Celebrity traveller
Year’s Eve and my now-husband and I went to this local shop and found a complete rip-off of the board game Scrabble called Crossword, a really cheap rubbish, plastic version. Anyway, he put the letters out on the balcony, arranging them so they said “Will you marry me?” and then he put a Y and an N in the rack. I’d just come out of the shower and gone out on to the balcony and there were fireworks because it was New Year’s Eve. It sounds a cliché but it was like something from a film.
AND YOUR WORST?
I was filming in Romania and the country had just come out of communism and there was something really depressing about it.
Everywhere there was that really blocky, 1960s grey architecture. Where I was staying, I’d plug something in the wall and sparks would fly out from the socket.
The capital Bucharest was really depressing then we went to Transylvania and it was gorgeous countryside, rolling hills but it felt really sad and I can’t explain why. Everyone was just really miserable there.
BEST SOUVENIR?
I bought a little hand-carved chest during one of my trips to Afghanistan. It’s so cute. It’s made from dark wood and it’s perfect in our living room, just the right height for our lamp. I’ve had it for about 10 years now and I really love it.
BEST BOOK?
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. That was my first holiday read as a grown-up, I was 18 when it came out.
It was one of those trips where I stayed in the same spot on the sunlounger and read five books in a week.
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME ON HOLIDAY?
I used to be much more of an explorer but since having kids any relaxation I can get is a bonus, so I’d say it’s more half and half now.
But then the exploration tends to be more child-friendly, so it’s fewer monuments and more water parks these days.
WHERE WOULD YOU REVISIT?
I loved Brazil and I’d like to see more of South America, especially as my husband has never been. Rio de Janeiro was amazing, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches have a real carnival vibe even when it isn’t carnival, and there are people just wandering around the shops in bikinis.
We got on the little tram which takes you up into the hills of Santa Teresa, where there are some awesome old houses and amazing views of Rio.
I liked the Copper Canyon in Mexico too which is bigger than the Grand Canyon. I stayed in a quaint desert town and visited Cusárare Falls which are lovely. There are hot springs there too.
WHERE ARE YOU OFF TO NEXT?
Center Parcs. My hubby is so snowed under with work, so we’re going to Bedfordshire and pretending we’re not on holiday so he can still work.