- Japanese food: use your noodle
Cold noodles are a source of great rivalry and pride in Japan. Jamie Lafferty slurps down 36 bowls and rustles up some soba of his own
• As featured in our Tokyo city guide
Few countries are as passionate and proud of their food as Japan. Each of its 47 prefectures is fiercely tribalistic about one dish or another, and noodles are particularly contentious. In Shikoku they argue about who produces the best udon (fat, chewy wheat-flour noodles), while on Kyushu ramen (slobbery Chinese-style wheat noodles) is the most popular. When it comes to soba (slippery, often cold, buckwheat noodles) almost every prefecture in northern Honshu claims to be its authoritative home.
As an uninitiated gaijin (foreigner), it's impossible for me to say which is the best, but this much I know: eating soba is never more fun than in Iwate – specifically, when ordering the unfortunately named wanko soba.
There are several theories about the origins of wanko soba, but one of the most likely is that a gluttonous feudal lord dropped in unexpectedly on some local peasants. Without much in the pantry, they sheepishly offered cold, plain soba noodles, fully expecting the lord to fly into a rage. But he loved them, asking for more and more and piling up small bowls as he wolfed the food down.
Today, that greedy spirit is alive and well: the aim of wanko soba is to eat as many small bowls of soba as possible – and you don't need to be a visiting lord to do it. It's very particular to Iwate (wanko means bowl in the local dialect), but even within the prefecture there are regional differences. Those wishing to give it a go in the capital, Morioka, have a waiter standing over them, serving more and more noodles until they submit.
But it was further south, in the historic town of Hiraizumi that I gave the dish a try. At Bashokan, 12 bowls are served at a time – you can order up to 24 for ¥1850 (£16) and take a dozen extra free on top of those. For cold noodles, it's not cheap. The noodles are plain but they are served with dashi sauce for dipping, wasabi to liven things up a bit, and dried seaweed to push to one side. All of this is supposed to make the endless repetition a little easier on the palate.
When I gingerly left the table, I could feel several miles of noodles wiggling and jiggling inside me. I tried to console myself with the knowledge that the Japanese regard soba as the healthiest of all their noodles, though forcing down 36 bowls probably took them well out of that bracket. My total was pitiful: depending on who you listen to, the record stands between 250 and 500 bowls. Perhaps, if it hadn't cost so much, I'd have managed a few more bowls, but I was never in danger of reaching three figures.
A few weeks later, hundreds of miles south in Kumamoto prefecture, I tried making soba. It was much more physically demanding than I'd expected: the process is still done by hand and the noodles have to be cut individually. With beads of sweat dripping off my nose and into the mixture, I began to understand why soba is not only considered the healthiest choice of noodle in Japan, but also why the manual labour drives the cost up. My final product was highly irregular in shape, but the taste, thankfully, was just about the same. I'm almost certain of that.
• Jamie Lafferty is a travel writer who ordinarily blogs at idoneaholiday.blogspot.com. He travelled to Japan as part of the Travel Volunteer Project.
For more information go to the Japan National Tourism Organisation's website: jnto.go.jp/eng
- Bath time! Snow monkeys in Japan
Like humans, snow monkeys love to relax in a nice hot bath. David Levene visits Japan's Jigokudani Monkey Park
- Readers' tips: beyond the Alps
You don't have to go to the Alps to enjoy great skiing in Europe. Been there readers recommend resorts from Finland to Romania which are often cheaper, quieter and ideal for beginners
• Add a tip for next week and you could win a digital camera
WINNING TIP: Saariselka, Lapland, Finland
Saariselka is within the Arctic Circle and it felt like a frontier to a winter wilderness. It's great for beginners and intermediates as the slopes are wide and quiet. We were hooked on cross-country skiing and snowshoeing – miles of starkly beautiful woods which you have almost to yourself. It was -20C in the day and our eyelashes froze, but you'll be rewarded with views to Russia and glimpses of the northern lights. Thaw out in the saunas or the tipis warmed by log fires at the bottom of the slopes.
visitfinland.com
blackpuss
Finland
Levi, Lapland
Levi is north of the Arctic Circle so good snow is guaranteed, and due to the long nights the slopes don't open until 10am so there's no rush in the morning. It's easy to be the first down a pristine slope or the last on flood-lit slopes after dark. At the bottom of each slope there is a tipi with a roaring fire where you can barbecue your lunch, as well as mountain bars and cafes. The slopes won't be testing enough for advanced skiers, but there are red runs for intermediates, plus cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Try the Hotel Hullu Poro – Crazy Reindeer – you can have an en suite sauna, the food is good and it has its own nightclub.
levi.fi/en, hulluporo.fi
DavidPA
Sweden
Åre
Simply fantastic skiing and the most amazing tented barbecue-picnic spots all over the mountain. Breathtaking scenery and no French-style lift queues. Having skied in Sweden it will take a lot of persuading to go back to the busy, concrete resorts in the Alps.
elliottnj
Norway
Geilo
Both Alpine and cross-country skiing in Geilo are brilliant. The slopes are much quieter than in the Alps but just as good. There are plenty of things to do aside from skiing, it's very child friendly, and there's lots of accommodation to suit all budgets, from youth hostels to hotels. Geilo is one of the stations on the spectacular train journey between Bergen and Oslo.
geilo.no/en/winter
Btravel
Hardangervidda
Cross the Hardangervidda plateau on Telemark skis any time before Easter, travelling from hut to hut. Take a guide or experienced friend(s) as there is the risk of severe weather (shovel for snow hole essential).
visitnorway.com
bigessay
Romania
Poiana-Brasov
Learn the basics at Poiana-Brasov deep in the Carpathian mountains. There's plenty of scope for intermediates too, and bargain breaks throughout the season. Après-ski includes cosy bars with gypsy music, restaurants with authentic Romanian food, massages, saunas, skating, swimming or night skiing. Venture further afield and explore traditional villages, taking in Dracula's home, Bran castle. An enchanting horse-drawn sleigh ride through spectacular scenery remains a treasured memory.
poiana-brasov.com
Goforth12
Italy
Roccaraso
An amazing resort with more than 20 lifts and 100km of piste in Abruzzo national park, an hour from Rome. The resort is at 1,750m and the lifts take you up to 2,000m. Passes and hire charges are cheap, and midweek it's virtually empty – we didn't queue at all. All pistes have snow cannons and are really well-kept. Look out for cheap deals for half-board, boots, skis and passes.
roccaraso.net/neve
Bingowingo
Turkey
Ski and sea at Davraz
There aren't many places in the world where you can be gliding down powder snow in the morning and gliding through turquoise waters in the afternoon, but Mount Davraz (2,637m) in the Taurus mountain range of southern Turkey fits this bill. Turkish ski resorts are one of the country's best-kept secrets, with a handful scattered around the vast interior. Davraz has the added advantage of being located just a couple of hours' drive from the stunning Mediterranean coastline, so you can experience "all four seasons in one day" as locals will proudly tell you.
davraz.com, davrazkayakmerkezi.com
rhiannonabike
- Corkboard: travel news round-up
Our weekly look at the new and fun in the world of travel, including a trip to the Bolivian Oruro Carnival, and a website offering a guide to authentic travel in the Caribbean
Tweet us @guardiantravel or email us about your travels
Escapism
A new South America specialist, High Lives (020-8696 9097, highlives.co.uk), is run from London by Bolivian Bibiana Tellez-Garside. It will specialise in fitness holidays that focus on high-altitude training, in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, plus more unusual trips, including the Oruro Carnival, pictured, the Bolivian equivalent to the Rio Carnival, held at 3,708m, from 18 February. An eight-day trip, which also includes a visit to Lake Titicaca and La Paz, costs from £1,500pp. Flights from £1,000
Tweet ur trip
Holiday rip-offs
• £16 for two bowls of Coco Pops at a B&B in Marseille @beckybarnicoat
• Fell for a student wanting to practise her English over tea in Tiananmen Square. Tea house cost us $100! @elizadele
• I paid £8 in Marrakech for a henna foot tattoo – she wanted £30! @caits_
• Man asks 5,000 Leones (75p) to take picture of anti-corruption mural by Freetown Airport, Sierra Leone @ladydaventry
• Lost in 'Nam – jumped on the back of locals' mtrbikes, drove around in circles & dropped where we started – £5 @berti01
• $16 for a cauliflower in Ukraine @littlemissmoi
We had lots of great stories from you about your holiday rip-offs – see our pick of the best here on Storify
Next week: holiday bargains. Tweet us @GuardianTravel #TravelCorkboard
What's new?
Website
Away from the luxury hotels, beaches and golf courses, the Caribbean has plenty to offer those looking for something more authentic, but it can be hard to find information on that side of the islands. A new website fills the hole, with independent content, brilliant ideas and detailed guides to every island, events, accommodation and activities. See definitivecaribbean.com
Teach abroad
Teachers International Consultancy (ticrecruitment.com), which arranges placements at international schools around the world, is calling for qualified teachers (NQT plus one or two years' experience) to sign up now if they want to find a job for next year. Around 6,000 international schools employ more than 250,000 English-speaking teachers, and the number of schools is predicted to grow to 10,000 by 2021. Next year's opportunities include a placement at Harrow International's new outpost in Hong Kong. It's free to sign up and all jobs are paid.
Courses
A new website featuring courses, learning holidays and classes geared towards women has launched at idlovetodothat.com. As well as a girlie cupcake course (5 March, £125pp, Chelmsford) and a dating masterclass (10 March, £298pp, London), there's training for a pilot's licence (from £140 a day, Hertfordshire) and a gourmet break in Provence (4-9 March, £396pp excluding flights).
In other words …
• Campbling – the next level up from glamping – new dedicated website coming soon
• Metronatural – cities near amazing countryside, eg Seattle, Vancouver or Sheffield
• Grillzebo (gas BBQ under a gazebo, find one at Incleborough House's self-catering properties in Norfolk)
Snow watch
There's still loads of snow in most resorts across Europe, the US and Canada. Fresh snow improved already great conditions all over France last week. In Italy, Austria and Switzerland, pistes remain in "excellent" condition (skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/snowreports/snowconditions.aspx)
Where's hot now?
La Gomera (20C)
This island is just a ferry ride from Tenerife (try easyJet or Thomson for flights), but a world apart. Gomera Walking (gomerawalking.com) has group trips there 29 February-7 March and 14-21 March, from €699pp. Or stay at boutiquey Hotel Palacio Marqués (hotelpalaciomarquesdelagomera.blogspot.com, doubles from €78)
- Crawl like a bear, boy
Our writer puts himself in the hands of a superfit instructor to see if he can hack the 'outdoor gym' on the Isle of Wight
I've always had a rather unhealthy relationship with exercise. The more I've abused my body with life's little pleasures, the more I've tried to sweat it out with sporadic bursts of activity. My die was cast by my friend's late dad, who was a PE teacher at our school. Vic maintained a rigorous daily workout in his garden gym well into his 80s, but he also enjoyed sucking down his B&H cigarettes and his Burton ales. Although he regretted his lifelong love affair with the weed, he always said his aim was to "stay fit enough to enjoy my vices".
Which is why I'm on a Wildfitness course on the Isle of Wight. Because it's January, because I have a big birthday approaching and because I can't stand gyms.
I will never have anything approaching the constitution or discipline that old Vic had even in his 80s. I sense it is now or never for me and a healthier lifestyle. The fags have to go and the beer intake has to be reduced. But I know it isn't going to happen if I join a gym, as they've always left me feeling like a battery chicken on a treadmill.
I spend enough time cooped up indoors. What I need is a sustainable, free-range regime like Vic's with his battered old dumb bells and his weather-worn bench and the distressed punch bag hanging outside his back door. All I need is a kickstart.
Wildfitness appeared to fit the bill. Its website promised a fun training programme in the great outdoors coupled with a healthy diet and plenty of rest and recuperation that should leave me feeling re-energised and buzzing with "raw energy". The idea behind the holidays, dreamed up by Tara Wood in 2001, is to debunk outdated fitness methods, such as indoor exercise machines, and to re-engage with nature and the evolutionary principles that kept us lean and fit for thousands of years.
It taps into the movement towards a reconnection with nature that has gathered momentum over the past decade with activities such as foraging, camping, wild swimming and barefoot running. "Humans spent 200,000 years as hunter-gatherers adapting to life on the savannah. We were tall, strong, lean, fast, agile and fertile, yet we didn't need supplements or equipment to keep us fit and healthy. Nature provided everything we needed," according to Wildfitness's blurb.
And that is how I come to find myself doing bunny hops across the springy, sodden turf of the southwest downs within an hour of arriving on the Isle of Wight. "Really?" I think as the fitness instructor Paul Ranson suggests we move on to a series of animal exercises after completing a gentle run up to the top of the downs. Bunny hops followed by a great lolloping bear crawl, a leopard stalking close to the ground and then an angry bouncing chimpanzee? All around us open fields roll out to the sea, and all I want to do is race down them. Paul, sensing my unease, coaxes me through the sequence. I do it, of course, all five minutes of it, and all through gritted teeth – because it is bloody exhausting.
As I soon discover, these animal exercises are merely a playful warm-up to more strenuous activity. But they are engaging muscle groups that my body had long since forgotten it had, and I am already beginning to regret my scepticism at what I assumed to be primary school PE exercises.
The Wildfitness programme is new this year to the Isle of Wight – its home camp is in Kenya, and there are other bases in Crete and Spain – and is being run by two irrepressible sisters who grew up on the island, Ro and Netta Pakenham-Walsh. They have mapped out an adventure playground after a lifetime of discovery along the beaches and the downs of the island. They source most of the ingredients for the meals from their parents' garden, including the honey from their hives. And they have secured the most magnificent of bases for what might otherwise pass as a somewhat abstemious, luxe-free break – NorthCourt Manor, a Jacobean pile set in 15 acres of gardens in which many of the activities take place.
Over the next two days, in the shadow of its imposing walls, I attempt to remine some of the iron in my soul by completing circuits within its grounds and using its natural features as an outdoor gym. One of these sees me running up a bank on all fours, crawling across a lawn, hopping up a series of steps, jumping from a tree stump, hanging from a branch, throwing and running to retrieve a big rock, crawling under foliage, weaving through a bamboo plantation before running with a log. Not just one circuit, but to be repeated for 15 minutes.
