Urbane Explorer

June – August 2008 ISSN 1750-3272 www.avantoure.com $5.00 | £2.50 | €3.50

JACKPOT

The Art of Authentic Travel SCHOOL OF TRICKERY

Sorted for Anything

Sexy on Wheels The Virgin Billionaire Extreme Dubai Where to Stay in Europe

...

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4 EDITOR LETTER 6 OUR CONTRIBUTORS 10 CALENDAR JACKPOT 14

Sexy on Wheels

by Denae D’Arcy A profile of a world-famous racing driver, Michele Shapiro

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The Art of Authentic Travel

by Tom Marchant Discovering secrets of how to travel

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The Virgin Billionaire

by Mark Macias A look at billionaire Richard Branson and his wholehearted approach to life

TROPHIES 28

Travel Companion

by Rania Haditirto A review of the most versatile luggage for modern travellers

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Avantourist Accessories A themed collection of objects inspired by travel

ANTHOLOGY OF TEMPTATION 40

What a Drink Says about a Girl

by Mark Macias A look at the psychology of women’s behavior in New York and London bars

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Jungle Romance A visualized story of urban explorers in a jungle

SCHOOL OF TRICKERY 58

Sorted for Anything

by Victoria Gill A peek into the life of fixers and the privileged world they supply

ADRENALINE RAINBOW 64

Enjoying the Real Africa in Style

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Sleeping with Strangers

by Mark Macias Travelling the world by sleeping at strangers’ homes

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Restaurant line up

by Joe Warwick A list of restaurants around the world

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Enjoying the Real Africa in Style

by Tremayne Carew Pole Exploring Zambian wildlife on walking safaris

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Where to Stay in Europe

by Daisy Finer A list of affordable chic hotels in five European cities

HOMO LUDENS 90

Extreme Dubai

by Hallie Campbell A review of extreme sports on offer in Dubai

96 BEHIND THE SCENES 98 The Art of Authentic Travel

Extreme Dubai

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Spa Supplement 5 extraordinary Resorts & Spas around the globe

Calendar – Ommegang Pageant

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Restaurant line up

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THE WORLD IS A BOOK Travelling is like reading a book whose ending is unknown; each page offers a new turn in the plot and a new adventure. The further you go, the more you see and learn, the wiser you become – but the minute you think you know it all a new twist is revealed which turns everything upside down and leads into a new adventure.

So bon voyage… Read between the lines, savour each moment, and don’t skip pages. And if you choose to travel with a companion, remember Hemingway’s advice: “Never go on trips with some one you do not love.”

This issue of Avantoure has been co-edited and produced with the help of A Hedonist's Guide To... (www.hg2.com)

PS. We apologize to a fantastic multi-media artist/actor, Suzanne Bella Land, whom we forgot to credit for a wonderful vocal job she did on Show Must Go On photo shoot (April-May 2008 issue)

Serafima Bogomolova Publisher

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Suzanne Bella Land Suzanne, aka “Bella”, is a multi-media artist/actor and audio content entrepreneur. Music composition, acting, filmmaking, narration, art, poetry oration, clinical hypnosis/motivational recordings and singing (Ambient indie) are her passions. She divides her time between London and LA, where she is excited to be collaborating with film score composer Jeff Rona (Chill Factor, Traffic, Sharkwater) on original material for which she wrote the lyrics. For avantoure Bella has composed a music piece for the shoot and did some vocals for the Spa supplement.

Ivan Listo Our Art Director Ivan is a keen traveller who indulges in beautifully designed things. He believes that the essence of any design is communication. By scrutinizing the world he finds new ways of communicating through typography and graphic design. The ethos of his work is understated elegance.

Mark Macias Mark is a television producer living in Manhattan, who loves to travel the world. Before moving to New York, he worked as a reporter for The Arizona Republic and State Press Magazine in Arizona. For our current issue Mark wrote What a Drink Says about a Girl, The Virgin Billionaire and Sleeping with Strangers.

Rania Haditirto Since moving to New York to pursue her career as a modern dancer, Rania has worked at Elle, WNET Channel Thirteen, and as a freelance photographer. She loves outdoor sports and travel, and plays bass in a rock band. Rania is our Contributing Feature Editor.

Denae D’Arcy A travel journalist who lives in Oregon, Denae has been on assignments to Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Italy, France, South Africa and the United States. She previously worked as a news reporter for CNN, CBS, ABC and The Weather Channel. For avantoure Denae has written Sexy on Wheels.

Tremayne Carew Pole Tremayne Carew Pole is the founder and MD of the travel series A Hedonist's Guide To... His love of all things travel has led him from the diamond mines of Sierra Leone to tracking lions in Zambia.

For avantoure Tremayne has written Enjoying the Real Africa in Style article. www.hg2.com

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Reka Nyare Reka always wanted to be a painter. She studied Fine Arts at SVA in New York, sweating over large, hyper-realist oil-paintings of nude men and women, before travelling the world for three years as a model.

On returning to New York, Reka discovered that she liked being behind the camera more than being in front of it, and now devotes her life to photography, shooting editorials, fashion campaigns, CD covers and art.

For avantoure, Reka captured sensual moments of Jungle Romance.

Victoria Gill A broadcaster and journalist whose work has featured in Cosmopolitan, Glamour, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Sunday Times Magazine, Style and Travel, The Times and Time Out, Victoria has traversed six continents in pursuit of luxury and a damned good time.

For avantoure she has reviewed affordable chic hotels in Europe.

Hallie Campbell Hallie Campbell is an award-winning travel and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Conde Nast Traveller, House & Garden, Harper’s Bazaar, The Week and Spa Health & Beauty. She is the author of DubaiChic, a guide to the best of Dubai, and reviewed extreme sports in Dubai for this issue of avantoure.

Erin Since graduating from the Tisch School of The Arts, Erin has directed a music video for underground New York artist Madison and an experimental short film, Seven Mermaid Sisters. She currently assists the OscarNominated filmmaker Obie Benz and was recently the associate producer of award-winning playwright Catherine Filloux's Killing the Boss. As an actress she recently appeared in Brady Corbet's film Protect You + Me and is raising funds for his third film Ribbonss. For avantoure she modelled in the Jungle Romance photo shoot.

Photography by Shannon Sinclair

NickSteele Nick is a native Californian who grew up in Orange County and took an Honours degree in Psychology at UC San Diego. Since then he has modelled and acted, appearing with Britney Spears in her Fantasy perfume commercial, and in numerous television shows, films and commercials. An avid world traveller, Nick currently spends his time in Los Angeles and New York, where he is represented by LA Models and Q Models. For avantoure Nick modelled in the Jungle Romance photo shoot.

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AVANTOURE Life is a game

Editorial

June – August 2008

editor@avantoure.com

This issue is co-edited and produced with the help of A Hedonist's Guide to...

Advertising

(www.hg2.com)

ads@avantoure.com

Publisher and Founder

Marketing and Sponsorship

Serafima Bogomolova

publisher@avantoure.com

CEO and Co-Founder

Subscriptions

Ilkka Huotelin

subscriptions@avantoure.com

Contributing Feature Editor, New York

Cover

Rania Haditirto

Photography by Ivan Listo

Contributing Feature Editor, London

Published by Avantoure UK Ltd. (Reg. No 5670709), Cregmalin, Mount Ararat

Denae D’Arcy

Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 6PA UK Tel: +44(0)208 940 71 57 info@avantoure.com

Contributing Feature Editors, Moscow Andrei Polonsky and Alexei Yakovlev

www.avantoure.com

Copy Editor

ISSN 1750-3272

Daniel Richardson

Digital format supported by Zinio Systems Inc., 139 Townsend Street, Suite 300

Art Direct and designer

San Francisco, California 94107 Te: +1415-494-2700 www.zinio.com

Ivan Listo Multimedia Design Kirill Petrov (www.pkdesign.spb.ru)

AVANTOURE magazine is published 6 times a year. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without the written authorisation of the publisher. Editorial opinions expressed in

Audio and music

this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Suzanne Bella Land

AVANTOURE magazine does not accept responsibility for the advertising content.

The publisher and the authors do not accept any liability whatsoever in respect of any action

Photographer Reka Nyari (www.rekanyari.com) Illustrations Cinzia Cecere Contributing Writers Contributing Writers: Denae D’Arcy, Mark M. Macias, Rania Haditirto, Tremayne Carew Pole, Daisy Finer, Hallie Campbell, Victoria Gill, Tom Marchant, Joe Warwick.

Financial controller John M. Cade

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taken by readers on the recommendations set out in this magazine.

calendar

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June 10 – 20, Thailand

WAT SUAN MOKKH If weeks of meetings have left you stressed, seek spiritual solace at the Wat Suan Mokkh, a ten-day Buddhist meditation camp at Surat Thani in Thailand. Yoga classes, meditation and chanting will leave you refreshed and relaxed, with no phones, computers or other distractions.

It’s not an experience for the idle; participants are expected to help out with chores. www.suanmokkh.org

June 26 – JULY 5, South Africa

NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL The National Arts Festival at Grahamstown brings the finest artists and performers in South Africa together for a cornucopia of dance, drama, opera, music and exhibitions in diverse languages. As a showcase for talent, the event’s slogan is: “You saw it first at the festival.” www.nationalartsfestival.co.za

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July 1 – 3, Belgium

OMMEGANG PAGEANT First held in 1549, the Ommegang Pageant in Brussels is a theatrical reenactment of a medieval royal procession on the Grand Place, still attended by Belgium’s monarch – a symbol of national statehood in a country divided between French and Walloon speakers with little in common. The mainly folkloric pageant is all pomp and no substance. www.ommegang.be

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calendar

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July 5, Germany

NIGHT OF FIRE The ominously-named Night of Fire or Rhine in Flames festival is a mind-blowing display of ďŹ reworks illuminating castles and churches along the Rhine, with a regatta of 50 decorated boats between Bingen and Rudesheim, near Bonn.

Watch from the riverbanks or on boats laid-on for visitors.

The display is free. www.rhein-in-ammen.de

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June 26 – 29, Tennessee

KUUMBA FESTIVAL Kuumba is the Swahili word for ‘creativity’ – the festival being a celebration of African-American culture and traditions, held at Knoxville, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States.

