Culture Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Where there’s a Will, there’s an Irish, you will, you will, you will

12th June 2026 funtime65

Ok, so this is a bit of a laboured Irish ink to Shakespeare country (what’s new, you say) but where there’s a Will, there’s an Irish you will, you will, you will.

Is it just me (again, probably) but I could just see Father Ted’s char lady Mrs Doyle in one of Shakespeare’s comedies?

But certainly Irish actors were the go-to for Chloe Zhao when she was casting Hamnet, the moving film around the death of the son of Will and Anne (or Agnes).

With Jessie Buckley scoring an Oscar for Best Actress opposite Irish compatriot Paul Mescal.

Stratford on the map

While all the world’s a stage and millions’ focus is centred on footballers running around the field, hopefully with a football attached, let’s not forget the other players.

The ones that put Stratford-on-Avon in the Heart of England on the map.

Our friends at Institute for Culture Travel have put together a mini-break to Shakespeare Country.

Because each of us must play our part.

Its Oxford, Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds trip departs on August 9 and will set you back €1,189pps, with a single supplement €259.

Will’s World

Cottage industry: Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

You’ll base yourself in Stratford, perfect to explore Will’s World and the heritage connected to his life and times.

Now, if you’re worried, having mugged up on Will that you’ll be put in his second best bed.

Like the fate of poor Agnes, who was bequeathed this in his last will and testament.

King of the castle: Or queen in Warwick Castle

Then don’t be… your three nights will be spent in the lush 4* Crowne Plaza Hotel.

So boiled all down you can look forward to…

Return flights from Dublin, taxes and transfers
Three nights in the 4* Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon with breakfast
Four lunches and one evening meal
Entrance to Warwick Castle
Full-day excursion to Oxford and Blenheim Palace
Visit to Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
Excursion through the scenic villages of the Cotswolds
Private transfers and local guide throughout.

Countries, Culture, Europe, Sport

You can be straight at Valencia’s Gay Games

3rd June 20263rd June 2026 funtime65

Las Fallas brings out the sniggering schoolboy in all of us which only proves you can be straight in Valencia’s Gay Games.

The 12th iteration of the GG, which dates back to 1982, will be held under the sun from June 27-July 4.

And here’s the interesting thing, straights are welcome to compete, which is as it should be.

Just like modern Modern Games are now inclusive, so are Gay Games.

All of which is in keeping with the original Olympians in Ancient Greece.

For whom brotherly love in combat was a blood bond.

Ya dancer

GG features many of the events we know and love from Olympic Games in its 39-sports roster.

But which self-respecting Gay Games could not include DanceSport, same-sex ballroom?

Or The Pink Flamingo, a playful team event combining aquatics, theatre, and comedy.

Or cheerleading… Ole Valencia.

Spectators too are included with everybody encouraged to join in the 3km International Rainbow Memorial Run.

There’s music, fashion, film and The Memorial Quilt Exhibition and countless other events.

Transvia the way to go

Our amigos at Transviasport are the go-to travel providers for the Games.

With Olympia Ronda I and II coming in at €66 and €68 a night.

Our amigos in Valencia have helpfully mapped out the best places to enjoy ourselves while we’re there.

With the gay-friendly Piccadilly Downtown Club in Ruzafa a magnet for indie, pop, rock, and disco fans.

Or Deseo 54 in the Sagunto District, for international house and pop and commercial music.

If it’s cocktails and cakes you’re after, and it always is, then Cafe de las Horas in El Carmen District.

And which combines old palatial stables with a baroque design in a cosmopolitan atmosphere.

A Fetish for fun

Hand in hand: Through Valencia’s streets

While how could the Fetish Morning’s Social Club not stop us in our tracks?

Popular after party for the LGBTI+ crowd.

Which despite its name is not a fetish club and is welcome to mixed ages.

And with that we’re away to train… for the cocktails and the dancing.

Countries, Deals, Europe, Music

Good times with CHIC in Marbella

2nd June 2026 funtime65

Leave your cares behind, these are the good times in Marbella with CHIC at the Starlite Occident Festival.

Rick Astley and John Legend will also be there and Kool & The Gang and Lenny Kravitz and rock legends Deep Purple.

And you can be too and stay at the best billet at the El Fuerte Marbella, 15 minutes from the festival site.

Stars come out at night

The only 5* in Marbella Old Town, built in 1957 and reimagined in 2023, has long been a favoured retreat for the stars.

