Caribbean Archives - Page 4 of 18 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

400 years of Will’s World

10th November 202310th November 2023 funtime65

And as if we need an excuse it’s 400 years of Will’s World… excellent, party on, as we mark four centuries since his folios were first published.

And as the companion the BBC will no doubt ask me for, to support the fine Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius series, here’s his go-to sets.

Anyone for Venice

Venice: The republic of Venice with its rich maritime empire and narrow, sinister alleyways was fertile ground for Will.

And where he set The Merchant of Venice (the clue is in the title) and Othello, studies in anti-semitism and racism.

The lagoon city’s labyrinthine closes remain relatively unchanged since Will’s day.

So visitors with any literary knowledge can conjure up Iago and Cassio, and in the Ghetto the money-lender Shylock.

The prints of Denmark

Kronborg Castle, Denmark: And the inspiration for Will’s most celebrated creation and play Hamlet.

A lookout post at the Royal Danish Castle of Elsinore… between northern Jutland and modern-day Sweden.

Where every summer the Danes put on the play… wherein we’ll catch the conscience of the king of theatre.

Where it be done

Scotland: Where it be done it be done quickly, to misquote Will and Lady Macbeth.

The newly amalgamated Scotland is naturally the setting for Will’s new project, the glorification of King James I of Great Britain.

And helpfully for us he namechecks those dramatic places in the north… Inverness, Dunsinane, Cawdor and Glamis Castle.

Athens is a classic

Spoiled and ruined: At the Acropolis in Athens

Athens: And you’d think that any focus would be on the play which references the classical Greek city, Timon of Athens.

But that tale of the Athenian who squanders his riches on parasitic companions until he is poor and they reject him.

But for real Atheniana we turn to Midsummer’s Night Dream where four Athenian lovers are manipulated by fairies.

Shakespearabbean

Bermuda: And to show that Will’s World, like his imagination, stretched far and wide we’ll take you to an exotic island.

Of course we know Will liked a foreign isle for his characters’ adventures.

From Othello’s travels in Cyprus among others.

While we know too from our own peregrinations in Tenerife that Shakespeare was fond of Canarian wine.

But it was Bermuda where Will sent Prospero.

Inspired by William Strachey’s letter on the shipwreck of the Sea Venture off Bermuda in 1609.

Caribbean, Countries

Joel has the whole world in his hands

7th November 20237th November 2023 funtime65

You know when you’ve been greeted with the warmest shake in cricket… Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner has the whole world in his hands.

Even when a cheeky Scot asks him how the once impregnable West Indies could have lost to Scotland.

And would it not be better if he and his fellow Bajan Collis King here at the World Travel Market in London got their whites back on?

All-rounder Collis has, in truth, never stopped, still turning out at 72!

Take a seat

The two cricketing legends are sat at the booth in the Barbados section of the World Travel Market at the Excel in London Docklands.

And they are telling me that the problem with West Indian cricket is the administrators.

Weeding out global warming

The Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Ian Gooding-Edghill has shaken me warmly by the hand and congratulated Scotland on that famous win.

We have shared cricket memories (he has naturally more) and I am reminded how accessible and chilled Bajan politicians are.

And how I met his predecessor at the Kennington Oval and the minister dressed up in casual Bermuda top and shorts.

Bajans can pull off the look in a way British politicians just can’t… Rishi Sunak just with his sleeves rolled up is enough to make you dizzy.

Pleasantries aside I have come to ask the Minister how Barbados is addressing the unwelcome build-up of seaweed on its shores.

Something that had taken me by surprise when I last visited last year for the Barbados Celtic Festival.

The big Bajan clean-up

The Minister has a novel interview manner, actually answering the question, in a way that will never take on in Britain.

He tells me that the problem abates at this time of the year.

But that the government and the hotel and hospitality industry are committed to cleaning up the shores.

To make sure that we all enjoy the Bajan experience and its golden beaches and sapphire sea.

In with the Bajan bricks

I have taken up more than my fair share of the Minister’s time.

And probably exhausted their patience… so I lap up the Cou Cou (Ruby taught me how in Club Barbados).

So it’s probably best I didn’t suggest to Joel that his giant hands would be major benefits in scooping up seaweed.

And then truly I could say Joel has the whole world in his hands.

You see, ever since I found my name ‘Murty’ next to Rihanna ‘Fenty’ on the Building Wall of Barbados I think I am in with the Bajan bricks.

America, Asia, Caribbean, Countries, Deals, Europe

Every day’s a Tropical Sky schoolday

30th October 202331st October 2023 funtime65

Now as I’ve still so much to learn I rely on the dream-makers, our holiday providers, to teach me… and I know that every day’s a Tropical Sky schoolday.

Because Tropical Sky it was who schooled me in snorkelling after earlier false starts in Barbados.

I’ve picked up a number of other attributes on the way.

Keeeeep dancin’: With Judy Murray in Portugal

Learning to play tennis like a grand slam champion from Judy Murray in Quinta da Lago on the Algarve.

Ride like Roy Rogers in the Wild West and cling onto a tub on the rapids in Colorado.

Paint like Picasso in Tobago though I kept reaching for the mixing pot to drink out of habit thinking it was rum.

Or cook like Craddock and bake like Berry anywhere between my old stomping ground of Co. Wicklow and the States.

All these skills and a few more, tobogganing, scootering, paddel (a hybrid between squash and tennis) and paddle boarding I’ve also picked up along the way.

Although I was for once tongue-tied when asked to blow my own trumpet (still to do that one) by the inimitable Marsha in Tobago.

Picture perfect: With SLM & Marsha in Tobago

When she asked our party what we were good at.

And while my colleague (and her favourite) Vic wowed her with his acumen in building his own house.

My claims of being a poet from my time at the Edinburgh Fringe didn’t impress her and she pipes up: ‘Jim, you got no skills.’

Of course I showed off me skills while seeing off Vic at the goat racing with Marsha watching. No kiddin’!

All of which came to mind while browsing through the list of activity holidays Tropical Sky have to offer in their latest mail drop.

Antigua, set and match

Curtain Bluff hotel, Antigua: Anyone for learning tennis, and the five-star Curtain Bluff Hotel, in verdant Antigua.

Look out for Antigua Tennis Week each Spring and Tennis Challenge Week in November.

A seven-night AI stay at Curtain Bluff Hotel, with flights from London Gatwick, arriving 20 May, is from £3,679 pps.

Curry favours in Sri Lanka

Anantara Kalutara Resort, Sri Lanka: Now I’ve another of my go-to holiday providers, G Adventures, to thank for teaching me the secrets of curry making.

Not all of them mind, I could still do with Spices Cooking School at Anantara Kalutara Resort to fill in the rest.

Their interactive classes see you explore the spice markets with the chef and pick out the ingredients before tucking into your meal with Prosecco.

A seven-nighter, arriving 12 June is from £1,629 pps half-board with return flights from London Heathrow.

Cookery classes can be booked for an additional cost of £124 pp.

Wild West Hero

Tanque Verde Ranch, Arizona: Now forgive me if I retell the story of how I ran into a cowboy ex-Aberdeen University classmate in the baking sun on the Great Plains.

And I asked him as he taught me how to ride a horse if he missed the sub-zero temperatures of the north-east of Scotland.

Now Tropical tell us that nestled amidst the desert and mountains of Tucson is the Tanque Verde Ranch.

A six-nighter at Tanque Verde Ranch, arriving 12 June from £2,649 pps, sharing a Road Runner Sala on full board basis.

With return flights from London Heathrow with Tropical sister company www.americansky.co.uk).

Painter Lucia

Anse Chastenet: In St Lucia is a long way from Joe Reilly’s art class painting apples that looked like men’s parts.

As it happens it took my Tobagonian pals to make an artist of me and show that I could paint… in this case a mill.

The Anse Chastenet is nestled within a 600-acre estate with beaches, coral reefs and views of the Pitons.

Let artist Naja Misaki Simeon take you on a group class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays or opt for private sessions for a fee.

A seven-nighter AI at Anse Chastanet, arriving 12 June, is from £2,449 pps with return flights from London Gatwick.

Atoll order

Fushifaru Maldives: Now what to do when you’re caught between a coral and a hard place.

As I was in Kuramathi when swallowing water I tried to stop on the Indian Ocean floor.

Only to be scolded for killing the coral while it was cutting my feet!!

Snorkelling was my limit but if you want to extend yourself to scuba diving Best Dives at Fushifaru Maldives will show you how.

A seven-nighter AI at Fushifaru Maldives, arriving 20 May is from £3,299pps with return flights from London Heathrow.

And for my Tobagonian pal Marsha’s information.

Asia, Caribbean, Countries, Europe

The day the world’s cats are feline good

29th October 20231st November 2023 funtime65

Moggieday, Moggieday, so good to me, and with apologies to the Moggies and Papas, today is the day the world’s cats are feline good.

And we have animal activist Coleen Paige to thank for pushing to have a national day for cats in 2005.

To go along with National Dog Day in 2004 (see, you can love both), and National Puppy Day in March 2006.

Now, we’ve all been there on our travels when we’ve had kitties cuddle up to our legs and made us feel welcome.

So on this, National Cat Day, indulge us while we share some puss pics from our travels.

How Bazaar

Istanbul: And our feline friends in Istanbul are the type of learned bunch TS Eliot would take to.

As we found out when we went shopping in the most historic and enchanting row of stores and stalls in this magical city on the Bosphorus.

Where you’ll find moggies sprawled out over books on the counter… cat lit if you like.

The Catmino

Tenerife: And when you need someone to show you the way then you could do worse than follow the cats.

Because they know their way around, of course.

Mind you this furball in Tenerife knew better than to take to the open paths in the baking hot sun of our CaminoWays trek back in the day.

Furza Italia

Rome: Moggie mia… you’ll spot your gatti Italiani because of their swagger.

As they amble past you on your 100km walk from Lazio into Rome on your Via Francigena.

I guess that’s why they call Rome the Eternal Kitty.

Desert cats

Jordan: Now we all know about the camel, the ‘ship of the desert’.

But our furry low-maintenance feline friends we found on our G Adventures adventure are adaptable to any terrain.

And they make a better sleeping companion under the stars in the Wadi Rum.

The Cattybbean

Fur he’s a jolly good fella: Kitty fun in Barbados

Barbados: And we all know that the cat rules the roost, or at least that’s how it is here where the mother-in-law’s moggie Mishka is on holiday.

And it is certainly the case in St Nicholas Abbey, ancestral home of the Cumberbatches (yes those Cumberbatches).

Where I had to give way on my Bajan Scottish odyssey because the top cat on the island is this furry fella.

America, Caribbean, Culture, Deals

Thanks a reptilian

21st October 202321st October 2023 funtime65

Ever since that snake tempted Eve they’ve had the worst wrap but today is their day when we say thanks a reptilian.

And reflect that we seek out our slidey pals around the world.

How else do we explain our endless fascination with the biggest reptile of them all, the donosaur… and nothing slidey there.

Now for an extinct species Dino doesn’t half get around.

And he has adapted to our modern world, taking to the climes and surrounds of Florida and California.

Where he has been known to like petting at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando.

Dino saw it

While kids, and big kids alike, love to pore over their bones.

At any number of museums around the world where they are the centrepieces.

Now we all know about the Natural History Museum in New York.

With its own underground stop for those rainy days to entertain the kids and keep them dry.

Dino pals: At the Yale Peabody in New Haven

Dino, we all know looms large in the movie A Night At The Museum.

But did we know that Yale Peabody Museum inspired Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton and that New Haven in Connecticut is Dino central.

Now the big fella and his pals seem to have a habit of following us around.

Where it’s reassuring to know that you can mingle with dinosaurs at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas.

While brunching on barbecue and Margaritas.

And Dino’s pals

Now there are millions of reptiles between Big Dino, Terry and Tessie turtle in Barbados.

And Mother Turtle and Gordon the Gecko, my own wee pal from the Maldives.

And they all deserve our respect as they form a key part in the natural cycle and are friendlier than you’d think.

So thanks a reptilian to all of you on your day of appreciation.

From lizards, snakes and chameleons through alligators, crocodiles, tortoises and turtles.

Asia, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising

Yacht join the fast set like Beyoncé

22nd September 202322nd September 2023 funtime65

We’re working ourselves up to the David Geffen or Diddy class and we imagine you’re the same… really, yacht join the fast set like Beyoncé.

One of the many advantages of travelling the world is getting wined and dined in exotic locations.

Where the super rich have been before.

And royalty, with Princess Margaret (Queen Elizabeth’s party-loving wee sis) christening the sea around Tobago on her honeymoon Nylon Pool.

As it’s so clear it resembled nylon stockings.

While we stood on that Caribbean sea bank Mags had probably done and can Geffen or Jeff Bezos or Barry Diller or Diddy.

Well, probably but we reckon if you’ve got the facilities of the world’s most expensive yacht, Geff’s $590m superyacht, you’ll stay on board.

Yacht to party with us

Of course, you don’t have to have the keys to a super yacht to enjoy yourself.

Or be the king and queen of hip hop like Diddy and Beyoncé to enjoy a good oul’ sing song.

Because give me a captain’s hat and a boom box on the Bosphorus and they say my name, say my name.

While whether you’re Bandanaman, Joe or Joanna Public or a diva the sunset is still the same around the Maldives.

And would you get a superstar going off piste and trying to cross disputed territory between Jordan and Israel on the Red Sea?

Geff’s gaff

But because we know you want to look through the keyhole to see how the super rich play we’re jumping on board with Ritzy Charters.

RC scoped Geff’s gaff to show us 82 (count them) rooms.

The yacht can accommodate around 18 guests and 55 crew members.

With a basketball court, wine cellar and an impressive luxurious cinema.

Yacht to see the others

Bezos’s tub on the sea is second most expensive at $500m and is the largest sailing yacht on the planet.

The Y721, also named Koru (Māori for strength, new life and peace) boasts a great-sized pool on its deck.

And accommodation for up to 18 guests and 40 crew members with Māori art to the fore.

Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller have a $200 million Eos super yacht rippling the waves.

Now if you’re lucky enough to be one of their 14 guests you’ll be bowled over by their glass staircase, a 14-foot world map, a jacuzzi and a figurehead of Diane.

Now for only $120m the VENUS yacht of Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell ticks all the boxes.

The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six cabins and 22 crew members in 14 cabins.

And eek, the vessel’s annual running cost is around $10-$15m!

The Diddy of them all

The fifth most expensive celebrity-owned yacht is The Maraya, owned by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ and Beyoncé’s Maraya is only fifth dearest.

And guess what, he rents out the $65 million superyacht for $300,000 per week.

But you can always split that among your 12 guests at a time in six cabins.

And as you’d expect there’s all mod cons such as a sundeck jacuzzi, gym and wellness area, not to mention its very own chef.

Really, yacht join the fast set like Beyoncé.

But if you can’t make the most of what you’ve got.

Caribbean, Countries, Ireland

How we say goodbye

25th August 202323rd August 2023 funtime65

It says much about a culture how we say goodbye to our loved ones.

And as we bid farewell to our Dear Old Mum today, some thoughts on what we’ve picked up from our travels.

Now some cultures like to go big and bold and brash but we prefer simple and serene.

Teasy will announce herself on the family stone with her name and dates… and she’ll stand out.

Hers is a plot in Glenfin, Co. Donegal and you’ll know it’s Ireland by the Gaelic Football pitch backing onto the graveyard.

May you be in heaven

Water of life: With Mum at Doon Well, Donegal

The Irish, of course, have a healthy approach to death and their own funeral service website RIP.ie, from which Britons can learn.

With their wakes, party funeral receptions and a care for graveyards which we have forgotten on this side of the Irish Sea.

And their uplifting scripts and you may recognise this one.

‘May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.’

Sunrise and Sunset

Perhaps it’s an island thing although Britain seems to have missed that memo.

Because our Caribbean chums also have a healthy attitude to the passage from this world to the next.

Now I don’t know who Tobagonian Emily McDougall is but you’d have to think she has Scottish descent.

But her gravestone will draw visitors to stop and reflect because of the inscription.

A heart-shaped sign as you can see with a tribute which recognises nature and a sunny people.

By dating her to Sunrise and Sunset.

And because you all know that I’m an unrepentant cribber I have let it be known that I want that too when my time comes.

Wit and wisdom

Slab and tickle: Some gravestone laughs in Co. Wicklow

Of course there are those who use wit to soften the blow for those of us who are left… it’s how we say goodbye.

With Spike Milligan, of Goons fame, instructing family to insert this message to be put in his stone…

Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite which translates as ‘I told you I was ill’.

Which Billy Connolly has finessed by joking on one of his many travelogues as ‘You’re standing on my head.’

Now we all have our ways and drift off on our travels and one of my Dear Old Dad‘s was graveyards.

And it’s something we share and I seek out wherever I go.

You know find out about a place by going to where the locals play and pray.

And of course whenever I want to be with my Mum from now on I know where she’ll be, back in her heavenly home of Brockagh, Co. Donegal.

Caribbean, Countries

Next year for the Jamaican Republic

6th August 2023 funtime65

Yeah mon it’s independence day so here’s an irie and a toast of rum… next year for the Jamaican Republic.

Jamaica has taken the torch from Barbados in their fight for the ultimate freedom of electing their own head of state.

And dispose of a white royal family from a small Northern European island which enslaved them.

And who clumsily believed that sending their ‘golden couple’ William and Kate out to Jamaica to pat them on their heads would do the trick.

Looking down on them from their raised platform, bedecked in ill-deserved medals, uniforms, chic gowns and jewellery.

Unsurprisingly the Jamaicans ratcheted up their opposition to the monarchy during the annus royabilis that was this year’s coronation of King Charles.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness signalled his government’s intentions poignantly the same week the world commemorates Martin Luther King.

A referendum for freedom

And yes, it’s not lost on separatists on this northern part of Britain, or Scotlandshire, as it’s known by unionists.

Who have denied the elected Scottish government their right to put to the people a referendum their own future.

Scotland’s links to Jamaica are, of course, strong…

It’s in the Saltire in their flag, the Scottish names of Jamaicans and their celebration of Robert Burns and ceilidh music

And that is why there will be a celebration among Scots when Jamaica fully reclaims its country from white British imperialism.

A Jamaican party

When in true Caribbean style the Jamaicans will want to outdo their West Indian friends, in this case the Bajans.

Who had the only Queen of Barbados, Robyn Rihanna Fenty, front and centre when they split on July 27, 2021.

Caribbean Jim: And I’m in with the bricks

Yes, that Fenty, Rihanna, whose name is marked alongside another great name from the Builders of Barbados Wall in Bridgetown… Murty.

So that’s the challenge… find space for me too in Kingston for your celebrations next year for the Jamaican republic.

Caribbean, Countries

Twinning and winning in the Caribbean

28th June 2023 funtime65

Island hopping takes many forms but whichever you take you’ll be twinning and winning in the Caribbean.

Arguments abound as to what qualifies as ticking off a country on your list.

And American states too with my friend and mentor, the inimitable doyen of Irish travel writing, Eoghan Corry telling me he’d racked up 49 states.

My 16 seemed puny alongside that and I confess that some have been fly-through or drive-through.

Plane speaking

While my Caribbean island hopping extends to a flight layover for a clean-up on St Lucia en route to Tobago.

We, of course, don’t want you to have to bump up your experience when you’re keeping up with the Joneses, or Smiths.

When SunGroup Hotels has a Barbados and St Lucia twin holiday which is twice the fun.

Sugar rum rum

Our cup of tea: And sugar at the Sugar Cane

The 4* Sugar Cane Club is located in Speightstown on Barbados’s Platinum Coast.

And you can avail of an all-inclusive or room only option.

And enjoy the in-hotel hospitality and entertainment.

With Sandy’s Chattel Bar and Restaurant serving Oistins Stuffed Flying Fish or the Six Mens Coconut Shrimp.

Bus, bike and boat

You like your rum, and limin’, then Sugar Cane Club offers shuttle services to the Sand Street Beach Club & Bistro.

While for the more active then the hotel offers mountain bikes to explore the island.

And, of course, the best ride on any island is limin’ on a boat and get out and spot you a turtle.

And the Sugar Cane Club offers a complimentary Glass Bottom Boat tour.

For every guest at the Sugar Cane Club & Spa, when staying 7 nights or more.

Hills and thrills

Anyone who has flown over, stopped off, or stayed will wax lyrical about the mountainous marvel that is St Lucia.

And all-inclusive Bel Jou Hotel sits atop a hill with vistas of the Caribbean and the island’s capital of Castries.

Again the tastes of the island are to the fore and we’ll always be taken by a restaurant by the name of Kilibwe.

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

Creole for Hummingbird, and we do love to share our table with these fluttering fliers.

And Bel Jou also want you to get out to explore the island.

Which is why they offer a shuttle that runs five days a week.

Where sunbeds are provided by a local vendor free of charge.

Guests can even make a whole day of it and organise a packed lunch to take with them for just $10 per person.

SunGroup Hotels are what they say on the tin and they will group your island stays together so check out their site for best offers.

And you’ll be twinning and winning in the Caribbean.

Caribbean, Countries, UK

Windrush Windies change

22nd June 202323rd June 2023 funtime65

Seventy-five years ago Jamaicans were lured from their island in the sun to dark, drizzly Britain beckoning the Windrush Windies change.

Now, of course, we’re all saving like mad here in Britain to get out to Jamaica.

Of course, this observation is in no way to diminish the ignominy done to those who answered ‘the motherland’s’ call.

Only for large swathes to then be told that they had no right to be here and must go ‘home’.

Jamaica, of course, has been reflecting on its relationship with the UK and whether it wants to retain the King as head of state.

Probably didn’t help then to have two entitled and bejewelled young white people thrust on them in an elevated vehicle.

A Windies welcome

It has always struck me in my journeys through the West Indies and dealings with Caribbean representatives.

Just how easy and welcoming they are with white Brits.

Because can you imagine the furore if the roles had been reversed.

And Britons had been enslaved and then exploited in the Caribbean?

Well, the Scots Highlanders were taken from their crofts.

And had forced labour inflicted on them as indentured servants.

As did the Irish which was then also under British rule.

Scotland and Ireland: Me and Michael in Barbados

Of course, the Scottish and Irish experience, as stark as it was, was not on the scale of the slavery the black African had to endure.

And it was conflicted with many of our own acting as overseers and benefiting hugely from the degradations of black slaves.

Something, it is shameful to say we refuse to remove in the statues of slave apologists and in street names.

Now, I’m relieved to have discovered that not all Scots were exploitative.

Our Caribbean dream

And surely the Murtys, who made their name onto the Building Wall in Bridgetown, Barbados were benefactors.

I have an open invitation, well I am on the wall alongside the Fentys (Rihanna’s people) to return to research my family’s place in Bajan history.

Of course retracing your roots can often uncover secrets.

As I found out when I researched my own family tree and discovered that a great-great-something grandparent had another family.

Seventy-five years ago there was a Windrush Windies change which blew our way in the UK.

It is undeniable that we are a better and richer society for those who answered our call in our hour of need and their descendants.

And it is to their eternal credit that despite what we have inflicted on them over generations they welcome us with open arms in their islands.

So Vive La Revolution Jamaica when you inevitably follow Barbados in cutting ties with the British monarchy.

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD