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Just in… Nova Scotia

16th February 202316th February 2023 funtime65

And as our focus switches to swatches and the Scary One’s mission to redesign our new-build news just in… Nova Scotia.

The power couple of Scottish interior decorating (no, not me and Mrs M, but Justin and Colin) are empire building across the water.

Just as many crofters and explorers and innovators did before in Nova Scotia (or New Scotland to the non-Latin speakers) in Canada.

Making their merk

Sir William Alexander, the 1st Earl of Stirling anybody?

Well the peer was at the forefront of the Scottish Empire (no, really) when he wrested a charter from King James to set up a Scottish colony in the lands lying between New England and Newfoundland.

And in order to draw in Scots investors they lured purchasers in with the offer to wear the arms of Nova Scotia, be addressed as Sir and buy the land for 1000 merks (or £20).

Not sure how much Colin and Justin laid out for Louisbourg Hotel in Cape Breton, which they might have considered a doer-upper and which they relaunched as the North Star.

The charming Luisa regaled us how they have made their mark on the other Scotia.

And how the first Scottish colony is replete with innovative holiday accommodations which highlight its breadth and scenery.

With domes and glamping popular and beach-side tree houses.

Celtic colours

Of course the Celtic footprint is still prominent to this day with Cape Breton Island the place to be in mid-October for the Celtic Colours International Festival.

Where, of course, there will be ceilidhs and craic enough for all.

And you know we love a Celtic bash, whether it be Caribbean or Canadian or Caledonian.

Luisa, helpfully filled in our gaps and reminded us that the first Scottish immigrants came to Pictou (the ancient Highlanders were Picts).

This year is a special one for the Scots-Canada alliance with the first Caledonians landing in Nova Scotia 244 years ago this September 15.

And the Nova Scotians have only gone and rebuilt the ship Hector which took those 200 Scots settlers.

Pictou of the bunch

Ship ahoy: Hector. http://www.saltwire.com

Of course this being a port then the town reverberates to the sounds and flow of the water.

And the Pictou Lobster Festival in the summer comes highly recommended and a ferry goes out to Prince Edward Island.

For Scots and those of Scots descent then the water of life is the uisce beatha, the water of whisky.

The Nova Scotians broadened their palates and have a Good Cheer Trail to keep you sated.

And as with the best treks there are stamps to collect along the way.

All of which appeals to this Old Scotsman which is why I understand why you might want to empire-build in New Scotland.

We’ll keep you updated, now wait a minute just in… Nova Scotia. Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan have the tartan carpet out.

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD

America, Countries, Sport

Thanksgiving in New England

24th November 202224th November 2022 funtime65

Back in 1620 there was only Thanksgiving in New England and while all America doesn’t always appreciate New England, we do.

For those who follow such ball games a meme about the New England Patriots American Football team will be familiar.

When a recalibrated map went viral of America greened up and only a sliver around NE backing the Patriots.

Which for us with an Irish heritage and Irish-American cousins would always welcome.

Only this was a darker shade of green in support of the Eagles of Philadelphia, also a great sporting region.

Whether the original Pilgrims of Plymouth and the native Americans threw an oval ball we’ll never know.

And it was more likely the natives would have taught them their game, lacrosse.

Lacrosse the Atlantic

Still popular in the best colleges, of which NE boasts more than its fair share and further afield.

For those of us from other shores but with American connections the choice of a team, or teams, can be arbitrary.

You might adopt the team of your relatives and friends or latch onto those whose colours, name or top player appeals.

Or it could be that most unappetising of motives for following a team… glory hunting.

An accusation that could be levelled at me for adopting the New England Patriots, et al when I spent a summer in Massachusetts in 1987.

And the Boston teams, the baseball Red Sox, the basketball Celtics and the ice hockey Bruins.

Only my first brush with New England sport came decades before Brady.

New England sports

Back in the 80s when the Red Sox were still blighted by the Curse of the Bambino.

Which followed the sale of George ‘Babe’ Ruth to the New York Yankees.

And heralded in a period of success for New York and an 86-year drought for the Red Sox.

Until it was lifted in 2004 and corresponded with six Super Bowls around this time.

