Today was amazing. Hundreds of thousands of Americans had spent days on buses to witness Obama O’Clock. We were on the Metro early, but every Downtown station was swamped and closed. So we shot over the frozen Potomac into Virginia, alighting at the Pentagon. There, by luck, we boarded a special shuttle bus back across the river over an empty bridge, ending up just south of the Mall. Every entry point was closed, we were being directed way out west beyond the Washington Memorial, and I for one didn’t want a big obelix blocking my view. So we headed against the flow towards the Capitol and somehow lucked our way through various security cordons and fences to a prime spot bang in the middle of America’s front yard. And what a feeling as tens of thousands of Stars and Stripes were waved and tens of thousands of Americans whooped and hollared and wept as Martin Luther King’s dream finally became reality. Still got goose bumps.

Our lovely hosts Al and Jodie Goldberg (plus baby Aden) have treated us like royalty, we’ve marvelled at DC’s grandeur and incredible museums, and shovelled down Maryland crab cakes, Ethiopian meze, Trinidadian goat curry, Mexican platters and more than one helping of chilli smokes and cheesy fries from Ben’s Famous Chili Bowl. Fingers crossed 44 can deliver our dreams…

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PS: While waiting outside Ben’s, Rachelle was interviewed on Fox News. Check it out…

Rachelle on Fox News

Despite my appalling PR efforts, the girls managed to get press in the Evening Standard, London Lite, The London Paper, Metro and The Times Magazine (Shop of the Week). Despite my appalling attempts at flyering on a freezing Brick Lane, shoppers came in their droves. Thanks to the sheer talent of Rachelle and Bettina, the event had Londoners talking from Crouch End to Croydon.

Check the snaps out here

Much nicer was our home for the next week, the gorgeous Pueblo Blanco of Vejer de la Frontera, spectacularly situated above the coast road on the wild and rugged Atlantic facing Costa del Luz. Check out this video introduction…

We kicked back and relaxed, exploring every nook and cranny of this delightful hill town, which dates back to the Moors (and whose woman wore Burka-like shawls until the Civil War). Day trips took us to Cadiz, biggest port of the Spanish Empire, and Jerez, where we explored sherry houses and appeared on Spanish TV. We also visited mountain villages, paid homage to Nelson at Trafalgar and were blown away on the windiest beach in Europe. Muy tranquil…

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The beautiful hilltop town of Verjer de la Frontera

Soaking up the last of the sun at the church

Until quite recently, village women wore a Burka like shawl

Beautiful streets, and street signs: the Battle of Trafalgar took place immediately off Vejer in 1805, there is no memorial

We braved Tarifa beach: windiest in Europe, and thus a magnet for kite surfers

All that wind = lots of wind farms

We also visited the cities of Cadiz and Jerez, and the gorgeous white mountain villages around Grazalema, pictured above. Check out all the snaps!

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Is Rioja’s Juan Alcorta the world’s most state-of-the-art winery?

Perched high on a hillside above the town of Logroeo, the centre of Spain’s Rioja wine region, the strikingly modern Juan Alcorta winery commands superb views of the Ebro River valley below. Reached by a quiet windy road and surrounded by Tempranillo vines, the winery’s modest, modern buildings are the elegant cork to a magnificent subterranean complex where Spain’s best-known wine, Campo Viejo, is produced.

“All I wanted was a kick-a-bout in the park. For you to race me home when it was nearly getting dark. How I could’ve been yours, and you be mine. It could’ve been me and you until the end of time…”

I’ve been banging on about these guys for months to anyone who’ll listen. Album of the Year. Glastonbury 2009 main stage. Off. The. Hook.

PS: have you heard how they signed up drummer Caroline McKay? [This is anecdotal] Cousins James and Rab were on a night out, saw five feet of dancing dervish. Asked her if she wanted to be in their band. She said she couldn’t play anything. They said she could play the drums. And now she’s drumming, standing up, in the best new band on the planet. Rock & Roll baby!

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Work wise, the highlight was unquestionably meeting the legend that is DJ Alfredo. Run out of his native Argentina by the Junta, the then journalist eventually wound up on Ibiza, and by a serendipitous series of circumstances (house music, Ecstacy, sunshine etc) singlehandedly kickstarted the whole Balearic scene. Gentle, wise and ever so slighty frazzled, Alfredo was an illuminating interviewee, and a thoroughly lovely gentlemen. A true honour. And the Chemical Brothers? Well the thousands packing Space’s huge Discoteca seemed to enjoy themselves. Guess they must have been on the right kind of chemicals!

Also got to Salinas on Sunday, Vadella, Benirras, sunset at Cafe del Mar, dinner at El Divino and last minute shopping at Elephante in Evissa. Chelle seemed to her love her first Balearic excursion. We’ve had a lovely weekend: having to spend Monday morning writing a feature is always a grind, but there are certainly worse places to do it than La Isla Blanca.

Photos here I Sunday Times article here

Today was the day. My strategy was to hit the Balham Carphone Warehouse (the manager assured me yesterday that they would have at least 16 handsets. I got there just before opening time (08:02 today), to find a line of, about 16 people. Soon as the store opened I busted inside to discover that they only had 6 16GB iPhones. Swung into action with Plan B and arrived at the Apple Store before 09:00. Joined their (surprisingly short queue). Was soon inside the store. Felt silently smug when the first purchaser had his phone activated at 10:15 (he’d been queuing all night). Began to wonder why no one else was walking out. Sat down to wait. And wait. And wait.

To say this launch was a shambles would be being exceedingly economical with the truth. The Apple Store’s iMacs do not run IE, so were employing some kinda emulator or Parallels software to access the 02 Gateway. Said Gateway crashed shortly after shops opened. Eventually at 19:00 I left the store with my new phone, without a connection to 02, but with a promise that they’d call me back in the next few days to get me set up. Happy? Not very. It better be worth it…

ANYWAY. It’s very beautiful. It’s just that it’s still an iBrick. And I bought an iPhone!

UPDATE: phone finally connected to 02. Shambles…

Beijing/Peking is truly Imperial. From the International Airport’s Terminal 3 (built in less than four years and five time bigger than Heathrow’s new Terminal 5), to the eight lane freeways ringing the city, to the vast and slightly menacing Tiananmen Square, to the ever more impressive temple complexes inside the Forbidden City, this is a city that screams Big Power!

We stayed at the absolutely gorgeous boutique hotel Cote Cour S.L. We ate on the streets and at the Beijing Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant. We shopped at the enormous Panjiayuan Market. We didn’t have enough time. We didn’t buy enough stuff. Can’t wait for the Olympics. China is streets ahead of us…

Check out the photos here