With Penélope Cruz and Walt Disney among the famous names to have stayed within its walls.

Now in its 14^th iteration, Starlite Occident has earned its reputation as one of Europe’s most exclusive boutique festivals.

The best arenas we know are of the open-air amphitheatre.

And Occident is set within a former quarry.

Music to our ears

Beyond the music, the festival is billed as a complete lifestyle experience.

With award-winning restaurants including Tanabata, Temazo, Sandra’s Caviar Bar and Ánima.

Plus the Starlite Night Club, where DJs and special performances keep the party going into the early hours.

Highlights of the 2026 line-up include Lenny Kravitz (29 June), Gipsy Kings (3 July), Maroon 5 (7 July), Rick Astley (10 July), Anastacia (14 July), John Legend (20 July), Kool & The Gang (23 July) and Nile Rodgers & CHIC (26 August).

El of an hotel

El Fuerte Marbella’s quiet elegance is evident throughout the hotel, where each space reflects a balance of style and comfort.

The rooms and suites feature chic design with a soothing, relaxed feel, thoughtful amenities and Molton Brown products.

Take a dip in either or both of the two swimming pools set in landscaped gardens – including one reserved for adults.

An outdoor hot tub, a beach club, a gym, and inviting indoor-outdoor areas that flow seamlessly together.

For guests seeking wellness experiences, Spa by Clarins offers a subterranean haven.

With a serene, low-lit hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room and six treatment rooms.

Feed your soul

El Fuerte Marbella has a strong emphasis on gastronomy, showcasing local Andalucian ingredients wherever possible.

A sumptuous breakfast buffet at Soleo Beach Club is complemented with views of the Med, and tastes, in Le Marché.

Levante takes guests on a culinary journey that combines Andalucia’s abundant pantry with global ingredients.

And, of course, for celebrity watchers, the El Puerto Deportivo hotspot is also nearby.

Make my Day

El Fuerte Marbella has introduced a brand-new Day Pass experience for 2026.

Priced from €79.50pp, the pass offers non-resident guests access to an exclusive premium sunbed by the pool.

Or the beach from 11am-7pm, plus entry to the hotel’s VIP area.

Even better, 50% of the booking value is included as credit to spend at Bar Levante.

Prices at El Fuerte Marbella start from €390 per night in a Standard Double, with breakfast included for two people.

Countries, Deals, Music, UK

London Paddington Musical tour which is simply the zest

30th May 202630th May 2026 funtime65

And here’s something to get your teeth into… the London Paddington Musical Tour which is simply the zest.

Now nobody has done more to promote the orange-flavoured preserve than the Peruvian teddy bear.

Apart maybe for Elizabeth Windsor although I’d pitch Dundonian James Keiller.

As it was Jamesie who invented the first commercial marmalade as far back as 1797.

All of which you can chew on as you follow in the Great Bear’s paw steps around London.

With our pals at Irish holiday provider Keith Prowse Attractions.

Meet the Browns

You’ll join Paddington on a journey from ‘deepest, darkest Peru’ to London and revel in his misadventures.

KP is also offering packages including tickets to the interactive Paddington Bear Experience on London’s South Bank.

Where your mission is to save Marmalade Day.

The Paddington Bear Experience has recreated the whole world from the moment you arrive at Paddington Station.

And take the train to meet the Browns at 32 Windsor Gardens.

Deepest, darkest Peru

What makes this trip extra tangy is that you’ll be transported to Peru.

To retrieve oranges and turn them into marmalade on Montgomery Clyde’s marmalade making machine.

All to serve the Marmalade Day Festival Street Party at Windsor Gardens where you’ll be Paddington’s guest of honour.

A nice appetiser, of course, for the main fare, your Paddington the Musical spectacular at The Savoy.

Bearly believable deals

ESCAPE TO LONDON WITH PADDINGTON!:

July 17-19 from €319pps

Package includes:

Ticket to The Paddington Bear™ Experience
2 nights at the President Hotel
Breakfast included

SEE PADDINGTON LIVE ON STAGE!:

May 21-23 2027 from €497pps

Package includes:

Stalls ticket to Paddington the Musical
2 nights at the Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington
Breakfast included

THE ULTIMATE PADDINGTON WEEKEND:

November 6-8 from €592pps

Package includes:

Ticket to The Paddington Bear™ Experience
Stalls Ticket to Paddington The Musical
2 nights at the Royal National Hotel
Breakfast included

FAMILY PADDINGTON ADVENTURE IN LONDON:

December 16-19 from €2,564 per family (2 adults & 2 kids)

Package includes:

Tickets to The Paddington Bear Experience
Stalls Tickets to Paddington The Musical
2 nights at the Hilton London Metropole (Family Room)
Breakfast included

*Flights can be added at time of booking for best price options

Countries, Culture, Sport, UK

Stonehenge really did host the first football match

22nd May 202622nd May 2026 funtime65

And who hasn’t speculated that the stones make perfect goals, well perhaps we weren’t wrong after all and Stonehenge really did host the first football match.

