Editor. Writer. Traveller. Keeping tabs on all things fab. susan@excessallareas.com.au
In Perth for this year’s International Arts Festival, Susan Skelly found a city busting out with new infrastructure projects and top-notch food and drink. Here’s what’s up and coming. 1. Northbridge is getting ready for its close-up as the $5.3b Perth City Link project works to bury the railway line and bus station underground, and…
There’s lots to love about Adelaide right now, with new hotels, restaurants and boutiques settling in alongside old classics. Susan Skelly checks into the City of Festivals There are 10 annual festivals under Christie Anthoney’s Festivals Adelaide banner. Add to list… February/March: Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Fringe (with its atmospheric playground, the Garden of Unearthly Delights),…
Making a statement with fabulous jewellery is as much about attitude as bank balance. When Bulgari launched a new collection in Portofino, referencing La Dolce Vita and its movie-star divas, Susan Skelly discovered that a little bit of audacious goes a long way. Elizabeth Taylor knew how to rock a rock. She wore statement…
From the Mekong to the Amazon, Bordeaux to Budapest, river cruises are proving the new “nine-to-five adventure”. Longships are tapping into what seems an insatiable desire for good food, fine wines, providore markets and ancient towns along the waterways of France. Susan Skelly reports from the comfort zone. If proof were needed that river cruising…
Tiffany & Co has a history of stellar designers such as Jean Schlumberger, Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso. Now Francesca Amfitheatrof adds to the 178-year-old jeweller’s legacy. In New York, Susan Skelly previewed the artistic director’s first Blue Book. In the icy month of February, traffic isn’t the only thing that’s being disrupted in…
London’s East End got all the love in the lead up to the Olympic Games, but, reports Susan Skelly, the West End has always been a precinct of interest for sleuths. Just ask Sherlock Holmes. London W1: home to The Ritz, Claridges, The Dorchester, Brown’s Hotel, Charlotte Street and the Sanderson. One of its oldest…
A hotel can be as much a part of the travel experience as the destination, whether it’s the location, interiors, room service, staff or just the way it makes you feel like a jetsetter. These are establishments that have left a good impression at home and abroad on the Excess All Areas travellers Adelaide The Mayfair…
A collaboration between two food and wine behemoths raises questions about directions for gastronomy, dining, and future-proofing luxury brands, reports Susan Skelly. It’s mid-April 2015 and Ferran Adrià is back in the kitchen for a three-night stand, four years after closing his celebrated three Michelin-starred elBulli close to the town of Roses in the north…
The City of Light is full of spectacle and surprise. New(ish) is a 2.3km stretch on the Left Bank, given over to cyclists, walkers and families. Foodies have been talking about small, wine-focused neighbourhood restaurants: Bones, Septime, Le Verre Vol, Le Chateaubriand, Monsieur Bleu and L’Atelier Rodier. Artisanal shops are the icing on the gateau….
What’s the best sound a traveller can hear? It just might be the gentle ripping up of a boarding pass at the gate. More often than not it signifies an upgrade. Turning left to First, at the pointy end of the plane, turns out to be the icing on a Barcelona holiday cake. So what…