Culture Archives - Page 8 of 65 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

An extra hour to read in bed in Portugal’s book town

26th October 202426th October 2024 funtime65

And for the day that’s in it as we Fall back 60 minutes here’s where you can get… an extra hour to read in bed in Portugal’s book town.

If Obidos in Portugal Centro is the country’s literary hub then the Literary Man is its, er, centrepiece.

Where you’ll never want for something to read with the former convent housing 45,000 books which they claim as the biggest in the world.

All of which is good news for those who love to find a good read in their hotel when they’re on holiday.

Pull up a book

Of course with that many tomes then you’d expect an international selection and that is exactly what you get.

And cosy and salubrious surroundings to disappear into your read.

With a gin bar and a lounge with an antique fireplace to find yourself by.

The literary schtick extends to a novel-themed menu as well as the local Portuguese fare.

With only 30 bedrooms and we loved that you rolled just off your mattresses on to the floor then there is a real intimacy to the Literary Man.

Frighteningly good

Spook who’s about: Getting ready for Halloween

Now when we visited Halloween was very much in the air and characters were out in the town on force.

Hardly surprising as the 3,100 good folk of Obidos, just a 45-minute drive from Lisbon, are uber-bibliophiles.

And with more than half a million books inside the walled town then that’s 322 for each man, woman and child.

Ten years of the Obidos Lit Fest

The Obidos International Literature Festival marks its tenth anniversary next year, so pencil that into your diary.

A B&B overnighter in a standard room at the Literary Man for the sample date of December 7/8 retails at €119.81 with a local tax of €1pp.

Check out all major airlines for flights to Lisbon with Ryanair coming in at from €80.

And seeing you have more time today then worth combing through this.

And consider what it would be like to enjoy an extra hour to read in bed in Portugal’s book town.

Countries, Culture, Europe

With the Croatians in the Belfast Celtic bar

13th October 202413th October 2024 funtime65

Enough about the score already I reverted to type and spent post-match Dubrovnik with the Croatians in the Belfast Celtic bar.

The good people of Hrvatska have quickly moved on too from their favourites beating Scotland 2-1 in the European Nations Cup.

As Josko, with whom I share a sauna back in my billet at the Grand Hotel Park, reminds me, it’s only a friendly.

The Dubrovcanins are too, curious and direct.

By the time we part and I revive myself with my cold overhead shower I feel we have more of an insight of each other.

Although, gratefully for you dear reader, no unsavoury mental images here, Croatians wear towels to protect their modesty.

Green party

Whether the locals indeed know the Celtic history which is enough to make your hearts go whoah, whoah, whoa is moot.

They may just like the green, white and gold colour scheme on the walls and the craic.

The locals were out in numbers, drinking the Ozujksko local brew although naturally there is Guinness on tap.

The Celtic Bar Belfast Dubrovnik is obviously a treasure trove.

For those who follow the Bhoys with pictures of heroes, past and present.

And Irish reference and political points such as a You Are Welcoming Free Derry model.

Feeling flush

In the interests of fairness and reaching across the Glasgow Religious Divide the Belfast Bar is inclusive to their Rangers rivals.

In the urinal and the loo where the Gers’ crest is prominent.

Now for those who like their subject matter puerile and guttural then we will be delving into Game of Thrones Old Town Dubrovnik.

And share that with you and much else.

As we continue our loveholidays and easyJet holiday to Dubrovnik for our pearl anniversary.

But for now we’re checking out what else is on the prom and diddly om pom pom and that’s worth a piece in itself.

Underscoring this week though we’ve got us our sports bar so that’s our nights sorted.

With the Croatians in the Belfast Celtic bar.

Countries, Culture, Europe

Back on the road to Dubrovnik

12th October 202412th October 2024 funtime65

I’ve the right passport this time so won’t have to turn around… we’re back on the road to Dubrovnik.

We’ve been over this ground before here and how I took myself off the coach from Medjugorje at the first stop.

