway enough of a rant, we were 8 of us last Friday, all mums of various aged offspring, there were 2 babes in arms. I have to say, I thought I had passed that stage of my life and was onto attending 2nd weddings and funerals but was lovely to have the babes on board and they both were perfectly well behaved!

 

 

We met in Chewton Glen bar. I haven’t been to many but I always think this bar is sort of reminiscent of a gentleman’s snug in London..somewhere close to the Savoy in the 1960s I should think. All felt a little decadent even that and a glass of Tattinger was just a little fizzy cherry on the cake, a lovely start to the afternoon.

 

Through to lunch in the now extensive restaurant, Vertiver, dining room we were seated around our lovely round table in the conservatory area. Now I am a big fan of round dinner tables, there is something very sociably engaging about round tables (to the extent that I spent probably 2 years searching for the right one ( glass with a marble base) for our own dining room. I love a supper party where you can talk to the table and across the table and not just to the person either side…more fun!

 

 

 

 There are another 4 spaces in this dining room including a Wine room (which sounds like a must be for a private dinner party with wine tasting on the side).

 

 Executive chef, Luke Matthews at the CG has been in charge of the kitchen as long as I have been going there and under his leadership the cooking always feels like a simple but clever distillation of fine tasting raw ingredients...and never, ever hefty. I love his style. I started with Hare Scotch egg. Cumberland sausage and  before my pear and blackberry crumble managed to squeeze in a light and delicicous fish stew made from shellfish, samphire (a sea vegetable, I had to ask too) & fregola (a sort of pea shaped pasta) .

 

We were still giggling round the table post 4 and someone even popped off to pick a child up post school and then returned for coffee. Staff were brilliantly accommodating and one of them squeezed another chair into our circle to fit in the returning schoolboy and offered him a quickly gobbled bowl of ice-cream while the mummies finished off their coffee and truffles.

As it should be, perfectly lovely & relaxing Friday lunch treat spent round a table with girlfriends! Thank you Chewton Glen !

 

Tamara Heber-Percy is co-founder and one half of the couple behind the highly regarded travel publisher and boutique hotel website, Mr & Mrs Smith.

Tamara is one my most admired female entrepreneurs who looks from the outside that she has it all (she pretty much does in fact !)… lovely family, husband, luxury travel business (where she gets to do the reviews) and the rest… but (and that is a big ‘but’)… having it all means juggling many years of really hard work and constantly trying to fine tune that balance of work/ life /family. There is a good little recent piece about Tamara doing just that in Stylist this month.

 

 

Anyway, I digress, we gave Tamara three classic European city break destinations and just for a little Friday challenge , asked her to switch them for her top three alternatives. Here’s what she said…

Switch Berlin for…

 

 

Stockholm.

Like Berlin, it’s vibrant and laid back. I love the view of the city from the Eriks Gondolen restaurant by the water, and there are excellent art and interior design stores. You can get a boat out to the archipelago of Vaxholm in summer, which is wonderful for a champagne picnic. As you’d imagine, there are some very cool hotels cropping up in the city: Story Hotel is a personal favourite. It’s got classic Scandinavian style with a hip edge, and there’s a great courtyard space that has specially commissioned graffiti. But remember, during a Stockholm summer there are only three hours of darkness and in winter the city gets just five hours of daylight, so choose which season to visit carefully!

 

Swap Paris for…

 

 

Budapest.

 It feels like a mix of Paris and Berlin, with a great art scene and wonderful late-19th century architecture. There are fantastic thermal baths – one of the best is Széchenyi, near the city centre, which is open every day – and in summer all the garden bars are great. I love Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube for a picnic in the sunshine: there’s a pool, thermal spa and Japanese garden.

Substitute Madrid for…

 

Barcelona.

It’s not an unusual choice for a weekend city break, but there are so many reasons to keep returning… the growing boutique-hotel scene is just one of them. Hotel Omm is a great spot – it’s urban and very slick but with enough quirks to keep it interesting, as well as a fantastic roof terrace with one of the best views over the city’s jumbled-up skyline. I also love El Palauet  a small art-nouveau hideaway with stained-glass windows and opulent frescoes. Wandering through the Born neighbourhood is great for browsing boutiques, and Agua restaurant on the waterfront in the Barceloneta district has fantastic seafood.

