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TAMARA ROJODamien Finot

Alexandre Caizergues

CAR OF THE YEAR &WATCH OF THE YEAR

PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO SON TEST

For those that know what they want from lifetm

luxurious magazine®

www.luxuriousmagazine.comWINTER EDITION 2013/2014

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luxurious Magazine I Spring 2013Luxurious Magazine I Winter 2013/14

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PUBLISHER’SWELCOME

Winter 2013/14 I Luxurious Magazine

Dear Readers,

ByBy the time you read this edition, 2013 will have come and gone and what an eventful year it's been for us. During the past twelve months, the magazine has made a concerted effort to spread our news and articles via social media, specically the Google Plus platform. This has proven to be both hard work and rewarding. The end result of our efforts mean that we can proudly claim to be one of the most popular media pages in the world on that huge global platform. The rst edition of 2014 offers us an opportunity to look back at the previous year and for the rst time we have produced features for our choice of Car of the YearYear and Watch of the Year. Although the nalists were formulated via a combined discussion, I must raise my hand and admit that the nal outright winners of each was chosen by myself.

As Luxurious Magazine becomes more popular around the world, it becomes more difcult to know what areas to concentrate on. Currently I feel like the conductor of a large orchestra with all these amazingly talented people in front of me, trying to choose the right music, second-guessing what the audience wants.

Do we continue looking into creating a television show? Do we take the magazine into a full print version or do we concentrate on our rapidly growing online audience? So many choices and all are too attractive not to pursue.

Anyway, we would not have all these choices if it wasn’t for your magnicent support, and for that I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

Be assured that we will strive to produce the greatest experiences we can for you, whatever mediums we venture into.

HeHere's to an excellent 2014 to all and enjoy the magazine.

Paul Godbold MIOJFOUNDER / PUBLISHER

Paul

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Watch of the Year feature on page 35 and the Car of the Year feature on page 99.

SAN LORENZO MOUNTAIN LODGETRAVEL

Luxurious Magazine I Winter 2013/14

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Winter 2013/14 I Luxurious Magazine

SAN LORENZO MOUNTAIN LODGE

SAN LORENZOMOUNTAIN LODGERedenes Luxury TravelReena Patel visits the Italian Dolomites for an

Alpine stay like no other.

let alone the owner of the property you are about to stay at, to personally collect you from the airport.But, this is just one of many of the small, yet special touches that create a wholly unique and authentic experience when staying at San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge – a quaint, ‘gingerbread house’ cabin hideaway, prettily tucked in the serene Italian alpine forest.

e think we’ve discovered one of Italy’s best kept secrets. First off, it’s not often that you get the former CEO of a luxury fashion label,

So, there he was, Mr Stefano Barbini, welcoming us with a warm and friendly smile that eagerly wished to whisk us away from Verona, out to the region of South Tyrol in his luxury carrier. It didn’t take very long for us to understand how incredible San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge would be before we had even caught a glimpse of it. By simply listeninglistening to Stefano’s colourful career past with Escada, the total lifestyle change, his family, combined with all he had in store for us at the chalet and the region, we were opened up to his world and were already truly mesmerised.

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Luxurious Magazine I Winter 2013/14

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Stefano Barini with daughter Giulia

An extremely affable, sincere, highly unassuming and charm-ing character, we could not help but instantly warm to Stefano and his creative yet wise vision to try and redene what luxury travel really means.

Initially intended to be a home for the Barbinis, the cosy old hunting lodge (originally built in the sixteenth century) has been beautifully restored with natural wood panels, vaulted ceilings, quartzite surface tops and softly dressed with sumptuous and naturally, stylish Italian furnishings. They have since opened the lodge up to guests and now Stefano and his equally warm and generous wife, Giorgia and their ththree children live in a newly-built property just opposite.

There’s an effortless, non-contrived ‘laid back luxury’ level of attention to detail bestowed by the Barbini couple – from wool slippers to wear when you arrive inside, to touch-point bedside lamps and the best bit; delicious home-cooked gourmet food specially and freshly prepared by Giorgia her-self every single day and purely because she enjoys it.

