All wonderful wonders we’d all agree and ones you can tick off with G Adventures www.gadventures.co.uk and well done Uswitch but why no place for the Acropolis?
Our forebears in the Middle Ages believed that Finisterre at the outpost of Galicia in north-west Spain was the end of the world.
And they would carry their penitential pilgrimage, the 87kms to Santiago de Compostella on to Finisterre.
Well, if this is the end of the world I’m jumping right off. Gladly!
Here’s your ‘cut-out and keep’ guide to everything you want to know about Finisterre and the Camino…
I need a rest… after that coach ride!
Piper at the gates of heaven
Santiago to Finisterre, 87kms: What else would you expect at the Edge of the World? A Galician piper belts out a Celtic tune by the lighthouse at Finisterre, the westernmost post of their world.
A sign with the Camino shell, marks 0,00kms.
Many pilgrims continue on by foot from Santiago to Finisterre.
Wendy, my fellow peregrinos, take a three-hour coach ride from Santiago (€26 return) on our last day, Wednesday.
Any trip to the Edge of the World should not be rushed, there is much to see, from quiet coves to golden beaches and coastal villages.
With azure and terracotta-washed cottages.
As I look out on the horizon from atop the cliff on the clearest of clear days I can see why my Celtic predecessors refused to countenance that there could be anything beyond or above this.
Wear light clothes
The legend of the Camino
Santiago de Compostella, or ‘St James of the Field of Stars’, the name derives from the belief that the bones of St James the Greater were taken here from the Middle East to Spain.
Where he is reported to have preached earlier in his mission.
In 814AD Bishop Theodoric of Aria Flavia, is said to have been guided there by a shepherd who had been led to the bones by a star.
A church was built over the bones and later replaced with the Catedral de Santiago.
Pilgrims have been walking the Camino, originally from their own homes as a starting point. ever since, as a penance and to gain indulgence.
The Scallop Shell
When St James’s disciples were shipping his body to the Iberian Peninsula a storm is said to have hit the boat and his body was thought lost to the sea.
However, it washed ashore undamaged, coated by scallop shells.
Pilgrims display their shells for identification and are rewarded still with charity from locals.
Medieval pilgrims would also use them to scoop up drinking water: pilgrims take them home as keepsakes.
When to go
April-June, September-October: Galicia is at its most colourful with spring and autumn hues and the temperature is warm without being baking (late teens to early 20sC).
Winter is quieter and temperatures can dip to the early double figures.
Galicia is so verdant because of the rain so be prepared.
A hat and a rucksack… and you’re ready to go
What to bring
Walking boots and socks, picking trousers (convertible with zip to make them shorts).
No jeans, they’re restrictive and will weigh you down in the rain and mark you out as a newbie.
Shirts (long-sleeved and t-shirts).
Walking stick (depending on agility and age).
Light rain jacket and polar fleece.
Sun hat, sunglasses, sun cream.
Water bottle, first aid (Paracetamol, competed blister plasters and anti-inflammatory cream).
How to prepare
Caminoways.com hold training walks throughout the year for different levels of walker.
Alternatively avail of the many walkways around the country which can be similar to the Galician terrain.
And do your basic stretching exercises before and after walks.
Some Halloween spirit
Where to eat/drink
Breakfasts in designated Caminoways.com hotels are buffet style. The large range of fruit is healthy and refreshing, bacon and sausages are thinner than Irish tastes while scrambled eggs are constantly light, fresh and tasty.
Cafe/bars on the Camino are well priced, a range of filled baguettes are around a fiver.
And wine and lager range from around @1-1.50 and while the costs increase the nearer to Santiago you get they are not prohibitive.
Hamlets and towns are well served for eating places.
And if you do stumble across a Queimada (a Galician ritual involving stirring a brew in a fiery cauldron) as I did at the Mandala restaurant in Rua Cima Do Lugar, Arzua then that’s a bonus.
I had their equivalent of an early bird of skag bol and wine which filled the plate, all for €6.
I always seize on calamari where I find it, but it’s pulp (octopus) which is Galicia’s speciality.
Sit on a stool and eat with fingers, mopping up the tomato sauce from the bowl with bread and swirling it down with a large red (at La Puerta, Santiago, €6.50).
