How one man defied Stalin and risked death by firing squad to conceal outlawed art from the Soviets July 24, 2019 If you had to hide a work of art, where would you put it? And what if there were 80,000 of them, you needed to keep them safe for an indeterminate but undoubtedly lengthy period, and the penalty for discovery was imprisonment in a Soviet gulag, or even death? The man who accomplished this feat, [...]
Trek across the ice fields of Finland on a Northern Lights tour June 24, 2019 The fire fox runs at such great speed across the sky that sparks fly from his tail, streaking bright colours across the heavens. If you check out the Mozilla search engine logo, you will note how he wraps himself around the globe; but to see the fire fox’s resplendent light show in all its glory [...]
London City Airport video offers sneak peek of £500m upgrade June 19, 2019 London City Airport (LCA) has offered the public a glimpse into the future look of its £500m revamp. Read more: Tulip tower may interfere with radar systems The airport has shown passengers a sneak peak into what the airport will look like from 2022. It will boast a new check-in and security area, departures lounge, [...]
Saga shares plunge on warning of fresh travel struggles June 19, 2019 Shares in Saga have fallen more than ten per cent this morning after the insurance and travel group warned its tour operations were set to take a hit. Ahead of its annual meeting later today, Saga warned of fresh travel struggles due to a competitive market and political uncertainties. Read more: End of the Saga [...]
Safari in Style: We take a tour of South Africa’s finest luxury nature reserves June 18, 2019 There’s nothing particularly unusual for those used to a life of luxury about a five-star pool villa, except when said pool has a warthog drinking from it. My villa fronts straight onto the wild South African bush. We’re instructed not to step outside after dark, not even for a second, in case we get eaten. [...]
Nightmare at 30,000 feet: can hypnotherapy cure a fear of flying? June 17, 2019 I haven’t always been an anxious person. In fact, I was an utterly fearless child, with a predilection for dumb and dangerous stunts, like doing somersaults off the roof of our garden shed. I can’t identify exactly when my outlook shifted, but somewhere in the crucible of puberty and secondary school a profoundly neurotic fear [...]
Hotel Review: The Cary Arms & Spa in Torquay is a highlight of the Devon coastline June 10, 2019 Whatever they paid the marketing wizard who rebranded Torbay as the ‘English Riviera’ – where the Cary Arms & Spa resides – it wasn’t nearly enough. The name evokes images of sun-beaten beaches lined with palm trees swaying in the hot afternoon sun. Of ice creams melting down sticky hands, thick paperbacks with broken spines [...]
Welcome aboard the Amore Mio, a 7,620 horsepower luxury sports yacht with more toys than Hamleys June 10, 2019 Luxury journalism: It won’t make me a billionaire, but I do get to act like one on occasion. The 45-metre Amore Mio is one of the largest and most powerful ‘sports’ yachts in the world, and it isn’t available for charter. Instead, its owner – who shall remain nameless but, predictably, he’s Russian and in [...]
How a relationship break-up spurred this founder to build ‘Ebay for travel’ to help flog unwanted holidays May 20, 2019 When you think of unwanted items, holidays don’t tend to spring to mind. But according to Simon Powell, founder of TransferTravel, billions of dollars are wasted globally on unwanted travel every year, while an estimated 220,000 hotel rooms are paid for and never used every day in the US alone, wasting $8.6bn annually. And with [...]
Island hopping, dodging coconuts and chasing giant tortoises in Seychelles May 10, 2019 Biking around the flat sandy paths of Desroches island in the Indian Ocean, with only birds, turtles and tortoises for company, I happen across a warning sign nailed to a palm tree on the edge of the new Four Seasons resort. “Beware of falling coconuts”. Just moments later I encounter a similarly rustic sign bashed [...]