Michael Landry
Every summer Barbara, our nine year old daughter Michaela and I and travel to various international destinations. While the main purpose is relaxation these sojourns serve to provide great ideas for the hotel and our restaurant, The Secret Garden. This year was no different.
We spent our first week in Tyrol where all three of us attended the Austria Racing Camp on the Hintertux glacier. Just as you would expect the Austrians are very deliberate and precise about their training techniques. For Michaela it was the most intensive ski experience in her young life. All coaches where former world cup level skiers and very serious about their profession. The routine for the kids ranging from 8 to 17 years old was all out. Wake up at 6:15 a. m. followed by morning run at 6:30 a. m., breakfast at seven and up the three gondolas to the glacier. Ski training until 1 p.m. – lunch – video analysis- update their personal training journal- back outside for circuit dry land training – dinner – camp meeting and then to bed at 9:30 p.m. Fortunately for Barbara and I our program was modified to let us sleep in and go to bed later. But it was well worth the effort. Most of all for Michaela who made tremendous strides in such a short period and met so many young aspiring athletes from around the world. Without a doubt we will be back next summer. Hintertux is found at the top of the bucolic Ziller valley just past Mayrhofen one of the best known ski resorts in Austria. Even if skiing isn’t your cup of tea for the summer the area is well worth visiting. Visitors can enjoy cozy towns, green pastures, tranquility and spectacular mountain views. The valley has an altitude range from 4000 feet to over 10000 feet above sea level making it a paradise for cyclists, hikers and mountaineers.
Hintertux Glacier
Hotel in Merano – The Plantitscherhof Residence
Vineyard in Alto Aldige
Having had enough Wiener Schnitzel we traveled to Merano in the Italian part of Tyrol on our final night where we stayed at the Hotel Ansitz Plantitscherhof before flying off the next morning to Sicily and the Aolean Isles. Our take away from this experience was confirmation on how important attention detail can be. When we arrived just as with The Pillars, we were offered a welcome beverage in their small but elegant courtyard. When we told them that we were leaving at 5:30 a.m. they offered to prepare a bagged breakfast for us which they left in the room before we went to bed. That evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner which was accompanied by a very special bottle of Alto Aldige Chardonnay. With twenty different grape varieties grown in Alto Adige, good wines are not hard to find here. What is even more interesting is how prolific the area is. It produces an amazing average annual yield of around 3.9 million cases of wine on only 3,100 acres. On a slightly negative note they did not have a 24 hour front desk service. This is not particularly unusual for a small property hotel with about 30 rooms. But I must say that we became very concerned when are taxi was a few minutes late and we had a plane to catch. With no one to help us we would have been in deep trouble if our taxi had not shown up. Over the years we always wondered if our 24 hour front desk coverage at The Pillars was worth it. Not anymore!
The next week was spent sailing around the seven Aeolian Islands. This exotic inhabited volcanic archipelago is located just off the northern shore of Sicily, close to the tip of Italy’s toe. Reachable by ferry, private boat or helicopter the Aeolians (sometimes called Italy’s Secret Islands) are endowed with some of Earth’s finest natural beauty, so much so that they were placed on Unesco’s World Heritage list in 2000. We can’t say enough about the place. We were treated to wonderful sea-swimming in clear blue water, great remote beaches, stunning views, castles, mountain and coastal walking, tantalizing cuisine and incredibly good Sicilian wines.
Classic movie buffs will be familiar the Aeolians. For years Italian directors have been using the dramatic scenery as a backdrop. Brilliant Italian director Roberto Rossellini captured the rare scenes of Stromboli in his 1949 film of the same name. Stromboli is perhaps best remembered for the affair during production between Rossellini and Bergman which almost ended the Swedish beauty’s career. Another famous film set in the area was Michael Radford’s film Il Postino or “The Postman,” starring Italian actor Massimo Troisi. We found Stromboli with its active volcano to be the most dramatic the Aeolians. The island is an ancient and active volcano rising massively from the Mediterranean, with a couple of small settlements on the coast. One evening we brought the boat right up to the edge of the shore on the eruption side of the island. What an awe inspiring sight! No wonder the Romans called it the “lighthouse of the Mediterranean”.
