The mansion had been a hunting lodge belonging to Leopold III, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had loved Maremma very much and tried to bring the region out of all the difficulties it was in…
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The confluence of ocean breeze and rolling hinterland felt almost theatrical. From the Atlantic air I found myself drifting across golden hills on the outskirts of Jerez de la Frontera, where vineyards…
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Stepping into the Alhambra feels like entering a labyrinth of buildings and gardens, where every turn seems uncertain, yet everything is perfectly orchestrated. Thirty towers rise behind red walls, four gates guard the citadel…
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Staying at the Cipriani is like stepping onto clouds of soft cotton, where every detail unfolds with effortless grace. From the moment you arrive, the hotel orchestrates your experience with the finesse of a maestro, as if an invisible…
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If ever I were to buy a house in Tuscany, it would be Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel. I should leave it precisely as it stands today and telephone Architectural Digest to come and photograph…
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Ιn Portofino, time has always seemed to grow gentle. Some places impress you; others remain with you long after you have left. This small harbour on the Italian Riviera…
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Ι have always wondered how modern technology, and I mean optic-acoustic systems specifically, is incorporated into the heavily decorated palaces that are brimming over with Roman baroque. At a dinner party one night, sitting on brocade chairs…
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Passing opulent lounges adorned with moucharabieh screens, tadelakt plaster, and zellige tiles, I felt as though I was walking through…
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Ηôtel Le Normandy itself is a marvel of Belle Époque elegance, its half-timbered façade a symbol of Deauville’s golden age of seaside glamour. Opened in 1912, it has long been a haven for Parisian haute bourgeoisie…
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When the Poseidonion was built in 1914, there was no other hotel quite like it anywhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its owner, Sotirios Anargyros, from an old island family, envisioned it…
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Not far from Amalfi lies Ravello, a destination I wholeheartedly recommend. This enchanting citadel was founded in the Middle Ages by noble families who had fled Amalfi following internecine strife among rival factions…
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In the seventies, quiet Firostefani had enchanted Dimitris Tsitouras. It was sparsely populated back then, and time had left its patina on the white bell towers and mills. He said he fellin love…
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Within fifteen minutes we would be walking down the corridors of the Oberoi to drink a cup of coffee in one of the lounges that viewed the Taj Mahal, as it stood in the early morning mist…
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Barbara Athanassiadis is an internationally accomplished travel writer delving deeply into “the Art of Travel” - but she spiritually approaches her visits and descriptions. By this, I mean her books bring out our subconscious emotions …
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I was walking in a labyrinth of extreme beauty: serene interior gardens; shady, covered verandahs; cool, marble loggias. I’d climb up small towers and descend into yet another garden…
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One of the most evocative views I remember from my travels is the one from the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel, in Aswan. It is not merely the panorama that lingers in the mind…
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Tandjung Sari is an ageless beauty. More than fifty years since its founding, this charming little hotel on Sanur Beach, shaded by towering trees and quietly revealing treasures at every turn, remains serenely, discreet and effortlessly elegant.…
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Late one afternoon I was at the Ҫirağan Palace. I left the cocktaiI party I had been invited to and descended the stairs into the gardens so that I could walk next to the water…
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Ιf we go back in time to the founder of Alexandria, Alexander the Great, and his descendants, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids had sailed these seas, speaking Greek for centuries, while splendid… Hellenistic temples, erected to worship the gods…
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