Preceding this was a dawn 5km run-cum-walk along the chalky cliffs overlooking Freshwater Bay, tracing a route from the Needles and peaking at Tennyson's monument. I have to confess to retching at the halfway point to the monument – a regrettable discharge of the light brigade. But that only served to sharpen my appetite for a breakfast of home-grown raspberries and yogurt and poached pears with honey, followed by a couple of Aga-fried eggs.
There was also boxing training in the music room – we used to fight when we were hunter-gatherers of course – that included skipping (of sorts on my part), plank presses, squats and burpees before a session pounding the pads. If it sounds exhausting, it really was. The programme is graded for all levels of fitness, and Paul and Ro are exceptionally encouraging and enthusiastic coaches. Even though it often felt like murder at the time, and my body was crying out for mercy, as soon as I caught my breath and stopped sweating I felt more relaxed and re-energised than I had for years.
Obviously science and machines have helped extend our life expectancy somewhat beyond that of our hunter-gatherer ancestors – not to mention the noticeable lack of threat from sabre-toothed tigers pacing the savannahs of our isles. Even so, I left a little righteous and a lot inspired. So much so that when I returned home I raced for the wilds of Tooting Common for the first time in years. And I aim to keep on going. After maybe one final fag. Just kidding. I hope.
Essentials
The first UK Wildfitness three-day break is 12-15 April, with prices from £650 for a standard shared room (020 3286 4886; wildfitness.com). Andy Pietrasik travelled to the Isle of Wight with Wightlink (0871 376 1000; wightlink.co.uk) on its 40-minute Portsmouth-Fishbourne crossing, one of three routes. A super-saver fare (for a car and four people) costs from £47 for up to four nights away
- 36 bowls of Wanko Soba - video
Jamie Lafferty makes his way through 36 bowls of soba noodles in Hiraizumi, Iwate, Japan
- Making Soba noodles in Kumamoto - video
Jamie Lafferty makes Soba noodles in Kumamoto - video
- Country diary: Portland, Dorset: Contrasting coastlines
Portland, Dorset: As the ground sloped away on the sheltered side, there was a change; we came to a little enclave with a character anything but bleak
The eastern side of Portland was sheltered, even on a windy day, with views of cliffs gently stretching away. The calm was in contrast to the buffeting we had received standing on the exposed Atlantic edge of the island, where the landscape fitted the customary descriptions of Portland as bleak and treeless.
With its geology and centuries of quarrying Portland is, of course, where most buildings are made of the one material. We passed old houses made in the characteristic sturdy, low style with severe stone porches, proof against any weather. But as the ground sloped away on the sheltered side, there was a change; we came to a balmy, wooded area, with mown lawns and cedar trees, a little enclave with a character anything but bleak, and more like that of Torbay than of the coast we had just left. Here, some of the buildings, like the pastiche, castellated Pennsylvania Castle built between 1797 and 1800, had their own distinctive style and taste.
The Portland museum is housed in two picture-postcard, 17th-century cottages attractively gabled and thatched, with a warm and welcoming look. One was adopted by Thomas Hardy as the home of Avice in his Portland novel, The Well-Beloved. A lane beside the museum leads to where steps go steeply down to Church Ope cove, a quiet inlet protected from the wind, said to have been used by smugglers but now a place of recreation; we looked down on bathing huts and small boats. Above the cove are the ruins of St Andrew's church scattered among the debris of successive landslips, but much higher again and close beside us, towering above the beach, was a rocky bluff on top of which stand the sheer walls of the ruined Rufus Castle. The original was said to have been built for William Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror. It peers out over the sea with a field of vision that no invader could have escaped.
- Harry Ramsden's original fish and chip shop is saved
Wetherby Whalers' family-owned business will spend £500,000 doing up the grand old place - including Harry's original shed and those jaw-dropping chandeliers
Good news for those fond of northern traditions and sad to see an old one die: Harry Ramsden's original chip shop at Guiseley has been rescued.
Mourning was a bit muted when its closure was announced last year – see the Northerner's report here - because in food terms, it had seen so much better days.
But closure and demolition of a site with such a history, over 83 years, would still have been a wrench; so it's a relief that it isn't going to happen after all. The Wetherby Whaler fish and chip group is taking over the place and plans to spend £500,000 on getting it back to its former splendour.
News is awaited over whether all 24 jobs at the closed restaurant will be replaced; but it could be more. Meanwhile the group's co-founder Phillip Murphy, who launched Wetherby Whaler with his wife Janine in 1989, says:
The famous fish and chip restaurant in Guiseley is the spiritual home of fish and chips in England. It would be a national scandal if it were to close at this time of economic uncertainty.
Our investment has saved a Yorkshire landmark and will ensure the tradition of fine fish and chips continues at this important location.
The new Wetherby Whaler in Guiseley will be our flagship restaurant. We expect it to recapture the atmosphere and flavours of Harry Ramsden's best years.
We are confident that with the right investment, careful attention to detail, great-tasting fish and chips and excellent value for money, we will make a lasting success of this new venture and return the restaurant to its glory days.
Our family-owned business is built on solid foundations and this has given us the confidence to invest. It fits perfectly with our business strategy of controlled growth and accentuates our belief that Yorkshire is a great place to do business.
Harry's at Guiseley was never the same after the brand was franchised, with branches bobbing up in unlikely places worldwide, and in November its latest owners, the Birmingham company Boparan Ventures headed by businessman Ranjit Boparan, announced its closure. The Harry Ramsden brand continues elsewhere and Boparan forecast expansion of the UK's 35 other outlets.
Wetherby Whaler plan to keep Harry's original shed, which is tucked round the back of the glitzy 1931 restaurant which defied the Depression by forming an unprecedented palace for the 'people's food'. The chandeliers made a particularly strong impression, and their cleaning and restoration is one of Mr and Mrs Murph'y first ambitions.
The Northerner is getting in touch with local poet and musician Eddie Lawler to see if he can right an ode - maybe on Hail, Shining Morn lines - to replace his recent requiem, which we described a month ago.
- So rail bosses are forgoing payouts – is this the end of the bonus culture?
Poll: The chief executive and five directors of Network Rail have refused bonuses – is this a sign huge payouts have become unacceptable?
- Rotherham's two-finger monument to American liberty reopens soon
That should read 'one-finger' for American readers. But here's welcoming the return of England's only tourist attraction with a cafe where you couldn't drink tea
There's a very welcome ceremony in Rotherham today which sheds light on one of the most interesting episodes of the north's long-standing and entirely justified truculence against centralised power.
The Mayor of Rotherham, Coun Shaun Wright, will preside over a topping-out ceremony at Boston Castle, a little fortified folly with overlooks the Don Valley and can just be glimpsed from the M1.
Its name derives from the USA's Boston and it was built to commemorate the famous Boston Tea Party, not in any spirit of revenge but entirely in support of the American rebels. The man who commissioned it in 1773, the third Earl of Effingham, was one of many northerners who backed George Washington & Co in what was in effect the UK's second civil war. The Northerner's colleague Jonathan Freedland has written a very good book about this: Bring Home the Revolution.
Effingham had a sense of humour and forbade tea-drinking in the folly, which is one of a series which make an excellent northern tour if you have a few days spare this summer. Three similar sites are the Greystoke folly-farms in Cumbria – Fort Putnam and Bunker Hill, named after a rebel general and an embarrassing (for us English) battle; the remains of the American Garden at Meanwoodside in Leeds; and the triumphal arch erected by the Gascoigne family at Parlington Park, also near Leeds, which has the splendidly treasonable inscription: Liberty in N. America Triumphant MDCCLXXXIII (1783).
Last time I visited Boston Castle it was in a terrible state, but that was ten years ago and the local council and Heritage Lottery Fund have since intervened. The unsightly Victorian extension has gone, fabric has been carefully repaired and all sorts of useful amenities are being installed for a new visitor centre and cafe including a lift to the turrets to let everyone admire the view.
The work is part of Rotherham and HLF's wider restoration of Clifton Park which was opened in 1876 to mark the centenary of the American declaration of independence. More on that happy occasion here.
The next happy occasion, the castle's reopening, should come later this year - and here's one thing: the ban on tea must surely remain. What a fantastic tourist attraction for Welcome to Yorkshire, especially for Americans and others from overseas: a place in England where you aren't allowed the national drink. Or at least have to pay a healthy fine.
- Snow forces Heathrow to cancel half of flights
Heavy snowfall causes transport chaos with trains delayed, cars abandoned and flights cancelled across Britain
• Have you taken any great snaps of snow or travel chaos? Send them to us at pictures@guardian.co.uk and we'll feature the best
• Add your snow creations to our UK Snow Flickr group here
Heathrow airport cancelled half of its flights as the snow and cold weather continued to cause problems across the UK, stranding motorists and leaving roads icy and treacherous.
The travel chaos ensuedon Sunday as the worst of the wintry showers came to an end across the country and forecasters predicted dry conditions and a partial thaw.
Although the snow flurries are now expected to move eastwards, swaths of the UK were on "amber alert" on Sunday, the Met Office's second highest severe weather warning, with icy conditions across much of England, Scotland and Wales.
Church Fenton in North Yorkshire and Wattisham in Suffolk recorded 16cm of snow, while up to 15cm was forecast for parts of Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, North Yorkshire, the Peak District and the Midlands.
The icy spell has seen daytime temperatures plummet four or five degrees lower than average for February, traditionally the coldest month of the year.
Heathrow, which had initially cut only 30% of its flights, said the decision was intended to minimise disruption and was made in anticipation of freezing fog.
Although the runways, taxiways and stands had been cleared of snow, only half of the 1,300 scheduled flights went ahead. The London airport, however, said its snow plan had worked "far better" than in previous years, adding that it would operate a normal flight schedule on Monday.
A spokesman said Heathrow, which operates at 99.2% capacity, was "getting back to normal" as it worked to clear the backlog of flights. "We took the decision with airlines and air traffic control yesterday to reduce the flight schedule in advance," he said.
"By cancelling flights in advance airlines have been able to rebook some people on to flights that are departing, and passengers have had better quality information about whether they can fly or not."
Extra staff were being drafted into terminals to help passengers rebook flights, he added.Inbound flights to the airport were also affected, with six transatlantic flights from the US redirected to Shannon airport in Ireland because of the cold snap disruption.
Some were in UK airspace or on approach to London when they were ordered back over to Ireland.
Shannon Airport Authority confirmed arrangements were being made for 400 stranded passengers to stay overnight. The affected routes included Heathrow-bound services from Dallas, Miami, Houston, Washington, Denver and Atlanta.
The transport secretary, Justine Greening, said the authorities at Heathrow were taking the right approach to the problems created by the weather.
"Actually cancelling flights in advance so passengers don't get to the airport and then find their flight being cancelled was one of the main recommendations of the inquiry that Heathrow held into the debacle last year when we saw huge disruption," she told the BBC Sunday Politics programme.
"They are clearly trying to manage the airport and I think the most important thing is making sure that we put safety first. We've got to get planes up into the air and down on to the ground safely.
"That does take a little bit more time to make sure wings are de-iced and that the runways are clear, but over all they're trying to do their best."
The airport came in for heavy criticism following severe weather in December 2010 when Heathrow almost ground to a halt and thousands of passengers were forced to camp overnight in terminals. At the height of the chaos on 19 December, it was able to handle only around 20 flights.
A BAA-commissioned report later concluded the operator's response to the pre-Christmas snow was "initially ineffective" and that the potential impact of the weather had not been fully anticipated in the days before the worst of the snow.
A spokesman for Gatwick said the airport was not experiencing "any major delays" on Sunday and had had to cancel only nine flights. "We're taking a business as usual approach," he added.
Stansted, Birmingham, Luton and Manchester airports were forced to suspend operations for a period on Saturday night as snow piled up on the runways, but normal service was expected to resume on Sunday.
A total of sSix flights were cancelled yesterday in Birmingham, where some passengers were forced to spend the night in thea terminal. But aA spokesman said the airport would catch up todayon Sunday, providing temperatures did not drop too much furtherlower.
In Luton, flights were "fully operational" with some delays due to snow clearing.
A couple of departures were cancelled at Stansted, but a spokesman for the airport said there was "movement" on and off the runway, adding: "Flights are subject to delays of up to about one hour". Although the worst of the snowflurries will move eastwards, swathesswaths of the UK have been placed on amber alert, with the On the roads, motorists faced what the RAC described as a "dangerous cocktail of driving conditions" and were urged to stay at home. Some minor routes were closed altogether. Drivers on sections of the M25 in Hertfordshire were trapped in gridlock throughout the night.
One motorist, Tom Jones, was stranded in his car for more than seven hours. He told the BBC: "We joined the back of a tailback, never realising we would be spending the night on the motorway."
He added that the Highways Agency had to deal with much bad driving, and that he had seen several cars stuck in ditches and many blocking the hard shoulder.
Thames Valley police said the snow had caused a tailback between junctions nine and four southbound on the M40 from about 9pm until the early hours of Sunday.
Police in Kent warned people not to travel unless absolutely essential, and urged people not to cause an obstruction if forced to abandon their vehicles.
The Highways Agency has issued an amber alert, advising people to take extra care while travelling because of "the increased risk of adverse driving conditions".
The AA said it dealt with about 1,500 callouts an hour on Saturday.Rail services have also been affected, with disruption set to continue throughout Sunday.
Southern Railway said trains were subject to delay and cancellation, with journey times extended by up to 30 minutes.
In London, all bus routes were operating on Sunday morning after a few "curtailments" to night bus services, Transport for London said.
Tube services were said to have started well but delays and suspensions soon set in on most lines.
A Met Office yellow alert, which warns people to be aware, was in place for the Highlands and Northern Ireland.
The Department for Transport has said it was better prepared than ever for severe weather. Salt stocks across Britain stand at more than 2.4m tonnes, a million more than last year.
