Timeless Travel

“At the end of hours of train-dreaming, we may feel we have been returned to ourselves – that is, brought back into contact with emotions and ideas of importance to us. It is not necessarily at home that we best encounter our true selves.” – Alain de Botton

 

My favourite way to travel (100 year old train carriage optional). An adventure to remember.

Sunday Quest

WARNING! This is not a sexy blog post.

 

Heading to the gym this morning I walked past a homeless person sleeping in the street. A few moments later I felt a strong urge to go on a little quest to help this person, so I took a small detour to the supermarket to get him some things. I decided on some sandwiches and crisps, Red Bull, juice, sausage rolls, stroopwafels (lets face it, the only tasty food The Netherlands has ever produced – truth be told, I only got them because Sainsburys had run out of shortbread), as well as some other bits; not bad for £17! To combat all the dining out I do, I’ve been eating healthily at home, so was oddly thrilling to fill up a basket with these snacks, even if they weren’t for myself. When I returned he was still asleep so I put the bag next to his shoes and continued my journey to the gym. Well, as I’m packing my suitcase for my next adventure I have thought about this person quite a lot. I am feeling grateful. This was a good quest! 

Madrid

Madrid you are a beautiful city. A personal favourite and a gorgeous place to be. Oh how I love strut through your streets and to drink your wine and to lie on your grass and unearth your secrets. There are few problems that can’t be solved by sunshine and good company. Finally ticked off Three Michelin Star DiverXO – what a treat!

Loved (+) / Loathed(-)

7 weeks into the year already! Here are the things I’ve loved and loathed so far.

 

Loved❤️

 

  • Starting violin lessons. Still at the stage where only half the noises it makes sound anything like they’re supposed to, but relishing the challenge.
  • Great food at: Ynyshir, the Devonshire, Aulis, Guinea Grill, Chutney Mary, Bocca Di Lupo, Tobi Masa, Lilibets, Kudu, Amazonico, and Scotts
  • Winter Olympics. I have been enjoying my evening ritual of watching whatever is on. Either I’m getting more boring or curling somehow got a lot more interesting…
  • Winter sun.
  • Random emails from old friends.
  • The Lucian Freud exhibition at the national portrait gallery.
  • Two new photo shoots. First time shooting lingerie with a photographer that I usually shoot fashion with. I love the new photos and hope you do too 🙂
  • Eating a juicy French pear whilst having a bubble bath. Very satisfying experience.
  • 2 overseas trips. 4 more to come.
  • Taking an entire day to make a giant pot of French Onion soup. This was really a labour of love – a lot of slicing and a lot of stirring and a lot of patience. One of my favourite soups, it came out perfectly. I made 8 portions.
  • Wuthering Heights. I liked this return to grown-up film, sex scenes and all.

 

Loathed 👎🏾

 

  • Trying Guinness for the first time. This was my first ever beer of any kind. I found this beverage to be very evil and would not recommend it.
  • The squirrels that keep stealing things from my terrace (I can no longer hang out my underwear after one grabbed my Agent provocateur thong and ran off with it). The thought of them nesting in my £120 lace panties fills me with rage.
  • London weather.
  • Seeing Prince Andrew’s face every time I turn on the news.
  • People clapping when a flight lands. On a similar theme, people at airport security who haven’t already put their liquids in a bag so now you must wait for them to unzip their entire suitcase so they can fish out a bottle of mouthwash from the inside pocket. We need a separate queue for these people.
  • Oysters. Tried them again, still convinced people only pretend to like them.
  • Valentines Day.
  • Having to multitask and schedule life when we (as a species) aren’t designed to clean the kitchen and pay taxes we are designed to live in caves having sex and and eating fruit.
 

AI

Some day it will be undetectable, but that day is not today. I can spot AI generated text a mile off.

Wales – Cotswolds – Mayfair

A beautifully curated pilgrimage to the best restaurant in the UK, 2 Michelin Star Ynyshir in Wales.

3 days, 3 gorgeous hotels. So grateful for this special experience 😻

Highly Strung

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all;

the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”

 

– Randy Komisar