Work Category: Articles

Kindred Spirit Kenya, Conde Nast Traveller

It’s not often a manager asks you to pick up some whipping cream and a couple of lettuces on the way to your hotel. But when we finally reach Sasaab, a luxury lodge in the heart of Kenya’s wild Northern Frontier, I can see why popping out to the shops is tricky.

The lodge is a hot and dusty, nine-hour drive north from Nairobi through a succession of thrilling landscapes – lush valleys, shimmering wheat fields in the foothills of Mount Kenya – followed by close encounters with elephant in Samburu National Reserve. Then there’s another bumpy hour’s drive across arid plains, where Samburu warriors in scarlet kikois and brilliant beads herd their cattle.

I travelled to Sasaab, a luxury lodge in northern Kenya, for Conde Nast Traveller.

The New Riviera, Centurion

Greece’s first Aman resort, Amanzoe, has revived the fortunes of Porto Heli, playground of the Mediterranean jet set in the 1960s.

I scored a trip to review this A-list hideout in the Peloponnese long before the Beckhams rocked up in summer 2016. I even had my own speedboat to whizz across to Spetses, where every shipowner worth his salt has a weekend villa, and boho Hydra – still “aesthetically perfect”, as Henry Miller pronounced in the 1930s.

Best Villas on the Greek Islands, Conde Nast Traveller

Every Greek seems to rent out their summer house to tourists since the economy tanked. But a glut of properties only makes it harder to track down the really special places to stay in Greece.

Don’t worry – I’ve done the legwork for you.

Cruising the Cyclades, Conde Nast Traveller

James Theodore Bent, the British scholar who toured the Cyclades in the 1880s, pronounced Santorini ‘a hideous island, fascinating in its hideousness.’

Although the hordes of tourists who descend on Santorini to take sunset selfies have rather blighted the island’s dramatic scenery, staring into the depths of the flooded caldera is still mind-blowing.

If you want show-stopping views without the crowds, follow my guide to the lesser-known Cyclades islands of Folegandros and Syros.

The Sweet Spot, Fine

Mead is creating a buzz in the bar business. Whether it’s a side effect of the drunken dwarves in Game of Thrones or a by-product of the craft beer boom, mead is making a comeback.

In this feature for Fine, a new magazine about the art of drinking, I sampled many modern twists on the world’s oldest alcoholic drink.

Aegean Greece: Eternal Bliss, The Spectator

Greek island hopping is a rite of passage.  But the high-speed catamarans that cruise the Aegean are for Flash Harries. Far better to brave one of the rust-buckets that zigzag between remote islands in seemingly random directions.

The ferry schedules are erratic at best, as I discovered when I was stranded on Folegandros for a week until the boat finally showed up. There are far worse places to be marooned than this Cycladic stunner, where locals loll about in a merry fug, fuelled by shots of rakomelo, warm grappa and honey.

High winds also granted me a few stolen days on Koufonissi, one of the Small Cyclades. There’s no bank. When the only cash machine ran out of money, we just ran up a tab at the local taverna. On Kato Koufonissi, an even smaller offshoot, goats outnumber humans; although the four-legged inhabitants often end up in the wood-fired oven at Venetsanos, the island’s exceptional — and exceptionally ramshackle — taverna.

Royal London, National Geographic Traveler

‘It’s great living in a palace, until you try to order a takeaway.’

Just one of the witty one-liners the resident Beefeaters tell visitors on a tour of The Tower of London. 37 Beefeaters and their families share the medieval tower with eight ravens, several ghosts, and a vast collection of jewels and weapons.

Discover the secrets of this and other royal landmarks in my London feature for National Geographic Traveler.

Mezze Forte, Conde Nast Traveller

Everyone always ask me: where should I go in Greece for great food?

To spare myself another round of email recommendations, from now on I will refer them to this handy cheat-sheet. My all-time favourite places to eat in Greece, including what to order where.

Islands fit for Heroes, Conde Nast Traveller

‘They say people from Ithaca and Cephalonia are all bad and all mad, but I can never remember which is which.’