- Restaurant review: Viajante
Sometimes it's a fine line between bold cooking and food that doesn't work – and sometimes it's not such a fine line
Patriot Square, Bethnal Green, London E2 (020 7871 0461). Meal for two, with wine and service, gulp, £200
The problem with surprises is that not all of them are nice. A pink macaroon flavoured with Iberico ham served as a petit four is a complete surprise. It's definitely not a nice one. When you are left thinking: "I wish that had been lemon or raspberry or anything other than this", something is up. Sure, I can admire the technique by which all that hammy flavour is slipped into one of those sweet crisp meringue almond confections. That doesn't make it more pleasant to eat. Equally a tiny chocolate roulade with a sweet cream flavoured with ceps served as a dessert is eye-achingly clever. But that doesn't make either one pleasant to eat. When you find yourself reaching for the word "challenging" to describe your dinner and wanting to shout: "Who put all the bloody mushrooms in my pudding?", it's time to get your coat.
It is a shame our meal at Nuno Mendes's restaurant Viajante ended this way. Portuguese-born Mendes is an interesting chef: dark-eyed, intense, uncompromising, eager. A few years ago he attempted to bring his brand of playful modernism to a Hoxton pub. They advertised it as "fine dining in trainers". Few wanted his version of fine dining – curious flavour combinations, lots of sous-vide, liquids dehydrated unto clammy powders – regardless of their footwear. The pub dumped that menu, and Mendes moved on, eventually surfacing amid the grandeur of the former Bethnal Green Town Hall. Here, from an open kitchen, he serves "surprise" tasting menus of six or nine courses to gently hushed dining rooms.
It's not cheap. It's not on nodding terms with cheap. It couldn't even send cheap a postcard. Six courses is £65, and we could find nothing on the wine list below £30; a Marlborough Sauvignon that Majestic would flog me for £7.99 was listed at £32. For this money you get glorious moments and intriguing moments and moments that make you sigh and roll your eyes and want to stick a fork in the back of your hand.
At its best Viajante – it means "the traveller" – is very good indeed. Thai Explosion II may be a stupid name for a canapé, but this rich mousse of confited chicken flavoured with lemon grass, sandwiched between squares of crisp chicken skin and a coconut tuile, was a "blimey" moment. Crunchy biscuits of toasted amaranth smoked over hay with a wood sorrel purée were dense and musky. There were very good breads with a killer quenelle of smoked butter crusted with walnuts. There was a slippery bit of squid with the most extraordinary jellified texture despite having been chargrilled. Of the more substantial dishes the most pleasing was some crisp-skinned but rare trout with bright orange roe and an acidulated julienne of crunchy vegetables. There was a perfectly cooked piece of lobster with leek and milk skin – Mendes likes fiddling with milk – and a curiously traditional dish of cod with parsley and potatoes which was soft and gentle and soothing.
Other things were less successful. Telling us that parsnips have been treated like meat doesn't make them meat, even when you serve them with smears of truffle and onion and squishy beads of vinegary tapioca. It just makes for a brown starchy plateful that looks like it's ready for the dishwasher before you've got started. Planks of pigeon breast cooked sous-vide had that gelatinous texture which, whatever the reality, made it feel uncooked. And when they grandly presented the Viajante olive, and it turned out to be something like a kumquat stuffed with cream cheese wrapped in an olive green gel (it could have been all of these things, or none of them whatsoever), you could hear my eyeballs rolling back in my head. And then came those odd desserts.
In its eagerness to be so very now and forward thinking, the food at Viajante manages at times to feel curiously dated; it recalls the first flush of Hestomania, when even he has moved on and is now cooking up big platefuls of heartiness at Dinner.
Modern techniques are great. They're brilliant. If you want to cook my steak by banging it round the Large Hadron Collider, be my guest. Dehydrate my pig cheeks. Spherify my nuts. But only do so if the result tastes nicer. At Viajante deliciousness is too often forced to give way to cleverness. And that really is the biggest surprise of all.
Email Jay at jay.rayner@observer.co.uk or visit guardian.co.uk/profile/jayrayner for all his reviews in one place
- The 'human safari' is an outrage to tribal feelings | Observer editorial
Unethical tourism needs to be stopped by stricter regulations and educating tourists
As the world has grown smaller while our passion for novelty has expanded, our curiosity about different cultures, particularly those relatively untouched by what we deem "civilisation", has grown exponentially. We come, we see and then we overrun wherever it is we have alighted.
The latest manifestation of our thirst for novelty as well as authenticity is causing some alarm – the "human safari". These are organised by unethical tour operators who exploit tribes in India, Central and South America and other corners of the globe who have hitherto had little contact with the outside world. The price paid for this type of tourism has been vividly described by Gethin Chamberlain in these pages over the past few weeks.
His reports on the Bonda tribe in the hilly regions of the state of Orissa in India and the Jarawa in the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, have triggered a huge response from readers of the Observer. The degrading manner in which the tribal people are bullied into dancing for the amusement of convoys of visitors, and members of the police who have a responsibility to protect these people from exploitation, is further illustrated by video evidence on the Observer's website today.
Stephen Corry of Survival International, which campaigns on behalf of tribal people, rightly says: "Tribes are not cultural relics nor should they be treated like animals in a zoo… promoting tours by using derogatory terms such as 'primitive' and advertising their nakedness shows a clear lack of respect."
The national government of India apparently agrees. Recently, it has acted swiftly. Three tour operators have been charged with selling tribal tours "in an obscene manner". Two men face up to seven years in jail if convicted. Laws already exist to safeguard both tribes.
However, it is the failure in the application of such measures that is at issue. In 2002, the supreme court of India, for example, ordered that the Andaman trunk road that runs through the Jarawa tribal reserve should be closed. The ruling has been ignored.
The closure of the road would give choice back to the Jarawa as to how and when they wish to engage – or not – with the outside world. Stricter regulation of the tour operators working in both regions and the disciplining of rogue police would also set a valuable benchmark. However, this is not solely India's problem.
More than a billion tourists will be on the move across the world this year. International travellers and the tour operators that serve them also have a part to play. Some operators behave highly ethically protecting and strengthening indigenous communities. Others, however, are unrestrained in the ways they choose to satiate the fast-growing appetite for experiential adventures.
So where do we go from here? What is required, perhaps, is stricter regulations that cross national borders; tourists encouraged to become better informed and a much wider debate about what unethical tourism does both to fragile societies and those who pay to become spectators in the humiliation and decline of these tribal people.
- Festival House, Blackpool – review
A beautiful new seafront register office is one of the gems of Blackpool's regeneration
Consider Blackpool. It's a town that is hard to mention without a trace of a snigger, one partly snobbish and partly of the kind generally prompted by outdated engines of fun. It has its place in history as the country's largest ever centre of massed bacchanalia. It has grandeur and bathos, a huge, beautiful beach, some extraordinary buildings and some tottering shacks that barely cling to the wind-blown ground. Once, emulating Paris, it built a version of the Eiffel Tower. More recently it wanted to be Las Vegas (with less heat and no desert, but with sea), and was devastated and angry when its bid to host Britain's first super-casino , with all the life-transforming effects that would allegedly have brought, failed.
According to Alex de Rijke, of the architects de Rijke Marsh Morgan, and the new dean of architecture at the Royal College of Art, the town has "a highly developed mix of the familiar and the surreal; it has a great sense of the mock monumental". Sometimes Blackpool wears the forced grin and the heroic doomed upbeatness of a stand-up comedian who has lost his audience but keeps going even as the bottles hit the stage. But its decades of success, which peaked in the middle of the last century, have also left a feeling that there is too much there, in buildings, people and fantasies, for it to fade away.
In the past few years it has been the target of determined attempts at regeneration, including the revamping of the Blackpool Tower and the grandiose old Winter Gardens, and a new tram service. These stabs at improvement include some atrocious public art, such as an avenue of over-scaled shiny parabolas that hold up some street lights, but also the rebuilding of the esplanade as a series of broad terraces and ramps. It is impressively solid and well built (which, at a cost of £200m, it should be) and its shifting, dune-like slopes pleasurably connect the town to the beach.
The esplanade, designed by the landscape architects LDA Design, was also to be scattered with public art and pavilions, but budget restrictions have reduced their number – thankfully so, as Blackpool doesn't really need more bits and pieces. It already has its tower, its Victorian and Edwardian palaces of fun, its sub-Vegas iconography of giant fibreglass skulls and neon signs luring you into more-or-less clapped-out amusement arcades. Some of the art that survived the cuts is of the swooshing kind favoured by regeneration projects, emblems of positivity by official order. More unusual is the Comedy Carpet, a large square of paving decorated with the jokes and names of old performers – it could have been toe-curling but there is something in the quality of its design and making that carry it off.
The most intriguing of the new structures is Festival House, designed by de Rijke Marsh Morgan, where a short but perky gold tower rises above a long, low plinth in pinkish brick. It treads a line between civic pride and Blackpool's heritage of flamboyant trash, what de Rijke calls "B-movie architecture". It has echoes of such serious precedents as Frank Lloyd Wright, but also 1950s motels.
Its uses are a restaurant (currently awaiting appointment of an operator), an information centre and a register office for weddings. This last raises suspicion of yet more Vegas envy and it does indeed include a room where you can get quickies for £40, but the town council is quick to point out that it simply fulfils one of its responsibilities – to provide facilities for civic weddings. Any resemblance to the Nevada chapels where you can get quickly hitched is coincidental.
Most people, says de Rijke, "regard register office weddings as anticlimactic alternatives to churches", but here the aim was to create "a sense of occasion". So, compressed into what is a small building, the design makes a ceremonial route with as much event as possible. First there is a lobby with a window on to the sea; then a lift; then a waiting space with a balcony from which wider views can be had; then the room for the main event that, high and angular and orientated towards an altar-like table, has a churchy feel. Beyond the table a glazed cleft is filled with a view of the Blackpool Tower, which could be seen, if you fancy, as a bit of boy-girl symbolism appropriate to the occasion.
On leaving this room the couple are then presented with a view of the horizon, before descending a generous stair and exiting via a little garden with a luminescent heart in the paving. It flirts with kitsch but de Rijke says he "also wanted to talk about quality". Materials and detail are both considered and pioneering. The structure, visible internally, is of something called cross-laminated timber, out of which it's possible to make walls, beams, cantilevers, floors and stair treads. He calls it the "new concrete", in that it's as versatile as the hard grey stuff but more sustainable, and "people are more likely to like it".
The bricks on the exterior are made of concrete by a company called Lignacite, with glinting fragments of recycled glass thrown into the mix; again it is both sustainable and pretty. It is, says de Rijke, a "really solid building", and what gives him most pride is "the absence of what you usually see in public buildings: ducts and vents everywhere. There is an absence of crap. If it does feel like a noble space that's why."
It's hard to disagree with him. He and his practice have set out to create a rare thing – a place for civic weddings that is celebratory rather than bureaucratic. They have also sought to capture the spirit of Blackpool without being patronising or cliched. In both they have succeeded, and by offering various views – of tower, horizon, front and streets – as you progress through the building, they help you appreciate what is good about the town.
It remains to be seen if the hundreds of millions spent on Blackpool will give it the new future that everyone hopes for. I'd also like it if a strong wind blew away some of the more lame attempts at public art. But at least they've got a nice place for walking by the sea and a nice place to get married.
- Viewfinder competition: win a £150 hotel voucher
Name the place and win a £150 voucher from Hotels.com, letting you stay at thousands of hotels worldwide
- Snowbombing in Austria, London during the Olympics and Valentine retreats
The biggest and brashest festival in the Alps; how to find affordable accommodation in London this summer; and last-minute romantic breaks
Take me there: Snowbombing in Austria
Now in its 12th year, Snowbombing has snowballed to become the biggest, brashest and arguably the best festival in the Alps, attracting 6,000 revellers to the Tyrolean town of Mayrhofen for a week of live music, snowboarding and naked Jacuzzis. Dizzee Rascal has just been announced as the headline act (following a late cancellation from Snoop Dogg) and other highlights include a Fat Boy Slim street party, Arctic Disco in a huge igloo and ski lessons from Eddie the Eagle. Packages from £615 including accommodation, lift pass, festival wristband and return coach travel from London. Hurry, as tickets are expected to sell out (9-14 April; snowbombing.com).
Travel clinic: Where to stay in London during the Olympics
The dilemma We have friends coming over from Ireland for the Olympics. They've asked us to fix up their accommodation – something affordable that will give them "a taste of the real London". Help! Barbara and John, Warrington
Joanne replies A great way to get under the skin of a city and avoid rip-off hotel charges during the Olympics is to rent a private apartment. Two websites launched in the UK last year are making this easier – housetrip.com, which lists more than 700 apartments in London, and viveunique.com, which specialises in the city and has 200 vetted homes, from Hoxton loft conversions to Chelsea garden flats, with prices from £85 per night.
Would your friends consider a home swap? Come July there will be no shortage of Londoners looking to escape the Olympic mayhem. The recently launched lovehomeswap.com has a tantalising array of properties on offer, and the only outlay is the £99 annual membership fee. You can also find home swaps on The Guardian's home exchange site.
If they are serious about seeing the city through a Londoner's eyes, they could opt for a home stay, renting a room or apartment in a private house. The website airbnb.com has 3,000 listings for London, with user reviews and prices from £20 a night.
• If you have a travel dilemma, email Joanne O'Connor at
magazine@observer.co.uk.
Three of the best… romantic Valentine's retreats
Don't panic. There's still time to treat your sweetheart to a romantic break next week. Here are three quirky love nests which are available for Valentine's Day
1. Boulangerie, Paris
They don't come much sweeter than this suite in a former bakery near the Eiffel Tower. From £83 per night (holidaylettings.co.uk/149086)
2. The Three Sisters, Tallinn
The Old Town oozes romance and this historic hotel makes the ultimate cosy retreat. From €226 (threesistershotel.com)
3. The Boathouse at Knotts End, Ullswater
On the lake shore, this 19th-century boathouse makes a stylish, secluded bolthole for two. £185 per night (i-escape.com)
- Big chill set to last several days as Britain is reduced to a go-slow
Heathrow flights grounded and motorists warned of dangerous driving conditions as Met Office issues severe weather warning
Around 400 flights from Heathrow will be cancelled due to snow and freezing fog, while motorists have been warned they face a "dangerous cocktail of driving conditions" as the big chill takes hold of the country. Forecasters have said they expect the freezing weather to last for several days.