Because I had my old passport on me with my American visa stamped on it.

With my current one back in the safe in the hostel.

And going through non-EU Bosnia & Herzegovina into EU Croatia requires a passport.

My Queen of Dragons

All of which comes into sharp focus as I take my Queen of Dragons to Dubrovnik today.

On her 30th anniversary trip courtesy of loveholidays.

The boards at Edinburgh Airport remind us to check our passports.

And make sure that if we have new UK passports that they are signed.

To avoid delays at custom checks on the other side.

Much has changed since I last visited the Balkans.

But thankfully not in that fractious but fabulous strip of south-eastern Europe.

Rather back in Britain where since our own return from 13 years in Ireland Boris got Brexit done.

Boris’s Brexit balls-up

And don’t you know Johnson has a book out, Unleashed, brazenly boasting about that.

It’s on sale at WH Smith’s and The Bookshop at Edinburgh Airport and all good stores at 18.99… he needs the money, of course.

So what of this new UK passport they are harking on about here?

Well, it will ensure you longer waits to get through customs.

As you’re filed into the non-integrationist line of European airports.

Just back from Berlin earlier this year I witnessed signs advising to leave an hour to get through customs.

Of course, for those of us who left the club.

Sure, we’re all Irish

I’m not planning, though, on going through the rigmarole of renewing my British passport in three years’ time.

With an unusual source for pushing me to set in motion something I should have done years ago…

Get an Irish passport.

Because I owe my much-storied neighbour Royalist Roy for giving me the shove.

When trying to get me around to his house to pledge a troth (no, me neither) to the newly-anointed King Charles.

To make his point, he smilingly asked me how I was described on my passport.

World of Game of Thrones

To be fair he is tending to our front lawn while we’re away.

Royalist Roy that is, not his hero.

While I’m back on the road to Dubrovnik with a passport that will get me through customs.

And where we will explore the world of the Game of Thrones.

And put aside the world of the Shame of Thrones for a week until we return.

Jim and Sarah are staying at the 4* Grand Park Hotel, Dubrovnik for seven nights, H/B with balcony view for £1,121.

With return flights from Edinburgh with EasyJet from under three hours.

America, Countries, Music

The power of a music festival

7th October 20247th October 2024 funtime65

For the day that’s in it we celebrate the power of a music festival.

And look back and forward on how gatherings of the lovers and the dreamers will always prevail over nihilism.

Woodstock stands as a watchword for peace, libertarianism and inclusivity.

We are stardust

Mitchell’s self-drive: Voice of the Sixties

And still promotes these values today at the Bethel Woods Center in upstate New York.

Fifty-five years have passed since 400,000 free-livers and lovers descended on Yasgur’s Farm to join the musical giants of the day.

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Creedence Clearwater et al but not Joni Mitchell.

Who tried to get there but was snarled up in traffic and wrote about it in the classic Woodstock.

Bethel ethereal

You can relive that last summer of the Sixties with an interactive tour from $20.

And don’t worry if you weren’t there, you probably know more about it than those who were!

Of course music fills the museum and footage and even a hippie bus.

But Bethel Woods being true to the spirit of Woodstock is a living museum.

Visitors from this Friday will be able to enjoy and participate in the Peace, Love & Pumpkins celebrations which last until October 27.

We are golden

Woodstock is well within the reach of day trippers from New York, 114 miles north.

And can obviously be accessed by car, and our Joni might recommend that now the traffic has abated.

Particularly if you ramp up her Woodstock on your playlist.

Or bus from £23 with Trailways.

Stay the night in rather more comfort than those campers of 1969, at the Great Western Hotel from £112 per night.

Of course the town of Woodstock, which is actually an hour and a half away from Bethel, draws today’s New Age free spirits.

Karma chameleons

And one of those I’ve stumbled across is Holly Habeck who advises us of the best places to eat, shop and visit in Woodstock in Ulster County.

And so for the first two that’ll be Tinker Street for the best merch and Tinker Street Taco, for the best, er, Tacos.