We’ve come a long way, of course, since the old slabs of stone were put up in the west of England.

And each generation has added to the legend of Stonehenge by putting their own spin on it.

The latest comes from Win Scutt, who oversees Stonehenge for English Heritage.

And he believes our prehistorians ancestors held sporting gatherings there some 4,500 years ago.

To go along with the religious or ceremonial occasions, giving tribute to the elements and praying for nature’s rewards.

Greece is the word

Hellas for leather: Rhodes Ancient Games

Now Winn references the Classic Greeks, always makes you come across as knowledgeable,.

He says: ‘I think there were probably games, just like the Panhellenic Games.’

But despite being a prehistoric nerd, he seems steeped too in the modern world.

As he proffers that our forbears might have been participating in a reality TV type contest.

‘I think there might have been a sport in getting these stones here,’ he said.

‘Teams of people, a bit of competition, a challenge.’

Cursus games

No VAR: Stonehenge football. Pic: Kintish website

With the wind in his sails by now.

Awith historian Dan Snow on his tail for his TV docu Stonehenge: The Discovery with Dan Snow, he lets loose.

‘With the Stonehenge Cursus (circle), I think we should at least consider that this was not simply a route or a boundary,’ he added.

‘It may have been a place of gathering, display, movement and performance, perhaps even competition.’

The next goal

Can you dig it? Archaeology at Stonehenge

All of which tempts us to pay another visit to the old stones.

We are, of course, a little blase about standing stones (one of the old father-in-law’s fave days out).

With the Callanish Stones in Lewis and the Orcadian Ring of Brodgar up here in Scotland.

While the older Avebury standing stones, near to where my own Druid goddess was raised in Berkshire is our New Age go-to site when we head to her relatives.

But we’ll promise ourselves now to hang a turn to the Stonehenge Visitor Centre and of course I always have a football in the boot of the car just in case.

Countries, Culture, Europe, Music

Good night Vienna

16th May 2026 funtime65

It promises to be a good night Vienna with Eurovision but we’re going high-brow here with Andrea Bocelli and our old pals at Institute for Culture Travel.

With the Italian tenor the centrepiece of a four-nighter tour of the grand old Austrian capital.

Where you’ll take in grand palaces, historic streets, manicured public gardens and charming street cafes.

It’s fitting that Vienna is hosting Eurovision, in spite of all its chintz.

As there are few cities with quite the classical heritage as the Austrian gem.

With Schubert, Strauss, Schoenberg and Berg all born here.

And Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Brahms and Mahler choosing Vienna as their home.

Time to say hi, hi

Rock me Amadeus: With Mozart in Salzburg

Bocelli’s turn on August 22 is part of his Romanza 30th Anniversary World Tour.

Bocelli will be accompanied by a full orchestra and choir, delivering an evening of beloved classics.

Especially selections from Romanza, the album that launched his global career with hits like Con te partiro and Time to Say Goodbye.

All in a grand open-air setting filled with emotion and musical excellence.

Your Discover Imperial Vienna & Andrea Bocelli in Concert tour comes in at from €1369pps with a booking deposit of €650pp.

Tour de force

ICT will ensure you’ll have to do nothing but sing your little hearts out with a package including:

Return flights from Dublin
Three nights’ accommodation at the 4★ Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn, including daily breakfast
Welcome drink at your hotel
Evening dinner on day one
Guided panoramic coach tour of Vienna, showcasing the city’s grand architecture and historic highlights
Visit to the Johann Strauss House, celebrating the life and music of the legendary “Waltz King”
Traditional Viennese café experience, immersing you in the city’s celebrated coffeehouse culture
Visit the Hofburg Palace and Sisi Apartments
Three-course pre-concert dinner at a carefully selected local restaurant
Evening concert performance by Andrea Bocelli, an unforgettable night of music
Coach transportation and professional guide services for all transfers and excursions

Countries, Europe, Music

Calvin and Capaldi are acceptable in the Maltese

7th May 20267th May 2026 funtime65

And because pop tourists keep coming back it’s why Calvin and Capaldi are acceptable in the Maltese.