Now in its nineteenth year of featuring wild folk dancing, folk stories and spicy traditional foods, the free weekend event is held at Knoxville’s Chilhowee Park. www.kuumbafesttn.com

August 1, France

PINK GARLIC FESTIVAL Garlic is a condiment used in all Mediterranean cuisines, esteemed since ancient times: bulbs were buried with Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Today, it is celebrated by the Pink Garlic Festival in Lautrec, featuring competitions testing who can string the most bulbs end to end, and delicious food such as the famous pink garlic soup, prepared by vats. www.ailrosedelautrec.com

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sexyo

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yon wheels

She’s tall, wildly sexy and can handle a car better than almost any man on the planet. Michele Shapiro is a world-famous racing driver who has raced everywhere from Paris to Peking, and looks great in high heels. I love her and would die to meet her, but have to make do through email. This gal is busy...

by Denae D’Arcy

Michele can also write with the same ease as she drives, for publications such as Forbes and Glamour. She takes time to keep journals during racing tours and posts them online for her thousands of fans. And why wouldn’t she be popular?

She’s everything most women dream to be: smart, fashionable, adventurous – and unusual.

“My first idol was Speed Racer,” Michele says. “When people would ask me what I wanted to be, as a child, I would say a racecar driver. As a young girl I would buy Vogue and Car & Driver.

I didn’t want to be a boy, I very much wanted to be feminine, travel to exotic places, and race cars.”

Her racing career has taken Michele around the globe and across the Sahara.

In 2004 she became the first American to drive in the Rally Aicha de Gazelles.

The eight-day rally involved a grueling schedule for Michele and her crew, as a passage in her journal states:

“On Friday we will meet up with some of the Nissan teams and drive 500 miles down to Sete in the south of France. In Sete we board a ferry, travel overnight and wake up the next day in Tangiers. From Tangiers we drive 10 hours southeast to Erfoud which is on the edge of the Sahara. All this of course is before the race even begins. On the 22nd we start the race which lasts 8 days until the 29th. After the race we drive 300 miles to a five-star hotel in Marrakech where we will finally rejoice at having our first real shower in over a week. Then it’s back to Paris and finally New York. We’re almost at the stroke of midnight and it still all seems so far away.”

Not only does she race, she wins!

Michele was the winner of the 2004 European Bullrun Rally – racing 160mph across Europe in a Morgan Aero 8 – and one of the top three finalists out of 400 applicants for the Subaru drag racing

female driver search in Los Angeles.

Michele had never drag-raced before, either – it’s simply that she’s a natural racing driver. “I’m constantly looking for new ways to challenge myself. My favorite challenges involve driving cars I’ve never driven before in places I’ve never been before.”

One of her most publicized races started in London and ended in Ibiza.

“The insanity all began at Marble Arch.... Rows of exotic cars lined up in front of the British monument. There were Ferraris, an Ascari, a TVR, and other assorted supercars. I was lucky enough to be driving a Morgan Aero 8 with my co-driver the infamous Alex Roy [of Polizei fame]. Drivers were dressed in everything from a grey flannel suit to a CBGB’s t-shirt to my haute couture gown and Alex’s tux.

Finally when it was time we grabbed a card with the information on the next checkpoint and we’re off. Racing

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“I’m constantly looking for new ways to challenge myself. My favorite challenges involve driving cars I’ve never driven before in places I’ve never been before.” through the streets of London we scared more than a few unwitting British drivers.

We all arrived at the first ferry on time for our crossing to France. On board we met other drivers and shared stories about run-ins with the cops, talking the cops out of tickets or jail, outrunning the cops, well you get the idea. Once we landed it was time to get focused again. To Paris we go, the Paris Hilton to be exact (insert your own joke here). There’s barely time to get ready so a quick change of clothes and

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we’re off to Le Suite. We dine on seared Tuna and toast with lots of champagne.

After dinner the models and Parisian A-listers come to join us for some dancing while Pete Tong and David Guletta spin for our pleasure.

After a night of serious partying, morning doesn’t look too pretty.

But we’ve got places to go so sleeping in is not an option. Barcelona is the next destination, a country away so a lot of ground needs to be covered.

On the way Bullrun provides for us in style. For lunch we stop at a beautiful hillside chateaux. After a decadent meal served by a local French chef, we’ve got the energy we need to carry on to Barcelona. Once at the hotel I had been looking forward to relaxing in their state of the art spa, but opted for sleep instead. With an early start again I was wishing for some more of that French coffee but alas Spanish will have to do. The goal today is to make it from Barcelona to Valencia for the ferry to Ibiza. The ferry waits for no man, or woman or car for that matter.

As on Bullrun things happen but you must deal with all situations in stride for you never know how it might work out. For us and a few other cars this is how the day went. First we were stopped for a half hour on the road

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while they cleared an accident, which put us a little behind. Then after a toll booth five cars were pulled over.

Since we were already at the toll booth we were rolling along at five mph so we couldn’t figure out why they had stopped us. The police didn’t like the stickers and felt we were up to no good. Ok, so we were up to no good but they couldn’t prove it. In my best Spanish I tried to explain that we had not been speeding and the stickers had to do with a charity. They said they’d be happy to talk about it back at the station. Apparently in Spain proof has little meaning so instead of wasting precious time I just asked how much they wanted and we were on our way.

We had missed the first ferry but a quick check showed the next ferry leaving shortly and the one after that

wasn’t until midnight. So after we said we weren’t speeding we pushed the throttle to the floor and tested just how fast the Morgan could go.

We pull the car onto the ferry and the doors close right behind us, there were only two cars that made it.

When we land we realize we hadn’t received the card for the day since it was given out at the ferry. After Querying a few locals we pull into the hotel, but there’s no one there. The first ferry hit some waves and was re-routed to the other side of the island. After everything that went wrong that day, we made it to the hotel first.”

Michele’s life is fast-paced and glamorous – but she’s also educated.

She is earning her Master’s in International Affairs at New York University, has an Academic Fellowship

and top honors each semester. How does she do it?

But racing will always comes first. She had a chance to drive behind Mario Andretti during a Bullrun rally from New York to LA, starting in Times Square and driving her dream car the Spyker, “The place is buzzing with a crowd of excited people and although it is 8:00 in the morning I suspect some people are still a bit drunk from the party the night before at Marquee.

This crowd is probably a bit noisier however. When you have 100 cars lined up end to end and all the engines fire up at once, well, screaming teens from New Jersey hoping to catch a glimpse of Justin Timberlake in TRL studios aren’t even that loud. We are on the front line in between Corey

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“If I can just get Tom Ford to design my racing suit I’ll really be in heaven,” she replies, as fast as she drives.

Feldman in a Silver Lotus Elise and a silver Mosler. When the flag drops we are led off the grid by the one and only Mario Andretti driving a black Panoz.

You don’t get better than that.

We take off racing the streets of New York and the adrenaline is pumping. We get the route card and I look for the GPS to dial it in. The dash in the Spyker, a combination of the finest buttery leather and brushed steel, is perhaps the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen. Only today it’s missing one crucial component, a GPS. There is also no map or radar. We decide to make Mario our GPS, and given that we’re heading to the Poconos Raceway in Pennsylvania we should be all set.

We go through a tunnel and the Sypker, a Ford GT and suped-up Studebaker all rev at once. I get chills.

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It’s an ideal driving situation-cruising down the highway, top down, in the most stunning car on the road, right behind Mario Andretti. Both Victor and I love cars; we’re purists, we’re fanatics, we’re idiots. When the sky turns ash gray and drops begin to fall, most people would pull to the side and put the top on. When this happened neither one of us said anything. We thought that sheer will and our love of driving sans roof would simply make the weather go away. It didn’t.

Instead, the sky opened up and we had ourselves an unsolicited shower.

Once drenched there was nothing to do but to pull over. It might have had something to do with the fact that we couldn’t even see the road anymore.

I opened the door, swung out my leg, and my best pair of Gucci stiletto boots

was met with a deep puddle of mud.

We manage to get the top on and once inside, soaking wet from Gucci boots to Prada sunglasses, there was nothing to do but to laugh.”

Michele seeks adventure off the race track as well. She’s swum with wild dolphins in Egypt and with sea lions in the Galapagos. She’s shot poison blow darts in the Amazon and spent two months sailing the Caribbean. So what else is there left to do?

“If I can just get Tom Ford to design my racing suit I’ll really be in heaven,” she replies, as fast as she drives

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Independent Advice for Intelligent Travellers

A Hedonist’s Guide to...

Hg2

www.hg2.com

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THE ARTOF

AUTHENTIC TRAVEL

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It’s a truism that travel broadens the mind – but is it true? I’d say yes, but with the caveat that it doesn’t apply to all travel. The secret is to understand how to travel – the sure-fire way to return home culturally enriched, with memories to last a lifetime – and tales to entertain your friends and relatives at least once...

by Tom Marchant

The secret is to pursue an authentic experience. That doesn’t have to mean an off-the-beaten-track destination, or that you must be Bear Grylls or Ray Mears. By authentic I mean seeing a place as the locals do, or nature intends – an experience that reveals its soul.

Such experiences are still available the world over in all kinds of forms – in major cities, great wildernesses, and probably just down the road from any fancy hotel you’ve stayed in.

I’m not suggesting you eschew luxury hotels. Working in the luxury travel industry I’m a connoisseur of great ones – from the magnificently traditional The Imperial in Delhi to the ultra-hip Setai in Miami – and guarantee you’ll have a wonderful time there. I’m just suggesting you give yourself a chance to get under the skin of a city, a country, a culture. Combining local

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ANOTHER WAY TO TAKE THE PULSE OF A CITY IS TO FIND A GOOD WATERING HOLE OR SOMEWHERE WITH LIVE MUSIC. experiences with creature comforts is far better than being limited to your luxury hotel or a circuit tour of such places.

If you’re staying at The Imperial, find time to wander labyrinthine Old Delhi and sip fresh lime juice in the front room of a hospitable local’s house as they prepare parkoras. Let yourself be overcome by the aromas of street stalls while beautiful women in saris pass by on rickshaws and children play cricket with a broom handle, upturned crates for wickets and a cork for the ball. There’s no need to live rough for days to achieve an authentic experience in Delhi.