Santiago is noted for Padron peppers, usually green where the random one is very hot…. Galician Roulette. I chickened out.
Where to stay
Alfonso IX, Rua Do Peregrino 29, 27600, Sarria (close to the river) Good starting point, good hotel sundries.
Pousada de Portomarin, 27170, Avda de Sarria, Portomarin. A welcome archway after the first day. A cosy stay, and ah, a bidet!
Complejo la Cabana C/Dr Pardo Ouro, 27200.
Palasd de Rei: A bit of a hike up town so a walk to restaurants if you choose not to eat at the hotel. There was a wedding on when I tased which was good of them to arrange for our evening entertainment.
Teodora, Avda de Lugo, 38 Arzua: Centrally located, comfortable and friendly.
Amenal 12, O Pino: One-horse hamlet but that’s OK after a 30km trek, and the stew is filling.
Santiago: HOtel Geimirez, Horreo 92, 15702: Ideally located close to the historic old town. A welcome and deserved bottomless tube at the end of your Camino.
Walk this way
The different ways
The French Way: Saint Jean to Santiago, 770km. Las leg: Sarria to Santiago, 116kms.
Caminoway organise guided and self-guided tours on the many routes across Spain, Portugal and France.
Prices start at €560pp sharing for a six-night Camino trip, walking the Camino Frances from Sarria to Santiago, including half-board, luggage transfers from hotel to hole and holiday pack with pilgrim passport and route information.
Airport transfers, hotel upgrades and bike rental are also available.
This year is a Holy Year for Pilgrims as declared by the Pope The Holy Door of the Cathedral will be open for the Year of Mercy.
And, of course everyone’s Camino is their Camino… This was mine A pilgrim’s prayer.
It’s a good drying day on Kuramathi but then every day is… the temperature rarely dips below 28 degrees at any time of the year.
And so I’ve got the spare togs and towel hung up on the clothesline by the outdoor shower.
Wet after my early morning swim in my infinity pool which overhangs the Indian Ocean.
Look at me… still doing my household chores
But how to dry out myself after a Champagne and cocktail-fuelled karaoke and beach party the previous night?
A leisurely one kilometre walk around Kuramathi is guaranteed to sweat off the booze.
And we’ll meet some interesting characters along the way.
Won’t you join me?
My new best friend
My pal Gordon
Gordon, my house gecko is the first to greet me, dancing around my feet as I leave my room before scuttling off through the reeds.
Somewhere above him in the palm trees a birdie warbles a morning song.
And memories of me murdering The Eagles, Elvis and Neil Diamond the previous evening come flooding back.
It’s 8am on Kuramathi which would be rush hour back home.
Ttopical flowers
But here only the occasional electrical buggy bus or old-fashioned staff bicycle passes by on the sandy path while the only jaywalkers you’ll encounter are cooing couples.
Some gentlemen even hold parasols for their sweethearts to shield them from the sun.
I like this kind of traffic
Does this look big in me?
My own sweetheart is probably wrestling with a brolly back home in blustery, rainy Ireland… the thought quickly passes.
Ne’er a flutter of wind comes off the Indian Ocean.
Bus stop: On Kuramathi
Just as well really as this is a conservative island and it wouldn’t do to have a gust lift up my sarong as I amble along the coast.
Not that you’re likely to see another soul but still.
There’s every chance though that you’ll spot turtles and black finned sharks in the clear blue sea.
Teardrops on the ocean: The Atoll
If you do see a turtle it’ll likely be Selma, who is something of a celebrity on Kuramathi as is her minder, Vanessa.
A German eco warrior and curator at the Island Eco Centre she claimed Selma as her own turtle and named her.
Turtle power
If you can snap a new turtle with your Go-Pro camera you too can get to adopt a turtle.
On a 1.2km island resort repeat with hoilidaymakers, staff, restaurants and bars.
And all the necessary infrastructure to make an island bobbing along on the ocean to work only the best husbandry will do.
Luckily Mother Nature lends a helping hand.
Mother Turtle: With Vanessa
I check out Kuramathi’s living, breathing pharmacy of plants on my Botany walk.
Where they cater for every ailment and condition known to man and are used in the medications.
They also infuse the dishes you will taste at the half a dozen high-end restaurants around the island.
