Lara is now an old friend. Not only does she have a huge heart, but she’s smart, curious, highly organised, resourceful, creative, uber-stylish and loves to have fun. These qualities, I discovered two months ago, earn her a new moniker – Madame Tour Guide Extraordinaire.

In May Lara took several adventuring friends and me to visit Lebanon, a 6 day trip that took her four months to plan.

To my generation, Lebanon conjures up images of bombs, beaches, tanks, night clubs, stray bullets and beautiful people. My financial manager urged me to update my life insurance plan days before I flew. “Just in case” he said. I remembered that when my ex-husband went to Beirut in the early  nineties, he slept in his running shoes.

The closest we came to stray bullets was seeing a now defunct Holiday Inn riddled with bullet holes from the Civil War (1975-1991).

Rather than being afraid, I was dazzled.  Modern buildings by star architects Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel and Herzog de Meuron dot the Beirut horizon. Meanwhile we stayed at the traditional  and charming Hotel Albergo, originally a 1920’s Lebanese house.

Fragrant fig and orange trees wafted over me as I relaxed by the hotel’s rooftop pool with views of the city, sea and distant mountains.

We swam in the sea one day, visited an ancient cedar forest bordered by snowcapped mountains the next.

Where else can you dance …

see ancient Roman ruins …

shop …

hike (contact: George Zgheib Guide  zgheibgeorge@hotmail.com)

hug a cedar

eat to your heart’s content

and contemplate?

What I  was most impressed by was how welcome we felt. The Arabic word for welcome when translated literally means “You’ve come to stay with my family.”

Lara’s colourful friend Aline invited the fourteen of us  over for lunch.

She’d been cooking for three days.

And for those who read my last blog about being obsessed by stylish interiors, imagine how crazed I was at Aline’s seaside villa:

As fellow groupie Charles told Lara,

As to the people, what can I say, except that, from now on, I will try to be more Lebanese? The warmth of the welcome from everyone was astonishing – all your enchanting family and friends of course. But also from the guides, the drivers, the ice cream makers, the dancers, the shopkeepers, the jewellers, the furniture builders, the restaurateurs, the hoteliers…

What not to miss:

The National Museum of Beirut is a must, ideally on day one. Opened in 1942, the museum is packed with ancient treasures, including mummies, sarcophaguses and gorgeous gold  jewellery that reminds me of Pippa Small’s designs. Lebanon has been occupied by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans and French, among others- so lots to see here.

This casual farmer’s kitchen El Tawlet is an ideal  Beirut lunch spot. El Tawlet was started by the entrepreneurial Kamal Mouzawak, who also created downtown Beirut’s first farmer’s market- Souk al Tayeb– held every Saturday. Women from different mountain villages cook their local dishes at El Tawlet every day, thus helping support their respective villages.  In Lebanon: Let Food Be Your Guide in Condé Nast Traveler recommends El Tawlet among others. Do not read when hungry.

For a big night out,  Em Sherif – with its mirrored tables and delicious cuisine is the place to go…

We shopped til we dropped in Beirut for everything from coffee tables at Nada Debs

to converted dentist chairs at Bokja

to kaftans at Artisans du Liban et d’Orient..

to bags at Sarah’s Bag. The bags are handmade by underprivileged Lebanese women.

Orient 499  is also worth a visit. The bullet-ridden Holiday Inn is across the street with very friendly armed guards.

There were too many shops and too little time. Lara’s suggestions for our next trip: jewellers Noor Fares, Nayla Arida,  Nada Lecavelier, Nada Zeineh, Saifi Village, and fashion designer Maison Rabih Kayrouz.

There is lots to see beyond the buzz of Beirut and nothing is more than a two-hour drive. We drove to the southern coast to admire the ruins in the antique Phoenician city of Tyre.

And sleep at the serene Dar Alma guesthouse – heaven…

We visited pretty Byblos, the oldest continuously occupied city in the world and where the word Bible comes. There, we heard simultaneously  the call to prayer and church bells….

