Travel Archives - Page 4 of 14

Walking in a Winter Wonderland in Whistler

January 2, 2013 By Paola 4 Comments

Good morning dear hearts and a happy new year to you all. I am BACK. Thank you so much for all your good wishes and butt repair tips here, on Facebook and via email. This thing has been a complete BITCH but I’ve got it down to mild sciatica in the morning and a sort of bruised feeling in my bum at all other times, so definitely making progress. I can also sit which is a Christmas miracle in and of itself.

In case others think they might have the same problem I’ll be writing a post in the near future about all the treatments I did and how they did or did not help.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season in the meantime. We made our annual trek to Whistler, wherein I pack the Husband and the Minx off skiing and then take myself off on snowy walks with my camera and my thoughts. This year we had plenty of snow and plenty of sunshine and it was quite breathtakingly beautiful.

One thing I did in Whistler was to read This Year I Will… which is full of tips and tricks for actually sticking to New Year’s resolutions. One tip that is resonating hugely with me at the moment is to concentrate the mind and give the year a title.

So for me this year is going to be The Year of Getting Organised, The Year of Photography, and The Year of Getting Fit. I like the idea of not making specific resolutions, but instead choosing areas of focus and attention. That way I can accommodate my butterfly mind by doing lots of different things in a certain category and not have to beat myself up if I fail to keep specific resolutions.

Have you made any resolutions for 2013? What will be your areas of focus? Do you think I’ll actually manage to tidy my desk this year?

Adventures in Knitting: Garden Party Socks

October 16, 2012 By Paola 6 Comments

Or why I *heart* Air Canada (and yes, Canadian readers, I have been told this is a controversial opinion).

Our flight back from the UK to Vancouver this summer was an eventful one, as we were returning on Air Canada flight chock-full of Canadian medal winners. I spent most the flight working on a pair of socks. I had started these socks back in Del Mar for Spring Break and had knitted the whole of the first sock and and was about three-quarters of the way through the second, representing hours and hours and HOURS of work. Towards the end of the flight, exhausted, I packed my knitting into its Ziploc bag and tucked into the seatback pocket in front of me (you can see where this is going can’t you?). AT the end of the flight we headed off into the maelstrom of an airport waiting to greet its returning Olympians and I didn’t give my socks another thought.

Of course, when we got home and I started to unpack, my knitting was nowhere to be found. I called Air Canada in a panic and spoke to a very friendly person in India who took all my details, but didn’t seem to have access to any lost and found information. I was told that lost items would be cleared from the plane and then sent to a central lost property facility and I would be informed if they turned up.

I have to admit to feeling disproportionately grumpy about the whole thing. It’s at times like this that you realise how much handmade things really mean; how very fond I had grown of my hippy clown barf socks made from one of a kind yarn; how certain I was that I could never be bothered to re-knit them; and how much of my time and myself I had invested in them.

Three weeks went by with no info, so I called again, spoke to another friendly person in India who had no access to specific details and was told that it was still possible the socks were making their way through the system. But by this stage I had sort of given up.

And then, about three weeks after that, a small package was left on my porch, with small Air Canada label on it. Could it really be? With my heart thumping I opened the package and there were my socks, returned to me courtesy Air Canada’s Central Baggage Office in Montreal. I tell you the Prodigal Son’s father wasn’t half as pleased to see him as I was to see them.

Here are my cuties in all their finished glory.

The yarn, Mansfield Garden Party by Madeline Tosh, is extraordinary. It changes colour every few centimetres through moss greens, sky blues, pastel pinks and lilacs and mustardy yellows and browns – yes, just like a garden in full bloom- and doesn’t pool excessively into huge splodges of colour. I used Cookie A’s BFF pattern which I thought worked fabulously with the yarn. It was interesting to knit , mixed up the yarn even more and was not overpowered by the variegated colour.

Goodness I love these guys. And how I LOVE Air Canada.

A friend was saying that a similar thing happened to her and now she always tucks a business card into her knitting bag. Why didn’t I think of that?

As a special bonus here are some pics the Canadian Olympians returning home. That was crazy fun.

