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Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 14, 2024

February 13, 2024 boomersdaily Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – February 13, 2024: The latest ‘How Do I Love Thee?’ – Let me count the ways; Rough collies, red roses and royal caviar; Glass acts – the coolest conservatories; Head start – why real gentlemen wear hats….

The romance of the rose

With its velvety, softly scented depths, the red rose has long beguiled lovers. Charles Quest-Ritson falls under its spell

Thoroughly good eggs

Tom Parker Bowles savours the unctuous delights of caviar from the mother-daughter team at King’s Fine Foods, ethically farmed and utterly delicious

Taking the rough with the smooth

Famed for their loyalty, rough collies are happy finding hidden sheep, bounding up Munros or simply curling up with children. Katy Birchall meets Lassie

In the hat of the moment

Time was when every gentleman of every background wore a hat. It’s time to fall back in love with bowler, beret and bonnet, recommends John F. Mueller

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe admires the most stylish conservatories

Sir Karl Jenkins’s favourite painting

The composer chooses an ethereal Italian scene that literally reflects his own music

Behind the scenes at the cathedral

Fiona Reynolds explores the environs of St Albans in Hertfordshire, from the longest nave in Europe to the River Ver

A Georgian reinvention

With imagination and style, late-18th-century Marlwood Grange in Gloucestershire has been transformed into a family home fit for the 21st century, discovers Jeremy Musson

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell gets a handle on the most colourful handbags

Music to our ears

As the famous opera house at Glyndebourne, East Sussex, turns 90, the gardens are more glorious than ever. Tiffany Daneff admires a symphony of planting

More pudding, pease

Tom Parker Bowles tucks into the succulent, comforting suet pudding, an old favourite that deserves to return to our plates

More than a pretty face

Admired for his portrayal of dewy eyes and diaphanous fabrics, John Singer Sargent rose to the top of the portrait-painting world. Mary Miers follows his career from peripatetic childhood to Society favourite

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine- February 7, 2024

February 6, 2024 boomersdaily Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – February 6, 2024: The latest features The Travel Issue – View the world from the very best hotels; The map-makers who broadened our horizons; Out of the ashes – Chillingham Castle rescued and Waxwing explosions and snowdrop heaven….

Travel

Richard MacKichan rides with the eagle hunters of Mongolia
Jo Rodgers asks what makes a good hotel great as we introduce Country Life’s inaugural list of the world’s top establishments
All the latest travel news and new openings with Rosie Paterson
Nigel Tisdall tails the elusive jaguar in Belize
Catherine Fairweather is on the strait and narrow in Istanbul
Richard MacKichan puts the fun back into flying
Pamela Goodman swims with pigs in the Caribbean

A castle of curiosities

The history of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland is a turbulent and memorable one, peppered with family disputes, imprisonments and a live toad. John Goodall explores

Windows on the world

The urge to chart our surroundings is centuries old. With map in hand, Matthew Dennison ventures forth in search of mammoth tusks and globes

Irruption of the waxwings

Mark Cocker marvels at the exquisite plumage of this European songbird as it flocks to our shores to feed on a glut of its favoured winter berries

Get down on your knees

James Alexander-Sinclair joins the wandering throng as snow-drop lovers descend on Thenford in Northamptonshire to luxuriate in 900 varieties of Galanthus

Joanna Jensen’s favourite painting

The founder of Childs Farm chooses a rural scene to sum up ‘a picture of my England’

Groundhog day

The shortest month can also feel like the longest, delaying the arrival of spring, but what can February tell us about the year ahead? Lia Leendertz reveals all

Thunderous waterfalls and torrents hoarse

From the most dramatic plumes to the calmest cascades, we seek out the corners of the kingdom where water and gravity collide to magical effect

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell says green for go with a selection of stylish and useful khaki travel accessories

Interiors

Sally Stephenson on the secrets of illuminating period houses and Amelia Thorpe’s lighting picks

London Life

Russell Higham on piazza plans for the Docklands
Carla Passino meets the man who shaped Mayfair
Martin Fone reveals the saga of ‘London’s Eiffel Tower’

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson harnesses the delicious flavours of rosemary

Tourism, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: Making The Most Of Traveling In Germany

Video December 31, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

DW Travel (December 31, 2023) – Lukas Stege will provide you with insider information you need to know, which faux pas to avoid, which season is best, how much should you tip in restaurants, where should you stay, what’s the best way to travel around and finally, is Germany safe?

