Latest news with #Kitt
Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
What I learnt attempting to do luxury Lake Como for less
I've always lived beyond my means, enjoying luxuries I can't afford. This has led to two things: first, marrying someone with even more expensive tastes than mine, whose moisturiser bill alone could feed a family for a week. Second, it's the reason I identify with one of my favourite songs: Eartha Kitt's Champagne Taste. For those unfamiliar, it's a story about a poorer man trying to court the singer by fulfilling her expensive tastes on a budget she describes as 'beer-bottle pockets'. The most scathing lines are: 'Do you wanna take me cruising on an ocean liner, to places I long to see?/Well, with my champagne taste and your beer-bottle pockets/ Don't forget to write me when you get there in your row boat/ When you've paddled across the sea without me.' My identification with Kitt's pain couldn't have been more evident than when I chose to surprise my partner for his 40th birthday with a trip to one of the world's most glamorous and expensive destinations, Lake Como — somewhere we'd always longed to go. Recent holidays had included a beachfront suite at a five-star resort in Goa and a staffed private villa with friends in Morocco. But now with eye-watering mortgage payments to make and a resolution to be less extravagant to cover them, I resigned myself to having to stick to a three-star budget. That would mean none of the trimmings: no luxurious lake-view hotel with terrace, premium rental car or fine dining. When we boarded our easyJet flight to Milan and were faced with a sea of orange, I longed for the calming blue of British Airways, but the price we paid was £480 rather than BA's £700, including the more expensive easyJet seats (ie the front row). As I sipped my bloody mary in a brand new Airbus, I realised what a no-brainer it was to go budget. The staff were lovely and the flight departed and arrived on time. What more do you need? It wasn't long until my blissful budget breeziness turned into a no-frills nightmare. To save money I'd booked a rental car via a comparison website, getting a deal on a Fiat 500. I'd worried about fitting my overweight frame and luggage into such a small car, but ultimately the price of £42 for five days — and the Italian heritage — convinced me that there was no better vehicle for our Italian adventure. • Lake Como v Lake Garda: which one should you visit? Unfortunately I'd used American Express to pay on a comparison site, but Goldcar doesn't accept Amex for the in-person deposit. After a couple of hours of negotiating we were in danger of missing our birthday dinner reservation, so were forced to accept that sometimes cheaper isn't better and that we'd have to take the train to Como, digging deep into our new budget-friendly selves. I loathe trains in the UK, and certainly didn't want to take one on holiday. What a fool I was. Although the plastic seating was decidedly less glamorous than the interior of the pearly white Fiat 500 I'd envisaged, it was absolutely fine as a means to get us to our destination — on time too. After a quick change at Saronno, we were in Como within 90 minutes, for £20 between us. • 10 of the best hotels in Lake Como for 2025 Pulling our luggage along in the intense heat, I did miss the air-con of a car, and having sweat rolling down my face wasn't quite the entrance I'd planned. Then we walked past the stunning five-star Albergo Terminus hotel, and I pondered whether my next budget-based decision would be a hideous mistake. During peak season the sort of room we dreamt of would cost £500 a night, so I'd opted for another first — a one-bedroom self-catering apartment. I'd never understood the appeal before. For us, holidays mean a lovely hotel, breakfast, and linen changed daily. So as we unlocked the door to our lakefront pad on Viale Geno, I was relieved to see my partner's face light up. It was beautiful, with a wooden kitchen, Fifties-ish decor and a private balcony looking directly on to the lake. Our joy made me wonder if I'd been wasting thousands on hotels over the years. For an equivalent suite with a balcony we'd have spent £3,000 for four nights. This apartment was £900. What fools we'd have been to spend more. Alas, the rental car problem and walk to the apartment meant we didn't make it in time for our pre-booked birthday meal. It was now after 10pm on my partner's 40th, during peak season in a busy town where reservations were essential. There was nothing for it but to take a chance. We strolled into Como centre and broke the number one rule of any