The Celtics had been the standard-bearers until then with 17 titles, matched later by, whisper it, the LA Lakers.

But what’s all the fuss, Boston did it first.

The Bruins too add to the roll call of national titles with six Stanley Cups.

And hope springs eternal for those masses of fans who march on game days to the TD Garden, this Bruinophile among them.

Banner headline

New England’s obsession with sports is as much a feature of the region as are the pilgrims.

With an exhibit of drapes, the Celebration of Championships greeting travellers to Logan Airport Terminal C.

And that includes the successes of Boston Cannons, exponents of the ancient Native American sport.

Which we are reminded may, or may not, have been the post-turkey and maize entertainment.

At that first Thanksgiving Day in New England.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING & MEET YOU ON THE ROAD

America, Countries

Flagging up Betsy Ross and Philly

15th July 2022 funtime65

And so I put a hat on it at the US Soiree in Dublin and planned all things Philadelphia with the sponsors… and the chance to be flagging up Betsy Ross and Philly.

Because I’ve been known to drop everything to wrap myself up in the Stars and Stripes.

And even got up at the crack of dawn to take an eight-hour round trip from Washington DC to Philly to see an old bell, and a cracked one at that.

Of course, you can’t do everything in Philly in an afternoon.

Phillyphiles

With my old pal and Britain’s biggest Phillyphile Greg Evans spending a lifetime promoting the City of Brotherly Love to all us travel professionals.

And that is why the most famous Philadelphian woman of them all and her house remain on my to-do list.

No, not Adrian, Rocky’s beloved…

Ross the boss

But Betsy Ross who bequeathed to future generations the Stars and Stripes.

Betsy, as it happens, would be 270 if she were alive today.

But in fairness she looks good on it at the Betsy Ross House.

You’ll see her as small as life (women in those days were legally obliged to be tiny).

At the end of your tour of the house.

That’s fare

Betsy is the perfect host in her upholstery shop where she will lead you through her exciting life and times.

Now Betsy’s welcome extends to only charin adults $8 for a ticket or $10 for the audio tour.

While children, seniors, military and students can find out how Betsy is woven into the American tapestry.

For just $6 and $8 for the audio.

And if you’re under three or a senior citizen then it doesn’t cost you anything… this really is the land of the free.

Free yes with freedom of expression which means freedom to expound nonsense.

Part of the American tapestry

Scots were here: The Clearances and Philadelphia

And that is what Macy Gray and the current cancel culture’s latest hobby horse of changing the American flag is all about.

If nothing else this dismisses the work Betsy and the women of the revolution did for the cause as I found out at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum on my recent East Coast travels in New England.

Betsy only persuaded George Washington and two pals Robert Morris and George Ross when they visited in 1776 that she could improve their sketch.

And she convinced Washington to change the shape of the stars from six-pointed to five-pointed by demonstrating that it was easier and speedier to cut the latter.

Ross made flags for the Pennsylvanian navy during the American Revolution.

After the Revolution, she made US flags for more than 50 years, including 50 garrison flags for the U.S. Arsenal on the Schuylkill River during 1811.

And that’s why we’re happy to be flagging up Betsy Ross and Philly.

And we’ll obviously be keeping you updated with all the new charms of Philly and all our Stateside friends.

America, Asia, Caribbean, Countries

Another episode when me out on de road

11th May 202211th May 2022 funtime65

It’s another episode when me out on de road, we don’t come out to pose, as Bajan Soca legend would say.

Yes, this is our destiny, yes, it belongs to we. And no, I’ve not forgotten all my English grammar.

This is Bajan patois and it is what I hope to be hearing for the next week.

Think too the rum-infused pitch of a smiling Barbadian (or Bajan) and you have it… Sweeet!

Cultural appropriation

Me-me and Dee-Dee at Crop Over in Barbados

All of which brings us to the thorny subject of cultural appropriation.

Knowing how irked I’ve been in the past when English people have cried Hoots…

Or Begorrah when I was in Ireland.

And I confess I’ve grimaced myself when I’ve said Irie to the Bajans when I’ve been out in Barbados before.