My intermittent guest bloggers Sally and Alice from Sally and Alice Travel Co  share a love of all places wild, dusty and remote. It is therefore not surprising that the idea to start Sally and Alice Travel Co. was born on a motorbike safari on Alice’s farm in Australia. Alice is off at the moment enjoying the early, exhausting and precious days of motherhood so while we were all still throwing snowballs at each other a few weeks ago, Sally hooked up with her dear friend, Annabel Hornsby for a little hard core ‘reseach’ into her another in her long list of favorite places ot 'Eat, Sleep and Be' the form of a trip to the Maldives. To say Sally is passionate about travel is understating the facts. She may be small, but don’t be fooled, she has sailed a 50 footer, dived in to Devil’s Pool at Victoria Falls and skied the Grand Couloir in Courchevel.

 

Over to Sally:

Having mainly sold the Maldives as a honeymoon destination, I was a little concerned that as I was travelling with my great friend Annabel Hornsby, a celebrity hair and make-up artist – transpires a very handy person to holiday with for those quick fixes in humidity – we were going to be a little lonely in the main areas, with all the honeymooners preferring to hide away in the privacy of their overwater villas. But thankfully, with a bit of research we found the right resorts and discovered that the Maldives works just as well for a girlie break as it does for couples - and families too for that matter. It's very hard to pick a favourite, all the islands offer something unique, and at the end of the day they are all luxury hotels on tiny coral islands surrounded by picture-perfect white sand and turquoise blue sea, after six months of grey – it was the perfect place to just BE warm and relax….

 

Our first stop was Cocoa Island, the smallest island on our itinerary – and what an introduction to island life. With just 33 overwater bungalows, it was a truly peaceful and barefoot luxury experience, made even more so by the ban on motorised water sports. The snorkelling and diving from your villa is fantastic as they have two house reefs which sandwich the island. On the mainland (350m v 80m) there is just the one restaurant, but they serve off two menus and as girls wearing bikinis for the first time in six months it was good to be able to eat off the 'healthy menu' for a few days with fresh fruit, salads and sushi aplenty. This is also the place to pamper yourself with a massage in the beautiful COMO Shambala spa, their Indonesian therapists know exactly how to ease away that post-flight tension. For total privacy book a One Bedroom Villa (of which there are four) located on their own jetty with no–one overlooking or too close.

 

 
And so onto Gili Lankanfushi, formerly Soneva Gili. If I told you that we both welled up on arriving at our treehouse-esque overwater villa, it should give you some kind of an idea as to how breathtaking their Robinson Crusoe villas are, I lost count of how many times I said "wow" out loud! Their Robinson Crusoe villas are completely detached from main island with no jetty access (each villa comes with its own rowing boat). Those on the main island are allocated their own bikes to explore with an overwater spa, fantastic Japanese restaurant, secret jungle cinema a short pedal away. If you like private dining – this is the place for you, their extensive 'Destination Dining' means they can set up tables on sand islands that only appear at low tide, private stretches of beach, your own starlit rooftop deck, or in their stylish candlelit wine cellar. It was a Gili that we got hooked on paddleboarding, their calm lagoon and bath-like temperatures made it the perfect playground for this latest craze, nothing like working out whilst working on your tan.

 

After a few days of healthy and barefoot living it was time to hit the trendier walkways of the newly-renovated and ultra-stylish Huvafen Fushi. There's no denying the extensive entertainment programme, known locally as the "Dream Calendar", and the young and friendly ambience of the island will entice you out of your private villa to play, with global Djs at their new Sunset Bar (pictured above) and Michelin-starred chefs regularly flown in to spice things up. For those who suffer from island-fever, you can easily hop on one of Huvafen's fully–decked out Dhonis (traditional boats) to explore the Atoll. Or combine a stay at Huvafen Fushi with their newly-opened sister island resort, Niyama where an underwater nightclub brings a whole new meaning to the saying, nature's playground.