Parts of the UK have been placed on amber alert, the Met Office's second-highest severe weather warning, until 9am on Sunday and most parts of the country will wake up to a blanket of snow, with up to 15cm forecast in some places. Southern Scotland and parts of Wales were badly hit before the snow moved across south-east England.
Heathrow's chief operating officer, Normand Boivin, said the decision to introduce a revised flight schedule before snow had actually fallen had been taken in an effort to minimise disruption. British Airways said it would allow passengers booked on Sunday flights to rebook for journeys between Monday and Thursday. Southern Railways reported it was reducing services on some of its routes on Sunday.
The cold snap has already seen daytime temperatures fall four or five degrees lower than average for February. A temperature of -10.6C was recorded in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, at 2am on Saturday, and of -10.3C in Benson, Oxfordshire, making it the coldest night of the year so far.
"We have got a band of rain, sleet and snow pushing in from western parts," said Met Office forecaster Michael Lawrence. "This is running over colder air and that's going to give some fairly significant snowfall, mainly in eastern and central parts of Britain and – to some extent – large parts of the UK."
While the worst snowfall will be restricted to Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia and the Midlands, many other regions will still get significant falls of between 5cm and 10cm. Wales and the south-west, along with parts of western Scotland, will mostly see rain, however, as will Northern Ireland.
The freeze, which is likely to continue this week, is also expected to cause treacherous conditions on the roads. "It looks like we're going to get a dangerous cocktail of driving conditions this weekend, with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures making the roads extremely treacherous," said Kevin Andrews of the RAC.
The RAC said it was attending 70% more breakdowns than normal. The AA added it had been called out to deal with more than 4,300 vehicles on Saturdaymorning and the figure was expected to reach 16,000 by the end of the day, almost double the 8,500 callout for a typical Saturday. Motorists were also advised to take shovels, warm clothes and fully charged phones on their journeys.
The Local Government Association pledged that an army of council staff and volunteers would be ready to brave the conditions to make sure vulnerable people were cared for. It said: "Thousands of new grit bins have been placed in estates and side streets, residents have been given their own bags of salt along with salt spreaders in some neighbourhoods, and arrangements have been made with parish councils, community groups, snow wardens and farmers to grit hard to reach areas. Information about school closures and bin collections is also being updated regularly online."
British Gas added that its fleet of all-weather 4x4s was on standby to get engineers out to customers. The company said it had received more than 200,000 calls in the last five days, compared with 120,000 to 140,000 during a normal winter week, and was expecting a further 50,000 this weekend, compared with 20,000 normally in the winter.
The Department for Transport has said it is better prepared than ever for severe winter weather. Salt stocks across Britain stand at more than 2.4m tonnes – a million more than last year.
However, the charity Age UK warned that it was a dangerous time for older people. Besides the risk of flu, low temperatures raise blood pressure, putting people at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Among yesterday's sporting fixtures that were postponed because of the weather were Portsmouth's game against Hull and Doncaster's match against Reading.
In League One, Bournemouth against Exeter, Sheffield United's clash at Colchester, Oldham versus Leyton Orient and Charlton against Rochdale were also postponed as were Preston's game against Brentford, Stevenage's trip to Notts County, and the Bury versus Hartlepool match. Walsall's trip to Scunthorpe also fell foul of the weather.
In Scotland, Falkirk's Scottish Cup match at Ayr was called off while, of the country's league programme, only the Third Division games at East Stirling, Montrose and Queens Park went ahead.
- Falmouth Bay residents split over dredging plan for giant cruise liners
Dredging a channel in Falmouth Bay could create jobs and bring more tourists. But the dispute will test European rules to protect ecosystems
Falmouth Bay is one of England's finest stretches of marine habitat, with a profusion of creeks that penetrate deep into the heart of the Cornish countryside, and oak woods covering the coastline. It is a distinctive, unspoiled landscape, protected by strict environmental legislation and enjoyed by thousands of tourists every summer.
But the tranquillity of Falmouth could soon be disrupted. A controversial plan to dredge a channel through part of the bay to open up the port to giant cruise ships has caused consternation among conservationists. They say the proposal could devastate the bay, in particular its beds of maerl, a coral-like algae that provides homes for a variety of sea creatures that includes crabs and scallops. This view has been backed by the Marine Management Organisation which has so far blocked the dredging plan.
The plan's supporters continue to press for action, however. They say dredging will cause little environmental damage and is crucial to a £100m port development for Falmouth that will bring hundreds of jobs to the south-west, a region badly hit by the recession. And the group has powerful backing.
In November the chancellor, George Osborne, picked on the refusal to give the go-ahead to the Falmouth project as an example of the "gold-plating of EU rules on things like habitats" that was placing ridiculous costs on British business. He urged the project's approval and set up a government review of how EU directives on habitats and birds are being applied in England. Its specific remit is to reduce environmental "burdens on business". Many conservationists fear this review, to be published in March, could lead to a dangerous relaxation of rules governing EU protection of other UK habitats.
The bid to dredge Falmouth Bay is, therefore, being watched closely. "If this project is allowed to go ahead, that could set an appalling precedent for all the other protected sites we have in the UK," said Tom Hardy, a marine conservation officer with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust which opposes the Falmouth dredging plan. "Britain's marine environment is woefully poorly protected as it is. This could open it up to all sorts of new developments justified on economic needs. It is very worrying."
Other concerned groups include the RSPB which says that slackening the rules protecting Falmouth Bay could lead to other destructive projects being approved. These include plans to develop the Humber Estuary, build an island airport in the Thames and construct a tidal barrage power plant in the Severn.
Those who back the Falmouth development plan insist the environmental issues raised by the plan have no implications for the rest of the UK. "The harbour waters in Falmouth are slowly silting up," said Captain Mark Sansom, the Falmouth Harbour Master, who has led the port development plan.
"At present, the waters there are about 5m deep at low tide. We want to dredge to make a channel that is 8.5m deep. That would allow really big cruise ships to moor at our docks. Passengers could disembark easily and enjoy trips to Land's End, Padstow and the Eden Project. Cruise companies are keen to add Falmouth to their list of UK destinations. It would be good for business in Cornwall. In addition, big ships would be able to get into our repair yards. Again that would be good for the local economy."
Last year, about 22,000 passengers – from small to medium-sized cruise ships that can still get into Falmouth docks – visited the town. Some took coach tours to other Cornish destinations. Others thronged to visit shops selling local art and tourist goods. "If we can get the really big cruise ships in then we will get 100,000 a year into the town," added Sansom. "Many of these visitors will be German or American tourists with a lot of money to spend."
Dredging the harbour will also be accompanied by new dock construction and the building of a marina at Falmouth, according to the development plan. However, its backers insist that these other proposals depend completely on the deepening of the harbour waters. "This project could bring up to 800 extra jobs to Falmouth and also protect the 450 existing jobs here," added Sansom.
The project's key drawback lies with the fact that the proposed channel cuts through some of the bay's maerl beds. "Maerl is a form of seaweed that dies, calcifies and forms layers that have nooks and hollows in which all sorts of sea creatures – including juvenile fish and shellfish – make their homes," said Hardy. "It is an extremely important habitat and an economically valuable one. These beds are nurseries for crabs and scallops, for example."
The maerl beds at Falmouth were a key factor in designating the bay a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive. As a result, when Falmouth Harbour Commissioners applied to dredge the channel they were turned down by the Marine Management Organisation – even though the new channel would affect only 2% of the bay's maerl beds. The decision dismayed many local businessmen.
"The environmental consequences have, to date, been the only ones considered by decision makers. That upsets me," said Pete Fraser, owner of Falmouth's Harbour Lights fish and chip restaurant. "We live in extremely challenging economic times, and the proposed dredging would be a massive boost to the struggling Cornish economy."
Others disagree. "The material dredged up to make the channel would be dumped in another part of Falmouth Bay, right on top of one of our best fishing grounds," said fisherman Chris Bean. "We get lots of really good quality cod, haddock, whiting and pollock there. The bay's fishing grounds would be ruined if dredging went ahead."
At present, the channel plan remains on hold. However, a project by Plymouth University scientists – set to begin in April – will attempt to discover if the harbour's maerl beds could be relocated in the bay without causing major disruption to the sea creatures who make homes in them. If the plan is feasible, the MMO could very well relent and approve the project. However, if the maerl relocation plan is rated a non-starter by the scientists, then the project will remain on hold – until the habitat directives review is completed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
By slackening how the EU habitat directive is implemented, and giving business more influence over the outcome, the goverment could allow the Falmouth dredging – and many other projects – to proceed. "This could be the thin end of the wedge," added Tom Hardy. "It won't just be Falmouth dock development that gets the go-ahead but a lot of other unpleasant projects."
- Severe weather alert for England as heavy snowfalls expected
• Snowfall of up to 15cm and temperatures down to -9C
• Met Office issues amber weather warning
• Heathrow cancels a third of Sunday flights
Heavy snowfall is expected across much of Britain, prompting Heathrow to cancel around a third of Sunday's flights.
An amber weather warning – the second-highest level – was issued by the Met Office, with snowfalls of up to 15cm expected, along with daytime temperatures as low as -9C.
Heathrow announced a reduced flight schedule to "minimise the disruption to passengers" caused by ice, snow and freezing fog but said it anticipated more than 70% of passengers would still be able to travel as airlines would transfer them between flights. The revised timetable was due to appear on the airport's website at around 6pm and passengers were advised to contact their airline for more information.
Heathrow's chief operating officer, Normand Boivin, said: "This decision ensures that the greatest number of passengers can fly with the minimum amount of disruption."
Latest forecasts suggest snow will fall at Heathrow from 5pm on Saturday until 6am on Sunday, with the heaviest dump between 9pm and 3am.
Gatwick said it was expecting the most heavy snowfall at around midnight when there were just a handful of flights.
A spokeswoman said there were no plans, as yet, to cancel flights on Sunday but the weather would be closely monitored.
Met Office forecaster Steve Randall said average snowfall would be 4-8cm (1.5-3.5in), including in London, but some easterly parts and high areas could expect 15cm. "There is a band of rain moving eastwards and this will turn to snow and sleet," he said.
The rain, sleet and snow will be replaced by dry and frosty weather overnight with black ice expected to be an additional hazard in many areas. The north and west of England, together with Wales and western Scotland could expect rain instead of snow, and milder temperatures.
The amber weather alert applies to Yorkshire and Humber, the west Midlands, east Midlands, east and south-west England, as well as London and south-east England, and north-west England. A yellow alert, which warns people to "be aware", was in place for parts of Scotland, Wales and north-west England.
The deep freeze has seen daytime temperatures plummet four or five degrees lower than average for February – traditionally the coldest month of the year.
Overnight, temperatures fell to -12C in Benson, Oxfordshire.
The Department for Transport's salt stocks across Britain stood at more than 2.4m tonnes – a million more than last year.
The AA said it had been called out to more than 4,300 breakdowns so far this morning – around 1,500 an hour – and it expected this figure to reach up to 16,000 by the end of the day. This is almost double the 8,500 of a usual Saturday.
A spokesman said most breakdowns occurred because of flat batteries, which produce less power in low temperatures.
The Highways Agency extended its own amber alert until 9am tomorrow, meaning there was a "high probability" of severe snow affecting the road network and a risk of adverse driving conditions.
A Local Government Association spokesman said council staff and volunteers would be checking to see whether vulnerable people were being cared for, and people were being encouraged to call in on elderly neighbours.
"Motorists are being advised to check the latest weather and gritting updates on council websites and 'gritter Twitter' feeds, as well as refresh themselves on winter driving guidance and what to stock in their car," he said.
British Gas said it had received more than 200,000 calls in the last five days, compared with 120,000-140,000 during a normal winter week.
A string of sporting events have fallen victim to the icy conditions, with Portsmouth's home match against Hull City becoming the first Championship fixture cancelled due to a frozen pitch. Several matches in the lower leagues had already been called off.
Racing was heavily hit, with meetings at Ffos Las, Sandown and Wetherby cancelled. Sunday's meeting at Kempton will be subject to an inspection because of the threat of overnight snow.
But swimmers were not deterred by ice on the Serpentine in London's Hyde Park and gritted their teeth as they plunged into its chilly waters.
- Andaman Islands abuse: new videos reveal Indian police role
Jarawa girls told to dance semi-naked for the camera as two videos offer fresh proof of official involvement in 'human safaris'
Two videos obtained by the Observer offer fresh proof of official involvement in "human safaris" to see the protected Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands.
A three minutes and 19 seconds clip, shot on a mobile phone, shows half-naked girls from the tribe dancing for a seated Indian police officer. A second, shorter clip again focuses on a girl's nudity, while men in military uniform mill around.
The new evidence comes as authorities in Orissa state set an example to their counterparts in the Andamans by moving swiftly to end human safaris to see the Bonda tribe, another abuse revealed by an Observer investigation.
The Indian government had ordered both sets of officials to take swift action to investigate and prevent abuse. In an interview last week, tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo said exploitation by outsiders had to be stopped.
A preliminary report quickly commissioned by the Orissa government concluded that the Bonda needed greater protection. Officials suggested that tourists would in future be banned from photographing the tribe and all cameras would have to be deposited with officials before they could enter the area. Two tour operators have already been charged with selling tribal tours "in an obscene manner".
Police in the Andamans have repeatedly denied any involvement in human safaris after an Observer investigation last month found evidence that officers had accepted bribes to allow tourists to meet and film the Jarawa. A video of young Jarawa women being ordered to dance in return for food caused outrage in India and around the world.
But the new videos raise fresh questions about the complicity of officers who are supposed to be protecting the tribe.
An off-camera voice at the start of the longer clip is heard to tell the girls: "Dance". Initially, the camera is focused on the breasts of the oldest girl. A few second later, the man tells the girls: "Move back, move back a little, a little more". They do, until they are all in shot. The girls are young, wearing red string skirts and jewellery. "Do it," the voice tells them, and they start to dance again, swaying their hips and clapping.
Halfway through, the camera pans round briefly to show a police officer sitting by the side of the road, watching. For the opening seconds, the camera focuses on the girls' baskets: inside are items including a packet of Parle-G biscuits – a popular Indian brand.
