Smag31

Flower and Bird Markets Dating from 1808, the colourful Marché aux Fleurs (flower market) on the Ile de la Cité is the oldest and one of the largest flower markets in Paris. Its blooms brighten up the area between the stark walls of the Conciergerie and Hôtel Dieu from Monday to Saturday – everything from … Read more

It was my dawn horizon for nearly a year: a craggy shadow meandering across a west-coast sky. For the first BBC Two series of Great Escape in 2008, my home was an old cattle shed on a beach, close to the village of Applecross in Wester Ross. Each morning I would collect rainwater (never in … Read more

Young foxes Playful, inquisitive and a joy to watch, fox cubs take their first steps into the wider world this month. May is the month when fox cubs can be seen taking their first steps into the outside world. Gingerly at first, and when with more confidence and brashness as the month progresses, the youngsters … Read more

With the launch of the Vivanta by Taj, Bekal, the state’s unexplored north coast is thankfully opening up to visitors. “Holidays can either be active or lazy; a vacation here invariably falls into the latter category,” says Samir Khanna, general manager of Vivanta by Taj, Baklal, as we drive around the resort in a golf … Read more

Although nobody at GoldenEye really pushes the James Bond thing, Ian Fleming wrote the Bond books here. His house, from which the resort takes its name, overlooks the sea, and there are cottages with names such as Vesper and Solitaire. GoldenEye recreates the ambience created by Ian Fleming in the 1940s. Hidden away from the … Read more

The hotel industry is rapidly expanding its spa menus to include child0frinedly treatments and parent-and-child packages. The Conrad Maldives (www.hilton.com), for instance, offers an Ice Cream Spa for kids aged four to 12, with treatments in 11 flavors – from apple pie to lavender lullaby. Conrad Maldives The Mandarin Oriental Miami (www.madarinoriental.com) has a teen … Read more

From ice-cream-flavored spa treatments to Barbie-themed rooms, Priyanka Shewakramani reports on hotels and resorts going the extra mile to keep families entertained. After all, if you spend your vacation worrying the kids will smash the crystal vase in your suite, you probably shouldn’t be there. When it comes to family holidays, choosing the right hotel … Read more

Mention Skye to ramblers worth their saltand the word Cuillins with swiftly appear in the conversation. In terms of grandiose and brutal terrain, few mountain ranges in Britain can compare. The violence of their volcanic birth was tempered by the ice age that followed, with basalt and gabbro rock splitting and corroding at different rates … Read more

Built on wool Lavenham, Suffolk Lavenham is six miles north-east of Sudbury. Wool was also the reason for the wonderfully rich and colorful medieval half-timbered villages of East  Anglia, and Lavenham is probably the best-known and most complete. Medieval houses such as the Guildhall and Wool Hall sag and creak crazily with age around the … Read more

A village within a henge Avebury, Wiltshire Standing stones of the henge at Avebury, Wiltshire, England The 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey famously wrote about Avebury that it “did as much excel Stoneheng (sic) as a Cathedral does a Parish Church.” The magnificent Neolithic henge, which encompasses the medieval village, olus the double stone circles hat … Read more

Behind their charming facades, Britain’s villages hide many mysteries. Rose-framed cottages and the ancient church tower cluster protectively around the oak-shaded green. Here, in summer, the crack of willow on leather indicates that cricketers are conducting their weekly ritual, to utter bemusement of foreign visitors. There’s nothing more English than the village. Behind their charming … Read more

The ITC Grand Chola sets a new benchmark in luxury. We got a first look. Don’t be confused: regular visitors to Chennai will know the name Chola from as far back as 35 years ago, but that hotel has since been rebranded (it’s now known as My Fortune, Chennai). Meanwhile the highly-awaited ITC Grand Chola … Read more

Take the Grandeur of Gandhi tour with Gujarat Tourism for a peek into the Mahatma’s lifestyle Take the Grandeur of Gandhi tour with Gujarat Tourism for a peek into the Mahatma’s lifestyle Gujarat is a land with vibrant scenery, rich culture and delicious food. From pristine beaches and breathtaking hill stations to heritage monuments and … Read more

Top athletes feature in an Olympic countdown portrait tour Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II at National Portrait Gallery, London As part of the 2012 countdown to the London Olympics the National Portrait Gallery and BT will be showing over 30 stunning printed panels in major UK cities. The 30 panels will tour the country this … Read more

Ronnie Scott’s This legendary London jazz club was opened by saxophonist Ronnie Scott (1929–96) in 1959. Intimate lamplit tables surround a tiny stage that has hosted such stars as Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, and continues to attract top names . Ronnie Scott’s jazz club 100 Club Atmospheric jazz and blues dive that stays open … Read more

Daley Center & Plaza Daley Plaza with its famed Picasso sculpture was the setting for a sensational chase scene in cult movie classic The Blues Brothers (1980). Stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, playing ex-criminal brothers, dramatically crash their car through the center’s plate-glass windows, specially installed for the filming, as the authorities hopelessly attempt … Read more

5.    Tunnicliffe’s Malltraeth See the island haven that inspired one of our greatest wildlife artists See the island haven that inspired one of our greatest wildlife artists In the late 1940s, renowned wildlife illustrator Charles Tunnicliffe moved home from England to the wilds of Malltraeth on the Isle of Anglesey, where his studio overlooked the … Read more

2.    Walk Cumbria Grizedale Forest Grizedale Forest Find magical sculptures among the trees on this walk through hilly Lakeland forest Rippling across the crags between Windermere and Conistion, Grizedale is 8,000 acres of mixed forest laced with tracks and endowed with a renowned series of outdoor sculptures. Inaugurated in 1977, the sculptures dot the forest … Read more

1.    Turner’s Buttermere Cumbria Julia Bradbury climbs the gells above Buttermere for a picture perfect view The grandeur for the Lake District has inspired artists and poets for centuries. The grandeur for the Lake District has inspired artists and poets for centuries. JMW Turner painted many watery landscapes there on his northern tour, Joseph Farington’s … Read more

Pedestrian Zone Munich’s central pedestrian zone stretches along Kaufingerstraße and Neuhauser Straße to Karlsplatz/Stachus. Here you will find all the major European chains and many department stores. Estimates show that Germany’s largest retail turnover per minute happens right here. Beyond Stachus, there are more stores in Sonnenstraße, Schützenstraße, and in the Elisenhof at the main … Read more