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Don’t Hesitate to Stay at Corral del Rey

We loved our penthouse room at Corral del Rey, a boutique property in the old quarter of Seville, where rooms are located inside a former 17th-century estate. We had a large outdoor patio with views overlooking the Gothic Cathedral, plunge pool, bath built for two, fantastic shower, and a heavenly mattress. It’s no surprise it was our favorite hotel of our entire stay in Spain. We took full advantage of the room, polishing off a bottle of Tempranillo with our nephew, Micah, who’s studying in Seville this semester, before strolling over to a hole-in-the-wall tapas joint with outdoor tables, Estrella. The place is popular with flamenco dancers, guitarists, and singers who perform at the nearby Museo del Baile Flamenco, as we would soon find out when seeing an hourlong flamenco show. The guy I just met at the bar was the guitarist for the show, and wow, was he good, along with two soulful singers, and three incredibly talented flamenco dancers. We made the wise move of booking the VIP show, where only two rows of audience view the show in an intimate setting inside a former wine cellar. The performance was so moving that I looked over at Lisa and saw tears rolling down her cheek. 

 

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Enjoying Winter, Whatever Weather Comes My Way

Ole Punxsutawney Phil crawled out of his Gobbler’s Knob hole and delivered his annual Groundhog Day weather forecast yesterday. He saw his shadow and thus we’ll have six more weeks of winter. With skunk cabbages and dandelions already sprouting in Boston during 60-degree days this week, I’m wondering what type of winter is that groundhog talking about. Certainly not the winter weather the Farmers’ Almanac predicted back in August, “a season of unusually cold and stormy weather.” I happen to like the occasional snowfall in winter, the reason why I live in New England. Still the warm climes won’t deter me from skiing at Stowe this weekend, which received over 15 inches of snow this past week. Have a great weekend, and whether you hike, walk, ski, snowshoe or jog, get outdoors and keep active!

 
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Finland Celebrates 100 Years of Independence in 2017

After 700 years of Swedish rule, the area known as Finland served as a battlefield for Russian-Swedish conflicts until it fell into Russian hands in 1809. As an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire, it was allowed to develop politically, eventually leading to independence during the turmoil surrounding the Russian Revolution in 1917. To celebrate its centennial, Finland kicked off a year of festivities this past week with fireworks over Helsinki. Throughout 2017 there will be hundreds of events in this Nordic nation of 5.5 million, from dance parties to joint performances by the Sibelius Academy and Juilliard, to activities linked to Finland’s renowned sauna tradition. The government has earmarked 19 million euros for the celebrations, including the debut of a new national park, the nation’s 40th, highlighting the Finns’ love of nature. 

 
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Stocking Stuffer No. 4: Deer Valley and Stowe Lodging

Judging from the trips we’ve already booked this upcoming Holiday season to Aspen, Park City, Whistler, and Zermatt, our clients love to ski. They even own property at several ski areas and are now renting out to others. In Deer Valley, you can stay at a 5-bedroom townhouse that sleeps 10 comfortably for as little as $395 a night. A free shuttle on neighboring Deer Valley Drive takes you just up the road to the ski resort or a 10-minute ride into Park City. It’s a great location to ski all three mountains, Deer Valley, Park City, and the Canyons. The townhouse also features a long dining room table, two living rooms, a hot tub, and great views of the mountains. At Stowe, the 4-bedroom Ridgerunner is a mile from Mountain Road which leads to Stowe. The 3-story house features a state-of-the-art kitchen, dining room table built for 20, game room, large outdoor deck with fireplace, hot tub, and wonderful views of Mount Mansfield. 

 
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Beer Gardens, Fiddlers, and More at the Trustees This Summer

Yesterday, I wrote about the beer gardens around Boston this summer, but I forgot to mention that the Trustees has teamed up with Salem’s Notch Brewing to create a beer garden at many of their parks and farms this summer. First stop is Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover May 17-20. Also on the calendar is a Fiddlers Fest at Fruitlands August 5th and Thursday Nights concerts at the glorious Crane Estate throughout summer. Be sure to check the events listing at Trustees weekly to see what’s in store. And check out my story in the Boston Globe on overlooked Trustees sites. 

 
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Stay at the Old Tavern in Grafton, Vermont for $222 for Two Nights, Including Breakfast

If you want to stay in a quintessential Vermont town, close to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and downhill skiing, you might want to take advantage of the Old Tavern in Grafton’s latest deal. Pay just $222 for two nights at the inn (through March), including a full country breakfast and an afternoon cider and Grafton Cheese social. Down the road, The Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center features 15 km of groomed Nordic skiing, wine and cheese snowshoe tours, tubing down a 600-foot high hill, and, new this year, horse-drawn sleigh rides. Never been to Grafton? Amble along Main Street past the Country Store, where I once spotted a sign posted outside asking if anyone’s seen a missing horse, and you swear you just stepped into a Currier and Ives painting. To the right is the red brick town hall, circa 1816, now home to the post office. Further up the road, past the white clapboard houses spewing smoke from their chimneys is the requisite white steeple. Across the street is the Old Tavern, opened in 1801, and once the stagecoach stop on the ride from Boston to Montreal. Ulysses S. Grant spent a night here while campaigning for his presidency and Rudyard Kipling liked the locale so much he honeymooned at the hotel in 1892. For more information on Grafton, see the story I wrote for Preservation Magazine. 

 
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Still Time to Hit the Beach in New England

Next week, I’ll be discussing my favorite fall foliage activities in the region. Yet, I love September just as much as October in New England. The summer crowds are gone leaving the beaches deserted. It’s been unseasonably warm all week, in the low to mid-80s. With cousins in town from Arizona and my brother in from New York, we took advantage of the warm weather on Tuesday to drive up to a family favorite, Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester. A mere 45-minute drive from my home and I was sifting my feet in the soft white flour-like sand looking at the gorgeous lighthouse at the point. It was low tide and we walked on a long sandbar almost out to that lighthouse. There were few people on the beach and best yet, there was no charge to enter. When we had our fill of sun, sand, and ocean, we headed to nearby Woodman’s for the requisite lobster roll, steamers, and onion rings. This place always has a long line in summer, but we marched right up to the counter to make our order. The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny the rest of the month so hit the coastline and dip your feet in the ocean one last time. 
 

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