While this being hippy trail then you can’t leave without getting some karma.

And the best place for that is the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Tibetan Buddhist Monastery where it’s all about the meditation.

And maybe pray for peace and for the safety of music goers all over the world.

New York is obviously served by everyone who can put a motor on a big bird.

But we return to Ireland’s national airliner Aer Lingus with flights and pre-clearance from Ireland from £216.04.

America, Countries, Music

Where Y’all Country roads lead

30th September 202430th September 2024 funtime65

And as the world remembers the Kolossal Kris Kristofferson today we take the opportunity to revisit where Y’all Country roads lead.

Tennessee and Mississippi, the centres of the music world, billing themselves as the birthplace of Country, as well as Blues and rock’n’roll.

You can follow in the footsteps of those titans of their genre, as we did, along the Mississippi Blues trail.

And converge at the crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for playing the guitar.

And pay pilgrimage at Sun Studio and Graceland to the King of Rock’n’roll in Memphis, Tennessee.

A night at the Opry

Y’all Country roads, we know, end up leading to The Grand Ole Opry which celebrates its 100th centenary next year.

The world’s longest-running radio programme will have more shows on their calendar than ever before in 2025.

All of which give visitors more opportunities to see a performance live and in person all year long.

And all year long too you can live Country music at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in downtown Nashville.

The world’s largest music museum, it boasts more than 350,000sqft of galleries and displays.

The collection includes Carl Perkins’ blue suede shoes, Elvis’ Cadillac and gold piano and Hank Williams’ Western-cut suit with musical note appliqués.

The current exhibition is Luke Combs: The Man I am.

Get Carters

Dynamic duo: Johnny Cash and June Carter

For those who wish to take the journey on at the Smithsonian The Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Tennessee.

And hear the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions and the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers shaped Country music.

Through multiple theatre experiences, interactive displays, texts and artifact.

Pathways to success

For a state with only 7 million natives, Tennessee sure punches above its musical weight.

And you can learn more if you take the Tennessee Music Pathways which tells the story of the state’s musical heritage and its influences around the world and its live music scene.

The lives and careers of Mississippi’s trailblazing country music artists, from the “Father of Country Music,” Jimmie Rodgers, to the “First Lady of Country Music,” Tammy Wynette, are immortalized on the state’s Country Music Trail.

Historic markers have been placed throughout Mississippi to mark important country music sites.

And commemorate Mississippians who have contributed to the music genre.

With, of course, Elvis’s birthplace Tupelo, Jimmie Rodgers’ grave in Meridian and Charley Pride’s hometown of Sledge.

New on the scene

And introducing Mississippi’s newest country music attraction Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

The five-time Grammy winner is developing a 50,000sqft campus featuring a performing arts centre.

And, coming soon, a world-class country music museum stocked with items from his personal collection.

Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe

On the rooftops of the Medicis’ Firenze

26th September 202426th September 2024 funtime65

Back when all the world believed in Him the tallest buildings were always places of worship so we could get closer to God… all of which you’ll see for yourself on the rooftops of the Medicis’ Firenze.

Il Duomo still dominates Firenze‘s skyscape with every visitor heading for the jewel of the Renaissance City.

Santa Maria del Fiore (Lady of the Flower), to give it its Sunday name, is a nod to the very name of the florid city.

One of the largest churches in the world, we all focus on the large octagon of the immense dome, around which are three radial apses (or “tribunes”), each consisting of five chapels.

All of which you can get the best vista of if you are perched on a roof garden in a swish hotel, preferably with an Aperol Spritz in hand.

Arts and Kraft

Our travel buddies Cassidy Travel are happy to oblige, providing accommodation with a three-night package at the 4* Kraft Hotel from October 22.

All part of their Jewels of Italy programme.

You will get flights, 10kg luggage and return train Pisa/Florence included. All from €745pps.

The Kraft is central, meaning not too much walking before you hit that crazy paving, so disliked and avoided by the Medici, the family of Renaissance Firenze..

The centrepiece in your hotel is, of course, their panoramic top floor terrace with roof garden, restaurant and a heated swimming pool.

Firenze FOMO

Medici maestros: And everything is Va Bene

Not that we had any Firenze FOMO at all when we had to cancel our trip to the Flower City this time last year because of a family bereavement.

And we know the aforementioned and much-missed Maj who waxed lyrical about his visit there will want us to put that right and follow in his footsteps.

To learn more about this fascinating family, you should immerse yourself in Medieval Medici mirth by following this easy-to-follow free Visit Tuscany guide.

You can discover more about the 505m corridor they used to keep them away from the plebs.

With it spanning from their luxurious Palazzo Pitti to the Uffizi office (not shabby either). The additional 155m would include walking through the Uffizi Gallery to the Palazzo Vecchio.

All this art, well that was down to the Medici too with Michelangelo working for La Famiglia.

And his David (Boy, not Beckham) the symbol of Firenze and the most Instagrammable pic from your visit.

While Galileo Galilei was also in their employ and presented to his former student, the Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany, the Medician stars.

That’s a discovery of four celestial orbs that became the perfect way to honour the Medicis.

Ice one Medicis

Perhaps, of course, the Medicis greatest gift to the world was gelato.

Or Florentine chef Bernardo Buontalenti, although the Medicis naturally took the credit.

Bernardo invented modern gelato in 1565 when the Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici asked him to organise a banquet to receive the Spanish deputation.

And he invented a tasty dessert based on eggnog, milk, and fruit, producing the famous ‘Florentine cream’ and ‘Buontalenti.’

So there’s a scoop for you, OK 650 years old. Salute and enjoy your Aperol and gelato on the rooftops of the Medicis’ Firenze

Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe

Swiss till the cows come home

5th September 20245th September 2024 funtime65

They like to milk it, their Alpine pastures, but we’ll still follow the Swiss till the cows come home.

Countries have a sound, Arabic nations their call to prayers, these islands of Britain and Ireland their curlews and the Swiss their cow bells.

Me, I like to wake up with Bajan beauty Rihanna, but that’s another story.

Cow bells are the first thing you hear on a morning in Switzerland.

Or should be… for me it was my guide Rosie in Interlaken, banging at the door telling me I was holding up the party.

It might just be the peel of one bell which triggers another before a chorus fills the air.

Wholly cow

At this time of year, of course, it is a symphony when the Swiss celebrate Désalpe.

The tradition Rindyà (descent from the mountain pastures in patois) marks the end of summer.

When every fourth Saturday of September the cattle return from the high alpine pastures.

With cows adorned with flowered headdresses and bells.

This colourful spectacle is paired with traditional music, dancing, and local delicacies.

And that means Alpine horn, yodelling we hope and flag throwers, country orchestras and brass bands.

The big cheeses

Of course, wherever Swiss gather there is cheese… Gruyère anyone?

And that runs parallel with the stands of almost 40 craftsmen and women.

Look out too for the Poya (paintings depicting the migration of the herds to and from their Alpine pastures).

Helpfully notres amis have steered us, much like their cows, to the best places to stay in Charmey.

In the Fribourg region, 84kms east of Geneva Airport, fly SwissAir from £148.

Charmant Charmey

We’re reliably informed that Le Saint Georges is the place to go.

And they offer two nights with one meal per person from 398 Swiss Francs or £356.

Now, for the locals who trek the hills daily and the cows who live in these fields, get to enjoy the Alpine views daily.

Of the Moléson and the Fribourg Pre-Alps.

For the rest of us we can take it all in from the comfort of the Charmey cable car.

Chocs away

Or if you’re feeling more agile then you can hike or bike through the valley trails.

And build up an appetite for those cheeses and the chocolate, the Maison Cailler chocolate factory in the little village of Broc.

And then lie back and think of Switzerland.

At Les Bains de la Gruyère, where pools are heated to 34 degrees and steam rises from the water.

