DATELINE MONDAY 13TH FEBRUARY 2017

Monday morning greetings from London W10,

I hope you’re well and that hyperthermia and frostbite has not set in, cold last week or what? Whoooaaaa half term, I love half term traffic is sooo light in London and there is always somewhere to park, but what’s this the children? 24/7 ohhhh noooo thank goodness for the office and work.

Did you see the news last week the snow in New York according to Beth of Details NYC the DMC we work with in New York was awesome and great fun well at least for a few day apparently it didn’t stop anyone shopping

As I mentioned last week I was in Iceland and there is no doubt about it London was much colder. The weather forecast tells us that it’s going to warm up this week and we might even see snowdrops, the first sign of a promised spring and a thaw, that would be nice J I’m fed up of being cold.

It is now time for my romantic side, tomorrow, in case you have missed the flood of messages and ads on TV and social media is St Valentine’s Day. So if I may I would like to wish absolutely everyone a very Happy Valentine’s Day, I’m just an soppy romantic at heart, talking of romantic, one of the most romantic cities that MM and Company represents is Prague.

DMC News* MM and Company News * Destination News*

Prague

Daniel, Jitka and the team at ITC Prague specialise in a walking experience of Prague, after all the old city is a very walkable city. The locals begin to start the day between 6am and 7am but the tourists are still in bed, this is the time to walk the monument lined Malostranske Square to St Vitus Cathedral. The soaring Gothic symbol of Czech nationhood, which cross almost every view of the city. If it snows the views will be amazing, of steep frosted rooftops and distant domes and spires that have no place in the 21st century. The cathedral doesn’t officially open until 9am and fills with visitors almost instantly. But at 7am, Monday to Saturday, a priest says Mass in a side chapel, and the western doors are open while the worshippers assemble. For a few minutes, St Vitus stops being a tourist attraction and draws a long and thoughtful breath. You could easily mingle with the locals and be a local citizen for a few moments.

Did you know that the Prague Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s Spa is on the site of a former monastery? There is a glass floor in the spa that reveals the foundations of an amazing fourteenth century Baroque chapel.

Marrakesh

Lina, Dounia, Rachid and the team at Visit Morocco are delighted February is here, Marrakesh is warming up big time. Morocco, located in northern Africa comes out of it’s short winter very quickly indeed, the sun is shining and it’s warm enough to sit outside in its numerous terraced Cafes, one of their favourite is Café Koutoubia an ideal place to enjoy breakfast Moroccan pancakes very traditional and sweet mint tea which the locals call Moroccan whisky.

La Mamounia Hotel which was lovingly refurbished a few years ago, has a bar called The Churchill Bar, the hotel was one of Sir Winston Churchill’s favourite places to stay.

Leyla and Hannah’s twitter and witter bit of the Monday morning e mail

Proud Daddy time, Leyla’s February school report has arrived, I’m gobsmacked, there are so many excellent grades on her report to make me think she possibly wrote her own report but I know that’s not fair. The report is amazing I have no idea how she gets the grades whenever I see her doing homework, she has her iPhone warbling away. If I need to do anything serious I have to have silence, clearly, she needs a cacophony of sound. Well Leyla Megan I’m very impressed and proud.

Hannah is so organised so meticulous at whatever she does. Nothing seems to phase her, she is very confident sometimes a wee bit too confident.

I took Leyla and Hannah to friends for dinner on Friday night, it just so happens that these friends have two sons aged 14 and 16 no I was not match making but it is never too early to start they are a very nice family. We walked to their house and all through the fifteen minute walk Leyla gave me a hard time about going there, Hannah was like “whatever”. We arrived with Leyla dragging behind, we were welcomed in and Leyla changed almost immediately, she is a sensible girl and knows anymore attitude would have been given very short shrift. The clincher was the family had a six month old puppy in the house and that was it the girls were well at home.

That’s it you are now fully up to date