 

 
And to finish, we took a short speedboat transfer over to One and Only Reethi Rah. From arrival to departure, the service was sublime - not surprising given there are 900 staff and only 130 villas. Weary parents take note, Reethi Rah is the perfect place for you to let someone else do the running around after your little ones and their complimentary Kids Club has 3 different age categories with endless facilities and entertainment on offer. Being the largest island in the Maldives there is no shortage of space, 12 beaches, 7 restaurants and their lavish villas are so far apart, you will only be able to hear yourself think (and the occasional lapping of the ocean nearby). Their two bedroom Grand Villas are perfect for families offering plenty of space indoor and outdoor with large private pool and daybeds/ hammocks galore. Finishing our trip with some celeb-spotting in the popular 'Rah' cocktail bar was surreal, now I know where the a-listers go to top up their year-round tans! 

 

 
 

 

Alice Hastings-Bass is one of the founders of Lux-Fix,  a members-only online fashion boutique which gives its customers exclusive offers on season designer products. Lux Fix was launched in 2011 with the time-poor, desk-bound luxury fashion consumer in mind. Alice says: “I was always keen to start my own business one day. Sitting the other side of the table as an investor at a private equity firm and seeing the drive and energy of the entrepreneurs I was dealing with spurred me the passion to do my own thing when the right opportunity came about.”

 

 

When asked which female entrepreneur she most admires, Alice and I are definitely on the same sheet! “Natalie Massenet of Net-a-Porter "everyone said that women would never shop for luxury fashion online but she proved them wrong, revolutionising the way that women shop”

…and about that weekend in Paris Alice…..?

 

 

 

The problem with weekend city-breaks is that there’s only a finite amount of time available, and I always want to squeeze at least ten times the sensible amount of things into a weekend away. With London-Paris a train journey of less than two and a half hours, avoiding the need for airport stress, it seems there’s a very good reason to visit Paris more often. A few of my favourite places…

Eat:

 

 

 
Bistrot Paul Bert: Classic bistrot which is resolutely untrendy. Delicious food, an amazing wine list, and very reasonably priced. The rum baba is lethal, in a good way (18, Rue Paul Bert 75011, +33 1 43 72 24 01) 

Pas Vu Pas Pris: Lively and laid back restaurant serving seasonal French food. Just opened, this is now top of my list for fun dinners with friends (4, rue Saulnier, 75009, +33 9 80 94 13 19) 

Chez Janou: Provençal bistrot in the heart of the Marais. The ideal place to recharge after a morning of intensive shopping/sightseeing/doing nothing (2, rue Roger Verlomme, 75003, +33 1 42 72 28 41) 

Yam Tcha: Fusion food can be so hit and miss but Yam Tcha serves some of the most delicious food in Paris. The chef trained at three Michelin starred Astrance and then spent two years in Hong Kong before returning to Paris to open Yam Tcha. It’s tiny so book well in advance (4, rue Sauval, 75001, +33 1 40 26 08 07)

Drink:

 

 

Les Deux Magots / Café Flore: These neighboring St Germain cafes were the latter day favourites of literary luminaries like Gide, Sartre and Hemingway and have some of the best people watching in Paris. The puddings at Les Deux Magots come from Pierre Hermé, yum. 

Café Marly: Inside the courtyard of the Louvre, Café Marly really does have an unbeatable location. Grab a seat on the terrace and watch the world go by over a glass of Rosé. 
 
Experimental Cocktail Club: Killer cocktails in a speakeasy bar in the Marais. (37, rue Saint-Sauveur, 75002, +33 1 45 08 88 09)

Shop:

 

 

Merci: Concept store just outside the Marais from the founders of the Bonpoint childrenswear label. Guilt-free shopping as all the profits go to charity. (111 Boulevard Beaumarchais, 73003, +33 1 42 77 00 33) 

Le Bon Marché: The original Parisian department store, and still the best. Designed by Gustav Eiffel, it must qualify for some sightseeing brownie points. (24, rue de Sèvres, 75007, 01 44 39 80 00) 

The Marais: The area around Rue des Francs Bourgeois and Rue Vieille du Temple is overflowing with tempting boutiques. As it’s the historical Jewish quarter, most places in this area are open on a Sunday, in case you didn’t shop hard enough on Saturday.

