London wellness guide
The wellness industry in London has found its feet—its soft, beautiful, callus-free feet—with a host of entrepreneurial women taking the lead. Experts like nutritional therapist Amelia Freer, meditation guru Vanessa Kandiyoti, and spiralizing queens Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley are writing books, hosting workshops, and opening businesses faster than you can say “turmeric latte and acai bowl, please.” And there are new collaborative havens dedicated to wellness, including the Bamford Haybarn Spa in Brompton Cross, Bodyism in Notting Hill, and Yogarise in South London, that are also springing up across town.
We spend a lot of time in the UK capital these days, thanks to our well-being mecca—the now-permanent London goop store. We’ve compiled a comprehensive wellness black book for your next visit, whether you’re looking for a medical-grade facial or the chicest cryotherapy chambers in Europe or just craving a perfect smoothie and a plate of organic veggies. London, in other words, is Southern California with a lilt.
Restaurants
Andina
Neighborhood: Shoreditch
Best for: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Price: $
Highlights: Good for kids, takes reservations
The first of its kind in London, Andina offers up the concept of Andean picanterias—casual, family-run community restaurants. Serving up fresh juices and smoothies, a variety of ceviches, quinoa burgers, and the like, it’s one of our go-to’s for a healthy, well-priced meal in Shoreditch.
26 Grains
Neighborhood: Covent Garden
Best for: Breakfast & Lunch
Price: $$
It can be surprisingly hard to find a healthy breakfast or lunch to go in London, which is why places like 26 Grains are a godsend. The concept is pretty simple—choose a grain (of which there are twenty-six, duh), a few spices, and a couple of toppings, and you are good to go. Plus, you sit for a meal at the communal table, which is a lovely experience, complete with beautiful, handmade ceramic dishes. At breakfast, you’ll find porridge and bircher muesli, and at lunch, it’s more like quinoa, rice, and the like. Don’t miss the turmeric almond milk latte.
Good Life Eatery
Neighborhood: Chelsea
Best for: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Price: $
Green juices, superfood salads, acai bowls, and the like are the health-infused, light, protein-packed goodies offered at this all-day café. The concept improved by the fact that if you go to the café (and manage to snag a spot), it’s Wi-Fi-free and meant for “real” conversation or reading, though if you’d rather take away, you can also have it delivered. This location is the original—thanks to massive lines, a second location has opened in Belgravia—but with better-quality food in such high demand, it’s bound to keep growing.
Spas & Health Centers
Bamford Haybarn Spa
Neighborhood: Chelsea
Price: $$$
Carole Bamford’s latest London enterprise, the Bamford Haybarn Spa, is fast becoming our wellness home away from home in London. Tucked away on Draycott Avenue in Chelsea, the building looks like something straight off of Bamford’s own Gloucestershire farm, with its rustic white wood and signature green glass bottles full of nontoxic botanical oils, creams, and serums. Inside, you find wellness temple with a subterranean spa and first-floor space offering yoga, Pilates, meditation, and fascinating workshops with holistic experts (like crystal healing and sound baths). The “sleep” treatment is our go-to after a long flight or a bout of insomnia. Each session starts with submerging your weary feet in Epsom-salted water while you pick your oil of choice and the music you want to drift off to. One hour is all you need to feel thoroughly depuffed and ready for bed. If you want dinner first, Daylesford Organic is blessedly around the corner, for vibrant, straight-off-the-farm food (straight off Bamford’s farm, that is).
Bodyism
Neighborhood: Notting Hill
Price: $$$
The positive affirmations emblazoned on the windows catch your eye first. Then the fluttering pieces of paper taped to the doorframe with words like “gratitude,” “love,” and “forgiveness” (pull off what you need—the equivalent of a wellness fortune cookie, without the cookie) lure you in. Through the Aussie-style café (a fantastic spot for a turmeric latte or to plow through emails), down the stairs is Bodyism, a wellness-mecca-meets-private-members’-club. Unlike other private gyms, there isn’t a treadmill in sight; instead, Bodyism is focused on personal training and classes, teaching clients to be kind to themselves with a more low-impact routine than the often punishing cardio regimes found elsewhere. The ballet, yoga, Pilates, and boxing are taught—for the most part—by former athletes, and everyone here remembers your name.
Cloud Twelve
Neighborhood: Notting Hill
Price: $$
Highlights: Great for Families
This place is incredible for parents. The idea is that of a members’ club, but for families. The kids take over the ground floor (with supervised activities, soft play, and a plant-based café to feed them), while the grown-ups have their spa-restaurant-tearoom oasis upstairs. The top level is the treatment sanctuary with acupuncture, colonics, a nutritionist, and cryotherapy chambers at the ready. Refreshingly, membership is nonexclusive. Anyone can join (for a yearly fee), and having children is not a prerequisite.
Shops
Goop
Neighborhood: Notting Hill
Price: $$$
London finally gets a dose of goop. We’ve opened our very own Notting Hill store in the city where it all began ten years ago (at GP’s kitchen table). Designed by Fran Hickman, this is one of our most significant retail ventures yet: four floors, flooded with natural light, complete with olive trees and wildflowers. Start at the bottom—a blue velvet boudoir filled with an array of G. Sport apparel, supplements, and other super functional and great-looking workout gear. Climb a few steps and enter the world of goop home (and the gorgeousness that is the goop x CB2 collaboration) with doors opening onto an ivy-covered, stone-walled garden. Up one more flight, you’ll find a London-specific edit of G. Label, Stella McCartney, Co, and more. Finally, the top floor is a wonderland of clean, nontoxic beauty products with custom vanities where you can chill out and try everything before you buy.
Daylesford
Neighborhood: Notting Hill
Price: $$
With four London locations in addition to their Gloucestershire farm, Daylesford Organic’s farm shops—they’re also home to small cafés perfect to work or read from—are a great place to get a real taste of the English countryside. You can pop in to buy the local, organic, and humanely raised groceries, or stick around to try their straightforward (but stellar) menu. Their Gloucestershire farm, home to the largest and most elaborate of their farm shops, is well worth the trip if you have the time (you can also spend the night). There are also locations in Marylebone and Pimlico.
Content
Neighborhood: Marylebone
Price: $$$
This Marylebone hole-in-the-wall is a windfall, importing many of our favorite nontoxic brands. From Intelligent Nutrients and Tata Harper for skincare to RMS, Vapour, and Kjaer Weis for makeup, it’s our new go-to in London for beauty. Plus, the shopgirls are as well-versed in natural ingredients as they are in good old-fashioned makeup tips.
Best food addresses in Saint-Germain-des-Prés
With parks, shops, restaurants, and terraces open again in Paris, Parisians are gradually starting to fill up again the streets and the city is slowly but surely coming back to life, a socially-distant one anyway. Moreover, with French borders opening up on June 22nd for European Union members, and July 1st for many other countries, I felt inspired to talk about my favorite spots in one of Paris’s most popular quartiers – Saint-Germain-des-Prés – now that we can finally enjoy being out and about again. I hope you get a few good ideas just in case you are planning a little escapade to the City of Lights soon!
Since the early 1900s, all of Paris has been singing, dancing, writing, and painting in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Indeed, Saint-Germain has been the favorite neighborhood of artists and philosophers from all over the world – think Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, and Jean-Paul Sartre, to name a few. Known for being an artsy, chic area of Paris, its atmosphere is both bohemian and bourgeois, a true concept we call bobo in French.
In its charming cobbled streets, you can relax infamous literary cafés such as Les Deux Magots, with a lovely sunny terrace right in front of the oldest church in Paris. Saint-Germain is also an amazing area for fashion shopping, art hunting, strolls by the river, and picnics in the park. It really has something to offer for everyone! And perhaps most importantly, Saint-Germain is full of fantastic French food addresses – patisserie, wine, cheese… you can find the best of it all!
Now, without further due, I’m presenting to you below my favorite French food addresses is Saint-Germain. All worth checking out if you’re staying in the area or just passing by!
Best restaurants in Saint Germain Paris
Bistrot style: Le Relais de l’Entrecote
20 Rue Saint-Benoît, 75006 Paris
If you’re craving homemade French fries and an amazingly cooked piece of steak, Le Relais de l’Entrecôte is the place to go. For your main course, there’s only one option in this old-school looking, family-friendly restaurant: beef steak with French fries and a green salad. But not any beefsteak and not any fries – this main dish has become a true icon in the city for how incredibly good it tastes! The dessert menu offers more choice, as there are 20 different specialties you can choose from including crème brulée, chocolate ice cream, rum baba, and lemon pie. A visit to this famous bistro will make for a French meal you’ll never forget!
Modern dining: Semilla
54 Rue de Seine, 75006 Paris
Semilla is a chic restaurant in Paris, located in the heart of Saint Germain. Their menu changes every day according to seasonal products and the chef’s inspiration. If you can, make a reservation for the “chef’s table”. A table for two, you get a special court-side table where you’ll be able to watch the kitchen team in action from your seats! A true spectacle of modern French cuisine. Either before or after your dinner, why not have a glass of champagne at Freddy’s wine bar, a vibrant casual but chic spot usually full of locals having tapas and wine by the counter. Freddy’s is right next door and is owned by the same person as Semilla.
Best French desserts in Saint Germain Paris
Best boulangerie in Saint Germain Paris: Gerard Mulot
76 Rue de Seine, 75006 Paris
Bread and pastries wise, you can find everything you could possibly want at the bakery and patisserie Gérard Mulot: from delicious salmon quiches to buttery croissants and hundreds of truly home-made macarons. Perfect place to grab a quick lunch or sweet bite to take away and enjoy in the Luxembourg Gardens park! Gérard Mulot is located right by the Marché Saint-Germain, a famous covered market.
Best Patisserie in Saint Germain Paris: Un Dimanche a Paris
You must try the best chocolate éclair in Saint Germain from Un Dimanche à Paris. This patisserie shop is located in an enchanting, hidden cobbled street dating back to the Middle Ages. You can admire the chef patissiers through a glass wall while they make their magic creating your delicious French desserts. If the weather is cold I recommend sitting at their salon de thé and trying their creamy hot chocolate, it’s absolutely fantastic! Like the famous Angelina one or even better, and no need to queue.