I didn’t have any trouble with the locals on this tour of the Ionian islands for Conde Nast Traveller.  Even in Frikes, a small town on Ithaca that translates as ‘Horrors’, the locals were perfectly lovely. Other villages in Ithaca are much more aptly named, such as Anogi (‘On top of the world’) and Exogi (‘Out of this world’).

Smooth Guide to Athens, How To Spend It

The classics never go out of style, but Athens also embraces unapologetically modern art, architecture and design. I checked out the new Athenian scene for How to Spend It magazine.

Athenians are not bons viveurs in the stuffy, snobbish French sense. They have their own word for it – kaloperasakides – which loosely translates as ‘good timers’. Dilys Powell put her finger on it in her mid-century memoir, An Affair of the Heart:

‘I still thought of Athens as a place of sun, friendly, elegant, cosmopolitan; a place of chattering cafés, smart parties, and sophisticated argument; a place to sit on a summer evening amidst the murmur of crowds and the glimmer of bright dresses…’

TOAST Travels to Symi

TOAST, the British fashion brand, asked me to find the perfect Greek island for a fashion shoot. The catch? It was mid-September and the shoot had to happen before the weather turned.

So we set off for Symi, a glamorous little island in the Dodecanese where the summer seems to go on forever.

Thanks to my friend, Dimitris Zographos, an architect who has designed all the most stylish villas on Symi, we shot in amazing locations that would normally be off limits.

Where to Stay Istanbul, Conde Nast Traveller

Istanbul is my third home – I’ve visited every few months since my parents moved there ten years ago.

On this assignment for Conde Nast Traveller, I made a whistle-stop tour of five sizzling new Istanbul hotels, amid the minarets and hamams.

Pelion Road Trip, Conde Nast Traveller

Midway between Thessaloniki and Athens, the Pelion peninsula is like some other, lusher country tagged on to the Greek mainland. Its backbone is a mountainous ridge of forested peaks, speckled with silvery slate roofs. On either side, translucent coves have been carved out of the cliffs. The southern tip of the peninsula curls into a glassy gulf, the shallow bays a calm counterpoint to the cliff-hanger villages of the northern heights.

This road trip around the Pelion took me to places I’d never been before. It was a very special trip for me because my driver – a very recently acquired boyfriend – became the father of my child. I didn’t meet the photographer, Jenny Zarins, for a decade – but the moment I did, I knew she would be a friend for life.

National Geographic London Guide

The Yanks love London Town. But few seem to venture beyond the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and  Hyde Park.

In this city guide for National Geographic’s Destinations of a Lifetime series,  I mixed up classic sights with unsung gems.

 

Dressing Rooms, Azure

The team behind Amsterdam’s Lloyd Hotel have turned another derelict building in a scruffy neighbourhood into a hip hotel.

In this feature for Azure magazine, I went to meet the fashion students and designers giving The Exchange a radical room-by-room makeover.

 

Into the Blue, House & Garden

Some destinations go in and out of fashion, but the Greek islands are eternal. It can be hard to choose just one to visit – so I’ve done the hard work for you and picked out six classics.

This feature appeared in House & Garden’s Gourmet Travel guide.

Athens Guide, National Geographic

The clash between myth and modern-day grit is an Athenian trademark: marble busts adorn souvlaki joints, Byzantine churches nestle beside bouzouki clubs, the Parthenon reigns serene above a ragged expanse of apartment blocks.

More than three million people are crammed into this loud, laid-back city. With 300 days of sunshine a year, a 75-mile (120-kilometer) coastline, and 3 a.m. traffic jams, irrepressible Athens is a muse for beach bums and barflies, as much as classical scholars and art lovers.

For National Geographic’s Destinations of a Lifetime series, I distilled the very best of Athens.

Interview with Dimitris Zographos, Toast Travels

‘The architecture of the Aegean has been a big inspiration for modernism, most famously for Le Corbusier. You can really see the foundations of the modernist movement here. The materials may change, but the principles are the same.’

 The Greek island of Symi has been designated a national monument for its exceptional architecture.

Many of the distinctive neoclassical houses have been restored by Dimitris Zographos, an architect who came to Symi to recuperate after a near-death accident. A decade later, he is still there, reviving traditional craftsmanship with a quietly modern sensibility.