I LOVE RIO! Who wouldn’t? It surely is one of the most spectacular cities in the world. Hemmed in between a huge bay, the…
Velvet Escape travel blog
Babylonstoren – a heavenly Cape Dutch wine farm
Don’t ask me to compare Babylonstoren with other Cape Dutch farms. That would be tricky. For starters, it produces wine – a feature typical…
One big happy Mercado
“Crisis? In Mercado de San Miguel, the crisis is far, far away”. I smiled. I knew exactly what she meant. I stood there, at…
A sea of tulips
Seeing the tulips fields in Holland is one of my favourite things to do in spring. Many people ask me where and when to…
A royal stay in Johannesburg
I’d just arrived in Johannesburg after an amazing trip to the four-country region – Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia – where I stayed on…
The historic baths of Budapest
A trip to Budapest will not be complete without a visit to at least one of its historic thermal baths. It’s said that the…
Luxury is in the details
I recently had a conversation with several fellow travellers about what distinguishes a luxury hotel from its peers. We exchanged notes about our stays…
A view of London through its maps
The Beefeater, Big Ben and the dome of St Paul’s are all icons of London recognised by everyone. But there’s another icon of the…
The wines of Nova Scotia
“Wines of Nova Scotia?!?!… There’s a wine industry in Nova Scotia?” Those were my exact words when I was told about Nova Scotia’s numerous…