Chicken lickin’: And I’ve got started on that lager
This being Asia you will get your share of Eastern delicacies at the bars and restaurants you pass.
Tuck in
I have my hosts Farooz and Fern and a host of hospitable and knowledgeable waiters to thank for walking me through their dishes.
My favourite the Malaysian chicken curry, while obviously Kuramathi is a fish-lovers’ dream with the red snapper and scallops also worth a special mention.
And being Asia you can even order Chinese at breakfast… well, it works for 1 billion Chinese after all.
And this is breakfast
The European palate is also catered for with a particularly good Italian specialising in risotto on the island.
And you never have to put your hand in your pocket (just as well if you’re wearing a sarong) as you settle your bill at the end of your holiday.
There are three options, B&B, half-board and all-inclusive.
It probably depends on your appetite and your liver, but if you come all this way and can afford to push the boat out I’d say save yourself the stress and go all in.
Howzat!
Champagne Jimmy
Back to my morning constitutional and with the breakfast of champions already in me I’m off to take part in the big game.
Buggy driver Renga helpfully gives me a lift to the palm tree-lined pitch and introduces me to Hassan and the rest of the cricketers.
It’s 38 years since I picked up a bat in anger.
Who cares about the world beyond this?
My dear Old Dad had high hopes for me and in my maiden school innings I went in to open only to be bounced first ball before surrendering my wicket the next.
Yes, I learn my lesson here watching these big hitters and go in at the fall of the first wicket .
I manage to amass a mighty two before being run out picking up a bruise or two diving for the crease.
And footie
Football the next day will be more successful with me setting up the winner.
And by the end of the week my party are telling me that their buggy drivers have been asking if they are here with Jims (sic) who is ‘a very good player.’
‘I’m asked if I would like to come back.
‘Does Roy Keane like a crunching tackle?’
I can always do home games
Bruised though I am, I have discovered over the years that I am still considerably safer on dry land than in the water.
The ocean is better suited for the turtles and sharks.
Too many bubbles
Who I fear will only lick their lips at the sight of my blood the next day as I snorkel off the island of Kandolhu.
It is one of the five islands on this, the Rasdhoo Atoll.
But the sharks are actually quite tame.
And they are clearly so busy laughing at my flapping anyway to be bothered about nibbling my nobbly knee.
I’m consoled too that I’ll get a warm down later (yes warm down in this weather!) in Kuramathi’s spa.
A wee, wee island
He does know how to land this thing
When I say Kandolhu is an island, it really is just a bit of sandbank and floating coral.
Beautiful coral, but floating coral all the same.
And there is just 200mx120m of it.
So it would take Usain Bolt 19.90secs to run the whole island.
Sea plane sailing: With Turkish Airlines’ Onur and my host Brian
Not that that curtails them, there are 30 high-end villas and four restaurants on Kandolhu.
So how did we, and the Maldives, get here?
Well, Kandolhu and Kuramathi are just two of 1,190 coral islands situated in 26 atolls or clutches across 90,000sqkms of water south of Sri Lanka.
Sea planes
I had started counting them as I was flown into the main and only truly populous island Male (133,000).
And gazed down in wonder at these teardrops on the ocean.
Even better our barefoot pilot took us up really close to the islands by then flying down on them on his sea plane.
Is it a bird, is it a plane?
The atolls I am told take up just 10% of the sea mass that surround them, I make a start on drinking the other 90% while snorkelling.
But I did manage to spot me a turtle who, Go-Pro or no Go-Pro, I name Vanessa… or Mother Turtle, my own name for her.
A day and a night
I clearly have a taste for this island life though perhaps not the water activities.
But I will go on to make my own splash on the island and the islanders in the time I’m here.
As a guest of Kuramathi Island resort and Turkish Airlines.
I have flown us here via Istanbul.
Turkish Airlines Business Lounge… and you can always get a tune out of me
It is a 24-hour joyride with all the trappings of business class, and a stop-off in the world’s best business class lounge in Istanbul.
On our last night on the island we take a sunset cruise out onto the ocean before settling in for the night at the Sand Bar.
I’ll sleep it off
I fall into the beanbag on the beach where I almost fell asleep the first night.
And order my Kuramathi cocktail and another and another and listen to house band Limestone.
