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YOU KNOW IT’S A SVART MOVE
NEXT year will see the opening of the world’s first ‘energy-positive’ hotel, Svart in Norway’s Arctic Circle.
Not only will it be a spectacular circular glass structure, it will offer 360-degree views of the Svartisen glacier and the Northern Lights.
The hotel will generate more energy than it uses. There will be four restaurants, a massive spa, electric boats (naturally) and an education system and design laboratory. Visit svart.no
TRAVEL THE WORLD’S OCEANS
NAUSICAá, one of the biggest aquariums in Europe, has reopened with new attraction, ‘In the Eye of the Climate’, an immersive 3D journey through the planet’s oceans.
The centre in Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, is home to 60,000 creatures and 1,600 species and gives visitors an insight into the climatic challenges and solutions that lie ahead if we are to tackle global warming. Visit nausicaa.fr
DESPITE being one of the most in-demand items of 2020 – more coveted than a Gucci handbag, and at times just as overpriced – it’s still hard to get excited about hand sanitiser.
But the Boatyard Distillery in County Fermanagh has done its best to beautify the cleaning product. Like many producers of spirits, they switched to creating the product early in the pandemic, taking the noble decision to supply hospitals and care homes in Enniskillen with 10,000 litres free of charge.
“We had to take on extra staff; students, family friends who were stuck with nothing to do,” says founder Joe McGirr, exemplifying the kind of zeal that’s welded communities just when they’ve been forced to physically function apart.
At one point, sanitiser became the Boatyard’s mainstay, and they’ve bottled 83,000 litres to date.
Now, Joe and his team are looking forward to resuming production of their award-winning gin and vodka, supplying supermarket chains like Waitrose, right through to swanky hotels such as London’s Savoy.
On July 3, bars, restaurants, hotels and attractions reopened in Northern Ireland, and after more than 100 days of rumbling behind closed doors, the Boatyard’s gleaming copper stills are once again welcoming public tours.
When I arrive at the marina on the banks of Lough Erne, visitor ‘bubbles’ are huddled around wooden sherry barrels (used to age the Boatyard’s Old Tom Gin), spread throughout the room.
Of course, tours have been tweaked: numbers have been reduced from 25 to eight; surfaces cleaned between sessions; and there’s no more touching or sniffing botanicals. But enthusiasm and dry humour abound, meaning safety has not been at the expense of fun.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to contain yourself from hugging me,” jests our jovial, teddy bear of a compere, Stanley. When we’re allowed to enter the prized gin production parlour, where shiny, bulbous machinery could be a fit for Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, he reassures us there’s so much alcohol in the atmosphere, any traces of Covid-19 would be obliterated.
“Spray tonic and you could inhale a cocktail,” he boasts.
Scents of Italian juniper berries, Amalfi lemons and peppery sweet gale (foraged from the less sexy surrounds of Irish bogs) fill the air, along with a sense of optimism.
Although delayed by the pandemic, there are plans to convert a waterside warehouse into a glass-fronted tasting area and cocktail bar, serviced by a water taxi, dropping guests at the jetty – once the vessel has been given a ‘social distancing-friendly’ refit.
Inevitably, business has suffered during the last three months, but Joe agrees the only way to look is ahead. Presented with a view of emerald hills seeping into smooth, cloudreflecting waters, it’s not hard to do.
A similar scene greets me at the Finn Lough resort, a 25-minute drive away.
With a collection of standalone suites and lodges spread along the water, and bubble domes occupying their own forest niche, it’s a natural fit for a, secluded retreat.
Complying with the new normal has demanded some compromises, admits co-owner Gillian Beare. High-touch points, such as cushions and bed throws, have been removed from rooms; crockery is wrapped in tissue paper (a laudable alternative to pernicious plastics); and meals are more regimented.
Breakfast, for example, is ordered from a menu online and delivered to rooms in a wicker hamper.
Hospitality and service, however, remain the same. If anything, staff are more attentive than ever, albeit from a distance.
A transparent, plastic igloo erected by air pressure, my bubble dome is irresistibly cosy; a mood shaped by a bathtub, four-poster bed and Otis Redding spinning on a turntable. Not that it really matters.
SARAH MARSHALL was a guest of Finn Lough, who offer a bubble dome stay from £245 per night based on two people sharing, including breakfast. Stays in the catered suites start from £120 per night
(two sharing), including breakfast and mountain bike hire. See finnlough.com or call 028 683 80360.
Simply being in the forest is enough for me. Since the beginning of lockdown in March, a whole season has passed: birds have nested and chicks fledged; blossom has unfurled and cascaded like confetti.
Whether living in town or country, we’ve all become more attuned to nature. But only now, swallowed by a tangled canopy of crisp leaves glistening with raindrops, do I realise how much I’ve missed trees.
Dinner is another novelty. Aside from the immense delight of not having to cook or wash up, it feels special to dine with others, listening to the hushed voices of strangers