Lipari Harbor – Aeolian Isles
Rocky window island-Salina
Salina
From the Aeolians we travelled to the amazing modern “Red City” of Marrakesh for our last week of the trip. Moroccan, African, historic and most of all exotic, Marrakesh far exceeded our expectations. The city’s extreme contrasts were seductive to say the least. Author Barnaby Rogerson sums it up well as “a place of palaces and poverty, of shops and shepherds, of drought and scented rose-water, of camels and private-jets, of flea markets and opulent bazars, of boisterous street theatre and quiet domestic interiors. It is also a place that induces extreme reactions. One moment you curse it at others it tangibly pulses with invigorating energy as if the whole city, every evening, is warming up for a rock concert. In short it is fascinating but exhausting. You can both love it and loathe it, all in the space of one day.”
Our expectations were exceeded over and over again. Given the fact that our own Chef Hammi hails from Morocco we had some familiarity with Moroccan cuisine. However, we had no idea how consistently superb it would actually be. Meals were rich in spices – Saffron, Cinnamon, Cumin, ground Ginger, Paprika just to mention a few. And also lots of nuts and fresh and dried fruits. The ecclective nature of the cuisine is not surprising when you consider that the region is at the crossroads of many civilizations. Over the years the food has been touched by Arab, Berber, Moorish, French, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean African, Iberian, and Jewish influences. At sunset the exiting central square called the Jamaa el Fna comes alive with storytellers, musicians, snake-charmers and food stalls. Off of the square are numerous narrow streets leading into the Souks which are the principal shopping attraction of the city. The area is made up of an intricate set of connected alleyways with a vast number of stalls and shops selling anything and everything. The shopping experience is best enjoyed by those who love to bargain. Barbara was able to buy some beautiful dishes by cutting 60% off the original purchase price.
Majorelle Gardens
Royal Mansour Hotel
Another must in Marrakesh are the The Majorelle Gardens. The gardens were designed by a French painter Jacques Majorelle in 1919. After years of neglect they were fully restored by its new owners Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent in 1980. The garden is composed and colored like a painting leading many to believe that the garden rather than Majorelle’s paintings is his greatest masterpiece. Inside its perimeter walls you will find beautiful groves of bamboo, date palms and various lily covered pools. The garden is home to over fifteen different species of birds, such as turtle doves, bulbuls and house buntings.
We opted to stay in a villa to accommodate my son, daughter-in- law and four Australian grand kids. Just the same, we did want to get a flavor of some of the area’s best hotels. In Marrakesh we had dinner at The Royal Mansour Hotel. As one travel writer puts it the hotel is where “royal Palace meets Disney World”. Completed four years ago, the five-star Royal Mansour was commissioned by the king himself to showcase Moroccan craftsmanship and service. If you are looking for the ultimate in opulent luxury this is it. Apparently, the budget for the property has never been revealed. Dinner was very good with exceptional charming hospitable white glove service. However, be prepared for sticker shock. The $70 flute of Champagne offered as an aperitif made me think how reasonable prices are at The Pillars. We also had drinks at the exquisite La Mamounia Hotel and Spa. Like the Royal Mansour this recently refurbished hotel reverberates Moorish opulence. Even if you don’t choose to stay there its worth having cocktails on the property so you can walk around the beautiful royal gardens.
Kasbah Tamadot
Berber Tent – Kasbah Tamadot
Being a big fan of Virgin Atlantic and Sir Richard Branson we drove up into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains to visit Branson’s Kashbah Tamadot. This remarkable resort is less than an hour away from Marakesh and the drive itself was most enjoyable as we passed a number of Berber villages on the way up.
Kasbah Tamadot is a walled complex of enchanting courtyards, fascinating staircases, landscaped gardens and breathtaking views. The hotel boasts 27 stunning bedrooms and suites. That number also includes ten impressive luxury Berber tents. Lunch was excellent and extremely well priced. The view from the dining terrace was spectacular overlooking the mountains and numerous Berber villages tucked into the mountainside. The staff was exceptional. The front desk manager was kind enough to take us on an extensive tour of the property. We were amazed at how much creativity and focus on detail that went into the development of the hotel. Barbara and I came away with a great many ideas that we could use at The Pillars.
No question – one of the best Landry summer holidays ever… family, relaxation, learning new skills and developing new ideas.