You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2012.
Our first night in Jersey I had booked us into Mark Jordan at the Beach. More casual than Jordan’s Michelin-starred restaurant in the Atlantic hotel, we thought it would be more our speed. And it proved to be the perfect start to a relaxing holiday – the staff were that perfect balance of professional and warm and from the start we felt welcomed and at ease. We sat outside and had a perfect view of the beach. The view really is lovely, right across the long crescent of St Aubin’s bay, but at the same time the tables are tucked under a roof, so it doesn’t feel too much like a picnic. I’m not a huge fan of eating outdoors, so this combination of elegant white tablecloth service and heated terrace with a pretty view of nature is ideal for me. Read the rest of this entry »
The lemurs have been on a bit of a vacation, here in the dog days of August. I know, we weren’t long back from Rome when we were off again, this time on a trip I’ve been excited about for months. Somehow, I learned that the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Centre in Jersey has a significant Madagascan wildlife collection and that, in particular, they have a lot of lemurs. My response? OMG squeeee!!!111!!!1! Yeah, here at The Lemurs are Hungry, we are kind of lemur crazy and it turns out, so is lemur friend Thrifty Gal. So, as a belated birthday jaunt, Thrifty Gal and I cooked up a plan to visit Jersey and see the lemurs. The Durrell Centre has a splendid offer that for just £50, a party of up to five people can go backstage with an animal keeper and get up close and personal with their choice of animal. So we booked flight and hotel and headed off to St Helier with very few other plans in mind.
Image by Etruscan places.
Another post from the Lemurs’ recent travels in Italy. We drove around Lake Bracciano to Cerveteri, a very nice little town near the coast in Lazio, but one primarily known for its Etruscan necropolis. The necropolis was actually amazing, a vast city of the dead with long streets full of beautiful buildings you can just walk into and explore. If this place were in the UK or the US, there would be guards, cordoned-off walkways, and no way to experience the spaces in an unmediated fashion. But in Italy, there’s a hacked off dude in a portacabin who gives you an illegibly-photocopied map and off you go into what feels like a your very own discovery of an ancient civilisation. Granted, we were mildly worried that small children might fall into an unmarked pit but hey, we didn’t have any small children so all was well.
But you need a good appetite to explore ancient Etruscan sites, and we stopped off in Cerveteri to eat at Antica Locanda le Ginestre. The restaurant is located in the main square and boasts a gorgeous garden for those willing to brave the heat and eat outside. Read the rest of this entry »
the lemurs are hungry 
