Chocolate is better than men because… we’ve all seen those posters and mugs.
But sometimes it goes wrong.
Such as with the branding you sometimes get with sweets and chocolate.
My trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina with Marian Pilgrimages http://www.marian.ie gave so much, an audience with Our Lady in Medjugorje, a history lesson in Sarajevo.
And an insight into the peoples of this region, the crossroads of East and West in the Balkans.
In Medge they are Croatians with the only thing vying for space with Our Lady in the shops Croatian flags and football tops. Medjugorje, what’s your story?
My old mucker from university, Davor, a Croatian-Scot was my first introduction to them.
But I have come to know them better through Croatia Tours http://www.croatia.ie on the River Liffey in Dublin…
And joining them before the World Cup final against France for wine and lunch (it was never a penalty!)
Thankfully there was none of the chocolate I found in a petrol station on the way to the airport in Split.
Name blame: Sweets in the Balkans
There’s just no amount of thumbs-up with Victorian dandy that makes this right.
I’m guessing they’re lozenges but I put them back on the shelf.
I can’t imagine for a minute that they meant any harm but…
Then there are those brand gaffes where there’s just been no quality control.
If California is all about fitness and health then here’s another state which I’d pitch as even more Outdoorsy… Colorado.
Where man-banned, tattoo-sleeved men called Brad or Dexter make vegan food at their eateries in the morning, climb a mountain free-style in the afternoon and then white-water raft before it gets dark.
Casual dining
Santana’s Vegan Grillhttp://Santana’s Vegan Grill is proof that these aren’t people from another planet where things are logical and they have pointy ears.
So we’re looking at the only vegan drive-thru in Colorado Springs.
Which serves up plant-based alternatives for bacon cheeseburgers, hot dogs and buffalo chicken strips. Visit http://www.colorado.com.
And here’s how I got on with the hipsters in Colorado…
Reini thought nothing of seeing his parents in the nude when he was a kid… after all he was starkers too.
Sorry, before you have to gouge out your eyes and rinse your brain, let me explain.
We were walking the hills and the mountains of Austria and Germany on our Topflight http://www.topflight.ie trip to Ehrwald, Tirol and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Where I had spent 20 minutes the previous evening in the company of Cork Sean and Cork Mick.
Who had kept their swimming shorts on, as did I.
We’re Scottish and Irish after all.
Put a Cork in it
Reini couldn’t understand though. After all don’t we all come into the world in the nude, he enquired, with his Austrian vertical smile.
Not, British or Irish people I argued.
Still, I am making progress and the following evening I went into the sauna again in the nude and if Cork Sean and Cork Mick had come in and seen me with my Mickey out then so be it.
I had overcome some of my reservations on a previous trip to Soll.
When I went to the sauna and saw everyone else was in the nude so I dispensed with said shorts.
I was blindsided a bit when a bulky Austrian Thirtysomething came in and sat down between me and his girlfriend.
Eyes forward and behave down there.
But at least it did give me the opportunity for a breakfast set-up the following morning.
When the Austrian couple sat down at the table next to us.
Did I have the nerve to say to her within earshot of the Scary One?: ‘Sorry, I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on?’
Go figure.
I love saunas and hammams, one of the best of the latter is in Istanbul http://www.cagalogluhami.com.tr where Florence Nightingale, Rudolf Nureyev, John Travolta, Kate Moss and East 17 go when they are in town.
I’ve just returned from Austria and Germany, as you know, after a Topflight http://www.topflight.ie hike around the Tirolian hills, with a 20-strong walking party which included some yogi.
No, not the smarter than the average bear type, but yoga teachers.
And take a bow Red Flash, below, Black Magic and Hot Yoga Hilary. Which, of course, is something that they can do better than the average Me who can’t even touch his toes.
All you aspiring yogi will be spending your first night in Split on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast where I’ll be landing into God, and your accidental traveller willing, later this month. On my way to Medjugorje.
The remaining four nights of your TD holiday will be at Senses Resort on the relaxing, remote island of Hvar.
Aerial view at Hvar town in Southern Croatia, famous luxury travel destination in Europe, Mediterranean.
You will be based in a secluded resort in the charming village of Vrboska, close to pine forests, pebble beaches and the crystal blue Adriatic Sea.
There will be a total of seven yoga sessions, three every morning and three every evening, as well as a welcome Slow Flow and Guided Meditation.
It’s a stretch
I’m already feeling relaxed.
You will start each day by opening up the body/mind and getting energy flowing from tip to toe.
The morning classes will build to a relatively strong flow class, incorporating breath work and mindfulness throughout.
Evening sessions will focus on a particular section of the body, moving more deeply into it through specifically targeted postures.
