Southbank Rooftop Sauna

I was unbelievably excited to find out that the Southbank Centre had installed a Finnish sauna on their roof this winter as part of their year long exploration into Finnish culture. A Finnish sauna (so a proper hot sauna) and a rooftop view of my favourite part of London - tick and tick!! So on …

Banya No.1 – London’s Russian Spa

Banya No.1 is a traditional Russian spa, located on Micawber Street, a 5 minute walk from Old Street tube station. RBJ and I were invited by Banya No.1 to enjoy an afternoon at the spa, accompanied by a traditional "parenie" and scrub treatment. Having never been to a banya before, I had no idea what …

Furnas Hot Springs, Azores

There are two main springs to visit in Furnas: the large pool at Terra Nostra Gardens and the individual pools at Dona Beija. Naturally we visited both (!!), with my favourite being the pools at Dona Beija. I've reviewed both below so you can decide for yourself which to visit if you don't have time …

The Fire Lake, Sao Miguel

Everywhere in the world has what I call its "postcard picture": for France it's the Eiffel Tower, for Peru its Macchu Piccu, for London its Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Well for the Azores it's Sete Cidades, the famous blue and green lakes on the west side of Sao Miguel: We visited Sete …

Where are the Azores?

When I told my friends and family that we were going to the Azores on holiday this year, generally I was met with a puzzled "where's that?" Which isn't surprising considering the Azores still don't seem to be a very popular holiday destination for people in the U.K, probably because of a lack of direct …

Red Bull Cliff Diving, Azores

Hot springs a plenty, amazing dive sites, incredible seafood, some of the most beautiful volcanic scenery, its own vineyard... my list of why I love the Azores just goes on and on. Then when we thought it couldn't get any better, we discovered that whilst we were there, the island of Sao Miguel was hosting …

A little bit of luxury @ Soho Farmhouse

Last week RBJ and I were lucky enough to spend a few days at Soho Farmhouse for a friend's wedding. The Farmhouse is part of the chic Soho House group, which has hotels around the world including London, Istanbul, Miami, NY and Barcelona. As it's a members only club, they only do weddings on Thursdays …

The Douglas Dook, Arran

This year RBJ and I spent New Years with a big group of friends and family in Arran, an island off the west coast of Scotland. We celebrated Hogmanay with a dinner party at our cottage, followed by drinks and dancing at the fabulous Pier Head Tavern in Lamlash. Then on New Years Day, we …

Scottish girl in a Finnish sauna: Kultuurisauna

Every November, RBJ and I go away for a long weekend for our anniversary. This year was our ten year anniversary and after a fabulous dinner with a  few of our nearest and dearest in London, we headed to Helsinki for 4 nights of saunas and sushi! While researching which saunas to visit, we quickly discovered  one …

Ma’in Springs, Jordan

In our last few days in the Dead Sea, we heard about these local hot springs which were meant to have incredible therapeutic powers. So on our second to last day, we got in the car and went to explore. After a long, steep drive up a winding road into the mountains, we came upon the sign …