As we drive into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda, the road is so uneven the bumps keep flicking the windscreen wipers on. It feels comically perfect. We’re headed high into the mountains to spend the night before our dawn trek — a journey that, with luck, will lead us to one of the forest’s families of wild mountain gorillas.
YOLO Journal: A Two-Week Puglia Road Trip
By the time I turn into the driveway of Masseria Prosperi, I can feel my shoulders drop. After weeks of spluttering around Spain speaking Spang-itang-lish, there’s something reassuring about being back, where at least a few words come easily. I’ve rented myself a little car, and today marks the start of my two-week solo road trip through the southern part of the boot. As someone who, until recently, described herself as a Northern Italy devotee, this is my fourth time visiting Puglia in as many years. The food, the seaside, the slower pace of life, with a light that falls like no other, have brought me back to deepen my connection to this region and its legendary hospitality.
Hotels Above Par: Athens Through the Lense
Athens is having a moment—again. The Greek capital, long admired for its classical ruins and café-strewn squares, has emerged as a creative hub where the ancient and the avant-garde coexist. Beneath the Acropolis, neoclassical façades are hiding natural-wine bars, concept stores, and boutique hotels that reflect a city in an ever-changing conversation with itself—history pulsing with modern energy. Every time I’m in Athens, I find something new to adore about it. And whilst I am a sucker for the Islands (aren’t we all) this trip proved a few nights in Athens should always be on the cards. From where to stay, eat and play, here’s a short and snappy visual guide to the “City of White Marble” shot on film.
Read full article here.
The Spectator: On Holiday with Goya
When I’m first invited to a soujourn in Madrid to learn about the life and work of Francisco Goya and the conservation work of Factum Arte, I’m thrilled but also a little apprehensive. While art-themed travel is right up my street and I live a mere trip from the Spanish capital, Goya’s work is known for being a little, well, dark - particularly during his later years.
Read the full article here.
SWOON: All’s well on the waters of Menaggio, Lake Como
Its glittering, villa-strung shores are backed by emerald-green mountains, setting a scenic and incredibly stylish stage for slow days spent on Lake Como’s waters — preferably from a private pontoon and vintage Riva boat. Over a spring weekend, Lex Duff checks in to Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & Spa for the lowdown on lakeside luxury.
YOLO Journal: Mas Palou, Catalonia
The Italy Insider: A Holistic Break in Florence
Florence is a city of many things to many people. The home to exquisite art and renaissance history, bustling with character and full of Romance. It’s a city made for long sunny days and even longer starry nights. And whilst Florence encapsulates the perfect Italian way of living that travellers so often come to love and marvel at, with all that beauty around, it can be easy to indulge the senses, or rather, over-indulge. So, whilst it goes without saying that a few days in Florence is never enough, even when you only have a small window of time in this masterpiece of a city, there are some perfect ways to keep yourself balanced while you’re away. Writer and film photographer Lex Duff was recently in one of our most beloved cities to do just that and here are a few of her favourites…
Harpers Bazaar - Maye Musk: The Future Of Fashion
Exclusively for Harper's Bazaar Serbia, Maye Musk talks about her career, children and plans for the future.
A Perfect Italian Heel - Lodestars Anthology Italy Edition
Finding your feet in Puglia
Read More
Palácio Príncipe Real: Lisbon's Slice of Heaven
The sneaky success of Palacio Principe Real is that somehow it’s managed to gloriously trap two vagabonders into its web, making it so lovely to stay in it’s little oasis that you barely want to leave and end up…actually slowing down and relaxing. And with central Lisbon right on your doorstep, literally, it’s the perfect definition of a city-stay sanctuary.
Read More
Kompong Khleang: a village of the young
It’s sunrise in a rural floating village in Cambodia and there is a chill to the air that is beginning to wear off with as the sun gets higher in the sky. I’m perched on a low resting chair on the deck watching the village begin to stir. I’ve never been to a place like this before, where the whole village is built and morphed around the rising and falling tides. I am in Kompong Khleang, 50 km from Siem Reap and almost 300km from Phnom Penh. Every house is built on stilts, metres high, and a portion of the community live full time on houseboats tied to one another to move in unison as the river rises and falls. Downriver about 4 kilometres is a giant golden statue of Buddha standing tall against the skyline. The town messages boom over the speakers and music plays to wake the village soon. But for now, it’s quiet except for the hum of boat motors on the waters below. I could sit like this morning after morning.
Read More
Gelato & Luca
I’m sitting on a Park bench somewhere between Bologna and Milan.
Today I am supposed to visiting a friend from up North to go outlet shopping but, like a lot of other days recently, I’ve woken up with tears in my eyes.
I’ve been living in Italy for a few months now and my boyfriend back in Australia has recently informed me that he can no longer “do this”.
This being long distance.
This being me living halfway around the world.
In hindsight, it was the catapult into the making of myself. At the time, though – absolute heartbreak.
Read More