Celeb Travel Diary

Your guide to the best holiday destinations, as told to us by your favourite stars

We look to them for style guidance all the time; so why not travel in their footsteps too? Instep brings you the vacation hot spots that some of our favorite celebrities are flocking to this summer.

This week designers Huma and Amir Adnan share their Florence travel diary.

Why Florence?

Adnan: This was my third time in Florence and I had primarily gone to visit PittiUomo, the largest menswear fashion trade fair in the world. It was invigorating to get to see forthcoming trends for men’s fashion and witness how designers from around the world were putting together looks. What surprised me was the fact that a lot of people knew about us [Pakistanis and our country]. I met a Turkish businessman who is interested in opening a retail chain across Pakistan and an Italian lady who had lived in Karachi.

City Guide:

Adnan: Florence is one of the most culturally and artistically rich cities in the world so we tried to get in as much sightseeing as we could after spending the mornings at the fair. We saw the iconic Statue of David, the spectacular River Arno, the Duomo and the various charming and vintage flea markets that dot the city.

Huma: Florence is tiny, so we walked our way around the entire city. We would come back from the fair, change into our ‘tourist’ mode (because one had to really dress up for the Pitti Fair; it’s an extremely stylish event!), grab a map and just head out. It was fabulous, like walking around a big open-air museum. The cobbled streets of Florence haven’t changed for thousands of years.

Nearby Attractions:

Huma: We took a train to Pisa for a day trip and managed to do the ultimate tourist-y thing – take a selfie in front of the Leaning Tower!

Adnan: It was a great feeling to see one of the wonders of the world. We climbed the 294 steps to the top and I was surprised to learn that the tower is completely hollow from inside.

Retail Therapy:

Adnan: Shopping anywhere in Italy is a notch above any other city in the world. The Italians really show you how easy it is to become stylish; every person on the streets – young, old, homeless – has an innate sense of style. The shopping too, reflects this fashion-forwardness. The clothes I bought fit so well and are so much smarter than anything I own; they make me feel twenty years younger when I wear them!

Huma: Italians make the best shoes and I picked up some. It was summer so the fashion was very vintage and countryside – you would see girls in pretty floral headwear and flowy tiered dresses, very similar to my line of chikan dresses actually! I also picked up local souvenirs to bring back home for family and friends.

Food:

Adnan: Huma and I usually avoid meat when we travel so we had a lot of seafood and vegetarian dishes. Italians have some delicious aubergine and potato based dishes. The pizzas are good but there are other things, such as the ravioli, which are even better.

The Hotel:

Huma: We wanted to be near the Pitti Palace, a gorgeous Renaissance period palace and the site of the trade fair, so we chose a small family-run hotel close by called Hotel Andrea. It was a charmingly little place – the family would cook breakfast for the guests and one could have it overlooking the city of Florence. To be honest, we prefer to stay at small boutique hotels rather than the big chains when travelling –  it allows you to get a true local flavor.

Travel Tip:

Adnan: Do not take public transport when in Florence. Just grab a map and keep walking. You are supposed to get lost at least once.

Huma: Take a selfie stick! There are so many gorgeous photo ops that you don’t want to miss a single one.

Travel Essentials:

Huma: A pair of comfortable jeans and a good pair of walking shoes for both us; for me, my nail art must also travel with me because I can’t live with unkempt nails.

Airline Experience:

Adnan: We went to Florence from London hence flew Lufthansa but the return trip was by PIA and I have to say it was a good experience. The staff was courteous, the food was decent and it felt good to be amongst our own people.

Celeb Travel Diary

Longview's Fireworks and Freedom brings the city together

LONGVIEW (KYTX) – The Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center held its third annual Festival and Fireworks Celebration Saturday night.

There were many different type of attractions, such as carnival rides, food trucks, roller derby, slides and fireworks at 9:30 p.m.

This is the first year the car competition was expanded to all cars. Public Information Officer Shawn Hara said this has been a favorite part of the celbration for many people.

“We’ve done a mustang car show,” Hara said. “We’ve done a corvette car show. This year, they said let’s just make it open doors to everybody, All-American car show and truck show too.”

Fifteen-year-old Tyler Wilder said he loves looking at all the different cars.

“The 66 Mustang for sure,” Tyler said. “The GTs. I just enjoy having fun out here. I’m thankful that we get to celebrate out here and be proud of our country.”

Another new part of this year’s celebration was the Xcelerator, which is an 86-foot-long, 46-foot-high water slide. Kids of all ages were riding the slide multiple times. Mayor Andy Mack may not be a kid anymore, but he said he is all about the water slides.

“When I was a kid and lived downtown off of 80, we used to have a slide just like that,” Mack said. “Every day, we’d go and do that slide. Super slides are my thing, I love them. I just want to end up in a pile of water.

This is Mack’s first festival as mayor and he said he appreciates what this day represents for Longview.

“It’s a great event for our community, for the citizens to come out and enjoy the activities,” Mack said. “We all can see the fireworks. We’re trying to do things that make the community better and gives the citizens more to do.”

Longview"s Fireworks and Freedom brings the city together

Men more likely to get skin cancer urged to use suncreen

Discussions about sun damage and skin cancer often draw up images of young women and tanning beds, but it turns out men are actually more likely to get skin cancer, and less likely to slap on the sunscreen.

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 1 in 57 Canadian men is expected to develop melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In comparison, it says 1 in 74 women is expected to develop the disease.

According to Toronto dermatologist Dr. Sam Hanna, men put on sunscreen half as often as women. Their excuses vary, he said.

“The things I hear from my male patients are they don’t like to put it on, it’s inconvenient, it’s messy,” Hanna told Daybreak Kamloops.

“They may do other things in terms of sun avoidance or sun protection, like wearing long sleeves or hats, which certainly are part of it. But unfortunately, sunscreen is still something we need to figure out how to get men to use because we’re not doing very well in terms of skin cancer rates, and deaths from skin cancer rates specifically.”

Hanna says roughly two-thirds of deaths from melanoma are men. To get men to put on sunscreen, here are some of Hanna’s tricks.

Take baby steps

“I don’t expect somebody who’s not used sunscreen for 65 years to suddenly get up every morning and start putting it on,” Hanna said.

“I’d love that, but I’ll tell them, ‘Fine. Let’s take the next time you go golfing, or the next time you go to the beach.’ Let’s use something like that and just make sure you’re applying appropriately and we can build from there.”

The health argument

“[I tell] somebody who’s health-conscious and eats right and exercises, this is a component of health, and that sometimes has some traction,” Hanna said.

Gather allies

“I’ll often be sneaky and involve their partners in that, and get them to be my people on the inside to bug them a little bit about keeping their sunscreen on,” Hanna said.

Listen to the interview: Men urged to use sunscreen

Men more likely to get skin cancer urged to use suncreen