WESTERN EUROPE - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 46

059 cocktailS in FreiburG

Sex on the Beach or Sex on the Rocks? Rusty
Nail or Banana Banshee? These are among the
hundred or so different cocktails to choose from
at the Hemingway Café in Freiburg's Hotel
Victoria, just 200m from the main train station
in the heart of the city.
Of course, this being Freiburg - known for
its eco-friendly buildings and extensive public
transport system - the hotel is one of the most
progressive in Europe. It may be affiliated with
Best Western but it is independently owned and
operated - in this case by a local German couple,
Bertram and Astrid Späth, who have overseen
the hotel's green makeover.
The entire hotel is powered solely by renewable
energy: on a sunny day a 30-square-metre solar
plant heats the water; a vast woodchip boiler
powers the central heating (which the hotel
says saves it fifty thousand litres of heating
oil a year); and an innovative air-conditioning
unit sucks up cool water from the ground and
circulates it through pipes leading to each room.
Oh, and guests are given a free public transport
pass for the duration of their stay. We could go
on, but the list is almost as long as the number
of cocktails. Go try a Shirley Temple.

Seclusion among the olive
groves at the Hoopoe Yurt
Hotel

ambitious and yes, luxurious, camp that is The
Hoopoe Yurt Hotel.
There are five individually designed yurts, all
in their own splendid isolation among shady
groves of cork and olive trees. Each has a large
double bed, sheepskin rugs, velvet cushions,
wicker chairs, a power point, a compost toilet
and a private garden, as well as a bamboo
bathroom outside (including solar-powered hot
shower). There is a small private garden just
outside each yurt, but the rest of the meadow
is left untouched to encourage the growth of
wildflowers and visits from birds and butterflies.
Yoga, reiki, massages and aromatherapy are
available in the nearest village, Cortes de la
Frontera, plus you can go riding and walking in
the nearby hills or go for a refreshing dip in the
large rock pool at Cuevo del Gato near Ronda.
After a day in the Andalucian countryside,
return for a shower then dine in a lantern-lit
pergola in the warm Mediterranean evening.
There can be few yurt camps this side of the
Urals that ooze as much style and shabby-chic
sophistication.

Need to know To get a flavour of the cocktail
menu see W www.hemingway-freiburg.de. For
prices and reservations at Hotel Victoria visit
W www.hotel-victoria.de; T [phone].

060 a Slice oF monGolia in
andalucía

Need to know Take the Eurostar to Paris ( W www.
eurostar.com) and then the train from Paris to
Madrid (see p.55). Then cross the city to Madrid
Atocha and take the Algeciras train to Ronda (4hr;
W www.srenfe.es), followed by the local train to
Cortes de la Frontera (15min), from where you will
be collected, by arrangement. For prices, directions
and reservations see W www.yurthotel.com; T +34
(0) 660 668 241.

It's one thing to plonk a yurt at the bottom of
a field and call it luxury camping, but it's quite
another to buy a private meadow in Andalucía,
import yurts from Mongolia and Afghanistan,
drill a well, install an outdoor swimming pool,
and provide guests with three-course candlelit
dinners with produce from your own garden.
Then run it all off-grid. Welcome to the remote,