The second video is less structured and shows a group of young Jarawa being filmed with military personnel. The camera points first at a bare-breasted girl. A male voice, off camera, tells her, "isko to de" ("at least give me that"), which prompts her to run to protect her basket of belongings. The clip ends with a male voice saying, "chal chal" ("get lost").
The words are spoken in Hindi. The speakers are, it appears, members of the Indian defence forces (the Andamans is unusual in that it has a force structure combining all three military services, known as the Andaman and Nicobar Command). Neither video is datestamped, but the longer one is understood to have surfaced about two months ago in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Indian government ordered a crackdown on human safaris after the Observer revealed that hundreds of tourists drove through the Jarawa jungle every day on the Andaman trunk road, taking photos of the tribe and throwing them fruit, biscuits and other snacks.
The Jarawa are believed to have lived on the islands for tens of thousands of years but did not make contact with outsiders until about 14 years ago.
Campaigners say police are heavily involved in abusing the trust of the Jarawa. Six years ago, a report for the Indian government's National Advisory Council, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress party, warned about the sexual exploitation of Jarawa women and the involvement of police. Despite reports of Jarawa girls being seen entering police huts at night, and the birth of a non-Jarawa child, no action was taken.
The original Observer investigation found evidence that some police officers were taking bribes to allow tourists to meet and film the Jarawa inside their jungle reserve, both of which are illegal.
The Indian government has taken a hard line, ordering the governments of the Andamans and Orissa to investigate and take action to prevent future abuse.
The tribal affairs minister said last week that the government would review its policy on the Jarawa within the next 12 months, and promised to consult the tribe. He said: "Their land rights have to be protected. Their sources of livelihood have to be protected. Finally, their exploitation by outsiders has to be checked." The minister has also written to the Orissa government and promised to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of culprits.
Although Orissa has taken swift action, there was embarrassment for ministers last week when it was revealed that tribal people were being paraded for visitors to a state-run exhibition. Human rights activists protested that the government was "making a circus" out of the tribes. Several tribal people had been brought to the exhibition in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa, and told to sit outside models of tribal houses for visitors. In the face of protests, organisers quickly withdrew the human exhibits.
Andaman police failed to respond to the new allegations, claiming to be unable to view evidence submitted by the Observer because of problems with their internet connection. Earlier the commander-in-chief of defence forces on the islands had promised to take "appropriate action" if evidence was found of the involvement of military personnel.
Denis Giles, the campaigning editor of the islands' Andaman Chronicle newspaper, says the tribespeople believe the police are protecting them; the reality is that they are being used.
He says police have taught the Jarawa to beg. Officers take the money they collect and give them tobacco, which they never previously used, and food. The possibility of abuse is obvious, and Giles says there have been cases where women have given birth to children fathered by outsiders. The babies are not accepted by the Jarawa and are killed, he says.
Like many previously uncontacted tribes, the Jarawa are vulnerable to new diseases. They have started succumbing to measles and mumps and even malaria, to which they previously appeared to have some sort of immunity.
- This week's new events
Showzam 2012, Blackpool
Giving Blackpool's entertainment history a very modern twist, this 10-day festival of magic, theatre, burlesque, circus and street entertainment revives Britain's favourite kiss-me-quick location's reputation as the best place to see variety performed. Blackpool Tower is central to the festival, with the famous Tower Circus getting a Bollywood makeover, while the wonderful Tower Ballroom hosts the heavily-sequinned Burlesque Carnival Ball. There's a CarnEVIL Of Horrors at Winter Gardens, while entertainment history is very much to the fore, with Professor Vanessa's Performing Wonders exploring archive footage and backstage tours at the Pleasure Beach.
Various venues, Fri to 19 Feb, showzam.co.uk
Iain Aitch
Bristol Sign Poetry Festival
Say what you like about The Cuts, they certainly don't discriminate. Bristol's Centre For Deaf People, founded some 127 years ago, recently had its core funding removed, potentially spelling the end of a host of valuable initiatives for the south-west of England. So it's against a background of uncertainty that the city's third Sign Poetry Festival arrives at its doors. Perhaps even more so than the spoken word, the versatile imagery and sheer physicality of British sign language lends itself to conveying personality, emotion and humour, which makes it ideal for verse. After a (fully subscribed) workshop this morning, the main performance event tonight features returning favourites Donna Williams, Paul Scott, John Wilson and Richard Carter. Fingers crossed it's back next year.
Bristol Centre For Deaf People, Sat, email screambristol@gmail.com
Stuart Goodwin
The Vault Festival, London
Descend from Waterloo into a newly-found maze of tunnels over the next couple of weeks and you'll find ... no, not rats, but a panoply of alternative arts delights. Highlights include cinematic horror in the Flicker Club, the Saga Of The Soho Nose and other city lore in the Rogues Gallery. Then there's Silent Opera's radical rebooting of La Bohème and a hybrid of heavy metal soundscapes and ancient myth in Kindle Theatre's The Furies. And if you've still got energy after all the myriad twists on traditional forms, there's plenty of themed parties with DJs and bands, not least of which is the costumed pulp spree of the B-Movie Ball.
Old Vic Tunnels, SE1, Thu to 26 Feb, thevaultfestival.com
Katrina Dixon
Out & about
The Incredible Veggie Roadshow, Cambridge, Saturday
Recipe ideas, nutritional advice, cookery demos and much more.
Guildhall, Market Square
Scottish Snowdrop Festival, across Scotland, Saturday to 18 Mar
Dozens of gardens show off their winter-busting flowers, with walks, tours and talks.
Various venues
Hurling The Silver Ball, St Ives, Monday
The mayor chucks a ball. Kids leg it after it, for two and a half hours, before the mayor wants his ball back. Great British bedlam.
Various venues
Labour, London, Thursday
Live art from female Irish practitioners including Aine Phillips, Ann Maria Healy and Helena Walsh.
Unit 6, Hamlet Industrial Estate, E9
Liverpool Fashion Festival, Thursday to 12 Feb
Missguided, Karen Millen, Ted Baker and more in four days of catwalk action.
Aintree Racecourse
- Restaurant review: My Sichuan, Oxford | John Lanchester
If you like your dinner hot and spicy, then Sichuan cooking is just the ticket. And this place in Oxford does it better than most
It's always exciting when you make a find, and this week's restaurant is one. The promised land is a Sichuanese place in Oxford called My Sichuan. I'm properly excited about it, and have to fight the tendency to hop up and down with keenness as I type. My advocacy is based not on the decor, because My Sichuan comes as close as any restaurant I've known to not having any decor – it's a couple of underfurnished rooms, with a few Chinese trinkets thrown around in a manner so half-hearted, it's almost as bad as if I'd done it myself. My big plug is also not for the service because, although well-meaning, the waitresses don't speak much English: we ordered by pointing at the menu, and it took four separate goes to establish that the sauce we were asking for was soy. The patchy English skills stretch to the menu, which you can inspect online: scroll through the specials and you'll see that they offer a dish of "fried aborigine in soya bean sauce".
So, the decor's a bust, the service is effortful, but the food is a delight. Not so long ago, you couldn't get good Sichuanese food anywhere in the UK, at any price. The Chinese community here has historically been Cantonese, and our version of Chinese food has skewed heavily towards the cooking of that region. This began to change for two reasons: the first was the work, in writing and restaurateuring, of Fuchsia Dunlop, one of the first two westerners to attend the great Chinese cooking school in the Sichuan capital, Chengdu. The second was the increased number of mainland Chinese who visit the UK, as students and tourists. I've noticed several restaurants catering to this market in recent years, and My Sichuan is another classic example. There were about 20 other customers on the Sunday we visited, and every one of them was mainland Chinese. (If you are wondering how I can tell, it's because I grew up in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong – the languages become very easy to tell apart.)
Sichuanese food is spicy; if you want, crazily, near-psychotically so. We didn't push the envelope as far as I'd have liked because we were a mixed group, but we did have a go at "hot and spicy crispy king prawns". This dish doesn't have quite as much chilli as the "fish slices lavishly in chilli oil" photographed on the special menu, where the fish is almost invisible under a blanket of the things, but it still features a fearsome amount, and is a piquant, zinging delight. Also spicy was the chilli-based condiment that came with a cold jellified tofu, an unusual dish of sharp contrasts – the bland, cold jelly, the fire-hot sauce – which took two or three mouthfuls to work out before I finally concluded I really liked it. Thousand-year-old eggs are a more solid and less cheese-like version than some I've had, and a success even with the friends who approached them with caution.
The chefs here are from Chengdu, as are many of the ingredients, so it's a good place to try Sichuan dishes in super-authentic form. "Fish-flavoured sauce" is the house translation of a term often rendered as "fish-fragrant", and potentially misleading either way since it refers not to the taste of fish but to the preferred Sichuan flavourings for fish: garlic, ginger, spring onion and pickled chilli. Here, as applied to shredded pork, it has a beautifully warm, savoury sourness. Shredded pork with soya bean paste is a dish you assemble in the form of self-constructed pancakes, and is a crowd-pleasing mixture of sweet, rich and meaty. Lamb isn't a Chinese favourite, and nor is cumin, so I don't know where the idea of fried lamb with cumin came from, but it was a sticky hit.
All the Chinese menu mainstays – crispy duck and the like – are here, too, but my main complaint about My Sichuan is the number of more exotic dishes I haven't had a chance to try. Sea snails with Sichuan green pepper, dry fired pig's intestines (maybe that should read "fried", but not to worry), sliced pig's ears with sesame oil, fried bullfrog with pickled chilli pepper, assorted hot and spicy crabs… I can't wait to go back. I tell you what, I bet they'll also fry you one hell of an aborigine.
- Oh, Vienna: how the city inspired William Boyd
The modern world was created by those who haunted the Austrian capital in the first 14 years of the 20th century. The writer returns to the place that gave rise to his latest novel, Waiting for Sunrise
It took me about half an hour to walk from the centre of Vienna – from the opera house – to the Freud Museum on Berggasse. It's pretty much a straight line: up Augustinerstrasse, along Herrengasse, past the stables of the Spanish Riding School, then straight across Michaelerplatz and on along the street past the Café Centrale and then across the wide avenue of the Ring by the university. Another few hundred yards and then a right turn down the gentle slope of Berggasse to number 19, the apartment building where Freud lived and practised for 47 years, from 1891-1938, and which has been transformed into a small but fascinating museum.
It was very quiet the day I went there on an early spring morning four years ago. There was no one about as I passed under the arched entryway with a view of a small inner courtyard beyond. There were three trees growing there, as I recall. I climbed the stairs to the first floor to find two adjacent doors on a landing. There was a sign on one door: "Prof Dr Freud". The left-hand door led to the Freud family's private apartments, the other to the consulting rooms. I paused for a moment on the landing and looked down at the courtyard and experienced that strange Proustian shiver – time travel. There was nothing around me, nothing in the view that said 21st century. The thought came to me that I could have been standing here 100 years ago, visiting Prof Dr Freud for a consultation. Ring the bell, be admitted, start the "talking cure". What must it have been like to be psychoanalysed in the early years of the 20th century? How weird and risky would it have appeared to decide voluntarily to tell your darkest secrets to a stranger who promised to rid you of your terrible fears and neuroses? It must have seemed the purest mumbo-jumbo, surely. But as I pushed open the door and walked into the deserted museum I knew one thing for sure – I had the idea for a novel.
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Why do certain cities haunt the imagination? Not just the city itself but the city in a particular historical period. In my own case I can identify four such cities – Los Angeles in the 1970s, Lisbon in the 1930s, Berlin in the 1920s and Vienna in the years just before the first world war. Thus captivated, I wrote fiction – short stories, chapters of novels – set in each of these cities long before I ever visited them. This is the mark and measure, I suppose, of their allure – it's vicarious, it works at a great distance – but it must be some conveyed sense of atmosphere, the spirit of place, that prompts the fascination. Perhaps the most telling factor is a powerful feeling that you would like to have lived there yourself.
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One of the amazing aspects of Vienna – or certainly the central city, the Inner Stadt bounded by the great circling boulevard of the Ring, is how easy it is to imagine living there – not just in the early years of the 20th century but in the 19th or even 18th century as well. It's so beautifully preserved and maintained that you can turn a corner and draw up with a shock, imagining that Mozart or Brahms could have seen the identical view. But Vienna in its fading pomp, in the last years of the Austro-Hungarian empire (1867-1918), is present before you in almost every street scene or vista. Freud's Vienna, Wittgenstein's Vienna, Egon Schiele's Vienna.
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It was Egon Schiele who started my Vienna obsession. Schiele and Klimt. Up until the 1970s – when Rudolf Leopold's catalogue raisonné of Schiele's paintings and drawings appeared – Schiele was a virtual unknown. I can remember while I was at university in the 70s the sudden outpouring of postcards and posters, books or reproductions that occurred. Suddenly everyone loved Schiele and was enthralled by his short, tormented life. Schiele's angular, mannered, brilliant draughtsmanship, the blatant near-pornography of his nudes, male and female, were a thrilling revelation. I went to Vienna for the first time to write a piece about Schiele, or to be more precise to write a piece about the Leopold Museum that contains the world's biggest collection of his work. Even after decades of familiarity the actual canvases and drawings retain their power to shock and disturb. In some ways, Schiele is the perfect symbol of the Viennese antithesis – namely that this small, safe, solid, beautiful, bourgeois capital city should have housed in the early years of the 20th century such a contrapuntal, boiling ferment of modernism in every art form.
It's an interesting thought experiment to stand before Schiele's large, almost life-sized, naked self-portrait – "Seated Male Nude" – and imagine what it must have been like to see it for the first time in 1910. The lurid, putrifying colouring, the emaciated body, the orange nipples, the dense, dark pubis, the clumped genitalia, the absence of feet – almost as if they'd been amputated. It's still incredibly, disturbingly powerful. Beside Schiele's graphic audacity, Klimt's etiolated nudes seem almost fey. Klimt's drawings veer tentatively towards eroticism, also, but they seem half-hearted and sketchy beside Schiele. Schiele is one of art history's greatest draughtsmen – up there with Ingres, Degas and Picasso. He was destined to take Klimt's crown as the pre-eminent artist of the Jugendstil movement when Klimt died in February 1918. However, Schiele himself died eight months later, in the influenza pandemic that ravaged Europe and the world at the end of the first world war. He was 28 years old.
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Schiele, Klimt and Kokoschka were the great trio of artists that the Viennese Secession produced. Klimt and Schiele died in 1918. Oskar Kokoschka, born in 1886, lived on until 1980 – an astonishing, mind-bending life-span when one considers what he must have lived through. I've never particularly liked Kokoschka's work – what intrigues me about him is his passionate affair with Mahler's widow, Alma – a society beauty and bluestocking somewhat older than Kokoschka. The affair lasted two years from 1912-14 and was unilaterally terminated by Alma because she felt it was getting out of hand, so passionate were the emotions it generated. In despair, Kokoschka had a life-sized wooden replica doll constructed and made to look like Alma that he kept in his studio to console his lovelorn angst and, reputedly, took this Alma-simulacrum to the opera with him as his date. Very Vienna. Again, the city produces another bizarre fusion of the personal and the art-historical that illustrates the modernity of the sexual mores that pullulated beneath the pompous and starchy moral codes that so typified the empire and its values.
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The Austro-Hungarian empire was, as empires go, comparatively short-lived. It began in 1867 with the Ausgleich – the "Compromise" – that saw the old Austrian and Hapsburg empire transmogrified into a new Austria-Hungary, a strange hybrid empire with a dual monarchy whose imperial life ended in 1918 with defeat in the first world war. In fact, Austria-Hungary contained many other countries and ethnic groups and 11 recognised languages. This curious amalgam of peoples included Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Romanians and Italians. For the duration of its existence its emperor was Franz Joseph I. He reigned for nearly 68 years, dying in 1916 at the age of 86. The multi-generational length of his reign gave an illusion of permanence, of timeless durability, but as the old man grew ever more aged, so too the prospect of his death generated a collective sense of impending disaster. This growing fearfulness resonates in the literature of the period but there was a general feeling throughout the empire that everything would change once the old gentleman passed away. His son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide at Mayerling in 1889. Franz Joseph's nephew, Franz Ferdinand, became archduke and the heir presumptive to the empire. There was at least the notion that the dynasty would continue until – in June 1914 – Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, made a state visit to Sarajevo.
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Almost every day, the Emperor Franz Joseph drove in his state coach from his Shönbrunn Palace just outside Vienna to his Hofburg Palace in the centre of the city. And over a six-week period in January and February 1913 this progress was observed from an apartment in nearby Schönbrunner Schloss-strasse by one Josif Dzhugashvili, later to be known to the world as Josef Stalin. Stalin was in Vienna to research and write a communist pamphlet. Intriguingly, Trotsky – Lev Bronstein – was also in Vienna at the time. Trotsky loved the city and lived in Vienna between 1907 and 1914. By one of those extraordinary accidents of history it's entirely possible that, as they wandered through the city, Stalin and Trotsky could have crossed paths with a shabby, odorous young vagrant hawking his talentless watercolours. Adolf Hitler's Vienna years (1908-13) are difficult to document (he took care to expunge as much of the record as possible). However, there are witnesses enough to provide a portrait of a young down-and-out, bearded, long-haired, living in grim hostels with the impoverished flostam and jetsam of the empire, its many castes and races. Apparently Hitler used to wear a rubberised yellow cycling jacket-cum-cape with no shirt underneath. In Vienna's summer heat the rubber made him sweat – and smell. It is eerie to imagine the idea of Hitler, Stalin and Trotsky walking Vienna's streets during those few weeks in 1913 that they were all in the city together. It is a disturbing contemplation: in Vienna in 1913 Hitler was a shabby, mentally disturbed, embittered and near-desperate member of the Austro-Hungarian underclass. Twenty years later he was the chancellor of Germany.
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The great novel of Vienna in those years – Vienna's Ulysses, if you like – is Robert Musil's vast, 1,000-page opus The Man without Qualities. Musil (1880-1942) wrote the novel over a number of years between the wars. It's a curious book, alternating passages of utter tedium with beguiling and acute social observation, but what is particularly intriguing about it is its tone of voice – this is the mindset of the Viennese intellectual at the beginning of the 20th century. Cynical and disenchanted, Ulrich, the principal character, the "Man without Qualities", drifts through the upper echelons of Viennese society, visiting friends, half-heartedly participating in public events, enjoying casual affairs and idly watching his Viennese world drifting helplessly, complacently, towards the nemesis of the first world war.
If Musil is the great novelist of the city, then Joseph Roth (1894-1939) is the great novelist of the empire. Roth was born in the eastern province of Galicia (now part of Poland), and his many works of fiction are a loving recreation of the "Crown lands", as the further-flung regions and principalities of the dual monarchy were known. Roth's novels are set in provincial towns and isolated estates, peopled by lonely young officers in decrepit army barracks and melancholy bureaucrats whiling away their lives in rural backwaters. Roth's masterwork, The Radetzky March (1932), barely features Vienna at all, in fact, but, like Musil, he wrote it with the full benefit of hindsight. That world of the empire's twilight years had been forever transformed by the edicts of the Versailles conference in 1919. Austria was now a republic – the victors had split the empire into its various discrete parts, establishing new countries and enlarging and diminishing others. Europe would never be the same again, and both Roth and Musil in their novels bear rueful witness to a vanished world.
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Not entirely vanished – traces of that world do remain in Vienna. You can still go to the Café Landtmann where Freud enjoyed a kapuziner and a cigar. You can sit in the Café Sperl – my favourite – and imagine Egon Schiele wandering in with one of his models. You can eat Sachertorte and drink schnapps in the Hotel Sacher and watch the patisserie chefs at work in Demel, much as Roth and Musil would have done. Somehow, Vienna has managed to preserve the authenticity of its old style of life in a way that most other European capitals haven't. It's true that Jean-Paul Sartre would still recognise the Café de Flore, Alberto Moravia the Caffè Greco, and Charles Dickens would feel at home in the Grapes by Limehouse Basin, but the relentless, homogenising, modernising hand of the 20th and 21st centuries is making all cities of western Europe come steadily to resemble each other. But for the moment, at least, parts of Vienna seem miraculously preserved.
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Perhaps this is because the clock metaphorically stopped for Vienna when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914 and the first world war began a few weeks later. In those first 14 years of the 20th century, Vienna, more than anywhere else, was the fulminating, bewitching crucible where the modern world was invented. It doesn't seem too fanciful to posit the idea of a form of modern renaissance that took place in the city over the first decade or so of the 20th century and that transformed our culture permanently. There have been artistic and social upheavals in other cities at various times – Paris, London, New York and Berlin have all been the cynosure of cultural movements – but was there ever such a concentration of genius across the broad spectrum of thought and culture that could be found in Vienna and the Austro-Hungarian empire during those early years of the 20th century? If we start drawing up some lists of names the idea appears ever more plausible. In literature: Rilke, Kafka, Roth, Musil, Zweig, Schnitzler. Music: Mahler, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg. Architecture: Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos. Painting: Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka. Philosophy: Wittgenstein and the origins of the Vienna Circle school. Journalism: Karl Kraus. The brew is almost too rich. Then throw in Adolf Hitler and, of course, the sine qua non, Sigmund Freud.
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However discredited Freud is today, as a thinker and founder of psychoanalysis, there is no doubt that we are, like it or not, all Freudians now. What Freud did – to put it very simply – was to schematise the workings of our unconscious mind. However wrongheaded and unscientific his theories proved to be, they had the effect of creating one of those revolutions in human understanding and self-knowledge that ranks with, for example, Copernicus (we go round the sun, not vice versa) and Darwin (we are animals, part of the fauna of this small planet). Freud established that our conscious mind perhaps accounted for only 50% of our behaviour – the irrational, the unknown, the repressed, the neurotic and the taboo became an irreducible part of the explanation of our human persona. A modern, complex, troubled sensibility was established for the new century – a century that very quickly was going to upset all certainties and all complacent confidence about human progress.
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The first fiction I wrote about Vienna was a short story about Ludwig Wittgenstein called "Transfigured Night" (the title is lifted from Schoenberg's exquisite sextet, Verklärte Nacht (1899). I'd studied Wittgenstein at university but became more and more intrigued with the man himself. Wittgenstein was born into a vastly rich and cosmopolitan Jewish-Austrian family who had converted to Catholicism. Three of his brothers killed themselves. Even more intriguingly, he attended the same school as Adolf Hitler – the Realschule in Linz – where they overlapped as pupils for a year in 1904-05. Before the war Wittgenstein went to Cambridge, where he met Bertrand Russell and began to make his name as a philosopher, but he returned to Vienna in 1914 when war broke out and joined up. He fought with gallantry on the Russian and Italian fronts and was decorated. He was captured at Trentino and spent nine months in an Italian prisoner of war camp. It was while he was a prisoner of the Italians that he began to write the seminal work that made his reputation – the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. However, what makes Wittgenstein a true son of Austro-Hungarian Vienna is not so much his difficult and uncompromising philosophy as the way he casually turned his hand to architecture. After the war he contributed to the design and building of a house for his sister, Gretl. There can be very few philosopher-architects (not the same as architect-philosophers – they are legion), but Wittgenstein concentrated his energies on Gretl's house with a fanatical and obsessive attention to detail. Wittgenstein's house still exists (3, Kundmanngasse) and can be visited, even though it now the cultural centre of the Bulgarian embassy. It took minimalism to new heights or rather to a new, bleaker austerity. No carpets or curtains, lit by naked lightbulbs, painted cement walls and ceilings, exposed radiators, with automated metal grilles to shut out the light from the windows – it must have been the most uncomfortable house ever created. It is in its way the best monument to Wittgenstein and the unsparing rigour of his brilliant mind.
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Joseph Roth's last, short novel – Die Kapuzinergruft (The Emperor's Tomb is its English title) – is a kind of sequel to The Radetzky March and, rare among his novels, is set largely in Vienna, before, during and after the first world war. At one stage, his central character, Franz Trotta, thinks about his life in the old empire: "Before me spread the whole bright landscape of life, scarcely bounded by the rim of a far, far distant horizon. I lived in the cheerful, carefree company of young aristocrats whose company, second only to that of artists, I loved best under the old empire. With them I shared a sceptical frivolity, a melancholy curiosity, a wicked insouciance, and the pride of the doomed, all signs of the disintegration which at that time we did not see coming. Above the ebullient glasses from which we drank, invisible Death was already crossing his bony hands." The image is telling and powerful, and "invisible Death" had an appointment at the rim of that far horizon – in Sarajevo.
Roth's hero feels doomed, as if there was something inevitable about the catastrophe that was coming, but the details of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914 could not be a better example of brute chance in action, of utter contingency determining events. In the morning of the 28th, as the royal motorcade drove through the streets of Sarajevo, a bomb had been thrown, bounced off the rear of the archduke's car and exploded further down the street. Warning enough, one might have thought, but Franz Ferdinand proceeded with his duties, attended an official reception at the town hall and made a speech. The motorcade set off again but the driver of the royal car took a wrong turning and headed – irony piling on irony – into Franz Joseph Street. The car stopped and began to reverse out, and its engine stalled. It was at this moment that one member of the gang of Serbian irridentists, Gavrilo Princip – whose assassination attempt had seemed to have ended in total failure – spotted the open-topped car reversing and saw who was in it. He stepped forward and shot Franz Ferdinand in the throat and his wife, Sophie, in the abdomen. Both died shortly after.
This assassination on 28 June 1914 was the single direct cause of the first world war. It's highly unusual to be able to point to this utterly random congruence of events, this arbitrary chain of sheer happenstance, and to see it as the tipping point, the moment the world changed for ever. Gavrilo Princip's squeeze of the trigger as he aimed at Franz Ferdinand was, so hindsight now tells us, like a shot from a starting pistol. It signalled the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire – and the fact that nothing would ever be the same again. The modern world – our world – had begun.
- Family-friendly ski and snowboard holidays
Wondering how and when to introduce your toddler to
the joys of a ski or snowboard holiday? Here's our pick of the best family-friendly ski destinations
As someone with a sky-high level of snow obsession, who timed my pregnancy around winter and spent more time than is reasonable Googling Inuit baby names, I didn't for one second consider skipping a snow trip because we'd have a seven-month-old in tow. Yet that first holiday, in terms of cost, the sheer admin involved and the amount of time my husband and I actually got to snowboard came as something of a shock. Each morning in our rented flat, eyes hooded from lack of sleep, we'd tussle over whose turn it was to enjoy a lone powder day or whether we could justify any more €15-an-hour nanny time. There had to be another way, so this winter I did some research and came up with three different options.
THE BABY-FRIENDLY CHALETIf you're with the right group, a chalet holiday is one of the most reasonable, not to mention raucous (in a good way) ways to experience a ski resort. But how does that work if you bring kids? Come 6am the next day when your toddler is screaming, other guests, some of whom may have only been in bed for an hour or so, are going to catch on and you're going to feel bad. Cue the baby-friendly chalet.
Sian Williams, founder of Baby Friendly Boltholes (babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk), says: "We've encouraged owners to add elements that will make their breaks appeal to young families too. Our 'flagship' offering is the gorgeous Chalet Chambertin in Morzine, which offers dedicated Baby and Toddler Weeks. This boutique hotel-style chalet is run by Ollie and Emma, a lovely British couple with two young kids of their own. The package includes two-to-one childcare by experienced nannies from 9-5 each day, a driver, chef making daily breakfasts, afternoon teas, kids' supper and adult dinners, plus a baby hamper with nappies, wipes, creams and plenty of toys so you don't need to run the gauntlet of low-cost airline baggage allowances."
The chalet is small, the vibe friendly and while you make the most of the excellent skiing in Morzine, Avoriaz and beyond in the Portes du Soleil, kids will spend their days watching Disney films, baking cookies, dabbling in arts and crafts, or playing outside making snow angels and sledging.
Sian adds: "If your dates don't fit one of the Baby and Toddler Weeks at the chalets, don't be afraid to use our 'Ask the Owner' button to check whether there will be other guests with little ones staying on the dates you are interested in."