And we are assured that all yoga sessions will be led by a yoga teacher from MOONSyoga.
And what’s more a yoga mat will be provided for all yoga sessions.
Prices are from €829pp including return flights from Dublin, with five nights’ 4* B&B or half-board hotel accommodation.
You will get all your transfers, seven yoga sessions with an expert yoga instructor, daily breakfast and four evening meals. Departing May and October 2020.
For more information or to book, click here or call 01-6371633.
Yoga in Quinta
And I’ll maybe also tell you about the time I passed up World International Yoga Day in India to send a former yoga fan colleague of mine.
But in the meantime here’s a random pic of a couple of colleagues of mine in Quinta da Lago sports complex, The Campus, being stretched by a beautiful yoga teacher.
A man goes into the doctor: ‘Doctor, I feel like an Italian island,’ Doctor: ‘Don’t be Sicily.’
Dramatic: Sicily Photo by Mauro Reem-Itchy on Pexels.com
You obviously need more than a morning and afternoon to spend in Sicily but alas that is all we had on our day trip from Malta.
Of course we could easily put that right with award-winning Italian holiday specialIsts Topflight.
Their Italian sale is up and running from today with savings of up to 30%.
There are discounts for the remaining summer season (August – October) on every date across all their featured resorts including on a selection of family holiday options.
There is also a raft of Italian escorted tour experiences on sale.
Topflight’s Italian Holiday Sale offers holidays from Dublin, Cork & Belfast. It ends at midnight on Thursday, 15th August.
As a sample, Topflight offers seven days in Sicily on August 24, staying in the 3* Villa Linda (B&B), Giardini Naxos was €871 now €599pps.
Or leaving on the same day, 4* plus RG Naxos (B&B), Giardini Naxos was €1255 now €869pps
And from Cork why not try out Lake Garda? Seven nights departing August 17 and staying at the 3* plus Hotel Garda Bellevue (H/B) was €1037 now €699pps.
With savings of up to €850 per person on seven night stays at Casa de Campo for travel completed by November 6, if booked by August 31.
The offer means that your holiday will cost from €1,509pp.
Among the features are 50% off access to three championship golf courses; 20% off Spa treatments pp.
You’ll have complimentary non-motorised water sports, tennis, horse riding, golf cart and teen-only activities, including billiards tournaments, air hockey and movie nights.
Based on two sharing on all-inclusive basis and including flights from Dublin and transfers.
Licence to chill
Toe the line: Hemingway’s six-toed cats
It’s obligatory as a Scot (and many others) to say that Sean Connery was the best James Bond but I’ve always been different and like my own childhood Bond, Roger Moore.
Pearse Brosnan is the best modern-day Bond while Timothy Dalton is the most underrated. Daniel Craig? Pat!
This year is the 30th anniversary of one of the best Bond films, Dalton’s Licence to Thrill when Bond went rogue.
The opening scene takes place on the Seven Mile Bridge with other segments filmed at Key West International Airport and on Whitehead Street at the Key West Lighthouse and Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum.
Pappa Hemingway is a template for journalists, and not just his adventurous life.
And he was also a cat man.
He had a penchant for polydactyl cats. That’s six-toed cats. Check out the 40-50 polydactyl cats who live on-site.
Aer Lingus flies to Miami. Visit www.aerlingus.com. We found a return trip Dublin to Miami from €457.63.
See you in Tenerife
Old fishing boat at the Mirador de El Archipenque. La Gomera island in the distance
I’m counting down the days to my trip to Tenerife in September.
Travel Department has a Tenerife Coast & Cuntry seven-night full-board guided holiday.
Excursions will include a full-day guided tour of the highlights of the island, a trip to the UNESCO World Heritage colonial city of La Laguna and a visit to Mount Teide National Park.
Prices start from €659pp for seven nights including return flights, full-board 4* hotel accommodation, all transfers and fully-guided excursions with an expert local guide, departing regularly from September – November 2019.
I always associate the Shelbourne Hotel with travel functions and balmy summer nights.
The iconic Dublin hotel are billing their latest package as The Shelbourne Swan Song.
It is a special occasion but you deserve it.
Running from August 18 until September 5 it’s an an overnight stay that includes breakfast and a Summer Spritz cocktail on their new Terrace for €299 for two people sharing.
It’s only 137 days until Christmas and Santa and TUI are getting ready.
TUI will fly you out and back to Lapland on the same day with departures from Dublin on December 7 and 14.
All guides, visits to Santa and outdoor activities like sledging and snowmobiling are included.
All your thermal wear is included in our winter wonderland too; just bring your normal warm day clothes to wear underneath and you’ll be toasty and warm.
