The EnvyMy.Life Travel Journal

Wish You Were Here

City guides, trip itineraries and honest reviews, from the dive bar to the Michelin star.

Sights & attractions

All postcards

Catalonia, Spain

Four Ways Out of Barcelona

Four of my favourite days out by train: Sitges old town, Girona's giant Gothic nave, Roman Tarragona and the cliff path from Sant Pol to Calella's lighthouse.

City Guide

Ibiza, Spain

Ibiza & Formentera, Three Ways

Three trips to the White Island: beach hotels, Dalt Vila and a day on Formentera; a winter break by night ferry; and a villa in the pines, with...

City Guide

Paris & the Vendée, France

Dita, Versailles and a Throne in the Vendée

Five nights in France built around one show: Dita Von Teese at the Folies Bergère, a Sunday of fountains at Versailles, Paris by e-bike and two days at...

Travel Diary

Athens, Greece

Four Stars in Five Nights

Five nights in Athens in February: a grand hotel on Syntagma Square, a small suite hotel in Thiseio, and four dinners that each held a Michelin star, from...

Food & Drink

Palma, Spain

Palma, Out of Season

Three January nights in Palma: a spa hotel in Santa Catalina, sushi across the street, an underground concert in the Coves del Drach and a cathedral with hardly...

City Guide

Mainland Greece

Greece, the Long Way Round

Two weeks on the Greek mainland in October: dinner in Thessaloniki, Meteora at golden hour, a fireplace night in Arachova, Ancient Corinth after the coaches leave, and five...

Travel Diary

Paris, France

Pride Weekend from a Bastille Balcony

Three nights in Paris over Pride weekend: a balcony above the Sunday market at Bastille, an Aperol in the Marais, a late one on Rue des Lombards and...

City Guide

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Lit for Christmas

Six December nights in a Bica duplex: Christmas lights on Rua Garrett, a market lunch on Praça da Figueira, a nata under a painted ceiling inside Zara and...

City Guide

Málaga, Spain

Everything's Coming Up Roses in Málaga

Four November nights in Málaga for Antonio Banderas's Gypsy: a restored 1926 grand hotel on the seafront, sushi around the corner, ham off Calle Larios and a spring...

City Guide

Veneto, Italy

Palladio, Tiepolo and One Night in Venice

The last leg of my Italian summer: a stop in Verona, three nights in a frescoed suite on Corso Palladio, La Rotonda and Tiepolo's Villa Valmarana, then one...

City Guide

Parma, Italy

Prosciutto, Palaces and a Leaning Tower

Five nights in an old Parma palazzo with a hire car for the day trips: the wooden Teatro Farnese, torta fritta and horse tartare, Romanesque Modena, Bologna's porticoes...

Travel Diary

Lombardy, Italy

Como by Boat, Milan by Design

Four July days in Lombardy: the funicular up to Brunate, a hydrofoil to Bellagio, Portaluppi's Villa Necchi, Dolce&Gabbana's Alta Moda in the royal palace and lunch with the...

City Guide