Monthly Archives: April 2012

Some unexpected surprises at the Pride of Britain Hotels AGM

The Pride of Britain Hotels AGM, held on Monday at The Goring hotel (David Morgan-Hewitt, Managing Director of The Goring, also being Chairman of Pride of Britain Hotels) brought a few unexpected surprises – risqué jokes from Peter Hancock, Chief Executive, over lunch and an amusing resumé of Morgan-Hewitt’s hotel career, culminating with a recent meal

Why do I want to visit Corniglia?

I have always been interested in the why of travel: why people want to visit a particular destination, and how that desire comes about. Often it comes from the media, of course, and that is where Travel PR and our rivals come in, working with the press.  But equally often, I think, there are other

Nafplion old town, Greece – and a shop selling Komboloi (worry beads)

In Greece, you often see men sitting over a coffee or an ouzo, fiddling with their Komboloi (worry beads). It seems an exclusively male pursuit, as I have never seen a woman even sitting in a cafe, let alone playing with worry beads – but perhaps local women sit at home and worry instead? It

The Devil’s property portfolio

An unlikely property mogul, the Devil nevertheless boasts an extensive portfolio including a mountain, a set of cascading waterfalls, several pools and a sinkhole. Prince of Darkness, Lord of the Underworld, Beelzebub’s BFF, Old Nick; whatever you want to call him, the Devil’s one of Earth’s most long-standing property developers, only lagging a couple of

The Nemean Games – run the 100m in an original Greek stadium

When did you last have the opportunity to run the 100m in one of the original Greek stadia dating back to 300 BC, your name being announced as you emerge, blinking and barefoot, from the dark of an ancient tunnel into the bright sunshine of the stadium, having just changed into a white tunic in the

26-mile charity walk – the training begins!

Helena and I have started our training regime for the one-day, 26-mile London Stadia Trekathon, taking in the sites of the 2012 Olympics, that the two of us are undertaking on 13 May. We are treating it seriously – investing in incredibly comfortable (but not at all stylish) footwear and a pedometer, and setting off