Best wine and cheese in Saint Germain Paris
Wine lovers: La Dernière Goutte
6 Rue de Bourbon le Château, 75006 Paris
Looking for a good bottle of French Pinot noir? La Dernière Goutte offers wine tastings in English as well as French throughout the week. They get most of their selection from small producers around the country and have a particularly great selection of organic wines.
Cheese addicts: Coopérative Laitière du Beaufortain
9 Rue Corneille, 75006 Paris
Coopérative Laitière du Beaufortain isn’t your regular cheese shop: all the products are from small producers, which makes for the perfect opportunity to learn more about regional French cheeses. Have you ever heard of Beaufort cheese? It’s a firm, cow’s milk cheese from the Alps. You have to try it at least once in your life – or twice!
Best market in Saint Germain Paris: Marché Biologique Raspail
Boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris (Between Rue du Cherche-Midi et Rue de Rennes)
On a Sunday morning, grab your tote bag and have a stroll around the Marché Biologique de Raspail. This weekly French market is famous among the world’s greatest chefs. On offer? Only the best organic food, directly from the farms! If you are not available on a Sunday but you love markets, you can pay a visit to the Marché Couvert de Saint Germain instead.
I hope you enjoyed this list of my favorite food stops in Saint-Germain. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and feel free to ask me any questions! To continue exploring the neighborhood, why not walk along the Seine River from the Pont-Neuf bridge to Notre-Dame Cathedral, or look for the mini Statue of Liberty hidden in the Luxembourg Gardens? À bientôt!
By Maria Pasca
British Airways retires Boeing 747 fleet early due to Coronavirus crisis
British Airways, the world’s largest operator of Boeing 747s, will retire its entire jumbo jet fleet with immediate effect after the COVID-19 pandemic sent air travel into freefall, reported Reuters.
For over 50 years, Boeing’s “Queen of the Skies” has been the world’s most easily recognized jetliner with its humped fuselage and four engines. But its days were already numbered before the pandemic struck earlier this year.
British Airways (BA) had been planning to retire the aircraft in 2024, but with passenger numbers decimated this year, and experts forecasting it will be years before they recover, the airline said it was unlikely its 747s would operate commercially again.
“It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” BA said in a statement on Thursday.
The 747 democratized global air travel in the 1970s, but fell behind modern twin-engine aircraft and now trails newer planes in fuel efficiency, making it expensive to run.
The move by BA comes after Australia’s Qantas Airways said in June it would retire its remaining 747 fleet immediately, six months ahead of schedule.
BA’s predecessor airline BOAC first introduced the 747 on the London-New York route in 1971 after a one-year delay caused by a dispute with pilots over the terms for flying the new jet.
Hugh Dibley, a former BOAC captain and racing driver who joined the airline in 1958, said the 747’s introduction marked a new era but was beset with teething problems with its engines.
Landing and taxiing also took some getting used to, from a cockpit positioned almost 30 feet above the ground – or more when angling the nose higher just before touching the runway.
“It was a delight to fly as it was so stable. The initial issue was its height from the ground. It was like landing a block of flats from the 2nd floor,” Dibley told Reuters.
BA’s jumbos are the 747-400 model, the most popular version of the jet which was introduced in 1989. After BA, only a handful of airlines including Rossiya Airlines and Air China continue to operate them, according to Cirium data.
A newer version, the 747-8, was designed to refresh the brand and counter Airbus’s A380 but has mainly prospered as a freighter, and Boeing is soon expected to follow Airbus in announcing a halt to production of such four-engined behemoths.
The end of the runway for BA’s jumbo fleet comes as the company, owned by IAG, faces a battle for survival because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Just as its introduction at BA was marred by labor uncertainty, its retirement almost five decades later comes as BA plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or 28% of its workforce, to prepare for a slump in air travel.
U.S.-based Boeing and its suppliers signaled the end of the plane when they set the final number of parts it would need for the 747 jumbo jet program at least a year ago.
Burgundy by barge
Vacations—big, wildly anticipated vacations—don’t come around as often as we’d like. When they do, they often go one of two ways: There’s the I-need-a-vacation-from-my-vacation trip, one of those whistle-stop tours that leave you more exhausted than when you began. Then there’s the I’m-really-on-vacation vacation—the kind where cortisol levels start to steady, and you don’t panic when the Wi-Fi cuts out. A bucket-list escape you wish could last forever.
The privately chartered, beautifully restored barge Belmond Lilas turns out to be one of the easiest, dreamiest, most romantic ways to experience one of the dreamiest, most romantic places on earth: Burgundy.
Where to Lounge
Imagine checking in to a charming countryside château. Only this particular château floats along a calm, meandering river past Chalon-sur-Saône in the unspoiled region of Burgundy. From the moment you step on board, you feel an immediate sense of ahhh: you live here now.
Days spent lazing around the sundeck as you drift down scenic canals, passing twelfth-century cities straight out of a history book (the captain will even point out the run-down school Napoleon once attended). The breezy living room practically insists you reserve a few hours for reclining with a book (and maybe something sparkling).
Where to Sleep
The four generously sized cabins have more in common with a lavish hotel than the traditional notion of below-deck quarters. There are marshmallow-fluff beds draped in Parisian linens and bright en suite bathrooms stocked with everything you could ever need—plus a few luxurious little extras you might not.
Bon Appétit
Lunches are a study in hedonism: long and leisurely, with course after course of butter-soaked escargots, gooey Camembert, crisp Sancerre. Late-afternoon dips in the pool (there is something meta about floating while you’re floating) spill into drawn-out dinners prepared by the onboard chef. We sipped grand cru while the extremely knowledgeable sommelier talked local wine and cheese.
Land of Plenty
There’s also lots to explore and many adventures to be had. On docked days, venture to castles on sprawling vineyards like Clos de Vougeot (this is the land of wine, mind you) and to storybook towns like Chalon-sur-Saône, with cobblestone streets peppered with chocolatiers and achingly cute boutiques. But the best part about traveling by barge? All the thinking, planning, and prepping is done for you. Prefer to pedal alongside the boat? A picnic on dry land? Perhaps a private wine cellar tour in Beaune? Consider it arranged. The crew is so accommodating, you’ll be swapping teary-eyed hugs by the end.
Getting There
The barge is only a few hours from Paris, and because the best way to fight jet lag is with proper acclimation, our advice is to spend a night (or two) in the city. Check in to the Nolinski Paris. Make a pit stop at La Grande Épicerie in Le Bon Marché for truffle salt, macarons, and more French delicacies to bring home. Wander around Rue Saint-Honoré for prime shopping (or maybe just window-shopping). Luxuriate in the views and the equally impressive menu at Giraffe, then stop for drinks at Bar Hemingway. In the morning, Belmond will arrange for a private pickup from your hotel. Easy.
Article courtesy of goop.com Photos and Video courtesy of Belmond
Three Perfect Days in Palm Beach
If you haven’t been to Palm Beach in a while, a brief refresher: golf is still there, as is the gorgeous beach, the monied storefront life, and all the preppy. In 2020, it’s got a whole lot more than clichés of the past. The Palm Beach of today is exciting and dynamic. The entire town feels like it got a makeover recently, one that’s as punchy as the wallpaper at the Colony. We’re not saying that Palm Beach has given up its pink and green—more that these days, the pastels come with an irreverent twist.
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STAY
The Colony
Opened in 1947, this iconic pink hotel has hosted everyone from Frank Sinatra to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. A recent $18 million renovation by famed designer Carleton Varney managed to retain the old-school charm of the hotel while brightening the property’s ninety rooms and suites with a fresh palette of classic Florida Pantones: aqua, lemon yellow, azalea pink, golf-course green. Rooms interiors are in classic Palm Beach style, but they’ve updated them with gleaming marble bathrooms and Ortigia Sicilia toiletries.
Artist and Vogue alum Kate Schelter helped out with the rebranding; her chic Sea Grape print adorns everything from matchboxes to stationery. Every inch of the place brims with personality—an exuberant one—from the Varney’s zingy banana-frond wallpaper in the lobby to the gold-dusted, Florida-shaped chocolates on your bedside table. When you’re having lunch by the pool (may we suggest the Caesar salad and key lime pie?), you’ll feel as if you’re living in a Slim Aarons photo.
The Colony is all about genteel pleasures: grab one of the hotel’s white bikes and pedal along the six-mile paved Lake Trail, which winds past colossal mansions. Ask a pink-shirted bellhop to ferry you to the beach in a pink-and-green golf cart (along with complimentary pink striped chairs and a beach umbrella.) There’s no gym, but guests have access to the palm-lined seven-court Seaview Park Tennis Center nearby.
When it’s time to venture out, the staff will also zip you around town in an SUV (another nice complimentary touch). Palm Beach, all sixteen manageable miles of it, has long been a playground for the ultrawealthy—and there are still plenty of Bentleys and small white dogs to prove it. With its buzzy restaurants, vibrant arts scene, and next-level shopping—not to mention its unforgettable style—the town has also become a destination for fashion designers and young families.
EAT
An intoxicating array of spices and bold flavors graces the cuisine at this Indian accented spot in Palm Beach Gardens (pronounced like the chef internship, not the theatrical platform). Chef Pushkar Marathe turns out memorable small plates including crispy plantain chaat iced with sweet yogurt and studded with pomegranate seeds; sunchokes with peanuts, ginger, coconut and cilantro, shrimp and kingfish fried Rice; and pork vindaloo. Try one of the accompaniments like tamarind chutney or truffle honey.
The quintessential Upper East Side bistro has been recreated on Palm Beach island and even its charming owner Jean DeNoyer, along with many of his regular patrons, have made the journey south. In addition to cushy leather banquettes, frosted glass, and wood paneling, the legendary onion soup dripping with gruyere and provolone; beef and tuna tartares; mussels with curry, coconut and lemongrass; and roast chicken enhanced by tarragon are also now in Palm Beach. Though the island tends to be quiet after 10 p.m., there is often a line for tables here as late as 9:30 p.m.
The French-American menu, created by Chef Daniel Boulud and Executive Chef Rick Mace, parallels that of Café Boulud New York with a touch of South Florida flavor. With a spotlight on the incredible seafood and produce of the region, the menu showcases classic French dishes synonymous with Boulud himself, modernized to suit the cosmopolitan palate of Palm beach: Local Spiced Mahi with Key West Shrimp and Curry Leaf, Pan Seared Scallops with Brussels sprouts and miso jus and the beloved Dover Sole Meuniere, filleted tableside. The Courtyard Terrace at the Brazilian Court and the restaurant’s elegant Dining Rooms, with a shimmery ceiling made from seashells and Pecky Cypress, have long been the place for Palm Beach locals to be entertained in style.
