And with Wendy Wu you know that she will bring you the world.
Simply book one of our selected fully-inclusive group tours with just a £99 deposit per person and your partner Flies FREE on any departures in 2022 or 2023.
And if you’re travelling solo you can enjoy the same savings with 50% off you airfare.
And Wendy’s generosity doesn’t just stop at that. She’s including a free Airport Lounge Pass with every booking.
So without further AWu.
Wu deals
Shape of things to come: Japan
Japan – Save up to £350 per person
Southeast Asia – Save up to £300 per person to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and more
Central Asia – Save up to £400 per person to Uzbekistan, Georgia and the Silk Road
New Zealand – Save up to £350 per person
South America – Save up to £400 per person to Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina
Far East – Save up to £300 per person to South Korea and Taiwan
Middle East – Save up to £250 per person to Egypt,and Jordan.
Offer ends Monday 29 November. Book online or Call 0808 2580 600.
Sandals in the Windies PtI
Here’s to Sandals: And Barbados
Sharing is caring and I’m either full of Christmas spirit or just too damn kind.
Because i’ve passed over a place on the inaugural Virgin Atlantic flight from Edinburgh to Bridgetown so a Barbados virgin can get on board.
No, not one of them, but a work colleague who has never been to Bim like Bim Jim has.
It was luxury all the way with Sandals then and we have remained pals with the swanky hotel chain keeping me abreast of all their offers.
Like their Black Friday Flash Sale which offers customers the chance to save an extra £100 off your next Luxury included holiday with code BF100.
And so you’ll get change out of £2,000 at £1,949pp for seven nights at Sandals Royal Barbados for travel on September 22.
Where you’ll stay at the South Seas Crystal Lagoon Club Level Barbados Suite with Balcony Tranquility Soaking Tub. Including flights with Virgin Atlantic, of course.
Sandals in the Windies PtII
Of course the question you constantly get asked when you’re in a Caribbean island is which is your favourite.
To which you need to answer… I’ll tell you when I’ve been around them all.
Sandals Ochi comes in at £1,399 for seven nights. You’ll be staying in a Butler Village Poolside One Bedroom Villa Suite. And again our friends at Virgin will be flying you there.
Book by midnight on November 30.
Yes, now we’re travelling again, I’m all behind the Back to Black Friday.
And I’ll give you more of our favourites over the weekend.
And all the focus on COP26 just along the road in Glasgow has got us all thinking about water, the source of life… and prompting us to bring you Holidos and don’ts where to drink the water.
And particularly when we think back on how we were always warned against drinking the water when we were abroad (mostly in those days, Spain).
Sup up: And something to clench your thirst
The fact though is that Spain is safe to drink from the tap and so there is no need to buy plastic bottled water from the supermercato.
Even better, of course, is to find yourself a stream in the country, and better still if you can stumble upon a Camino along the way and follow it through the Santiago.
La Citta Eterna, of course, prides itself on its water.
The fountains which are around every corner and in every piazza.
But also the beautifully adorned taps with carvings of Romulus and Remus and their wolf mother which proliferate around the city.
Wolf down the water: With La Famiglia underneath the wolf and Romulus and Remus
In the cloying humidity of a Rome heatwave you’ll be glad of a tap to fill up your flask.
And didn’t Silvio Berlusconi just know it when our guide told us that he wanted to start charging the locals for the water… something not even Benito Mussolini dared try.
Back to our friends at Globehunters and they reflect that the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Northern and Western Europe, the US and Japan have the best water.
All of which means that you need to take more care in south-eastern Europe, much of Asia, Africa, Central America and South America and it pains me to say the Caribbean (although ‘rum is mi only medicine’ there).
Holy water
Water of life: In the Pyrenees
There are, of course, parts of the world, those where Our Lady has visited, where the water is straight from Heaven.
And yes, I know, that all water comes from the heavens, although a politician in Ireland when I was living there didn’t.
When he railed against the idea of water charges by saying just that ‘that it was’t as if water fell from the heavens’.
The Maryest of Marian sites is, of course, Lourdes, where the Pyrenees water in Cauterets is among the purest and spirited of anywhere.
So be sure to sup from the streams and the waterfalls.
