An unassuming, anonymous and heavy-set red door separates a quaint cobbled courtyard, from an intimately historic foyer, embracing an almost monastic-like silence. As the door closes behind you, Lisbon’s bright morning sunshine is replaced by softer tones; the sensory contrast is immediate and welcome. This is one of many such contrasts that guests of the exquisite ‘Palácio Belmonte’ will experience during their stay.
The Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky bottle comes in an attractively designed gold embossed filigree box, but the real surprise is in the bottle.
The aroma as I prised off the lid was good, extremely good. But it was the first sip that impressed me the most. Finally, a truly excellent unpeated whisky from England produced by a fine international team. The Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky is the perfect goto whisky, smooth, finely balanced with a fusion of flavours, and just the right hint of spice.
Crisis, what crisis? The coronavirus pandemic has certainly thrown a proverbial spanner in the works for financial markets. It wasn’t that long ago stockmarkets were hitting fresh record highs. It’s all brought things down to earth rather sharpish with investors’ portfolios having taken a good old hammering with people are reassessing their investment risk appetite.
The Abarth 595 Competizione Turbo hot hatch is the racing upgrade of the Fiat 500. Taking a city run around and turning into a pocket rocket, but is it more than just a bigger engine? The short answer is yes. In essence, it may look somewhat odd, but it brings exceptional entertainment and driving pleasure in a compact form.
Abarth has been souping up Fiat 500’s since the fifties and turning out their version since the sixties. You can think of this as the result of many years of fine-tuning and expertise.
There are few places in the world that capture the imagination quite like the Maldives. This scintillating sea of a thousand islands encapsulates a mythical memory of a past Garden of Eden.
The next day started early on the balcony overlooking the sea, feeding the fishes and swimming amongst the resulting dense shoals that appeared, as if by magic. Again not a soul to be seen, just the infinite clear water stretching out in all directions, from this utterly private retreat.
The trampoline that hovers six feet above the sea takes some getting used to, but once in, is relaxing and peaceful, just the splash of the soft waves against the wooden pillars lulling you into a daytime reverie.
I’m just going to pause here. Right here, in the courtyard of this 19th century convent, now home to La Fourvière Hotel.
I recently attended the launch of a revolutionary hypercar built for the 21st century by a new company called Czinger.
In their own words: 'Czinger represents the pinnacle of automotive engineering, innovation, automotive art and technology-based design.'
In 1916 Cadillac produced the type 53. This is considered to be the first car to use the same control layout as modern cars, with the gear lever and hand brake in the middle of the front two seats, a key started ignition, and three pedals for the clutch, brake and throttle in the familiar order.
We’ve had the new Toyota Supra for a week of fun and misbehaving. Toyota has created quite a dramatic car in the new Supra in more ways than one.
This is the entry-level Cayenne coupe which means that it has the all aluminium 3L V6 turbocharged engine with Variocam. It produces 335hp and 450Nm of torque, very nice.
The brochure states a top speed of 150 mph and 0-62 takes 6 seconds, so it’s certainly not slow.
Cayenne coupe starts at around £62,000 and this particular car has a few choice extras so comes out at just over £80,000.