Another way to take the pulse of a city is to find a good watering hole or somewhere with live music.

I’ve fond memories of people met in bars in Belgrade and Moscow, and wandering the back streets of Panama City or Havana, my ears guiding me to underground jazz bars.

Or you can pursue an authentic

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experience by heading for the wilds.

In Brazil, forgo tourist settlements in the easier to reach parts of the Amazon for the truly remote Pantanal, to spend weeks trekking in the jungle, fishing, searching for anacondas or marvelling at the night skies untouched by any visual pollution. In Mongolia, ride a horse into the Gobi Desert and camp out under the stars in the footsteps of Genghis Kahn.

None of these trips requires luxury hotels, or extreme training – simply a good guide and a travel company to point you in the right direction.

With the mass of information and companies on the internet, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees.

My advice is, ask questions. If you want to use a travel company, test their mettle with probing queries, such as the logistics of wilderness journeys. Don’t be gulled by buzz words like ‘unique’ and ‘rare’ – ask them to justify such terms. But before you start, ask yourself what

kind of experience you want. If hotel based only, then look for something with character in harmony with the environment. Take cues from books or films: Che Guevara’s motorcycle diaries inspired me to board a bike in Chile, and ethnic music is another source of ideas – the Festival of the Desert in Timbuktu is next on my wish list.

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BILLIONAIR

THE VIRGIN

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When I grow up, I want to be just like Richard Branson.

I don’t care if I’m thirty, fifty or eighty years old, I want to live a life flushed with adventure, riches, curiosity and passion, as Branson does. Admit it – you know I’m not alone in this adulation.

by Mark Macias

What other 58-year-old man can pull off attending a board meeting wearing jeans and sandals, with a goatee beard and long blond hair, without looking like a middle-aged guy in search of his youth? Branson not only makes it look suave, but his flamboyant style is frequently copied on the catwalks of Paris and New York.

Branson not only has style, he has substance. Earlier this year, the billionaire entrepreneur invited the founders of Google, Wikipedia and Microsoft, the rock legend Bono and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair – among others – to his own private Caribbean island to discuss global warming.

“So, do we really think the world is on fire?” asked Branson as his guests sipped expensive wines, before they brainstormed for solutions to the global crisis. And at the end of the day when they were done pontificating, Branson took them to another private island for a party filled with beautiful women dancing in skimpy bikinis. “Normally the girls would be naked, but the prime minister is here,” he told the New York Times.

When you’re listed by Forbes Magazine as the 236th richest man in the world, worth an estimated $7.9 billion, what else can you pursue? If you’re a restless soul like Branson, you’ll decide to explore outer space, as he did in 2004 when he announced that he would fund a space tourism company called Virgin Galactic, to take adrenaline junkies into suborbital space aboard “Spaceship One” – an idea that only

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Business isn’t what he does for a living. It’s a playground where he can live out every dream and idea as if engaged in a sport, one where winning is creating a business that others thought impossible.

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a dreamer could imagine or a doer, like Branson, could accomplish.

Branson’s ambition and drive for money and power started in adolescence. When most boys his age were playing make-believe, Branson was working to achieve his dreams.

He started his first business at fifteen, selling Christmas trees and budgerigars.

It failed, but Branson didn’t give up.

The year after he started a magazine called Student, which he sold to fellow pupils. The magazine turned a profit and Branson was hooked on the power of money.

Student was a gargantuan feat given that Branson was dyslexic, which put him at a disadvantage among his peers. “Since nobody had ever heard of dyslexia, being unable to read, write or spell just meant to the rest of the class and the teachers that you were either stupid or lazy,” he recalls. “And at prep school you were beaten for both.”

But no one is mocking Branson now. He commands a worldwide empire called Virgin Group, a venture capital corporation involved in ventures from telecommunications to transportation, financial services,

music publishing and retail. Products and services carrying the Virgin name include cosmetics, mobile phones, airlines, railways and even bridal gowns.

Virgin Group employs over 50,000 people in 29 countries, earning an estimated $20 billion dollars a year. A recent survey showed Virgin is the most respected brand and Branson the most admired person in Britain.

This world-recognized brand was born in the backseat of a car in the 1970s.

The very first Virgin label was a business selling “cut-out” records at a discount, cheaper than high-street outlets. At the time, retailers let customers listen and handle albums in record booths, but Branson’s mail-order LPs were new and untouched. When he was looking for a company name a friend suggested “Virgin”, since his product was pure and

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Branson’s ambition and drive for money and power started in adolescence. When most boys his age were playing make-believe, Branson was working to achieve his dreams. clean – thus an iconic name was born.

Over time, the label burgeoned into such entities as Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Books, Virgin Credit Cards, Virgin Active, Virgin Trains, Virgin Holidays and Virgin Music. For a virgin, this company definitely gets around.

His achievements are openly admired and envied by other entrepreneurs. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and chairman of HDNet, wrote in Time Magazine: “I can only imagine that the man falls asleep at night dreaming about what adventure he may undertake next.

Business isn’t what he does for a living.

It’s a playground where he can live out every dream and idea as if engaged in a sport, one where winning is creating a business that others thought impossible. I have no doubt that when Richard Branson dies, he would want to

come back as Richard Branson.”

But if he could have his life all over again, Sir Richard Branson (knighted for his entrepreneurship in 1999) claims that he would give up his British citizenship for a surfboard. “If I was born again I would be absolutely delighted to be born in Sydney,” he told the city’s Daily Telegraph. “I would’ve loved to have been brought up as a kid surfing the beaches. I surfed today and have been surfing Bondi every day since I’ve been here.”

Such a passion is hardly surprising for a man who’s attempted to beat several world records. In 1985 he tried to cross the Atlantic in the fastest recorded time; his boat capsized and the Royal Air Force had to rescue him from the ocean. Most men would have given up after such misfortune, but not Branson. The following year he tried

again – and beat the previous record by two hours.

There is much to learn from Branson. He never gives up, is constantly in motion, always thinking of the next big idea. He knows that life moves quickly and only those who pursue it wholeheartedly get to relish its rewards. He’s accomplished everything: made money, married a beautiful woman, bought homes in exotic locations spanning the globe...

“Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I’ve just had the most incredible dream. I’ve just dreamt my life,” he’s famously said. Moreover, he’s lived it.

No wonder I and many others wish to be like Richard Branson.

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Luggage by Titan

Luggage by Mandarina Duck

travel compa When asked about travel, Earnest Hemingway once advised to “never go on trips with someone you do not love.”

This is wise advice, because, like bad luggage, bad company can ruin a great trip. Any well-travelled person would probably agree with the great writer, but might well add the proviso “never go on trips with luggage you do not love,” because good luggage can be your best companion. avantoure | trophies

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by Rania Haditirto

During the golden age of travel, the luggage of choice was a massive steamer trunk equipped with all the necessities for an ocean voyage of several weeks, which required one or two porters to shift it. A clunky seven-piece trunk set looked great when alighting from a limo or disembarking from a cruise liner, but such luggage is no longer practical for the modern traveller.

Today, airplanes are used for commuting, and a round trip from New York to Paris can be accomplished in two days. While luggage was once an important signifier of a wealth and status, what today’s travellers value

anion Luggage by Victorinox

Luggage by Mandarina Duck

most in luggage is versatility and efficiency. With technology accelerating the pace of life, work and travel, we don’t have time to wait at the baggage carousel, or even iron shirts once they are unpacked. What with queuing, security checks, transfers, jetlag and other hassles, good luggage should make travel easier not harder.

When choosing luggage, there are certain factors to consider: your mode of transport, where you’ll store your luggage during the trip, what you need to bring, how much walking you’ll do – and of course, style. Individual style is not a requirement, but it makes travelling more fun, and your luggage easier to spot on the baggage carousel.

Frequent fliers prefer carry-on luggage, to save time at check-in and landing. While some airlines have varying carry-on size allowances, for the most part they are very similar.

Generally, cabin baggage should not exceed 22 inches (56cm) in length, 18 in depth (45 cm) and 10 inches (25cm) width, with the sum of the three dimensions not exceeding 45 inches (115cm).

For frequent fliers who need to get around town quickly and easily, wheeled upright carry-on luggage is the way to go. Lightweight luggage with several handles and easy rolling wheels is best for maneuverability; cheap or poorly-made versions tend to have unstable wheels that lose their equilibrium. Relatively new features (not found on every brand of carry-on luggage) are multi-directional wheels and a swivel handle, which allow you to deftly navigate through streets, buses, terminals, or planes.

So which models are best?

A good no-frills but sleek looking option is the 20-inch carry-on trolley from Samsonite’s Sahora collection (www.samsonite.com), which comes in red, black, or blue. It has four multidirectional wheels, top and side handles, and a roomy interior with a two-inch expansion. The Sahora is hybrid luggage combining both a

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While luggage was once an important signifier of a wealth and status, what today’s travellers value most in luggage is versatility and efficiency.

Luggage by Titan

soft and hard-shell case – permitting expandability without being too bulky – and being part of a collection, allows you to create a matching set in different sizes for a bigger trip.

Some travelers prefer a soft cover suitcase made of materials like nylon or canvas, while others prefer a hard-shell case of polycarbonate, thermoplastic ABS, or aluminum. Hard-shell cases tend to mean extra weight, but topend versions can still be lightweight.

Rimowa is a well-known German brand that makes high quality aluminum shell suitcases (somewhat bulky for transfers from plane to train) and smaller carryon wheeled trolleys (which are ideal).

Their pilot cases and beauty cases (www.rimowa.com) are the best you will find.

Another excellent brand is Titan,

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Luggage by Briggs & Riley

whose 100% polycarbonate suitcases have a carry-on weight of only 8.2 pounds and are extremely durable.

Titan X2 Flash suitcases (www. titanluggageusa.com) have multidirectional wheels and come in exciting bright colors. Their collection features a matching laptop case or beauty case that stacks easily on top of the luggage.

Online reviewers and consumer researchers also consistently praise the basic wheeled carry-ons made

by Samsonite (the pro-dlx at www. samsonitecompanystores.com), Tumi and Briggs & Riley, which all have handy features such as waterproof exteriors, expandability, laundry bags, hangers, and matching attachable totes.

