A collection of trips that speak to the senses – and the feelings
Each month, we’re releasing a roundup of our trips based around the senses – of tastes and colours, fragrances and feelings. As spring comes into focus, we’re looking ahead to some of the sensorial sojourns that you can embark on in the month ahead.
Touch – the lacquered tiles of Gaudi’s Barcelona
Like fractals, the vibrant tiles of Antonio Gaudi’s architecture radiate in dazzling permutations. They are both cold and warm. From the heights of Parc Guell, where these tiles are at their most decorous, you can make out the organic undulations of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral to beauty that has been under construction since 1882.
Scent – the rarefied ingredients of avant-garde Peruvian cooking
Tucked amongst the circular terraces of Moray – high in Peru’s Sacred Valley – you’ll find Mil, the Andean restaurant of world-famed chef Virgilio Martinez. Here, and in his adjoining research kitchen (Mater Iniciativa), you’ll taste (and scent) the local ingredients from which he concocts his award-winning dishes.
Taste – the refreshing wines of Franschhoek
In this sumptuously elegant region of South Africa, life follows the rhythms of the grape and the vine. When in Franschhoek, it’s impossible to turn down an opportunity to taste your way through the wineries of Rickety Bridge and Mont Rochelle. Bottoms up.
See – the undulating terraces of Sri Lank’s tea estates
Both gold and green, the tea-carpeted hills of Wallawwa are a sight to behold – rippling like waves as far as the eye can see, at whose edges – if you wander far enough – you’ll discover the lapping, gentle waves of the Indian Ocean.
Hear – the crashing island waves of the Aegean
The beaches of Mykonos (bright, crumbling, butter-yellow) are the stuff of legend. Our favourite, if we were to pick, has to be the secluded spot of Ayios Yiannis – a little bit calm, a little bit bohemian. It’s the best of both.
