Asia Archives - Page 8 of 24 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

America, Asia, Countries, Europe

On the roof

24th July 202224th July 2022 funtime65

If this old world starts getting you down, like Gerry Goffin, he of King and Goffin, get up on the roof.

Those of us who can have been doing just that for the cooler air during the heatwave.

And we’re not the only ones with our holiday chums also sending in their fave rooftops to get away from it all.

We’ve taken the liberty (well, this is our sounding board) to throw in a couple of our own rooftop tops.

Tesoro, a real treasure

A treasure: Tesoro on Florida’s Paradise Coast

Tesoro, Florida’s Paradise Coast: And Tesoro immediately jumped out at me on account of it being a pet name.

For the one who has come to be known as The Scary One.

It’s well named because Marriott’s Marco Island is a real treasure, an adult-only piscine speciality dining spot with views over the Gulf of Mexico.

Bora Bora aura aura

Upa Upa Lounge Bar, Bora Bora: Bora Bora Upa Upa and away… and isn’t that what roofs are all about.

Now we’ve always been partial to those restaurant fish tanks where you can pick your meal.

Better still then if you have a glass floor where your fishy dishy is underneath your feet.

You know the types you’ll have seen under your toes in the Maldives… don’t worry they’re only small sharks!

Now we deffo want moreah moreah of the Bora Bora in French Polynesia and an old favourite hotel chain, Conrad.

Japan for goodness sake

Bettei Otozure – Yamaguchi, Japan: And sake should be celebrated for its own sake… see what we’ve been done there.

Now you won’t associate the whisky island of Islay in the west of Scotland.

But that’s where our friends Stewart and Hisayo married in their kimonos and we broke the boxes of sake open.

Go one better and get out to the Land of the Rising Sun and enjoy a luxury ryokan overlooking the mountain village of Yumoto Onsen in Japan.

Miles better in Mile High City

Bandanaman and the Bandanettes In Denver

Denver Sheraton Hotel, Colorado: And when you’re a mile in the sky then the only thing to do is climb higher, pretty much the mantra of all Coloradans.

Now Denverites will be quick to tell you that because of the altitude then you only have to drink half as much to get twice as drunk.

You’ll discover that for yourself… but if you do overdo it then you’ll be able to swim off that fuzzy head atop the Denver Sheraton Hotel in their pool in the shadow of the Rockies.

And when you do head out to the Great Outdoors of the Rockies then treat yourself to a down day amid all that rock climbing, abseiling and white water rafting… go Mex on the Salt & Lime rooftop bar in Steamboat Springs.

Mountain high

La Folie Douce, Val D’Isere: And the greatest rooftops are the natural ones, the mountains.

And when you’ve been kept off them through these Covid-hit years then the reopening party is the one to be at.

Ski over to the La Folie Douce (or cheat by taking the gondola).

And stomp your ski boots and sway to the cabaret.

Because on the roof is a paradise that’s trouble proof.

America, Asia, Countries, Oceania, South America

Joby Aviation lost in translation

19th July 202219th July 2022 funtime65

And how those of us of a Scottish variety sniggered how Joby Aviation got lost in translation.

A jobby, as Glasgow’s second most famous son, Billy Connolly, revealed to the world is the contents of your bottom.

But there is nothing crap about the all-electric aircrafts for commercial use that are coming to Scotland.

Flying by the seat of your pants: The Joby

As we reported in the Daily Record the The Joby is a five-seat, piloted electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

And it has a maximum range of 150 miles and a quiet acoustic profile.

Now we imagine the new aircraft will be s***-hot but perhaps they should rebrand for Scottish fliers.

All of which has us reflecting on the brands which we have seen lost in translation.

C U Next Tuesday

Northern Territory, Australia: And I’m indebted to the doyen of Irish travel writers Eoghan Corry for clueing me in on this historical brand gaffe.

Now everyone is an expert after the event and the same mistook visited an old, and much-respected, boss.

When he cropped a picture of an England flag for an old newspaper so the ‘S’ and the ‘Horpe’ got cut from sCunTthorpe.

Coors fails sniff test

Colorado cool: But they’re too hip for the Spanish

Golden, Colorado, USA: And the Golden nectar with the taste of the Rockies will slake your thirst like few other beers.

The Coloradans, as anyone who has been out there will tell you, have a lifestyle and language all of their own.

But it doesn’t always translate, and their ‘Turns it loose’ slogan means ‘you will suffer from diarrhoea. Sloppy!

Fly solo

Braniff International, North America: And one from the vaults here when Braniff ran routes.

Primarily in the midwestern and southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America and South America before expanding into Asia and Europe.

They ran an advert in Spanish boasting of their leather seats and urging passengers to fly ″en cuero,″ or ″in leather.″

Only the similar ″en cueros″ means ″naked,″ and when pronounced on radio or television, the two terms sound identical.

In the Nip

Kinki Nippon Tourist Company, Japan: Japan‘s second largest tourist agency hadn’t factored in the Western World’s less prudish attitudes.

And they began receiving requests for unusual sex tours.

Upon finding out why, the owners of Kinki Nippon Tourist Company decided to go with KNT in English-speaking countries.

Road tripped

Ford, Detroit, USA: Now many of us love a road trip and Henry can lay claim to changing American society with his Model T which you can see in Motor City.

Alas, again the Iberian languages caught marketers out, this time the Portuguese tongue.

Ford blundered when marketing the Pinto in Brazil, unaware that the term means male genitals in Brazilian Portuguese.

These are brand new too

Along the road we’ve come across a Wanktunnel in Bavaria, an ISIS chocolate bar in Brussels airport and Negro licquorice in Croatia.

Share with us the brands which you’ve seen that have tickled your fancy, as it were.

Because how Joby Aviation got lost in translation is not an isolated incident.

Asia, Caribbean, Countries, Europe

Going out by staying in in the heatwave

17th July 202217th July 2022 funtime65

How to stay safe in this 40C greenhouse, this is going out by staying in in the heatwave.

A day at the museum

And what better way to stay cool than a day at the museum

Where Dubliners (and all of us tbf) flock to public parks in the sunny weather we head for the museums.

And more specifically the National Gallery of Ireland.

Where among the national, international, Classical, Renaissance and Low Countries art the biggest group gathered around a Vermeer.

As you do.

If you’re familiar with Lady Writing A Letter With Her Maid then you might notice something different.

Visitor listening intently at the back to the tour guide.

Now a tip to tailgaters, make sure you’ve got space to stay out of sight.

Difficult, of course, when you’re in the Capuchin Crypt in Rome and your nosey 13-year-old is still trying to learn the rules.

Go for a dip

Sail away: The Cool Runnings catamaran on Barbados

If you can barge others on the beach out of the way to get to the sea.

We’re grateful again to friends in Ireland for sharing a picture of friends making a pool out of a skip.

Now, it might seem counter-intuitive but you’ll stay cooler in inside swimming baths.

While you’re also more likely not to put sunscreen on when going into the sea and get burnt.

As I found to my cost on a catamaran off Bridgetown, Barbados.

Now few do indoor public baths better than the UNESCO heritage-listed Great Spa Towns of Europe.

And we can thoroughly recommend Czechia and Marianske Lazne.

Though King Edward VII’s bath in Hotel Nove Lazne looks a bit small and tinny.

Instead head for the Roman bath but be sure to remember where you put your gown.

It wouldn’t do to have a wee Japanese woman chasing you around the ornate baths.

Massage your limbs

And lie back and think of… well, there’s been all stops from Barbados through Istanbul to the Maldives.

And all have left me soothed and becalmed though out of lotalty and reality none as magical than at Whitekirk in North Berwick, near Edinburgh.

Where Daddy’s Little Girl is the coolest of them all.

If you can’t stand the heat

Family dinner: In the Blue Crab in Tobago

Get into the kitchen.

Yes, cooking classes on-site at your hotel can remove you from the steaming heat of the outside.

You’ll be well aired and watered (or wined), learn a new skill.

And maybe even as with Uncle Kenneth and Auntie Ali in the Blue Crab in Tobago become one of the family.

Just stay in bed

Champagne on ice: In the Skiwelt, Austria

And enjoy the best thing you can get for free.

No, not that, you smutty divil, anyway you’ll just end up sweatier than before.

Well, if you can get away then head for the snow, obvs.

We visited the Alpeniglu in Austria’s Skiwelt and while out of season the snows have melted the memories have not.

Now while the polar cap is also taking a hit, hence the heatwaves, there’s still plenty of ice, ice baby.

And in Sweden they claim to have the world’s first ice hotel complete with a night’s stay among ice art.

So, that’s the answer. Going out by staying in the heatwave.

Africa, Asia, Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

The 22 Committee and all things 1922

10th July 202210th July 2022 funtime65

We’ve heard of little else in the UK all week so let’s do a deep dive into the 22 Committee and all things 22.

The 22 Committee, or 22 as it’s come to be shortened to.

It’s the group of backbench, or rank and file, MPs who have hastened the leadership contest.

Put aside that there’s something arcane about a committee called the 1922 in charge of the direction of travel in 2022.

Or not…

Let’s time travel and compare where we were in 1922, where we are now, and where we can compare.

The Irish Question

Dublin: As 1922 dawned, Ireland was still in the UK, was about to become a Free State and halfway in was engaged in Civil War.

Irish history breathes from the streets.

With one of the most dramatic statue-lined thoroughfares anywhere in the world.

The GPO where the Proclamation of the Republic was announced in 1916 is halfway up O’Connell Street and has a museum.

While the Collins Barracks where Michael Collins oversaw the transfer of power from Britain should be on your route.

As should Kilmainham Gaol where the rebels of Easter 1916 were held.

And in whose exercise yard the Scot James Connolly was shot strapped to a chair.

The Scottish Question

Edinburgh, Glasgow: And in 1922 Scotland had parked its self-government ambitions promised them in 1914.

Like the Irish they put it on hold because of The Great War.

But unlike their Celtic cousins they took a different fork in the road.

Scotland’s bloated cities, particularly its largest Glasgow where living conditions for most people were a heath risk, rose up.

There was a riot in George Square in Glasgow in 1919.

And three years later Red Clydeside socislist MPs had got a foot in Westminster.

These days their descendants, Nicola Sturgeon et al are more pink or rosé than red.

They sit in the devolved Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.

It is open for visits, tours and gawking at the MSPs.

All roads lead to Mussolini

Italy: And Il Duce, Benito Mussolini, heralded in an era of Fascism.

When his March on Rome led to him taking power.

Mussolini still has a rather big footprint in Italy in a way unthinkable say with Hitler in Germany.

I’m reminded by my guide Ingrid in the rebuilt Renaissance City of Dresden.

Where a mural of Communist icons survived the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

That if we airbrush history we open ourselves up to repeat it.

And Mussolini’s stark self-aggrandising architecture in Bergamo, my last Italian pit stop.

It only reaffirmed the beauty of the Renaissance art around it.

While dark tourists, of which I am one, will learn more of Italy between the wars.

In his home town of Predappio in Emilia-Romagna.

Hello Uncle Joe

Georgia: And on the other side of the great political divide Joseph Stalin succeeded Lenin in charge of the newly-created USSR.

The first Soviet Union including Belarus, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic of Armenia, Azwrbaijan and Georgia.

Stalin had started out on his reign of terror in Georgia.

As a Russian Mafioso fixer (who does that sound like?) and bank robber.

Fly the flag: With Irish Georgian ambassador George

And despite his history of repression and cull of his own people Stalin is still marked in his own republic of Georgia.

But don’t let that put you off.

Georgia is the original home of wine, has a rich culture and Black Sea coastline to savour.

Toot and come in

Egypt: And in 22 the British unleashed some dark forces.

No, not in the return of its latest Tory PM, a Scots-educated leader in Bonar Law (now you know).

But in Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and its riches in the Valley of the Kings.

It was a momentous year for the Egyptians.

With the ancient land gaining independence from the UK and Fuad I crowned king.

Whether the Tories elect us a Mummy PM, a first BAME Premier or someone who again is too male, too stale a thought here.

Bonar Law lasted but a year.

His successor Stanley Baldwin a year too, before Britain got its first Labour PM Ramsay MacDonald.

All things to consider for the 22 Committee and all things 1922.

Asia, Countries, Deals

OLCOTE, a palatial Sri Lanka retreat

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We’d not recommend storming the head of state’s pad, instead we’d prefer to flag up my pal’s OLCOTE, a palatial Sri Lanka retreat.

All that said, you wouldn’t surely deny the impoverished Sri Lankans having a pool party at the Prez’s expense.

As we’ve witnessed in the TV footage of the Sri Lankans dive bombing into President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s swimming pool.

Tess de Kretser is a pal from Dublin days and without doubt the best-known Sri Lankan in Ireland.

From her days married to Ryanair’s Cathal Ryan whom she bore two of her eight children.

