Travel Archives - Page 11 of 14

Fancy Hotel of the Week

November 11, 2009 By Paola 7 Comments

Actually it’s the fancy hotel of a couple of weeks ago, but hey, who’s counting…

On our recent trip to Vancouver we were lucky enough to be able to get a corporate rate to stay at the newly-opened Shangri-La via the Husband’s job.

The hotel was fantastically comfortable and luxurious, though to be honest the decor was not exactly my cup of tea – very luxe, very Eastern-influenced (which makes sense as it’s an Asian hotel chain) and very safe - with lots of textured brown and beige, wood veneers everywhere and the very occasional pop of red.

The most special details were the utterly spectacular chandeliers sprinkled throughout the hotel with gay abandon. There was even a chandelier in each cubicle in the bathroom next to the bar.

The hotel has been opened ahead of the 2010 Olympics and occupies the first 15 floors of the tallest building in Vancouver (seen here on a typical Pacific Northwest autumn day. ie. pissing it down with rain).

The rooms were large and filled with every technological device you could imagine, which thrilled the Husband no end.

See that slightly grey patch in the bathroom mirror (reflecting the marble shower)?

Well, it’s actually a telly. So you can watch children’s programmes while brushing your teeth.

Fancy Hotel of the Week – Mondrian Miami

October 21, 2009 By Paola 8 Comments

I’ve never had much of a desire to go to Miami, but all that changed when I saw this hotel. I totally adore the whimsy and wit of Marcel Wanders and his masterful use of shape and pattern, though the only thing I have that he’s designed are my gorgeous patterned storage boxes from Habitat.

The Mondrian Miami is still very ‘Miami’ with lots of shiny, lots of heavy columns and lots of huge curly chairs, but it does all look rather fun.

Design details I love include the faces on the walls, the shiny white floors, the layered monochrome patterns, the indoor and outdoor chandeliers, the strangely curving staircase and the funky modern chairs (not so keen on the faux French antique chairs, but I can see what he’s trying to do).

Hot Date – Seaplanes and Kayaks

September 22, 2009 By Paola 7 Comments

It’s a busy month round here – both the Husband and I have birthdays and it’s also our wedding anniversary – so we decided to both take the day off work and go on ‘hot date’ instead.

Can anyone tell me why we haven’t done this before? It felt so deliciously naughty and decadent and we didn’t even need a babysitter, just friends who were kind enough to pick the Minx up from school.

Despite the fact that we live close to Seattle’s Lake Union and are constantly buzzed by the seaplanes flying overhead, the Husband had never been on one (I did here, but it’s not quite the same in February), so we decided to book a flight out to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.

I do keep forgetting what a ridiculously beautiful corner of the world I accidentally ended up in.

Ready for takeoff

Bye bye Seattle and Mt Rainier

Past Mt Baker

Lunchtime

Pretty restaurant

Kayaking – we saw seals! (but I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to photograph them)

Autumn is on its way

Iles flottantes

Into the sunset

Back towards Rainier

Approaching Seattle

Buzzing the Space Needle

It’s expensive, but on a beautiful day I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone living in the Pacific Northwest. It truly was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done in my life.

The Salads of Summer – Greek Salad

August 3, 2009 By Paola 6 Comments

When people ask me what I miss most about the UK, I usually say ‘Greece’.

The Husband and I spent a lot of time travelling in the Peloponnese, the Pelion and island-hopping - mostly in the Cyclades – before the Minx came on the scene and we can’t wait to go back there with her.

Anyone who’s spent any time in Greece will know that most restaurant meals will be accompanied by a simple Greek salad, or horiatiki (‘village salad’) which is remarkably similar wherever you travel in Greece. A lot of people are scathing about Greek food but there’s something very comforting about this simple salad and we’ve been eating it a lot here in Seattle this summer as we’ve managed to find a good source of Greek feta. We usually accompany it with some grilled lamb or chicken.

Here’s my recipe – which serves 2-4 people. All the quantities are very approximate, just add or subtract different quantities of ingredients, to taste or depending on how many you’re serving and what you’ve got to hand.

Ingredients

Tomatoes – the redder and juicier the better. I chop up about a punnet of sweet cherry tomatoes

Cucumber – about half a large one, cut into thickish rounds.

