Strattons, Swaffham, Norfolk
PLANET FRIENDLY TRAVEL NEWS BY
Stuffed full of art, antiques and eccentricities, this 14-room hotel in a historic market town has its own shop as well as a deli and restaurant.
There’s sumptuous style in the bedrooms, which might have an angel mural, a mermaid mosaic in the bathroom, or bowler-hat lampshades. Even the least expensive rooms feel special but the one to bag is the Red Room with a Jacobean four-poster, bath for two at the end of the bed, acres of scarlet velvet, open fire and courtyard garden. ■■B&B doubles from £159 strattonshotel.com
The county’s very own “lost gardens” celebrate 20 years of restoration in 2021.
From dereliction to a nationally important treasure, the revival of the 450-year-old Easton Walled Gardens between Stamford and Grantham is a story of determination and survival.
Owned by the Cholmeley family for more than 400 years, by the 1900s the gardens were so admired that they drew praise from future US President Franklin D Roosevelt, who described them as “a dream of nirvana… almost too good to be true”.
After the hall was demolished, the 12-acre gardens were abandoned for 50 years, until in 2001 Ursula Cholmeley began restoring them to their former historical importance, with contemporary twists.
Today the gardens are well known for their snowdrops, sweet peas, borders and flower-filled meadows.
There is also a courtyard shop, tearoom, garden centre and pub with rooms, The Cholmeley Arms.
Holidaymakers who stay in the estate’s self-catering accommodation – loft apartments and holiday cottages – have free access to Easton Walled Gardens during their visit.
visiteaston.co.uk
■■Snorkelling paths at Crete’s
Abaton Island
Resort & Spa have been designed by a team of marine biologists.
There are three beneaththe-sea tours that take you into Crete’s underwater world where you’ll be able to spot up 50 species.
The area is also home to endangered Mediterranean monk seals and its beaches are favoured by protected loggerhead turtles who come to lay their eggs. abaton.gr
■■Qbic hotels are launching new venue Qbic Manchester on May 17. The group has strong eco credentials which include transforming existing buildings rather than building new. Roof solar panels provide heating, and the showers feature water saving measures. The restaurant menu features low-mileage and seasonal produce, while guests who don’t need their rooms cleaned daily are rewarded with free drinks. qbichotels.com
the hit movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
Our first journey to the Med’s biggest island, Sicily, was taken in the firm’s Ford Cortina, driving from London to Palermo, stopping off in Calabria at the ancient clifftop town of Tropea. We spent 10 days in a beachside villa below Tropea, where we ventured out in the evenings to find a man who sold the most delicious pizzas cooked in an oven tucked into a hole in the wall.
Travelling east, on the opposite coast, we stayed with a family in Crotone during a religious festival weekend.
It seemed as if the New York mafia had tuned up for the festivities. There was a rich mixture of accents from The Bronx, Rome and Naples. They were parading like peacocks in white suits and fedoras as the locals pumped the hands of returning sons who’d found their fortune far away.
We took the ferry from Reggio Calabria to cross the Strait of Messina to land in Sicily. It was July and the drive across the island in our Cortina – no air conditioning – was unbearable.
With relief we made it to wonderfully chaotic Palermo’s streets, winding through food markets with delicious fruits, vegetables, meat and fish – already cooked if you wanted a picnic in a shady square. The smells and aromas are from all over the world as Greeks, Arabs, Germans and Brits have tried to tame the unruly Sicilians.
We stayed in a cramped flat in Mondello, where Katherine used her Italian to find out about the laidback resort of Balestrate. There, we stayed in a family villa enjoying the hospitality of a grandma who cooked spaghetti with freshly made tomato sauce and fish cooked by her husband on a tiny makeshift tin tray of a barbecue. We would buy snapper and shrimp from the fishing boats. Bliss. A couple of years ago we returned to Sicily to stay at Club Med near Cefalu. A world apart from our 1980s adventure, it didn’t disappoint.
Once again, people don’t change when they respect their own culture and welcome foreigners just the same.
Our room, in rocks overlooking azure waters, was one of the best we’d ever stayed in. Lunch at the waterside restaurant was a special treat and the evening buffet was sumptuous with a mouthwatering nod to the island’s produce and cooking.
Crikey… this is one heck of a postcard – and there’s so much more I could write from my travel almanac.
I’m sure you could too.
I hope you enjoy your own memories from past trips.
And let’s face it. We all deserve a break.
Paying £4 for a room was pushing the boat out, a meal was the same