See:

 

 

Opéra Garnier: The Paris Opera moved to a new building at Bastille 20 years ago but some performances, mainly ballet, still happen at the Opéra Garnier. A deliciously opulent building with ceilings painted by Chagall, the perfect setting for a glamorously grown-up evening. 

Musée Jacquemart-André: A 19th century house purpose built to house the Jacquemart-André collection, which includes works by Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Mantegna, and Carpaccio, without the crowds of the Louvre. Great café in the courtyard garden which is a good spot for brunch. 

Vélibs: The Parisian equivalent of a Boris bike, there’s no better way to explore the city on a sunny day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were 10 years of blissful married life back in November and promised ourselves an anniversary weekend in Barcelona. Barcelona is one of mine and husband’s favourite places on the planet but we are a bit OCD about visiting it a rather than explore the rest of Europe’s capitals which we don’t know…we return to what we know and love (5 blissful weekends there in as many years!)

 

 

 

 

 Barcelona is an architectural eclectic dream of a city (we love Gaudi), it is packed to the rafters with gorgeous cafes and restaurants, a happy people, and some beautiful boutique hotels. We choose the Hotel Pulizer in central Barcelona for our weekend. A little Smith hotel and comes under the heading of ‘Budget boutique’ on the Mr & Mrs S website. The Pulizer is not ‘very budget’ really but I figure a lot of it is psychology and it ticks the box for hubby!  Also check out their trip advisor ratings…a mighty good score.

We flew out on Thursday night to get the best of the weekend. We arrived and after checking in made our way to the bar for a late snack and a little glass of something red and smooth. Lovely.

 Coffee and lazy breakfast on Friday morning and then a bit of exploring. The Hotel Pulitzer Barcelona boasts a lovely location. It Lies between Paseo de Gracia and Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s two most spendidly cosmopolitan avenues.

 

 

So we wandered down to the Gothic Quarter and the Cathedral, and then trooped into the  MACBA (Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona) for which I have to say I was much more impressed with the building than the contents of the galleries…I  just feel myself doing that clichéd thing of thinking  …’my 7 year old could do better on  a wet Wednesday afternoon in the art room at school’.   And just because a room full of plastic pink and purple balls with walls covered with images of Marilyn Monroe sniffing something white is an original thought, does it qualify as ‘performance art’? and even more pressing, is it necessary for it to take up that amount of expensive real estate in Barcelona..? !  

 

 

 

 

 We inevitably opt for a fairly Gaudi themed week end. ‘When in Rome’ etc…' So we spent hours admiring his curves in the Gaudi town house (Casa Batlló) ; avoided the La Sagrada Família like the plague when we dropped by to find queues of tourists snaking around the circumference; wandered the Park Güell where they were playing some great live jazz music on a Sunday afternoon and then now and again dipping into a few smashing tapas bars along the way. But our Pièce de résistanceof the weekend (or rather husband's…credit where credit is due) was the little bit of hidden Gaudi we captured on Saturday afternoon- The Church of Colònia Güell.

 

 

   If you do nothing else for a whole weekend in Barcelona catch a train out to Colonia Güell Station and make your way from there. For me, this little church is one of the most moving of Gaudi’s works. Maybe it’s the scale, which is minuscule compared to La Sagrada Familia, maybe it’s the infinite detail of the intriguingly impossible architecture; maybe it’s the stained glass windows which provides a perfectly lit interior or the fact that Gaudi designed the furniture you sit on in the chapel. Or maybe it’s the sacredness and stillness of a little holy place, but special it is.

Wickipedia provides a little background : The Church of Colònia Güell is an unfinished work by Antoni Gaudí. It was built as a place of worship for the people in a manufacturing suburb in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, near Barcelona (Spain). Colònia Güell was the brainchild of Count Eusebi de Güell. However with Güell losing profits from his business, the money ran out and only the crypt was completed.    

This little church is where I will end our weekend in Barcelona , the rest was just a late Cointreau at the  bar in Hotel Pulizer and lots of good books and conversations…safe to say a good way of marking our 10th anniversary !