savvy traveller by walking into the first restaurant we saw, near the station, in the most touristy part of town. We sat lakeside in Ristorante Cervo and ordered in dread, watching tourists file along the busy thoroughfare, expecting a cold culinary atrocity. But to our delight, out came a piping hot pizza, worthy of the finest Italian trattorias in the world. The pepperoni was perfect, the tomato tantalising, the mozzarella mouthwatering, the base brilliantly crispy. They even brought us a birthday cake ( It was an unexpectedly wonderful end to a day fraught with foreboding. • 11 of the best villas in Lake Como I was starting to question every piece of travel advice I'd ever given myself. Budget airlines are OK? Rental cars aren't needed? Hotels aren't necessary? Eartha Kitt is wrong? But could we sustain this low-cost loveliness for the rest of our trip? I was determined to know, so the next day I decided to push myself into an even more extreme discomfort zone: a picnic. I loathe picnics. I don't like sitting on the floor, drinking warm wine with congealed dips and stale bread, nor the grass stains on your bottom. I prefer a proper smart restaurant with upright seating. There were plenty around, but they were expensive. So off we trotted, full of hope, to what reviews say is Como's best sandwich shop: Passion. We took our prosciutto, cheese and salad sandwiches, plus beers, to a shaded area of the lake to rest, relax, and fully participate in the picnic lifestyle. Was it the most fabulous lunch I've had? No. But it came with a priceless view that stopped us looking at our phones; we just talked and took it in. (I did get a grass stain on my cream chino-ed backside, but you can't have it all.) What you can have, with a budget mindset, is a trip that makes you more creative and adventurous. With no car in which to go off exploring, we rode the town funicular instead, (£3 one-way; ascending 700 metres to the pretty village of Brunate. By driving, we wouldn't have been able to experience so many Italians elbowing everyone out the way to get to the seat with the best view of the mountains. Nor could we have admired the village's Bellavista hotel with its ornate ceilings. Had we been staying in a luxury hotel, would we have even gone out? We might well have stayed put to get our money's worth. Luxury rarely inspires bravery. And bravery was what we needed on our final day, when we decided to head over by ferry to Bellagio. After going out for a check on the usually chaotic ferry queue, we discovered many departures weren't happening that day (as is often the case), so we decided to take the hour-long bus journey instead. No money in the world would have made me miss seeing my partner turning green as we hung on for dear life while the driver went Formula 1 along narrow lakeside roads, flinging passengers around with every hairpin bend. Some were whooping with fear; I was doing so with delight. Not only was it cheap, but the entertainment was thrown in. I'm not sure many would describe this bus-shaped rollercoaster, with the constant fear of a watery death, as 'entertaining', but I certainly found it so. We spent the afternoon browsing Bellagio's amazing shops, including Quelli della Pelle, where we bought a set of garlic-shaped, hand-painted salt and pepper shakers,and enjoying our customary afternoon beer with a view, this time at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni. Then we took the slow ferry back to Como — a nearly two-hour cruise passing the attractive villages of Tremezzo, Lenno and Cernobbio. At about £18 it is quite possibly the cheapest and best Como sightseeing trip you could want. Passing gorgeous villas and hotels with the sun on our faces and the breeze through our hair, we were blown away by the lakefront art nouveau architecture. It was a low-cost experience we simply wouldn't have had by road. As our trip ended, we didn't even consider taking a taxi to the airport, instead opting for the train again. We'd been truly bargain-basement brainwashed. Eartha Kitt may have been fabulous in so many ways. But will she ever truly know what her champagne tastes made her miss out on? Cristo Foufas travelled independently. Four nights at the Lake Front View on Viale Geno is from £875 ( Fly to Milan
Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
How I did luxury Lake Como for less … and what I learnt