Fancy Hotel of the Week: Fairmont Empress Hotel

October 5, 2012 By Paola 4 Comments

I’ve just realised that although I blogged the awesome afternoon tea we had at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria on Vancouver Island, I never got round to blogging about the actual hotel, which is a shame, as the Minx and I had the most fabulous stay there and can’t recommend it highly enough.

To put it in context, the hundred-year old Empress is probably the closest thing this corner of the world gets to Downton Abbey and yet the hotel manages to pull off an amazing juggling act. It is supremely comfortable, laid-back and not remotely stuffy, full of 21st century amenities and luxuries, whilst beautifully and wittily preserving all the over-the-top Edwardian splendour and graciousness.

Stay here and you can believe that the sun really never set on the British Empire, though there is no Lady Violet raising a disapproving eyebrow over the teapot.

After all, where else could you find tigers, lions and killer whales? (There are elephants too, but my photos were blurred).

Perfectly preserved post boxes adorn the walls together with steely-eyed wives of Governors-General (clearly Maggie Smith’s close relations).

The carpets are swirly and the vistas are imposing.

Yet our room was cosy and comfortable, with a beautiful view, and we were given access to the gorgeously pretty Gold Lounge and its neverending supply of elegant pastries (I highly recommend paying for this upgrade if you can).

The Minx had an absolute ball. I think she thought she as a princess in a fairytale palace and we had enormous fun running round the hotel doing the scavenger hunt she found in her kid gift pack and finding out more about the hotel’s history.

She also really appreciated her kid-sized bathrobe

and the truly phenomenal indoor swimming pool.

The staff were kindness personified to the Minx and were a key part of the enormously relaxing and unintimidating atmosphere, despite the grand surroundings.

We even had fun playing ‘Silent Ninja’ on the gracious lawns outside.

That night after popcorn and a movie in bed I snuck the Minx out in her pyjamas to see the beautiful harbour views.

Before my fr iend and I repaired to the Bengal Lounge for some truly excellent cocktails.

This wasn’t just a hotel stay, it was an experience we won’t easily forget. Everyone deserves to live like a Dowager Duchess at least once.

If you can’t stretch to a stay at the Empress, the Afternoon Tea is fabulous way of joining in the fun and seeing the hotel’s most beautiful public rooms..

Full Disclosure: The Minx and I were the guests of the Fairmont Empress for one night and for afternoon tea. I promise that they have had no influence on the content of this blog post and all opinions are my own.

Fancy Hotel of the Week: Babington House

September 11, 2012 By Paola 1 Comment

Babington House’s cute little chapel

When it comes to fancy hotels, it’s not after all the décor or the food or the mattresses or the service which is the most important thing. It’s the ambience. That indefinable, indescribable ‘je ne sais quoi’. That combination of all the aforementioned and more, which infuses the whole experience, and determines whether you’ll want to return.

Some hotels go for glamour, others for grandeur, some go for hipness and others prize efficiency. At Babington House they do relaxation and and laid-back comfort on an epic scale. The sort of deep relaxation you’d love to experience at home - if only the house were tidy, the chores were done and the kids were somewhere else. And if home really were a beautiful old stone country house with hundreds of years of history and its own stone chapel set deep in the English countryside.

The grounds and pool are scattered with gloriously huge and comfortable loungers

This summer was our first time back at Babington since the Minx was born and we were not disappointed, if anything it was even more beautiful and cheerfully laid back than ever.

Two storey ‘suite’ with its own terrace and gigantic bath

How do they achieve this? Well stunning décor, which gives the whole place a modern ‘country house’ vibe helps a lot. As does the beautiful planting throughout the grounds. Seriously it’s impossible to take a bad photo in this place.

The rooms are incredible. We were in a two-storey family suite with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small outside roof terrace, all equipped with every possible creature comfort.

The food is fabulous. Classic and beautifully cooked comfort food at its very finest, served in either a beautiful formal dining room, the ‘deli’ where you could wander in whenever you want for coffee, breakfast or kids’ supper, or outside on the lawn.

Breakfast. I wanted to steal all their ‘props’.

