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By Sophie Ibbotson How is it that a city has so much energy, so much creativity, that it can reinvent itself over and over again for more than 2,700 years? I was pondering this over breakfast this morning in Samarkand. Alexander the Great conquered this Central Asian city at the heart of the ancient Silk […]
By Sophie Ibbotson Salutamu! If there is ever a day when the sun doesn’t shine in Palermo, I haven’t seen it. Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy, and Palermo is its capital. It is famed for its architecture, culture, and gastronomy, so I am doing my very best to immerse myself in all three. […]
By Sophie Ibbotson Hello from sun-kissed Malta, this Mediterranean island steeped in history and blessed with natural beauty. I arrived in Mdina on foot through a vast gateway of golden stone, flanked by lions. The light was fading and lanterns flickered, casting long shadows over the narrow cobbled streets. An eerie silence pervades this ‘city […]
By Gina Hines Hello from South Florida! We are just north of Miami Beach and a world away from what we all used to think we knew about Fort Lauderdale. Gone are the days of a destination with a focus on a singular culture. Cultural pluralism has reached the beach here and at Fort Lauderdale […]
Dear friends, You’ll have heard me speak often of “The Golden Road to Samarkand”. It’s a phrase and a concept which has inspired generations of travellers, poets, and artists to make their way across Asia along the Great Silk Road. But what many of them fail to realise is that there is a greater treasure […]
Greetings from Malaysia, There’s a new man in my life! I just had to write and tell you about him. He’s irresistibly cute and agile, with a shock of auburn hair, and such a cheeky smile. His name is Archie. And we share so much in common: 97% of our DNA, in fact! Before I […]
BATH, ENGLAND By Sophie Ibbotson Friends, Romans, countrymen! Welcome to Bath. The Romans knew a thing or two about how to build a city, and 2,000 years ago they founded Aquae Sulis — “The Waters of Sul” — on the banks of the River Avon in Somerset. Even then, they knew that there was something special […]
One of the things I love most about travelling is the opportunity to witness the collision of different cultures, seeing something created which is not only new but brilliant. Hoshinoya Bali encompasses that phenomenon completely: the head of this extraordinary resort hotel is in Japan, but its feet are embedded in the earth of Indonesia’s most beguiling island, Bali. The designers have […]
Greetings! I have arrived in the Land of the Thunder Dragon. High in the Himalayan Mountains, where the peaks are so tall their summits seem to get lost in the heavens, I have come in search of peace and oneness with nature. Many years ago, I read that the Kingdom of Bhutan had adopted a novel policy: the government […]
Dear John, Yes, this is one of those letters. I am writing because, although I love being with you, I need a break. The level of familiarity thrust upon us this year, due to you know what, has made me grow weary. There’s a place that I have discovered that offers me more of what I need to feel […]