It’s my birthday this week and I am hoping that my husband might be able to read my mind…that is part of the job spec after all (isn’t it?) and book a table here. Also a test to see if he reads my blog. I think I may be setting the poor man up to fail on both counts. Nevertheless if you are planning on coming anywhere near Milford- on- Sea or in fact have to drive from Aberdeen to come here (and you are a lover of beautifully cooked and presented  fish)  than I promise you will not regret booking a table at Verveine.

This little restaurant is tucked in behind a fishmongers… a good starting point to a fish restaurant I think… raises the background credibility. So you wander through the scrubbed clean and slightly utilitarian fishmonger bit to the restaurant and there you will find a little snug cove, busy and friendly in its ambience. I look around this little place and sometimes wish they had a bigger space to that they could share a little more of what they do brilliantly but then it might feel a little less like a best kept secret and an exclusive treat.

 

 

 

How it works is, you choose a starter. I read an article last weekend written by The Times food critic who talked about how people that can’t choose instantly from a menu just don’t like food particularly, his point being that that bit should be instinctive and easy. Not in this case. You try choosing between a starter of Lymington crab, cashew nuts, crispy chicken skin, tarragon and chorizo and Scottish rope-grown mussels served  Marinière Wild Garlic and local cider.  I rest my case, Mr Times critic.

 

Then you go on to choose a fish from the blackboard, which is tirelessly presented to every table at the beginning of the meal, and match it with one of the  garnish sauces on the menu. Scallops, I sometimes hate to see on a menu because much as I adore them (well cooked) …I just know instinctively  I will have  to choose them. American apple pie and wild mushroom risotto have the same effect on me, and steak has the same pulling power for my father.  

So scallops it was with a Provençale sauce which was a mixture of Mediterranean vegetables and homemade potato gnocchi. Thankfully for variation, there were 3 other people at our table including my dear husband who is used to me expecting him to choose something other than scallops and then me forking little bits of his choice  onto my plate.. (dreadful 'married foodie' habit).

And then we went to puddings. The pudding menu is of course reminiscent of Mr Heston Blumenthal and his Whisk(e)y wine gums and such like but that is quite fun post scrumptious dinner. I choose the eminently sensible sounding (until you get to the description) Warm chocolate tart ( Valrhona chocolate, espresso foam, tonka bean ice cream) but my husband bravely choose the edible soil which was served with less ‘food controversial’ Lymington strawberries, white chocolate mousse.  All raising a smile and a discussion while we sipped on the lovely house New Zealand Savignon Blanc (very adequate and nice with the fish). Coffee and homemade truffles finished the meal with  aplomb.  

I am passionate about my cashmere business and brand and never tire of trying to talk the rest of the world into in, depending who will listen! It just emanates from Stacey Crouch & her business partner and head chef David Wykes that they feel the same about the concept of the business and restaurant that have here. There is an excited delight and a pride in everything from the décor of the space to the quirky original presentation of the menu and the fresh, best and local ingredients and food. The open concept kitchen set up allows the head chef, David Wykes to keep a watchful eye on his audience and the other way round. He popped out to say hello at the end of the meal and spent a few minutes chatting knowledgeably and passionately to my friend Jane, a keen chef, re a technique he would be demonstrating in his next Masterclass (they also run fish cookery day courses).  Verveine has won countless local awards this year and last, including Chef of the Year and Best Restaurant but if you don’t believe the critics jump onto Tripadvisor and read through 100s of wonderful customer reviews.

Now if anyone would like to point my husband in the direction of the phone and their website that would be just the table for a lovely birthday treat this week!

 

My dear parents in law, every year and usually in lieu of a Christmas gift, present husband and I with a ‘virtual voucher’ of Gran and Granddad time with the children. So we get a very precious weekend or 2 away on our own and the children get to do back to back Gran and Granddad proper fun with treasure hunting in the woods and games of boules and lawn croquet and the like…

 

 

 

 