Add to that a ton of squashy loungers, deep leather sofas and soft velvet armchairs; unbelievably friendly staff; enormous and beautiful indoor and outdoor pools; funky chandeliers; quirky artwork; an exceptionally accommodating attitude towards the Minx and a bar which serves the most delicious caipirinhas known to man, and you’re onto a winner in my book.

This time we paid for all hotel accommodation ourselves. It was worth every penny believe me. Do treat yourselves next time you’re out in the Somerset countryside. Babington House, we will be back.

The End of Summer

September 6, 2012 By Paola 2 Comments

It’s a sparkly, warm day today in Seattle but the leaves are turning just round the edges, the evenings are growing cooler, the Minx and I spent yesterday picking blackberries and there’s definitely an undertone of autumn in the air.

We’re back after an incredible weekend at the Labor Day Family Weekend at Canoe Island French Camp in the San Juans and the Minx went back to school this morning. My little tiny, itty bitty scrap of a baby has just started third grade.

It’s been a wonderful summer, but I can’t wait to start a new year for me too. I have BIG PLANS and maybe this year I’ll even get to execute them.

In the meantime here are some photos of our weekend on Canoe Island. Man, that place is good for the soul.

London 2012: The Olympic River

August 15, 2012 By Paola 5 Comments

Hey honeys, I’m home!

It’s rather a long time since I blogged here isn’t it? Apologies for the radio silence but we’re just back from three weeks in Europe – two in London for the Olympics and one in the South of France for some sun.

I had all sorts of good intentions of blogging gently along the way but a) always much trickier blogging from an iPad and b) I was having too much fun (such a bad, bad blogueuse). I hope you were following along on Instagram instead.

I was so glad we went back. I was worried that the weather would be crap, it would be impossible to get around, the opening ceremony would be embarrassing and there would be all manner of chaos and craziness.

Instead, and I hope this made its way through your TV screens, London was beautiful as I have never seen it before, festive and glorious with everyone in a jolly, celebratory mood. It was, quite simply, magical.

Let’s go for a little trip upriver and you’ll see what I mean.

We’re starting at Greenwich. Home of the erstwhile Millenium Dome, which has now been reinvented as a massive concert arena, and one of the main Olympic venues. Here’s the view from the new Thames cable car. See that boat at bottom right? We’ll be going on that to wend our way up to the centre of town. Can you see the Gherkin in the distance?

While we’re waiting for the boat we have the perfect opportunity to look more closely at the Dome, and watch the people climbing the new walkway. Wish we’d had time to do this. It looked very fun.

There’s also the chance to watch a parade of tall ships going past – it must have been amazing when all river traffic looked like this.

And we’re off. Spot the tiny Gherkin to the left of the picture.

Getting closer.

This is what we came for. Also loving the newly-opened ‘Shard’.

This was quite literally breathtaking. So beautiful.

Going under the bridge. One of the most wonderful things I’ve ever done in my entire life.

More pics of magical Olympic London tomorrow.

BTW my fancy pants new camera with all its fabulous ISOs and low light photography capabilities died an ignominious death the day before we were due to leave. So all pics are taken on my little Canon Rebel XSi (450D). You could almost hear it straining.

An Afternoon of Chocolate

July 11, 2012 By Paola 4 Comments

Just in case your life was lacking a little chocolate right now (yes, I thought so) here are some pics from the afternoon we spent making chocolate desserts and truffles under the watchful eye of master chocolatier Jean-Pierre Meignaud at Patisserie Camp on Canoe Island.

It’s going to be the same drill as before, no real recipes, just descriptions and food porn a-plenty.

First get yourself a bowl of properly tempered chocolate, some Pralissimo hazelnut paste (this stuff is GOOD) and a box of chocolate breakfast cereal. Yes, truly, something like Cocoa Pops or Cocoa Krispies. I feel so much better now I know that fancy pants patissiers use this stuff too.

Carefully mix the ingredients together and then use a ring mould to form them into a crispy chocolate base. You’ve just made the world’s most sophisticated, and delicious, Rice Krispie cakes.

Then mix together some more melted, tempered chocolate with the hazelnut paste and fold it into some whipped cream. Pipe this chocolate mousse onto the crispy bases.