The Scots singing superstars are hitting the Med party island this August.

And yes it is down with the kids, and the old kids.

Oh my Daze

Our Irish holidaymakers friends Cassidy Travel have put together packages for us around the gigs.

SummerDaze is one of Europe’s premier music festivals.

And brings visitors live open-air performances from global stars.

So we guess this is what you came for and who knows Dumfries DJ Cal may even bring Rihanna with her.

While if Lew is someone you loved then you will be happy he’s back since his Glastonbury meltdown.

And ready to give you a bleeding good time in front of the Maltese masses.

Someone Lew loved

Now you can give yourself a single helping of Lew.

And are broken by desire to be heavenly sent, whatever that means.

Then Cassidy will give you four nights of SummerDaze Malta with flights and concert ticket included from August 9.

And you’ll stay at the 4* Bora Bora Ibiza Malta Resort at €499pps.

While because we know Cassidy Travel is always thinking of you and it is summer.

Calvin callin’

You can book yourself a four-nighter around Calvin Harris from August 14 with flights and concert ticket included.

Staying at the 3* Lady Todd Hotel at €599pps.

While if you can’t choose between the two then Cassidy puts on a seven-nighter covering both superstars.

From August 10 with flights and concert tickets included.

Staying at the 3* Lady Todd Hotel at €849pps.

Countries, Ireland, Music

Fleadh a note to follow so

27th April 2026 funtime65

And now you know how it’s pronounced we’re ready to sing the praises of the Fleadh a note to follow so, and this year’s host city Belfast.

The grand old city will be hosting the 75th iteration of the All-Ireland trad culture and arts festival from August 2-9.

And already ‘yir man’ (and woman) are in full flow with the prep.

With 100 days to go until Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann arrives the organisers have announced seven new headline acts.

Piping hot

Acts such as Tempest Ceol and acclaimed uilleann piper Conor Mallon are set to take centre stage.

As well as old favourite Sharon Shannon and her Big Band.

The Fleadh was a perennial in our 13 years in Ireland.

With Ballsbridge in D4 in the capital often rammers with Riverdancers in early August.

Fleadh being a celebration of all Ireland the party moves around the 26 Counties and for the first time checks in to Belfast.

Tickets for the Comhaltas events will go on sale from Friday from fleadhcheoil.ie.

Shannon off to a flier

SharShann will get the whole thing up and running on the Sunday with her award-winning group Goitse.

And former All-Ireland winners Blackwater Céilí Band.

The seven new acts announced will also perform on the iconic Gig Rig stage which will be located outside Belfast City Hall.

On the Wednesday audiences can look forward to performances from two dynamic quartet groups, Tempest Ceol and NxNW.

The following evening uilleann piper Conor Mallon will take to the stage.

Scots fly the flag

And because we have our own ‘special relationship’ with the Irish we’ll be there too.

With the weekend ushered in on Friday with Glasgow ensemble TRIP.

Before rising talents Peter Street and the electrifying Mec Lir headlines Peter Street and the electrifying Mec Lir on the Saturday.

This main stage will host free live performances across all eight days of the event.

Childs’ play

Aw, and get this, to mark the 100-day milestone.

Over 100 schoolchildren across North Down and Belfast as part of a School Choir Project.

There will also be a collaborative performance from host branch, Ards CCÉ, South Asian Dance Academy, Belfast Bands Forum.

And an array of Champion Irish dancers led by Riverdance lead Lauren Smyth.

Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe, Food & Wine, Music

Efharisto Rhodes you are Colossal

21st April 202621st April 2026 funtime65

Efharisto Rhodes you are colossal and as we say Yassas at the end of our loveholidays odyssey we reflect on the legends we have met.

Michael, the pick-up driver who took us on our first night to the Amphitryon Hotel.

May you make enough from your driving and your day building job to realise your ambition to settle down and slow down in your 40s.

Manolis, our bar manager who patiently and smilingly put up with this Bandanaman mangling his language.

To you and those who fed us so fully a Yamas (or cheers).

Over an ouzo with the best Greek traditional band Bouzouki playing in the background.

Yamas to new friends

To the new friends we met, the Three Yorkshiremen and Jay, Cherry and Jane.