ART & CULTURE
Norton Museum of Art
The sleek Norton Museum of Art recently underwent a massive $100 million expansion, courtesy of star architect Sir Norman Foster. It’s easy to while away a day here, with over 8,200 works in five curatorial departments (and don’t miss the stunning new sculpture garden). American art represents a part of the collection; pieces by Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock, among many others, fill the walls.
Holden Luntz Gallery
Holden Luntz Gallery exhibits 20th and 21st Century master fine art photography. The gallery presents a varied aesthetic range from portraiture to alternative photography. Exhibitions range from classical photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, André Kertész, Berenice Abbott, Horst P. Horst, and Edward Weston to contemporary photographers like Harry Benson, Massimo Listri, David Yarrow, Stephen Wilkes, Karen Knorr, and Garry Fabian Miller.
SHOP
Worth Avenue
Worth Avenue’s sumptuous palm-lined shopping district has both big names (Gucci, Chanel) and local institutions (Leta Austin Foster for sublime children’s clothes, Lindroth Design for housewares, like block-print table linens in sunny colors). One of the newest shops is LaunchPad, a living-room-like store that offers a revolving roster of clothing, accessories, and home décor. The founders—two former fashion editors—seek out trendy and emerging brands from all over the world, many of which are otherwise available only online. Recent offerings include floaty dresses from Laura Garcia, elegant striped sweaters from NYC’s La Ligne, and colorful beaded jewelry from local artisan Allegra Fanjul.
The Royal Poinciana Plaza
The Royal Poinciana Plaza, a luxe indoor/outdoor shopping enclave framed around two lush, leafy courtyards, was designed by famed architect John Volk in the ’50s and recently revamped. There are plenty of inventive, high-end boutiques, among them Kirna Zabête, Assouline, and Zadig & Voltaire. After shopping, hit Sant Ambroeus for a cup of sublime gelato.
Images courtesy of Constance Hobbs, Norton Museum of Art, The Colony Hotel Palm Beach and Goop.com
The romantic side of Greece
The dull routine of our everyday lives can really creep up on us without us even knowing it and when it does it is quite hard to become unstuck. The perfect solution to break free from a situation that is becoming intolerable is by removing yourself, physically and mentally from it. If you want too add more spice in your life, feel the positivity flowing again and have the energy you once did, a trip to Greece for either a long weekend or a long holiday is ideal to regain that vibe. Why Greece? Very simple answer, it is serene and peaceful. The perfect country to relax and enjoy the company of your loved one. Being surrounded by heartwarming people, who are experts in making you feel at home, will leave you with a pure and pleasing feeling that might just spark up your energy once again.
The following locations apart from gorgeous are also tranquil with a dash of adventuress and a hint of liveliness, just enough to awaken all your senses and have you think outside the box and feel your forgotten emotions. Once your Greek experience will be over, you will have your batteries full, ready to take charge of your once sluggish routine and substitute it with the “Greekness” it needs.
Santorini
If not the most famous romantic islands of all Greek islands, then surely Santorini makes the top 3 cut. As many times as one writes about this place, or reads about it, it is just not enough. Even visiting it once is not enough. Santorini is a truly magical island that can possess anyone into becoming a hopeless romantic. Hundreds of thousands marriage proposals have been made there as well as destination weddings all overlooking the magnificent colorful sunset and the sparkling waters of the Aegean Sea. It is a place where you could absolutely release your sentimental self without being judged and not having a care in the world.
Milos
A truly fascinating island, that is so unique and extraordinary due to its rare geological formation, it makes you just want to explore the island from corner to corner with the one person you love most. This is an adventure that you would want to share with your significant other, creating memories that only you two will cherish. The romance on Milos Island dates back to the ancient times (150 B.C.) as the Aphrodite of Milos sculpture, known as the Venus de Milo, who represents the goddess of love and beauty was discovered and is admired today in the Louvre Museum.
Cape Sounio
Perhaps an odd choice as it is not a widely common area to visit to rekindle any romance. We beg to differ, as Cape Sounio is just a breath away from the center of Athens, offering a completely undisturbed setting with whimsical colors scraping across the sky. The Temple of Poseidon stands majestically on the top of a rocky cliff overlooking the clear waters and is a magnificent sight to see. Lord Byron, a leading poet during the Romantic Movement, was utterly taken by this place, and it is said that he left his signature on one of the marbled columns.
Hydra
No cars, no noise and no pollution. Just horse carriages and donkeys, lavish houses, serenity and fresh air. Step back in time on this picturesque island in the Saronic Gulf, not even a couple hours far from Athens. The simplicity of this island along with the dreamy atmosphere makes it one of the most romantic getaways for Greek and foreign couples who want to be nestled far from the hustle and bustle of any city.
Monemvasia
This Greek castle-town in the Peloponnese is completely ideal for lovebirds as they can reenact their passionate romance in the most fairytale-like way possible. A natural fortress is the lead setting and has numerous other props that one can work with such as cobbled stone paths, preserved stone houses and a bunch of other clichés that make this Medieval town mesmerizing, mysterious and graciously offers sensational views of the Myrtoan Sea.
By Maria Nikolakaki from www.beyondspacesvillas.com
Absalon Hotel in Copenhagen
The Absalon Hotel is a three-minute walk from Copenhagen Central Station in the upcoming Vesterbro district. It is an excellent base for seeing Copenhagen and beyond.
Vesterbro, a haven for foodies and lovers of quirky boutiques and design stores, is steaming ahead with classy gentrification. Absalon’s recent sophisticated revamp has edged it clear of the neighbors in the style stakes.
A beautiful white neo-classical 19th-century building was always going to provide an elegant competitive edge. Owned by the same family since it’s 1931, familial care and love are very evident throughout.
The facilities
Throughout the day, the hotel bar draws in locals who spill out into a courtyard protected by sails from the summer sun. There isn’t a hotel restaurant but plenty of places to eat locally, particularly at Uformel. As the cool, edgy younger brother of Michelin-starred Formel B, the restaurant throws away the rule book and adds a cosmopolitan flair to the purity of Nordic cuisine: Danish beef tartar comes with the intense flavors of sun-dried tomato. You can opt for tasting menus or select à la carte. The Sommelier’s recommendations for the tasting menus were superb, particularly an Alsace dry white to accompany the pickled mackerel starter and a bubbly French Rose for dessert.
The location
As it is just a twelve-minute train ride from Copenhagen airport to Copenhagen train station and then a three-minute walk, you can be your room in the Absalon within twenty minutes. From the station, you can take trains to the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde, Hamlet’s Castle at Helsingør, or even a day trip to Malmo in Sweden. It’s around an eight-minute walk to Nyhavn, the iconic canal inlet of traditional colored houses and wooden ships.
Nice touches
The hotel’s sustainable initiative encourages you to decline housekeeping and receive a gift instead: hand soap, nuts, a day’s bike hire, or a 100 Danish Krone voucher to spend at the bar. Every day, across at the sister hotel, The Andersen, there is a Cocktail Hour, with complimentary wine available from 5 pm to 6 pm. If you book direct with the hotel, their Concept 24 system allows you to keep your room for 24 hours from the moment you arrive. For example, if you check-in at 330 pm, you can check out at 329 pm the next day.
Cost
Rooms, with breakfast, begin from $170. Book direct with the hotel to receive a 100 Danish Krone bar voucher and the privilege of Concept 24.
The best part
Not only is Denmark happy, always in the running for the top spot in the Global Happiness League, but the Absalon staff is happy, too. The hotel won first place for the “Best Place to Work” in Denmark in 2018 and came third in Europe overall. No surprise that the staff is smiling and very eager to help.
The final verdict
The revamp of the hotel’s rooms soft-furnishings bring color, comfort, depth, and texture to the Absalon Hotel in a city where design can, at times, be a little too functional and minimalistic.
Top 10 honeymoon experiences in Africa
Africa offers endless opportunities for romance, making it an ideal destination for honeymooners. Imagine waking up to the roar of lion, enjoying a private dinner in the wild, or sailing on a dhow in the Indian Ocean, and you begin to understand why many Royal couples chose Africa for their honeymoons. There is something about the unabridged silence on safari that begets a sense of connectedness to nature, and to one another. What better way to celebrate the start of a new life together?
To begin exploring original ideas for true romance, consider these iconic ‘Top 10’ bucket list honeymoon experiences.
1. Sipping Champagne by sunset on the Zambezi River
At the iconic Thorntree River Lodge, attentive staff serve drinks by a roaring fire on a jetty positioned over the Zambezi River. Listen to the chorus of hippo and birdsong as you sip Champagne and watch the sun go down, or enjoy a private dinner in this unforgettable setting.
2. Outdoor bubble bath at Londolozi
Londolozi Game Reserve offers the opportunity to watch elephant drinking in the river from a private suite. Even better, honeymooners can silently observe wildlife while enjoying a secluded outdoor bubble bath. There are few experiences so seductive as bathing under the open sky in the wild. Ideal for adventurous romantics!
3. Private candlelit bush dinner
Bush dinners come as a happy surprise to unsuspecting honeymooners. At many of the best safari lodges, newlyweds are ushered one night during their stay into a secret enclave lit by lanterns and candles. A small team of staff serves dinner and drinks under the stars to the sound of a roaring lion (at a distance of course) and birdsongs.
4. Swimming in a pool overlooking Victoria Falls
At select lodges, adventurous honeymooners can enjoy the exhilarating feeling of swimming in a pool that feeds Victoria Falls! Devil’s Pool is only full at certain times of year, and limited permits are issued for swimming in the pools, so the advice of a dedicated agent is very helpful for organising this activity. For honeymooners who enjoy adventuring together, Devil’s Pool is an unforgettable way to enjoy a day out at Vic Falls.
5. Private picnic on a secluded island in Mozambique
It’s ideal to finish off an active safari itinerary with several days relaxing at the beach. In the evening, honeymooners can enjoy a cushy dinner picnic lit by hurricane lanterns and the setting sun. Cushions are laid out and hours can be spent watching the sun settle over the horizon while lazily enjoying a light meal and drinks. When night falls, stay on the beach for an evening of stargazing or night swimming!
