THE OLD STOCKS INN – Things are not quite as they seem in Stow-on-the-Wold. There’s a defector in town. A quiet rebellious type; happy to rub shoulders with the elegant tearooms, polished antiques shops and prim galleries, before necking a Gimlet and heading back to the bar with a swagger that’d put a Bond villain …
Claire Robinson
MARSEILLE, France – France’s second largest city is known for having dirt under its fingernails. Founded by the Greeks some 2,600 years ago, it has uncoiled itself inland from gritty docklands over the centuries and grown a reputation as port with a seedy character. The Marseille I saw on my second Silversea shore excursion, however, (my …
Claire gives us the highlights and a perfect itinerary for a wintry weekend in Painswick, PAINSWICK, Gloucestershire – Her charms are often eclipsed by her more glamorous Cotswolds sisters, but thankfully Painswick (affectionately known as the Queen of the Cotswolds) is steadily coming into her own as a perfectly pretty weekend destination for a younger …
It was difficult enough to find the words to describe my 7-day Silversea cruise. It’s almost impossible to find words that describe my first shore excursion and one day in Florence. You see, this is a city that can’t be captured completely and perfectly and forever in language or pictures. It’s richer than expression; it’s more complex …
A gourmet start The ocean was holding its breath. The water as thick and shiny as caramelised sugar, and as flat as glass; without a fold, a crease or a curl, only the soft churn of blue by the white edge of the ship. On the horizon, the sun softly kissed the edge of the sea, …
A bare bottom, a wink and a wolf whistle – that sums up Bristol for me! Call me sensationalist, but I think the Bristol of today is the city equivalent of sticking two fingers up at the world, flashing a bare bottom, and wolf whistling at a local builder. It’s not a description I would’ve …
Halloween approaches, my friends. But you don’t need scary theme parks or plastic pumpkins to chill your spine – the UK is awash with grisly ghouls and spirited spectres to spook you to the blood-curdling core. Take a look at these creepy places to spend the Halloween weekend, and be afraid – be very afraid. The Castle Bone Chiller …
There is no area better known as a bastion of English refinement, countryside sophistication and village charm than the unfolding hills or ‘wolds’ of the Cotswolds. This picture-book part of England has long been a place to retreat for lazy half-terms and blissed-out weekends. But behind the sleepy villages, bucolic teashops, and Thelwell style farms, …
Is it possible to escape to Ibiza for the weekend and not end up on a packed beach at sunset dancing to David Guetta? Indeed it is. In fact, the Balearic island has many sides to its nature and can, if you know where to go, even be a little shy at times. As Travel …
EWEN, Cirencester – Even from the car park it’s not hard to see why The Wild Duck near Cirencester attracts the sort of names you’d expect at a Royal Wedding. For a start, the 16th century pub is barely visible underneath its ever-creeping overcoat of ivy and its surrounding cloak of trees and shrubs. If …
Sure, anyone can go to Cornwall or Devon surfing. But what’s the fun in following the beaten track? If you’ve a bit more grit to your grin and a tad more industry to your spirit, then about-turn on your kitten heels, my friend. Saltburn by the Sea, Cleveland, is riding a new wave of surfing …
In today’s post, Claire takes us on a trip around Oxford to visit the locations that inspired Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. I lift my hand to my eyes, shielding them from the thick June glare, whilst the sun slowly and evenly toasts my neck. Before me, rise the honeyed buildings of Oxford’s most famous …