Wills & Kate off to the Seychelles

I awoke this morning to the news that Prince William and his new bride Kate Middleton - better known in royal circles as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - have taken my advice and are reportedly en route to the Seychelles to enjoy their long-awaited honeymoon.

Last week the British press was reporting that an Indian Ocean location was in the cards for the honeymoon and I suggested the Seychelles, one of the most beautiful grouping of islands in the world and reportedly the original location for the Garden of Eden.

I spent a glorious week in the Seychelles a few years ago and can honestly say they and neighbouring the Maldives are my favourite islands in the world - I'm currently working on my Top 10 islands in the world list and will let you know when they are posted on travelife.ca.

In the meantime, since we now know the royal couple is reading this daily blog and taking my advice on where to honeymoon, let me give them some advice on what they should get out and see in the Seychelles.

Hey Wills (that's what the Prince likes his trusted friends like me to call him) take Kate to the local market in Victoria, named after your great, great, great grandmother Queen Victoria. There you can buy her some lovely hand made crafts made by decendants of slaves from Africa who first populated the once uninhabited Seychelles. The spices and fresh fish sold every day at the market are truly remarkable. The school kids in their uniforms are only too eager to stop and let you photograph them.

There's also a small shopping area in the downtown area of compact Victoria and don't miss the city's mini Big Ben clock.

Also, make sure you have someone take you to the cinnamon groves where you can taste the bark of the sweet tree that enhances your Starbucks cafe latte each day.

The food on the Seychelles, most of which was swimming in the Indian Ocean a few hours earlier, is spicy and sweet and a lot of it has an African flavour. There's also a big Asian community on the Seychelles and the Thai food is amazing. Just don't eat ther fruit bats - the massive wide-wing bats are what the early slaves relied on to survive and some people told me that the creatures still show up in local stews.

But the romantic sunsets and virgin beaches are what you'll really like best. The Seychelles setting brings out the romantic in all visitors so put the clock on this couple becuase this honeymoon may produce a heir to the throne of Great Britain.

Have fun Wills and Kate.

Cambridge in U.K. tourist spotlight

Old university town will be getting lots of visitors
now that it's linked to Kate and Will.

When the Queen bestowed the title of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on her grandson Prince William and his new bride Kate Middleton, she unwittingly – or maybe wittingly – cast the tourist spotlight directly on the university town with the ancient history.

Cambridge is one of the loveliest towns in Great Britain and is sure to become a destination of choice for many tourists wanting to see all things relating to Will and Kate.

So, knowing this, Ted Flett, the congenial Public Relations/Communications Manager for VisitBritain – the U.K.’s fine tourist organization – thoughtfully forwarded me the best attractions Cambridge has to offer tourists. And they are:

- The famed university itself, the second oldest in the English-speaking world, where most guided tours of the city start. A two hour city tour costs about $20 CDN and covers all the major sites. For information, go to: www.visitcambridge.org/TicketServer/DailyTours

- Magnificent King’s College Chapel, which is seen by millions every Christmas who watch the Carols from King’s service. Visits to the chapel usually include a performance by the choir at Evensong. www.kings.cam.ac.uk

- Punting in a square-ended wooden boat on the River Cam – or let a professional do the work and you enjoy the ride.

- The Fitzwilliam Museum, home to a world-class collection of art work that spans centuries and cultures. Highlights of this museum include treasures from the 14th century and antiquities dating back to ancient Egypt and Greece. www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

- Kettles Yard, an art gallery displaying modern art in a unique homey setting. www.kettlesyard.co.uk

- Cambridge Botanic Garden, which features over 8,000 plants displayed in 40 of the most pristine acres this side of Eden. The garden is located right in the heart of the city.

- Take a walk along the Cam to the nearby village of Grantchester and the Orchard Tea Rooms, frequented by poet Rupert Brooke and others.
www.orchard-grantchester.com

- Duxford Air Museum, part of the Imperial War Museum, which is located a short distance from the city centre. www.iwm.org.uk

- Note: Cambridge holds a number of festivals annually, one of the most famous being the Cambridge Folk Festival in late July. www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk/

- The Scott Polar Research Institute, an amazing place where secrets of the polar explorer are on display.

- The Eagle, a traditional English pub dating back to the 16th century with many historical features, including its RAF bar with its world famous ceiling. It even has a resident ghost.

For more information on the city now ruled by the newly crowned Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, go to www.visitcambridge.org

I get a 'dressing down' from readers



Princess Grace looked angelic.

Oops! For the past 24 hours I’ve been getting a “proper dressing down”, as the British would say, from readers upset over the “Plain Jane” comment I made yesterday about Kate Middleton’s wedding dress.

“Zip it!” is what readers are telling me. Hey, I warned you I was no fashion critic.

So I went back and had another look at the wedding dress designed for the woman who will be queen by Alexander McQueen’s top designer Sarah Burton to see what left me unimpressed yesterday.

On second look, the lace-lined gown with the V-neck meant to accent Kate’s lovely long neck - it looks a lot like the wedding dress Grace Kelly wore when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco so many years ago (I’ve supplied proof with the accompanying photographs) – was indeed a knockout.

But the longer I looked, the less impressed I still was.

Why?