Tess of the Dublinvilles

Hostess with the mostest: Tess de Kretser

Tess’s story is one from the derring-do pages of adventure books having skipped her parents’ home in Sri Lanka to join a airline and see the world.

And more, much more of which we relived over lunch in Ballsbridge and a cultural night in Iveagh Garden Hotel.

All of which we’re raising here to remind ourselves how important we are as citizens of the world to crisis-hit countries.

Tourism is the third biggest contributor to Sri Lanka’s economy.

On the ball: In the Maldives with a Sri Lankan pal

But it has been hit badly by perceptions, post the 2019 bombings, Covid and now the cost-of-living crisis.

And we are in danger of overlooking, or never hearing of Sri Lanka’s charms.

Or its people whom I got to know and play football and cricket with in the Maldives.

Marco’s fave island

But don’t just take my word for it (well, do) but the most famous explorer of them all, Marco Polo, was transfixed by the island.

And he called it: ‘the best island of its size in the country.’

Had it been available to Marco in the 12th century he would surely have stayed in OLCOTE.

Or Our Little Corner of the Earth as Tess christened it.

Our Little Corner

Ya dancer: The colour and peace of OLCOTE

Tess describes OLCOTE as the perfect marriage of Sinhalese traditional culture and modern luxurious accommodation.

And you can rely on a team of private staff, the Olcote shuttle, gourmet chefs, European wines perfectly chilled and your every need catered for, you can expect the holiday of a lifetime

As you can see by the pictures.

The extended house and suites we’re told are surrounded by lush gardens, fruit trees and quiet spaces.

And hammocks (I would hope so), herbs and vegetables abound. While monkeys (and cheeky monkeys) often visit.

Sweet suites

It’s good of Tess too to name the eight suites after places in Dublin, including my own working stomping ground of Ballsbridge.

Although I would be prepared to stay in Sandymount, Killiney or Dalkey.

Now, of course, OLCOTE has all the wellness and yoga that you would need, while they will put on excursions to surprise and delight.

Prices start from €2,500 for two people staying a full week, with all expenses, transfers, food and entertainment included.

Olcote can comfortably home 16 people at a time and you and your pals can book the whole shooting match as a oner.

SriLankan Airlines will fly you non-stop from London Heathrow to Colombo with flying time 11 hours.

Plenty of time to fit in a few films.

And you’ll be feeling nice and relaxed by the time you get to Sri Lanka.

Ready to chill out at OLCOTE, a palatial Sri Lanka retreat.

Asia, Countries, Deals, Europe, Sustainable Tourism

Wish you were hair in Istanbul

28th June 202227th June 2022 funtime65

Stitched up and ready to go they looked like Frankenstein’s monster to me but hey, no pain, no gain… and I imagined they were sending back postcards with Wish you were hair in Istanbul.

Yes, Istanbul as well as being ahead of the curve in much else is also the epicentre for hair restoration.

And so armed with that information you won’t be staring, like someone I could mention.

Hair isn’t the only thing that they’re restoring in Istanbul though with the Stay Hotel chain leading the way in recycling.

Gone today, hair tomorrow: A full head again

Stay’s new hotel, Nisantasi, is now open for bookings in the heart of the city’s refined fashion and cultural district.

The 82-room property is housed in the heart of Nisantasi, a fashion hub in the old town.

So while the men are looking after the threads on their heads your womenfolk can hit the designer boutiques.

From Louis Vuitton to Chanel and Hermes, as well as local designers such as Begum Khan.

And true to The Stay Hotels’ sustainability pledge, they recently launched an eco-friendly fashion label, The Stay Line.

And guests can buy at the hotel’s dedicated retail space, the Stay Line Corner.

A stitch in time

The Stay have clearly factored in the hirsuitically challenged tourists as they map out their specs.

The hotel boasts a vegan leather headboards graced with European Down and Feather Association-certified pillows, which will soothe the back of the head.

The recycling extends to room key cards and menus.

And they are brimming with local produce including vegan and vegetarian dishes accompanied by Turkish wines.

They’re really on this… evidenced by being awarded carbon-neutral status by sustainability specialist Bureau Veritas.

And they plan to be zero waste by the end of the year.

When in Istanbul

And when in Istanbul you’ll walk your curvy slipper shoes off (you know the ones you buy at the Grand Bazaar).

If only the Turks specialised in massage… wham, bam thank you hamam.

Stay have a spa and wellness floor opening in the autumn.

There’s a dip in the indoor pool, a Pilates session or an authentic Turkish hamam.

While If the gym is your thang, you can work out in the sleek fitness suite or book a personal trainer.

Wellness experiences include indulgent couples’ massages in a dedicated treatment room.

While here’s something which will be well up the Scary One’s street and take the edge off… a zen garden.

Mezze around by the Bosphorus

And Istanbul, the crossroads of East and West clearly has more Turkish delights than the sticky square sweets with icing sugar.

And so the ground-floor Saint Pâtissier patisserie will offer guests French fancies, freshly baked bread, and Turkish treats.

From the autumn, foodies will flock to the entertaining Italian rooftop restaurant, Marcello E Matteo.

You’ll dine on the signature focaccia di recco al formaggio or sip well-crafted cocktails as the chefs break into an operetta.

The Stay Hotels will also reveal a curated art collection hung in rooms and public spaces.

And that includes an AI video-mapping installation by the world-renowned duo OUCHHH. Mmmmm!

The icing on the cake for lovers of culture, will be a bookshop while fresh flowers will be on sale at Misk flower shop.

And lots there then for all tourists to put on their postcards… Wish you were hair in Istanbul with double rooms coming in from £200 per night B&B, with flexible booking terms.

Asia, Countries, Europe

The Nifty Fifties, Davina McCall and me

25th June 202225th June 2022 funtime65

Welcome to the Nifty Fifties, Davina McCall and me and TUI too.

You’ll know by now that TUI’s newspaper arm gave me my first break which came with a deal on their holidays.

And that included such first-time joys as Bulgaria and Turkey.

And as wonderful as our guide and party were then, they didn’t include Davina McCall!

The Divine Davina

At a stretch: Davina shows us how it’s done

Back then, Davina, of course, had her music fest gig on, as we all did.

And while I’m sure she can still rip it up with the best of them, as we all can, she only has that figure because she looks after herself.

And so she happily limbered up, stretched those limbs and headed out to the Grand Azur in Marmaris in Turkey.

Where she flicked through TUI’s Wellness Menu and shared…

All on the back of findings from TUI Blue, its hotel brand, which tells us that two out of three of us have actually felt worse after trying a wellness trend.

Davina is clearly the one as she testified after road-testing the Menu in Turkey.

On the Menu

The Wellness Menu offers authentic cooking classes to yoga, exploring local culture to aqua-fun.

Spoilt for choice? Don’t know what to do?

BLUE Guides will be on hand to help curate ideal itineraries.

And they will give expert insights and tips from the most indulgent foods to the best sunbathing spots.

Before taking to the Med for paddle boarding, the fitness enthusiast took part in TUI BLUE’s power yoga, beat-driven fitness class, FlowTheBeat.

And don’t you just feel for her classmates, matching the Divine Davina?

Make a Mezze

Getting to grips with local flavours, Davina satisfied her inner foodie with a TUI Blue cooking class and prepared Turkish mezze.

Over to Davina now: ‘What works best for me might not work for everyone else, and it’s also something extremely personal that will change as you get older.

‘Finding what works for your own wellbeing shouldn’t be dictated by the latest trends on social media or stereotypical wellness tropes.’

All of which should me music to the ears of women, and young girls, who are bombarded with messages about what’s wrong with their bodies.

And how to fix it at a cost… when you look just fine, and it should be fun.

TUI Blue’s message is pitched in its ‘Find Your Happy’ microsite.

We’re glad to see here too that Davina loves a hammam… who doesn’t?

Hamam Ma’am

And just a tip if you’re reading Davina, and we know you do, you should join the cast of the Great and Good and Great Unwashed.

Such as Florence Nightingale, John Travolta, Rudolf Nureyev, Kate Moss and East 17.

At the Cagaloglu Hamam in Istanbul.

Now I’d struggle to touch my knees, never mind my toes, and God knows I’ve tried.

But the hamam we all can enjoy and that’s my secret.

Hope you can enjoy us… welcome to the Nifty Fifties, Davina McCall and me and TUI too.

America, Asia, Canada, Central America, Culture, Sport, UK

Queer how offside Qatar is to the world

13th June 202213th June 2022 funtime65

It’s become a fixture on the party and social calendar in the West but, of course, Pride is a revulsion elsewhere in the world, and in this World Cup year isn’t it queer how offside Qatar is to the world?

Now the football world (a different universe, of course) turned a blind eye to the Emirate’s discrimination and criminalisation of the LGBTQIA community when awarding Qatar the hosting of this winter’s World Cup.

And quite what that’ll mean to LGBTQIA football fans who are wanting to follow their countries’ fortunes then we’ll try here to decipher.

While we all know too that of the hundreds of footballers, coaching staff and officials taking part not one will be LGBTQIA.

And that will get FIFA off the hook… and there won’t be anybody queer in that organisation either.

A word from the sponsors

Football’s World Cup is, of course, more than a sporting event.

It is a cultural, educational example and the tourist trip football fans have been planning for years.

So make of these welcoming words if you will from Qatari official Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Ansari

‘If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to really take it to really insult him.

‘But to protect him. Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack (him).

‘Watch the game. That’s good. But don’t really come in and insult the whole society because of this.

‘Reserve the room together, sleep together – this is something that’s not in our concern. We are here to manage the tournament.

‘Let’s not go beyond the individual personal things which might be happening between these people… this is actually the concept.’

Right, where do we start? The Major General’s assertion that he really wants to protect ‘them’?

Qatari protection

So, protecting them then would be not exposing them to a punishment of up to seven years in prison and a fine.

And the possibility of death penalty if you are indigenous.

Of course this is for men because just like in Victorian Britain lesbianism wasn’t even considered thing despite upper-class society’s obsession with all things Classical where the Sapphists were chronicled.

Maybe here too Major General you might think.

About criminalising the people who would attack an innocent person simply because which sex they love.

And then what about their concession to gay visitors that they can ‘reserve the room together, sleep together’?

Well evidence this very year has shown that FIFA recommended hotels in Qatar are actively refusing to accommodate same-sex couples.

Or ‘these people’ as the Major General calls them.

Of course it’s not as if we hadn’t been warned.

Bla, bla Blatter

That bastion of integrity, former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter had thought it all a big joke.

When he was asked about a lack of gay rights in Qatar shortly after they were selected in 2010… ‘They should refrain from any sexual activities.’

And the Qataris, naturally, must have seen this as a green light.

Because three years later the head of Qatar’s World Cup bid team, Hassan al-Thawadi, said that everybody was welcome at the event, so long as they refrained from public display of affection.

‘Public display of affection is not part of our culture and tradition’.

To which you can justifiably add… and particularly not when you’re holding hands with, or kissing, a member of the same sex.

American continental LGBTI army

We can console ourselves somewhat that the next World Cup will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Where people are allowed to express themselves and love each other how they want.

Let’s hope too that by then there will be more than one openly gay professional footballer in the English league structure.

And that this is replicated throughout the country.

And that the sports whitewashing by Middle Eastern and Gulf countries who are buying up, or have bought up Europe’s biggest clibs, does not deter LGBTQIA players from coming out.

Now we’ll leave this heavy but necessary subject.

To get back to checking out where I can get my best Pride experience around here in sleepy North Berwick, near Edinburgh.

A Dutch of class

But before we go, big hats with feathers off.

To the Dutch politician who suggested that the Netherlands national team play in pink rather than their traditional orange, in solidarity with the LGBTI community.

We’ve not heard whether that this is being taken up by the Dutch football federation.

But having partied with the inclusive Oranje Army on the way to Rotterdam to see them play Greece a number of years ago…

We know the supporters’ only rule is that you love Total Football.

America, Asia, Countries, Europe, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Win win on Ginoisseur Day

11th June 202211th June 2022 funtime65

Now, just to prove there’s no such thing as a new idea I can’t claim to have coined this… but it’s still win, win on Ginoisseur Day.

I came to gin late in life, piqued by the mid-2020s craze for the juniper.

And the row of gins and their fancy tonics laid out in front of me at Teach Aindi in Monaghan in the Irish Midlands.

They have 101 although time constraints limited us to six.

Not the Grapey One’s drink of choice you understand, though for research purposes, she mineswept the bar.

Unbeknownst to me, but logical as we invented everything else, it was a Scot behind the G&T.

Gee, G&T

Gin & Tonic: Doctor George Cleghorn explored in the 19th century if quinine could cure malaria.

The quinine was drunk in tonic water but proved too bitter and so army officers added water, sugar, lime and gin.

Now as my own paper the Daily Record is my go-to for reference I checked out what they recommended.

Although they could have asked me to roadtest them!

But the top three are Arbikie Nadar Gin in Arbroath, Tayside, the Isle of Harris and Kintyre Gin.

Dry and high

Dry Martini: And James Bond’s classic drink of choice before Daniel Craig rebranded him.

We first meet Bond at Casino Royale, or more accurately at the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, Czechia.

Of course the Dry Martini is gin, vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist… and shaken not stirred.

The Tom Tom Club

Tom Collins: And an example of transatlantic co-operation between the UK and USA.

With Jerry Thomas, ‘the father of American mixology’, chronicled the gin, lime juice, sugar and carbonated water drink.

Of course with every British convention that crosses the Atlantic it has lost something in location and John became Jim became Tom.

The Italian Twist

Negroni: And few things disappoint when given the Italian twist.

And grazie to our amici for their one part gin, one part vermouth rosso and one part Campari, garnished with orange peel.

Now it’s been a year and a half since I was last in il bel paese and every drink tastes of a memory.

And mine is Bergamo Citta Alta, the high town in the Lombard city.

Taking the Rickey

The 47th President of America: In Washington DC

Gin Rickey: And being Washington DC this is obviously a capitol drink.

But did you know that it originated in Shoomaker’s Bar in the 1880s by bartender George A. Williamson?

Purportedly in collaboration with Democratic lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey.

The bartender is said to have added a lime to the Civil War veteran’s ‘mornin’s morning.’

It is a daily dose of Bourbon with lump ice and Apollinaris sparkling mineral water.

The gin twist? Well, that came from the popularity of the Chicago Exposition of 1893.

And in particular the Japanese rickshaw… and then the gin rickey with gin growing in popularity.

And that means it’s a win win on Ginoisseur Day.

Asia, Countries, Culture, Europe

Turkiye yeah

3rd June 20223rd June 2022 funtime65

And because I’ve been teased all my life about my name and because I love Turks today I’m saying Turkiye yeah.

The Turks have applied to the UN to have the name of their country accepted as Turkiye, pronounced Turkee yeah.

And not Turkey as in the name of our favourite Christmas bird.

Or in its modern parlance, meaning a flop.

And I stand guilty of benefiting through riffing any number of headlines as a Travel editor.

The name change sounds reasonable.

And a regular request to the UN from countries, according to Stephane Dujarric.

What’s in a name?

Look at the head on that: Zatec, Czechia

The Czech Republic was born and Czechoslovakia laid to rest when Slovakia went their own way.

Though what happened to the O’s in the divide we never did learn.

The Czechs found too that it soon became long-winded for branding and asked the UN for the change to Czechia (hard k for ch).

And in doing so they are following the precedent of the French who use France instead of their official Samedi name ‘The French Republic’.

Dutch of class

Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam

Now lazy titling becomes wearisome to those of us who have become victims of the bigger country syndrome.

And for those of a Scots, and Welsh, variety it is an occupational hazard to put up with being called English the further we travel.

Similarly in the Netherlands where the short hand of Holland had been used when that should only apply to the north and south of the country.

In 2020 while the rest of us were preoccupied by Covid the Dutch ditched the nickname Holland.

Whatever you call it, and since being alerted to the sensitivities while there for the first time 30 years ago, it’s still Edam good country.

North stars

Fly the flag: North Macedonia football fans

Now putting your place on the compass at the top of your name is always a good idea to differentiate yourself.

And we see it in South Sudan and also in North Macedonia, the latter to placate the Greeks where there is a region, Macedonia.

Throughout the post-imperialist world countries have reclaimed their countries and changed their names to their native tongue.

Shout of Africa

And so Swaziland became Eswatini, meaning ‘land of the Swazis’ in their language in 2018, the 50th anniversary of independence from the British throne.

Yes, blink and you can miss the changes and the Port Elizabeth I knew in South Africa’s Eastern Cape has become the Xhosa-clicking Gqeberha… as it should.

In these Celtic countries in which we live (Scotland, Wales, Ireland) there has been a move too to Gaelicise our towns and villages.

Gael force

And during Scotland’s march to freedom, the Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba has raised to prominence.

So here’s to all countries who reclaim their birthright, to Turkiye yeah… and Alba.

Or the Republic of Scotland as we’ll get back to striving for.

Just as soon as this forelock-tugging and curtsying deception, the Platinum Jubilee, is out of the way.