And so a couple of weekends back pre-Easter madness we found ourselves (just husband and I, not a fun sized human being in sight) on the 17.25 ferry out of Lymington and heading towards Yarmouth for our w/e of romantic bliss in a boutique hotel (peace).. or too much food, good wine and not enough exercise. We had 2 books to read (each) with us and the race was on it seemed to the finish as soon as we got on the ferry….seems a bit unfriendly but we barely get time to sleep these days never mind read before we get there so needs must …The feverish reading waned after an hour or two of relaxing. I was slightly nervous when my husband declared it made much more sense to leave the car on the Lymington side. For a girl that likes to run I don’t do functional walking (ie the walking 500 metres or so with heavy suitcases sort of striding out) …but I need not have worried as the George hotel is barely a stones throw away from the quayside at Yarmouth and it soon becomes clear (the ferry crossing is only half an hour from Lymington) that a car for a w/e in Yarmouth is a very unnecessary accessory, quirky shops, tea shops, pubs and restaurants are all just there.

 

 

 

 

The George Hotel is a very fine Georgian townhouse and is literally just beside the pier and quite close to Yarmouth castle, built to protect the Solent from Henry VIII in 1547 ….which I am ashamed to say between the shops, tea shops, pubs and restaurants...we failed to visit. The George is lovely, even if you wouldn’t want your house decorated in the complete William Morris wallpaper collection it is a very comfortable space for a weekend with husband.

 

 

 

 

We quickly inspected our little room overlooking the Solent, booked a table for supper ventured over the road to The Kings Head, an old (very in fact- 16th century) cosy snug type pub with an open fire, where we enjoyed a glass of wine for a quick pre dinner drink.

 

 

I was very much looking forward to dinner at the George, I had heard chat locally re their wonderful Sunday lunch and menus and was cutlery at the ready to dig into my Isle of Wight Seabass tartare. The kitchen is in the capable hands of Liam Finnegan who was previously sous chef at The Bath Priory and the two starred Michelin Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Devon. I am never 100% sure of what it translates as when a kitchen that says that they offer a modern European slant but it was all certainly very colourful and well proportioned! My Dunsbury lamb rump and then a lemon tart with spiced winter berries was plenty. We followed with some unnecessary but always obligatory cheese (when married to my husband, lover of all things cheese) …I wouldn’t shout about the tiny selection platter of fairly average cheese but the rest was v good food and wine.

 

 

 

 

We woke on Saturday to watch from our window the ferry casting off from the pier and then civilised reading of the papers alongside coffee and Eggs benedict in the dining room was the treat that followed. We pottered about for the day exploring the quirky shops and galleries that Yarmouth offers. I found a wonderfully stylish little clothes shop most of the labels I had never heard of (quite a boast for me) and bought a gorgeous little dress which I will remember as my Yarmouth dress…a bit like children and their souvenirs, I like to have something to remember! We found time to enjoy scones, coffee and the boats from the The Gossips Café in the afternoon (the George would do well to check out the coffee suppliers here).

 

We probably should have stayed put at the George for supper on Saturday evening but instead thought we wandered a little further down the high street and booked The Forrester Bistro. I have to say reviews on Tripadviser rating it as the no 1 restaurant in Yarmouth, we were very disappointed. I fear the chef may have been having an evening off but enough said. Sunday morning we marched out of Yarmouth town and headed down the coast to build up an appetite for the infamous (mostly amongst my school mums friends) Sunday lunch at the George. Pack your wellies…(not for lunch) but the walk is bracing but the paths are hard to follow and the route is muddy!

 

 

We had finished all 4 books by the time we got to the ferry, objective led that we are! and made our way back home and to our children that hadn’t missed us for a second…far too busy adventuring with Gran and Granddad. I think it is always good to take a little time out from children and life and remember why we got married all those years ago and our ‘virtual voucher’ system is the perfect solution!

 

 

I love this quote from the  Online Stylist blog and having met the very stylish Amanda, I think  it sums up her style philosophy v nicely :

 “Great style is not just the preserve of the rich and famous – it’s something unique, personal and comes in many guises. Few are born with it, some learn to cultivate it but many are inspired by it.”

 Amanda lists Eva Mendes, SJP, Olivia Palermo, Blake Lively, Kelly Rutherford as some of her style heros…. so lots of common ground….

 

Another string to Amanda’s many bows is that she writes for the company Upper Street, which allows you to design your own bespoke shoes….joyful!  Read through Amanda’s account of designing her very own  Perfect Ballet Flat  

If you love fashion on every level The Online Stylist is the place to park yourself with your latte this morning.