6. Sailing on a traditional dhow in the Indian Ocean
Traditional dhows are a prolific and sentimental reminder of the Indian Ocean’s rich trading history. Honeymooners can enjoy the silence and warm breeze on their skin while enjoying drinks on board one of these traditional vessels, with only one or two experienced sailors. Go where the wind blows, ending up on a private island for a beach picnic.
7. Cuddling up for an outdoor movie at Kirstenbosh botanical gardens
Cape Town comes alive with festivities in the summer season (November to March), and Kirstenbosch Gardens is an ideal place to enjoy a warm evening under the stars. Set in the foothills at the back of towering Table Mountain, these lush gardens are the setting for an outdoor movie series hosted by Galileo Theatre. Honeymooners need only arrive at the gardens where cushions and buckets of popcorn are provided for comfort while enjoying a series of classical films under the starry night sky.
8. Riding a hot air balloon over Sossusvlei Dunes
The ancient sand dunes of Sossusvlei have an unmistakeably dreamy quality. As the sun rises, the dunes transform from pink to orange to bright red against a bright blue sky. In the silence of early morning, honeymooners can enjoy a hot air balloon ride over the dunes followed by champagne breakfast in the midst of the desert. Although this activity is not completely private (it requires at least 24 people per group), it is still an unforgettable moment to share on honeymoon.
9. Horse riding on Noordhoek Beach
Noordhoek Beach in Cape Town is an unforgettable setting – the juxtaposition of crystal clear waters with a white sand beach and towering misty mountains makes a dramatic backdrop for an evening of horse riding. The ride lasts 1.5 hours, and experienced riders have the freedom to canter to the chorus of crashing waves. Beginners can enjoy a leisurely stroll along the beach, taking the time to enjoy the incredible surroundings.
10. Couples seaside massage in Cape Town
At Twelve Apostles Hotel, newlyweds are welcome to enjoy a relaxing massage at the foot of the mountains in an open-air pergola overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The indoor spa has an incredible salt water flotation tank in an underground cave, a jacuzzi, and a nap room to sip tea and relax together after the pamper session. This would make a fantastic addition to an active safari in Kruger Park.
Hopefully this bucket list inspired a few ideas for the ideal honeymoon.
By Willow Constantine is the Founder of Bespoke Safari Co.
5 U.S luxury restaurants delivering prix-fixe takeout meals
COVID-19 has temporarily altered the way we live, eat, and breathe. Those who once enjoyed jetting off to their favorite restaurant for the evening are now finding themselves staring into a packed refrigerator in their own kitchen with nothing to eat. But, as takeout ramps up, the country’s finest restaurants are delivering in a big way. Here are some of our favorite restaurants across the U.S. that are continuing their craft by putting together prix-fixe takeout meals to satisfy your hunger for fine cuisine.
N/naka – Los Angeles
While the dining room is closed until at least May 15, the to-go menu is alive and kicking. Visit the n/naka to go menu to find two specialty bento boxes available for pickup every 15 minutes between 5pm and 7pm. The Bento with Sushi includes Japanese comfort foods like black cod, panko-fried shrimp, sunomono, assorted sushi, and deserts for $38 per person. The Kaiseki Jūbako upgrades the experience with a curated selection including Braised Monterey Bay Abalone, seasonal sashimi, seared wagyu salad, chocolate truffle, and more for $85 per person.
Bresca – Washington D.C.
The popular Michelin-starred restaurant Bresca in D.C. has created two menus—the BEEHOME menu and the Steak House Classic menu. The BEEHOME prix-fixe menu starts with the option of Brioche Tratine (foie gras, if you please) followed by a starter selection, a main course with options that include wagyu beef brisket, chicken, or duck, and rounds out with a classic dessert. Specialty cocktails, beer, and wine are also available for takeout. The Steak House Classic menu serves two people and is $195. This menu encompasses shrimp cocktail, wedge salad, 32-oz prime dry-aged ribeye, specialty vegetables, and a chocolate tart dessert.
Bresca is not the only area dining establishment that is serving up tasty takeout. Look for prix-fixe menus from The Dabney, Gravitas, Kinship, Little Pearl, and more.
Canlis – Seattle
Because Seattle was one of the first U.S. cities to be affected by the coronavirus, chef owners got a jump start on takeout and delivery ideas. Since March, Canlis has been serving up a meal kit called Family Meal costing up to $95 per person. Rather than the typical manicured cuisine Canlis serves in their dining room, menus feature reimagined fine dining dishes made up of snow crab legs, leg of lamb, dry-aged duck cassoulet, and other mouthwatering dishes. The menu changes weekly. Canlis also delivers community-supported agriculture boxes and bottle service. Order in and view the live-stream piano so you can feel the ambiance of the restaurant in your own home.
Dialogue – Santa Monica
Beloved for their single multi-course tasting menus, Southern California’s Dialogue has moved to online orders and curbside pickup of high-end cuisine. Order in Surf & Turf for 2, a 3-course meal with the main dish being beef short rib wellington, or a 3-course vegetarian meal. Vintage wine, craft beer, and sake are available for pick up as well.
Alinea – Chicago
Michelin 3-Starred restaurant Alinea in Chicago, owned and operated by Nick Kokonas and chef Grant Achatz, offers comfort takeout of duck cassoulet and osso buco & risotto alla Milanese. While it seems a bit of a stretch from their innovative approach to modern cuisine, these dishes are made with the finest ingredients that capture the heart of the award-winning restaurant.
Fine dining establishments across the country have temporarily redesigned their menus in order to explore new ways to connect with guests. It’s important to support local businesses in any way you can. Learn about other ways you can help support restaurants in this article.
By Anne-Marie Pritchett
Dressing up for travel
It used to be, and not that long ago, that traveling was a unique and special experience that people dressed up for. Like going out to dinner at an upscale restaurant today. Travel has become extremely casual with comfort as the main priority. I was browsing around the web looking for comfortable travel attire and ended up at Chico’s. I found some simple, casual items of clothing that anyone could dress up or dress down according to your taste and travel needs, but all are very comfortable. The pieces were all in black but could easily be enhanced with colorful accessories.
By Constance Hobbs All photos compliments of Chicos.com
Searching for the American Dream on Paradise Road
The American dream takes on new meaning in photographer Eliot Dudik’s series Paradise Road.
Through the images, Dudik takes the viewer on a journey across the U.S., from empty grasslands to suburban lawns, from dirt byways to mountain valleys, all along different roads named Paradise Road. Each photograph unveils a different view of a potential paradise through expansive landscapes and stoic portraits of people he meets along the way.
The ongoing project began in 2013 when Dudik set out with a question of what paradise and the American dream really look like, five years after millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes, and savings in the 2008 financial crisis.
Dudik was in the process of leaving a job and had just ended a long-term relationship. Not sure of what was coming next, he felt overwhelmed by the unknown. “Typical life angst for a 30-year-old, I think,” he says. He started thinking about the idea of the American dream: that anyone can achieve prosperity if they work hard enough. For more: www.npr.org
Art Video: Judy Dater “Memoir”
In today’s edition of #EssentialArt Studio Visits, Modernism Gallery presents Judy Dater’s Memoir, a portfolio begun in 2009 and completed in 2012, the realization of her decades-long interest in combining words and photographs to more fully tell her stories. The portfolio was accompanied by the animated video of the portfolio pages produced in collaboration with filmmaker Eli Noyes in which she reads the text with deadpan innocence that emphasizes the humor.
Video – Watch Memoir
Memoir animated video produced in collaboration with Eli Noyes.
From: “The Art of Judy Dater and Her Photographic Memoir,” by Donna Stein, Women’s Art Journal, Spring/Summer 2014:
Dater’s Memoir takes the form of scrapbook pages, for which she created a colorful trompe l’oeil effect using digitally collaged photographs, some old and some new, combined with sketches, newspaper clippings and other printed materials as well as snippets from the diaries she kept during her adult life. She captures interesting times photographically and sequences them into an anecdotal account that is intended for the future. Every print both summarizes and amplifies nearly five decades of her life and career as an innovative portrait photographer.
Dater compares the urgency to take stock at age forty, which led her to create theatrical personas in color and the extended series of black and white self-portraits in the western landscape, to her desire at age seventy to reflect back on her life in Memoir. Going through all the possessions in her parents’ home in order to sell it after their deaths, Dater unearthed boxes that turned out to be buried treasures. She uncovered long-forgotten photographs and souvenirs that helped her remember her past and visualize her story.
Memoir includes references to the past, present, and future. Biographical highlights intersect with transformational cultural changes (e.g., wars, politics and assassinations, feminism, abortion reform) to reveal how Dater has been shaped by the world. Beginning with 1941, her birth year, Memoir’s thirty-six pages cover a full century, which immediately alerts the viewer that the chronological scope of this artwork, at the very least, blends fact and fiction. As Dater is quick to acknowledge, “The work is not about truth. It’s about memory… it’s based on the truth and my desire to be entertaining.” Its appeal transcends gender, age, and race because the experiences she presents are universal as they encompass a lifetime.
Memoir recalls Dater’s journals, her dreams, and experiences of more than six decades, reimagining and reimaging her past. It is a powerful and amusing internal dialogue about age and womanhood. It is intensely personal, yet ironically feminist and universal. As Claire Sykes recently wrote, “All of Dater’s photographs are self-portraits.” Dater would agree:
“Portraits I’ve done in the past I’ve always thought were a reflection of me. With Memoir, now it’s just me looking at me, not at somebody else. The work certainly goes along with my other self-portraits. Like the black and white ones, it’s introspective and serious; and like the color, it’s also playful and satirical. And I think it also goes from the naïve to the knowing, to more of an acceptance of who I am and the reality of life in the moment.”
Women’s Movement from Memoir, 2012
For Dater, Memoir is about female experience. From the beginning of her career, she focused on women, and her work has a narrative, whether within one picture or a combination of images. She’s quick to say, “Everything I’ve done is Feminist”; though because of the freedom she expresses about sexuality and her sexual being, it is “post-feminist feminism.” While trying not to offend, she wants to wake people up, saying, “I’ve consciously tried to be provocative and disturbing.” As a result, Dater has been a part of the gestalt of her time, a product of her generation. The story of a free soul who never wanted to have anyone stick a label on her, the pages of Memoir document a life well lived.
