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Christmas 2016: Incredible Memories - Shrewsbury, Shropshire

28/12/2016

My niece at lunch on Christmas Day. She does not like Christmas pudding & so had her own igloo cake. I can never get enough of that winning smile.

For me being with family is the most important element of Christmas and my Russian sister-in-law getting a visa, which enabled her, and my 6 year old niece, to be in Shrewsbury helped to make it another unforgettable Christmas.

I have only missed one family Christmas, when I had to stay in Bermuda because of work. I was lucky then to have special friends there to spend the day with.

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HIX Oyster & Chop House, Farringdon - The Best Sunday Lunch in London - December 2016

12/12/2016

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I used to regard Roast in Borough Market as providing the best Sunday lunch in London but Mark Hix's HIX Oyster & Chop House has eclipsed that, as Roast's star has waned.

The fact HIX Oyster & Chop House is a short walk from my Barbican place made it the perfect venue for Sunday lunch with one of my best friends in London, who I first met when we both worked at the Bank of England.

Everything on this plate was divine but the melt in the mouth Glenarm Mighty Marble sirloin of beef, & legendary cauliflower cheese, deserve special mentions.

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Sanderson Hotel: Smith & Sinclair Christmas Pop Up, London - December 2016

6/12/2016

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Issy in the Smith & Sinclair pop up 'Flavour Room' holding one of the lollipops for the DIY alcoholic dib-dabs.

I always find it fascinating to think I first walked into the Sanderson hotel's 1958 building on Berners Street in the 1990s, when it was the showroom for Arthur Sanderson & Sons and we picked William Morris wallpaper.

It is now part of Morgans Hotel Group and has been, since 2001, a chic & fun Philippe Starck designed 'boutique' hotel with a young trendsetting clientele. This is where we had our 'Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea' and I have also drunk in their 'Purple Bar' before.

This time we were honoured to be invited to try their Smith & Sinclair Christmas pop up bar with the hotel's General Manager Grant Campbell.

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Morgans Hotel Group: Meeting Anne Golden at St Martins Lane Hotel in London - December 2016

1/12/2016

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www.sifrew.com, & Issy, at St Martins Lane. Note the 'Ian Schrager yellow' reception desk.

I have stayed at Royalton NYC, Morgans NYC, and the Hudson in New York, St Martins Lane and Mondrian London, had afternoon tea at Sanderson London and dinner in Madonna's 'The Blue Door' at Delano South Beach in Miami and so have quite a history with Morgans Hotel Group. In fact I used to exchange letters with Ian Schrager when I was living in Bermuda and staying in his Philippe Starck designed Royalton hotel.

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the luxury travel blog

Christmas 2016: Incredible Memories - Shrewsbury, Shropshire

HIX Oyster & Chop House, Farringdon - The Best Sunday Lunch in London - December 2016

Sanderson Hotel: Smith & Sinclair Christmas Pop Up, London - December 2016

Morgans Hotel Group: Meeting Anne Golden at St Martins Lane Hotel in London - December 2016

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