St. Tropez, Summer 2k18
Here we are back again, almost exactly a year later. St Tropez, the place I would gladly call my second home. But before we head into the main town, a long drawn out lunch at some overrated, overpriced beach club that has food that probably tastes worse than the sand that's flying into your eyes is in order. What will it be this time? Turned out to be Le Club 55, I ordered a veal millanaise that probably had more grease than the entire country of Greece. I tried to get done as fast as possible, took half the family with me and popped on back to the yacht.
After finally getting to the port. Just taking a look around, not much has changed. I got in only in the evening to straight to the old town for some light pre-dinner drinks at one of the many buzzing bars, blasting loud, unrecognisable music for about an hour. Through this time, this particular evenings salon topic was the world cup. Centring around the Croatia vs. Nigeria match nothing worthy of a Nobel prize came in conversation. To Le Quai for dinner, I started with the vapeurs de crevette sauvage, or in layman's terms, the prawn ravioli, which was good but a little overdone. For my main, I tried to stick to truffles, but sadly I did not manage as I wound up having the notre filet de boeuf, morilles, canelloni foie gras, or in plain english, the beef filet with morels and foie gras cannelloni. after that we headed home to recuperate and then headed to L'Opera for some desert and the after dinner show at around one.
Start off the day with a coffee and macarons at Ladurée before the whole family splits up frantically running from store to store, breaking mannequins and tripping over packets from Dsquared2. After many tiresome hours for the credit cards, and some weight loss for your bank accounts, everyone meets at the cafe in front of Hèrmes for lunch before heading to Barbarac For what I have stated to have the best gelato that has ever been created.
Tokyo, Spring 2k18
"Yōkoso ni Tokyo", or "Welcome to Tokyo". A city, unlike anything you've ever seen before. A city that seamlessly blends it's a rich history with the most advanced echelon of high-technology. Tokyo has food as you've never seen before. To start, I suggest waking up at dawn and venturing out to the city's fish market for some of the freshest sushi in the world. The fillets of certain toro or tuna from this market can sell for as high as $40,000 per 100 grams. I happened to be in the city during the cherry blossom season, so it was perhaps one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.
As a result of Japan's rich history and strong traditions, Shrines are still very prevalent. Perchance maybe the most famous shrine of all is the Meiji Shrine. This shrine dedicated to the late great emperor who first brought wine to the country is housed in a vast and beautiful park-like area with a high density of trees as you walk toward the shrine you can see barrels or wine put in memory of the former Japanese emperor. People may go up to the shrine and pay their respects as well as pray for good fortune and fulfilment of their desires.
As is with many other cities, Tokyo is divided into districts. Some of them are Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, Odaiba, Akihabara and Harajuku. I was staying in the upmarket Ginza district where like any other upmarket area you will find every designer store imaginable. Still, the Tokyo Natives take designer shopping to a whole different level. Streets were filled with rows and rows of triplex Céline stores and entire buildings for Hèrmes.
But along with all of that were some other interesting stores, such as the 12 storey Itoya where you can get any kind of stationary imaginable. From multicoloured Paper to Mont Blanc pens. The Shinjuku district is a slightly more tourist-heavy area as it is precisely what you think of when you think of Tokyo. Bright billboards with all sorts of exciting contraptions being advertised, From vacuum cleaners that talk to you to toilets with disco lights and massagers. Colourful people dressed in cosplay costumes roam the alleys of this busy area. But none of this compares to the busiest train station in the whole world housed right in this area. If you're into the history of ancient Japanese warriors, there's a samurai museum here as well. In the Shibuya district, You can sit at a cafe looking upon the busiest crosswalk in the world; jaw dropped wide open staring at the thousands walk by in an assembly or businesspeople to busboys. Let's not forget perhaps the best thing in the entire city, the store that is Cookie Time. A place for cookie lovers with chocolate and flour and the building blocks of diabetes galore. Get a Nutella milkshake with three cookies stacked on top, or maybe you fancy a couple of packets of mini chocolate chip cookies, they've got you covered. Now bounce on over to the Harajuku area to see the most tremendous explosion of colour that your eyes will barely be able to notice, and your brain register. This buzzing district is known for its array of colourful people and street style. Quirky vintage and cosplay stores dot the streets. On Omotesando avenue are the more well known and upmarket boutiques.
Tokyo undoubtedly has the best examples of cherry blossom trees, and the natives know it. Entire Parks were dedicated just for people to gaze upon these rare beauties and wonder " I bet I could grow them too " when the reality is that they can't. So instead of thinking of where to plant your fictitious cherry blossom, enjoy the beautiful scenery and try not to think of the fact that you grossly overpaid to look at some pink trees and the fact that people are capitalising off of nature, something that technically belongs to everybody. You could even bring a nice lunch and sit in the park and enjoy it.
Edinburgh, Summer 2k17
The moment I found out I was going to Edinburgh, I thought, "Oh crap. Another boring city in another boring country."
To get to Edinburgh from London, you can either fly, take the train, or drive. I suggest taking the train because it allows you to see the beautiful English countryside in a way you never could from a plane 30,000 feet above the ground, but also travels at speed faster than any car could achieve.
If you're staying right in the city, then as soon as you touch down, you'll want to head straight to a pub for traditional English food and maybe a few pints. I highly suggest just walking up and down the streets of this magnificent city and just taking in the culture and the crowd. There are many little shops scattered all along with the city where you can pick up various novelty items like some mini bagpipes. You can even check out The Queen's residency in Edinburgh, one of her majesty's only four residencies (if the flag is hoisted that means The Queen is currently there)
If you are a massive fan of the Loch Ness Monster, then the 8-hour roundtrip is nothing. If you aren't Ness Obsessed, then a trip to Loch Lomond is a far better alternative with much shorter driving time. Both these lochs are supremely beautiful and make for some great photos. There is even a lovely hotel at Loch Lomond where you can stay for a quick relaxing trip.