• With Baby Friendly Boltholes (babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk) prices are £580 (adult), £495 (child under three) and £575 (child aged three to 12), including return transfers from Geneva, half-board accommodation, childcare 9am-5pm Mon-Sat, baby hamper, but not including flights, lift passes or kit rental. The next Baby Week is 3-10 April
Alternatives
Abode, St Martin de Belleville, France
Another Baby Friendly Boltholes property (tinyurl.com/abodebelleville, good availability), this is a four-bed chalet with stunning views for the parents, a chef who will do kids' meals, in-chalet nanny service and all the baby equipment you need to minimise airport lugging. A week's accommodation, including most meals and drinks, costs £3,285 for a family of four – though flights, lift passes, kit passes and transfers are not included, and aren't for any of the three alternatives below.
Chalet Les Arolles, Les Coches, France Booked through Family Ski (familyski.co.uk, good availability), this is in the Paradiski super-ski area, sitting on the side of a blue piste just 10m from the crèche. Children from three months to four years get the Powder Pups service, with heaps of toys, games and arts and crafts on offer. A week's full-board costs £1,596 for a family of four. Powder Pups costs £275 for six days' childcare.
Etoile des Beaux Arts, Les Houches, France
This self-catering apartment sleeps seven, plus two cots, and is available through Tots to Travel (totstotravel.co.uk, available 3-30 March, from £725). It's officially "child-friendly" so there won't be any unguarded hot tubs lurking in the living room or precipice-style balconies. This trad chalet is in a central but quiet location with great views and an enclosed deck for snowman construction. Cots and cot linen are provided, but you'll need to organise your own childcare, though Tots to Travel has a list of companies it would recommend.
Chalet Marta, Selva Val Gardena, Italy
This is one of Esprit Ski's larger properties (espritski.com), set within a pretty, family-friendly resort. It has large en-suite family rooms and an in-house nursery. Care ratios are excellent, with one nanny for two babies under 12 months, and kids from two to five can also join the evening Mini Cocoa Club for bedtime stories. From £798 for a family of three, including most meals and drinks. Childcare for kids from four months to 40 months for six days costs from £285.
THE HOTEL PACKAGEJust because you have your own kids doesn't mean you'll necessarily like hanging out with other people's. In fact it often means the opposite, which sometimes puts parents off family-friendly hotels. But Club Med (clubmed.co.uk) has been in business since the 1950s, and they are pros, so you can bet that any scenario you throw at them, be it logistical or emotional, they'll have seen it all before. Plus it's also undoubtedly relaxing to know that all your costs have been covered up front. Laurent de Chorivit, Club Med UK's MD, says: "Club Med's all-inclusive packages include accommodation, flights and transfers but also ski tuition and ski passes, meals, drinks and snacks. No extra costs, no surprises."
Childcare is extra, but you're paying for quality. With highly qualified staff and small group quotas, Baby Club caters for children from four to 23 months with activities including early-learning games, outdoor strolls, cuddle breaks and of course naps. From two-three years children go into Petit Club Med, where the focus is more on discovery, with games and songs as well as outdoor play with their peers and an introduction to snow sports and activities.
Valmorel in the Savoie region of France is the newest resort in Club Med's portfolio. The baby restaurant is open from 6.30pm so babies and parents can dine (in the loosest sense of the word) together and you can borrow buggies, high chairs, cots, baby baths, change mats and bottle warmers to avoid the faff of bringing everything with you. Babysitting can be organised in your room for an extra cost, should you want to take advantage of the resort's open bar.
• Club Med's Valmorel resort (tinyurl.com/valmorelclubmed) charges from £5,708 for a family of four, including return flights, meals, an open bar, ski passes and group lessons. For a week's childcare, Baby Club Med costs £250 and Petit Club Med £200
Alternatives
Babyhotel, Carinthia, Austria
Austria's network of 34 much-lauded family-only Kinderhotels (kinderhotels.co.uk) includes the Babyhotel (babyhotel.eu) in Carinthia, southern Austria. Children can charge around the two-floor softplay "Pirates' Land" with ball pool, while adults ski or relax in the hotel spa, and in the basement there's a cinema and swimming pool, with a baby pool and slide for toddlers. The price for a family of four for a seven-day stay, without lift pass but including food and childcare is from €1,605.
Hotel Arlberghaus, Zürs, Austria
Powder Byrne (powderbyrne.com) offers a complimentary creche service at this four-star hotel for those travelling out of school holidays and wanting to introduce their young to the birthplace of skiing. Activities include snow play, finger painting and bubble pictures, with quiet time guaranteed too. Three-year-olds can take their first steps on skis as part of the Yeti Primer programme. Powder Byrne charges from £2,119 (adult), £560 (child of two years plus) and under-twos travel free. This is for a week in a superior room, including seven nights' half-board, return flights from London and transfers. The Yeti Primer, including two hours of ski tuition, costs from £495 per week; creche (six months-four years) costs £450.
Chalethotel Christina, La Plagne, France
This Mark Warner hotel in La Plagne (markwarner.co.uk/ski/france/la-plagne), right opposite the ski lift, has a warm and welcoming vibe. A great feature for parents, especially of babies or younger toddlers, is that you keep the same nanny all week, rather than having your children passed around carers. They'll also be happy to follow your child's routine, should they have one. They work with the Oxygène Ski School, which takes kids from three years old to play in their Snowman Kindergarten. A week from 18 March for a family of four costs £3,220, including half-board accommodation, flights, transfers and childcare.
Hotel Bruxelles, Soldeu, Andorra
The comfy, convenient Hotel Bruxelles (tinyurl.com/hotelbrux) is one of Neilson's most family-friendly hotels (along with its flagship, the Hotel Aalborg in Les Deux Alpes). Under fours will be hooked up with the resort's creche – it can't be pre-booked, but Neilson says there's usually no problem with availability. There's one week free at this popular resort, from 18 March, which costs £1,369 for a family of four, including flights, transfers and half-board accommodation, but not the creche, which is from €125 for five days.
MORE FAMILY-FRIENDLY RESORTS
When it comes to snow parks, ski lifts, service and even snowfall, US resorts quite simply do things better. If you can face the travel, that is. For even without cost considerations, the prospect of a 10-hour flight plus transfer with a Tasmanian devil-type creature that doesn't understand the phrase sit still, let alone have any desire to enact it, is not for the faint-hearted. But if you do make the trip, it's unlikely your toddler will be disappointed as creches – or daycare, as they call it there – in American ski resorts take child-centric fun to a whole new level.The Treehouse in Aspen (treehousekidsclub.com), in Colorado, is possibly the standout facility of the bunch. In its fourth season, and as the name suggests, themed around nature, this vast 25,000-square foot space at the base of Aspen Snowmass is open to children from eight weeks to four years old (or until they're ready for ski school) from 8am-4pm. As Sue Way, director of children's programmes at Aspen Snowmass, says: "TVs and DVDs are banned and instead the focus is on activity; we spend as much of the day outside as possible, either in strollers, on our snow mover ride or, when they can walk, in our fenced-off playground. We see it as a way to start their relationship with snow from a very early age. And when the weather is bad we focus on dramatic play inside, where we have a climbing wall with a padded floor."
The child to carer ratio for children under one is 2:1 and for those over one it's 4:1, and the daily meal and snack menu consists of lots parent-pleasing fresh fruit and veg.
Sue says: "We get a lot of repeat visitors to the Treehouse. Parents book a vacation according to what is best for their child, and if their child is happy they're more likely to come back." The high snow quality and epic skiable terrain at Snowmass and Aspen's other resorts could also have something to do with it. Treehouse costs $149 for a day, $99 a half-day. To rent a condo, visit stayaspen.com.
Alternatives
Storklinten, Swedish Lapland
Scandinavian ski resorts are frequently praised for their child-centric ethos and Storklinten in Swedish Lapland is no exception. It's a small, chilled out place, where families stay in log cabins and reindeer roam about at will – sure to excite any toddler. There's an outdoor snow play area, and husky trips can be organised. And though there is no creche for babies or younger toddlers, mini skiers are well catered for, with dedicated lines on the mountain. Simply Sweden (simplysweden.co.uk/storklinten.php) offers five nights for a family of four from £2,995 including flights, car rental and five nights' self-catering accommodation.
Keystone, Colorado
Keystone (keystoneresort.com) has a permanent outdoor snow fort as part of its Kidtopia setup, which also includes face-painting, cookie decorating and arts and crafts – though beware, "Unattended parents are fed to the snow dragon". Ski Independence (ski-i.com/usa/keystone) has one-bed self-catered condos, River Run, for seven nights, including flights and transfers, from £2,968 for a family of four.
Halte-Garderie creche, Vaujany, Alpe d'Huez, France
Vaujany is a pretty, peaceful village neighbouring Alpe d'Huez. The Halte-Garderie creche in town takes babies from six months for indoor and outdoor play and is described by the Ski Club of Great Britain (skiclub.co.uk) as "amazing" – a day's childcare costs £26. Peak Retreats (peakretreats.co.uk) has availability from 24 March for seven nights' self-catering in a two-bed apartment at La Cascade, for £679 (sleeps five-seven). The price includes a Eurotunnel crossing for a car and passengers.
Obergurgl, Austria
This resort is free from the après-ski hordes who go to nearby Solden, which keeps it nice and quiet for your kids – plus there are no reminders of what you're missing out on. It's small and easy to navigate, and children old enough to ski will get on well with the friendly English-speaking instructors and enjoy the Alpine safari and magical forest – both runs designed specifically for children. Esprit Ski (espritski.com/resorts/obergurgl) has family packages from £1,799 (two adults, two children under 12) staying at Chalet Alpenblume, which include flights, transfers, breakfast and most dinners and a baby listening service. Esprit nursery care for children from four months to 40 months is £285 for six full days, and three- to four-year-olds can join the "spritelets" for half-days of ski play (£199 for five afternoons).
Sam Haddad is the editor of Cooler (coolermag.com), a snow and style magazine for women
- Set in stone: a luxury villa in a quarry on the Egadi islands off Sicily
It sounds like a gimmick, but a luxury villa in a Roman quarry on a tiny island off Sicily makes inspired use of its setting
Beds in concrete sewer pipes, converted prisons and factories, hotels made from ice or old railway carriages ... over the last decade or so the travel industry has thrown up more and more bizarre ways for us to be accommodated.
These wacky places to stay may be entertaining, but usually they're the accommodation equivalent of fancy dress – funny for five minutes, then you wish you were in something more comfortable. A villa in a quarry sounds like another example of quirk over quality – not really somewhere you'd want to hole up for long.
On the tiny, sleepy Egadi island of Favignana though, staying in a quarry is a stylish prospect. Since Roman times, tufa, a pale limestone was excavated here for buildings across Sicily, and islanders have incorporated the remaining holes and blocks into developments. Now a gorgeous rambling seaside villa, Zu Nillu, built into a disused Roman tufa quarry that has been turned into a spectacular garden, is newly available as a holiday let, exclusively through specialist operator Think Sicily.
Rather than JCBs and rusting shopping trollies, this verdant Escher print of a quarry features small square lawns, shady quadrants full of orange and pomegranate trees, cacti and palms, with raised platforms and sun-terraces interconnected by stone walkways and zigzagging staircases, some several metres above the ground (not a place for young children). Two main buildings sleep eight, and descend from ground level into the sunny garden, but several freestanding monoliths are being turned into extra rooms, and hidden away in secret corners are an open-air bathroom under a cacao tree, and a fabulous pool set into the quarry walls.
It is owned by an Italian actor and film director, Ricky Tognazzi, who has decorated it with unusual antiques (sculptured day beds, Moorish tiling, decorative masonry). His name meant nothing to me, but it became apparent during my stay that Tognazzi is famous – perhaps the Italian equivalent of Mike Leigh … or at least Michael Winner. When I sunbathed on the flat roof of the main house I would hear the excited peal of Italian tourists below, posing for photos outside our celebrity's front door. They could never see my boyfriend or I in our secluded confines behind the high walls or below ground level, but I could excite them further by shouting inside to "Ricky" in my best Eeee-talian scorchio! accent.
Ricky Tognazzi seems to have a rather nice life here, and it was lovely to borrow it for a while. Like a heated up version of the Scilly Isles, the Egadis are incredibly peaceful and undeveloped. Pedalling off on hire bikes with snorkels, books and rolled-up towels in our baskets each morning, we cycled quiet dusty roads around the butterfly-shaped island, which lies four miles off the west coast of Sicily, a short ferry ride from Trapani – plenty of visitors just go for the day. Favignana is only seven square miles (its neighbours, Levanzo and Marettimo, are even smaller and more sleepy than this soporific little place) and flattish but for a few small mountains, and it resembles a half-completed game of Tetris in parts, with oblong pillars and square holes left by the excavations.
Seafront quarries have left fantastic platforms to dive from at Bue Marino, Cala Azzurra, and our own Cala Rossa, the island's (some say the Mediterranean's) most beautiful cove, where Zu Nillu is the only building. On calm days people would flock there – I counted 37 yachts in the bay one day – but the Italian sun-worshippers seemed to follow a secret law that certain weathers called for certain spots, and a breeze made them abandon Cala Rossa for a more sheltered spot.
We took advantage of the culture of conformity, but could always find peace anyway in our private, sea-facing walled garden across the road from the house, where we took lunches of smoky ricotta with peaches and honey, papery salami and Sicilian white wine. We had expected a lot of the food on this old Sicilian fishing island. Tuna and sardines were once hugely important, though much is exported now and tuna has become something of an artisan product – tins of it cost €20 and more in the gift shops. Bottarga, dried tuna roe, featured in many of the islands' delicious pasta dishes (the villa provided a guide to restaurants, such as the highly recommended El Pescadore, and a concierge on call to make bookings) but we were disappointed to see many restaurants used frozen fish in some dishes (marked on the menu), and found most a bit overpriced, charging €15-€20 for a grilled tuna steak. Our favourite find was the cheap arancini shop Girarrosto Rosticceria, where fried rice balls filled with aubergine, cheese or sausage cost a couple of euros. Another brilliant bargain was at the almost Ibiza-esque bars of Monique and Camarillo Brillo in Favignana town, which had free aperitivo buffets in the evening. The stylish Hotel delle Cave (hoteldellecave.it, doubles from €80 B&B) also has a garden in a quarry, and is lovely for drinks and perhaps to stay. But we couldn't resist the lure of a rooftop sundowner in our labyrinthine home – which did almost feel like our home by the end, Ricky's no longer.
