Travel dreams: Where City A.M. staffers want to visit next January 29, 2021 As we approach the end of yet another month of lockdown, we asked the staff at City A.M. where they want to travel for their first post-coronavirus excursion. From the chilly wilds of Sweden to the neon-soaked streets of Tokyo, let us take you on a meandering journey through the psyche of our journalists. Andy [...]
Visit London’s first ever absinthe distillery January 29, 2021 London’s first absinthe distillery has opened in east London in a suitably trippy location. The Devil’s Botany Distillery is the brainchild of two devoted “absintheurs” – owners of The Last Tuesday Society, the Hackney bar famous for its taxidermy collection and absinthe-based cocktails including “The Naughty Nun” and “Magik & Medicine”. “Devil’s Botany London Absinthe [...]
Synchronic review – A bleak but unique sci-fi January 28, 2021 One of the very few advantages of the current global situation is many people’s ability to catch up on the content they might have missed, or challenge themselves with something different. Of the many choices coming your way in the next twelve months, few can boast to be as different as Synchronic. Avenger Anthony Mackie [...]
Could the secret to longevity be hidden in remote Costa Rica? January 28, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Ashwin Bhandari‘s trip to Costa Rica in search of the secret to long life. ••• The town hall in Nicoya, western Costa Rica, is one of the few colonial buildings left in the [...]
The Dig – Mulligan and Fiennes shine in gentle period drama January 28, 2021 The true story of the Sutton Hoo excavation gets the Netflix treatment in a handsome period drama The Dig, an awards hopeful that quietly works its way into your affections. The story takes place in idyllic Suffolk in 1939. Wealthy widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires softly spoken excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to investigate [...]
Twist review – Sky’s Dickens update is not so Artful January 28, 2021 Like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist is a character that seems to have been reimagined a number of ways over the years on the big screen. As well as the standard dramatisations of Dickens’ classic, there’s the beloved 60s musical Oliver!; animated hit Oliver & Company; and, er, a version set in the New [...]
Tired of the same four walls? Consider this Portuguese property January 27, 2021 We’re all dreaming of sunny getaways right now – holidays in Provence, weekends in Vienna, day trips to Margate. If the thought of being trapped in the grim darkness of another British winter is just too much to bear, then perhaps now would be a good time to consider buying a property abroad. The newly completed [...]
Pay phone: Would you spend £1m on a mobile number? January 27, 2021 You may be willing to splash out £1,500 on a new iPhone, but would you add another seven figures to that to secure the ‘phone number of your dreams’? London-based entrepreneur Usain Kubah has just released what he says is the world’s most expensive phone number, which will set you back a million pounds. The [...]
Best of travel: Why the best Chinese food is found in Taiwan January 27, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Simon Thomson’s trip to Taiwan, home to some of the world’s finest Chinese food. ••• In 1949, after years of civil war, the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang withdrew to an island in [...]
Amazon halts alcohol sales in Northern Ireland following new Brexit customs rules January 27, 2021 Online retail giant Amazon has halted sales of wines, beers and spirits in Northern Ireland as it prepares to de-list more products under new Brexit customs rules. The company is concerned that excise duty will now have to be paid twice on alcohol shipments sent from British mainland across the Irish Sea. Amazon suspended orders [...]