This article first appeared in The Sunday times SA on 25 June 2017 * Venice is gorgeous and can be done in 48 hours if that’s all the time you have… 1. Breakfast and Brunch Venetians don’t do breakfasts the way the rest of us do. They tend to stop at a cafe en route somewhere, […]
Travel
Milan in a day…what to do
In Milan for a day? Fret not, you can still get a satisfying sense of the city by visiting these few places, a mix of the old and the new. The Duomo (cathedral) ~ the vast white Gothic wonder that is a must on any traveller’s bucket list. It is the third largest cathedral in the […]
LIDO: Paris Merveilles is a sensational show!
Many years ago, at age 22, I was granted an audition with the Bluebell Girls in Paris. I never took the opportunity as went to join a ballet company in New York instead but as I sat last week watching the sumptuous production that is Paris Merveilles at The Lido on the Champs–Élysées, I remembered […]
Paris Do’s & Don’ts…a few tips for first timers
These are a few notes I made on this trip to the City of Lights, tips I hope you’ll find to be useful. (If you’re a woman travelling solo, I have a more in-depth post on this to make your journey a little smoother) Apps Make sure you’ve downloaded Google Maps. It’s brilliant for finding […]
Eco commitment in the Cederberg with Bushmanskloof
This article first appeared in The Cape Times South Africa on 24 May 2017 Last weekend, I was privileged to be able to attend the annual cedar tree planting event at Heuningvlei in the Cederberg Mountains. The event, hosted by the local community, Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat and CapeNature, is one of the […]
Majeka House, a hotel that feels like home
Staying at Majeka House, feels like you’re visiting the home of a good friend There’s an art to a fine welcome. A sincere bienvenue is often all it takes to turn an average experience into a superior one – no matter the star rating – and the owners and staff at Majeka House have […]
A stylish Allée Bleue chicnic
The blue avenue awaits… Allée Bleue, meaning blue avenue in French is a picturesque wine estate in Groot Drakenstein, about 18km’s outside Franchhoek. It is located in one of the Western Cape’s most glorious areas that was settled by forward thinking French Huguenots in 1688. The valley and surrounds showcases a multitude of exceptional wine farms and […]
Motorcycling women…femininity on two wheels…
This article first appeared in The Times on Wednesday 3 May 2017 “Riding a bike is like an art- something you do because you feel something inside” – Valentino Rossi. Exhilaration! Anyone who has ever swung a leg over a saddle, turned the throttle and pulled off into the headwind will testify to the euphoria […]
Street art in Salt River, a hue revolution
This article first appeared in the Sunday Times SA, on 16 April 2017 Salt River in Cape Town has undergone a hue revolution. In February, 44 street artists descended on the suburb armed with tins of paint, spray cans, brushes and masks. With tools of creativity in hand and transformation in mind, they deposited […]
Bosjes Chapel, poetry of form in the Breede River Valley
This article first appeared in The Times newspaper on 15 March 2017 (All photographs are taken by Allison Foat. Copyright CT Diva) Zaha Hadid once said that architecture should be able to “excite you, calm you and make you think”. The newly completed Bosjes Chapel does just that and is arguably the pièce resistance of the […]