I had heard them on the way back from the football that afternoon where they gave us a sneak rehearsal of the closing number of their set, Hotel California.
I know my way around now
I lie back and look up at the stars while letting the sound of the waves lapping up against the sand wash over me.
The only breaker is Limestone’s natty singer making a better stab at The Eagles than I had done at the Karaoke Bar:
‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.’
Including flight, taxis, transfers, full board. Optional basic all-inclusive package. €59 per day. Dine around select package. €99 per day.
Kandolhu Island: From €3995pp. Jacuzzi Beach Villa.
And always time for a drink
UltimateInclusions basis. for seven nights, prices correct at time of print.
Based on travel in May/June 2018 inc. flights with Turkish Airlines.
Round trip economy class starting price Dublin- Maldives from €748.59; return business class starting price for same route, €2,166.59.
Yes, palm trees everywhere
See www.turkishairlines. com, or call: (01) 525-1849. Baggage allowance: Economy class, 30kg + 8kg hand luggage; Business class 40kg +16 kg for hand luggage in total.
I’m indebted to my old pal Tony Flynn for this lockdown game… use the initials of your Christian name for what you need when you’re holed up at home.
But Tony, I know you better than that… Tea, Onions, Noodles, Yogurt?
And you know me better too… and that’s why I went for Johnnie Walker, Ardbeg, Mossburn, Elements of Islay, Springbank.
You must have known I’d have used my full Christian name… more whisky, you see.
It’ll put a smile on your face
And in this regular feature, ‘Hungry and Thursday’ that’s what it’s all about, and being in lockdown my whisky is my best friend.
And while punters snap up the cheap lager from the supermarket shelves I’m happy to report that there’s still plenty of uisce beatha, or water of life, to be had.
So here’s a trawl of whiskies around the world…
Smoky Scotch
For peat’s sake
Scotland: The original and the best, Scotland is the home of whisky.
It has five clearly defined regions, of which the smoky and peaty whisky from the isle of Islay is the best. Think an ashtray of water… no, seriously, it will grow on you.
Growing up just a Johnny Sexton (or back then more a Mike Gibson) kick over the stream (or burn, as we call them in Scotland) to the Glasgow High playing fields.
I would often jump over into the grounds and practise kicking over the posts.
Robbie Burns is watching: George Square
No, I didn’t become the next Andy Irvine (I am Scottish after all), but I did go onto play at school, report on the game, and become a lifelong fan.
For 51 weeks a year the oval ball game plays second fiddle to football in Glasgow but on May 25 it will have to share centre stage.
When Celtic Park will host the Pro 14 Final, Celtic will be contesting the Scottish Cup final with Hearts the same day at Hampden Park.
WHERE TO STAY I found a standard room for two at the ibis Glasgow City Centre – Sauciehall Street (it’s actually just two minutes from Sauciehall Street on 220 West Regent Street).
For two nights from May 24-26 from €320. Visit www.booking.com.
WHERE TO EAT Glasgow’s national dish is not haggis as you might have been told but ‘a cheeky wee Ruby’, no she’s not a good time girl from the Gorbals. A ‘Ruby’ or ‘Ruby Murray’ is Jockney slang for a curry.
And did you know that the Chicken Tikka Masala was invented in Glasgow.
When Ali Ahmed Aslam, the owner of the above mentioned Shish Mahal improvised by putting tomato soup and some spices into a chicken curry.
For a Glasgow bus driver who had complained that the original offering was too dry?
Not to be confused with the Chicken Tikka Mo Salah which has Egyptian spices and is served in Liverpool!
Best bar none
WHERE TO DRINK The Park Bar, 102 Argyle Street is a popular hang-out for Heelanmen and women, or Highlanders to you and me.
Serving tips: don’t wear ‘colours’, that’s hats and scarves with the colours of your sporting team, greens and blues are particularly divisive on account of the two big soccer teams Celtic and Rangers.
A pint of heavy is what we know as a pint of ale or Smithwicks and even if it is pronounced the same they spell whiskey without the e. It tastes just as good though.
There are some mornings I wake up without a smile on my face to show the world all the love in my heart.
Today though is not one of them.
Today, I have the widest smile on my face.
Because today I am going to see Beautiful The Carole King Musical.
