Swedish, swift and very swish January 4, 2011 THIS is the first Saab to be launched since GM handed the brand over to Dutch supercar maker Spyker, and one that gives a flavour of what Saab might look like in the future. It’s been a long, long 13-year wait since the previous 9-5. Thankfully this one is a lot more attractive and slick [...]
CAR TALK January 4, 2011 HAPPY NEW KIA Kia is hoping to follow the success of its POP compact urban electric concept car – unveiled at September’s 2010 Paris Motor Show – with another successful introduction at next week’s 2011 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Kia’s KV7 large crossover concept has a clever clamshell tailgate and unusual [...]
Four of the best resorts for a wild and wicked break January 3, 2011 BEST FOR CRAZY PEOPLE REVELSTOKE, CANADA WANT to go somewhere genuinely new and yet nonetheless outrageously awesome? Try Revelstoke. Deep in the Canadian Selkirks, this remarkable resort only opened in Winter 2007. It is still, partially, a work in progress, but when it’s complete, it will be North America’s largest ski area, with a colossal [...]
SKI NOTES January 3, 2011 Dolder’s pre and post ski Zurich’s luxurious gateway to the Alps, the Dolder Grand, is offering a host of pre and post ski treatments, designed to limber you up and to soothe your aching joints. Strengthening programmes inlcude Prepare your Pins, which focuses on knees, hips and calf muscles, while soothers include La Prairie’s Face [...]
Learn to enjoy your bubbly the molecular way December 22, 2010 IT’S Christmas time again so isn’t it time you knew a thing or two about Champagne? Danny Hodrein certainly does. Or rather, he does now. Danny is a “flavourist” at taste consultancy F&F Projects (think science boffin in a white coat) who, until this latest project, spent most of his time making our crisps taste [...]
Get into the swing of the new year December 22, 2010 NEW YEAR’S resolutions don’t have to make you miserable. While giving up smoking might make you live longer, and brushing up that CV could put another rung of the career ladder in sight, neither are going to put a smile on your face while you do them. Honing your golf swing, on the other hand, [...]
This funny box is not just for kids December 21, 2010 Are you a children’s entertainer?,” asks some clown as I’m unloading from the Nissan Cube’s boot. And there’s no doubt that as a chariot of choice for a children’s entertainer, the Nissan Cube must be on the list of hot possibles just due to its unusual cartoon looks. And therein lies the Nissan Cube’s weakness [...]
Car Talk December 21, 2010 JAGUAR’S C-X75 ON SHOW Jaguar’s stunning C-X75 concept is on display at the Jaguar Boutique at the Berkeley Hotel, London, the first time the car has been on shown to the British public. The supercar has batteries which are charged by two mini jet turbines mounted in the rear which means that the car would [...]
House prices to decline in 2011 December 21, 2010 HOUSE prices will fall by two per cent next year, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said today. While house prices are projected to slip, a drop in supply to the market will stop prices tumbling further, it said. And transactions are unlikely to pick up, with little more than 900,000 expected to take [...]
A fancy hotel is the answer if you’re stranded by snow December 20, 2010 IT’S not looking good for those of us planning to head away for Christmas, which means it could be time to rethink things. Option one: wallow at home, rueing the fact that your plans have been scuppered and the shops have sold out of turkey; option two: book into a hotel, relax and enjoy a stress-free Christmas [...]