The Sun House

Here we are at the end of the first month of a new blogging year, & I think it's high time for a relaxing weekend retreat away to plan our individual blog Agendas for the year.

A lovely place where we can find a quiet corner to relax & plan our posts & think about where we want take our blogs in 2011. Over the years we've been to all sorts of 6 star retreats on these cyber weekends....some very ritzy, palatial & down right decadent. This weekend's destination will be a little different. The Sun House is a private colonial boutique hotel perched high on a hill, just 5 minutes from the ancient fort town of Galle on the south coast of Sri Lanka.

Built in the 1860's for a Scottish spice merchant, The Sun House has an wonderful ambience, albeit with a touch of peaceful, faded beauty. Galle was deeply affected by the 2004 tsunami & has spent the ensuing years regrouping & rebuilding.

The Sun House has been renovated to maintain its colonial charm and elegance. The large central living area is the heart of the house. A place where you can browse through their eclectic selection of books in the library, sink into a relaxing sofa, listen to whatever music takes your fancy or relax by the pool.

The elegant suites are filled with colonial antique furniture & dreamy four poster beds.

With wonderful names like Hibiscus, Araliya, Parrot Fish & Dumas, the spacious suites have garden & pool views & private balconies.

Complete with antique furniture, mosquito nets & colonial ceiling fans, the suites make for a truly restful place to read or write or just to dream.

Each suite as a large, modern bathroom.

And the Cinnamon Suite has a stunning outdoor bathroom with a bath tub where you can soak in absolute peace and beauty.

The Living Room overlooks the wide verandah.

And is the perfect place to meet & compare notes on how our blog planning is going.

If you are the lucky occupier of the Cinnamon Suite, then your experience is very special, as it occupies the entire first floor of The Sun House. The Suite is complete with its own library & sitting room.

And a fabulous writing desk to work at & feel the cooling sea breezes drifting through the open windows.

The Mango Courtyard is a lovely spot for taking High Tea.

The fragrant frangipani ('temple tree') garden leads down to the swimming pool.

The pool area is an idyllic and serene place to relax, read, write or swim.

As the day draws to a close, the alfresco pavillion is the place to meet for a refreshing drink & to review our progress.

Make mine a passionfruit margharita please!

A lovely night together in the Dining Room awaits us. Scrumptious & tempting Sir Lankan cuisine is on the menu.

The Griddled Squid with Blistering Sweet Chilli Sauce followed by the Lime Tart has won me!

So The Sun House it is this weekend - care to join me my friends?

Images: The Sun House

Of Frills & Friezes

One of my favourite Hills houses has just come on the market. Olivet House c.1920 (formerly known as Wachenappee) sits in all its grandeur at the end of our street here in Stirling. For a while back in the '90's it was a very gracious Boutique hotel, but was converted back to a private residence by the present Owners.

The land holding is a substantial 6,600 sq. metres approx (1.5 acres) of fabulous Hills garden & the house sits in a wonderful elevated position.

Very nice hedged courtyard outside the back door.

It has all the accoutrements required of a country estate.

The stairs leading down to an all-weather tennis court (puts our dodgy old clay court to shame!!).

Fabulous mature trees throughout the garden.

Meandering paths lined with the traditional Hills camelias & rhodies.

And a wide verandah to yell instructions to the gardeners from.

However, as we wander inside things sort of turn pear-shaped. A strange combo. of marbled colour washes on the walls, skirting boards & dado line. I have no doubt that a large amount of money was spent in the '90's getting all these specialist painted finishes done, but I reckon they detract from the true 'personality' of the house.

The formal sitting room is OK.

I feel a refit coming on here in the kitchen.

And the casual meals area off the kitchen has great potential. Love those French doors leading out to the verandah.

The formal lounge room has a bank of fabulous windows, but more of that painted marbled wash-ie thing happening with the walls. The chunky velour sofas seem to be caught in a time warp.

There are 7 bedrooms, and here's where the frills really kick in.

Hmmmm.

More frills & garlanded friezes.

This is one of the 5 bathrooms, & the ultimate awful frilly Austrian blind thing is in situ. This is a magical property, & I'm sure with a little clever design, strict adherence to the Less Is More theory, a large skip bin, the phone #'s of Heckle & Jeckle (aka Mike & Chris our favourite Painters & Decorators) & a fat cheque book, the new Owners can end the Frills & Friezes era Olivet House is sadly stuck in - good luck! Estimated sale price is $3 - 3.5 m.

Images: with apologies again to Jamie Brown @ Bernard Booth

Bienvenido a Buenos Aires

Thank goodness this is a cyber Weekend Retreat. It means that getting on a plane to travel to our destination, my clagged sinuses & rattly chest will magically disappear in an instant! I have had itchy tango toes all week, so the beautiful city of Buenos Aires is the only place that will satisfy that itch. I've decided to throw caution to the wind & go totally Over-The-Top, so have chosen the spectacular Philippe Starck-designed Faena Hotel + Universe on the Puerto Madero Este waterfront as our base.