 

 

Amanda’s favourite places to Eat, Sleep and Be…..

 

Getting away from it is a rare treat in our household at the moment, so when we do get the chance, we like to make it an indulgent treat if we can. For me getting away means either exactly that, an opportunity to eat out somewhere amazing or just quiet time spent somewhere peaceful and with meaning.

 

 I absolutely love New York and after our first trip in 2008, we’re determined to get back there and next time, take our daughter. It’s such a vibrant city with a buzz that I have never experienced anywhere else. We stayed at the wonderful Soho Grand Hotel  and booked a room on the 12^th floor to ensure the perfect Manhattan skyline view.

 

 

If you have the pleasure of a visit then eggs Benedict for breakfast is an absolute

must, as is a session of uber-chic people watching whilst sipping a cocktail in the lounge later on in the evening.

The little touches such as the option to have a goldfish in your room for the duration of your stay are pure New York!

 

 

 

Our favourite places to eat locally are: The Three Tuns Inn , The Chewton Glen and The Captains Club.

All very different but each bring their own extra special something to the table whether you’re looking for a country pub with fantastic home cooked food, a luxurious evening meal where the rest of the world ceases to exist or a chic waterside venue for Sunday lunch and reading the papers. Which in itself is a rare luxury these days!

 

 

Our wedding took place at Highcliffe Castle so a reminiscent trip for tea and cake (ice cream for Small Child!) and a walk along the beach is always a favourite pastime. I much prefer the unspoilt beaches in our locality to the busier coastline of Bournemouth and Poole – the combination of the beach with the New Forest on the doorstep is perfection.

 

 

On wedding anniversaries we try and return to our reception venue, The Lord Bute Hotel. This was the gatehouse for the original castle at Highcliffe and Sunday lunch eaten here at a leisurely pace to the sounds of the resident pianist is heaven!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eating Sunday lunch al fresco in the garden yesterday, it was hard to convince myself that we are now October… but the heat of the sun prompted me to think of our 2 lovely little week long interludes over the summer. We spent a week in Provence (where I have never been) and a week with all 6 children in Turkey. Provence was predictable in it’s loveliness ...sunshine, food, beautiful shabby chic French villa and  rolling hills as it should be…a wonderfully relaxing week  of  ‘stopping‘ and catching up with family. 

Turkey on the other hand, was somewhere I was curious about and we had never ventured to before. The lack of Euro in Turkey made it a very attractive option to plan a week on holiday with 6 children. We flew into Dalaman and spent the week in an enormous (even for all of us) villa in a Turkish village about an hour from the airport (the children thought it was a hotel when we arrived, based on the marble entrance, 2 staircases and jacuzzi in the en suite) Turkish Lira for British pound we got a lot for our buck!

The supermarkets were empty of anything sensible it felt like trying to shop with a ration book post WW1 …so we ate out.  Just for comparison sake husband and I ate out one night in Provence, I think we dined on a pizza washed down with a couple of glasses of nice Bordeaux, 50€ for the 2 of us. We (just the 2 of us) ate out one night in Turkey it cost us equivalent of £7!  All 8 of us feasted every night (on admitted mostly the same offer independent of the restaurant, a menu of pasta and BBQ fish)  in one of the many lakeside restaurants for about £50…a big consideration when you are 8 in total.

Turkey is hot in August and lovely as our pool at the villa was, there are only so many lilo races 6 children can have before they get bored. So 3 of the 7 days we were there were spent exploring the surrounding Turkish islands by boat. Boat trips are booked the night before so after supper we would walk along the quayside by the restaurants and perused the agendas on offer from the boat owners promoting their trips: sailing or motoring, turtle island, roman remains, diving, snorkelling rocks, fishing, caves.

 Mostly the form was that we set off, moored up, dived and snorkelled a bit and sailed on to another island ate BBQ lunch (incidentally if you don’t do fish and sea bass/bream in particular, you might want to consider somewhere other than Turkey or bring a jar of marmite in your luggage ) was followed by chugging on a little further to explore some caves or moor up and explore a few Roman remains on a chunk  of land. The children had many diving competitions off the boat…slightly worrying when you look up to note your 6 yr old about to launch herself 20ft into the water below. It usually occurs to me how good all that brave stuff is for kids these days unless someone breaks something…they didn’t luckily!