Only to be met with mile-wide smiles and hearty hugs.

Now offence is naturally taken differently depending on where you go.

Read the room

And the trick is to be able to read the room.

We don’t always get it right… I again made something of a social faux-pas recently in New England.

When I followed up my handshake with my host Ginny by extending my hand again to her colleague, a young Muslim lady.

The White Knight

Thoughts immediately returned to Aussie Greg, Great Protector of Muslim Women, and great White Knight.

I imagined his head would have exploded with rage as he’d shouted along the coach at me in Colorado.

When I put my hand on the side of a Jordanian woman’s shoulder in the narrow aisle to ask if I could please pass by.

‘You never touch the Muslim woman,’ he screamed, in full earshot of her husband.

All of which only served to embarrass the poor couple when a discreet word would have been better.

Ms Carter

And so when we go jumpin’ this week at the Barbados Celtic Festival I will again be indebted to Ms Carter, our awesome host Cheryl.

Cheryl, of course, knows me of old and has taken the edges of my worst excesses when jumping at Mas (Bajan open-air music events).

It’s just another episode when me out on de road.

America, Asia, Countries, Europe

Jet lag cures

2nd May 20222nd May 2022 funtime65

I was spooked at the movement in my en-suite, I was home with The Scary One… I should have checked my own Holidos and Don’ts. Jet lag cures.

And then I could have orientated myself on my return from my mini-odyssey to New England.

Earth to Jimmy

Granted your fellow passengers or hosts might look at you funny but..

You might want to take off your shoes and socks and jump about on the earth.

Bare feet and earth: Who says so… only biohacker and Bulletproof founder Dave Asprey who discovered the trick when doing yoga in California.

Of course he did.

Turn on, switch off

In flight entertainment: And you can always catch up on your sleep on the plane.

There’s the more relaxing last film which you can nod off through.

Or classical music or easy listening. And it’ll make you forget you’re up during the sleeping hours.

Water cooler

Hydrate: And yes that means staying off the booze… so resist the temptations of airport drinks.

On board now you will have to pay for your alcohol anyway.

And rehydrate so stay off the coffee, tea and sugary drinks.

That’s the business

Lounge back: And take in a Turkish Airlines movie in their airport business lounge

Business class: Of course if you’ve been saving your pennies, you’ll be able to treat yourself to business class.

I’ve been fortunate enough to avail of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Turkish Airlines (there are other flyers).

And the reclining seat-beds will make you feel like you’re at home in bed.

Until you turn around for a cuddle on your trip to the Maldives and Island Marketing’s stubbly boss Brian is looking up at you.

Homing in

The home run: And when you get home after you’re through the all-nighter then you need to get home.

If you’re disorganised like me then it’s better not to have bought a return public transport (tram, bus, train) ticket.

Maybe leave the keys too with the neighbours.

All because these things can get lost in transit.

Get in, get a glass of water and get to bed. Will you sleep later? You bet.

And I think I’ll copywright this… Holidos and Don’ts jet lag cures.

America, Countries

For Dog, For Country and For Yale

28th April 202228th April 2022 funtime65

Yale’s Handsome Dan XIX is the best date I’d been on for years which is why I say For Dog, For Country and For Yale.

In fact I didn’t even know I was on one.

Handsome Dan has been the prestigious Connecticut university‘s sports mascot since at least 1890.

And before you start doing the math, Dan is, yes, the 19th Old English Bulldog mascot at the Ivy League University.

And he is the nephew of Dan XIIX who has decamped to New York.

Puppy love

HD XIX is still at the puppy stage, born a year last month, during Covid.

And he is making up for lost time by licking everyone he meets.

Either around the campus in New Haven or on the seat where we find him on the green.

A seat of learning if you will.

Animal magic

Hero: Yale alumni and Revolutionary martyr Nathan Hale

Yale, which dates back to 1701, boasts the oldest live collegiate mascot in the world.

Fair play though to fellow Ivy Leaguers Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, from where I’ve come.

They would have a job bringing a live bear to their events.

Ivy League

A word now on Ivy League universities…

There are eight across the north-west universities.