She’s Beautiful (as is my wife).
Carole King and her breakthrough 1971 solo album Tapestry has been something of a soundtrack to my adult life.
Since I first heard it in a record store as an 18-year-old and asked them to play it again…
You’ve got a friend
Before buying it there and then before going on to wear out the needle.
Will You Love Me Tomorrow? summed up my feeble attempts at wooing… of course, they didn’t even love me that night,
Then it was You’ve Got a Friend when She came along,
So Far Away was when she was pregnant with the Son and Heir in Aberdeen.
And trying to sell the house and me starting a new job in Liverpool.
Close-up? Selfie time
And since then Home Again as we have taken an Oydyssean journey around these islands.
It is the beauty of this timeless album that I won’t be the only one for whom it tells a personal story.
Of course, it’s Carole King’s story that Beautiful tells.
It is a story that begins with her selling her first song while still at school.
Through the ups and downs of her marriage to songwriting partner Gerry Goffin.
To her grand redemptive performance at Carnegie Hall in her native New York.
Hands on decks: Some ambient music at the Radisson Blu
Along the way we thrill to the Sound of the Sixties which she and Goffin and their friends Cynthia Wiel and Barry Mann shaped.
With such classics as On The Roof, Locamotion, One Fine Day, Pleasant Valley Sunday and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, On Broadway and a bunch of others.
At the end of a fast-paced joyful paean to Carole who has inspired generations of singer-songwriters and still performs to this day, she had performed Tapestry in full with her daughter Louise.
I feel the earth move
Up the road at Hyde Park in the summer, I’m up dancing and clapping wildly to I Feel The Earth Move.
While I’m here at the Aldwych Theatre in London’s West End to pay homage to Carole King there’s time enough for some other kings.
And some queens and princes too at the Tower of London.
Pasta master: Fill yourself up
William the Conqueror built it nearly 1,000 years ago to fortify the capital of his new kingdom, King Henry VIII had two wives beheaded here.
Near to where I’m standing by the Bloody Tower where King Richard III had his two nephews suffocated in their sleep,
Another queen, Lady Jane Grey, was also executed here…
She spent only five days as monarc.
Before she had to make way fro Queen Mary, or Bloody Mary if you will who then made way for Queen Elizabeth.
Beefeater anyone?
It’s another Queen Elizabeth we’re chiefly here to see, the current queen, Britain’s longest serving monarch at 64 years and counting.
Or more accurately we’re here to see her bling, the Crown Jewels.
Talking of counting, try counting the number of gems in her crown.
On your walk around or the number of salt bowls or how many drinks you could get out of that punch bowl.
All of which can make you quite thirsty.
Fat as a king
I feast like a king at my palace for the weekend, the Radisson Blu Edwardian in Mercer Street, Seven Dials, near Covent Garden.
Our breakfasts are king-sized.
Instead of choosing buffet or continental they do both while evening meal is a Peruvian/Italian tapas fusion.
It works and the DJ with his decks and his ambient music add to the vibe.
A watery grave: Olde London
Fat as a king, I need to work off the half a dozen meat, fish and pasta tasting dishes and rich Peruvian chocolate dessert which means a stroll around the city of Westminster.
It is a ten-minute walk from Seven Dials across Waterloo Bridge and along the South Bank.
I try to ignore the garish and overpriced Dungeon and Shrek tourist traps and opt instead two read William Wordsworth’s thoughts inscribed on the walkway.
What a Wordsworth!
The great Romantic poet loved London and waxed lyrical about the Thames gentled gliding by.
I despair then at what today’s town planners are doing to this great old city.
With their London Eyesore and Gherkin (and who builds something in the shape of the bit of the burger nobody wants?)
The West End: And that boy Potter
I avert my eyes and, of course, am drawn instead to the Mother of all Parliaments. I cross Westminster Bridge and think on Wordsworth’s Upon Westminster Bridge.
And I consider knocking on Downing Street to give Theresa May a piece of my mind.
But Big Ben’s chimes tell me it’s too late, baby, it’s too late. I have an urgent appointment with another wordsmith.
This article was first published in the Irish Daily Mail in November 2016.
