Cape Verde is a beautiful archipelago of ten volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of West Africa. Temperatures here are moderate as compared to the mainland of Africa. You would think that a place named ‘verde’ would be quite green – in this case you’d be wrong. In Cape Verde there isn’t much rainfall, which means there isn’t much green.
The largest of the ten islands – in terms of both size and number of people who live on it – is Santiago. This island is also home to the capital of Cape Verde which is Praia. Languages spoken are Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole (up until 1975 it was colonised by the Portuguese).
Cape Verde property investment is a popular choice precisely because of its temperate climate, and also because of its unspoilt nature and beautiful beaches and it is easily reached by short-haul flights from Europe. Just now is a good time to invest as the market is just starting to grow, which means property prices are still lower than one might expect to pay for a similar standard of property say in the Canary islands.
Those in the know say that this wont last for long and that property prices on Cape Verde are set to rocket and urge those thinking of buying to do so before the prices start to escalate.
Do you ever fancy escaping the city to a quiet seaside cottage in Cornwall for a week or even a long weekend? I did, and so jumped a train from Paddington to Penzance, it only took 4 hours but felt like an utter world away.
This place is the perfect bolt hole away from the stresses of city life. The pub across the road from the hotel was just as a country pub should be.
We ate at The Old Coastguard which was delicious and the real country Ales went down a treat, time really does fly when you’re having fun, albeit very relaxed fun.
The traditional sombre grey exterior of the luxury cottage we stayed in reveals a modern comfortable interior, we really felt at home here, this is a place we’ll definitely escape to again.
Barcelona is a brilliant city and it really is worth taking the time to explore. We took a bike tour round the city, and despite not being the fittest people in the world we really enjoyed both the exercise and seeing the city via bike. We covered more ground had we been on foot and saw more than we just used public transport. Las Ramblas we found a bit touristy, and were careful to watch out belongings.
Of course for him we took the obligatory trip to the Nou Camp although unfortunately there were no games on… must come back another time I said. This left more time for shopping, and Barcelona is brilliant for shopping as well as sightseeing.
One of my favourite brands is Custo, and it’s home is Barcelona, so really no trip to Barcelona would be complete without a trip to Custo. Another thing I really love about Barcelona is the beach, a city with a beach – just perfect. Oh and the Gaudi too, Barcelona architecture really is out of this world. Friends of ours recommended the Neri Hotel and Restaurante however we opted to stay in Hotel Omm, we ate in so many places, mainly tapas, which was fantastic. With all the delicious food on offer we were most pleased we had taken the bikes!!
The name Marrakech conjures up images of exotic-ness, of warmth and spices, of Morrocan charm.
boutique Riads
Usually I love to stay in the converted boutique “Riad” hotels which can be truly stunning and well worth checking out, but this time we were in Dar Les Cigognes except when we went exploring.
Marrakech is of course the capital of Morrocco and is known as the ‘Red City’. Make sure you go to the market which has to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest in Morrocco. The square is like a theatre ground, with every kind of street performer imaginable from acrobats to singers, snake charmers and dancers it’s truly an experience not to be missed. The architecture there is beautiful, in the Old Town it feels like you’ve been transported back in time and above all else it’s sunny, always!
Make sure you’ve got room in your luggage allowance for bringing things back, there are plenty of lovely treasures to remind you of your time there. I am generally a prudent shopper and even I ended up bringng back more than I’d thought I would. As for dinning you really are spoilt for choice, there are so many amazing places to eat we definitely need to book a trip back there to go to the ones we missed!
So many people lack any imagination when it comes it booking their annual vacation (or holiday) as our European cousins would call it. It’s sad, but true, lots of people can’t see any further than their local travel agents and the bucket-shop package holidays they sell in this years brochures.
What most people don’t realize is that by the time 6 or 8 of you have booked through a travel agent, you could usually have rented a stunning luxury villa for your holiday for the same price, or often cheaper..
One place that I would very much like to visit is the legendary party island as a VIP in Ibiza, although I am not a big party-goer, Ibiza is also supposed to be stunningly beautiful, and judging by some of the pictures of the amazing villas there, this is clearly true.
This is probably my favourite site for Ibiza villas although they also operate in Ibiza’s sister Balearic island Mallorca, and also have the most amazing range of luxury villa rentals in Cape Town – South Africa.
So come on people, have some imagination, get a group of you together and have a truly memorable vacation for less than the cost of a nasty tourist hotel package deal, these places are fantasy vacations for the the cost my family paid for a fortnight in Blackpool (UK) 2 years ago!!
what would you prefer?