And the ivy comes from ivy-planting class days at Harvard in the 1800s.

While the Ivy League dates back to 1935 when it was picked up by a sports writer to explain the inter-universities rivalries.

Bulldog Day

Handsome Dan may not be the only Bulldog when we visit, it is Bulldog Day, but he is the most important.

If you’re imagining a dog show of jowly-hounds in the hallowed halls of Yale then it’s a nice thought.

But it is the raft of lucky students who have been accepted as the next intake of students.

And who bunk down with current students while they give the university which was founded in 1701 a recce.

We’ll return to Yale when they realise that I would be enhance the pantheon which has included the Bushes and Clintons.

And thanks to our guide, senior Aidan from Arizona, who is off to Washington, for suggesting it!

Cost it up

I’m sure Yale could waive the $79,370 costs of attending a university which opens doors to the best positions in life.

Although with aid it’s estimated at $17,549.

And for that you get to… well it would take longer than we have here but check out their prospectus.

I guarantee you’ll be taken by a church building where it’s all educational symbolism and secular stained-glass windows.

And a cathedral to the body, yes a many/floored gymnasium.

Not that we’d want Yale’s Handsome Dan XIX go on the treadmill.

We love him the way he is, cuddly and waddling around campus.

And so, I say again and with apologies for playing with your motto…

For Dog, For Country and For Yale

Alas, though, I have to give Dan a big slobbery kiss goodbye.

I’m back on the Amtrak to Boston. Huzzah!

America, Countries

Rogue Island or Rhode Island?

27th April 202228th April 2022 funtime65

When is an island not an island… when it’s Rogue Island or Rhode Island.

America’s smallest state, population 1 million, and which you could fit 40 times into England, is landed with a coast.

So why is this New England gem, Rogue Island or Rhode Island, called an island?

Well, it’s all down to Italian navigator Giovanni Verrazano who compared the nearby Block Island to Rhodes.

A big, small state

Despite being the smallest state in the union RI punches well above its weight.

You may be more familiar with Newport, Rhode Island as the home of American sailing.

But it’s Providence which is the state capital which they like to style with good reason capital of creativity.

And it has a rich seam, high brow and low brow as my guide Jenn who has a way with words summed it up.

Yes, Ivy League University Brown and the renowned Rhode Island School of Design stand out in this college city.

Wall, what it’s good for

What a picture: And they were here first

But it comes from the street too with public art champions The Avenue Concept overseeing the murals which puts the city on a grander scale.

Jenny and Yarrow take me (they will guide others too) on a walking tour of the city and its many and fluctuating public art works.

From my artsy and minimalist Marriott Aloft Providence Downtown.

Where I am overnighting from Boston on my three-state mini-New England adventure,!and have arrived relaxed on an Amtrak train

A Native American story

They explain to me the story behind the Native American girl surrounded by Nature, and holding a photograph of an older kinswoman.

I see her en route along the canal and over the classically old-fashioned bridges… you can’t, nor should you want to, miss her.

Still Here by Gaia is a portrait of a contemporary Narragansett woman named Lynsea Montanari.

And that portrait is of her tribal elder, Wampanoag and Narangansett leader Princess Red Wing.

And why here at the 32 Custom House building (and the parking lot that was the former Daniels building)?

Well, it provides a sweeping view of the wall from the Weybosset bridge and river.

But also according to the City Department of Art, Culture & Tourism: “Weybosset Street was a site where three important Indian trails met.

“One coming down from the north, the second up from the southeast Mount Hope region called the Wampanoag Trail.

“And the third up from Connecticut (where I’m headed next) in the southwest called the Pequot Trail.”

Wait for it

Better still if you get to meet the artist and Lynsea as my waitress Theresa did at Hemenways across the river.

And kept me entertained with her tales of tapping maple syrup for her Dad in her native Vermont.

And explained to me the difference between New England chowder and Rhode Island chowder.

The RI is clear so without the cream although both come with crackers obvs.

Nor did she draw breath when dissecting the menu which basically was if you could see it swimming they served it.

Of course the paella was on the big side.

Because, even in the smallest state, everything is bigger in America.