Samsonite and Tumi are particularly loved by frequent fliers, from businessmen to fashion models.

For lightweight luggage that combines all these features with whimsically stylish design, check out Mandarina Duck, whose expandable cases covered in cowhide or soft nylon look great even when stuffed to the maximum. Their pearly white Work Glam trolley (http://shop. mandarinaduck.com) comes with a water resistant protective cover, and can be matched with a beauty case, briefcase, and travel bag. Their lines come in other colors and always in full sets: the Hera business trolley is a stunning piece made of cowhide and calfskin that will probably last a lifetime.

Red is the recommended color for this piece; if you get the matching briefcase; the only thing you’ll need to worry about are envious fellow travelers. For longer trips, their more low-key Flight

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Luggage by Victorinox

Luggage by Titan

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If you’re mulling over the price tag, remember that travel is priceless, for as St Augustine once said: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

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Luggage by Samsonite Black Label

Luggage by Samsonite Black Label

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Luggage by Rimowa

Trolley is ergonomically designed for easy lifting and wheeling, with plenty of pocket space and even a clip to attach a water bottle.

Briggs & Riley’s expandable upright trolleys (www.briggs-riley.com) are also perfect for longer trips, with handles on each side, a durable waterproof nylon exterior, several compartments inside (including a mesh sleeve for hanging suits) and plenty of flat packing space.

For the sporty backpacker who wants to get off the plane and go straight to the mountains, Victorinox’s 66cm Trek Pack (www.victorinox-travelgear.com) is basically a backpack on wheels, with a pull out 360o swivel handle, cushioned shoulder straps and a lumbar belt which transfers weight to the hips, and a built-in mini detachable backpack for day trips.

REI’s award-winning Osprey Meridian Wheeled convertible pack (www.rei.com) has similar features, and additionally space for a 15-inch laptop. Still more work-oriented is Tumi’s Alpha travel business class backpack (www.tumi. com), an elegant and functional leather carry-on that you can sling on your back so your hands will be free, which has space for a week’s worth of business materials as well as a laptop.

For short weekend trips, a leather duffel bag works best, especially if it has wheels, like the Albany Duffel from Mulberry (www.mulberry.com). If you don’t mind spending a little over the odds, Samsonite’s black label features highly stylish luggage, some of it designed by Alexander Mcqueen, such as the SBL garment bag or the matching A12 suitcase, which has four swivel wheels, a faux crocodile/leather hardshell case, and an interior lined with a plush zebra print furry fabric.

If you’re mulling over the price tag, remember that travel is priceless, for as St Augustine once said: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

Luggage by Rimowa

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VINTAGE STAR The Diana was a popular camera 30 years ago, loved for its dreamy images. Now it’s been reproduced with a few new features. The Edelweiss package includes a booklet on Diana’s history and 200 Diana images.

Diana + Edelweiss Edition Price: $ 60 www.lomography.com STYLIN’ Stripes are always fun! These slipons are made of cotton and canvas.

Striped Slip-ons Price: $ 98 www.oaknyc.com

NOT A PLAIN T-SHIRT T-shirts have truly become wearable, washable art. Heavy Rotation makes smart, sassy T-shirts that are always comfortable and cool.

Heavy Rotation T-shirts Price: $ 26 www.heavytees.com (US) www.brownbread.net (UK)

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PILES OF WINE Nothing beats smart, functional design like this six-bottle rack, also available in red and white.

Pile Wine Rack Price: $ 65 www.areaware.com

APPLE LITE New from Apple: the ultra-light 3-pound Macbook Air, with even better features than its weightier predecessors, including a multi-touch track pad which you can rotate or swipe with your ďŹ ngers, and an LED backlit display.

Macbook Air from $ 1,799 www.apple.com

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LET THE FORCE BE WITH YOU Nike’s Airforce 1 is an iconic sneaker – a cultural phenomenon. First created 25 years ago, and now reissued with great new features.

Nike Airforce 1 Price: $100 – 180 www.nike.com Only available from Nike resellers

MEMORY MONSTERS These snazzy Memory Sticks come with 1GB of memory plus preloaded digital content such as icons, screensavers and rich media.

Buddy Chub Mimobot Mimobot USB Flashdrive Price: $ 40 www.flight001.com

A BIGGER SPLASH A splash inspired these dipping bowls, designed by Akimasa Yamada for the 2007 Destination Japan Collection. They’re great for sauces and resting chopsticks.

Splash Dipping Bowls Price: $40 www.momastore.org

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TIMELESS COOL Blown by mouth in the ancient way, this exquisite sake glass from the Shotoku Glass Studio comes in a traditional Kiri Wooden Box – a perfect gift for a discerning drinker.

Sake Glass Price: $ 44 www.cooperhewittshop.org

TIME MACHINE Saab has created a revolutionary compact car that embodies the future of motoring – a hybrid running on bio-ethanol, electricity and solar power, with interior features such as wireless interface, and rearview cameras that engage when you enter the car.

Saab 9-X Bio Hybrid www.saab.com

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HOME-GROWN GOOD TIMES A beautiful retro-style wooden surfboard, made from local white cedar, the 5’10” Fish from Grain is great to look at and ideal for having fun in the sun.

5’10” Fish from Grain www.grainsurfboards.com

BEST FOOT FORWARD Your feet will look as cool as they feel in these colourful flip-flops, available at Uniqlo shops. ...AND THE LIVING IS EASY Made of unused nylon seatbelt webbing, this unique, strong, environmentally friendly hammock is the perfect place to curl over the summer.

Sling Hammock Price: $ 578 www.branchhome.com

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Men’s Rubber Flip-Flops Price: £ 6.99 www.uniqlo.co.uk

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BIRDIE Nothing starts a party like an amusing corkscrew – especially one like a friendly parrot. Manufacturers Alessi are known for their innovative and designs.

Parrot Corkscrew The Shop at Cooper Hewitt Price: $ 54 www.cooperhewitt.org

ACTION SHOT When the going gets tough, this camera can take it! Shock-proof, waterproof and freeze resistant, you can use it to ďŹ lm on a cliff-face, underwater, or skiing on the slopes. It even comes in cute colors like pink and yellow.

Olympus Stylus Waterproof Camera Price: $ 299.99 www.olympus-global.com

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by Mark Macias

What a drink says about a girl

Wouldn’t it be great if you could walk into a bar and read a girl’s mind? What if you could tell at first glance whether she was looking for a distinguished man with discriminating taste or a wild frat boy with unbridled testosterone?

Sure, a woman’s fashion sense might unveil secrets about her drives and desires. A girl with a butterfly tattoo on her lower back is more likely to be adventurous than one wearing loose jeans and a baggy sweater. And a woman with a plunging neckline and five-inch stilettos has to be confident to flaunt her body...

But what if you could tell more about a woman from the drink in her hand? What if her taste in alcohol revealed whether she wanted to be carried gently into a candle-lit bedroom, or pushed passionately against a wall?

Bartenders and sociologists reckon that a woman ordering a margarita, a

woman sipping a gin and tonic, and a woman holding a Merlot are all in different classes. They don’t think alike, act alike or want the same things in life.

So a man should take a woman’s drink into account before approaching her.

It could make the difference between walking away with her phone number – or an egg on your face.

Psychologist Ros Taylor has spent years studying human behaviour in Britain. She’s written several books that delve into what moves the human mind to act, and has recently investigated what a woman’s drink says about her personality.

Taylor took a poll at a popular pub

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Simply put, a woman ordering a Jack Daniels and Coke knows that a stiff cocktail will get her to her destination faster than a weak beer.

in London, questioning customers on their favourite drinks and putting them through a written test that revealed hidden attributes of their personalities.

The results convinced Taylor that a girl’s drink can reveal as much about her personality as her clothes and hair.

“This is understandable as everything is an extension of ourselves,” she says.

Simply put, a woman ordering a Jack Daniels and Coke knows that a stiff cocktail will get her to her destination faster than a weak beer. Traditionally, most men learned this early in life; and today it’s no different with women.

On the basis of their drink

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preferences, Taylor came up with five different personality types: Mature, Entrepreneurial, Extroverted, Stable and Experimental.

Let’s start with the easiest: the Extrovert, recognisable as the girl drinking tequila. You’ve all seen margarita girls. They’ll talk to anyone, so they probably won’t shoot you down for working up the courage to approach them. For a guy with a low self-confidence, this is the girl to start with. Tequila girls are always the fun ones, smiling, laughing and flirting with strangers. They rarely meet a guy they don’t like, and for some reason, also

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A woman drinking rum or lager is the Experimental type.

Her definition of experimenting is probably different from a guy’s

seem to understand male-dominated sports like football. That’s because at heart, these women are just like men: they want to live for today.

Dennis is a bartender on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He’s so popular that he doesn’t even have a last name with his customers: patrons yell “Dennis” across the bar as if he’s a friend or relative. Dennis didn’t study sociology or psychology at university, but at the school of life. He’s learned from experience that a woman’s drink will tell him everything he needs to know about her personality.

“When a girl walks into my bar and orders a margarita, I know it’s going to be a good night, especially if she’s cute.

A girl who orders a tequila shot wants instant gratification,” he says. “And when she’s encouraging others to join in, you can bet she’s out for a good time.

You don’t want to give a girl like that time to think. If she’s cute and smiles at you, approach her fast because her attention span is short. If you don’t, she’s on to the next guy.”

Taylor agrees: her study found that tequila-drinkers weren’t hung up on status. When asked to name a car that best fitted their personality, they opted for averagely-priced models such as a Volkswagen Jetta, rather than an upmarket Mercedes. “A girl drinking margaritas is living for the moment,” explains Dennis. “She has to because after having three or four margaritas, she’s not going to have a next day. She’s going to be so hung over after that she might as well cross the next day off her calendar.”

A woman drinking rum or lager is the Experimental type. Her definition of experimenting is probably different from a guy’s – she’s not looking for a threesome or bondage. “Inspiration and invigoration come from meeting and interacting with other disparate, off-the-wall people,” says Taylor.

“They can be slightly eccentric in behaviour and rather self-consciously enjoy their difference.” Often found

in neighbourhood bars and likely to enjoy jazz and the arts, such women are creative, though you may need to push them a bit to bring out their wild side.

