Author Sophie McLean

“The sky was flecked with white lights that twinkled from Como’s western shore, and the bolt of electricity that the clouds would imminently bring provided a certain drama to our recent arrival.”

“There’s an overall palpable sense of history and mystique here, something that doesn’t come as too much of a surprise when you realise that Madeira was a preferred holiday spot to characters such as Winston Churchill.”

“Seated a deux along the pretty paved harbourside of the terracotta-coloured UNESCO world heritage city of Porto, an inky Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas 2009 from the Duoro valley glugged into my wine glass.”

“The packing instructions simply said: sports kit ‘with at least seven changes of top.’ This was certainly not going to be one of ‘those’ trips. And I have to admit, I feared for the fun-factor.”

My little sister ‘does the brain’. This is what a lot of people will tell…

In celebration of the Dorchester’s 80th birthday this year, Barbara Banke, from Jackson Family Wines, hosted a dinner in happy marriage with the launch of her new-to-market Vérité La Joie 2008.

London’s Dolphin Square is where the bold, the beautiful and indeed the clever, flock to. And now there’s one more very good reason to follow suit, opened just a few weeks ago: the Moroccan-themed Spa.

In my continual training to become an undercover agent (I speak multiple languages, take regular…

Sophie travels to Spain for a much-needed detox at the SHA Wellness Clinic in Alicante, to experience the philosophy of macrobiotics at one of the best equipped spas in Europe. She even gave up wine. Or so she says…

Sophie indulges in David Carter’s Coquette; London’s most popular pampering event for ladies who cocktail. Dance the Charleston, glam up like a diva and learn how to kiss handsome bartenders…

International maiden of mystery, Sophie McLean, spends the night at Hotel Cram in Barcelona, and discovers that even travel tradeshow exhibitions can be fun when your hotel room has so much soul.

There’s something so inherently mysterious about Oxford. Time-worn buildings loom over pretty cobbled streets, well-trodden…