Africa, America, Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

A year on – Ireland and Scotland and further afield

2nd February 20212nd February 2021 funtime65

That was the year that was – it’s 12 months now since I left my beloved Ireland for my first love Scotland.

I had though little intention of spending all my time in Scotia.

And instead had a long list of destinations to fill out the year.

So to mark the anniversary I’ll share the year that never was.

Off to a flier in Czech Hoptown

In the Strahov Monastery Brewery, Prague, in the Czech Republic

The Chinese lady with the mask on in the airport in Prague Airport seemed a curio at the time, a reminder of the latest virus that only affects Asia.

A few weeks later the fun and intimacy of the Czech Republic were but a warm embrace I clung onto as I entered lockdown in Scotland for the first time.

As I came out of isolation I engaged with my Czech friends again over the new-fangled Zoom app we were all compelled to use and toasted each other in time-honoured fashion Na Zdravie.

I was heartened to see them lay out a table for a feast along the Charles Bridge in the early summer and wished that I was back there again in Prague or in the Czech Republic’s Hoptown, Zatec.

I know this though that the Czechs will get through this because they have the best beer in the world, Pilsener Urquell.

Trump steals my Keys

Suitcase packed, bandana on, I was all set for my fly-drive around the Florida Keys when Donald Trump (remember him) closed the country to visitors while encouraging Americans to gather… at his rallies.

And so Hemingway’s six-toed cats, key line pie, Florida sunsets and easy living will just have to wait.

Of course the beauty of it is that Papa’s pussies won’t have had any idea that anything was even different about the past year.

Exile me in St Helena

And another on the back-burner is Napoleon’s island. No, not his birthplace, Corsica, or the one the British sent him to initially, Elba, but the one where he ended his days, St Helena.

St Helena, 1200 mile west of southwestern Africa is one of the most remote inhabitable islands in the world and is an ecological dream.

All of which makes you think that exile was a pretty good option back in the day. And if I end up needing to self-isolate anywhere then I’ll be back in touch.

Vegas or bust

Now I’ve always felt bad about leaving Cami from Utah at the bar at Harrah’s Las Vegas a few years ago and knowing she goes down there every weekend knew that she’d be there when I revisited in June.

The American Travel Fair was scheduled for Neon City and I was all booked and ready, my chips at the ready to make my million.

But alas I had to leave Cami waiting again and to get my fix of Vegas I had to make do with watching the world’s greatest band The Killers perform from the ceiling of Caesars Palace on YouTube.

The fair, IPW is slated for the Fall, and I’ll be expecting an Access All Areas ticket, Brandon.

And maybe even reprising my Mr Brightside from the Rising Star Karaoke Bar, CityWalk at Universal Orlando a few years ago.

The Norman request

I would have put my Monet on getting to Normandy

for the Monet festival back in late summer.

And even get a painting lesson in his back garden.

But as the UK travel corridor policy became as chaotic as the Spinal Tap boys trying to get to their gigs, again I found myself blocked.

Now what is the French word for cup-de-sac?

Bergamo go, go, go

And just as the year was petering out and I was resigning myself to my best chance of a trip down to North Berwick beach, Mamma Mia but one came off.

And in spectacular style.

The journalist in me had me tracking the evolution of Bergamo through the pandemic, it being the gateway to the virus in Europe.

And just in time I got over to Northern Italy to talk to the Bergamaschi and ask how they had got through it all and their advice on how we should all progress now.

There was specialist Lombardy food and wine, culture, history Donizetti music and art aplenty.

But the most beautiful picture was that of the emboldened Bergamaschi in the backdrop of their historic city, both in Citta Alta and Citta Bassa, the High and the Low City.

Now there are worse places to have spent this last year, with the view of the Firth of Forth from my window, Bass Rock bookending the beach and Edinburgh just along the road.

I’ve chosen to live by the sea all my adult life. It’s a primal thing knowing that exciting lands lie beyond.

I know that we’ll visit them again soon, and hopefully I can fill in the blanks above and add San Francisco, Chicago, New England and a host of other trips I had planned last year, and many to come.

All for your enjoyment.

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD