Marques De Riscal, Spain

The Sliding Wall Glass House

Located in Suffolk, England, this is all-glass house designed by London’s de Rijke Marsh Morgan comes with a twist — the house slides open! That’s right: ‘Four electric motors silently slide the 20 tonne outer house shell back to reveal the inner glass and steel structure. The motors that power this sliding run on car batteries automatically recharged through solar power’. The whole process takes around six minutes to complete and the house was built with the option of ‘extending the track further to allow the roof shell to cover a garden or swimming pool’. Read more

Olive: Delicatessen del Mediterraneo

Situated between the hip El Born and Barceloneta neighborhoods in always stylish Barcelona, Spain is an unassuming narrow boutique where shelves are lined with all things olive. Here at aptly named OLIVE, Delicatessen del Mediterraneo, an awe-inspiring collection of olive oils sit beside a plethora of olive-oil based cosmetics, soaps, creams, gels, and any other olive-related product one can dream up. Sourced mainly from Spain, in addition to France and Italy, this olive smorgasbord is headed up by a charming Frenchman who also pushes organic cosmetics and chic kitchen design goods. So next time you’re keen on taking up a Mediterranean diet, make a b-line to Barcelona to stock up at OLIVE’s.

LA Organic

Butter is so 1979. These days, it’s all about olive oil. But not just any olive oil; organic, Slow Food, artisanal, extra-virgin olive oil, of course. Still, that’s not always enough. To this, add one a world renowned designer and you’ve got one of the most in vogue kitchen-must haves: LA Organic. A hundred years ago Spanish nuns near Andalusia were producing olive oil from century old trees. Today, those same stellar groves provide LA Organic with their sumptuous olive oil. Using old-school methods, the artisans behind LA Organic create top-notch oil, continuing in the region’s traditions and in celebration of the land. Read more

Mr & Mrs Smith launch Down Under

I was lucky enough to attend the recent launch of the new Australia and New Zealand Guidebook by Mr & Mrs Smith. And let me tell you, if luxe travel is your thing, this is the book. Travel guide publishers have copped a bit of flack recently — especially after Thomas Kohnstamm wrote his hedonistic, “tell all” book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?, in which he alleged that most of the content he wrote for Lonely Planet’s Brazilian guidebook was either fudged, or written in a drug-induced stupor. However, with Mr & Mrs Smith, Kohnstamm’s version of travel writing couldn’t be further from the truth. Read more

50 ways I blew $50K

Spending a huge amount of money is easy when you’re without a mortgage, kids or a full time job. To ease my financial guilt, I recently put together this list of fifty fun, bizarre and slightly mad ways in which I managed to blow $50K over the years — buying myself nothing but amazing memories and the odd persistent stomach bug.

Sun, tapas, and more tapas in the Basque Country

For a seriously good summer holiday destination, it’s pretty hard to beat San Sebastian on Spain’s Atlantic coast. Set on a gorgeous piece of coastline in the heart of the Basque region, this buzzing seaside town certainly packs a punch. It’s got three divine beaches, hundreds of tapas bars (apparently more per square kilometre than any other city in the world), a vast selection of historical buildings and churches (if the urge to sightsee takes over), clubs, boutiques and countless festivals all year round. Plus, if you’re really into your tucker, the area surrounding San Sebastian is arguably the best in Spain for gastronomy – boasting several of the world’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants. Read more