A week was hardly long enough to get a taste for this fascinating, complicated country. I recommend Lebanon to anyone who appreciates creative, chic shops, excellent food, welcoming, sophisticated locals, nightlife, history-a-plenty,  and glorious nature.

For our return visit, Lara suggests: Sursock Museum, Mim Mineral Museum, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut Art Center. And the magnificent Roman temples in Baalbek.

ps-  for those who crave more of Lebanon, follow @livelovebeirut on Instagram.

July 2019

The post Lebanon with Madame Tour Guide Extraordinaire appeared first on Elena Bowes.

Excuse me, did you just say ‘grated reindeer heart’? I ask our Swedish waitress, as she sets the plates down in front of us.

She speaks perfect English but with a heavy accent. I probably misheard her. She nods and starts talking again.

Excuse me, I interrupt once more. Did you just say ‘smoked neck’?

Yes, neck from the Swedish dairy cow, she says, as if maybe the Swedish dairy cow part makes it ok.

I am not on a dare. Stretch, his two younger sons and I are eating dinner at Agrikultur, a top restaurant in stylish, foodie heaven Stockholm.

It’s the last night of our Scandinavian spring break tour designed around visiting Stretch’s middle son who is doing a semester abroad in Stockholm. Stretch booked this gastronomic extravaganza months ago.

I shut my eyes, banish all thoughts of Rudolph, and chew. Surprisingly tasty, weird but good weird. The food at this restaurant and Stockholm in general is sublime. A bit like Japan only the locals are blonde.

Our petite waitress places a slab of filet on an ancient piece of thick oak and directs a 2000 degree blue-flamed blow torch at the meat.  This is happening at our table. Do not repeat at home. She then puts the meat in a glass jar to be smoked over juniper embers and served with black truffles.

We finish off the meal with a tart baked on celeriac with meadowsweet cream, rhubarb, strawberry compote and cardamom.

Until tonight my stomach thought Korean Barbecue was exotic.

After dinner, we go clubbing with the boys at Café Opera.

We are going to dance all night, baby! promises Stretch, who knows I love to dance but rarely get to.

Well, Stretch and I do dance- for about half an hour- then we slump onto a bench and stare mesmerised at the dancing crowd of good-looking, sneaker clad Swedes. House music isn’t really our thing. What, no Rolling Stones? Plus digesting neck from the Swedish dairy cow and smoked reindeer is hard work.  We leave – our ears ringing-  content that we tried something new.

That’s what I love about travel – the adventure, getting out of my comfort zone, trying new things – sometimes successfully, other times not. It’s all about the journey, right?

Our Scandinavian adventure started a few days ago in Copenhagen where Stretch, his 17-year-old son and I spend two nights. As soon as we had dropped off our bags,

– view from our hotel room at the Ski Petri

we walked over to Christiania, a hippie anarchist commune with a Sixties vibe near the center of town.

You would be correct in thinking this was not my idea.

Everyone there looks about twenty with red glassy eyes. The smell of marijuana wafts around us as we wander past  dodgy looking shacks, sketchy looking dealers weighing bags of pot on metal scales set on plastic crates (easy to disband if police come). I am hoping that the roaming rottweilers are high and feeling chilled… I see a pug and relax a bit.  I try and think back to when I was twenty. Would I have liked this place then? Probably. It certainly draws a big crowd – locals and tourists.

The Gasoline Grill in Copenhagen is a takeaway burger joint and gas station where they pride themselves on their gasoline sauce.

You would be correct in thinking this was not my idea. I order the cheeseburger with gasoline sauce. It’s excellent. Not a hint of petrol. We stand in the sun, dabbing gasoline sauce off of our faces.

One thing that was my idea is visiting the Louisiana Museum just outside of Copenhagen. Touted as one of the world’s most beautiful museums, it’s been on my bucket list for a while.

Interesting fact: The Louisiana Museum is named after the site’s original builder who had three wives, all named Louise.

The museum does not disappoint. It has a dazzling collection of Giacometti…

Picasso…

Rauschenberg…

Oldenberg…

and Warhol…

But even more spectacular than the inside is the outside, where 60+ large sculptures – Calder, Serra, Henry Moore – are dotted around a sprawling lawn bordering the sea, Sweden visible in the distance. The Louisiana is a must.

As we wander through the collection, I am reminded how good Stretch is to travel with. We occasionally stop to peruse the signs posted next to the paintings. I skim, Stretch reads. One display explains the Cobra Movement. As the art expert in the couple, I like to educate Stretch…

I think the movement is based on the serpent-like gestures in the abstract works.

No, it said Cobra stands for Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Right

We go outside and I admire the lovely red and white flag blowing down by the shore.

I love the Swedish flag.

Danish

Right

Getting ready for bed that night I am about to put the hotel lotion on my face.

That’s conditioner, he says helpfully from the bedroom.

Sometimes when traveling in a group, it’s best to split up. Like when it comes to shopping or looking at body parts.

Just so you know I have zero interest in the medical museum, says Stretch. That’s like going to a hospital.

Ok, what about walking around a shopping neighbourhood?

We did that yesterday.

Stretch is referring to our single foray into a shop to buy him a warm sweater.

So while Stretch and his son cycle around the harbour I visit the fab Design

and Medical museums

Warning: next two pics NOT for the squeamish, ie Stretch types

Repeat: Warning – next pic somewhat troubling!

Can’t say you weren’t warned.

I browse the vintage furniture and design shops in historic Nyhavn. I wish I had more shopping time here.

When traveling it’s important to stay open-minded. Just as the Louisiana was on my bucket list, seeing an old preserved ship  in Stockholm is on Stretch’s. I am not a boat person. But, being the wonderful open-minded traveler that I am, I grudgingly go along to the Vasa Museum.

And am pleasantly surprised – this massive 17th c. sunken ship was found perfectly in tact nearly four hundred years later

Life on board…

Final Scandi tips –

Copenhagen: Dine at Pluto where everything is yummy, even the green salad. Visit some of the old Danish seaside towns near the Louisiana where the houses still have thatched roofs. Try and get a table at the recently reopened groundbreaking Noma restaurant near Christiania. Bike around the city if the weather is nice. Copenhagen feels much smaller, quainter and more alternative than grand, elegant, sophisticated Stockholm.

Stockholm: Drink the tap water. It’s ice cold and delicious. Uber drivers charge half what a taxi does and often have nice cars. Dine at the modern bistro Matbaren in the Grand Hotel near the harbour. Don’t miss the Photography Museum’s café for a fika snack and stunning views of the city. Do miss the Nordiska Museet and Abba Museum – unless ancient table settings or ‘Dancing Queen’ is your thing.

And of course, shut your eyes and try that smoked neck – from a Swedish dairy cow.

March 2019

The post Sensational Scandinavia – Travels with Stretch appeared first on Elena Bowes.

And it all started with a questionnaire. Two years ago Pavilion Road’s landlord Cadogan Estates conducted an in-depth survey asking local residents what they wanted in a neighbourhood. The answer was resounding:  independently owned shops selling quality produce. And with the arrival of numerous markets and farm-to-table eateries, foodies and organic enthusiasts are flocking to this popular London road.

Everyone who works in these recently opened shops is young, food-obsessed, knows how to cook and is thrilled to be there. Stop by for a demonstration on top-to-tail butchery (not for the faint of heart) at Provenance Butcher which gets its meat from just three farmers in Staffordshire and Yorkshire (247 Pavilion Road).

There is no middleman in what we do,  attests butcher George Jephson. It’s direct from the farms to us.

Borough Market’s renowned Bread Ahead has opened its third London outpost on Pavilion Road where customers can not only indulge in mouth-watering custard-filled donuts, sourdough, focaccia and all things bread-y, but learn how to make them  in daily workshops (249 Pavilion Rd).

All breads are baked on the premises where the head baker reports in for work at 1:30am.

Don’t miss this month’s weekend bagel making courses, guaranteed to rival New York’s finest.