Conversely, the Stable type prefers drinking gin-based cocktails. “They are into relationships, soap operas, novels with happy ending and saving the whale,” Taylor asserts. If you meet a girl drinking gin, Dennis recommends that you act like a friend who can be trusted at all times, and don’t come on in a hurry. “You can make a mistake with a girl drinking tequila. She’ll be forgiving because she knows life in the present comes at you fast. But with a girl drinking gin, be cautious with your words.

Entrepreneurial types drink white wine or vodka martinis. Fashionable, aspirational and with expensive tastes, they want to be in charge yet enjoy being challenged by a worthy mate.

When approaching such girls it helps if you can display an expensive watch; according to Taylor, they identify themselves with executive cars like a Mercedes or Audi. Be free with your emotions and opinions – they’ll respond to this.

Women drinking Merlot or other red wines are likely to be the oldest in the bar or, if they’re young, then old at heart.

As Dennis notes, “Few women order Merlot at my bar” because it caters to mostly young people. “It’s hard to find a young girl out of college drinking Merlot.” According to Taylor, a woman drinking Merlot will likely be organized, a professional and rarely adventurous – hence the designation Mature.

So the next time you’re in a bar, take a moment to look at the woman’s hand.

She’ll be pleased to see a man paying attention to a nonsexual part of her body, and won’t suspect that the drink in her hand discloses nearly everything a man needs to know about her hidden passions and desires.

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Jungle

romance Art directed and produced Rania Haditirto

Stylist Matthew Simonelli

Photography Reka Nyari (www.rekanyari.com)

Female Model Erin Levendorf

Audio by Suzanne Bella Land soulartvision@yahoo.com

Male Model Nick Steele with Q Model Management

Make-up Sonja Roberts

On the left vena cava blouse, vintage kenzo wrap skirt (http://venacavanyc.com) On the right vena cava dress, brooks brothers scarve (http://venacavanyc.com), (www.brooksbrothers.com)

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On her tucker dress (www.tuckerbygabybasora.com)

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On her tucker dress (www.tuckerbygabybasora.com), tucker top and white dress shorts from vena cava (http://venacavanyc.com) On him brooks brothers cream linen shirt, seersucker pants from the black eece line at brooks brothers (www.brooksbrothers.com)

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On him brooks brothers tan linen shirt and pants (www.brooksbrothers.com) On her cynthia steffe dress (http://venacavanyc.com)

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On him brooks brothers tan linen shirt and pants (www.brooksbrothers.com) On her cynthia steffe dress (http://venacavanyc.com)

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On him vintage madras shirt, pants by brooks brothers, leather suspenders (www.brooksbrothers.com)

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On her vintage emerald green silk caftan

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Sorted for Anything Clarissa is calling every pet shop in the northern hemisphere for a score of endangered chinchillas.

James is trying to source a penthouse in Mogadishu featuring surround sound, and Annabelle von Trapp is regretting her pledge that securing Cirque du Soleil for a four-year-old’s birthday party this weekend would be “A piece of cake”. It’s four o’clock in the morning. They’ve been up for 36 hours. The phone rings. It’s the client. “But of course,” Annabelle purrs, “Everything’s under control.” avantoure | school of trickery

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by Victoria Gill

Step inside the lives of the fixers – hustlers, gofers, yes-men, can-dos – and the worlds of privilege they supply. Male or female, aged from eighteen to eighty (though tending towards the young side), based in any location and with contacts around the world, these people will tend to your smallest needs and most ridiculous requests from anywhere between £300 an hour to upwards of £20,000 a year.

Their role is to make the unattainable reachable, to move mountains while seemingly not lifting a finger, to please the most spoilt of celebrities. Behind the scenes is a car crash – but the client sees only the seamless efficacy and effortless charm. Sourcing a supermodel to hang on the arm of a just-been-dumped

director, or fifty grammes of uncut Bolivian cocaine? Right away, sir...

Demands range from the abstract to the impossible: a client of LA’s Mint requested a private dinner with Bill Clinton – and got it – while another wanted to know the most suitable gift for an African tribal elder (answer: a flock of sheep). One driver was dispatched to find a pet shop with at least a hundred birds to buy. The billionaire customer then proceeded to free them all into the sky. For Jennifer Lopez’s birthday, Quintessentially were assigned to find a dozen albino peacocks with which she could celebrate the day.

Follow the trail to any site of social decadence and you’ll find the roaming concierge. These renegade butlers and

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The big players range from the global – Quintessentially now has 45 offices around the globe from Moscow to Buenos Aires, Canada to Mozambique – to the boutique Preferred Group, restricted to just thirty members worth over $100,000,000 each.

smiling magicians aren’t shackled to a single destination and are answerable to no one but the client. Even nightclubs are upgrading from the humble valet – New York’s Bungalow 8 even has a dedicated in-house concierge.

The big players range from the global – Quintessentially now has 45 offices around the globe from Moscow to Buenos Aires, Canada to Mozambique – to the boutique Preferred Group, restricted to just thirty members worth over $100,000,000 each. A single client might necessitate fifteen services and twenty contacts in any given day.

There are social, mass market and cottage concierges (most frequently found on the hedonism trail, from Ibiza

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to LA and South America’s most gilded enclaves). Front row seats at fashion shows, access to Playboy parties and private jets to Thomas Keller joints: these are the all-new keepers of the Golden Keys.

The concierge is as much an aide as a status symbol. What developed from a credit card has become a phenomenon. Ever since American Express’s invitation-only Black Card launched with its dedicated concierge service back in 1999, a global gathering of bandits and hand-holders has sprung up to service the international elite’s ever-growing needs.

With an inimitable knack for crises (whether arranging a top plastic

surgeon in A&E or hiring fifteen off-duty policemen to patrol your villa party) and celebrations (P-Diddy’s garden transformed into a fairytale land; Groove Armada DJ, 22 synchronized swimmers flown from Moscow to perform at a pool party), they take care of all those everyday headaches along the way – be that managing air miles, hiring interpreters or ‘gift giving’ (not to be confused with the controversial gay sport of exposing yourself to fatal sexual diseases): showering your acquaintances with embroidered ostrich hold-alls before you leave.

The most recent breed is the microconcierge, dedicated to just one person.

Take Ibiza’s rave butlers – armed with

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Follow the trail to any site of social decadence and you’ll ďŹ nd the roaming concierge.

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s r t ed o

the poisons of hedonism, they’ll walk you into the nightclub, nurse your drinks and replenish your water and cigarettes at the afterparty, too. Nobody who isn’t either a backpacker or on a deathwish sets foot in Sao Paulo without a ‘driver’ to source flights, personal shamans or cocaine. Hell, they’ll even hold your hair back as you snort it, and then listen to your boring stories afterwards...

Increasingly, they are delivering things that money can’t buy, for individuals who can buy anything: one agency darling speaks of the oligarch who requested the concierge’s sister for the night.

Icon Ibiza’s service started after friends begged to rent the owners’ house, and increasingly fixers act as a consort, holiday companion and agony aunt to those isolated by their wealth.

Long before Quintessentially was a twinkle in Ben Elliott’s eye, Alfredo Etchegaray, the sharpest fixer in South America, was a moving DeBretts Guide to Punta del Este – the jet-set resort that draws the cream of the continent’s elite. Every day a new architecturally awesome pied-a-mer is constructed; every night thousands of staff man

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fo r

a y n th n i g

dozens of A-list dinner parties; every hour Alfredo and his wife receive requests from celebrities needing guests to people their parties, invitations to openings, staff for their mansions and private jets.

Naturally, there are requests of a more intimate nature – Charlie Chester, who runs Icon Ibiza with his wife, the DJ Jo Mills, was mortified when a friend caught him exiting a brothel at midnight.

The group of International Football Federation CEOs he was taking care of had requested seven girls aged under 25 to spend time on their yacht, to be exchanged for seven new ones 24 hours later.

However, the days of crystal meth on tap are over – ever since the infamous Quintessentially sting, when an undercover reporter commissioned thirty grammes of coke from a Cannes representative, concierges are warier.

To get your rocks off today you’ll need to be well-known to the company, or enrolled with a smaller agency whose reputation isn’t such a big deal.

Their role is to make the unattainable reachable, to move mountains while seemingly not lifting a finger, to please the most spoilt of celebrities.

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PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 4 www.bizarrecreations.com/games/ pgr4/ I crash cars – a lot. My friends don’t let me drive, for fear we’ll end up wrapped around a telephone pole. That’s fine with me, I’ll take Project Gotham Racing any day. The fourth edition of the famous xBox title features some of the hottest cars on the planet and the toughest tracks to date, plus

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“I feel alive by doing lots of things, taking random classes, seeing as much as possible. I feel at home when I’m not at home,” she says. “The world is such an amazing, interesting, and beautiful place. I love the feeling of realizing that I am really somewhere and that can be the most random places.”

Villers has travelled to Cuba, the Czech Republic, Gambia, Sweden, Indonesia, Portugal and a dozen other countries.

In the United States, the Belgiumborn beauty has seen more cities than most Americans have, in states such as California, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington DC.

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Listen to Villers talk about her travels and you might think she comes from a wealthy family. How else could she afford to travel the world? But Villers is neither rich nor from a wealthy family. She is actually an au pair for an American family living on Long Island. So how does she manage it?

Villers is able to travel the world thanks to a service called couchsurfing, whose website links travellers with strangers who are willing to let someone sleep on their couch for free. In only five years, the website (www.couchsurfing.com) has grown from a small Internet community into an international

network of people with ideas and values as diverse as the colours of their skin. More than 500,000 people from over 200 countries are now signed up with couchsurfing.

“I think it is amazing to really sleep in someone’s house. It feels like so much more than travelling, it’s like really being there for a while, not as a tourist but someone experiencing it all,” Villers says.

So how does couchsurfing work?

Guests must fill out an online profile describing who they are and where they live, and are encouraged to post a picture of themselves so others will know what they look like.

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Marie-Line Villers is a pretty, blonde 26-year-old single woman living in New York. She speaks in rapid run-on sentences, only pausing for a quick breath before she continues with her thought where she left off. Her gregarious personality lures you in with each quirky expression. Even strangers can detect how much she loves people and yearns to take life to extremes.

