Stay at Palazzo Parigi, dine beside the Duomo of Milan at Obicà Mozzarella Bar and Terrazza Aperol, shop for Valentino and at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, take in art & culture at Fondazione Prada, eat at Il Salumaio and Bar Luce, then party at Bar Martini by Dolce & Gabbana AND Cavalli Club.


Ciao, darling! Have you got a minute, or rather 1400 minutes to spare in Milan? Si? Molto bene! With the summer sun shining upon us, 'tis the season for European city breaks: be it a Baltic tour of Riga-Helsinki-Tallinn or London-Paris-Rome or Amsterdam-Berlin-Lisbon; pick n' mix, make it your own. Take advantage of the continent's proximity (and homogenous currency) yet incredibly diverse culture by embarking on what I call the 'Euro Express' - the perfect 'short but sweet' holidays for the eager beaver on a time-budget. I've written Brussels Express and Edinburgh Express city guides, and now it's time for How To Do Milan in 24 HoursLadies and gentlemen, start your engines...


PHOTOS OF ME BY CATHERINE LUX. ADDITIONAL PHOTO CREDITS: 2 & 3, 4, 29 & 30, 35 & 36


June 22, 2016


THE (ART) HOUSE THAT MIU MIU BUILT: THE NEW MILAN VENUE OF FONDAZIONE PRADA 


I've never seen anything (or referencing any) of Miuccia Prada's work I didn't like; be it the infamous roman-à-clef that gave us this gem, that Kreayshawn diss, the Miu Miu baroque heels 'that got away' (which I still beat myself up over), and of course the ever reinvented handbag classic - the Saffiano. The saying goes: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" so when I was in Milan last weekend, I had to pay my respects at the new permanent venue of the contemporary art and culture institution co-chaired by Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli - FONDAZIONE PRADA, or as I like to call it 'the culture factory' and 'the art house that Miu Miu (Signora's nickname) built'. 

The year-old arts centre - the venue was unveiled in May 2015 - is a ten-building landmark rising from the stark landscape of an industrial zone south of the city centre, transformed from a century-old distillery for Fondazione Prada. The crown jewel of the Milan venue is the 'HAUNTED HOUSE' gilded in 24-carat gold leaf dedicated to a permanent exhibition by Robert Gober and Louise Borgeois. Elsewhere in the vast 205,000 square ft compound is a cinema camouflaged by mirrors and of course the cafe designed by Wes Anderson, BAR LUCE.

June 15, 2016

10 Surprising Things I Learned About Russia from my trip to Moscow and Saint Petersburg

CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF RUSSIA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS BLOG OF POSH, BROKE, & BORED
*wow, a Borat and The Hobbit reference in one heading - I'm on fire.

At first glance, the gorgeous man draped languidly across the foot of my bed appeared to have nothing in common with me. His hair was as fair as mine was dark, his eyes as blue as mine were black, and his accent as soothingly Antipodean as mine was disconcertingly Transatlantic-meets-Rah. Yet he nodded in solidarity as he agreed, “I’m glad you feel the same way as I do about Russia and Cuba, and I'm glad that unlike so many people we've actually been to both.” Quite. Like her Caribbean ex-comrade, Russia is a country that everyone has a strong, quite often negative opinion on yet many have never been to. Wake up and smell the stroganoff, people! Break the shackles of Western propaganda! You have nothing to lose but your chains of uninformed prejudice! This month's travel blogger linkup explores the unexpected, so as my contribution here are this #TravelBlogger's 10 Surprising Things About Russia I Learnt from my summer in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Поехали!

June 03, 2016

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