It’s all about community, says Bread Ahead owner Matt Jones. We live in a world where everything gets delivered by drones. This is really about bringing the people back, not just to shop, but to meet other people, drop in for a cup of coffee. The majority of our customers are regulars.

Alongside Provenance and Bread Ahead is Pavilion Wine (255 Pavilion Rd).  London Cheesemongers (251 Pavilion Rd) .

and fruit and vegetable specialist Natoora (245 Pavilion Rd)

Australian chef Bill Granger will be bringing his popular all-day dining restaurant Granger’s to Pavilion Road in early June.

It will be his forth London outpost after Notting Hill, Clerkenwell and King’s Cross. A vegan café will follow later this summer, and rumour has it that coffee specialists The Roasting Party are also slated to join the hood. Plus a new restaurant will open its doors on this foodie mecca next spring as part of the recently renovated boutique gem 11 Cadogan Gardens Hotel. Informal café April’s already exists in a lush courtyard off the cobblestone Chelsea street.

For those looking to burn off all that gruyere,  sourdough and Cabernet, Pavilion Road will be getting a swanky gym called KX Urban this autumn. The sprawling 7,655 square foot wellbeing and fitness hub will be open to non-members.

Later this month (May 22-27) the Chelsea Flower Show hits town. And so does Chelsea in Bloom, safari inspired floral displays across 50 Chelsea shops, including some on Pavilion Road.

Chelsea just gets better and better.

 May, 2017

The post Foodie Mecca Comes to Chelsea appeared first on Elena Bowes.

Mommy, why is my panini taking so long?

My youngest is 18, but when Julia gets hungry, an uncomfortable, alien feeling for her, she reverts to her grumpy four- year-old self.

Julia, it always takes this long, comforts her older, wiser sister Kate.

The three of us (son Thomas is stuck in NYC working) are at a shoebox size Italian deli called Kiki é Mo’s on the Caribbean island of St Barth’s, a deli that we have been to countless times over the years. The service has always been wishful thinking, the paninis forever over-priced, and yet, we always come back. Why?

Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. I could easily get buried alive in memories. It’s a slippery slope.

This Christmas I had to stop myself from telling my boyfriend Stretch all about how great St Barth’s used to be.

See over there? I point out the car window to a distant corner of the airport runway, “that used to be where the landing strip was with one bench under a tree for people to sit on.

I quickly point again.

See that chic looking restaurant? That was where this hip beach shack called Chez Francine was. Chalkboard menus, fantastic lobster, everyone just wore bathing suits to lunch. The island was soooo different.”

We drive a bit further past the village of St Jean of Nikki Beach fame, way too nouveau for me. I’m in full-throttle flashback to the disco eighties.

See that house on the point, up there, that was Autour du Rocher, the only nightclub, if you could call it that, really just a deck with music. So fun!

I glance at Stretch. Stretch is quiet. I am quiet.

That’s when I made my NY’s Resolution. This year, 2017, is all about looking forward, embracing change, going for it.

So on that note – here are some new spots I like in St Barth’s now. Reader beware, like Chez Francine (I’m not reminiscing here, just giving you a reference point), the places I like are chilled, low-key, discreet.

Top on my list is new hotel Villa Marie in Colombier, the fifth pearl in Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet’s string of charming French hotels. The décor is warm and inviting, blending French Colonial with ethnic Caribbean with a dash of Parisian joie de vivre. The 18-bungalow hotel is decorated with mahogany fans, bamboo egg chairs, vintage rattan furniture, antiques, sea shells

and jazzy pineapple-themed cushions,

plus lush trees and plants galore and some resident parrots by the pool. This is a hideaway hotel, ideal for couples – Julia and me, trés romantique!

For families with young children I like Le Bartholémey over in Grand Cul de Sac with its enticing pool by the sea, terrace restaurant for lunch and holistic spa boasting an eco-friendly nail bar. How forward-looking is that?! We saw lots of families with young children running around so this spot is best-suited for those in that toddler-loving/surviving mind-set.

Just down the beach is toe-in-the-sand, yummy lunch spot La Gloriette (a bit like Chez Francine in a facing-forward 2017 kind of way).