Your own water
Wait for it: Guinness and its magic Irish water
It was always a matter of great pride that your own country had the best water.
And this has always been credited as the magic ingredient of Ireland’s famous Guinness stout.
And Scotch and Irish whisk(e)y.
So now we’re all back out on the road then look out for the taps in towns, and the streams and waterfalls in the country.
And fill up your flasks.
Ditch the plastic
Heat map: Of where is best to drink your water
It also tastes better when it’s not out of a plastic bottle.
And the fishies in the seas, my old pal Mother Turtle Vanessa in the Maldives, and our future generations will thank you.
Be warned too that now we’re all travelling again I’m hardly going to stop here with Holidos and don’ts where to drink the water.
And I’ll back with more Holidos and don’ts… in the blog that’s not all blah, blah, blah.
Well, at least, not the type of blah that will destroy our beautiful blue planet.
Craig Sera Sera, that’s a wrap from the 12th Bond.. and he’ll sure miss those exotic missions.
So which countries has 007 visited most, other than England where he works?
Well of the 50 he’s been to, Italia would seem to have been his favourite with the spy having touched down in Il Bel Paese eight times.
Pasta Master
Venice: And let’s catch a gondola back to Padova
Rome, Venice and Como have inevitably been stick-on locations for any filmmaker and international man of mystery.
And this time it’s the European City of Culture for 2019, Matera, which is getting its place in the sun this time.
With its houses. built into caves, cobbled streets and high arches a dramatic backdrop for the opening scenes.
And Felice Giorni for Matera with the town’s mayor, Raffaello De Ruggieri, predicting its association with Bond will be worth $20 million to the local economy.
In truth this is probably the highpoint of the movie, and all before the credits and Billie Eilish’s disappointing dirge of a soundtrack.
As Daddy’s Little Girl rightly pointed out the best bits were the locales.
Live and Let Spy
Love a duck: At Epcot Centre, Florida
With Britain and America enjoying that much feted special relationship it is unsurprising that The Oo Es of Eh is his next favourite stop-off.
And we particularly enjoy his forays into Florida and its keys… whose pleasures I had to put off on the outbreak of Covid but where I intend to fulfil just as soon as.
Ski another day
Like an Alpine skier: In the Austrian Tyrol
Next up might be less predictable, Austria, but then we have to remember its stunning snowscapes and Bond’s love of winter sports which of course we share.
Although we have never seen him on the slopes of Soll while we have enjoyed skiing alongside some dapper fancied-dressed folks.
And we look forward to seeing a penguin-suited Bond on the piste some time soon.
For Bond anoraks it’s an easy question but which is the only country in a film title?
The spy who came in from the Red
Dance away: Russia
Yes, the old Soviet Union, or Russia as we knew it in shorthand.
And as well as the titular film From Russia With Love, Bond turns up in Fabergeland another three times.
Turkish crossroads
Hamam bam: Istanbul
It has been the crossroads for espionage since first the first looked out over each other at either side of the Bosphorus.
And, of course, Istanbul, has been an ideal backdrop for Bond’s adventures… and yours, and mine with three films taking in Turkey’s biggest city.
Three’s a charm
Limber up: The next Bond?
And among those countries where Bond has a trio of visits is Hong Kong, Spain, the Bahamas, Scotland, his homeland and Jamaica where Ian Fleming penned the books.
And the West Indies’ biggest island is where we first fell in love with Bond on the Laughing Waters beach in Ocho Rios.
Or Sean Connery to be more precise, even if you were a red-blooded bloke, you actually wanted to be him.
Wear a swimsuit: Craig as Bond
And be with Ursula Andress.
There was much fuss too about Daniel Craig with his take on coming out of the water, ripped and in a pair of budgie smugglers.
Well, if it’s good enough for Justin Timberlake who opined: ‘Forget your face, I swear I will, St. Barths, Anguilla anywhere I chill’. An invite then to Netflix and chill in Anguilla with Timberlake and the jet set.
JT isn’t alone in singing the praises of the British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean.
Just dance: Justin Timberlake
Paris Hilton is a fan of the Anguillans and called it her ‘secret island’.
She only revealed this was her dream getaway after she’d left.
Jay-Z and Beyonce decamped to Anguilla in the early days of their courtship.
