The new $175 million Verdura Golf & Spa Resort on the southern coast of Sicily from the Rocco Forte Collection opening August 1 will be the only luxury resort in the Mediterranean offering a five-star experience across golf, hotel, dining and spa facilities. The Collection's 13th property features 203 ocean view rooms and suites, each with a private terrace overlooking 1.2 miles of private coastline, two championship golf courses, six tennis courts, a 43,000-sq.-ft. spa, fitness and yoga center, four restaurants, 55 private villas, a conference center, ballroom, open-air amphitheater and helipad.

To celebrate its much-anticipated opening of the 570-acre beachfront resort, Verdura is offering guests visiting between August 1 and December 31 complimentary benefits including green fees for unlimited golf play on its three world-class courses, dinner every evening at any of its four superb restaurants and thalassotherapy spa treatments as well as a 50% discount on a second family room. Starting rates for a three-night stay range from $1,399 for a December visit to $2,967 for a visit in August.

Even though train travel in Europe isn't quite as romantic in reality as it is in fantasy, there's stil something so wonderfully retro about traveling between storied cities via rail. (A first-class Eurail pass will get you to more than 20 countries, in a surprising amount of comfort and style, depending on the train.)

If you're looking for a reason to squeeze in a trip to Europe this summer (and maybe grab some frites), the Brussels Marriott Hotel and the Marriott Rive Gauche in Paris are offering a summer package from now until the end of 2009. Stay two nights at each property at 139 € per night for a double room with breakfast. (From Thursday through Sunday or Friday through Monday.) This summer, the Eurostar is also offering a special between the two cities on its Leisure Select class starting at $119 one way, which includes a 3-course meal and wine.

The Rocco Forte Collection of boutique European luxury hotels is celebrating Belgium's new René Magritte Museum with a special package at their five-star Hotel Amigo (above) in Brussels. The museum, opening in June, will contain 170 works by the Belgian Surrealist master. The Amigo features copies of Magritte paintings and design elements throughout. Its Magritte Suite is an elegant series of rooms with amazing city views. In addition to tickets to the new museum, a Magritte book, and other perks, the Magritte Museum package includes a special dinner at the hotel's excellent Ristorante Bocconi.

Meanwhile the Rocco Forte Collection just opened their 12th and newest property in Prague, The Augustine. Located in Prague's Mal Strana district in the heart of the city's rich cultural center, a short walk from the majestic Prague Castle, the Wallenstein Gardens and the famous Charles Bridge, the 101-bedroom hotel was created from a set of seven buildings. Many of of them are historically significant, including the 13th-century Augustinian St. Thomas Monastery for which the hotel is named.

After twenty years of grappling over the trade agreement between winemakers in Europe and the U.S., 2005 marked the beginning of a somewhat peaceful understanding between the two markets -- with a few conditions. At that time the words 'Champagne', 'Burgundy', 'Port' and 'Sherry' were no longer allowed to be used in America. Just this past month the EU added another restriction to American winemakers' verbage. Wines bearing these words on their labels will no longer be sold in Europe:

'chateau', 'classic', 'clos', 'cream', 'crusted/crusting', 'fine', 'late bottled vintage', 'noble', 'ruby', 'superior', 'sur lie', 'tawny', 'vintage' or 'vintage character.'

Bureaucracy at its finest. I certainly understand protecting rights to regions but not simple words with more than a location's name at heart.

The Ritz-Carlton Berlin is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a special "The Wall" travel deal, good through December 29, 2009. The package includes one night in a superior room, an upscale breakfast, a ticket to the Berlin Wall Museum and a souvenir piece of the toppled wall. Other amenities are a piccolo bottle of the famous Rotkäppchen sparkling wine and a pack of Zetti sweet crunchy chocolate chips, both of which are well-known former GDR brands that went on to conquer the West , as well as a DVD of the film Good Bye Lenin!, which received nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Awards. Upon arrival, guests are greeted with a "Gorbachev Cocktail."

Guests can book special city tours separately, such as the "Trabi-Safari," in which visitors can go sightseeing in a Trabant, a car produced in what was formerly East Germany. There also is a guided tour along the traces of the former border, either on foot or by bike. The package is priced at about $335 for a single room or $385 for a double room. To make reservations, call 800-241-3333, e-mail berlin.reservation@ritzcarlton.com or visit www.ritzcarlton.com.

Big changes seems to be afoot for the wine industry in France. A suggested amendment to the public health bill 'article 24' would outlaw all 'free alcoholic drinks with the intention of promotion.' This would put an end to free wine tastings in France, the famous en primeur barrel tastings in Bordeaux and the internationally-attended Vinexpo wine exhibition and all other activities involving wine tasting would have to be paid for by the tasters. Article 24, if approved, could be set in place by January 2009. There is also currently a ban on wine advertising on the internet in France and proposed tax increases on wine (wine ads are banned on television and print ads cannot show people drinking wine, beer or liquor).