For those who don’t want to rent a villa or stay in one of the swankier, pricier hotels on the island, the minimal, stylish Emeraud Plage on St Jean beach offers a peaceful, pretty, convenient option.

Stroll down the beach and enjoy lunch at La Plage with its new chef, David Sendron. Or check out Le Papillon Ivre, a wine bar in St Jean where the locals like to hang. Pizza lovers should head to Gustavia for a slice at  L’Isoletta.

Bon Appetit and Bonne Année!

January, 2017

The post New Year, New Attitude appeared first on Elena Bowes.

Why are you going? You don’t ski. You’ve never met the people you’ll be staying with. And you’re flying thousand of miles for the pleasure. Are you nuts, my therapist asked.

Obviously, I thought. That’s why I’m sitting on this sofa facing you. Haha. Jokes aside, I will admit that I was a bit anxious about spending a week in a ski resort when I had decided post multiple knee surgeries and divorce that skiing and helmut hair could be scratched off my list with indelible ink. Then my boyfriend invited me to Aspen, and ignoring my eldest daughter’s sage beauty advice to stick to urban holidays, I said yes. There must be other things to do in Aspen besides shredding the gnar. 

In fact, Aspen is loaded with “other things”. Top on the list is mountain restaurant  Cloud Nine where as much champagne is sprayed as consumed, skiers dance on tables and things get so heated that everyone cools down by removing their tops. The source of this good info was our gregarious host Rick. His adorable wife Zibby was equally as helpful although their strengths differ; Rick excels at apres-ski, night-life, the Best of Jimmy Fallon and value for dollar, Zibby everything else. So our bases were covered.

Day One I went to O2, a great yoga/pilates spot that offers conventional yoga classes which I loved,

and  unconventional classes which I boldly tested. Cirque de Soleil for the newbie, otherwise known as Aerial Yoga, is not as easy as it looks.  No, I am not one of the lovelies below.

O2  offers classes with names like “How to Practice during Your Lunar Cycle”, “Soul Quest”,  “Messages from the Other Side” (not the other side of the wall) which, had I more time and knowing me, I definitely would have tried.

But instead the friendly town of Aspen beckoned. March is sale time, and from Loro Piana and Dior down to Stash and Dragon’s Den, there are shops to satisfy every taste bud.

I like the one-off spots, such as Souchi, run by the charming Suzi Johnson below, who knits by night and sells by day.

Suzi used to have a knitting studio, two shops in Portland, Oregon, sell wholesale and to Net a Porter. Then she fell in love with Aspen and decided to scale back her business. (Suzi doesn’t ski either, by the way).

I love designing and making things. Now I don’t have to design a sweater that Nashville, San Francisco and New York all like.

She makes beautiful hats, tops and head scarves in a range of colors.

I could while away the whole day at my next stop – the cosy and well-stocked Explore Bookshop adjoined by the light-filled Pyramid Bistro, a nutritarian restaurant (yes, that’s a word) that is as delicious as it is healthy.

From books to art- the Aspen Art Museum designed by 2014 Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban, his first museum in the States, is an eye-catching addition to the mountain town. Both current exhibitions by Liz Larner and Judith Scott are worth a visit. The guards could double as guides, they are so well-informed and helpful. Catch some rays on the sun-trap terrace  facing out onto the dramatic Aspen Mountains.

Another cultural highlight not to miss is Winter Words at the Aspen Institute. I listened to Pulitzer Prize-winning husband and wife authors Tony Horwitz and Geraldine Brooks. I was prepared to hate this over-achieving super-couple, but they were too funny, insightful, down-to-earth and normal.

I have to confess that I did end up donning skis. Turns out the only way to get to champagne-fueled Cloud Nine is on skis. Talk about motivation. I started out with cross-country which was heavenly, and then moved onto downhill – which I actually enjoyed.

 Cloud Nine, here I come! So much for not skiing in Aspen.

March, 2016

The post Aspen Sans Skis appeared first on Elena Bowes.