Paris style: Paris Hilton
While Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy are visitors.
As are Denzel Washington, Liam Neeson, Leo DiCaprio, Sandra Bullock and Michael Jordan.
Yeah: Macca’s going to Anguilla
Although not that we know all at the same time.
For us we are restricted to watching on and living our dreams vicariously through things like Netflix.
Money to throw away: Leo DiCaprio
And such as the World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals Season 2.
Each episode explores one unique, one on a budget and one luxury option from destinations around the world.
On the Waterfront explores the ultra-luxury Long Bay Villas Anguilla.
And thanks to our friends at Anguilla Tourism we are reminded that the prices range from £180 to £24,000+ a night.
Flutter by butterfly
Lie back and think of… Anguilla
The Little Butterfly: And this is a one-bedroom luxury apartment on the mezzanine level of Papillon Villa.
Feel like an emperor or empress butterfly.
Social Butterfly: And you can be one
With a king-sized bedroom and Jacuzzi tub, open-plan living and dining areas, and an outdoor deck with vistas of the Caribbean and the mountains of St Martin. Prices are from £183 per night.
Cove love
Peace and quiet: At the Cove
Fletch’s Cove: Inspired by modern Mexican architecture, Fletch’s Cove is a two-bedroom oceanfront villa which opens onto a pool terrace with views of the Caribbean and the neighbouring islands.
Prices are from £320-£680 per night for two in one bedroom. And from £497-£760 per night for four guests in two bedrooms.
Long and short of it
Walk this way: The Long Bay Villas
Long Bay Villas Anguilla: A celebrity spotters’ dream, only they’re secluded, so you’ll have to shell out the £2,500-£10,600 for your five bedrooms in this 7,000sqft villa complex.
The trio of these villas is title Sand, Sea and Sky… sounds ethereal.
You’ll have an oceanfront terrace with heated infinity pool and hot tub and exquisite living and dining areas.
Five-star bespoke services are provided by the butlers, beach attendants, house keepers and concierges.
Villa thrilla
Light up: The Cerulean
Cerulean Villa: Right, that’s two at our end of the price budget but we do love to dream so here’s the exotic Cerulean Villa.
Sold in a private group basis, this is a nine-bedroom and multiple beachfront 20,000sqft villa.
With dining and lounging terraces, expansive pool deck, infinity pool, tennis courts, private gym and dedicated spa room.
Guests can choose one of two options: Cerulean A La Carte or The Cerulean Experience.
The Cerulean Experience offers a staff of 18 including a private chef.
Prices from £73,200-£124,425 per week for Cerulean A La Carte while prices for the Experience are on application.
Green for go
A corner of a British authority: Anguilla flies high
And the good news is that Anguilla is green from October 4 for fully vaccinated visitors.
British Airways (Gatwick and Heathrow) and Virgin Atlantic (Heathrow) fly out to Antigua followed by a short flight to Anguilla.
We are on UN’s red code to Save the World and 30 years of saltwater welling in my eyes since I first heard Julian Lennon’s song, Rainy Days and Songdays now hails those singers who’ve been addressing the crisis for years.
When will there be?
Sweet music: Isley Brothers
Harvest for the World (Isley Brothers): Gather every man, gather every woman, Celebrate your life, give thanks for your children, gather everyone, gather altogether, overlookin’ none, hopin’ life gets better for the world.
The sonorous tones of Cincinnati, Ohio’s finest, carry on them a wonderfully stripped-back message we can all take on board.
My own focus on Cincinnati has been honed since sending one of my writers there back in the day.
I’d plan out the travel pieces they came back with early in the week for the weekend publication and was relaxing in the Dylan Hotel, Amsterdam (as you do) having mapped out the early draft.
When said writer texted me in a panic saying I’d misspelt Cincinnati and that this was jeopardising his contacts with them.
Despite it, of course, being an early draft and me being back in the office two days later. Hey ho, between us we gave the Cincinnatians what they wanted a justifiable celebration of their city.
‘They took all the trees and put ’em in a tree museum and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em’ refers to the Foster Botanical Garden in downtown Honolulu.
Encroaching tourism is as big, if not bigger, threat than when Joni and the other hippies were trailing a blaze. Go and see it before they ruin it.