I always word associate Florence with nightingale (I’m sure many people do) but in any case we visited Florence the other year for a romantic break and it was just lovely. We had just under a week in the Continentale, an oasis of minimalism with absolutely stunning views over the city.
Florence is the capital of Tuscany and the centre of Florence is a UNESCO World Heritiage Site, needless to say there are many, many beautiful buidlings in Florence. Until visiting I never knew if was in fact founded by Julius Ceasar around about 59 BC and Dante was exiled in Florence. And like the city the people are beautiful as well. Florence is steeped in history, and with many fascinating places to visit we really were pushed to fit it all in!!
A must though is Michelangelo’s David and the Palazzo Vecchio (the one time home of the Medici family) it has been the seat of authority since. But even with all this beauty one of my most favourite views was from the hotel’s Terrazza dei Consorti – a sky bar, look up at the stars and to watch the city lights at night. Florence at night looks like this… beautiful.
I just love going to the theatre in London and I just love shopping in London and Hazlitt’s couldn’t have been more perfectly located for a weekend theatre break in London, situated right in the heart of theatre land.
And with the added bonus of being a short walk from Bond Street. Really it was a theatre and shopping break, with dinner and a few cocktails in Soho thrown in. The whole weekend was just fun fun fun from start to finish, cocktails in the bar on arrival (a must!) quick trip to Bond Street just in case there was anything that caught the eye, early theatre dinner and then my all time fav musical Phantom of the Opera. Followed by cocktails in Soho and apparently a night cap in the hotel bar – who’d know! I certainly don’t remember that one.
However it is essential when feeling delicate to wake up in luxury, and Hazlitt’s certainly had that, breakfast in the room (and a few bloody mary’s thrown in for good measure) certainly fortified us for a full days shopping ahead. Next time I think we’ll need a long weekend instead of a short break, just can’t get enough of London.
Perfectly located on the 16th arrondissimente Hotel Sezz is classic on the outside, cool on the inside. Giving a new dimension to the expression so-hip-it-hurts Hotel Sezz is painfully hip and certainly not for the shy or those who seek privacy… the bathrooms are visible from the bedrooms.
As part of the Design Hotels, design is of course paramount. The uber-slick modern clean lines are so sharp one is forgiven for fearing to cut oneself. We were so inspired by the design that we actually got an interiors consultant in to redesign the whole feel of our home, incorporating some of the features, such as the lighting, from Hotel Sezz. And of course, for a hotel of this standard, it has all the usual modern essentials, notably wifi and not forgetting the spa (perfect for unwinding after seeing the sights).
For sampling Paris it’s perfectly located on the edge, near yet far enough to be tranquil. It’s very near the Eiffel Tower, round the corner from the Seine and a short hop from the Champs Elysees. While perhaps not the hotel for everyone, it was perfect for a weekend get-away-from-it-all, if only the weekends lasted for longer.
You would expect a place with the name Royal Crescent Hotel to maybe be somewhere more Eastern, one of the Islamic states. Yet it could not be more neo-classically traditional and, well, English. And in the old English town of Bath.
I came across this on my travels across England, when exploring the old Roman Bath town. While I didn’t stay there, a friend was, and invited me to join him at the Dower House restaurant at the Royal Crescent Hotel. The food was divine, as with the company and the setting.
After dinner we went to the Theatre Royal Bath and saw the most fantastic production of Samuel Beckett’s – Waiting for Godot which is one of my all time favourite plays. Farcical and funny it had us rolling with laughter in our seats for the duration. For those of you who don’t know the story, it comes highly recommended. The clue to the story line is of course in the title, as the two characters are indeed waiting for Godot to arrive. Existential comedy at its very very best.
Of course a quick nightcap in the hotel bar finished what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening spent in the beautiful city of Bath.
For the art lover there is enough to keep content for a few days to do on Mallorca, the biggest of the Balearic Isles and in Palma. Palma is of course the capital of Mallorca and (if you avoid the English bits) a haven of style. We stayed in a fabulous villa in Mallorca but there are many hotels as well.
Palma has other galleries, worth having a look at are the Palau March which houses works by Rodin and Henry Moore, the museum of modern Spanish art Es Baluard which houses works by Picasso and Miró, and for fans of Miró his former home is unmissable Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró. Then there are the views of the city itself and the many beautiful buildings.
The perfect place for art lovers to stay in Mallorca? Well nestled in the Old Town of Palma rests a converted convent, and what a heavenly conversion it is. Convent de la Missio a simlpy converted 17th Century monastry simply stunning. What makes it so perfect for art lovers? Well Convent de la Missio houses it’s own art gallery. Although the convent is so beautiful in itself it is a work of art. For a weekend fix of art you can’t go wrong with Palma.