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:37 Geography and basics 01:35 Must-sees: Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Dresden 02:36 Seasons and weather: What to wear? Which festivals to visit? 04:08 Transportation and traffic 07:05 Accommodations 07:34 How safe is Germany? 08:00 Money 08:27 Particularities 09:40 Food and Beverages 10:21 Little language guide

Architecture, Buildings, Design, Hospitality, Reviews

Architecture/Design: Mys Khao Yai Hotel, Thailand

November 2, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

The Hotel Mys Khao Yai is located near the forest of Khao Yai National Park in Khaoyai, Thailand, designed on the concept of the ‘Elevated Ground Floor’. Hotel guests leisure through the rush landscape to reach their room. Every guest room is like a small forest cabin in itself. Therefore all rooms are suite rooms equipped with living area, bathroom ensuite, balcony and trees.

The design urges all guests to be exposed to nature to the fullest with a high standard of luxury living. The sky acrylic pool with a clear view of the mountain offers the glimpse of being part of nature. As a twist of an excitement, guests are swimming in the cantilevered pool structure as if they are swimming into the sky.

With only 24 keys, the hotel Mys is exclusively designed for private events with a central plaza that leads to the pool terrace as an altar. Suitable for a cozy party of family and friends or special event.

Travel In France: What To See, Do & Eat In Bordeaux

September 18, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

10 reasons why Bordeaux is France's greatest city

The Times and The Sunday Times (September 18, 2023) – They used to call it La Belle Endormie: a sleeping beauty choked with traffic and blackened with soot. But now Bordeaux has woken up. Its long parades of 18th-century architecture have been sandblasted clean and its streets equipped with trams, cycle lanes and pedestrianized zones. Navigation is quick, the atmosphere unhurried and the food uncommonly good. And if you fancy following in the footsteps of King Charles, who will visit Bordeaux during this week’s short French state visit, you can even get there by train — take the Eurostar and a high-speed TGV; the total journey time from London is six hours.

What to do

● First, a little history. See that modest cathedral by the Hôtel de Ville? It’s where Eleanor of Aquitaine married King Louis VII of France. Later, in 1152, this feisty daughter of the southwest married again, in Poitiers, to the man who became King Henry II. In doing so she began a Bordelais involvement with England that didn’t end until 1453, when the French captured the city. Sure, a lot of water has flowed under the city’s bridges since then, but to be reminded of the connection is like discovering an unexpected cousin.

● Bordeaux profited handsomely from this attachment thanks to the English thirst for its wines. So continue this 650-year tradition with a riveting, self-guided audio tour of La Cité du Vin. The decanter-shaped landmark explores every aspect of global winemaking and wine culture, with one amusing omission: intoxication. The best bit is a display that wafts key wine flavours up your nose (£19; laciteduvin.com).

Coolest neighborhood

The northern district of Chartrons starts with palatial mansions and merchant warehouses, but shrinks to more modest proportions the further you wander from the city centre. Along the Rue Notre Dame it finds its mojo. Here, half a mile of browsable tiny shops sell must-have crockery, hand-made brushes and £2.50 fruit-crumble tartlets. Clambering vines deepen the sense that you’ve found the perfect French provincial street.

Travel In Turkey: What To See, Do And Eat In Istanbul

September 11, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

The Times and The Sunday Times (September 11, 2023) – No exaggeration, Turkey’s rambling former capital, unspooling either side of the broad Bosphorus strait, is up there among the friendliest places you could visit for a long Euro-style weekend. Hospitality is in the Turks’ DNA, whatever you might think about the politics. The weather will always deliver too: midwinter has a snowy, Soviet chill that is super atmospheric, while spring and late summer into autumn turn the city into a giant urban resort, with bars, cafés and pool-trimmed hotels lining the endless waterfronts on Asian and European banks.

What to do

● What was founded as the Byzantine emperor Justinian’s 6th-century church has ballooned over aeons into the Hagia Sophia. Now a mosque, it’s a gargantuan spectacle. Enter and in the spiritual gloom a magnificence develops, daylight angling through windows in the galactic dome light years above. Remarkably there is even runic graffiti, carved by a mercenary from the Viking age (free; muze.gen.tr).

The Anadolu Kavagi village on the Bosphorus

● Allocate a day to explore Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman sultans built in 1459 by Mehmet the Conqueror, who grabbed Constantinople from the fading Byzantines. Chamber after chamber reveals military regalia and priceless gifts from dynasties as far away as China. The Bosphorus views are magnificent and the emerald lawns are made for lounging on (£20, includes harem access; muze.gen.tr).