• A week at Zu Nillu costs from £2,530 for two or from £5,040 for eight, including cleaning and welcome pack, with Think Sicily (020-3131 2912, thinksicily.com). EasyJet (easyjet.co.uk) flies to Palermo from Gatwick
- Top 10 weird spa treatments
From a retreat sleeping under the stars in the Sinai desert, to a snake massage in Israel or a chocolate facial at Hershey's, we've rounded up the world's weirdest spa treatments
Snake massage, Israel
Looking for a romantic Valentine's surprise for your partner? Book a last-minute flight to Israel and head to Talmei Elazar, for a massage at Ada Barak's Carnivorous Plant Farm and Spa. As your loved one lies down and prepares for a blissful pampering session, an armful of wriggling snakes will be dropped on to their naked body. They're soothing! Honest ...
• Around £44, +972 4 637 3473
Cryotherapy, Finland
The usual spa experience involves heating and cooling the body, then repeating until suitably invigorated. Now you can take the cooling element to the next level with cryotherapy, which involves sitting in an icebox. Haikko spa in Porvoo, Finland, boasts a super-cold chamber (-110C) – just don't spend more than a few minutes in there, or you'll risk hypothermia and death.
• Doubles in the spa's hotel from £99, cold room around £25 for up to three minutes, haikko.fi
Beer bathing, Czech Republic
There's nothing more relaxing than sinking into a deep, hot bath ... of beer. At the Chodovar Brewery in Chodová Planá you can soak in mineral water mixed with dark beer, said to have medicinal benefits. No bubble bath required – beer foam does the job.
• Doubles in the on-site hotel from around £48, 20-minute beer bath around £20, chodovar.cz
Orgasm hotel, Sweden
Devote some time to your sex life at Venusgarden, a "love hotel" in Scania. It's owned by an orgasm coach, and the rooms all come equipped with sex toys and erotic pictures, plus a copy of the owner's best-selling book, Orgasming More. One room has a mirror above the bed and another has a swing.
• Doubles from £150, venusgarden.se
Chocolate facial, Pennsylvania
The founder of Hershey's, the largest chocolate company in North America, opened a hotel in the 1930s which is still going strong today. It's based in the town named after Hershey himself, and a stay isn't complete without a visit to the Chocolate Spa for a gooey cocoa-based treatment – the new Cocoa Facial Experience is the first edible one.
• Doubles from £164, 75-minute cocoa facial around £108, chocolatespa.com
Sake spa, Japan
The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun hot springs amusement park and spa resort in south-central Japan has the usual water slides, hot tubs and saunas. However, it also has pools for bathing in sake, green tea, wine and coffee – and occasionally even ramen noodle soup.
• Around £15 for entry into the spa resort, yunessun.com
Solitary retreat, Egypt
Peter Owen Jones lived in a desert cave for three and a half weeks while filming Extreme Pilgrim for the BBC. Now you can experience the same physical hardship and spiritual richness on a Sinai desert retreat, led by Jones. You'll trek across the desert, sleep under the stars, wash with a Bedouin herbal treatment and spend a few days alone in self-reflection.
• £850 for a seven-night retreat, excluding flights, starting 1 or 9 March, through Makhad Journeys (makhad.org)
Sound bath, California
The Integratron bills itself as "an acoustically perfect tabernacle and energy machine sited on a powerful geomagnetic vortex in the magical Mojave desert". Visitors flock there for "sound baths", relaxing yet energising 30-minute sonic sessions. You lie on mats in the domed wooden chamber, listening to the music made by quartz crystal singing bowls, the tones of which are supposedly aligned with your chakras (energy centres).
• Around £6 for a public sound bath, more for private session, integratron.com
Fire cupping, Beijing
Cupping is a famously brutal massage technique involving suction. Fire cupping is similar, but with added flames, so there's a risk of burns as well as bruising in the wrong hands. Try it with confidence at the Oriental Taipan Spa – the Chinese Meridian Aromatic Oil Massage includes expert fire cupping techniques.
• From around £38 for an 80-minute massage, taipan.com
Waterfall massage, Canada
Wild spa-ing is all the rage in Thailand – Sankampaeng Hot Springs, near Chiang Mai, is a good place to stand under a waterfall and get thoroughly pummelled. But if you prefer creature comforts, the Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Hotel in Banff Springs has three indoor waterfalls that are great for reviving tired muscles after a day's skiing in the Rockies.
• B&B doubles from around £227, plus £44 for use of the spa, fairmont.com
- Self-catering review: Royal Parade Apartments, Harrogate
Harrogate may not be the first place you would think of for a city break, but these decadent boutique apartments are a great reason to visit the Yorkshire spa town
If it's all about location, Royal Parade Apartments in Harrogate, which opened just over a year ago, has got it both right and wrong. On the positive side, these three elegant self-catering properties are stacked like delicate sugar-dusted pancakes in the froufrou heart of Harrogate, opposite the Royal Pump Room Museum (harrogate.gov.uk), just down the hill from Bettys tearoom and the renovated Turkish Baths, and within a Farrah's toffee's throw of both a branch of Toast and Alan Titchmarsh's favourite public park, Valley Gardens (friendsofvalleygardens.co.uk).
But is Harrogate really the place for such high style? London, Bath or Edinburgh would be more obvious destinations for accommodation of such a decadent kind. Harlow Carr gardens (rhs.org.uk) may be on the doorstep, but without a run of world-class museums or truly landmark attractions does Yorkshire's finest spa town promise enough entertainment to persuade more traditional city breakers to add a night here to their itinerary?
Sleeping up to four, with one double bedroom and one double sofa bed, each apartment is a variation on a theme. Brooklyn, on the third floor, is a vision of salvage chic, second-floor Rajasthan is slightly more colourful, and eclectic first-floor Royale, my base for the night, is the most traditionally styled. Co-owner Janet Love has a background in antiques and interior design, and it shows. She admits she loves recycling old pieces, especially bits sourced from Gallery Forty One (galleryfortyone.co.uk) in London, and even in Royale there are plenty of nicely quirky items, such as the enormous studded metal coffee table, made from a ship's carcass, tucked in among the 17th-century fire irons, antique prints and French mirrors.
Then there's breakfast. Though this is self-catering, all guests get the first meal of the day thrown in (private chefs can be arranged for other meals). I'm not sure this is strictly necessary but there was no complaining when I found the kitchen stocked with honey toasted muesli from the "organic with attitude" Side Oven Bakery, Truly Scrumpious bread (the company's own misspelling), Taylors teas, creamy organic Birchfield yoghurt and eggs so fresh they still had feathers on them – much of it from local food emporium Fodder (fodderweb.co.uk).
Though Janet recommended a no-fuss dinner at the Restaurant Bar & Grill (therestaurantbarandgrill.co.uk) or "really amazing food" at Van Zeller (vanzellerrestaurants.co.uk), I settled for a quick pint at gaslit Hales Bar (halesbar.co.uk), Harrogate's oldest pub, before dinner with some local relatives. Staying here may be a bit like navigating a glitzy spaceship that's touched down in uncharted territory but beam me up any time.
Follow Rhiannon on Twitter @rhiannonbatten
- A gondola massage in California
You won't catch a Venetian doing it, but in Coronado Bay off the Californian coast couples can have a massage in a gondola
I'll never look at a gondolier again without a smile crossing my lips. Why? Did I have fun in Venice, being serenaded by a Latin lothario? Did I stay at the Venetian hotel in Vegas, transported around the property in one of those gondolas that are as cheesy as gorgonzola?
Nope, I took a trip on an "authentic" 33ft gondola off the Coronado Cays near San Diego, for a couples massage with my hubbie as part of our stay at the Loews Coronado resort.
Leaving from the hotel's private marina we were paddled out to sea on our gondola, then lay face down on twin massage tables while two masseuses – Kim and Yvonne – worked away at our tired old bones.
Disappointingly, the two gondoliers didn't sing Italian songs to us, but they were young and seriously hunky, and they at least had Italian folk music playing – makes a change from the usual far eastern mood music.
They didn't get our "Just One Cornetto" joke, but they did keep their eyes firmly on the horizon and the gondola sailing smoothly while the therapists did their best to work round us in the space available and maintain steady sea legs.
Complimentary Domaine Chandon, a good Napa Valley sparkling wine, and chocolate-covered strawberries were served during the final 10 minutes of the "experience", which lasts about an hour, and we sat back, by then in dressing gowns, and took in the views.
I used that moment to chat to the masseuses about the job. Yes, predictably, it is mainly couples celebrating a wedding anniversary who opt for this treatment; and although it is totally weather-dependent, San Diego has 267 "mostly sunny" days a year, so that's rarely an issue.
Unusually, this was a massage taken entirely lying on your front, with no flipping over to give the passing yachts an eyeful – or the planes and helicopters from the nearby Coronado military base. I can't say that added to the experience – our arms and the fronts of our legs were decidedly underworked, but overall it was a fun way to spend an hour or so.
As a destination resort, the 439‑room Loews Coronado Bay ticks a lot of boxes. Among its on-site amenities are three restaurants – one award-winning and with views of the San Diego skyline and Coronado Bay – three swimming pools, three tennis courts and direct access to the Silver Strand State Beach. The hotel is situated on a private 15-acre peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean and it's just 25 minutes from downtown San Diego. The low-rise town of Coronado is a little gem, reminiscent of a Disney village, and a perfect piece of Americana.
Whether the whole massage experience is worth $419 is another matter, but it is certainly one of the world's strangest …
If next time you visit Venice you find the Grand Canal full of floating massage-gondolas, you'll know where the idea came from.
• The Loews Coronado Bay (loewshotels.com/coronadobay) has doubles from $209 B&B, and the gondola massage costs $419 per couple. United Airlines (08458 444777, united.com) flies from Heathrow to San Diego from £470 return. For further information on California, see visitcalifornia.co.uk
- Emma's Eccentric Britain: Ripley's Believe It Or Not! in London
There are bizarrely fascinating curios at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! 'odditorium' in London, but Emma Kennedy finds other exhibits leave her feeling rather uneasy
As I step through the front doors of Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, London's only "odditorium", I'm greeted by a woman gingerly fingering a shutter that bears a stark warning – Open At Your Own Risk. She picks at its edge nervously and then, with some encouragement from a friend, opens it suddenly to release a peal of bloodcurdling screams. Not hers. They're coming from the cupboard. She shuts it quickly, slightly embarrassed, and pops a lemon bonbon into her mouth as if to pretend it didn't just happen.
I smile at her. She smiles back awkwardly and I wonder if Ripley's is going to be like this all the way through – a museum filled with slight embarrassments. I've never been to an odditorium before. It's a bit like a Victorian freak show and I'm not quite sure what to expect.
Robert Ripley, an American illustrator, turned to cartooning strange sporting facts and began to develop an obsession for everything weird and wonderful. Before long, he was travelling the world collecting oddities – lambs with six legs, a huge ball of string found in a cow's stomach, or a sculpture of the Beatles made from chewing gum.
I'm greeted in the entrance by a trio of mechanical waxworks. There's Francesco Lentini, a three-legged man playing the banjo. Next to him stands a Padaung woman, her neck trussed up with copper hoops, and inside a bird's cage to their left is the midget Alypius of Alexandria, who stood 17in high. I stare at them. They all have physical deformities. I can't help feeling a little uneasy.
I'm being shown around by a woman called Jessica. She's been here for three years and has worked her way up, having started on the tills. She's lovely and has an easy charm that endears me to her from the off.
"I love it here," she tells me, showing me into the artists' section where she presses a button on the wall. A box in front of me lights up and I peer into it.
"What's that?" I ask.
"It's a portrait of Jimi Hendrix painted on dung," she tells me, happily. "It's done by an artist called Enrique Ramos. He was quite prolific."
She's not fibbing. The lion's share of odder pieces are the work of Ramos. He's done a picture of Marilyn Monroe formed from dead butterflies, a portrait of a slightly cross-eyed Princess Diana made from discarded lint and a tableau of Charles and Diana's wedding in which the royal family are all ants.
"Enrique Ramos had quite a fertile imagination," I opine, staring through a magnifying glass at Prince Edward's head stuck on to the body of an upstanding ant.
There's no doubt about it, Ripley's Believe It Or Not! is packed full of bizarre items such as a bust of Judas made out of toothpicks. In many ways, the fact that someone sat down and decided to make a bust of Judas entirely from toothpicks is an unadulterated joy, but there are also exhibits that feel as if they aren't entirely appropriate for modern sensibilities.
Jessica presses another button and a waxwork of Grace McDaniels, the "mule faced woman" spins around to reveal her hideous and unfortunate facial deformity. I turn to Jessica. "Do you worry," I ask, "that these sort of exhibits are simply inviting people to think of disabilities as entertainment?"
Jessica ponders this for a moment. "I don't think so," she answers. "I like to think they're celebrating these people's achievements. And it is historic. Although, having said that, Grace McDaniels had a terrible life." And then she proudly tells me how Ripley's is fully wheelchair accessible.
Perhaps I'm being oversensitive and Jessica is right – there is a historical element which is acceptable for a museum to explore, but I doubt whether Grace McDaniels would imagine that her miserable life would be celebrated by a waxwork that spins. Anywhere that showcases people who have led a terrible existence simply because of the way they look, is treading a thin line.
That gripe aside, there is much at Ripley's to enjoy and I suspect that children, especially, will love it. Do have a go in the Mirror Maze. Despite being freaked out by the fact I seemed to have a doppeleganger wandering around it at the same time, I made it through in eight minutes, 49 seconds. Beat that!
Oh. And the building is haunted. "Avoid the upper areas," says Jessica, whispering.
So for your entrance fee to Ripley's, you might see a ghost. Believe it. Or not!
• The London Pavilion, I Piccadilly Circus, W1 (020-3238 0022, ripleyslondon.com). Adults £26.95, children £21.95, under-fours free
Follow Emma on Twitter @EmmaK67