I've always lived beyond my means, enjoying luxuries I can't afford. This has led to two things: first, marrying someone with even more expensive tastes than mine, whose moisturiser bill alone could feed a family for a week. Second, it's the reason I identify with one of my favourite songs: Eartha Kitt's Champagne Taste. For those unfamiliar, it's a story about a poorer man trying to court the singer by fulfilling her expensive tastes on a budget she describes as 'beer-bottle pockets'. The most scathing lines are: 'Do you wanna take me cruising on an ocean liner, to places I long to see?/Well, with my champagne taste and your beer-bottle pockets/ Don't forget to write me when you get there in your row boat/ When you've paddled across the sea without me.' My identification with Kitt's pain couldn't have been more evident than when I chose to surprise my partner for his 40th birthday with a trip to one of the world's most glamorous and expensive destinations, Lake Como — somewhere we'd always longed to go. Recent holidays had included a beachfront suite at a five-star resort in Goa and a staffed private villa with friends in Morocco. But now with eye-watering mortgage payments to make and a resolution to be less extravagant to cover them, I resigned myself to having to stick to a three-star budget. That would mean none of the trimmings: no luxurious lake-view hotel with terrace, premium rental car or fine dining. When we boarded our easyJet flight to Milan and were faced with a sea of orange, I longed for the calming blue of British Airways, but the price we paid was £480 rather than BA's £700, including the more expensive easyJet seats (ie the front row). As I sipped my bloody mary in a brand new Airbus, I realised what a no-brainer it was to go budget. The staff were lovely and the flight departed and arrived on time. What more do you need? It wasn't long until my blissful budget breeziness turned into a no-frills nightmare. To save money I'd booked a rental car via a comparison website, getting a deal on a Fiat 500. I'd worried about fitting my overweight frame and luggage into such a small car, but ultimately the price of £42 for five days — and the Italian heritage — convinced me that there was no better vehicle for our Italian adventure. • Lake Como v Lake Garda: which one should you visit? Unfortunately I'd used American Express to pay on a comparison site, but Goldcar doesn't accept Amex for the in-person deposit. After a couple of hours of negotiating we were in danger of missing our birthday dinner reservation, so were forced to accept that sometimes cheaper isn't better and that we'd have to take the train to Como, digging deep into our new budget-friendly selves. I loathe trains in the UK, and certainly didn't want to take one on holiday. What a fool I was. Although the plastic seating was decidedly less glamorous than the interior of the pearly white Fiat 500 I'd envisaged, it was absolutely fine as a means to get us to our destination — on time too. After a quick change at Saronno, we were in Como within 90 minutes, for £20 between us. • 10 of the best hotels in Lake Como for 2025 Pulling our luggage along in the intense heat, I did miss the air-con of a car, and having sweat rolling down my face wasn't quite the entrance I'd planned. Then we walked past the stunning five-star Albergo Terminus hotel, and I pondered whether my next budget-based decision would be a hideous mistake. During peak season the sort of room we dreamt of would cost £500 a night, so I'd opted for another first — a one-bedroom self-catering apartment. I'd never understood the appeal before. For us, holidays mean a lovely hotel, breakfast, and linen changed daily. So as we unlocked the door to our lakefront pad on Viale Geno, I was relieved to see my partner's face light up. It was beautiful, with a wooden kitchen, Fifties-ish decor and a private balcony looking directly on to the lake. Our joy made me wonder if I'd been wasting thousands on hotels over the years. For an equivalent suite with a balcony we'd have spent £3,000 for four nights. This apartment was £900. What fools we'd have been to spend more. Alas, the rental car problem and walk to the apartment meant we didn't make it in time for our pre-booked birthday meal. It was now after 10pm on my partner's 40th, during peak season in a busy town where reservations were essential. • 11 of the best affordable hotels in Milan under £150 There was nothing for it but to take a chance. We strolled into Como centre and broke the number one rule of any savvy traveller by walking into the first restaurant we saw, near the station, in the most touristy part of town. We sat lakeside in Ristorante Cervo and ordered in dread, watching tourists file along the busy thoroughfare, expecting a cold culinary atrocity. But to our delight, out came a pair of piping hot pizzas, worthy