Sleeping with Strangers

by Mark Macias

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Once a profile is complete, users can peruse the website for cities, looking for people willing to let a stranger sleep on their couch. Many members describe themselves in detail on their public profiles.

Twenty-one-year-old Natalie Johnson filled out her couchsurfing profile, complete with a picture of her and her roommates. The three girls look like cute sorority sisters, posing flirtatiously in their dorm room. On her profile, Johnson described herself as free-spirited, open minded, fun, sincere, hardworking, resourceful and optimistic.

“My couch is only available

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Friday and Saturday nights. I live in downtown Manhattan. Smoking is ok. My roommate has 2 cats,” she writes. “I am usually busy, but if I have free time at all, I would love to show someone around. On weekends, I usually go out, but I also do a lot of other fun stuff like dine out, go to art galleries, shop.”

So far this year, Johnson has allowed four strangers to sleep over: men from France, Germany, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale. As Henrique Meyer, from Fort Lauderdale, relates: “Natalie let me stay on her couch for a couple of nights during my visit to New York.

We watched half of a movie, went out

for some brunch at a little restaurant in her area, and she even invited me to a party that she was at that night.”

And when Meyer was unable to pick up his bag on his last day in New York, Natalie carried his luggage to work so Meyer could pick it up on the way to the airport. That’s no small feat in Manhattan where residents must walk for blocks and carry bags up flights of stairs to use the crowded subways.

“I had a great time in New York and I can’t wait to go back there,” Meyer says.

But in an imperfect world – whether you’re visiting Spain, France, the United States or even the Vatican – how does couchsurfing ensure that young women like Natalie and MarieLine are safe?

The website states that it has several precautionary measures for the benefit of surfers and hosts. Every user is linked to others in the system through a network of references and friend links. So if a guest crashes on a stranger’s couch, they should vouch for the person on their profile.

Henrique Meyer wrote many good things on Natalie’s profile after sleeping on her couch.

The website checks to make sure names and addresses are valid, and that potential house guests completely fill out their profile, before upgrading verified members to level 3 status. Many couchsurfing members choose to only interact with those who have been vouched for by other members, and not everyone on the website is. Essentially, the system is based on a circle of trusted friends.

Villers says that she has never felt fearful sleeping at a stranger’s home; everyone has welcomed her with open arms. To encourage this, she often brings a gift such as Belgium chocolates. Not only has she made many new friends through couchsurfing, but it has even improved her social life in New York.

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New York’s couchsurfing community has grown so quickly that members now hold weekly happy hour sessions at a bar near Union Square. If you visit one of their events you’ll quickly feel like a long-time insider. Members mingle freely, turning the bar into a friendly hangout where everyone knows your name, thanks to the name tags that everyone wears to facilitate introductions.

To an outsider, it can look like a cult, but once you have a beer in hand and start mingling with other members, you get the feeling that this is a rare group of genuine people. In a world full of crime and cynicism, members are like a group of people from a more naive era, still possessing a sense of community and trust. But how long can this last? At a recent event, one

woman said she has been with the organization since it first started five years ago, seen it change and grow, and wonders if the organization can keep its sense of community once the mass media catches. She worries the organization will change as profiteers and con-artists try to work their way into the system and prey on members.

However, Marie-Line Viller isn’t worried about that. “I try to live every moment realizing that nothing lasts forever. Every second is one of my life,” is her philosophy.

Like her, other fans of couchsurfing can only hope that in this everchanging world, couchsurfing will remain just like it was.

“I think it is amazing to really sleep in someone’s house. It feels like so much more than travelling, it’s like really being there for a while, not as a tourist but someone experiencing it all,” Villers says.

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In the time it takes you to read this sentence, a new restaurant has just opened somewhere on the planet.

Such is the global glut of new restaurants it’s hard for reviewers and customers to decide which is a flashin-the-pan – not worth wasting your money – and which deserve any gastrotourist’s attention. So here are a few of the world’s best newcomers.

by Joe Warwick

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When you’ve been head chef at the world-renowned Catalan restaurant El Bulli for nearly a decade – as Albert Raurich was – what to do next? His answer was to open an Asian-inspired tapas bar beside the Casa Camper hotel, in the centre of Barcelona. Dos Palillos has a no-nonsense front bar where you perch on a plastic crate to consume Asian spiced Iberian ribs, gyoza, kimchi and other tapas (from �5). Meanwhile, behind the bead curtain at the back lies a dimly-lit dining room with counter seating and a multi-course menu of Asian-Iberian dishes for �60 a head.

Carrer D’Elisabets 9 Tel: +34 93 304 05 13, www.dospalillos.com

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Charlie Trotter, whose eponymous Chicago restaurant celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year, has opened a Las Vegas outpost in the Palazzo, the latest luxury casino to arrive in Sin City. Its menu is seafood-focussed with Asian leanings, an approach typiďŹ ed by dishes such as Slow Poached Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Savoy Cabbage and Trout Roe-Shiso Vinaigrette. Within the main restaurant is an eighteen-seat counter offering a Kaisekistyle sushi tasting menu, Bar Charlie.

The Palazzo, 3325 South Las Vegas Boulevard Tel: +1 702-607-6336, www.charlietrotters.com

Restaurant Charlie, Las Vegas

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This new luxury hotel in sheepfarming rural Victoria has rapidly achieved a reputation for being more than worth the nearly four hours drive from Melbourne. Backed by a multi-millionaire barrister, the Royal has secured the services of Dan Hunter, former head chef at San Sebastián’s Mugaritz, the most highly-rated restaurant in the Basque Country. Hunter has turned his arts on Australian’s finest produce, resulting in such tersely described dishes as “Calamari, Black Rice, Ginger”.

Glenelg Highway (Parker St), Dunkeld , Victoria Tel: +61 3 5577 2241, www.royalmail.com.au

Cha Cha Moon, London

Alan Yau has returned to the formula he first floated in 1992 with the revolutionary Wagamama, only this time he’s applied his fast-casualAsian-canteen approach to Chinese as opposed to Japanese noodles.

Everything is priced at a ridiculously low £3.50 a dish for the first six months, from soup-based noodles with pork, roast duck or wonton, to pan-fried dishes such as Singapore noodles. Besides cocktails, beer and wine, the drinks list includes an eclectic selection of teetotal treats: salted lemon Sprite, Afri cola, Boylan black cherry soda, Chinotto, San bitter, Calpico and Vitasoy malt.

15-21 Ganton St, London W1F 9BN, Tel: +44 20 7297 9800

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The Royal Mail, Victoria

Momofuku Ko, New York Korean-American chef David Chang’s third restaurant in the East Village, following the rapturously received Momofuku noodle and ssäm bars, is a twelve-seat counter round a small open kitchen. Its ten-course tasting menu blends Asian accented flavours, native

American ingredients and French techniques, in dishes such as Korean consommé garnished with pork belly and Cape Cod oyster. Much soughtafter reservations can only be made through the restaurant’s website.

163 1st Ave New York No phone, www.momofuku.com

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Zambia has long been regarded as the ‘real Africa’ – classic, unspoilt safari territory with superb guides to show you the wildlife in the bush. Yet it’s only in the last twenty years that tourism has really come into its own and Zambia emerged as a top player on the safari market. Previously, tourism here was far less developed than in neighbouring Botswana and Zimbabwe, which separate Zambia from South Africa.

But this proved a blessing in disguise, sparing Zambia from a rash of malls or hordes of drive-through tourists. As Zimbabwe’s once flourishing tourist industry spiralled ever downwards under the malign misrule of Mugabe, Zambia enjoyed stability and steady growth....

Its government wisely decided to focus on high-end rather than massmarket safari tourism. Parks are reserved for those who stay (in style) and you won’t find queues of vehicles trailing each other from one water-hole to another, disturbing animals. Leading the pack is the long-established South African outfit Wilderness Safaris, renowned for their ecological ethos, who have opened eight super-lux camps at three locations.

The main one is Kafue, Africa’s second largest national park, roughly the size of Wales. Here, Wilderness Safaris employed local villagers to build their camps and set up programs to exchange firearms for seed, fertilizer and bee hives – the products of which are sold to the camps and visitors – generating income and incentives for locals to safeguard the wildlife, previously poached from

necessity. This is the future of safari tourism – socially responsible as well as glamorous.

You approach Kafue by helicopter, flying low over buffalo and elephants grazing woodlands and savannah, to find three camps on outcrops just above the flood levels of rainy season. The most sensational is Shumba, designed by Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, the team behind the eco-opulence of Seychelles’ North Island. Its six tents are knockout, with vast views over herds of puku, lechwe and buffalo roaming the Busanga Plain; extravagantly colonial interiors, with four-poster beds, copper basins and decanters of South African port; interior and exterior showers and secluded cushioned terraces for game viewing. As the sun sets in all its magnificence, you drink chilled champagne in crystal flutes while lions roar into the night and the air grows cooler.

Wilderness have also opened concessions in South Luangwa, Zambia’s most established national park. Kalamu, a semi-permanent camp on a bend in the Luangwa River, has only four Merustyle tents and a canopied dining area.

Hippos rule the vicinity, bellowing to each other from the river’s shallows by day, and scaling the riverbanks to graze at night, so that guests need to be escorted to their rooms for fear they might bump into one in the dark. The night sky teems with constellations, white dwarves and red giants - armed with a pair of high powered binoculars and a knowledgeable guide it feels as if the universe is yours.

However Wilderness are newcomers

by Tremayne Carew Pole

IN STYLE

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Though elegantly practical, comfortable and truly welcoming, one of the highlights of the safari is fly-camping – sleeping in the wild, with sensoryoverload walks where you learn to track animals using the ‘bush telegraph’. at Luangwa compared to Robin Pope (www.robinpopesafaris.net), whose eponymous company has been based there since the 1980s. He and his equally dynamic wife Jo live and breathe the bush. Their three major camps Tena Tena, Nkwali and Nsefu all nestle in the shade on the shores of the Luangwa River. Though elegantly practical, comfortable and truly welcoming, one of the highlights of the safari is flycamping – a couple of nights sleeping in the wild, with sensory-overload walks where you learn to track animals using the ‘bush telegraph’.