Moroccan Moonlight from Memoir, 2012
Dear Mommy from Memoir, 2012
Memoir is a limited edition portfolio of 38 individual scrapbook pages, digitally printed on 17” x 22” Hahnemühle Fine Art Photo Rag Duo paper. Dater has also printed some of these pages as large-scale archival pigment prints (41” x 52”). In addition, she produced a 23-minute animated video of the portfolio pages in collaboration with filmmaker Eli Noyes in which she reads the text with deadpan innocence that emphasizes the humor.
What is it like to wander the Louvre in the age of social distancing?
A year ago, getting to see the Mona Lisa without thronging crowds was a privilege afforded to the likes of Beyoncé and Jay Z.
But big crowds are now unimaginable at the Paris museum, which reopened on Monday, July 6, after more than three months of lockdown.
The closure—its longest since World War II—meant a €40 million drop in revenue for the institution, which typically accommodates 30,000 people a day.
On Monday, just 7,000 people reserved tickets—an unsurprising figure, given that 75 percent of the museum’s visitors come from overseas. The Louvre says it expects more local crowds for the foreseeable future.
But at least some tourists did make it on Monday, including Steve, who declined to give his first name.
“We think it was nice and not so crowded because they don’t have so many international tourists yet,” Steve, who visited with a friend from Finland, told Artnet News.
For the moment, 30 percent of the museum remains closed, including the galleries devoted to the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, as well as the lower level of the Islamic galleries.
As expected, face masks are now a must. Tickets, with set time entries, must be reserved online, and visitors must follow one-way color-coded trajectories throughout the museum to avoid bottlenecks. Social-distancing markers now adorn the floors of the 16th-century former royal palace, and hand-sanitizing stations are peppered throughout.
But visitors we spoke to said the Denon Wing—where the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and French large-format paintings live—was still the busiest part of the museum, which has long been an issue at the Louvre. news.artnet.com
A Turkish court has revoked the Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum
A Turkish court has revoked the famed Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum, paving the way for the sixth-century architectural wonder, known for its sparkling Byzantine mosaics and frescoes, to be reverted into a mosque.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been a vocal proponent of the change, has since signed a decree ordering that the building is open for Muslim prayer.
“The opening of Hagia Sophia for worship does not prevent local or foreign tourists from visiting the place,” a presidential spokesperson told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Other popular historic sites, such as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Parthenon in Rome, are still in active use as Catholic churches.
The Hagia Sophia was Turkey’s most popular tourist attraction in 2019, attracting more than 3.7 million visitors. There have been legal challenges to its operation as a museum since 2005, with conservatives seeking its reversion to an active religious site. (Erdoğan has already converted three other Byzantine church museums into mosques.)
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, the Hagia Sophia was built as a Greek Orthodox church in 537 AD, the largest one in the world at the time, and the seat of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople.
More than 900 years later, after Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and was rechristened Istanbul, the cathedral was converted into a mosque.
In today’s ruling, the court found that in conquering Istanbul, Ottoman ruler Sultan Mehmet II essentially established a foundation that owns the Hagia Sophia to this day. According to the court, legal status cannot be changed.
After the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey, the nation’s founding president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, declared the Hagia Sophia a museum in 1935. The historic site would be “open to the visits of all nations and religions,” according to his decree.
An Istanbul NGO had sought the annulment of that decision, with the support of Erdoğan. news.artnet.com
Horse-riding in Latin America
One of the most geographically diverse regions on the planet; Latin America is not short of charming rural retreats set amongst striking scenery, perfect for a relaxed countryside getaway, especially for those who are keen riders. Mountains, rivers, valleys and rolling green hills are always best explored on horseback – a relaxed and peaceful way of enjoying the wild beauty of the landscape. Here are a few of our favourite hotels for a luxurious equestrian holiday in Latin America.
Reserva do Ibitipoca, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This secluded 4000-hectare reserve, located just a 3-hour drive from the city of Rio de Janeiro, offers travellers a slice of blissful rural luxury in Brazil. Often neglected in favour of more famous attractions such as the Amazon and Iguassu Falls, the rolling hills of southern Brazil and Minas Gerais state in particular, are a picture-perfect setting for a peaceful luxury retreat, and a wonderful place to enjoy spectacular horse-riding trails through striking mountains, forests and farmland.
The accommodation on the reserve is composed of the standard rooms situated in the main farmhouse and isolated private cabins dotted around the estate. Ibitipoca trains fine Mangalarga and Anglo-Arabian horses, trained to cater for any level of riding experience. Trails on the reserve vary from shorter guided trails that can be completed within a morning or an afternoon, up to multi-day riding packages that take you around the entire perimeter of the reserve, staying in different lodges each night and riding up to 8-hours a day through stunning scenery.
Estancia La Bamba de Areco, San Antonio de Areco, Argentina
One of Argentina’s oldest and most highly regarded estancias, La Bamba de Areco is a stunning Relais & Chateaux property situated just over and hour’s drive from Buenos Aires. Located near the traditional gaucho town of San Antonio, this estancia is home to one of the world’s most successful polo teams and offers daily riding activities including polo lessons to the guests.
Aside from the peaceful riding trails through local pampa and forest, there is a lot to like about this hotel. Five-star service combines with a homely heritage feel to create a truly unique experience. Rooms are traditionally decorated, and the grounds provide walking trails, a swimming pool and biking routes for guests to use. The quaint pulpería, or gaucho bar, provides the setting for a refined English-style afternoon tea and is served everyday. Your stay includes the experience of a traditional Argentine asado barbeque, cooked in the open air over large fire-pits. Exceptional riding experiences, elegant hospitality and sumptuous local cuisine is all endorsed by Relais & Chateaux and makes this estancia one of the best.
Hacienda AltaGracia, Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica
Perhaps not a hotel for first-time visitors to Costa Rica, Hacienda AltaGracia is situated a little further off the beaten tourist track in the mountain range of Perez Zeledon, in the centre of southern Costa Rica. This Auberge resort has long been a favourite of US celebrities who flock to the luxury hotels in Costa Rica for an easy getaway.
Hollywood movie-star Zac Efron is one of the resort’s famous fans and during a recent trip to the hotel sampled the services of the Hacienda’s world-class equestrian centre. A horse enthusiast himself, the resort’s owner has cultivated a superb collection of purebred horses including fine Peruvian Pasos and Andalusians which guests can use to explore the miles of unspoiled countryside that surround this classy luxury resort. Spectacular unpaved trails weave through traditional private ranches and offer splendid views of the Brunqueña and Talamanca mountain ranges.
El Colibri, Córdoba, Argentina
Argentina is rightly regarded as the best destination for horse-riding trips in Latin America due to the sheer number of exceptional riding estancias available in the country. El Colibri, situated just outside of Córdoba, is one of the best of all. Part of the Relais & Chateaux group, this luxury estancia places gourmet food, high-level service and attention to detail at the heart of its operation. Home to a polo team, guests can enjoy lessons in this traditional sport, or just explore the various trails on the 170 hectares of hills and forest that make up the estate.
Beyond riding the thoroughbred horses, other activities available include wine-tasting, walking, birdwatching, dove shooting and learning about the traditional production methods of meat, cheese and milk on this authentic working ranch. Delicious meals, inspired by the farm’s own produce, complete the experience of rural life in Argentina.
Hacienda Zuleta, Otavalo, Ecuador
For the last 100 years, this charming luxury property has belonged to the family of Mr Galo Plaza Lasso, an ex-president of Ecuador. Dating all the way back to the 16th century, this stunning colonial ranch offers bundles of heritage charm and remains a traditional working farm to this day. Situated near the indigenous towns and markets of Otavalo, a mere 2-hour drive from the capital city of Quito, Hacienda Zuleta is home to over 100 horses and offers a range of rural activities and riding trails to enjoy during your stay.
The isolated Andean setting of the Hacienda make for an unforgettable stay and the warm hospitality of the Plaza family contributes to the relaxed family atmosphere of this lovely property. Each of the 17 rooms boasts a fireplace for the chilly Andean nights and a spacious living area opens up to the farmhouse’s lovely manicured gardens. For an excellent opportunity to ride and an authentic experience of the Ecuadorian countryside, you cannot do better than Hacienda Zuleta.
By : Simon Williams
King Tut’s traveling show may have breached Egyptian laws
A traveling blockbuster exhibition featuring the treasures of King Tutankhamun, the famed boy pharaoh, may have breached Egyptian laws meant to protect antiquities.
In a new documentary, BBC News Arabic investigates the legality of the show, billed as the largest collection of King Tut’s treasures ever to leave Egypt. It was organized with the help of Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, formerly Egypt’s minister for antiquities, and a controversial figure in the field of archaeology.
“Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh” is the work of Exhibitions International, an events company that specializes in sports, entertainment, and fashion. The show, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, debuted at the California Science Center in Los Angeles in March 2018 as part of a 10-city tour. Following a stop in Paris, it was most recently on view at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
When the show was planned, Egypt’s Antiquities Protection Law permitted the international exhibition of ancient artifacts provided they were “not unique” and were “exchanged with states, museums, and scientific institutions”—but not commercial companies.
The law was amended in 2018, allowing Egypt’s council of antiquities to approve international artifact loans without restrictions. But Exhibitions International signed its contract with the government in September 2017, before the legal amendment.
An Egyptian lawyer, Sayed Said, has filed a lawsuit against the country’s ministry of antiquities over the exhibition, arguing that the show contains unique artifacts that have been unlawfully lent to commercial business.
IMG, the parent company of Exhibitions International (and Frieze Art Fair), told the BBC that the artifacts in the King Tut show were not unique, but part of a series. Hawass says that “these touring artifacts aren’t of any importance,” a claim that directly contradicts a promotional quote he offered for the show in 2017, in which he claimed that “each object is unique.”
There is precedent for shutting down international exhibitions of Egyptian artifacts. In 2011, a court in Cairo found that the Cleopatra exhibition in Ohio, also organized by Exhibitions International, was unlawful, and demanded the artifacts’ return. (The Cleopatra show took place prior to IMG’s purchase of Exhibitions International in 2018.)
The London show, originally scheduled to run through May 3, 2020, has been closed indefinitely since March. It will not reopen, according to the Art Newspaper, and subsequent stops on the tour have been suspended indefinitely.