Red onion – about half a small one

Green pepper – we’ve seen salads with and without peppers in different areas of Greece, so these are optional. Here in the US, I like to use the pointy, slightly spicy, green Anaheim peppers. Add one or two chopped and deseeded peppers to taste. If you’re not using peppers, add a bit more cucumber.

Olives – we add a handful of pitted Kalamata olives from a jar, but any sticky, salty black olives will do

Feta cheese – feta just means ‘slice’ and in Greece this salad normally comes served with a thick slice of feta placed on top

Oregano – this salad is always seasoned with a good sprinkling of dried oregano. When we first had this in Greece I was surprised that they used the dried stuff when fresh oregano grows pretty much wild and it felt strange to use dried herbs on a salad. But it’s traditional, and it works.

Olive oil – the salad is dressed with a good slug of olive oil. I like to add to add a little red or white wine vinegar, but again that’s not always the case in Greece.

Method

Assemble your ingredients and serve the salad with the slab of feta still intact on the top. At the table, serve the salad by mooshing up the cheese with a spoon and stirring it into the other ingredients, to create an oily, cheesy dressing. Never add salt to this salad – the olives and cheese are plenty salty enough.

Kali orexi!

Portland Envy

April 21, 2009 By Paola 7 Comments

The setting isn’t remotely as naturally stunning as Seattle’s and we spent much of the weekend dodging rain and hail showers, but I came back with serious case of Portland envy.

The architecture is older and therefore more charming to my European eyes, the streets are narrower and more pedestrian-friendly and it just has a cooler and funkier urban vibe, despite being much the smaller city. Just from the clothes people wear you can tell that Portland is a city of artsy types whereas Seattle is the ultimate city of geeks.

Thanks so much for the recommendations, here and on Facebook. Things we really enjoyed – apart from the hotel – include Habibi for great Lebanese food (we used to live near some great Lebanese restaurants in London and its something I really miss); Hot Lips Pizza in the Pearl District for seriously great tasting pizza; Cool Moon Icecream near Jamison Square (the perfect shelter in a hailstorm); Sushiland, also in the Pearl District, for good cheap conveyor belt sushi; Cargo for funky ethnic stuff; Knit Purl for YARN and of course Powell’s for books. The Japanese Garden in Washington Park is stunning and the rose garden must be amazing when the roses are actually out. Lots of amazing rhododendrons when we were there though. I also found the Holocaust Memorial, which we wandered into on the off-chance, very moving.

Mostly though we spent out time wandering the streets, admiring the street art, riding the trolley buses and hoping that Seattle’s urban planners will someday turn South Lake Union or Georgetown into the Pearl District with better views. Keep your fingers crossed.

Dressed Up To The Nines

April 16, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

Photos by Paola Thomas

I have SUCH a weakness for gorgeous hotels. This weekend we managed to get a deal on the recently-opened the Nines in Portland. Great location and a fabulous boutique-y feel for a largeish hotel.

There were some great decor touches. I liked the taupe colour scheme with accents of aqua, lilac, purple and amber in the pillows, sheer drapes, and Murano glass light installations; the subtle taupe on taupe patterning in the wallpapers; and the lovely bespoke carpets which reflected the accent colours and the patterns in the papers and drapes. The Minx adored the sparkly chandeliers and a somewhat strange sculpture of an enormous jewelled necklace in the lobby (I didn’t get a good picture of this though).

The lounge and bar area in the enormous central atrium was fabulous – divided up into a number of different ‘rooms’ each with their own decor, lighting and seating, but working together harmoniously as a whole. And we were quite memerised by Matt McCormick’s art installation comprising four enormous LCD panels showing silhouettes of cars crossing Portland’s Fremont Bridge at sunset in the restaurant. Here’s an article with more about the hotel’s art collection.

All-in-all highly recommended next time you’re staying in Portland.

Socklets

April 9, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

One thing I did manage to finish last weekend were the Minx’s socks. I love how cute they make her feet look. There’s something very charming about four-year old cankles (unlike my own).

Of course temperatures went up to 70 degrees over the weekend and the beginning of the week and I thought she wouldn’t actually be able to wear them before she grew out of them, but we’re back now to a business-as-usual, grey, overcast, dull, rainy Seattle spring, so she might get a couple of months wear out of them.