You’re awoken in the chill pre-dawn with freshly-brewed coffee and porridge

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simmering on the fire. Then you start to walk beside the river as the warming fingers of dawn snake over the tree tops.

Elephants lumber across the sands, prides of lion stretch and yawn, baboons drop from the trees and gather breakfast.

Scanning the ground the tracks of the previous night’s activities are clear: leopards heading north, lions moving along the river bank and a band of hyena pursuing something. Nature looms large: being on foot makes you feel intensely vulnerable, particularly when those lions start heading towards you – don’t even flinch.

Meanwhile, a Zambian team packs away the tents (complete with deep

camp beds, hurricane lamps and bedside tables) and relocates the whole shebang to another site where, as the weary, dusty walkers stumble into their new lodgings they are met with silver salvers bearing face cloths, ice-cold G&Ts and a table set for lunch with china and crystal.

Safaris don’t get any better than this...

After walking comes water – tons of it. Zambia is traversed by gigantic rivers falling from escarpments before ending up in the mighty Zambezi, which tumbles over Victoria Falls throwing up an ethereal mist seen from miles.

Livingstone, on the Zambian side of the Falls is an unremarkable tourist town full of overland trucks and backpackers,

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Parks are reserved for those who stay (in style) and you won’t ďŹ nd queues of vehicles trailing each other from one water-hole to another, disturbing animals.

Elephants lumber across the sands, prides of lion stretch and yawn, baboons drop from the trees and gather breakfast.

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The night sky teems with constellations, white dwarves and red giants – armed with a pair of high powered binoculars and a knowledgeable guide it feels as if the universe is yours.

but hidden away on the outskirts is Tongabezi, a lovely nest of bungalows overlooking the swirling waters of the Zambezi, built by Will Ruck-Keene and Ben Parker.

Stay here and rest awhile before heading downstream through the idyllically lovely Lower Zambezi National Park, boasting the finest Tiger-fishing in Africa. The Royal Zambezi Lodge, set up by Philip Pascal – a copper miner who used to raft down the river in his youth – is perfect for those who want to set

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their agenda, with gorgeous rooms with shaded day beds on hardwood terraces overlooking the river; plunge pools, standalone copper baths and outdoor showers. Guides are there to instruct you on the best spots to hook a 15lb Tiger-fish, and masseurs to sooth fishermen’s knots.

Don’t miss a canoe safari, gliding silently on small tributaries as storks fly overhead and crocodiles bump the bottom of your boats, the wildlife spectacularly up-close once more.

Hippos, elephants and lion wander the lodge’s paths at night; dinner is interrupted by elephants poking their heads into the dining room.

And therein lies the beauty of Zambia – you can drive, walk, fly and float and all the while enjoy a taste of an old, raw Africa brought bang-up-to-date with fresh thinking.

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Europe where to stay in

All too often in Europe, tourists are faced with a choice between forbiddingly expensive deluxe hotels, anodyne chains that could be anywhere in the world, or grungy dives catering to budget travellers. But don’t despair – there are chic, affordable places to stay even in Europe’s most fashionable cities.

by Daisy Finer

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You don’t have to be a millionaire to afford a glamorous weekend on the Côte d’Azur. Nice is sunny and fun, with brilliant markets, a glittering waterfront and Elton John’s favourite restaurant La Petite Maison – though a bread and cheese picnic on the beach is a fab more-dash-than-cash option. The Hotel Windsor is a party place, with rooms decorated by contemporary artists in whacky styles (room 365 with graffiti), atmospheric lighting, a lift that counts down to lift-off like Houston Mission Control, and youthful, cheerful staff. After hitting the nearby shops on the Promenade des Anglais, retreat to the hotel’s palm-filled garden with its sunbeds and mini pool, or float into the meditation room for some Zen time.

La Petite Maison: 11 rue Dalpozzo (from £52) Tel: + 33 4 93885935, www.hotelwindsornice.com

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where to stay in

Bruges An eighteenth-century carriage house tucked away in one of Bruges’ most tranquil corners, The Pand has been beautifully converted into a 26-bedroom boutique hotel, run by its owner and wonderfully old fashioned, with opulent furniture, thick curtains, heady roses and open ďŹ res. The suites are decorated with Ralph Lauren fabrics and include bathroom goodies by Annick Goutal.

Feast on perfectly poached eggs cooked on an Aga in the comfort of the rusticstyle breakfast room, and eat supper at the Michelin three-starred De Karmeliet restaurant, just around the corner.

The Pand: Pandreitje 16 Tel: +32 (0) 50 340666, www.pandhotel.com

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Canon de Beaumarchais: 12 Rue Vieilledu-Temple (from £85) Tel: + 33 142 723412, www.carondebeaumarchais.com

where to stay in

The Caron de Beaumarchais is exactly what you want from a hotel in Paris: small, affordable and bohemian. Its location is perfect – bang in the middle of the Marais district – the staff are friendly (which means a lot in Paris), and the interior oozes character. Misty mirrors,

Paris chandeliers, portraits and statues recreate the atmosphere of an eighteenth-century townhouse straight out of Dangerous Liasons. The nineteen bedrooms retain their original oak beams and are decorated with elegant fabrics and furniture. Bathrooms are more modern

and functional, with fresh flowers and bathrobes. In winter a log fire crackles in the lobby, and come summer the hotel is blissfully air-conditioned. Although the top-floor rooms are tiny, they have balconies with sweeping views across the Right Bank.

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where to stay in

Rome

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Casa Howard is Rome’s secret pied a terre, hidden exactly where you want to be – down a side street near the Spanish Steps, not far from Prada and Gucci. There are five bedrooms, each uniquely decorated with a combination of comfort and flair.

The Chinese Room is swathed in glamorous silks and the White Room a fresh mix of toile de jouy and antique furnishings. Okay, so you have to walk down a corridor to get to the bathroom, but kimonos and slippers are provided to ease the way. There are fresh flowers, a hairdresser and massage service are available, and even a Turkish bath to ease weary limbs after sightseeing. It all makes for an intimate affair, refreshingly different from the pompous swank of most Roman hotels. Breakfast is a feast of buttery pastries, fresh juices, and homemade jam from the owners’ Tuscan farm.

Casa Howar: Via Capo Le Case 18 (from £100) Tel: +39 06 69 924555, www.casahoward.com

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where to stay in

Venice

In Venice, it can seem like Mission Impossible to find somewhere decent to stay that won’t warp your credit card, while many of the city’s B&Bs are dark and dank. Thank heavens for the enchanting Palazzo dal Carlo, situated on a sleepy canal just ten minutes’ walk from San Marco and near the Guggenheim. This exquisitely restored eighteenth-century palazzo is run with warmth and panache by owner Roberta dal Carlo, a legendary Venetian hostess who offers prosecco and home-baked goodies as well as insider advice on the city’s best restaurants. There are three double rooms with marble bathrooms, a guest sitting room, and a panoramic roof terrace planted with jasmine. Chandeliers, parquet floors and antique mirrors enhance the old world atmosphere – the last thing you want in Venice is modern minimalism.

Palazzo dal Carlo: Fondamenta Borgo (from £89) Tel: + 39 41 522 6863; www.palazzodalcarlo.com

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Jump off a cliff, swim with sharks, go full throttle on an F1 track – if you’re looking for action, Dubai has it. Hallie Campbell reveals all

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Swimming with sharks, leaping off cliffs or going full throttle on a Formula 1 track – if you’re looking for action, Dubai has it. A favourite hangover cure among Dubai’s young, rich thrill-seekers is to down a can a Red Bull before leaping out of a plane for a ‘breath of fresh air’ at 12,000 feet – the freefall drop beats aspirin anytime.

Dubai has evolved from a holiday hotspot to one of the most exciting places on the planet, with a booming economy attracts 2000 incomers a week, an entrepreneurial spirit fired by the belief that anything is possible, and people who play as hard as they work. Their love of being faster, bigger and bolder than anyone else has made Dubai a world-class centre for extreme sports, with a website (www.adrenalinesportslive.com) showing how to pack a year’s action into a long weekend.

At Ras Al Khaimah airfield, 30 miles from the city centre, the latest craze is powered parachuting – an experience out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. With a propeller and 65hp engine strapped to your back, cruising at 45mph 850 feet above the desert, the thrilling views and sensation of flying almost banish thoughts of crashing. A 30-minute ride costs only AED 200 (about 35 Euros); visit www.bluebanana.ae for details.

Microlight flying is even more extreme. These mini planes look right out of a James Bond film, can dive 250 feet in a seconds and whiz through the skies at a hair-raising 150mph (though the usual cruising speed is 40 – 60). The Micro Aviation Club (www.microaviation.ae) runs classes in piloting as well as adventure trips. Its dynamic founder, Hungarian pilot, Laszlo Toth, promises: “We can get you out to the Empty Quarter, flying by the world’s biggest sand dunes, or take you on a two day trip to the Musandam Peninsula where you can paraglide off the cliffs to land at a private beach for snorkelling and an overnight campout, totally devoid of tourists.”

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For skydiving, the Umm Al Quwain Aeroclub (www.uaqaeroclub.com) offers training in accelerated free fall or the thrill of tandem skydiving, strapped to the harness of an expert instructor. Club director Captain Habib Ollaik promises: “For the next 55 seconds, you will experience the amazing rush of freefalling at 200km per hour.”

If that sounds too scary, emulate Richard Branson and go up in a hot air balloon.

Balloon Adventures Dubai (www.ballooning.ae) has the most advanced balloons in the Emirates and offers a range of breathtaking rides, such as sunrise over the red dunes of Hatta. Alternatively, high fliers can charter their own helicopter (www.aerogulfservices.com) from AED 6,250 (about 1,100 Euros) per hour, or command their own VIP private jet from AED 1,399 (240 Euros) per person (www.gulfventures.com).

For more down to earth excitement, there’s the Dubai Autodrome Formula 1 track (www.dubaiautodrome.com), a FIA-sapproved circuit whose 5.39km track is among the world’s most modern and challenging, with a white-knuckle combination of high-speed straights and technical corners. Take a spin in the Audi TT 2 litre Turbo, whose 2000cc engine gets you from nought to 100 km in a heart-stopping 6.4 seconds, as your instructor reveals the tricks of high-speed driving. The traditional Arab love of racing is going strong, only these days it’s cars, not camels.