of the finest Italian trattorias in the world. The pepperoni was perfect, the tomato tantalising, the mozzarella mouthwatering, the base brilliantly crispy. They even brought us a birthday cake ( It was an unexpectedly wonderful end to a day fraught with foreboding. • 11 of the best villas in Lake Como I was starting to question every piece of travel advice I'd ever given myself. Budget airlines are OK? Rental cars aren't needed? Hotels aren't necessary? Eartha Kitt is wrong? But could we sustain this low-cost loveliness for the rest of our trip? I was determined to know, so the next day I decided to push myself into an even more extreme discomfort zone: a picnic. I loathe picnics. I don't like sitting on the floor, drinking warm wine with congealed dips and stale bread, nor the grass stains on your bottom. I prefer a proper smart restaurant with upright seating. There were plenty around, but they were expensive. So off we trotted, full of hope, to what reviews say is Como's best sandwich shop: Passion. We took our prosciutto, cheese and salad sandwiches, plus beers, to a shaded area of the lake to rest, relax, and fully participate in the picnic lifestyle. Was it the most fabulous lunch I've had? No. But it came with a priceless view that stopped us looking at our phones; we just talked and took it in. (I did get a grass stain on my cream chino-ed backside, but you can't have it all.) What you can have, with a budget mindset, is a trip that makes you more creative and adventurous. With no car in which to go off exploring, we rode the town funicular instead, ascending 700 metres to the pretty village of Brunate. By driving, we wouldn't have been able to experience so many Italians elbowing everyone out the way to get to the seat with the best view of the mountains. Nor could we have admired the village's Bellavista hotel with its ornate ceilings. Had we been staying in a luxury hotel, would we have even gone out? We might well have stayed put to get our money's worth. Luxury rarely inspires bravery. And bravery was what we needed on our final day, when we decided to head over by ferry to Bellagio. After going out for a check on the usually chaotic ferry queue, we discovered many departures weren't happening that day (as is often the case), so we decided to take the hour-long bus journey instead. No money in the world would have had me miss seeing my partner turning green as we hung on for dear life while the driver went Formula 1 along narrow lakeside roads, flinging passengers around with every hairpin bend. Some were whooping with fear; I was doing so with delight. Not only was it cheap, but the entertainment was thrown in. I'm not sure many would describe this bus-shaped rollercoaster, with the constant fear of a watery death, as 'entertaining', but I certainly found it so. We spent the afternoon browsing Bellagio's amazing shops, including Quelli della Pelle, where we bought a set of garlic-shaped, hand-painted salt and pepper shakers,and enjoying our customary afternoon beer with a view, this time at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni. Then we took the slow ferry back to Como — a nearly two-hour cruise passing the attractive villages of Tremezzo, Lenno and Cernobbio. At about £18 it is quite possibly the cheapest and best Como sightseeing trip you could want. Passing gorgeous villas and hotels with the sun on our faces and the breeze through our hair, we were blown away by the lakefront art nouveau architecture. It was a low-cost experience we simply wouldn't have had by road. As our trip ended, we didn't even consider taking a taxi to the airport, instead opting for the train again. We'd been truly bargain-basement brainwashed. Eartha Kitt may have been fabulous in so many ways. But will she ever truly know what her champagne tastes made her miss out on?Cristo Foufas travelled independently. Fly to Milan
The Guardian
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Mickalene Thomas and Linder review – impossibly exuberant women in a body-slam of a show