● The Ecumenical Patriarch, spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, resides at the Patriarchate of Constantinople, a serene neoclassical complex in Fener district, above the waters of the Golden Horn creek. Join global pilgrims in the glittery cathedral aisles and witness, perhaps, the divine liturgy or, later, vespers — black-clad, scented and seductively mystic (free; ec-patr.org).

● We associate art nouveau with Paris and Budapest, but in the twilight years of the Ottomans it flourished in Istanbul. Casa Botter (originally Botter Apartmani), built on Istiklal Caddesi at the turn of the 20th century for a tailor to Sultan Abdul Hamid, was the city’s first example. After decades of neglect it’s now a must-visit art gallery and, façade-wise, a real kooky looker, chiselled and Viennese-ornate (free; Instagram @casabotter).

Hospitality, Interior Design, Tourism, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Art Deco Design Tour: Prince De Galles Hotel ‘Lalique Suite’ In Paris

Video July 29, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

the Luxury Travel Expert Films (June 29, 2023) – A full tour of 5-star Prince De Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Paris, France.

Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 2:08 Facade 4:12 Lobby 7:27 Suite Lalique 16:43 Rooftop 25:13 Restaurants 27:57 Courtyard 30:10 Brunch 34:59 Dinner 41:46 Breakfast 44:15 Gym & Spa

The iconic Art Deco hotel is home to Paris’ most exclusive hotel suite, the Suite Lalique by Patrick Hellmann (a dazzling duplex suite with stunning design & rooftop).

Hospitality, Tourism, Travel, Views

Travel: The Top Places To Stay In Normandy, France

June 15, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

The Times and The Sunday Times (June 15, 2023) – The most popular way to access all this from the UK is via the ports of Dieppe (ferries from Newhaven; dfds.com), Le Havre, Caen and Cherbourg (from Portsmouth and Poole; brittany-ferries.co.uk).

Le Tribunal, Mortagne-au-Perche

Hotel in the Perche region’s main hub
Southern Normandy’s Perche region is a succession of gentle hills clad in beech and oak. Much of it is designated a natural park. There is great diversity here, in landscape and architecture, which come in a palette of colours thanks to different building materials. Its main hub is Mortagne-au-Perche, a market town of cobbled streets, antique shops, magnificent mansions and its famed black pudding.

Domaine de la Cour au Grip, Repentigny

Rustic retreat in cider country
The Pays d’Auge, to the east of Caen, is an unhurried, painterly landscape, mixing oak and hazel woodland with cattle-filled orchards where morning mists lie low in the valleys and the autumn colours are magnificent. This is cider country, and there are still 20-odd cider makers on the 25-mile Cider Route. The former farm of Domaine de la Cour au Grip is on that route in the village of Repentigny, not far from Beuvron-en-Auge, one of the prettiest villages in France.

Le Landemer, Urville-Nacqueville

Restaurant with rooms west of Cherbourg
Not every ferry traveller wants to hurry home. Le Landemer, barely ten miles along the coast from the ferry port of Cherbourg, is for those who like to linger. This designer conversion of a coastal house is as much an eating as a sleeping place, with five traditional rooms in the main house, and four yacht-style rooms — more modern with big picture windows — smuggled away in an adjacent building.

Analysis, Banks, Business, Hospitality, Retail, Reviews, Technology, Videos

Business: How ‘Junk Fees’ Invaded The U.S. Economy

Video April 25, 2023 boomersdaily Leave a comment

CNBC (April 25, 2023) – Americans are collectively spending nearly $65 billion on sneaky fees, according to the White House. “It really seems like companies have become addicted to junk fees,” Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, told CNBC.

Junk fees are making companies billions of dollars richer. Watch the video above to learn more about where junk fees hide, details of proposed changes, where policy may fall short and whether increased regulatory oversight may be enough to squash junk fees once and for all. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:26 Defining ‘junk’ fees 5:34 Squashing fees 7:52 Policy problems 10:02 The future of fees

Books, Hospitality, Interviews, Reviews, Videos, Views

Views: ‘Inside The Dream Palace’ – The Chelsea Hotel In New York City

Video November 27, 2022 boomersdaily Leave a comment

CBS Sunday Morning – Since opening its doors in 1884, New York City’s Chelsea Hotel has welcomed artists, writers and cutting-edge thinkers who shaped America’s cultural landscape. Today, the storied landmark is being developed into a luxury boutique hotel.

Correspondent Alina Cho talks with residents, and with “Inside the Dream Palace” author Sherill Tippins, about the Chelsea’s unique history; and with developer Sean MacPherson about his determination to approach the Hotel Chelsea’s restoration with reverence.