THE CRAYFISH TRADITION

The water has warmed up and its a great time to be on or by the sea. It is also crayfish season in the Nordic area and a good reason for celebration. You don't just eat these lobster-like creatures...you make a ritual of it.

Arriving to the beautiful island of Espskär...

...together with the young generation, that did an excellent job serving and singing

Finns and Norwegians

Ready to sing and enjoy

All set up for a traditional crayfish party

Christian and me - Long term friendship and working relations

Even at a party my deputy managing director
is working via his iPhone

Crayfish ritual in action

A fine example of Finnish freshwater
crayfish (Finsk flodkräfta)

Thank you to Erik and Camilla

Visiting Cote d'Azur and Provence

I just spend a lovely weekend with my dear friend Franck, in the small village of Cabasson on the beautiful coast of Southern France.

Cabasson is an area of beautiful beaches and vineyards. I will shortly tell you more about the surroundings.

Invited for a beautiful lunch at the summerhouse of Franck's parents. Very genuine and lovely people.

This is the cake of St Tropez

And this is Rustic, the most sympatic Labrador I met

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Charming hideaway

Villa Padierna Palace is one of our beautiful resorts in the area of sunny Marbella. Set against the mountains with views of the Mediterranean, it is a peaceful hideaway with it's own golf club, racquet club and beach club on the Costa del Sol.

A tranquil setting with fragrant garden

Michelle Obama stayed here in a two-bedroom villa

The villa area is very peaceful - all with two bedrooms, nine of them with private pools

The hotel offers a total of 113 rooms, suites and villas. This is the view from my room

The buildings are all in beautiful Tuscan style. In front there is an amphitheatre and chapel - excellent for weddings

Sales Manager Javier de la Plata

The spa is a generous 2000 sqm

The attractive Beach Club is 5 min by free shuttle. Here you find the hotel's 4th restaurant

HIDDEN GEM

I have just been to one of the gems of Andalucia, Finca Cortesin. Finca Cortesin has long been in our golf programme - but it is so much more than golf...

Welcome to Finca Cortesin...



Champagne and "Lollipot" presented by
Joanna Dias PR Manager 



Blissful moment. Champagne and a lovely room with a sunny terrace.

Some of the rooms surround this lush courtyard. while others are in the main building or four freestanding villas.

The hotel has a truly outstanding beach club, only 5 minutes ride with a free shuttle.

 

There is a fantastic pool at the Beach Club. In addition, the hotel offers two big pools of 50 m and 35 m with a beautiful setting and view of the mountains and the golf courses.

And there are three good restaurants, fine dining Schilo, a Mediterranean restaurant.and an eatery at the golf club.

 

 

 

 

 

Nights in Monaco

Last week I attended a glamorous Charity Gala Evening in Monaco,'Nights in Monaco' benefiting The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation & The William J. Clinton Foundation. The Grand Gala was held at the Hotel de Paris

The evening started with coctails

Here posing with Bill Clinton and my new friends. From left; Praful Patel, Rene and Albert Bertini, Bill Clinton, Ciro Orsini, me, Sagine Archer-Hammond and Christine Bertini

 

Here I'm taking a picture with more friends posing with Prince Albert.

 

My new friend Ployjutha from Thailand studying law at Harvard University

 

Seated with Praful Patel, next to the royal table. Praful is a lawyer and a great person working with Mr Albert Bertini in Sydney.

 

The star and the conferencier of the night; Billy Zane

 

Prince Albert giving his speech

 

Bill Clinton giving his speech

Amazing lady Krystle Hill is showing her profile, in our table

Select Collection donated one week at Soneva Fushi, Maldives

 

This necklace that Sagine is presenting was auctioned for 100.000 euro, all due to her charm and gorgeous smile

 

My new lovely friends Sagine and Bill Hammond.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Exciting Places to Come

I went with my management team to a beautiful location in Europe this weekend. The property will be featured in our new collection 2012-2014 - to be launched in March. Until then ... here are some pictures.

View from the room

The resort has several saunas - and a very nice spa concept we will tell you about

The management team at one of the lovely dinners we enjoyed together

Healthy and wonderful food - I can really recommend this place that I will soon tell you about together with all our new properties. We have negotiated great deals for you!

 

Maison et Objet

Maison et Objet is a yearly fair in Paris for home decoration and unique items. This is where we go to find the very best for our shops in Helsinki, Stockholm and London.

Hanna and Max just finishing the best purchase of the weekend. The second bird is arriving soon to our London Boutique ...

In the evenings we enjoyed Paris! Here with my friend Valerie at Restaurant Matignon

We also enjoyed tapas and good company at the Perching Hall

Quality Time

I have recently visited SHA Wellness Resort close to Alicante in Spain, the best of its kind in Europe. SHA offers many different health programmes, such as weight loss, detox or anti-stress programmes. You can also go there to relax, take some yoga classes, eat healthy food and stay in beautiful accomodation by the sea. And if you want you can take private dance lessons! That is what I did and learned salsa, bachata, cha cha and merengue. Best of all; I met some very lovely people at SHA, who become dear friends to me.

The architecture is stunning

Sun beds with a view

The cooking philosophy at SHA is to serve healthy macrobiotic food which is both good to eat, and good for your body.

My favourite starter: Miso and lotus gazpacho, sautéed sturgeon, Iris moss with seaweed tempura, blended arrow-root

And my favourite fish: Tuna tataki with mushrooms risotto and mirin reduction

Charming old town Altea, just 10 min by taxi from SHA.

Select Collection has great deals at SHA. Call our experienced sales staff for more info