Books like Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five and The Secret Seven spawned a personal obsession with secret passages, bookcase doors and hidden rooms. The children’s adventure series were the reason I would knock on walls in my parents’ and friends’ houses. I loved the idea that I could sneak from room to room without anyone
A few years ago, whilst strolling over the Seine across the Passerelle-Solferino in Paris, I stumbled across hundreds of padlocks adorning the bridge, all inscribed with initials, hearts and ‘amour’. Bemused, I (of course) had a Google to find out more and came across a simple explanation – “padlocks symbolise the unbreakable bond in love”.
I like to soak up the local café scene on my travels (and at home in London) and am terribly snobby when it comes to coffee. Here are some of my favourite cafés around the world: Café New York, Budapest There’s something rather special about sipping espresso in opulent surroundings. Set in the Boscolo Budapest
If I have to go the Natural History Museum again this decade, I’ll cry. My ability to infect my child with enthusiasm for taxidermied animals is on the wane. Some days – of the 16 or so weeks of school holiday we have to fill each year – I just want to sit down, drink
London, early-2011. Four trends explode: Dalston, pop-ups, ping pong and supperclubs. As befits an exploding trend, they all immediately implode, and are mostly now, two years hence, officially ‘over’. To the point where Harry Styles is partying in Dalston, pop-ups are as exciting as press releases and table-tennis bars are ten-a-penny. Suppercubs, though – supperclubs
You’re never too old for Disney. Sacrilege to suggest it, surely? Well – sacré bleu – I am.
Considering buskers as musicians who’ve passed an audition put them in a different light, and I cast my mind back to those who’d made a lasting impression on me…
Some homeowners opt to enhance their garden with a pretty flower bed, a pond or some wooden decking. Others go for an enormous, 40-foot sculpture on the front lawn. During a recent visit to Chicago, I was wandering by (and drooling at) lavish mansions in one of the city’s most coveted neighborhoods, Lincoln Park. Suddenly
When it comes to travel, the first rule of packing is that less is definitely more. The key to useful travel gear, then, must be ‘multi-functionality’. With that in mind, we put our client, The Scrubba wash bag – AKA the world’s smallest washing machine – to the test, with enterprising reviewers trying to find
The place which each of us calls ‘home’ is an extension of ourselves: private hidey-holes for escaping the surrounding world. From the outside, living spaces may look similar, but inside a person’s true affinities can be unlocked for all to see. It is always interesting to visit others’ homes; sometimes thoughts are laced with feelings