By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
January 19, 2010
Though Lucy Lawless is best known for playing the title character in “Xena: Warrior Princess,” she once made a living as the host of a travel show for Air New Zealand. The program was shown on the airline, as well as on television in Asia, Australia and her native New Zealand.
“I got to cover some amazing places,” says Lawless, 41. “I am so thankful I got to see New Orleans at its most wonderful. I went back the Thanksgiving after Hurricane Katrina hit and it was heartbreaking. It’s such a great city.”
Lawless can now be seen in the new Starz series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.”
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. Istanbul was really quite a place. We chartered a yacht many years ago and sailed up from the southwestern coast. That was probably my favorite holiday of all time. But I also really love going back to New Zealand. Queenstown is great. Marlborough is the gourmet breadbasket of the country, which makes it pretty appealing to me. It’s full of artisans, goldsmiths — just a really nice lifestyle in general. They have great wine there and the water is so clean. They have the most amazing wasabi there — it’s really sublime.
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. When I’m here (in the United States), I love taking trips around California. I’m about to take off and go to Palm Springs with my daughter after my family goes back to New Zealand. It’ll be nice to run away and pamper ourselves at a nice spa.
Q. What are your favorite hotels and restaurants?
A. I despise hotels where the waiting staff are affecting some cooler-than-thou persona. I feel insulted by that kind of service. I think the Bowery Hotel (www.theboweryhotel.com) in New York is really great. They did a beautiful remodel, and yet it doesn’t feel new and the people who work there are charming and not stuck up. I like the Trump Tower in New York, and enjoy going to this Amish market by there and buying a homemade apple pie. I really like looking for things that are kind of made with love. I’ve always loved the Four Seasons (www.fourseasons.com) in Chicago. It’s got such a grand scale and even the corridors are venerable. To me, a great restaurant has to have a great cocktail list. My favorite restaurant is Sydney’s Rockpool Bar & Grill (www.rockpool.com). I also like Jean Georges (www.jean-georges.com) in New York. And I had the most delicious food at Galo in Macau. Macau has some incredible restaurants.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. My guilty pleasure is true crime books. Definitely my iPod. And if I’m staying anywhere for any length of time I want my own kitchen. I can’t stand eating out all the time. I need to be able to cook my own vegetables.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. Prague, New Orleans, Queenstown, Jerusalem and Macau.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Shanghai. And it’s been a long time since I’ve been to Paris. You need to go with a lover. I’ve never done that.
Q. What is your best or worst vacation memory?
A. I had my plane delayed twice at Los Angeles and then flew into Chicago only to be stuck at O’Hare forever. It was just a mess. I just spit the dummy on that one! (NOTE: Dummy is Kiwi talk for pacifier.) But the holiday turned out to be a wonderful one. We went on to Door County, Wis., and had a great time. My in-laws are from Chicago and Michigan, so we go to the Midwest quite a bit. I actually love northern Michigan. I love any place with white sand on a lake and lighthouses. It’s so supernatural to me. It’s very much like New Zealand in a lot of ways.
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A. I’m terrible at organization so I just rock ‘n’ roll. Fortunately I have a husband who’s brilliant at planning and he has an even more brilliant assistant, so I just let them handle it. I have enough to do packing up the kids.
© 2010 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