Whatever your reasons then for going out to Tobleroneland, why not follow us and the Swiss till the cows come home?

Countries, Europe, Ireland, Music, UK

Party on Italian dudes

4th September 20244th September 2024 funtime65

Keanu Reeves’ ears were ringing at the love bombing he got at his exclusive concert for us in LA… party on Italian dudes.

Classy Keanu, unlike his alter ego Wyld Stallyns‘ William S Preston Esq., prefers to blend in at the back of his band DOGSTAR, as the bass guitarist.

But the giddy senorinas at the front at the lunchtime entertainment between meetings at our American Travel Fair, IPW, wanted a shout-out.

And hollered Keanu to come to Italy with them which he acknowledged with a soft ‘grazie’.

La Musica

Now we all know from growing up with Italian-Scots their passion for music, food, football, life.

But we’ll keep our eyes peeled now for Italians at gigs.

And we’ve been fortunate enough to take them all over Britain and Ireland, and in America, the Caribbean and the High Seas.

Particularly as we’re told that they’re continental Europe’s biggest concert travellers.

Of course, gigs are on all our minds with the circus around Oasis’s reunion.

With the chat among our circle on first and last gigs with mine The Wombles and The Stranglers certainly not as cool as others.

Have tickets, will travel

EDreams and online travel agent, Opodo have done the heavy lifting for us in tracking concertgoers’ travel trends.

Between July and August this year and the same months next year.

And there has been a significant uptick in tourism to tour destinations.

So that on the day of the Oasis announcement, August 27, global searches to Oasistown, or Manchester as it’s also known, rose by 700%.

While for Dublin they increased 635%, with Edinburgh 557% and London 212%.

Searches to Cardiff increased by 12,186% from a low search base in 2024.

The Italian Batallion

Thanks for that: And easy with prices doubling

Now while British fans are spoiled with the range of bands on our doorstep our European friends often have to travel here.

With Italians leading the pack in searches for all tour destinations in 2025.

Cardiff: Italy – 24%, France – 17%, Germany – 16%.

Manchester: Italy – 25%, Spain – 13%, Germany – 13%.

London: Italy – 23%, Spain – 11%, Germany – 10%.

Edinburgh: Italy – 29%, Germany – 14%, Spain – 13%.

Dublin: Italy – 24%, UK – 14%, Germany – 12%.

Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe

Flanders today at rest

3rd September 20243rd September 2024 funtime65

The noise from the battlefield once rattled the chandeliers in Downing Street and still echoes through a Flanders today at rest.

The lowlands of northern Belgium are ideal terrain for cyclists, runners, walkers and canal cruising boats.

All of which were suspended when Germany and the Allies used Flanders more than a century ago as dogs do a chew toy.

And which you can witness for yourself on a memorable battlefields tour of the World War sites.

When, of course, you can trace your ancestors, pay tribute with a wreath at the Menin Gate and engross yourself in Flemish life.

A gentler pace

Flanders, of course, moves at a gentler pace now with the only visitors welcome ones.

And while everybody makes way for those on two wheels now.

There is another way to traverse the Flemish lowlands through its waterways.

Le Boat cruisers start and finish at the Le Boat base in Nieuwpoort.

And take in Ypres which prior to World War I was best known as a Medieval merchant city.

And whose most famous landmark and hub then was the Halle aux drapes or Cloth Hall.

Which was razed to the ground in World War I was reconstructed between 1933 and 1967 and recast as the In Flanders Fields Museum.

Cut from the same Cloth

Now if you want a flavour of what the Cloth Hall, one of the great Gothic building of its day, looked like then a Canadian Scots artist captured it.

And his painting hangs today in the Senate Chamber of the Canadian parliament.

A reminder of the sacrifice of Canadian-Scots, my grandfather among them, who fought in the Great War.

For the good people of Flanders , of course, the World War is not something in the past.

They live with it every day and on our visit we were told of a cow who had recently blown up in a field from a WWI bomb.

