Holidays
I swam up to a beautiful girl on the beach, and my life changed
I’m writing this from Portugal, where I’m staying with my old friend Sean Langan. His family has owned a farm…
Andrew Marr’s diary: Seeing shadows of Syria in Limousin’s ghost village
No, no, no, you don’t want a house abroad — the paperwork, the taxes, the piping, the cost of the…
Dear Mary: Is it an insult to be given anti-ageing cream?
Q. When someone gives you anti-ageing cream as a present, is that an insult or a compliment? — A.O., Provence…
The word ‘holiday’ has become a political taboo
It’s August in Tuscany, and the market towns are eerily quiet, presumably because most of their inhabitants are off on…
Four gadgets to take on holiday — and two to leave behind
One inarguably good thing about electronic publishing is that it solves that old quandary about what books to pack for…
Dear Mary: How to accept wine refills at parties without getting drunk
Q. At a drinks or a dinner party, when very attentive waiters are hovering, I tend to let them keep…
Why I no longer want to live in America
A few years ago I would have quite liked to live in America. I’m not sure now. For one thing,…
Andrew Marr’s diary: Holidays after a stroke, and what the Germans really think of us
It’s been a strange summer. After a stroke, holidays are not what they used to be. We went to Juan-les-Pins…
Jeremy Clarke: The day I walked into a postcard
This time last year the postman delivered a picture postcard depicting a village square in Provence. The photograph on the…
You’re never really on holiday with a smartphone
Why not give your smartphone a holiday?
Will Melissa Kite’s former Italian waiter boyfriend stir up trouble again?
‘Piccolo problemo.’ Luigi, the hotel manager, delivered the fateful news as he served me my first lemon soda of the…
Dear Mary: What must I do to reclaim the best poolside chair?
Q. I know this seems petty but last year, on our villa holiday, my brother-in-law always took the best chair…
You’ll mock me, but I have to ask: why don’t any of my friends have holiday homes?
Hugo Rifkind 9 August 2014 9:00 am
This is to be one of those columns that makes the writer faintly wish there wasn’t an internet. It would…