And thanks for the offer of your room on the day of your check-out Jane.

Only I am still haunted by another invitation from my Athens odyssey.

And Toy Boy Brian, OK, he’s a fellow Sixtysomething like myself but travels the world selling vintage toys.

And meets celebs and gets the VIP treatment, hence him meeting the Bandanaman.

Then, of course, the army of cats who responded to our cheery kalimera.

Even when noon had passed and it should be a kalispera.

Especially Symi2, our forever friend who took residence of our laps.

And whose picture will now occupy a place on our crowded fridge.

Legends carved in rock

It is back now to chilly North Berwickety in Scotland where Rufus Rules now has a lot of living up to and explaining.

But not before a nod to the legends who come out at night.

Now Rhodes is clearly not shy of gods carved into rock.

But Nicklas and Despina are the god and goddess of rock at the Legends Rock Bar in Old Rhodes town.

Downing shots as they serve and producing a bottle of Bunnahabhain smoky Islay whisky and testing me on my Scottishness.

By asking me to pronounce it which incidentally is Bunahaveain.

And all the time Nikos the singer, of course, belts out the standards from across the rocky lane.

Reading the words perfectly from his screen which is no mean feat when it’s Cher’s warbling.

Kalinihta and dreams of gold

I leave with a kalinihta and breathe a sigh of relief that I have not said anything inappropriate.

As happened when I greeted the concierge in Rome with a buona notte e sogni d’oro.

But come to think of it, good night and dreams of gold does sound a fitting farewell to Helios, the Sun God’s island, Rhodes.

Your friendly neighbourhood Bandanaman is travelling with loveholidays and EasyJet from Edinburgh.

And staying at the Amphitryon City Hotel, 800m from the Old Town.

All for £1,028 for two, B&B and evening meals, for a week with airport transfers.

Countries, Culture

Brush strokes across Slow Art Day

11th April 2026 funtime65

I was slow at art at school and appreciate those who can draw, so Mr Cairney here are my brush strokes across Slow Art Day.

I’ve been slow too, like many, to Slow Art Day today and was only alerted to it by our pals at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.

Which is, of course, a great place to start.

Spuds you like: Van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters

Because to this untrained eye there is nobody who masses quite as much paint on a canvas as Vinnie.

So that you really have to get up close and study the encrustations on the canvas.

Which means more than the 30 seconds on average that is normally spent looking at a painting.

Monkeys and their Mickeys

Now unless you’ve studied art or tailgated a guided group you might not know what to look for.

But trust yourself, and besides you’re always likely to be found out if you hang on to a tour as the Son and Heir and myself were in the Capuchin Crypt in Rome.

Handily all galleries have audio guides and plaques to direct us to the messages in the art without cheating our way on to tours.

Of course, no piece of art is the same as another unless you’re a very good counterfeiter.

But some feel easier to decipher than others.

Such as one of our favourites, Jan Breughel’s Allegory on Tulipmania at the Frans Hals’ Museum in 1640.

And not just because Breughel anthropomorphises and satirises monkeys.

And there’s one in the corner with his mickey out peeing on a tulip… but it helps.

The Bayeux Tapestry ‘swords’

It’s also come to our attention, and other puerile folks that there are 93 penises in the Bayeux Tapestry.

And you thought they were swords.

Well, that’ll take you more than 30 seconds to count them all.

Now there was probably a very good reason why Mr Cairney never took our class to the Glasgow Art Gallery.

Because we would have guffawed at the half-dressed women so beloved of the Old Masters.

Rather than wonder at the surrealist wonder that is Salvador Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross.

Venus without her blue jeans

Now Sandro Boticelli could never have imagined that his The Birth of Venus would become the plaything of Monty Python and pop up on students’ walls.

But we dare say that Sandro had fun putting the last touches to the body of the goddess who is displayed in the Uffizi Gallery in Firenze.

And it just shows that the allure of what you can’t see is often more erotic than what you can.

Although Michelangelo’s The Boy David has to be seen in all his nubile openness.

Now, of course, fans of Venus, and who isn’t, who live up in this northern tip of the British island don’t have to go to Fireze for their fill.

With Titian capturing Venus Anadyomene drying her hair at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.

And that only goes to show that goddesses aren’t really all that different from the rest of us.

Now whether you like your art pared back, saucy, religious, irreligious or a pile of bricks or unmade bed, then we’re all for it.

And spend as little or as long as you want, or can.