So far so easy, n’est-ce pas? Unfortunately it gets trickier from here on in.

Next use a knife to ‘wipe’ petals of chocolate onto a sheet of acetate. The shape of your knife will dictate the shape of your petals. Place the sheet of acetate into a plastic ‘gutter’ (half a plastic tube) to bend the petals slightly. That just blew your mind didn’t it?

Or you could just swirl blobs of chocolate with your fingers.

Or comb out streaks of chocolate and again swirl them into grids.

It was amazing watching Jean-Pierre do this stuff. He made it look incredibly quick and easy.

Finally use your chocolate shapes to decorate your mousse cakes. Adding a little gold dusting powder as necessary.

I’m just off to rustle some up for family supper tonight. Hahahahahaha.

We also made chocolate truffles that afternoon, but I have enough swoonworthy pics for a separate blog post.

Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Empress

June 29, 2012 By Paola 6 Comments

It’s the school vacation and although summer shows no signs of arriving in Seattle, the Minx and I have been having some fun adventures (hence lack of blogging).

A couple of weeks back we decided to visit my friend Lisa in Victoria, on beautiful Vancouver Island. Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and a proud outpost of the old British Empire. Statues of Victoria, Jubilee bunting, manicured lawns and gaudy ornamental bedding plants abound, so of course I felt right at home.

Imagine an English seaside town, say Bournemouth, plonked into the middle of the magnificent mountains, islands and water scenery of the Pacific North West; graced with some beautiful old hotels and government buildings; and colonised by a strange combination of Canadian retirees and high-tech hipsters.

We were invited to take afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress, the huge and beautiful hotel modelled on a French chateau that has graced Victoria’s waterfront for more than 100 years. Tea at the Empress is a Victoria institution and as an afternoon tea aficionado (a?) I was naturally hugely excited to attend.

Tea is served in the hotel’s beautiful lobby in front of the Palm Court with its spectacular stained glass dome. Surrounded by gorgeous antiques, sterling silver teapots, screens and chintzes, and gazed upon by portraits of King George V and Queen Mary, it’s like stepping back in time a hundred years. Lady Violet of Downton Abbey would feel right at home here.

First up we were brought strawberries and cream while we perused the tea menu. Here is the Minx trying, and spectacularly failing, to eat with decorum.

Tea itself is served from seemingly bottomless silver teapots in the extremely pretty ‘Crown’ tea service. We particularly liked the story of the tables, which are beautifully handcrafted from the original tea lobby floorboards.

After strawberries came the delectable three-tiered tea, which we were instructed to eat from the bottom up.

Firstly a selection of truly delicious finger sandwiches and savoury delicacies, including smoked salmon pinwheels, egg salad croissants, coronation chicken sandwiches and sundried tomato crostini.

The Minx was served the ‘Princess’ tea for kids under twelve and got her own personal little tiered tea tray, with kid-friendly sandwiches and slightly less elegant cakes.

We then moved on to scones, jam and cream. The cream was an excellent approximation of the true English clotted cream which is impossible to find in North America. I got the recipe from the chef and I’ll be testing and blogging it in an another post.

Finally we tucked into some exquisite little cakes – mini lemon meringue tarts, perfect macarons, Battenberg cake (squee! can’t remember the last time I saw one of those) and chocolate shortbread.

The Minx loved her kid-friendly meal, though she was still struggling with decorum at this point.

In fact the welcome the Minx got was one of the very nicest things about the whole experience. It’s not at all dumbed down for kids – there’s no shrieking or running about or cartoons – but kids are very much welcomed and accommodated, with a choice of juice or their own un-caffeinated tea, their own tea plate and extremely solicitous service. The Minx absolutely loved it and felt extremely special and grown up throughout.

Here we are among the teaplates.

And here she is clutching her ‘Princess of Afternoon Tea’ certificate with a friend from Seattle who was also coincidentally taking tea with her mother.

And here is the Princess of Afternoon Tea, having abandoned all pretence at decorum, sticking her finger in the jam pot.

