Game of Thrones lovers, don’t just sit and watch in awe: follow the sneakers and go to Meereen. The sneakers walked with Tyrion and Missandei and Varys and lingered on the streets haunted by the Harpies – so can you. The dragons are still there, remember? Season’s 6 Meereen was filmed in Peniscola, Spain, and this is one of our favorite escapes to wonderland 🙂
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Istanbul survival guide: some snobbish advice
Some snobbish warnings and some tips: Thehappyfew may often find Istanbul noisy, chaotic and insalubrious. The permanent feeling of being in a cheap, overcrowded bazaar will become quite a nuisance if you don’t have a backup. In Istanbul the backup is an oasis of comfort and peace, namely a very good place to stay and a few getaways far from the madding crowd. Choose a good hotel and don’t even think of looking for accommodation in Taksim or Istiklal The main hotspots in the old city are see-and-flee; there is no reason to linger (or find hotel, God forbid) in Sultanahmet, Topkapi, Grand Bazaar, Suleymanyie, Sirkeci, Eminonu. Some restaurants are…
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If you were a supernatural being, where would you live?
Rich, old and full of charm. Toscana is where legends are at a standstill. Time is slow, it simply flows right into history. The most perfect landscape rolls into the richest vineyards and the noblest cities of art in the whole wide world. Honestly now: if you were a supernatural being, where would you live? Father of Chianti Classico, reveal your presence! Ricasoli is the oldest winery in Italy. Winemakers since 1141 when the family acquired the magnificent Brolio Castle and the surrounding vineyards, the Ricasolis had the nose and the palate for creating good wines. Talent and erudition run in the family, culminating with the one and only Bettino…
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Val d’Orcia and the ideal city
One fine day, the Architect looked out of the window to see the future; he saw a utopian landscape of pale green fields and pure skies, rolling into forever. Then he took a brush and four colors and started painting: pale yellowish green for the fields, dark green for the cypresses, blue azzuro for the skies and warm brown for the roads and the farms. You think I’m being rather corny, poetic with a touch of mysticism. I can be all that, but today I’m merely factual. The Val d’Orcia, another world favorite of the happy few, is a region of perfect landscape south of Siena, included in the UNESCO…
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NAZARE, The Monster Waves and the Beautiful Free beaches
If you’re one of those addicts of the extraordinary, this one is for you. Far enough up the coast from Lisbon, Nazare is only transited by tourist packs during the day. If you avoid the classical summer rage, you find a blue and white village that has not sold its soul to the devil of “leisure” just yet. It is an old fishing village, very old indeed. In the year 700 they were fighting pirates when a legendary couple came into the story: a monk and a king. The king was carrying a sword of bravery and the monk was carrying a statue of redemption. The legends Roderic, the last…
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ANDALUSIA #SINEQUANON: THE THINGS YOU CANNOT LEAVE OUT
She may appear to you as a mala mujer or a bruja (witch), and she will not be tamed. Andalusia will paint your fantasies hot, the color of those wretched blood-boiling impulses. Too hot to handle during the summer, the diva region of Southern Spain is smoking hot all year round. ONE: RONDA TWO: STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR THREE: CADIZ FOUR: GRANADA FIVE: SEVILLA SIX: CORDOBA SEVEN: LOCAL TRADITIONS: corrida, Andalusian horses, flamenco Andalucia is no place to go with a purpose or a timeframe. Don’t ever judge her: it is as intense as its flamenco rhythms and as savage as its corridas. It is also mute and dry at times, but at…
