Advantages: A five-star stay? Disadvantages: ?with just three-star facilities
simplicity often trumps ritzy ostentation. Attentive service matters, but nothing is nastier than the kind of smarmy obsequiousness that always seems to mask a sneer. And so on. Maybe it's simply down to that indefinable essence known as character or personality.
These inconsequential musings are prompted by my trying to pinpoint what it was about the Casa San Blas at Cusco that I liked so much. The hotel is certainly not without its limitations and even its failings, but it's a nevertheless a charming and delightful place to stay. Let's try to summarise what it has to offer.
* Location *
The Casa San Blas is situated just a few minutes' walk from Cusco's Plaza de Armas (central square), and is therefore convenient for all the main sights of the ancient Inca capital, such as the Qorikancha (Sun Temple), the Cathedral ...
Advantages: One of the best examples of Catalan Modernism Disadvantages: Very expensive
My husband has a job, which more often than not requires him to work on Christmas day and through most of the Christmas period. Whilst this is the perfect reason to turn down all invitations to spend Christmas with family, it's not the greatest way to celebrate the big day with a 14 hour shift. So last Christmas I decided that we'd have our very own Christmas but just a few days before the rest of the world. And so I booked a long weekend in Barcelona.
Our hotel - The Gallery (review already posted many moons ago) was just off the Passeig de Gracia, one of Barcelona's key boulevards where you can find my favourite of the buildings designed by Antonio Gaudi - the almost impossible to pronounce, Casa Batllo. Earlier in the year I had attended a big industry conference in Barcelona and we'd had the conference 'gala' dinner in the Casa ...
Advantages: Good pace and twists Disadvantages: Previous book means not all characters explored fully
I hadn't read any of Lisa Gardner's books before but had heard of her so when I saw she had a few in the library I picked up one that sounded good and wasn't too big to fit in my bag.
The story is about a woman called Annabelle Granger who had spent most of her life on the run, as her father made the family move from place to place changing aliases throughout her childhood until eventually they ended up back in their hometown of Boston and her father died. One morning Annabelle opens the paper and discovers that she has been declared dead, her body found in an underground chamber along with five other young girls.
Annabelle goes to the police where she meets Detective Bobby Dodge and Sergeant DD Warren. Bobby is new to working with the Boston police as he used to be a police sniper but due to events in the past he has changed ...
1. No. 1, Der Stern (wds. A von Arnim) 2. No. 2, Der Pokal (wds. A von Arnim) 3. No. 3, Einerlei (wds. A von Arnim) 4. No. 4, Waldesfahrt (wds. Heine) 5. No. 5, Schlechtes Wetter (wds. Heine)
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