The show attracted 1.4 million visitors in Paris and 580,000 in London and brought in approximately $57 million. Los Angeles attendance figures were not available. Admission ran as high as £37.50 ($46) at Saatchi, which is normally free.
At the tour’s end in 2024, the 150 artifacts are slated to return to Egypt, where they will go on permanent display at the long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum near the Pyramids of Giza, where construction underway. The museum, which has struggled financially, is slated for completion in 2021—which means it will debut without the works in the international exhibition.
The touring show is supporting the $1 billion new museum, with contractual earnings of at least $5 million in each city, and bonuses to be paid out after 400,000 visitors at each stop. IMG has reportedly paid the Egyptian government $20 million to date.
Mostafa Waziry, the secretary-general of Egypt’s antiquities ministry who approved the current show, told the BBC that “holding exhibitions abroad yields huge results, not just economic, but political and touristic results.”
As head of the council of antiquities, Hawass previously coordinated Exhibitions International’s 17-city blockbuster “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” on tour between 2004 and 2011 and featuring 50 artifacts. (Venues included the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, Chicago’s Field Museum, and Discovery Times Square in New York.)
King Tut’s first international outing was the famed “Treasures of Tutankhamun” exhibition that ran from 1972 to 1981, fueling an Egyptomania craze. The show, which contained 55 pieces from Tut’s tomb, became an international sensation, including stops in seven US cities.
The current exhibition includes 60 works that have never before left Egyptian soil. King Tut’s tomb, the only pharaoh’s burial site found intact, had over 5,000 objects.
John Norman, the head Exhibitions International, told the BBC he was not concerned about a legal challenge to the show. news.arnet.com
How to enjoy all four seasons in Barcelona
The Catalan capital is an excellent destination during any season, be it the more than mild winter or the scorching hot summer. No matter the weather, there are always things to do in the city. Barcelona typically gets busy from May to September, many still consider the city a beach destination, autumn, and winter in Barcelona is a little quieter.
Spring
The weather begins to get warmer in the city; life moves from the inside to the outside. Many hotel rooftop terraces start to become popular among those craving cocktails and al fresco celebrations.
On the 23rd of April, the city celebrates Sant Jordi, or St George’s Day. Books and roses exchanged between lovers and Barcelona is covered in crimson flowers. In the nearby town of Girona, the annual Temps de Flors flower festival starts, beautiful blossom arranged across the city in sensational displays.
Easter in Barcelona is a week-long celebration involving religious processions and ceremonies, regional treats and delicacies, and the much anticipated Calçotada, a Catalan BBQ where calçots (similar to spring onions) grilled on an open flame in the nearby countryside.
Museum Night returns to Barcelona mid-May with over 100 museums in the city opening their doors from 7 pm to 1 am on a Saturday. DOCS Barcelona also comes back to the Catalan Capital, premiering the very best new documentaries, welcoming professional directors, and budding film students.
Summer
During the summer, the city plays host to a multitude of critically acclaimed music festivals and neighborhoods put on annual street fiestas, partying well into the next morning. Look out for these Festes Majores, especially the one in the Grácia neighborhood in August.
The beaches in Barcelona are at their busiest this season, great for those that want to do outdoor sport in the form of volleyball, early morning yoga, running, or even cycling along the coastline.
For those that want to avoid the hustle and bustle of Barcelona’s sands, the city is also home to many open-air swimming pools, including the Banys del Fòrum, a seawater pool. Many also head to nearby beach towns, including the beautiful Sitges, Cadaqués, and the Costa Brava.
Autumn
With the arrival of autumn, the temperature becomes milder in the city, but Barcelona’s life continues outdoors. In September, one of the city’s most famous celebrations, La Mercé, marks the end of summer with a four-day party complete with traditional processions, temporary exhibitions, and live music. Don’t miss out on the chance to see Catalan traditions such as Castellers (human towers) and Corre Foc (a traditional fire run).
The nearby town of Sitges hosts its annual Film Festival, showcasing the very best new movies in the horror and fantasy genre. At the same time, Barcelona welcomes Salón Náutico to the city, its famous sailing festival.
The milder weather also makes autumn the best time to go hiking in Barcelona. Explore Mount Tibidabo by walking through the Serra de Collserola Natural Park, finishing with the final ascent up the mountain to the sensational Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor Basilica at the top.
The season finishes with La Castanyada in October, Catalonia’s answer to Halloween. Expect to find the city filled with warm chestnut sellers and other regional delicacies.
Winter
Winter in Barcelona is calmer, the city celebrating many seasonal festivities like The Three Kings in January, as well as New Year’s Eve. Sitges Carnival also returns to this nearby coastal town in February, hosting a colorful party even Brazil would be envious of.
Christmas in Barcelona is different from the other regions in Spain, as Catalan traditions such as the Caga Tió (a magical pooping log) and Caganers (nativity figurines defecating with their trousers down) take center stage. Barcelona also welcomes an abundance of Christmas markets where intrigued visitors can buy these unique holiday souvenirs.
Many choose to make the most of the nearby mountain ranges and head North during winter, bringing in the New Year high up on the Pyrenees slopes. Others stay in the city, enjoying this quieter period in Barcelona with freshly cooked warm churros and piping hot chocolate.
By Sandra Roig
A day at the beach with big wave photographer Sachi Cunningham
On an unusually sunny morning at Ocean Beach on the west side of San Francisco, photographer Sachi Cunningham is putting on her wetsuit, and getting her camera gear ready. A sign in the parking lot warns: “Danger: People have drowned. Enter at your own risk.’
Some photographers train by running with rocks on the bottom of the ocean. Cunningham has been lifting weights since she was 10 and swam competitively for 20 years.
Huge waves, deadly rip currents, and sharks have not stopped Cunningham, one of the first women shooting big waves in a male-dominated profession. I talked with her before she swam out with João De Macedo, a Portuguese big wave surfer.
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s really big and dangerous surf,” Cunningham says.
“This is the entrance into the bay … so the currents are really, really strong, ” De Macedo explains.
You won’t find turtles, coral or fish in Cunningham’s images — she’s part of a genre of ocean photography that only shoots waves and people who ride them. For more images
By Adriana Cargill for NPR
Best wineries in Salento, Puglia
Puglia needs little introduction these days. The ‘heel’ of Italy’s ‘boot’ peninsula has emerged as a chic and popular destination for Mediterranean holidays. This once isolated Salentine Peninsula, in the deep south of Europe, is a rural landscape of centuries-old olive groves punctuated with fortress towns, and medieval cities.
It is a fashionably desirable destination. Understandably so, with a wonderful climate; glorious sun-drenched Adriatic and Ionian beaches, fabulous places to stay, from elegant ‘Masserie’ manors; unique and historic ‘trulli’ conical round houses; or smart holiday villas.
Yet what keeps me coming back is the fresh local produce and the increasingly sophisticated local wines. Whether you eat at a simple beach-side bar or in a rural restaurant you can be assured of local food prepared with passion and flair. After all, Puglia is regarded as the garden of Italy, prized for its produce, vines and abundant high-quality olive oil.
When I travel to the Mediterranean I love to head inland, away from the coast one can discover so much more. This is very true in Puglia; and that’s how I got to know about Salento’s Wine Country. Here are five of my favorite wineries.
Rosa del Golfo
Puglia is a top wine-producing region; the second biggest in Italy. Boutique family wineries like Rosa del Golfo have contributed to the quality of Puglia’s wines. Some of you may be familiar with their award-winning rosé ‘Rosato de Salento’. It’s a brilliant deep rosé wine from Negroamaro and Malvasia grapes, which are native to Salento. A wine perfect to enjoy on a sunny terrace, savoring local seafood. A visit here can also introduce you to the estate’s other wines including robust reds, refreshing whites, and a sparkling rosé.
Cantine Menhir
This family farm and winery, as the owners so eloquently explain, is where agriculture, oenology and gastronomy collide. This organic estate is a celebration of much of what makes Salento so unique and compelling.
Cantine Menhir winery is a particular favorite of mine for the farm shop and charming rustic restaurant, ‘Osteria Origano’. Their food and wine philosophy capture the essence of the Salento Wine Country. It is a pleasure to share a meal here, especially on the delightful garden terrace, trying some of their wines that so perfectly complement the local cuisine. Much of the produce served comes from the estate’s organic farm. Also, if you like meat, then this is the place, as it offers diners the opportunity to choose their preferred cut directly from the counter at the delicatessen store; and the kitchen will cook it to your exact liking.
The estate’s wine is diverse, a collection of reds, whites and rosés that are exported to over 40 countries across the world.
Tenute Rubino
A cellar tour and wine tasting at Tenute Rubino, at Brindisi, on the Adriatic coast, is to experience the fruits of a modern, sophisticated approach to winemaking in Salento. Established half a century ago, the winery works with grapes from four different estates, each with their own personality, which are then blended into top-quality wines. Tenute Rubino has won recognition not only for its wines and their work with the Susumaniello grape; but also, for their ‘women’s harvest’ initiative that supports the many women that work in the seasonal harvest.
Castel di Salve
Yet another Apulian winery with a strong family tradition and a passion for wine. First established in 1885, the winery was re-launched in 1992 bringing back to life the vision of its ancestors. Its vineyards, located at the heart of the Greek Salento in Supersano, Parabita and Casarano, produce aromatic, elegant and delicate reds, whites and rose’.
Ten strong labels are produced today by Castel di Salve, among which I hugely recommend the Cento su Cento labels and a black Malvasia from Lecce with a wonderful name, Lady Killer.
The wine cellar is situated not far from the white sandy beaches near Santa Maria di Leuca, also known as the “Maldives of Salento”.
Cantele
The baroque magnificence of Lecce is seductive. The city, known as the ‘Florence of the South’, is rich in ornate architecture, where the local limestone has been carved and sculpted with baroque splendor. It sits at the heart of the fertile Salento countryside. Close by one finds the village of Guagnano, and the elegant Cantele winery. After the Second World War, Giovanni Battista Cantele and his wife Teresa Manara fell in love with the area, settling here and establishing the winery that still remains in the family. Their wines, more than 16, encompass white, red and rosé, using the region’s most popular grapes, Negroamaro, Primitivo, Malvasia Nera, and Susumaniello; as well as Chardonnay, Verdeca, Malvasia Bianca, and Fiano.
Puglia is such an appetizing and remarkable region. Here you’ll discover wonderful food & wine, beautiful landscapes and intriguing architecture; cheers!
By Paola Fiocchi Van den Brande
The most magnificent National Parks to visit
The world’s first national park, Yellowstone, was established in 1872 and soon the entire world took to the concept of preserving our most precious landscapes. Protected sanctuaries like Yellowstone are full of colorful plants, fruits, and trees of their respective country, as well as native wildlife. The following are eight of the most awe-inspiring national parks around the world.
Swiss National Park – Switzerland
Being the only national park in Switzerland, the Swiss National Park features stunning views of flower-filled meadows, Alpine animals such as ibex and chamois, and the world-famous Swiss Alps. Because hikers must stay on official paths and cannot camp on the grounds, the Swiss National Park has some of the most unspoiled natural sceneries on earth.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Serengeti National Park holds one of the oldest ecosystems and one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries on the planet. Giraffes, elephants, lions and other fascinating beasts roam the vast planes. With over 5,700 square miles, Serengeti National Park also provides a chance to see the annual migration of more than a million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras. Visitors can use many means of transport to view this once-in-a-lifetime experience, from hot-air balloons to horseback to chartered plane.
Galápagos National Park – Galápagos Islands of Ecuador
As the place where Darwin first studied and developed the Darwinian theory of speciation and natural selection, the Galápagos Islands hold the most diverse spectrum of species in the world. From the giant Galápagos tortoise to the tiny finch, this area of the world is home to over 2,000 different species. With such a variety of sights it’s no wonder why Galapagos National Park is a top destination for both professional and amateur photographers.
Grand Canyon National Park – United States
The Grand Canyon was deemed a national park just over 100 years ago. Since then, visitors have enjoyed the colorful rocks, extensive system of canyons, and breathtaking views. As one of the seven natural wonders, the sheer size of the park creates a phenomenon to its unique combinations of erosional formations and geological color. This all sets the scene for some of the best photographical sunsets and sunrises.
Doi Inthanon National Park – Thailand
Waterfalls, hiking trails, and Thai villages settle among the wondrous natural sights in Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai. Also known as “The Roof of Thailand,” the mountain—Doi Inthanon—is highest and most prominent peak in the country. Rare plants and birds can be found within the misty cloud forest. The National Observatory and a Royal Air Force weather station sits at the summit.
Göreme National Park – Turkey
Home to the famous “fairy chimneys,” Göreme National Park in Turkey has fascinating rock formations formed by wind and rainwater. Underground cities and churches were once carved into the soft volcanic rock found here. Plateaus, plains, rivers, valleys, and high flat areas sculpt the diverse landscape, while cultural heritage of the inhabitants date back to the 4th century.
Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park – Australia
Located in the Northern Territory and managed by both the indigenous Anangu and the Australian park service, the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is the well-known destination to see the famous red-rock Uluru monolith. This sacred ground is also called Ayer’s Rock and a climbing ban has been set—effective October 2019. Hiking through the Kata Tjuta domes and exploring the artistic rock formations will be allowed and remain a highlight of this wondrous park.
Yellowstone National Park – United States
With over two million acres, Yellowstone is most known for its mudpots, hot springs, and geysers. Having more than half of the entire world’s active geysers, including Old Faithful, Yellowstone is truly a magnificent ecological sight to see. Bison, moose, and grizzly bear call this national park home and adventure seekers can camp, raft, and live the cowboy life among this mostly Wyoming backdrop.
Whether you are looking to watch the wildebeest migrate in the Serengeti or hoping to snap that perfect shot of the sunset in the Grand Canyon, national parks have afforded the opportunity to preserve life in its most natural habitat within our ever-changing Earth.
By Anne-Marie Pritchett
Unique experiences in Zakynthos, Greece
The Greek islands have their unique charm, traditions, and beauty. Not to undermine the other islands, but Zakynthos deserves to be in the spotlight. It’s located in the Ionian Sea and is part of the Eptanisa Group of Islands. How well do travelers even know Zakynthos? Here’s an insider’s look into the reasons it is our go-to Summer island this year.
Navagio Beach
Navagio “Shipwreck” beach claims to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. This magical view from the cliffs makes it quintessentially greek.
Mantolato “Nougat”
Mantolato (Nougat) is a traditional dessert that comes from Zakynthos. You have to try it! There are dozens of outstanding producers, and they never disappoint. This locally produced nougat is made from egg whites, almonds, and a whole lot of honey. It’s not seasonal, so luckily for us, it’s sold all year round.
Churches
Zakynthos is home to several churches and monasteries. However, the astonishing thing about these glorious churches and monasteries is that they have influences from civilizations such as Venetian, French, and British. For those who seek a more spiritual tour and are interested in architecture, Zakynthos perfectly combines both. Thankfully, the churches were almost demolished by a devastating earthquake of 1953 but were rebuilt and are more incredible than ever.
Dionysios Solomos
Greece’s national Zakynthian-born poet who wrote the “Hymn to Liberty,” the first two verses of which became Greece’s national anthem. Solomos was born on April 8th, 1798, on the island of Zakynthos. Still, after the death of his father, his Italian tutor, Abbot Santo Rossi gained his custody and sent Solomos to Italy to continue his studies.
After having written the “Hymn to Liberty,” in 1844, Nikos Mantzaros, a Corfiot musician and friend of Solomos, set music to the poem. In 1864 the poem was made Greece’s national anthem. Just knowing the origins of this essential Greek poet and his role in Greece’s history, adds even more value to the island of Zakynthos; young enlightened minds contributing to the modern world.
By George Koletsos
Experience culture, food, and a night out in Amsterdam
The beating heart of the Netherlands, Amsterdam holds some of the very best and most impactful attractions in the area. In no other place is there such a fine balance between culture and history. On every canal and down every street there is something new and exciting to discover and enough options to entice every type of traveler. From museums depicting a dark past to restaurants with an aroma like no other to rooftop bars with views over the whole city. Amsterdam is full of surprises and will charm even the pickiest of travelers.
Amsterdam’s five pillars that all visitors must experience are cultural, food, night out, accommodation, and city. Experiencing the best of these five items will provide an unmatched Amsterdam experience. Prepare to be blown away by Amsterdam’s charm and its magical offerings.
Cultural
There is such a rich and deep history in Amsterdam that can only be experienced by diving headfirst into the cultural side of the city. Despite Amsterdam’s reputation as a shady place, there is so much more to it than red lights and smoking. The sheer number of museums in the city is enough to make anyone fall in love. Not only are there a lot to choose from, but they all come with their own unique offerings to display.
The most famous and popular museum in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank House. This museum tells the story of a young girl in World War Two who was hidden in an attic in an old Amsterdam house. Although she was taken and murdered, her story lives on through her diary and this museum. World War Two has had a profound impact on Amsterdam and this museum offers the opportunity to connect with a past humanity should not soon forget.
Amsterdam’s other most famous museum is the Rijksmuseum which holds artifacts from the middle ages to the present. This museum and the Van Gogh Museum are the top places to head for a cultural and artistic overload that will transport you around the world.
A visit to Amsterdam’s museums wouldn’t be complete without experience some of the more unusual of options. For those looking for a unique cultural experience be sure to head to The Museum of Bags and Purses, Micropia, Electric Ladyland and more!
Food
Thinking of Dutch cuisine doesn’t often eclectic the same feelings of excitement that come with the thoughts of Italian or French cuisine. However, with the right list of places to eat in Amsterdam, this opinion will rightfully be changed. What really makes Dutch people excited is cheese! It is a country built on the principle that cheese should be a part of daily life. However, the best restaurants in Amsterdam let cheese remain less prominent a run with more intricate ideas.
One of these restaurants is “De Kas” a restaurant located in a glass greenhouse in a park in Amsterdam. This is one of Amsterdam’s more classy restaurants and serves delicate plates made with organic, locally grown ingredients. The creative cuisine and ability to walk around and view the herbs and plants which are added to the food only adds to the experience.
In addition to serving local Dutch cuisine options, Amsterdam is also home to various other restaurants that serve a wide range of food options. A favorite is La Rive, a Michelin star restaurant serving French/ Mediterranean dishes. It also just so happens to be located in one of the city’s most famous and luxurious hotels – InterContinential Amstel Amsterdam. Due to its prestige, it is not the easiest restaurant to get into, but well worth the wait.
Feed the eyes and the body with the gastronomic masterpieces from Ciel Bleu. This is one of Amsterdam’s finest restaurants that combines stunning views of the city and amazing dishes. It is also Amsterdam’s only two-starred Michelin restaurant.
What is easily forgotten when traveling are the meals other than dinner. There is always a plethora of luxurious places to grab dinner in any city, but the other meals have left a mystery. In Amsterdam, there are some amazing breakfast and lunch places perfect for keeping up with the elegant experience of the dinner from the previous evening. From the Pulitzer to Moon, to The Duchess and beyond. Amsterdam’s food scene extends far beyond the dinner plate.
Night out
In addition to the cultural and food side to Amsterdam, there are additional ways to enjoy the city and all its elegant wonder. From rooftop bars to stunning hotels, to classic cafes, Amsterdam holds it all. For those seeking a night out without joining the usual party crowd in the city, Amsterdam’s SkyLounge is best. This is the ultimate night out place to be that offers delicious drinks, perfect snacks, and stunning views over the whole city. It is one of the city’s few elegant nights out options that is worth the visit. In addition to this, Amsterdam’s A’DAM Tower offers drinks accompanied by stunning panoramic views of the city. The environment of these evening bars is rare.
Accommodation
Amsterdam is packed with luxurious hotels that are just waiting to be enjoyed. The best luxury hotels are scattered all around the city in autunitic Amsterdam buildings and offer an experience like nowhere else. Options include Pulitzer Amsterdam, De L’Europe Amsterdam and more.
City
No Amsterdam visit is complete without experience the joys of the city. And there is always room for enjoying the finer aspects to the max. One of the best places explores for some additional fun while in the city is Vondelpark, a charming and large park in the center of the city just waiting to be biked around and admired. It is also nice to explore the 9 Streets. These are the city’s most famous shopping streets packed with local shops and delicious cafes.
By Samantha Karen
Traveling light
A little over a decade ago, I took my very first Summer trip to Europe and I made one major mistake: I brought a giant suitcase. As I traveled from city to city and hotel to hotel, I found myself dragging around all these things I didn’t need and wish I’d never packed. After that trip, I promised myself I would never overpack again, and I stuck to that goal. Almost every year, I go back to visit friends, sometimes for three to four weeks at a time, and I only take a carry-on suitcase. Whenever I tell people that, they always ask me how, and I say it’s all about packing the right things.
The biggest rule I follow is: take one good choice of everything. I take one pair of sneakers, one pair of jeans, one good dress, and so on. Aside from fashion pieces, I’ve also narrowed in on the right cosmetic bag, shoe bags, jewelry cases, and more. One good idea that you might consider is to write a travel list that you can refer to before any trip in order to remind yourself what you do and do not need. Good preparation is necessary in order to travel light.
by Krista Jones, popsugar.com
Goop editors are dreaming of a vacation
In a time of so much tangible suffering, pining for hot sand or the tiny café in Rome with the ancient tiles and extra-strong espresso can feel selfish, but we’re human, and we dream. Some of us are (in our imaginations) tasting briny anchovies in Positano, while others are inhaling the earthy scent of fir trees in Big Sur, listening to the thunder of Kauai’s waves, or feeling the damp, impossibly fresh-smelling mist on their faces in Ireland. We’ve got ten bucket-list trips here, each one dreamier than the next.
“Past-life regression, acupuncture, Pranayama breathwork, daily yoga, and Qigong. Lap pool, leisure pool, secluded beach, private villas overlooking secluded beach. Lush greenery, gardens everywhere. Foot massage with an herbal soak, Indian head massage, and something called the royal Ayurvedic massage (heavenly). I mean, what? The only downside to the seven days I spent being spoiled at Kamalaya on Koh Samui in Thailand was that I kept thinking someone was going to tell me it was a mistake and I wasn’t meant to be there. I miss the pumpkin soup and coconut milk dandelion coffee ‘cappuccino’ (because yes that was a thing, and even that was really good).” —Kiki Koroshetz, wellness director
“It may seem strange, but when this time of social distancing is over, I’m looking forward to going someplace remote. A couple of years ago, I visited the Shetlands and the Faroes, and it gave me a taste for windswept northern islands. Next up: I want to go even farther north, to drive through the Lofoten Islands in the Norwegian Sea. I’m dreaming of tiny fishing villages with houses, churches, and boats in primary reds and blues; deep fjords carving through craggy, snow-capped granite peaks; and beaches—white, sandy beaches, in fact—with water that is such a shimmering, crystal-clear shade of turquoise, you almost forget how frigid it is. Oh, and puffins. Did I mention puffins?” —Aura Davies, deputy editor
Le Sirenuse
Amalfi Coast, Italy
“For years—many years—I’ve dreamed of going to the Amalfi coast, specifically to the hotel Le Sirenuse. Despite having lived in Italy and traveled there relatively often, I never made it. I have a weird psychic-block-esque thing where I believe what I want most to be off-limits. I watched and rewatched The Talented Mr. Ripley; I shopped for both dresses and pillows from the hotel’s wildly chic online store (but did not purchase anything, except a pillow for a friend, which was somehow allowable). This went on for actual years. In a dramatic step forward, I had finally made plans to go there—on a weeklong wellness retreat, with ten miles of hiking a day, yoga, massage, and a vegan chef, no less—in the middle of…March 2020. I was checking packing lists (on the unbelievably fabulous acid-yellow Le Sirenuse stationery) and winnowing down my caffeine intake, in full denial until the hotel wrote to say they would have to temporarily close. So I’m dreaming—as I always do—of Le Sirenuse. I’m dreaming of hikes along cliffs that plunge precipitously to an impossibly blue Mediterranean, yoga on terraces, vegan pesto on fresh tomatoes, sunsets, lemon groves, stretching out like the topless sunbathers in the many Slim Aarons photos, discovering turquoise grottos à la Monica Vitti or Sophia Loren, sifting through fantastically patterned dresses and odd pieces of china in the shop, listening to the most beautiful language on earth lilting through the streets, and drinking a dry white from Franciacorta with the sun on my face at a tiny café in town, celebrating what incredible shape I’m in after a week of super indulgent self-restraint.” —Jean Godfrey-June, executive beauty director
Hôtel Belles Rives
Côte d’Azur, France
“Prepandemic, I traveled a lot—all in the name of research, of course. Now that I’m officially grounded, much of my actual dream time (anybody else’s sleep extremely off?) is occupied with insanely vivid screenshots of places I’ve been before. Currently, my nightly twists and turns center around a sublime coastal pile in the South of France—the Art Deco, once-upon-a-time home of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hôtel Belles Rives. Vignettes from my last few nights of restless, wanderlust-y slumber have included: coupes of champagne on the bougainvillea-strewn terrace to the tinkling of live jazz on the piano; climbing up and down the jetty steps into the Côte d’Azur’s summer bathtub, aka the Mediterranean; waking up in a tangle of silky white sheets to flaky croissants and orange juice with the windows thrown open to the morning breeze. Mainly though, I dream about feeling baked-by-the-sun warm. I’m taking all of the REM activity as a sign that once the pandemic passes and the skies reopen, a ticket to Nice and a French 75 are on my calendar.” —Rachael McKeon, travel editor
Post Ranch Inn
California, United States
“I’m a Sagittarius, so planning new adventures is the only thing that gets me going. And anywhere within car’s reach—with a flexible cancellation policy—where my hypochondriac husband won’t have heart palpitations seems safe (hopefully?) for the nearish future. So after a couple glasses of wine at dinner the other night, I suddenly found myself browsing the Post Ranch Inn’s website. A few clicks in and I was transported into a rugged redwood wonderland, surrounded by towering trees. I was already mentally packing up my car, breaking out my hiking boots, settling into my seat, pulling onto PCH (windows rolled down, obviously), and winding my way up the glittery coast en route to Big Sur. The drive itself is incredible, plus there are all of those perfect little pit stops you can make along the way—a light lunch in Montecito at the always-charming Jeannine’s and, later, pulling off for an obligatory tasting at Laetitia Winery a few hours farther north in San Luis Obispo (this is my fantasy road trip—I’m not behind the wheel), ensuring we’re well-stocked with Sauvignon Blanc for the long weekend and chocolate goodies for the road. Once we make it to Post Ranch, a secluded cliffside hideaway where there’s nothing to do but breathe in the fresh air, gaze at the stars from your treehouse, and really disconnect—it’s glamping, but with room service and spa treatments—we’ll contemplate the deep blue sea from our outdoor hot tub.” —Alyssa Nelsen Geiger, senior creative copywriter
“I’ve got to get myself back to Kauai. The island does something to me, both energetically and physically—I feel so charged when I’m there and, weirdly, more flexible. I can’t wait to devour juicy mangoes on hikes. Once I was trekking along Nā Pali state park’s Kalalau Trail and, heaving, took a break to perch on a sunny rock and messily suck the meat off the seed of a mango. I ran into the crashing falls just in front of me to rinse off (it’s hard to not always be somewhat near falls or the ocean). The rush of the cool water, the perfume of the mango—the mangoes on Kauai are positively ambrosial—the neon butterflies zigzagging through the heat: All of it added up to this dizzyingly perfect little scene that I think about often. I love so much about being on the island—spending the entire day in a bikini, not wearing shoes or caring to put on deodorant, how fish tastes so sweet that you have to pound your fist on your thigh after savoring the last piece, and the colorful swirls tinting the sky at sunset, bleeding together so brilliantly that looking at them makes you feel like you’re both not real and more alive than ever.” —Megan O’Neill, senior beauty editor
Triple Creek Ranch
Montana, United States
“I am not a country girl by any stretch of the imagination. I’m much more comfortable walking on city sidewalks than on dusty trails, but after all of this is over, I think the serenity of nature sounds pretty damn good. Triple Creek Ranch is at the top of my list: It’s located in the heart of the Bitterroot Mountains in the Montana Rockies. In addition to the incredible sights, they’ve got horseback riding and fly fishing, as well as guided experiences, like yoga on the mountain and mindful forest walks, or you can simply have a glass of wine in front of your private cabin’s fireplace. Taking a scenic float down the Bitterroot river might be my pick for getting the best of both worlds—you just relax while taking it all in.” —Caitlin O’Malley, food director
“Before the pandemic, I was planning an epic road trip through Ireland with a friend for our summer goopcation. I’m still dreaming about Adare Manor. Just look at it: an 1840s neo-Gothic hideaway on seemingly endless acres of manicured, walled gardens; eye-popping green fields; and medieval ruins. A coworker who’s already been tells me she still thinks about the seasonal tasting menu (with wine pairings, of course) at the Oak Room. For now, I’ll settle for pretending that the summer marine layer in Santa Monica is the morning mist rolling slowly off of Adare’s lawns and river.” —Jessie Geoffray, senior editor
Gurney’s Resort & Marina
Rhode Island, United States
“There’s nothing quite like summer in New England. I know, because I grew up there. So right now, I’m daydreaming about spending a long weekend at Gurney’s Resort & Marina in Newport, Rhode Island. The hotel, being a marina, is surrounded by gorgeous yachts and sailboats. I love lounging in one of the cabanas by the pool: From there, I have a stunning panoramic view of the Newport Bridge. If I don’t feel like moving, I’ll order a lobster roll and an insanely good piña colada from the Pineapple Club, the resort’s iconic outdoor bar. But if I can manage to get up, I’ll make my way into downtown Newport. The old wharves that once supported the city’s shipping trade are still bustling with shops and restaurants, and a walk along them makes you feel as if you were stepping back in time. Taking a sunset ride on Ocean Drive to ogle the Gilded Age mansions is an all-time favorite activity of mine. And after that? A summer craft beer at any one of the bars on Thames Street that happen to be playing live music that night, or maybe a rooftop cocktail at the Sky Bar at Clarke Cooke House.” —Justine Baldwin, editorial project manager
Rosewood Mayakoba
Riviera Maya, Mexico
“The way I manage my at-home restlessness is to plan. The first trip pinned to my travel board is Mayakoba on the Riviera Maya. It’s the wellness getaway I’m so craving—there are tranquil beaches, a lush jungle, and personalized mind, body, and soul rituals for a complete reset. I’m dreaming of the Ayurvedic Conscious Body Ritual treatment. Mayakoba, I miss you!” —Alexis Antoniadis, social media manager
Photos courtesy of featured Hotels.
Article courtesy of Goop.com