Automatic for the people? June 30, 2009 THE best high-performance cars come with a manual gearbox, right? Well, not according to Mercedes-Benz. On the evidence of this car, their stance appears to be that machines can change gear more efficiently than humans. But where’s the fun in that? Having driven this car in automatic form, I was yearning to feel how it [...]
Beach bombshells June 29, 2009 THIS season, sexy isn’t about thongs. It’s about celebrating and supporting your curves in unapologetic bombshell fashion, preferably in bright colours. Flying off the shelves is structured swimwear that snugly holds and controls curves without looking frumpy. As any man will tell you, there’s nothing unsexy about a big chest and wide hips, but the [...]
A City restaurant in the crypt of St Paul’s spells an identity crisis June 29, 2009 THE RESTAURANT AT ST PAUL’SST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, ST PAUL'S CHURCHYARD, LONDON EC4M 8AD (entrance through north-west crypt door)Tel: 020 7248 2469Web www.restaurantatstpauls.co.uk Cost per person without wine: £20 ONCE, stepping down into the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral must have been a spooky experience. All those corpses and bones – even if they do belong [...]
OTHER RESTAURANTS IN LANDMARK VENUES June 29, 2009 SKYLON AT THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLThe Southbank Centre’s premiere dining venue mixes stunning views across the river with future-kitsch design and sophisticated continental cooking. Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX,www.skylonrestaurant.co.uk BLUEPRINT AT THE DESIGN MUSEUMOverlooking the river near Tower Bridge – with binoculars provided to tables to cast a closer eye across the City skyline [...]
Souks, spas and stunning views, Morocco has it all June 28, 2009 THE HELICOPTER’S blades crank into life. Beneath us, sand is scattered across the sun-baked earth. Soon we are zooming towards the majestic, lunar slopes of the High Atlas mountains, and the lush glory of the Ourika Valley which guards its foothills, gleaming like the proverbial diamond in the rough beneath us. By foot this would [...]
OTHER HOT SUMMER MOROCCO IDEAS June 28, 2009 VINEYARD TRIPMorocco is an Islamic country, but away from the major northern cities it is fairly relaxed about most things, wine included. In the hills of Meknes in northern Morocco there are acres upon acres of vineyards, and 35m bottles of wine are produced a year. Wine-lovers can now take a four-day tour, which includes [...]
Regeneration is taking off in the Olympic quarters June 25, 2009 STRATFORD has long been one of those London areas that is supposedly on the verge of gentrification. The coming of the DLR, then the Jubilee Line, were meant to turn it into an up-and-coming area attractive to thrusting young professionals. It never quite happened. But last week, two things took place which mean that Stratford [...]
FOCUS ON: WOODFORD, ESSEX June 25, 2009 QUEEN MARY’S GATE, SOUTHEND RD, E18 2PAPrice: From £225,000Set in nine acres of landscaped gardens, this private-gated development offers residents an exclusive environment which is just 20 minutes away from Bank by Tube. Formerly university accommodation, the development has been transformed into one, two and three-bedroom flats, which are smartly decorated. Epping Forest is just [...]
Q&A: RENTING June 25, 2009 Louise SavageDIRECTOR OF RESIDENTIAL LAND Q.Dear Louise, I have a buy-to-let mortgage from when I bought a property several years ago. I’m really worried I’m going to start losing money on it – is it worth holding on to the property as an investment or should I get out of the market completely? A. This [...]
Bland of brothers June 25, 2009 FilmRUDO & CURSICert: 15BACK in 2001, a low-budget Mexican film named Y Tu Mama Tambien, about a pair of teenage boys on a road trip with a beautiful older woman, became an unlikely international hit, and made a global star out of young actor Gael Garcia Bernal. Rudo y Cursi reunites Bernal with his former [...]