The desert may seem a strange place to host the World Snowboard Competition

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Microlight flying is an even more extreme alternative – it’s faster and more manoeuvrable.

These pint sized mini planes look right out of a James Bond film and pack a serious punch.

but Dubai doesn’t let a little thing like the climate get in the way of a good time.

Ski Dubai (www.skidxb.com) is an indoor ski resort as big as three football pitches and a massive 25 stories high—all covered in snow. With the world’s only indoor black run, and a snowboarder freestyle zone, Ski Dubai attracts hardcore boarders from all over. An hour Discovery snowboarding lesson costs AED 140 (25 Euros), including kit.

With the sparkling warm waters of the Arabian Gulf lapping its shores, and continual sunshine, every imaginable water sport is available, from parasailing to powerboat racing. Action centres on the Jumeirah Beach Hotel Pavilion Marina www. jumeirahbeachhotel.com), whose PADI dive centre is the best in Dubai, and offers amazing dives among reefs, shipwrecks and sharks, beside scuba diving instruction.

If you’d rather be afloat, go for glitz and charter a luxury yacht or have a Hemingway moment deep-sea fishing for Marlin – Blue Banana has a great selection of voyages, or visit www.uaeyachting.com. You can even order your own powerboat taxi to zip you down the Creek at 50mph – the perfect way to beat Dubai’s traffic jams.

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Dubai’s love of the chase, of being faster, bigger, better than the competition has created a surreal situation where this once sleepy desert outpost is now a world class centre for extreme sports For the ultimate binge, the luxury lifestyle company Quintessentially (www. quintessentially.com) can arrange a day of total indulgence, starting with a helicopter pick up from Burj Al Arab, moving on by Hummer, jet boat and Ferrari to a packed day of extreme fun, ending with your butler pouring cocktails from your own hot air balloon.

Whatever your taste for extreme sport, you’ll get your kicks in Dubai. Whether it’s at Wild Wadi Water Park, where you can hurtle at 80km on the ‘Jumeirah Screimah,’ – one of the world’s tallest, fastest water slides – or abseiling the sheer cliffs of the Hajar Mountains, or diving in Shark Bay, the Emirate keeps your heart racing.

No wonder Red Bull is the drink of choice.

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our little friend Laika

Stylist Matthew Simonelli, Photographer Reka Nyari and Make-up Sonja Roberts

a taste of freedom

Be

the s a taste of freedom

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Back row: Model Nick Steele, Make-up Sonja Roberts, Rania Haditirto Front row: Model Erin Levendorf, Stylist Matthew Simonelli

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Photographer Reka Nyari, Make-up Sonja Roberts

ehind

scenes

From the far left: Model Erin, Stylist Mathew, make-up Sonja, Photographer Reka and our little friend, Laika

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THE MALDIVES

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HUVAFEN FUSHI RESORT AND SPA Huvafen Fushi is one of the most soughtafter luxury travel destinations globally. It is owned by Per Aquum (www.peraquum. com) , whose ethos has four key elements – Passion, Vision, Naturally Modern Design and Imagination. These elements ensure the utmost in guest experience.

“Constant evolution has been, and will remain the key to our success at Per Aquum. Guests who truly want to experience one-on-one quality time with our superb therapists, in a super sexy underwater cave that connects them instantly with the Indian Ocean and its inhabitants, should experience this iconic journey. It is a visual feast and an authentic experience that leaves you truly nurtured by nature,” says managing director Jane Quinn.

The barefoot luxury resort, set in its own lagoon on the Northern Atoll of the Maldives, boasts the world’s first underwater spa, an array of restaurants to delight the most jaded connoisseur, and a choice of 43 designer bungalows and pavilions, each equipped with its own plunge pool, Bang&Olufsen (www. bang-olufsen.com) sound system and dedicated butler service.

Huvafen Fushi is home to Per Aquum Spa Collection’s flagship spa, LIME, which has taken spas to another level, introducing uniquely created energy rituals and an opportunity to explore integrated wellness in one of the most desired locations in the world. Masterminded by award-winning designer and architect Richard Hywel Evans, the two underwater treatment areas have been completely reinvented, with the addition of a separate relaxation pod where guests can chill out on an oversized day bed and be mesmerized by the sun-dappled aquamarine seascape.

“We wanted to create an interior that was in keeping with the spa’s position – at the bottom of the sea! The underwater spa has always been a sensational concept and the new interior was designed to reflect and amplify this extraordinary environment and add flexibility too; one of our main challenges was dividing the space into three separate areas using room dividers that could disappear, unifying the space so that it could be used for a variety of functions including ‘underwater’ wedding ceremonies,” says Evans. www.huvafenfushi.com

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BUENOS AIRES FAENA HOTEL + UNIVERSE

Philippe Starck’s first project in Latin America, the Faena Hotel + Universe is housed in a seven-storey former grain warehouse beside the Rio de la Plata, in the Faena Art District (www. faenaproperties.com). A Buenos Aires landmark for over a century, made of bricks shipped from Manchester at the height of the Belle Époque, the El Porteño Building has been transformed into a centre for creative living, a paradigm for twenty-first century living that respects Buenos Aires and its traditional values.

Voted “Best Hotel for Ambience & Design” by Conde Nast, “Most outstanding

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Hotel Design” by Elle and the Siemens EN Award for the most technologically advanced hotel, its interiors reflect the close collaboration between Philippe Starck and Alan Faena, who envisaged “large complex buildings like mini cities...with dwellings, restaurants, bars, photographic studios, shops, lofts and hotels”. In Starck’s words: “I tried to convert the Porteño Building in a theatrical stage, which would be perfect to reflect the sensibility, the passion and the creative spirit of the Argentineans.”

The Faena Hotel + Universe has wireless internet, a business centre and meeting rooms with video conferencing,

and each bedroom has a mobile phone that guests can use anywhere in the Universe, or outside the complex. Gym Spa Hammam completes the mind, body and soul component of the Universe. A staircase from the spa on the second level leads directly down to the swimming pool for private access, while the treatments (in partnership with La Prairie) are at the cutting-edge of science and technology applied to beauty care, with the highest standards of service, quality and purity.

All this makes for a totally modern experience pervaded by old world values. www.faenahotelanduniverse.com

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MARDAN PALACE When it opens in July 2008, the Mardan Palace on the coast of Antalya will not only be the most lavish resort on the Mediterranean, but likely to redefine the idea of hotel luxury across the globe.

Funded by an Azeri billionaire and created by world famous architects and interior designers, it will have 565 rooms, suites and villas and the world’s second largest swimming pool (24,000 square metres), representing the Golden Horn on the Bosphorus and crossed by two wooden bridges designed and built on the basis of the Leonardo Da Vinci’s Galata Bridge.

Overlooking this will be seven of the resort’s thirteen individually-styled restaurants. The most beautiful, Kiz Kulesi – resembling Istanbul’s Leander Tower – will rise from the centre of the pool surrounded by an 80-metre-long aquarium, with four more separate aquariums at the bottom displaying marine life from four seas..

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The hotel’s interior decor by Zeynep Fadillioglu refers to Turkey’s Ottoman era with materials and objects resembling or replicating historical artefacts. Its 8000 square-metre Spa will offer therapies and treatments based on the finest natural cosmetics, by a world famous spa specialist, whose name is being kept a secret until the official opening.

Treatments will include Signature Rituals and Hammam Experience, 24 carat gold facials, La Prairie face treatments for men, massages, Russian banya, Thalasso treatments with purified heated seawater, and an artificial snow cave.

Mardan Palace is scheduled to open July 1 2008.

ANTALYA

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CHALKIDKI DANAI RESORT & VILLAS Where the azure waters of the Aegean meet the pristine white beaches and pine-clad coast of Chalkidiki, you’ll find the exclusive Danai Beach Resort & Villas, near the Greek town of Nikiti.

A meeting place for travellers, full of restaurants, tavernas and bars, Nikiti is surrounded by unspoilt countryside, with sandy beaches, quaint harbours and serene villages scattered across the peninsula.

The resort’s elegant villas boast every comfort: Persian carpets, fresh flowers and the music and champagne of your choice.

Every guest has a bath butler at their disposal, to prepare a bathtub wherever they wish – on a private terrace or by the seashore.

While waiting for your ‘bath ceremony’ you can enjoy a private dinner overlooking the Mediterranean.

Breakfast and light meals with an emphasis on Macedonian cuisine are served in the Pavilion restaurant; gourmet Mediterranean dishes at The Squirrel beside the seafront, and barbecued seafood and steaks at the Seahorse Grill. www.danai-hotel-halkidiki.com

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BARVIKHA HOTEL & SPA

MOSCOW

Located in an uber-rich Moscow suburb, home to the creme de la creme of Russian society, the Barvikha Hotel & Spa epitomizes ease and elegance. As a part of the exclusive Barvikha Luxury Village, it is ideal for those seeking a place where each detail matters and every whim is catered for.

The interior was designed by one of the world’s style gurus, Antonio Citterio, using natural materials like oak, beechwood and marble, in hues of caviar and chocolate, to create an ambience of luxuriant simplicity.

Each of its 65 rooms and suites is breathtakingly spacious with a uniquely designed private terrace, and comes equipped with the latest technology by Bang&Olufsen (www.bang-olufsen.com).

Some of the suites have log fireplaces, and Spa Suites allow for private treatments.

Guests enjoy a fabulous culinary experience, with a choice between the Russian nouvelle cuisine of Anatoly Komm (www.anatolykomm.ru) and the gourmet excellence of David Desseaux. As part of its focus on well-being, the Barvikha Hotel & Spa offers a bio-light menu based on detoxifying fruits and vegetables, which contributes to the beneficial programs of the Henri Chenot Spa. Henri Chenot (www.henrichenot. com) has introduced methods based on the latest European researches combined with age-old Chinese practices affecting energy meridians and vital organs to attain a perfect balance of emotions, well-being and personal appearance. All treatments – hydrotherapy, drainage, body wraps to name a few – are conducted by specially trained staff. The Spa includes an indoor swimming pool, separate-sex saunas, a well-being restaurant and a state-of-the-art gym.

Barvikha Hotel & Spa, Moscow will open end of 2008. www.barvikhahotel.com

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