Travel

Finding The One isn’t always fairy-tale straight-forward. It takes patience, searching (and soul-searching). It means experiencing the not-so-right, the you’ve-got-potential, the what-on-earth-was-I-thinking?! But they always say, ‘You know when it's The One’. And I knew.

The smiles struck me first.
Sunshine smiles, happy-to-see-you smiles, there’s-such-a-treat-awaiting-you smiles.
Greetings as heartwarming as the jasmine tea brought to us as we checked in, followed by the pop and bubble of champagne because, why not?
Before we’d even stepped into our superior suite at Cape Town’s The 12 Apostles Hotel and Spa, I knew I was going to find it very hard to leave.

Hong Kong has such a romantic aura surrounding it, rich in history, boys own tales and block buster movies. An island that served as the nexus for trading between two mighty empires for hundreds of years and celebrated for its grand casinos, towering modern sky scrapers, beaches, markets and now the world’s longest sea crossing bridge.

I’m back in the luxury five star Quinta Do Lago resort in the Algarve, Portugal, to meet up with Judy Murray who is there running kids tennis camps in partnership with The Campus, Europe’s premier sport and wellness resort.

How do howler monkeys generate so much noise? They are actually the second loudest animal in the world after the blue whale and release their voluminous, plangent magic by using the wind?
The tropical exuberance of animal life was utterly enchanting with new species offering up a daily surprise. From the fishy, to the furry and the feathered. I felt immersed in the natural wonder of the many birds and animals.

As a little girl, with an imagination larger than my wildly untamed hair (my hairbrush refusal was my mother’s morning battle), I often wondered what it would be like to skip right into a kaleidoscope. An imagined sugar-rush, spinning-tea-cup-ride surge of delight as every kind of colour and shape danced their flamboyant, unrehearsed, flamenco routine.

I’ve been to enough weddings to know that rain on your wedding day doesn’t necessarily a happy bride make. But ask a superstitious Italian, and instead of cursing the rain clouds, you’ll embrace the special day downpour – your soaking instead believed to be a symbol of fertility and cleansing, luck and love drenching you from the skies.

When it comes to madeleines, I must admit, I never really got France’s obsession with the humble, plainly inoffensive little cake. A walnut-sized golden sponge synonymous with writer Marcel Proust. Indeed, for Proust, the powers of the madeleine go far beyond satiating the sweet tooth. In his novel he recalls how, as a child, his aunt gave him small madeleines dipped in tea - decades later, this crumbly delight resurrecting long-forgotten memories. One bite, a sensory trigger, containing the most powerful of ingredients – nostalgia.

We drove the McLaren 570S Spider to the Vineyard Hotel, a 5 star Relais & Chateaux hotel in Berkshire, an ideal stopover on any luxury tour, particularly designed to appeal to wine lovers everywhere.

Sitting down to write this, I’m ashamed to admit, I feel slightly torn. Because La Mirande is like nowhere else I’ve ever had the good fortune to stay. And a big part of me wants to keep it as my little secret, my little escape, a place almost too good to share. Like an enormous warm chocolate fondant, lathered in fresh cream, ‘one spoon only, please’. But despite such selfish temptations, I can’t deprive you of what I have absolute conviction will be one of your favourite stays anywhere, ever.