Chewton Glen – a luxury weekend escape
This fabulous hotel is where my love affair with luxury began. So we return to visit the Chewton Glen like an old friend on special occasions! In February, in between our birthday’s, we scheduled a staycation as a little treat. We really couldn’t have planned the timing better around all things work and life…
View PostA weekend in the Cotswolds
Last year between May in Tel Aviv and India in December, we didn’t really take much time off work. We did manage to balance the work mania with the odd long weekend in France, Stockholm and Italy. In November we fitted in another of these. This time a weekend staycation in the Cotswolds…
View PostMy monthly meanderings in January
As usual January vanished in a blur, a good thing. Working in Luxembourg, inappropriately dressed for snow… Working even harder on one of my Christmas presents – a ‘paper-fold-your-own’ Taj Mahal… Touring Mr P’s office, defining a cool and practical work environment… Exploring a little more on our back door, with a visit to…
View PostOberoi Rajvillas Jaipur – Luxury Hotel Review
From the moment we arrived at The Oberoi Rajvillas to the time we dragged ourselves on to Goa (#firstworldproblems) we were spell-bound. I am well aware one gets what is paid for, but sometimes a place and its staff are so special that it is unforgettable and pleasurable in a way that money can’t…
View PostAlila Diwa Goa – Luxury Hotel Review
We spent 3 days in Goa and chose to stay at the Alila Diwa hotel near Majorda beach. It’s located in South Goa – the quiet and sleepy bit of Goa. There are larger hotels in the area, but this stood out as somewhere a bit more personal and unique. About a 20…
View PostMy Cornwall Directory
I’ve been visiting west Cornwall a few times a year for longer than I remember. My Gran lives there and we head down for long weekends with my parents or by ourselves to explore a little more. Cornwall seems to be growing in popularity and it seemed like a very good time to…
View PostRest and relaxation in Goa and Mumbai
It would have been so easy to have spent all our time in India immersed in the culture of Rajasthan. We almost did. But I really wanted beach and pool time and when I asked our agent if we could fit this in the answer was a resounding yes. We were choosy in Delhi, Agra…
View Post10 comedy travel moments 2016
Last year I enjoyed writing about the comedy and less than perfect travel moments of the year. There’s always a few and they tend to be carefully curated out of the blog, or mentioned in passing. This year I’ve already had my first comedy travel moment (more later) and it reminded me there were…
View PostTwo days in Jaipur
We loved our time in Jaipur. It was the full package. Clean and ordered (relatively speaking), pretty, blue skies (no fog), we bumped into friends (yes – really), history and views, as well as amazing food and incredible hotels. Jaipur very much got the Parker seal of approval. We had 2 days in…
View PostOne day in Agra
Agra was our second base and was actually somewhere I wasn’t initially planning to visit. I couldn’t fathom how one building could justify a 3 hour drive. But the drive was of course worthwhile, and there’s more than one thing to see! Agra wasn’t our favourite place. Mainly due to us visiting beautiful Jaipur…
View PostDecember fun and frolics
December, what a marvellous month. Our big discovery was the benefit of storing up annual leave until the last month of the year. Then trying to use it up! I did 5 days of work, had a 12 day trip to India and Christmas off work too. Now there are probably health warnings against not taking…
View PostOne day in Delhi
Delhi is where our Indian adventure began. Colleagues of mine are always here and told me it was the right city to quickly immerse ourselves in the sights, smells and sounds of India. We had just over 24 hours in the city. Our guide Punam (an expert, she’s shown Ralph Fiennes around) and driver BD…
View PostThe annual bucketlist update
Whether or not we like them, we all have a bucketlist or two – for life and in this case for travel. Mine is subject to an annual update as horizons widen or tastes change. I’ve just looked back at my 2014 and 2015 lists and it’s fantastic to see how the travel…
View PostMy instagram tour of Incredible India
I have so much to tell you about India – one of the most inspiring and enjoyable trips we have ever taken. “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country the the sun visits on his rounds.” Mark…
View PostMy top 10 travel highlights of 2016
What a year 2016 has been globally. My top 10 highlights may well sound frivolous and privileged in a year when the world has been full of sadness, unrest and nasty surprises. But they made us smile, laugh and relax after some challenging years. Its been good for the soul. I’m amazed we fitted in 6…
View PostNovember fun and frolics
A bit of a strange month – I was manically busy right through the month but I didn’t seem to actually achieve a great deal! Aside from crazy hours, there was one other similarity between October and November… I went to kareoke in both months having never been before. London office life seems…
View PostPlanning our 2017 adventures
We have no travel or adventures planned yet for 2017, none. Come December in a normal year, we’d have plenty mapped out. Not this year. Due to work commitments we’re taking our big trip of the year in December. So we’ve had something to look forward to and plan in Q4… But now we have an…
View PostYachting adventures in the Canaries
Mr P did some vital yachting holiday research for us in October… Too kind! I was manic with work and made a passing comment suggesting he go away with his best buddy somewhere nice and leave me in peace. I didn’t ever expect the offer to be taken up. But it’s OK as it was all…
View PostThe perfect… weekend away
We are big fans of the long weekend – be it in the UK or abroad. As wonderful as it is to go away for a couple of weeks, I find it very easy to relax quickly in just a couple of days. We’re also lucky to have found some incredible places on…
View PostOctober fun and frolics
October was all about the W’s – work, weddings, Wales, winter watery stuff, wine… Work was the predominant activity in play for October. I banked enough hours to not work again until at least the new year. Thankfully the end of the month means the end of the really hard slog and it was…
View PostUnique stays and favourite quirks
One of the highlights at the start of a hotel stay is when you are shown to a gorgeous room and there’s champagne or chocolates or some such other surprise left as a welcome treat. Nothing says hello and welcome to R&R better than that! The Chewton Glen and Cliveden House are particularly good at this……
View PostSeptember fun and frolics
After a crazy August, September arrived quietly and that was just fine… It felt like Autumn arrived overnight from August to September. I love those lovely chilly sunny morning walks to the station and leaves falling from the trees, or the morning runs round the park. I don’t however remember from this time…
View PostHappy and healthy without holiday
You know the seemingly bleak time when no trips are planned, it feels like summer is over, you don’t see much daylight and work is crazy and the mania just.doesn’t.stop? That’s right now! I’ve read enough articles about how people that take regular holidays are happier and healthier and I agree with every…
View PostLazing in the Languedoc
What a gorgeous lazy time we had in the Languedoc, the benefit of doing no research… Aside from booking the hotel, all I knew was that Carcassonne was nearish to where we were going and that it’s a board game. So un-thorough was my research that a few days before we arrived I had to email the…
View Post6 things to do in Stockholm
Stockholm is less than 2 hours flying from Heathrow and perfect for a summer city break. A maritime city full of gorgeous architecture, flat for exploring and if you can stay a little longer there’s 24,000 islands in the archipelago to explore. We visited over the August bank holiday weekend, and I took advantage…
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