With the weather outside turning cold again in Italy, I wanted to take you, and myself on a trip to warmer shores. 

On today’s clip we’re going to the Gulf, and in particular Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and Dubai. With a hint of Turkey on the way home. 

On Netflix you can access Mahmoud Sabbagh’s ‘Barakah Meets Barakah’ a romantic comedy set in a country where dating is frowned upon. It’s brilliant, groundbreaking and utterly entertaining. It takes place in stunning, historical Jeddah, on the Red Sea, where a new film festival was meant to take place this past month, headed by Sabbagh himself. Inshallah, we’ll soon see it on the events’ calendar as modern Arab cinema is truly a delight. 

For cool t-shirts similar to my “One Love” one you should check out Jobedu’s website. Their logos and designs are tongue in cheek and I loved the color choice of the one I picked out, like the war flag of a hated jihadist group yet featuring words of love and a heart. 

Sauce Loves is the perfect place to find clothing and accessories from the Arabian peninsula. My earrings were $25 and I’ve used them for red carpet occasions as well as evenings out — for at least the past three years. Check out their Insta for more info. 

O’ de Rose is a design shop based in the Emirates but they have a rocking website so do check it out. It’s my go-to place for gifts and they have some cool stuff at all price points.

And finally, for the Turkish coffee. My personal recipe is very simple. In a small pot, like the one I use in the video, add water to fill, sugar to taste (I used one sugar packet) five squashed cardamom pods and one teaspoon of ground espresso coffee. Boil it until it almost spills over, take it off the fire and repeat — around four times. Then let stand for a minute and pour into an espresso cup. Grounds are OK, pick out the cardamom pods though. And once you’re done drinking it you can even read the coffee grounds. Turn cup upside down into saucer and then look into the cup to see what lies ahead for you.

Today in mine I saw mountains. I just hope they’re magic mountains…