The traditional Tyrolean-style Stube parlour with its antique stove makes for the ideal room to enjoy Giorgia’s meals. A good breakfast spread includes yogurt, cheese, sliced meats and eggs served whichever way you like them, all from the neighbouring and local farmhouses, as well as cere-als produced by nearby mills. Mouth-watering afternoon tea treats are displayed in tempting clear glass stands, with a ffresh fruit bowl in the hallway, so you can tuck into snacks whenever you are feeling slightly peckish.

Winter 2013/14 I Luxurious Magazine

SAN LORENZO MOUNTAIN LODGE TRAVEL

Giorgia Bar

bini with so

ns Pietro an

d Francesco

For dinner one evening, Giorgia presented us with a culinary feast of mezze lune – spinach and ricotta lled pasta parcels made from scratch and topped with thyme, drizzled olive oil, chopped chives and grated parmesan, followed by goats’ cheese crostini with cherry tomato and rocket, complemented by a main of llet of beef with a roast almond and artichoke crust with roasted radicchio.

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Luxurious Magazine I Winter 2013/14

For dessert, we tried apple strudel with a creamy vanilla custard-like sauce. The other unique offering here is that Giorgia ensures that guests never taste the same dish more than once (unless of course requested) no matter how long they plan to stay. Giorgia draws her inspiration from traditional dishes from the region and her Mediterranean air.

EachEach pre-dining experience involves a trip down to Stefano’s wine cellar, shelved with his private collection for guests to open and enjoy at the table along with Giorgia’s menu. Stefano carefully paired wines for us and recommended we try ‘Weingut Niklas’ - a pinot nero made using the kerner grape, which is commonly found in this region.

WWithin his stone-walled wine grotto (once a stable for goats), Stefano also keeps his showcase instrument, his Berkel – a speck ham slicer, which he fondly and proudly calls his ‘Ferrari’ for its sheer superiority in machinery. The deliciously avoursome and buttery meat itself is sourced from another local farmer and thinly sliced and served with shaker bread (dry crisp bread baked with fennel seeds).

ThenThen off we were to bed. With four individually designed rooms (three double en-suites and one with bunk beds) to choose from, we opted for one of the sweetest rooms in the lodge, aptly called ‘Il Nido’, or ‘The Nest’ and felt perfectly snug in there. Those who like to stay in touch with the outside world will be pleased to know there is Wi-Fi access across the main oor of the lodge and a recreational / TV room with international satellite channels.

Winter 2013/14 I Luxurious Magazine

SAN LORENZO MOUNTAIN LODGE TRAVEL

We were majorly in awe of the spa facilities. One of the main rooms upstairs has been converted into an indoor relaxation haven (although the whole lodge is very relaxed), so you don’t even need to step outside, or for that matter, venture very far to get to it. This bliss room features a Finnish sauna, Turkish bath with chromotherapy system, whirlpool bath and experienceexperience shower. What’s more, if you do go outside, there is a fresh spring water whirlpool heated to a steamy 39 degrees, with unrivalled views of the valley below. We relished in a lazy night-time dip whilst gazing up at the clear night sky.

AsideAside from the breath-taking panoramic views of the snow-capped peaks and valley below, there’s so much more to see and do in the region than perhaps rst meets the eye. A somewhat challenging 18-hole golf course surrounds the landscape and you can enjoy foraging for mushrooms or berries (season dependant). We even took a stab at wood chopping a few minutes away from the lodge and stumbled across Stefano’s very own personal gym in the midst of the towering pine tree forest in the Pusteria valley. We also tasted the volcanic-mineral-rich South Tyrolean wines at Manincor – a 400 year old wine estate and took a stroll through the enchantingenchanting winter market to sample the local treats such as gluhwein (like mulled wine) down at the local village. During the winter, the key attraction is skiing and Kronplatz, also known as Plan de Corones due to the German / Italian dual speaking language of the South Tyrol area, is one of the best equipped and largest of the Dolomiti Superski ski areas, boasting spectacular piste-top views for skiers. A sophisticated yetyet not overly built up resort, Kronplatz boasts ve black runs and plenty of reds and blues to keep all levels suitably entertained. There’s also downhill biking available on the slopes during the autumn months.

True to Stefano Barbini’s vision, we have been left with an imprinted authentic and exclusive memory that is totally priceless.

wwwww.sanlorenzomountainlodge.com www.kronplatz.com

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Luxurious Magazine I Winter 2013/14

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Winter 2013/14 I Luxurious Magazine

SAN LORENZO MOUNTAIN LODGE