Then it hit me. By comparing Duchess Catherine’s dress – no more Kate for this girl - with Princess Grace’s wedding gown, I was able to pin it down – the veil.

While Grace’s wedding veil flared out to make the gorgeous Grace look angelic, Kate’s just laid on her head like mosquito netting

It’s almost as if Burton forgot to account for the veil in the design and just grabbed something at the last minute.

I challenge you to have another look.

From now on, though, I’m sticking to reviewing Tilley travel gear!

Royal wedding dress disappoints me


 I’m back home after my 26-hour flight from Singapore via New York and through blurry eyes I watched the Royal Wedding this morning – damn jet lag has thrown my clock off again.

I’m no fashion critic but after all the hype of who would and would not design the wedding dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge (formerly plain old Kate Middleton) and what it would look like, I must admit I was somewhat disappointed – a bit too Plain Jane in its design. Maybe Princess Di’s elaborate wedding dress has ruined me forever.

However, London looked radiant!

No other city in the world looks as good as London when it puts on its regal look.

William and Kate’s wedding will certainly help inject new energy into the Royal Family and the wedding ceremony and the pomp and circumstance surrounding it will no doubt have many tourists booking passage to London.

CBC and other networks offered feeds from St. Andrews, where Prince William met Kate while attending the ancient city’s renowned university.

I was there a few years ago and TV pictures today reminded me how beautiful the campus there is. I soaked up the sun in the very courtyard where crowds gathered today to watch the wedding on giant TV screens.

London, St. Andrews and Kate’s hometown of Bucklebury – located 80 kilkometres west out London – will be overcrowded with tourists in coming weeks and months as the wedding ceremony hysteria continues well into the future.

Reminds me that it’s almost time for me to return to England.

Go to http://www.travelife.ca/ for my stories on St. Andrews.

No-fly zone ordered over France!

French President Sarkozy and wife Carla demand privacy!

Here’s some news items from today that I thought might interest you:

- First French President Nicolas Sarkozy imposed a “no-fly” zone over Libya and now he’s added one over the French Rivera – more precisely the retreat where he and his wife Carla Bruni will be spending the Easter holidays. Who does this guy think he is – Napoleon? An official decree threatens pilots with a fine of up to 40,000 euros or six months in prison for descending below 3,000 feet above Sarkozy's large seaside villa at Cap-Nègre, Lavandou. The decree came a year after France's first couple irked locals by declaring beaches surrounding the residence off limits.

- Dubai tourism officials are on full damage control alert and scrambling to reassure travelers that the Disneyland of the Desert is still a safe place after reports surfaced early today that a British holidaymaker was beaten to death while in police custody. Reports surfaced today in the British media about Lee Bradley Brown, who was on holiday at the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai. It is alleged the holidaymaker was beaten up by police officers in his cell after being arrested for assault, intimidating behaviour and using abusive language on April 6. He died in custody. The claims are now being investigated by the British embassy in Dubai.

- Union leaders representing British Airways cabin crew have ordered their members to hold off from strikes over the Easter and Royal Wedding holidays, raising hopes of a final settlement in the long-running dispute. The two sides said that a 28-day extension had been agreed to allow for further talks, and that lasting peace was essential for the good of both parties.

- Icelandair will commence seasonal flights from Toronto – starting today - with flights from Pearson International to Keflavik, Iceland. Finnair is also offering flights from Toronto to Helsinki. Suddenly, Toronto has become the centre of the aviation world and that's great news for Canadians looking for competition when it comes to air deals.

Facts about the Royal Wedding

London is gearing up for the hordes of tourists expected to show up for the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton on April 29.

Don't have a hotel room booked for the big event? Then don't bother showing up. Just about every hotel in the British capital is booked the weekend of the wedding.

VisitBritain, the British tourist authority, is estimating hundreds of thousands of foreigners will book passage and line the wedding route for the biggest event in London since the wedding of William’s father Prince Charles to the late Princess Diana.

Visitors are expected to give the sluggish British economy a $1 billion jolt thanks to Will & Kate Inc.

And over a billion people worldwide will watch the wedding on TV and London police are expecting upwards of 1 million people to line the wedding route.

Others facts and news I dug up about the Royal Wedding:

*When Kate walks down the aisle she will be the oldest Royal bride to get married;

*At the Royal Couple’s press conference Kate indicated that she would like to be called by her given name ‘Catherine’, rather than Kate;

*Prince William’s nickname in college was “P-Willy”;

*If Prince William had chosen to marry before his 25th birthday he would have required the consent of his grandmother, the Queen;

*The Royal Crown Derby porcelain factory, which was on the verge of closing thanks to slow sales and a change in casual dining habits, is back in business thanks to the Royal Wedding. The company, the official maker of Will and Kate memorabilia that has the blessing of Buckingham Palace, has ramped up production of such things as commemorative plates and taken on 150 new workers to keep up with global demand.

*Westminster Abbey, where the couple will take their vows, was not where Prince Charles married Princess Diana in 1981 – that honour went to St. Paul's Cathedral down the street. However, Westminster Abbey was the venue for the funeral service of Diana in September 1997 just days after she was killed in a car crash in Paris.

*Someone wondered if, when he becomes king, Prince William will be called William the Conqueror after one of his ancient predecessors. When he ties the knot with Kate, I think he should be called “William the Conquered.”