After lauded outings in LA and Philadelphia, Mickalene Thomas arrives at the Hayward Gallery with a roar. It's the roar of a wrestler's body-slam or a diva's ovation – throaty, triumphant, immoderate. Thomas's exhibition is all that, and glamorous too, opening with a room of monumental portraits of black women. All are painted on panels with rounded corners – no frame is enclosing these women. Working from staged photographs and found images, Thomas's compositions are hymns to excess. Figures emerge in fragments from layers of pattern, like the swirling kimonos that unfurl to reveal body parts in Japanese woodcuts. The bodies themselves are radically flattened, rendered in simplified graphic forms like Tom Wesselmann's Great American Nudes of the 1960s. Yet unlike those nudes, Thomas's figures have names, and eyes, and agency. Posed naked on a couch covered in florals and animal prints, the woman in A Little Taste Outside of Love (2007) is identified as the artist's ex-girlfriend Maya. In navigating the territory between joy and sorrow, Thomas has two great weapons at her disposal: rhinestones and Eartha Kitt. A liberal crusting of the former gives these flat paintings depth and movement. In Mama Bush: (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher, violet and indigo highlights sparkle from the artist's mother's rhinestone afro. Her smile radiates with such a shimmer you can barely focus. A recent painting of a medical student called Din dances before your eyes in iridescent starbursts. Thomas reflects on the way black women have been pictured – or not. Tucked in the margins of historical paintings, naked and available as 'exotic' objects of desire, occupying their accepted roles as performers. Rhinestones were created to dazzle under electric light and create spectacle on stage. They dress bodies that move for pleasure and entertainment. In applying them to a fixed surface, Thomas makes the viewer do the work. The women in her paintings are going nowhere. We have to move to make them sparkle. Two devastating works are soundtracked by Eartha Kitt. In Me as Muse (2016), a bank of TV screens flickers between patterns and body parts, slowly revealing the reclining nude form of Thomas herself. The audio is a BBC interview in which Kitt describes being cast out of her family, her early years of service and abuse, and the love that evaded her: 'There were plenty of men who wanted to lay me down, but none who wanted to raise me up.' In an adjacent gallery, four screens show Kitt singing Angelitos Negros alongside Thomas and two other women, styled and filmed as though all were performing in the 1960s. Their voices implore an artist to paint black angels into a church interior and break the customary depiction of heaven as a literal zone of white supremacy. Kitt weeps as she sings. Thomas, the painter, accepts her challenge, filling the gallery with exalted figures. This exhibition borrows its title from American scholar bell hooks' all about love (1999), which argues for the importance of love, whether sacred, familial, social or romantic. Taking over the Hayward with domestic furnishings, disco music, shrines filled with favourite books and even shag carpeting, Thomas makes space for intimacy of all kinds. For hooks, the invitation to cherish love had a political imperative: 'I feel our nation's turning away from love as intensely as I felt love's abandonment in my girlhood.' It's a sentiment that has become more poignant 25 years after it was written. Danger Came Smiling, an exhibition by Linder, the scalpel-wielding post-punk queen of photocollage, runs concurrently. The juxtaposition is superficially odd: Thomas is glitzy exuberance; Linder, surgical cool. Thomas is monumental. Linder is often confined to the dimensions of the magazine from which she slices imagery. Yet the pairing proves surprisingly canny. Both artists are involved in dissecting the feminine image. Both work with soft-porn and fashion photographs. Both use their own body – Linder flexes her back muscles and dons a boxer's breastplate; Thomas appears in a tiger-print leotard performing wrestling manoeuvres. Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion Like Thomas, Linder's work is often collaborative, and the importance of friendships and familial connections is evident, whether she is designing album covers for pals or photographing them backstage. A suite of works in which ballet positions are disrupted by strange undersea creatures was made, Linder notes, while she was caring for her elderly parents. Self-portraits in which she appears covered in coloured goo relate not only to a fetish known as 'sploshing' but also to the soft foods with which elderly people can be spoon-fed. The best works here are a deceptively simple marriage of two impeccably matched elements. A woman leaning to embrace a man instead jams a fork into her eye. A 'perfect' Aryan athlete transforms into a piece of industrial furniture. Nudes airbrushed to marmoreal smoothness sprout crystal protuberances. This is work of tremendous restraint. The results are frequently brutal. Mickalene Thomas: All About Love and Linder: Danger Came Smiling are at the Hayward Gallery, London until 5 May
