b'Opposite: crowds gather to watch the Palio di Siena on Piazza del Campo, Italy F rom an early age, travel has always intrigued me. It started with my fathers Sunday afternoon mystery tours: the journey, the excitement of visiting somewhere new, and then exploring and learning.When I was 11, I used to travel from Muswell Hill in north London into central London on my own and explore the city. I doubt that would be allowed in todays world, but those were different times, and the knowledge I gleaned then would serve me well in future years. In my early teens I started a club at school, which I aptly called The Round and About Club. For a small fee, fellow pupils could become members and I would suggest places round and about that they could visit. They got T H I R S Tfree maps and other incentives.Since coming to Skibo, I had dreamed of creating some (considerably more sophisticated) Round and About visits for our members. Eventually, in 2012, I took a small party of early enthusiaststhe Skibo Travel Pioneersto stay at La Foresteria, on the Planeta Estate on the south west coast of Sicily.Although billed as a wine trip, it also included a visit to the ruined Greek city of Selinunte, local cookery classes F O Rand, strangely, a visit to an olive-canning factory. How or why I got talked into that I have no idea, but everyone was very sleepy after a great lunch at one of the Planeta vineyards and dozed off while travelling from there to the olive grove, until we came to a rough track that led to the plant. We all got shaken about and arrived rather like olives in a can, I would imagine. Sicily was a huge success and gave us confidence to offer more trips that were focussed on particular A D V E N T U R E passions, be they wine, opera, or unique events such as Italys Palio in Siena in 2016, which was extremely popular, and we will attend again in July 2019.The Palio is one of the oldest horse races in the world, and staying at the fabulous Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco was a perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of this charming medieval city. The race itself is just a few minutes long, but the atmosphere stays with you forever.'