 No one seemed too bothered about sticking to a strict agenda but we usually motored slowly back to the quay in the evening watching the sun go down from the upper deck. As we all made our way back to the villa, tired, a little browner/redder and usually caked in sea salt it felt like returning from a chapter out of an Enid Blyton book…’5 on a Treasure Island’perhaps ..(8 in our case).  

   

It was the most wonderful holiday (certainly not relaxing in the conventional sense) but with some wonderful memories…. and adventures attached and as we cling onto summer for another few days, I am thinking roll on next Summer!

 

 Ronit was born in Israel and came to study fashion design in London, where she launched Ronit Zilkha and went on to show at London Fashion Week for more than 12 years.

I love the ethos of Ronit’s new label, Lullilu, here you will find little precious pieces for you and your daughter(s) that will last for years….that little classic Audrey dress or cashmere cardigan with a twist. The new website is about to go live and I am forever checking to see if they are there yet …we know all about launching new websites here at Travelwrap Towers recently and the fact the journey is never quite as smooth or as quick as one initially plans for is the inevitable joy of running an online business….!

Over to Ronit…..
Israel is a fascinating combination of the old and the new, the past and the future, and Tel Aviv– where I come from, is a perfect reflection of this unique mixture.

Linking ancient Jaffa and its rich 3,000 year history with brash young Tel Aviv that rose out of the sands just a century ago, it is a thriving cosmopolitan centre by the sea, a city that never sleeps – an exciting city that celebrates independence, modernity, technology, diversity and pluralism every day of the week.

The long promenade, running alongside the seashore that makes up the western edge of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. There, we walk or jog, ride bikes, sit on benches, fill our lungs with fresh air. A glorious 8.7 miles of open views, blue horizons, white sandy beaches and the most beautiful sunset every evening without fail.

Regardless of the hour, human attractions abound – clowns, caricaturists, tattoo artists, hair-braiders, magicians and of course, the ever- changing parade of people strolling by The nearby beaches beckon.

Clean sand, lounge chairs, ice-cream vendors and diehard beach-lovers that swim daily, winter and summer, no matter what. Each beach has its own unique character and crowd .



Thousands of years of history come together in Jaffa, one of the world's oldest cities and the birthplace of Tel Aviv. The main port of the ancient land of Israel, and one of the first ports in the world.

Driving to Jaffa is like going through a time tunnel– skyscrapers soar on the left, while ahead lays a city with thousands of years behind it.

I love to go Jaffa every Thursday night to the market that have been revived into the most eclectic mixture of old merchants with new generation of young designers all showing their work surrounded by music bands and food stalls. The roads are all blocked so crowds of people can just stroll all around the city which is beautiful at night .

These beautifully restored houses and streets preserve the romance of the early days of Jewish urban settlement. Enveloping a preserve of Jewish pioneering. 

Tel Aviv’s Port became the city's premier entertainment centre, 70 years after its establishment, with dance clubs, cafes and restaurants all at the water's edge.  The port attracts to its wide wooden promenade thousands of people seeking to combine food, shopping and entertainment with romantic red sunsets, salty sea breezes and white sails on the horizon.

If you get here after noontime on a Saturday, forget it – you'll quickly discover that you're not the only one in pursuit of this magical combination.
 
A bridge across the Yarkon River connects the port to the historic old Reading power station, whose cavernous interior now serves as an exciting venue for modern design and art exhibitions.

Every time I visit there are new places revived capturing the history and essence of the Israel . it is so overwhelming that you feel you are in a daze trying to take it all in .

The nice thing is that there is everything for everyone so every trip can have a different vibe , from relaxing by the beach or exploring but because of the weather the days feel longer and it’s amazing how many places you can visit in a day as it is all so near and yet all different .

Israel is all about food and there are so many places to eat overlooking the sea that it is hard to choose one place but Turquoise Restaurant, in Sea & Sun, Tel Aviv, has got the most beautiful setting ,It has a large terrace overlooking over the sea from a cliff.