Europe and Middle East
The Night Train to Berlin. Loaded with romance
On a rainy night in February, I was waiting in Paris’s Gare de L’Est station for the night train to Berlin. Those last four words are loaded with romance. And I was taking this winter journey in search of the romance of rail travel in a European winter.
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Vidago Palace Golf Course
Standing on the 17th tee of Vidago Palace Golf Course I had no indication of quite what I was in for. It had been quite a round up to that point; negotiating most of the cunningly placed creeks, coping with Augusta like slopes on the giant greens, and one wayward fairway wood aside, keeping to most of the fairways.
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Restaurant at the Randolph
The restaurant team were all looking a little smug as we were shown to our table at Restaurant at the Randolph, and rightly so considering the restaurant had just been awarded its third AA rosette. Some accomplishment from a kitchen brigade committed to serving only British sourced fresh ingredients. It helps of course if your owners hail from Scotland (especially when salmon is on the menu) and Macdonald Hotels and Resorts has collected over 40 AA rosettes across all its properties.
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Macdonald Randolph Hotel. Oxford’s magnificent Grande Dame still has a tale to tell.
As I arrived at the Macdonald Randolph Hotel I was greeted like a long lost friend; not hint of superiority anywhere. Now my imagination was running riot. Perhaps with my shabby chic look they thought I was a visiting college lecturer, perhaps a world expert in paleontology, with the Ashmolean Museum just opposite?
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Vidago Palace Hotel
The Vidago Palace Hotel is an epic experience for anyone keen to find a five star luxury retreat away from the usual tourist hot spots of Portugal. The spectacular golf and spa offerings are top drawer, the Rui Paula inspired cuisine is delicious and the service is exactly what you would expect from a hotel within The Leading Hotels of the World portfolio. Above all though, for me it’s the palace building itself which binds it all together beautifully, it speaks to me of the glitz and glamour of a bygone era, brought magnificently up to date. King Carlos may have missed out but his legacy lives on. Just an hour or so from Porto, a very special place indeed.
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Languedoc wine tasting: B&B and Wine
It was, it must be said, the perfect evening. Languedoc wine tasting with dark chocolate, a delicious regionally inspired dinner and then sleeping it all off in a 13th century chateau. Such is life these days in the Languedoc-Rousillon, a region reinventing itself from mediocre table wine producer into highly respected vintner of outstanding quality while at the same time embracing the tourism industry with arms open wide.
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