Apologies for the lack of bloggery in recent days. I’ve been doing STUFF – painting a fence, building a flower bed, wrestling with a gigantic inbox and knitting some secrets. I have no idea how people not only do stuff round the house but also manage to document it.

We’re also heading for an impromptu trip to Portland over the weekend, so I’ll be back in the middle of next week. Don’t miss me too much. And if you have any recommendations for fabulous shops, restaurants and things to do leave them in the comments and I will love you forever.

Go Love Your Room – Fatboy Slim’s Yacht

February 13, 2009 By Paola 5 Comments

Or in this case go love your yacht. I’ve realised that I don’t post enough pictures of rooms I find inspiring, mostly because I don’t come across them all that often.

Everything about this boat though – which belongs to superstar (in the UK at least) DJ and producer Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim – is utter perfection. It’s even moored in Sardinia, of which, as you know, we are very fond.

The only teensy problem is the price tag, as it will cost you £20,000 (approx $30,000) to rent the four spacious cabins for a week. Oh, and the name Barracuda, which now reminds me of a certain governor of Alaska.

For more details and pics, including what music they have on the fully stocked Ipod, go here. If you want to hire it more details are here.

{via the ever fabulous Style Files}

United Colours of Vancouver

October 28, 2008 By Paola 4 Comments

I really, really, REALLY ‘heart’ Vancouver. We last visited about thirteen years ago, and can’t quite believe it’s taken us this long to go back. And yes, the weather really was something else.

More piccies here and here. There is something indefinably and wonderfully European about Vancouver which we couldn’t quite put our finger on. Something to do with the width of the streets, the number of pedestrians and the lack of a dirty great freeway carving through the centre of the city. We can also highly recommend the Agro Cafe’ on Granville Island and Raincity Grill for one of the best meals I’ve had in North America.

Hotel Careyes

May 31, 2008 By Paola 3 Comments

The one problem with Mexico is that it’s BIG. And full of mountains. Which makes getting around pretty difficult.

When we first started researching our holiday, we fondly imagined that we’d be able to see a few different places in very different parts of the country, but we soon realised that we would be racking up many hours and many dollars in plane flights as it’s difficult to travel great distances in the car.

But we didn’t just want to say in a big impersonal resort and so when we found a really great deal on the boutique-y Hotel Careyes on Luxury Link (how I love this site) we jumped at the chance.

When we told people that we were driving 150 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, people looked at us as if we were crazy, but I think that’s because many American travellers are not very adventurous. True, the road through the Sierra Madre was a bit twisty and turny, but in pretty good condition and nothing like some of the truly terrifying roads we’ve driven on in Greece and Turkey.

We arrived at the hotel at midnight and were unable to ascertain whether it was ‘colourful’ (the Minx’s key criterion for a good hotel).

She really needn’t have worried.

We were also lucky enough (it was late in the season remember) to get an upgrade on the room, which was simply furnished, absolutely enormous and featured a large jacuzzi in the middle. The decor was a little tired, but the hotel is apparently due for renovation, so catch it while it’s still even vaguely affordable.

I swear the jacuzzi got more use than ever before, as the Minx LOVED it and would swim in it every morning while we lounged in bed.

El Careyes has an interesting history – an eccentric Italian built the resort and neighbouring villas and casitas in this remote enclave of the Costalegre coast back in the 50s, hoping to create a Mexican version of Portofino. There’s even a polo field nearby.

It’s nothing like as developed as Portofino (one of my favourite places in the world – do you have any idea how much I miss Italy?) is now, but apparently Careyes is quite the celeb hangout around Christmas.

In May though it’s almost too quiet and sleepy – we had fun escaping to the funky little town of Barra de Navidad which was very Mexican and reminded us a bit of cute Southern European resorts such as Kas in Turkey and Nafplio in Greece – that is, until Heidi Klum turned up.

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Ready for takeoff

Bye bye Seattle and Mt Rainier

Past Mt Baker

Lunchtime

Pretty restaurant

Kayaking – we saw seals! (but I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to photograph them)

Autumn is on its way

Iles flottantes

Into the sunset

Back towards Rainier

Approaching Seattle

Buzzing the Space Needle

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Photos by Paola Thomas

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