Motoring review: Porsche 911 Targa 4S June 10, 2014 The dream of convertible motoring rarely matches reality. Dream: bathing in the sun. Reality: baking in the sun. Dream: breath of fresh air. Reality: a breath of noxious toxins and cow poo. As a result, you tend to leave the roof up most of the time and suffer, irony of ironies, a darker and more [...]
Seven reasons you need to visit Montenegro’s Bay of Kotor June 6, 2014 1. The Bay of Kotor is stunning Take a Norwegian fjord, plonk it on the edge of a balmy Adriatic coast and you’ve got the Bay of Kotor. It’s a little hidden community, accessed through a narrow passage from the sea with steep wooded hills descending to small villages perched on the tiny bit of [...]
London’s best flats with square garden access June 5, 2014 Next weekend, over 200 gates will be unlocked, grass will be mown, shrubs will be spruced and marquees will be erected to allow thousands of people to walk around London’s historic garden squares. The annual Open Garden Squares Weekend will kick off on 14 and 15 June to showcase the beauty and grandeur of these [...]
Review: Jason Atherton’s City Social at Tower 42 June 4, 2014 I’ve eaten at altitude so many times recently I now have a permanent nosebleed. It’s all over my shirt and my shoes and my food and nobody cares, because the whole of London has the same problem. All anyone in this city does now is eat atop skyscrapers. Like one of Dr Pavlov’s dogs, I [...]
Car review: Volvo v60 Polestar June 2, 2014 You know the Volvo you’re driving is something special when all of Sweden turns to stare as you go by. Sweden is Volvo’s home – almost every house has at least one parked outside – so you’d think people would be sick of the sight of them. But this is the V60 Polestar, and it [...]
Blazing a trail on the beautiful Mauritian coast June 1, 2014 I had always fancied the idea of trail running, but my experience was, until recently, limited to lethal, icy attempts across Dartmoor. The rugged coast of Mauritius was more appealing, so I jetted across the Indian Ocean to visit the island hosting the fourth Dodo Trail in July, an event dubbed “From Hell to Paradise”. [...]
Why Devon is the capital of grape Britain May 29, 2014 The English wine industry is thriving. Kasmira Jefford marks Wine Week with a trip to see where it’s made WHEN driving south from Exeter towards the coastal town of Teignmouth, the road makes a steep ascent over the Haldon Hills where, according to local legend, the first vineyards in Britain were planted by the Romans. [...]
Seth MacFarlane: wanted dead or alive for making dreadful Western spoof May 29, 2014 FILM A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST Cert 15 | One Star THERE are a million ways to die in Hollywood, but being one of the worst ever hosts of the Academy Awards apparently isn’t one of them. Seth MacFarlane survived his Oscars nightmare with enough star quality intact to attract a number [...]
Theatre review: A Human Being Died that Night May 29, 2014 Among the secret service personnel working for the apartheid government, no one used the word “kill”. Instead people were “dealt with” or “taken for a drive”. Such linguistic sleights of hand are steadfastly avoided in A Human Being Died That Night, a taut, brilliantly acted play that looks with a scientific eye at the politics [...]
Should have stayed in bed: Sleeping Beauty update is luke-warm May 29, 2014 FILM MALEFICENT Cert PG | Two Stars DISNEY’S live action remake of Sleeping Beauty is an inversion of the fairytale told from the perspective of Maleficent. The cackling horned villain, who spends most of the animated version glowing green and plotting with a raven, is reimagined as a vengeful fairy who curses princess Aurora to [...]