After 2 or 3 years using hotels.com, we finally got our reward for booking our 10th night on the platform. It works like a coffee reward scheme, and after 10 nights, you get a night free which is equivalent to the average cost of the 10 nights that you booked. Pretty good deal. Angelique wanted to spend it away for her birthday and for some reason I thought why not Cambridge. A search for hotels in Cambridge popped up this beauty: University Arms. It looked so good and with excellent reviews that we planned the night away around this hotel. We went for a Sunday night. Cambridge is only 50 mins away on the fast train out of Kings Cross, and University Arms is only 10 mins walk from the historic centre of Cambridge. The hotel is excellent with superb branding and little touches all over the place. We went …[Read More]
Travel
These are my 10 favourite places to eat in London
I often get asked by my friends to suggest places to eat in London. Eating and drinking are two of my favourite pastimes. London eating and drinking is very hit and miss. There’s far more terrible and average places than good places and when London is so expensive, that means that most places are awful value for money. Here’s my favourite places based on quality, atmosphere and value for money: 1. Padella, Borough Market This is the best pasta in London. It’s great value and there’s no reservations, so get there early or be prepared to put your name down and wait. The queue can be massive. Pop off to the Wheatsheaf pub nearby for a drink whilst you wait. The stand out dish here is pici cacio e pepe, so unctuously cheesy and peppery. The pastas are small plates so order lots and share them around. www.padella.co 2. José Tapas …[Read More]
Advice to my mate for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
One of my close friends is climbing Kilimanjaro this November. Over a recent curry, he sounded pretty relaxed about it. I asked him what training he was planning to do. He said, ‘A bit of cardio.’ Is that all? ‘Yeah, bit of running. What else do I need to do?’ I thought I’d write this for him and anyone else looking for advice. I climbed Kilimanjaro in 2012. I did the Lemosho Route. Kilimanjaro is easy to underestimate and that’s why I’m writing this. She’s just under 6,000m, which is high, but no technical climbing is needed. There’s even a route disparagingly called ‘The Coca Cola Route.’ So people of above average fitness think it’s a walk in the park. It’s true that if you hike regularly and run a few times a week, you should be absolutely fine in terms of fitness needed. But summiting is still not a given. …[Read More]
The selling secrets of Moroccans, the world’s greatest salesmen
I’ve just come back from a trip to Morocco, which was incredible. One of the things that struck me most was how damn good the Moroccans are at selling stuff. We bought so many things that we just didn’t need! If you’ve been to Morocco, particularly Marrakech, then you know what I mean. The souks of Marrakech are filled with master salesmen. I’ve thought about how they do it and what we can learn from them. Make a connection, no matter how small The first thing a shopkeeper in the souks will do is to engage you. He doesn’t care how he does it. He will say something to get you to look around. Even if you say ‘no thanks’, he will say, ‘where are you from?’ or ‘not selling, just come and take a look’. He lowers your guard against him. Once you hesitate walking away, he has you. …[Read More]
How to successfully complete the 3 Peaks Challenge – a detailed guide
Introduction I’ve done this challenge twice now. Once in 2010 and again in 2012. It’s an awesome experience and I wholeheartedly recommend it. In 2010, I did it with friends from school, Dave Macaulay and Grant Rowley, and Dave’s dad, John Macaulay. In 2012, I did it with some friends I’d made from a trip to Kilimanjaro earlier that year. What is the 3 Peaks Challenge? You have to successfully summit and successfully come down the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowden) in no more than 24 hours. It doesn’t matter how you do it and in what order. So say you start at the bottom of Ben Nevis at 4.30pm, you have to finish Scafell Pike and have summitted and returned to the bottom of Snowdon by 4.30pm the next day. It’s not easy and relies on good fortune with the …[Read More]