If you’re going Victoria, you absolutely have to do this. The food is scrumptious, the setting incredible and the service is beyond reproach. It’s a treat for everyone from eight to eighty and one of those eating occasions which transcends being a mere meal and turns into a fabulous life experience. I’m sure the Minx will remember this for a long time.

And so in fact will I.

How to Make a Saint Honore’

June 25, 2012 By Paola 6 Comments

Once upon a time Dr Warren Austin, personal physician to the Duke of Windsor, married a Chicago heiress. Together they bought an island, and in 1969 set up a French camp for kids. As you do.

Canoe Island is a little scrap of paradise nestled in among the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington state.

We went to family camp there last year and words can’t express how good for the soul this place is. The little wooded islet is small enough to walk around, with whimsical follies viewed between the trees. Everyone sleeps in canvas teepees, which are surprisingly civilised if you bring enough bedding and thermal underwear, and there’s a lovely clubhouse with a dining room, reading room, games room and swimming pool. Oh and did I mention the kayaking and sailing and archery and tennis courts? And there’s also a superb chef and a young patissiere who work miracles with the wonderful produce of the islands. Yep, the Garden of Eden has NOTHING on this.

Having fallen in love with this place last year, I couldn’t wait to return this year for a more grown up event – Patisserie by the Sea. In order to raise funds for the camp, two pastry chefs were flown in from France to teach a small group of us how to make exquisite patisserie, with plenty of scope for hands-on participation and eating the fruits of our labours afterwards.

In the first workshop we made ‘Le Saint Honore’ a la rose et aux framboises’ with master patissier Jean-Marc Vareil, who is currently a professor of patisserie at a school in Toulon and who has previously worked at Le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons in England and the Bristol and the Ritz in Paris.

The Saint Honore’ is a traditional French pastry, named apparently for the patron saint of pastry chefs. You can either make individual versions or one big one. I’m not going to give you all the individual recipes and instructions, otherwise we’ll be here until Christmas. Instead let’s just treat this as an excuse for a bit of serious food porn.

If you really want to try these at home search for ‘Gateau Saint Honore’ and you’ll find plenty of help, though I’m betting that when you see what’s involved you’ll understand why everyone in France just buys them in from the patisserie instead.

But don’t let me stop you. One day I’ll make these again too.

First make, roll out and cut your pate brisee (a shortcrust pastry made with eggs, but no sugar)

Then make choux pastry and pipe it round the edges of your uncooked pastry circles and into little blobs (see how blithely I dismiss hours of work in two sentences).

When your blobs and bases are perfectly cooked whip up a little raspberry pastry cream.

And some virulently red caramel. And then poke little individual holes in all the little individual blobs.

Dip all the little blobs into the incredibly hot caramel, taking care not to burn your fingers (I still have the scars). Pipe the raspberry pastry cream into each individual blob. Yes, you heard correctly.

Dip the bases into the hot caramel (I had retired hurt by this point), stick three little filled blobs on each one and when cool fill the bases with the raspberry cream.

Whip up a quick crème chantilly, coloured pale pink and flavoured with rose water and use it to decorate the Saint Honores.

Decorate with raspberries and blueberries, rinse and repeat.

Pose proudly with handiwork on a small island (please ignore deeply unflattering picture of me).

Place in gob.

These were DIVINE – crunchy yet creamy, soft,with a little bite to the choux pastry, fruity but not too sweet; with the rosewater adding an indefinable je ne sais quoi. It took Jean-Marc about three hours to whip up twenty five in a standard domestic kitchen with no special equipment. We really have no excuse, do we?

There will be more pics from chocolate afternoon at Patisserie Camp next week. It’s not clear whether they’ll be running another Patisserie Camp at Canoe Island, but if they do I suggest you sell one of your children to get there.

That Was The Week That Was: California Spring Break Edition

May 7, 2012 By Paola 2 Comments

Oh goodness, it’s been ages since I did one of these. I’ll fill you in with Spring Break pics today and then maybe do another one towards the end of the week.

Not sure if anyone else likes them but it makes me happy to keep this little visual diary. Our Spring Break was a week of soft clouds and soft pastels, sea creatures and great food, with quite a lot of knitting thrown in.