Author: hashtagtravelling

A freelance travel and food writer, I've visited 19 countries and over 30 cities, so far (I keep returning to my favourites!). Memorable moments include a 2,500-mile road trip in a vintage Healey Silverstone, clocking up 11 border crossings in three weeks and quad biking in the Sinai Desert at sunset. I have a particular soft spot for the Balearics, particularly Mallorca where I lived for a year in the fishing port, Puerto Andraitx.

Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh

Art and culture, Backstage Pass, Reviews
The Valley of the Kings

A new blockbuster exhibition opened last week at the Saatchi Gallery, London. 150 treasures are on display at Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh as part of a world tour before returning forever to Egypt. Over 60 pieces are on loan outside their home country for the first time. London is the third stop in a ten-city world tour, which broke records in Los Angeles before becoming France’s most attended exhibition ever attracting over 1.4 million attendees. The hottest ticket in town this winter!

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Afternoon delight: sweet Biscottini

Destinations, Food & wine, Sustainability
Camporelli’s a fifth generation bakery

In Novara in the Piemonte region of Northern Italy there’s a little bakery where golden, crisp, light-as-a-feather biscottini have been made since 1852 using a 16th century recipe created by the nuns in the 1500s to bake biscuits for the Pope.

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Wine launch: first ever Blanc de Blancs from Jenkyn Place

Backstage Pass, Food & wine, Sustainability
Chardonnay grapes ready to harvest at Jenkyn Place.

I was honoured to be invited to the inugural tasting of the first ever Blanc de Blancs 2015 by Jenkyn Place Vineyard in Hampshire. The English wine industry is a fast-growing area for wine tourism and British wines are winning awards! There are 522 commercial vineyards and 164 wineries in the UK. Wine production is predicted to reach some 40m bottles by 2040. (Source: Wine GB).

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Emily Brontes’ Yorkshire

Destinations, Micro Break, Sustainability
The ruins of Whitby Abbey

Yorkshire is everything Emily Bronte promised in her most successful book, Wuthering Heights. Vast, wild and breathtakingly beautiful. I stayed recently at Gisborough in the heart of the moors and took a day out to explore the coastal town of Whitby which has literary links to another famous writer, Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula.

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Review: A Rothschild Treasury

Art and culture
Gates to a treasure trove. A Rothschild Treasury at Waddesdon Manor

A new exhibition space opens today (7 September 2019) at Waddesdon Manor, the fairytale house built in 1870 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. The new permanent exhibiton A Rothschild Treasury is a treasure trove of artefacts, many never before seen by the public. Here’s a brief tour around the stunningly beautiful and romantic interior of this unique country house.

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A taste of the Languedoc way of life

Destinations, Reviews, Sustainability
Mas Neuf, Vignobles Jean-Jean

The Languedoc way of life is about locally produced food and wine, lush landscapes, sunshine and warmth, art and nature and community. All of these combine to make a deliciously languid and moreish lifestyle. I toured the region this summer courtesy of the CIVL to meet some of the wine growers and makers, and stayed in the elegant countryside Mas Neuf, home of Les Vignobles JeanJean.

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