While members of our party picked up broken shells by the side of a field.

Eat, drink and be merry

Unsurprising then that the soldiers of the day ate, drank and got merry away from their front.

It was always thus and Ieperites today are rightly proud of their award-winning beer.

Which you can sample, and you better believe we have, on a guided beer around town.

In Bruge

Your Le Boat cruise will lead you to Bruges which if only Colin Farrell had been able to get out and about he’d have appreciated.

With its UNESCO World Heritage Site with countless museums and excellent restaurants to explore.

But most importantly chocolate.

Which, of course, you don’t leave there at the end of your Le Boat cruise.

With Brussels Airport shifting more chocolate than anywhere else.

A seven-night self-catered Belgium cruise, departing 28 Septembe, starting and ending in at the Le Boat base at Nieuwpoort.

Oboard the Caprice, sleeping up to six people.

It is priced from £959 per boat (was £1,379, saving £420). No experience required.

America, Countries, Culture

Let’s turn on the juice and New England shakes loose

28th August 202428th August 2024 funtime65

The ghost with the most is back nearly 40 years on so let’s turn on the juice and New England shakes loose.

Everyone’s favourite sassy spectre Beetlejuice is revisiting his old haunts of Massachusetts which are also mine.

And our friends in New England have scared up some spooktacular spots from the movie to draw us to their states and Commonwealth.

Beetlejuice chooses Connecticut to come back from the dead.

Only despite the charms of the Constitution State the moviemakers modelled Winter River on East Corinth in Vermont.

With Melrose in Massachusetts also commissioned for some of the Halloween shots.

The Mass media

Benchmark: Robin Williams and Matt Damon

Now the Commonwealth has long been at the forefront of Mass media.

And we have all of us, who are not from Massachusetts, first made acquaintance with these New Englanders from the small and big screens.

And the classic bar sitcom Cheers which launched a merch marketplace which my travelling buddy got on board.

While in the Millennium Boston’s legal landscape was under the microscope with Ally McBeal and her pals.

Boston too is home to Hollywood acting elite in Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg and Uma Thurman.

And, of course, like all Bostonians they love to give back.

With Matt championing a campaign to put a statue up of the late Robin Williams near the bench where the duo shot a famous scene from Good Will Hunting.

Busting for Boston at the movies

Of course, those of who have spent a summer working in Boston and living on the wrong side of the tracks will recognise South Dublin from The Departed.

And enjoying any free time we got at Fenway Park, featured heavily in Brad Pitt’s Moneyball.

All of which you can take in on a Boston Movie Mile Walking tour or the Boston TV and Movie Bus Tour.

Where, of course, you can see why Boston is a picnic for every teddy bear as long as that bear is Ted.

All roads lead to Rhode Island

A dog’s life: With Handsome George in Yale, New Haven

Now the five states and commonwealth that is Massachussets bring the region all together under the New England umbrella.

And it is a joy to travel through them all as we have been doing, and taking in the landscape along the way, on Amtrak.

And so we have been able to marvel at the coasts of sailing Nirvana Rhode Island which have so appealed to artists and film-makers.

Rosecliff Mansion in Newport features in several famous movies like 27 Dresses, The Great Gatsby and True Lies.

The Mansions of Newport are also a major setting for The Gilded Age.

And fans can go behind the scenes and get all the insight on The Gilded Age Tour which takes in the four mansions featured in the series.

Dreaming of New England

Scorsese also returned to New England to use Otter Cliff in Acadia National Park for the cliff scenes in Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

With the movie set on an island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Popham Beach, at the tip of Maine’s Phippsburg Peninsula was featured in the 1999 film Message in a Bottle.

Many of the scenes of Cider House Rules starring a young Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine, were filmed at Sand Beach in Acadia National Park.

While the famous Mystic Pizza also inspired the movie of the same name starring Julia Roberts.

So we’d all agree then, it’s frightening how much movie talent and legacy there is in New England.

So let’s turn on the juice and New England shakes loose