november-2010

TRAVELLER TALES | 15 BEST
TEL AVIV
Stephen Kaufer is the co-founder
of TripAdvisor.com. He loves exploring
metropolitan cities and lying on
sun-soaked beaches
I had heard Israel was a wonderful,
magical place, so when the opportunity
arose for a week-long vacation, it was
top of my list. My wife and I wanted to
experience as much as possible, so we
spent the week touring around. After
landing in Tel Aviv we went up north to
smaller, more historic villages, then down
the coast and promised ourselves we’d
come back one day to see Egypt.
It was like immersing ourselves in a
different way of living. Walking down
narrow alleyways and being practically
assaulted by shopkeepers was certainly
new to me! I’ve never been to an area that
was so different from the Western world.
We did a day trip to Masada, where
an ancient Roman siege took place. The
fortress is incredibly intact and out in the
middle of nowhere with no hustle and
bustle around it. Actually looking up the
ramp the Romans left behind thousands
of years ago was phenomenal.
52 | TRAVELLER | 15 TH BIRTHDAY ISSUE
TUSCANY
Suzanne Syz is a Swiss-born
contemporary jewellery artist who
splits her time between her vineyard in
Tuscany and her atelier in Geneva
When I’m not designing my jewellery
and ornaments for the home, or
preparing for gallery exhibitions of
my work, I can be found here on
my vineyard in Italy on the Fattoria
di Caspri estate, which produces
biodynamic wine and olive oil that I
sell internationally.
I’ve been practising organic
viticulture on the estate since 2006. We
treat the vines and soil with herbal teas
and decoctions of vegetable extracts.
The estate used to be the home of the
Roman General Aelianus Casperius,
who gave the estate its name at the
beginning of the fi rst millennium. The
relics of that ancient era have long since
disappeared, but the current building,
which I recently restored, dates from the
18th century.
It’s currently 27˚C in Tuscany
and the grapes are looking fantastic.
The vineyard is 45km south of Florence
on the highway to Rome, right in the
heart of Tuscany. I have 10 hectares of
wine and 10 hectares of olive oil. This
place is great for my creative work – I
can sit in the garden and design my
collections and bespoke commissions.
The best time to come is in early
summer when the poppy fl owers all
over the fi elds make for a breathtakingly
beautiful view.
HURGHADA
Cesare Marretti is an Italian
celebrity chef who appears regularly
on TV and runs the E’ Cucina
restaurants in Bologna and Turin.
He travels worldwide as a consultant
and in his role as hospitality chef
with the Italian football squad
I’m forever on the lookout for new fl avours
and strong sensations, and I’ve always
loved travelling. I’m a sucker for extreme
experiences, so I was a bit sceptical
when my girlfriend Katia suggested a
spa holiday a couple of years ago. All my
concerns about turning into a softie were
swept aside, though, when I discovered
the intensity of the experience, and since
that fi rst trip we’ve been on several more.
Our most recent holiday was at
a gorgeous spa and thalassotherapy
complex at Hurghada in Egypt. It’s
beautiful there, right on the Red Sea
and with a fantastic backdrop of desert
mountains. The spa experience was the
best I’ve had so far, despite the fact that
the mud therapy, powerful hydrotherapy
jets and energetic massages left me
feeling just a bit bruised!
PHOTOS © CORBIS, PHOTOLIBRARY, GETTY | INTERVIEWS BY DEVINA DIVECHA, CLAIRE ADLER, SARAH LANE, DEBORAH HATCH