europe

The Danube Express, Europe's Newest Luxury Train

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.

Tags: Berlin, Budapest, Danube Express, DanubeExpress, Europe, Hungary, Luxury travel, LuxuryTravel, Train

Damien Hirst Is Most Expensive Living Artist

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

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.

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Tags: art, artist, damien hirst, DamienHirst, europe, european, expensive, freud, hirst, jasper johns, JasperJohns, johns, lucian freud, LucianFreud, most expensive, MostExpensive, sotheby's, sothebys

Dining is an Adventure with 'Dinner In The Sky'

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

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

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Tags: belgian, belgium, chef, dining, dinner, dinner in the sky, DinnerInTheSky, europe, Jadoul, Quentin Jadoul, QuentinJadoul, restaurant

Cart Across Italy in the Ferrari of Your Choice

by Anton Friant (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Cars & Autos

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.

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Tags: europe, ferrari, italy, travel

Le Cochet, Your Home In The Alps

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels

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.

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Tags: development, europe, france, le cochet, LeCochet, real estate, ski, travel

Run Around Europe In Style

by Anton Friant (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas

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!

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Tags: dining, europe, journeys, spas

Mango Opens First US Store

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

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.