Transformed from an abandoned c.1902 grain silo by Argentinian legend Alan Faena, the Faena offers its guests a very different experience. For starters, when your roll on up to the side entrance (there is no front door), you’ll be greeted by friendly men in black who will make your bags disappear and hand you your own personal cell phone. Then don't expect the traditional lobby check-in - there isn't one. You'll wander into an opulent red hallway, with red rugs topped by rectangular leather banquettes in the middle. Plonk yourself down on these & you'll be greeted by your own Experience Manager who takes care of everything from that point on, with in–room check–in and a phone number you reach them on directly throughout your stay.

It's said that the Faena is a constant stage set waiting for performers (Coldplay, Madonna et. al) & other A-listers & is the most decadent, sumptuous, sexy hotel in Buenos Aires. And as we are all stars of the Blogging world we'll feel right at home here. Your rooms are as opulent as you would expect - think white leather, polished wood, marble floors, crystal chandies, red velvet chaises, gold leaf. Then there's the diagonally placed bed - all very avant-garde & uber-cool.

Love this all-marble bathroom!

And your room has it's own private terrace looking out across the city. Once you've freshened up, do make your way up to the roof-top terrace.

Past the gorgeous swimming pool - yes it's all red, very red.

Let's have nibbles & drinks while getting to know each other again while comparing rooms & enjoying the balmy evening air.

Then it's down to the El Mercado bistro. The perfect Bloggers table has been set up for us. After a wonderful meal & lots of great chat, it's back to our rooms to enjoy all that rococco sumptuousness. Sleep tight.

As you all know, no weight is ever gained on our cyber weekends, so let's start off our Saturday here at Un Altra Volta.

For a big bowl of their famous Dulche de Leche. We'll need to keep our blood sugar levels up, as we've got a big day of tango ahead of us.

Hot coffee by the bucket loads please.

Then it's off to begin our tango journey. This is the Centro Cultural Borges, which is actually a museum & cultural centre. Our school can be very hard to find, as there are some stairs we have to go up. I've been told we should ask the security officer here where the Escuela Argentina de Tango school is, he'll get us there.

Here we are, up on the top level, with glass windows looking out across Buenos Aires.

The dance is one of the most important expressions of the tango and the visual beauty illustrates the spirit of the music. A foot moves in every musical note, meaning that if a foot moves in one note, in the following note the other one should, too - similar to walking.

The faculty of the Escuela Argentina de Tango are all local and internationally recognized for their high artistic level and their clear commitment to teaching tango. Don't worry though, our cyber experience means that your perfect dance partner will magically appear & we won't have to pair up with each other!

Our teachers Nora Robles & Pedro Calveyra have assured me that we will all be natural stars of their most prestigious class, the Master V Tango Programme.

After an energetic day of excelling at our Tango class, I've chosen the trendy Aramburo restaurant in the San Telmo district for a relaxing dinner. Owner Gonzalo Aramburu has worked with Charlie Trotter & Joel Rubuchon, so the food will be outstanding.

Then it's off to the La Esquina Carlos Gardel for a night of spectacular tango dancing.

For the performance, we sit at tables below a large two-level stage. Dancers perform on the lower level, while above them a full tango orchestra plays. The show includes many local varieties of tango and celebrates the long, complex history of the genre. The ambience and the high quality of the dancing makes La Esquina de Carlos Gardel one of the most recommended and memorable tango shows in the city.

After the show, you are welcome to find a Milongas tango venue & make a night of it. Confiteria Idéal Suipacha, Salon Canning, El Beso and Porteňo y Bailarin all come well recommended. However do remember the first rule of tango - Tango Eyes.
If you don't want to dance be careful of the eye contact you make. Here at the Milongas's, you will not see men physically getting up to ask a woman to dance. He will get her attention with his eyes, nod or make a 'lets go' move with his head. If she accepts she will nod and smile, and they will both meet on the dance floor. (Note to self: must suggest that move to MOTH when I get home!) See you back at the Faena for a nightcap in the Library Lounge.

Sunday sees a couple of options. Another full day at Escuela Argentina de Tango, or a walking tour around the city. You will visit:

• Plaza de Mayo, the main square where the city of Buenos Aires was first successfully founded. It grew outwards from Avenida de Mayo, the grand boulevard of Buenos Aires with its many remarkable buildings & architectural features.
• Avenida 9 de Julio the widest avenue in the world, home to the famous Buenos Aires Obelisk monument.
• Plaza Congreso, where the magnificently imposing Congress building can be seen.
  The Buenos Aires Cathedral, a fantastic work of religious architecture & is the last resting place of Argentina’s independence hero, General San Martin.
• The Pink House (Casa Rosada) where the President and executive government conduct their daily business. Evita and President Juan Domingo Peron famously gave speeches from its balcony.
• Cafe Tortoni, the cafe in a city of cafes, which also happens to be the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires, founded in 1858 with much of its wonderful original interior still intact.
  Hear the fantastic history and symbolism of the Palacio Barolo building, a tribute to Dante’s Divine Comedy & once the tallest building in South America.
• Take a short ride on Buenos Aires Subway Line A, the oldest subway in the southern hemisphere, with its original 1913 wooden carriages.

So after a fabulous day, it's time to say farewell to our host city of Buenos Aires. A city of many small places, intimate details & treasure-filled antique shops. Modern glass skyscrapers overlooking old 19th century Victorian houses. Individual districts mixing French colonial classicism with Spanish barrio architecture. See you at our next cyber Weekend Retreat.

Adiós a Buenos Aires!