Travel

From the moment I first read Jules Verne’s, ‘Around The World in 80 Days’, my mind awoke to an Imaginarium of possibilities. I became intoxicated with the idea of adventure and exploration. I wanted to travel to the ends of the earth, drink it all in and become drunk on its endless possibilities.

Aside from the essential morning espressos, rustic colourful balconies on which the elderly tend to plants, the buzz of an intrigued centre square, beautiful churches to dip in and out of, twenty-four-hour linen wardrobes, and immaculate meat and seafood served with cocktails that taste ‘just nicer for some reason’, what is there to love about the slow, European life? Well, maybe that’s it, but why does it appeal so much?

Images on magnetic tape flicker in succession as a spinning mirror-drum, and revolving disc project (and resurrect) a way of life lost to the ages. In this film we see painted hot air balloons adorning the bulkhead of a 1958 Pan-Am Boeing 707. Six passengers laugh and mingle, seated in the round upon a cushioned booth as flight stewardesses deliver complimentary meals and beverages on trays of sterling silver. A centerpiece of potted flowers adorns the table.

I have briskly strode the streets of Old San Juan on many occasions, I have sauntered through them but once. This 500-year-old city can be just as easy to hate as it is to love. If you only look at the surface, the city’s whimsy runs no deeper than the pastel paint adorning its Spanish colonial buildings. To truly love La Ciudad Amurallada, one must first scale its stone walls and look beyond its many blemishes; and, frankly, this is impossible to achieve without first surrendering to “island time.”

I love looking forward to something, and I feel very lucky to be able to (almost) have something to be anticipated; be it a meal with friends on the weekend, that bottle of wine I have in the cellar, or that big trip we are planning next year.

Boats have always been part of human history. Sumerian people, Greeks, and even Vikings found part of their culture in navigation, and their sailing techniques improved every time. A common factor that drives modern gentlemen to fall in love with the nautical world is exploration.

Staying at the Four Seasons anywhere is (for all but the wealthiest) a privileged treat and while the brand is consistent across the world, certain properties – whether due to architecture, management, or the local neighborhood – are better than others. And it’s hard to imagine many surpassing the elegance and beauty of the Four Seasons St. Petersburg where a stay harkens the great Amor Towel’s novel A Gentleman in Moscow in which a life of “house arrest” actually seems enviable within a glamourous and opulent hotel.

This story originally appeared on the Gents Cafe Newsletter. You can subscribe here. I don’t know about you,…