And don’t you know I only got to see the next best thing to Carole, Jessie Mueller, who sang three songs from the musical only centimetres from the American Travel Fair in Washington DC… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/obama-washington-dc/.
There is much more that’s old about New York than new.
It’s just that we don’t always see it.
Walk through Broadway as I did en route to my Kimpton Hotel in Little Brazil, or 130 W 46th Street and you can’t fail to notice the giant billboard for Hamilton.
It is, of course the hip-hop musical that has taken the world by storm and it is playing at the Richard Rodgers Theater.
It’s the hottest ticket in town and you’d almost need to be the President or Vice-President to get one.
Where dreams are made of: Manhattan
Veep Mike Pence did, and such is the status that the actors in Hamiton have that they felt empowered enough to lecture him on his politics.
His big pal, the Greatest Living New Yorker, wasn’t impressed and dissed their stand on Twitter demanding – hilariously – that they apologise.
Shame there’s no evidence he’s ever seen the production because The Alexander and The Donald have much in common.
Messing about on the river: On the Hudson
Both are big business, both half-Scottish and both ladies’ men, both egotists and both bestrode their age.
And yet just before the musical reconnected Americans with Hamilton, appartchiks were planning to have him replaced on the $10 bill.
It would have been a particular kind of humiliation for the man who saved the nascent Union from bankruptcy and set up the financial system.
The one that has served The Donald and countless others so well.
The city that Alexander built
And yet other than on Broadway and on the $10 bill where in New York will you find ‘The Greatest Ever New Yorker’?
The best place to start is Central Park.
Another Central Park celeb
You’ll see a steady flow of tourists stopping by to pay tribute to John Lennon who only actually lived here for a few years.
He was always going to go back to England anyway and wouldn’t have been any good in a war.
He’d be lying back in bed talking about, well ‘giving peace a chance.’
Where would the New Yorkers and the Americans have been with someone like him?
My relatives came by here
Hamilton, by contrast, fought bravely in the defence of New York.
And represented them proudly in government, both here when New York was the nation’s capital from 1875-1878.
And in Philadelphia and Washington DC.
Where is Hamiton, though?
He’d appreciate a visit.
His statue is in Central Park, on East Drive, opposite 83rd Street, on the way to Harlem.
And seeing as you’re in the neighbourhood and it’s a Saturday then why not sign up for Jimmy Napoli’s Outside In Hamilton tour http://www.hamiltonsnewyork.com in Washington Heights and Hamilton Heights.
But not on this ship: A submarine on the Hudson
And find out more about this larger-than-life character.
Visit the actual Morris-Juliet Mansion that Washington chose as his HQ at the Battle of Harlem Heights.
And where Hamilton was by his side.
Hamilton history
It was later the home of one-time Vice-President and our hero’s nemesis Aaron Burr.
And it was from here that Washington and Hamilton looked down the peninsula to Manhattan burning in the distance.
Some bigger buildings would block their view today.
Jimmy’s hour-long, one mile walking tour will take you to other important landmarks in The Great Man’s life, including the restored Hamilton Grange National Memorial.
The McNultys, my mum’s people (Irish and American).
If there’s anything he’s missed out – and there won’t be – you can always catch up at Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on 226 W 46th Street.
My VIP pal
Again you’d probably need to be pals with the President or Veep to get a ticket.
Good job I am.
The Commander-in-Chief has a pitch on Times Square, near the Naked Cowboy, but more appropriately near Hamilton.
And it’s a beautiful pitch… a beautiful pitch.
Travel facts
How to get there: New York is served by airlines from airline. And you can get pre-clearance from Ireland. And by bus and trains if you are in the US. I took a Peter Pan bus from DC. It takes nearly five hours.
Where to stay: Kimpton Muse has an executive room, one king bed, two adults from the equivalent of €307.66 for the sample dates of Friday, August 4, to Saturday, August 5. See http://www.kimptonhotels.com. Also visit http://www.nycvb.com.
I’ll revisit New York, mine and my Irish family’s entry like so many others, to America in this blog.
This article was first published in the Irish Daily Mail in 2017.
It’s the footwork, dahling… turn your toes in. And keep the hands open, and dahling, trust your partner.
I half expect to see Craig Revel Horwood sitting opposite, giving out and holding up a 2.
Thankfully I’m not being judged on my dancing but my tennis by my mixed doubles partner Judy Murray.
Yes, that Judy Murray, tennis supercoach, mum-of-two Wimbledon champions, and just as importantly in our house a Strictly Come Dancing legend.
Europe’s new four ball: John and Jim
Judy has had half an eye on Ashley, Faye, Lauren, Stacey, Joe, Charles, et al this series.
A message from you, Judy
Only half an eye though as her main focus has been making tennis players out of the flotsam collection of wannabe racquet tyros I’m assembled here with.
In the new Campus sporting development in Quinta Do Lago in the Algarve.
Judy is running a series of tennis coaching lessons for young and old, good and bad, studious and messers, which, er, would be me.
That cow’s still got his name on it
In my defence her starter hooter was too inviting not to play keepie-uppie with.
Judy, though, as well as being very good at sport is a very good sport and even allowed me to waltz her around at the end.
Tennis and squash’s child
Another very good sport and one that you won’t have heard so much about is padel which is more popular in the Iberian Peninsula than tennis.
Former rugby international Max Evans who with soccer great John Terry took to the game on a trip to the Algarve, describes it as the baby that tennis and squash would beget.
And wash it down with some Portuguese vino
Played to the same scoring system as tennis, the big difference is in the non-string bats, the underhand serve, the fact that you can play off the side glass walls.
And, dare I say it, that it might just be better fun than tennis.
Judy’s work done, she gets a deserved breather. Me, I’m off to bother the gold pros.
Team of all talents
For four days I will have a team of experts tasked with trying to make an athlete of me, just as they can for you too.
With a Paralympian legend: Me and Brian Rohan
The professional at the Paul McGinley Golf Academy shows off the latest golf technology, tracking machines, sensory guides et al.
It can turn the most ordinary club member into a Rory or a Tiger, or at least on the odd shot.
If you concentrate that is.
But there’s always one messer who gets distracted.
Water trap: Have a chip with your dinner
In this case drawn to Paul McGinley’s buggy from when he captained Europe to Ryder Cup success at Gleneagles.
Ryder Cup glory
There’s a good reason why the big boys and girls in our party get to play The South Course, one of three Championship courses here at Quinta do Lago, while yours truly is kept to the driving range.
I do get to drive me a buggy, though not Paul’s Ryder Cup cart, which sensibly is kept where it is.
And I get to see the course, safely for me and the golfers, or at least that’s the plan before the boy racer in me kicks in.
My boat comes in
And I cut up the buggy in front and almost drive into the lake that skirts one of the greens.
I dare say I would have come up with my pockets bursting with stray golf balls.
Maybe I’ll fare better on two wheels.
Ride on
Quinta do Lago means Farm by the Lake and Quinta is at great pains to keep human athletic exertions and the natural world in perfect harmony.
Or a dip after your lunch
The Ria Formosa reserve which runs parallel to the course, is more geared to Shiny Ibises and Spoonbill birdies.
And yes, get off your bike, get your binos out and you really will see these fascinating birds scoop up their prey with spoonlike beaks.
I’d like to say I planned my disembarkation but the truth is I took one sandy corner too many and too sharply in my obsession to lead the party.
Hungry work
Eyebrows may have been raised as to my suitability to go back with the sensible ones on the roads, but hunger called.
The new mixed doubles
That hunger was sated as it invariably is in these parts by the harvest of the seas.
The world literally is your piscine pleasure in Portugal and no fish is safe, so I felt not a pang of guilt in devouring Dory’s pals, the lobster, prawns, clams, seabass both here at the island restaurant Casa do Lago at the Campus.
And more of that later.
For golfers, there is a green in the water for diners to shoot at but it was wisely out of bounds for us on the day.
If the Scotland manager is watching
The appeal of The Campus is its infrastructure and expertise.
Why else would it attract Premier League side Burnley, Champions League winners Olympique Marseille and Rio Ferdinand who runs a soccer camp.
Paralympic champion
While Irish Paralympian, road race great Brian Rohan runs The Bike Shed, which is so much more than just that.
Ask him kindly and he might even let you hold one of his Olympic gold medals.
And I’ve got my goal celebration sorted
Of course when it comes to sport we’re all of us experts, and so my last night was spent at a sports bar where I watched THREE soccer games simultaneously on the big screens (and who said men couldn’t multi-task?).