As you might imagine, the wine industry is up in arms over this. Demonstrators recently took to the streets of the wine producing areas such as Bordeaux, Sancerre, and Cognac in protest. The largest demonstration took place in Bordeaux where the signs listing the names of the wine growing appellations were covered with the word "censure."

Anti-alcoholism groups and the French Health Ministry are concerned about the rise of binge drinking among French teenagers and the government has proposed raising the legal age for buying alcohol to 18 from 16. It may seem startling to some in the U.S. but in Europe, children often learn about wine at the family dinner table. The wine industry though feels that wine is not the problem and that curtailing the industry strikes at the very core of French tradition and industry. It bears noting that France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is a known teetotaler.

The Danube Express (above), billed as the "first five-star hotel on wheels to be launched in central Europe for almost 30 years," just completed its maiden voyage from Budapest to Berlin. The Express' classic train cars were retrofitted with hand-built wood-paneled sleeping compartments with en suite baths at a cost of $200,000 apiece, the London Times reports. There's also a VIP compartment with velvet and copper accents that was formerly the private quarters of Hungary's last Communist president, which costs $5,000 for the journey. Other destinations including Prague, Vienna and Istanbul will be added soon.

Damien Hirst is now the world's most expensive living artist, which is quite a title considering the price many pieces are going for at auction these days. America's Jasper Johns held the honor previously, on and off since the 1980s, along with Willem de Kooning from 1989-1997. Damien Hirst officially took the title when his Lullaby Spring pill cabinet sold for $19.1 million at Sotheby's, but he didn't take it directly from Jasper Johns. Just 24 hours earlier artist Lucian Frued had the title (yep, for just one day) after his "Bruce Bernard" portrait sold for $16.5 million in London.

Now here's a concept that takes the idea of "a unique dining experience" to a whole new level, literally. Created from an idea by Belgian chef Quentin Jadoul, Dinner in the Sky is one of those things that is exactly what it sounds like: it's a large dining table that seats about 20 people and gets hoisted high up into the sky on a crane -- there's even room in the middle for the waiters to come along! And surprisingly, even though it's based in Belgium the table is mobile and travels around Europe for different events and occasions, and the menu can be adjusted to accommodate tastes for pretty much anything.

For somewhere around $20,000 you can have your own "Dinner in the Sky" party, just pray for good weather and hold onto your napkin!


Via Wine Spectator

The Turin, Italy based company Red Travel is offering a unique service that may intrigue those of you a bit more independently-inclined than the traditional Europe-in-luxury goers: you can rent a Ferrari for one to eight days and scoot your way around the rolling hills, through the countryside, parallel to the ocean, or you know, whatever suits your fancy, from one end of Italy to the other. Some packages include stops at high-end hotels and spas in traditional cities, whilst others cater to a more rural-minded crowd with stops for dinner at a former convent and a farmhouse. Oh, and don't worry about trying to fit your bags in the little red hotrods; a tour manager follows you via GPS and can even arrive at your destination ahead of you if you wish. The four day trip from Rome to Siena and back will run you and your shotgun buddy €4,300 each (about $5,700), but the deposit on the car will set you back €15,000 (or about $19,800) until you bring her back unscathed.

Ski condos aren't just for Aspen or Telluride, international property developers are creating new developments for those who want a place of their own on the slopes. Le Cochet is a development in the French Alps which is set to release phase two of their 40 million euro chalet development. The chalet-style apartments are located near Meribel and Courchevel and offer easy access to the slopes. The first phase of the development, 20 properties is nearly sold out. The second phase will be 40 chalets, half ready by Christmas 2007, the second half by Christmas 2008. The apartments range in price from 500,000 – 1.25 million Euros and have bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms with Jacuzzi baths, terraces and balconies with panoramic views and underground car parking.

Private, pre-planned European expeditions have been rather popular amongst American upper-crustians for some time, but we're now starting to see a new breed of these trips offered that allow for somewhat larger groups, in some cases up to 20 people, and head off the beaten London – Paris – Madrid path a bit.

This particular one, "Private Epicurean Journeys," focuses on you foodies out there and hits some crowd-pleasing favorites in Paris and Brussels, but also hits some hidden gems like the northwest village of Bruges which is, in my opinion, one of Belgium's best kept secrets. Rates for this one range from about $14k-$22k/person, depending on accommodations and group size.

So this spring break instead of the same old beach trip, grab your honey and 18 of your closest friends and go soak in some of that good old world charm in style!

Mango just opened its first store (MNG by Mango) in the US in California, with eight more stores on the way. They have also just launched a website to sell their products in the US. Mango is a popular Spanish clothing chain that markets fashionable clothes to women at surprisingly reasonable prices. The stores are great places for fashionistas on a budget to get fantastic, seasonal pieces. Up until this point, Americans have been known to go crazy in the European stores, stocking up on goods that were unavailable here. They offer casual, evening, business and "sport" looks in their collections, all of which will be available online as well as in-store.

MNG by Mango
South Coast Plaza Shopping Center
3333, Bristol Street
CA, COSTA MESA 92626
www.mngshop.com