Getting the flavour of…
Bulgaria’s second city
Just like Rome, Plovdiv was “built on seven hills”, says Anita Isalska in The Independent. And here, you’ll also find plenty of impressive Roman ruins. Its second century Roman theatre, which once seated audiences of 6,000, is one of the “world’s best preserved”. Today, after “painstaking restoration”, it is once again hosting performances: it is a focal point of the city’s annual opera festival. The nearby Roman Stadium is another highlight, but there’s more to Plovdiv than ruins: it has “all the right ingredients for a city break”. The Old Town, with its cobbled streets and “charming” 19th century buildings, has “never looked better”, with a “lively” atmosphere and lovely National Revival-era museums. Best of all, “prices are still low and the crowds haven’t yet arrived”. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies direct from Stansted from about £120 return.
The Highlands by Tesla
The beauty of driving in “full-blown robot mode” around the Scottish Highlands is that you can keep your eyes on the scenery instead of the road, says Monique Rivalland in The Times. But at the “first glimmer of uncertainty” the car “tells the human in the driver’s seat to snap into action”. A Tesla Model S can be hired to whizz you “from castle to castle” on a long weekend; it’s delivered to your hotel’s door and you can download an app to point out the nearest charging points (public ones are free in Scotland). Setting off from Glasgow, you can be surrounded by “purple misty mountains” within an hour, then lunch on oysters by Loch Fyne, and arrive on the Isle of Eriska, with its stately castle, “just in time for tea”. Mckinlay Kidd (0141-308 8009; www. mckinlaykidd.com) has a four-night tour from £1,425pp, including car rental.
A date with the Breath Guru
There’s a lot more to breathing than just inhaling and exhaling, says Susan d’arcy in The Sunday Times. Alan Dolan, the “Breath Guru”, runs a retreat on Lanzarote to train people in “conscious connected breathing”. If done right, he says, it will sharpen focus, improve memory and lower stress – perhaps even induce a “spiritual awakening”. It’s not like yogic breathing – you inhale in and out in a “continuous loop”. At first “my mouth is bone dry; I panic, cough and protest”, but soon it gets easier and I’m flooded with a euphoric energy followed by a sense of clarity that lasts all day. Other guests are “similarly seduced”; as the days progress, some of them look ten years younger. Now, back home on 20,000 deep breaths a day, I’m “officially addicted”. Four nights at a Breath Guru retreat (www.breathguru.com) cost from £1,040pp full board.