I’d like to say all the games were thrillers but I was in my element all the same.
Dancing Dad
I was tackling (cleanly) a chicken casserole for two, to soak up the beer you understand, while exchanging sporting trivia with my Portuguese hosts.
I was less good at the Halloween pub quiz I have to admit but always back myself against any Dancing Dad when the house band appears.
Get the yoga in
There’s always a price to pay of course for revelry and that is invariably a sore head the next morning.
Magnolia drive
Yes, the art deco style Magnolia where we are staying specialises in fixing that too…
The Mag burger, beef, bacon, cheese and lettuce burger and fries, with a special peppery sauce.
The secret of which the Chef, naturally wasn’t sharing, and a pineapple, OJ, coconut and SPINACH smoothie.
Are you watching Craig Revel Horwood?
I felt invincible again and was ready to show off to my new No. 1 fan with my moves, a dive into the pool (yes, strictly against the hotel rules).
But nobody was watching apart from Judy Murray that is.
Don’t worry about me, I’m enjoying the Los Lounges life… in my boardies, pulling my surf stunt, with my Beach Boys music on, and a Strawberry Daiquiri waiting for me.
They are memories and pictures that I can pull up to transfer myself to a favourite place.
And just one of the distractions to being holed up indefinitely.
While, yes. I missed that day’s itinerary which had involved a trip to the Warner Bros Studios and their sets https://www.wbstudiotour.com.
Budge up Sheldon
And the chance to sit in Sheldon’s spot but I did get to do just that when Hollywood My Weekend With Marilyn came to Anaheim for the American Travel Fair, IPW.
It won’t surprise you that today’s conversation has gone off on a tangent… a bit like Alan, one of our coach drivers snd guides in the Eastern Cape in South Africa… http://mobi.alantours.co.za.
Alan’s magical mystery tour
Of course with five wordsmiths in the coach we were never short of a word game or two to while away the time we spent lost in the South African national park…
I only mention them over the other equally fabulous and welcoming destinations who hosted me because they were at the extremities of my Travel footprint.
Do I feel guilty, or should you? Well, yes. How could we not the way Greta goes on?
Of course there’s a multitude of evidence out there on the world wide web to back up Greta.
And like everything on the net you can find anything to support your view.
And their contention that air travel was better for the environment than car travel.
They estimate that the world’s drivers go through 1 billion gallons of fuel a day against 750 million gallons for air passengers.
Of course the fact that one form of transport is less harmful than another is not a strong enough argument.
Against that I would propose the positive effects of air travel… in expanding our minds, our frontiers and our appreciation of other peoples.
While fielding the accusations of the Flygskam brigade that the world is only in lockdown because of selfish air travellers who carried it across the globe…
In big monstrous metal birds.
Just imagine though a world in which our possibilities were restricted by a lack of air travel, or if you will, the past.
A world where we only learned about other peoples through the books and information we are given.
Now I’m not suggesting Boris Johnson or Donald Trump are feeding such a narrative but here is a cautionary tale of what could happen when we close ourselves off from others…
Legend has it that the people of Hartlepool in the north-east of England hanged a monkey who they mistook for a French spy during the Napoleonic Wars.
I have always believed that we are at our best as humans when we are being progressive rather than regressive.
While obviously being respectful of the world around us and those with whom we share it.
And being aware of our limitations with many a salutary tale out there from time immemorial of when to pull back.
Such as the tale of Icarus who flew too close to the sun only for the wax on his wings to melt.
This, and many more moral fables of how we should live with the natural environment around us, are all around you in Greece.., https://athensattica.com and My Greek odyssey.
But like Odysseus I have gone off on a tangent.
I will deal with the other forms of transport in the next parts of my ‘In Defence of’ series which will include cars,.
And no car hater me… how could I be? I should by rights be driving through the Florida Keys right now.
But to leave you on an up… the South Africans have discovered a balancing solution to carbon emissions under their feet.,, This plant can save the world.
And our shared history has shown too that our medicinal cures too can be found in the natural world.
So here’s to when we can all travel again.
And a shoutout to all our friends in the aviation industry who are our dreamcatchers… #DontPanicPostpone.#loveairtravel.
