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Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

Father’s Day memories of mine

20th June 202120th June 2021 funtime65

And for the day that’s in it… Father’s Day memories of mine.

It’s funny what you remember from your childhood days but the European Championships from 45 years ago springs to mind.

And not just because it was the first Euros I remember watching.

Czech this out

Or that it gave rise to the Panenka when Antonin Panenka chipped Sepp Maier for the decisive penalty in sudden death.

The first occasion when a competition was settled thus, and probably the last time the Germans missed one!

Sport was our thing Dad and I.

As it is for generations of men and their sons, and always the go-to subject for me and The Son and Heir.

A different Europe

Dad and lad: And look at that fancy footwork

But what set the 1976 Championships between West Germany and Czechoslovakia apart was that it was Father’s Day.

The fact that neither of those countries exist any more shows you just how long ago it was.

A 10-year-old at the time, I was just exploring one of the other great passions in my life (girls were to come later) – history.

For the people of the lands of East Germany and Czechoslovakia it is a relief that those countries have been consigned to history.

But it is refreshing too that Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia still mark that period of their history.

A new Europe

Which I have seen first hand in east, Dresden, and west Germany, Hamburg..

Where our host Ingrid reminded us that when we try to airbrush history we condemn ourselves to repeat it.

While in Prague Martina gave a US family, with brattish kids, a history lesson they’ll never forget in the Astronomical Clock.

Now you’re smarter than me (not hard) if you’ve worked out who will play in this year’s final.

And no, I don’t know if Germany and the Czech Republic could meet in the final.

They did in the last game of Euro 1996 when Germany got some revenge.

And now for Slovakia

With Katarina in Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic

They might, of course, meet Slovakia a pleasure still awaiting me.

Although I have enjoyed making a friend of Slovakian Katarina, who heads the Czech Tourism team in London.

We, my Dear Old Dad and I, loved spending two hours in the company of the Germans, Czechs and Slovaks 45 years ago.

When we munched on a quarter of midget gems (Scottish for bag of boiled sweets) which I’d bought him.

A treasure trove of memories

Life is just a bowl of cherries: Jim Snr

I made him find them in a treasure hunt around his usual places in the house.

So however you mark the day and I’m not expecting much, just a trip to the Caribbean, then savour them.

Just as I have with my Father’s Day memories of mine.

Countries, Cruising, Deals, Europe, Ireland, UK

Irish Ferries across La Manche

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You won’t be the first Irish to cross the sea from England to seek a fortune but will be the first on Irish Ferries across La Manche.

The Irish have a long-standing historic friendship with La France.

From the Flight of the Earls from Donegal to France.

To Napoleon sending his troops to help one of those ill-fated Irish rebellions.

The Wine Geese

Best seat in the house: Isle of Inishmore

And the Wine Geese, the Irish wine manufacturers who made their millions in France.

And the next time you’re cradling a glass of Hennessy then toast Corkonian Richard Hennessy who conquered the French and global market.

Irish men of letters too were drawn to France with James Joyce and Samuel Beckett domiciling there.

Men of letters

With Beckett’s signature play Waiting For Godot originally written in French as En Attendant Godot.

While WB Yeats spent many un jour in France most notably at his muse Maud Gonne’s chateau.

And spent his final days in the Hôtel Idéal Sejour in Roquebrune Cap Martin on the French Riviera.

Where we’re told his wife George AND his mistress Edith Shackleton Heald are said to have took turns at his bedside.

Ooh-la-la. It’s the French way.

And so when we learned that Irish Ferries would be sailing across the English Channel we hoped WB Yeats would be taking the journey again.

WB Yachts

WB Yeats being the pride of the Irish Ferries fleet, its most recent acquisition which they invited their passengers to name.

And which I’m still smarting about not winning my lifetime of free journeys with my suggestion WB Yachts.

Fear not though you will be sailing on the newly refurbished Isle of Inishmore.

Fares are from £69 one way for a car and up to nine passengers, with up to ten sailings daily.

Channeling my inner mariner

Shoo till you drop: On the Isle of Inishmore

As impressive a feat of engineering ingenuity as The Channel Tunnel is tunnels have their place.

And it’s romantic to consider that we are sailing too in the ripples of all these great Irishmen and others.

I’ll maybe leave out that the last time I sailed La Manche I couldn’t keep my baguette down.

But that was more down to overindulging on Belgian beer.

So here’s to Irish Ferries across La Manche.

MEET YOU ON THE SEAS

Countries, Culture, Ireland, UK

H is for Hastings Hotels in Belfast

17th June 202117th June 2021 funtime65

Say Hastings in Belfast and, sucking with diesel, you’ll be steered towards its hotels. Yes, H is for Hastings Hotels in Belfast.

For those who have been living under a rock (Ted) Hastings is also the Head Honcho of TV’s Line of Duty.

And we all know that suspicion fell on Adrian Dunbar’s character.

Thar he could be the ringleader of a cop corruption circle.

Tour de Force

All of which you can see on the walls and in the language of the locals

And this is where our friends at Hastings Hotels ramp it up.

Hastings and McCombs Coaches have launched the first Line of Duty Experience around the Northern Irish capital.

You’ll kick off your tour with brekkie (make it a Full Irish) in the iconic Grand Central Hotel’s Grand Cafe.

Location, location, location

Before you’re taken around locations you’ll recognise from the show.

And finish it all off in the highest cocktail bar in Ireland, the Observatory.

With an AC12 cocktail or Wee Donkey mocktail.

The GCH is the place to stay in Belfast and I always take my friends.

To which they’ve naturally added this year The Line of Duty Duck.

Caroline McComb from McComb’s Coach Travel and Cáelán McVeigh from Grnnd Central

That’s my duckies from around the world among them the famously themed Hastings quackers.

Diesel Duck

Or to put my take on it ‘Diesel’ Duck.

And Duckie will also boast some of Northern Ireland’s best-known sayings.

Go on yersel’ Julie Hastings, Marketing Director of Hastings Hotels.

She said: ‘This is a unique tour which takes in some of the most exciting filming locations across Belfast City Centre.

‘And while you may not float up the Lagan in a bubble, you will certainly enjoy the best views of Belfast and beyond.’

The tour starts at Grand Central Hotel in Bedford Street, next to the Invest NI building, AC-12’s HQ.

The Line of Duty Experience packs in a lot for your £49pp.

If we say you’ll channel the scenes where Kate Fleming shot Ryan Pilkington, Kate (again) shot Dot Cotton’s car killing him you’ll get the idea.

The Line of Duty Experience takes place on July 3, 17 and 31, August 14 and 28 and September 11 and 25.

Sign me up for H is for Hastings Hotels in Belfast.

Countries, Culture, Ireland

Clock Irish history

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Michael Collins (or Liam Neeson) slapped down a British apparatchik: ‘Seven minutes late? You’ve been keeping us waiting 700 years.’ Clock Irish history!

Poignant too that our story begins in Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city, a Viking stronghold from 914.

Where they’ve opened Ireland’s first Museum of Time.

Twin time: Kate and Matthew Kirwan

It is a welcome addition to Waterford Treasures, making it five museums now in the city‘s Viking Triangle.

The Fab Five

For more on Waterford’s origins then you can take in the Medieval Museum, the Museum of Silver, Bishop’s Palace and Reginald’s Tower.

The Bishop in question is Anglo-Irishman Bishop Charles Este.

With this exquisite Georgian building housing the oldest surviving piece of Waterford Crystal, from 1789.

And the Napoleon Bonaparte Mourning Cross, the only one of the original 12 that were made on his death.

While there’s a 4D Masterpiece in Glass Exhibit of the history of the city’s world-famous export.

Eight centuries of Reg

Reginald’s Tower is the oldest civic building in the country,

Reginald is likely to have been Ragnall Mac Gilla Muire, the last Hiberno-Norse ruler of the city.

It has been in continuous use for over 800 years although, alas, it’s closed just now for renovations.

Well, got to keep it secure from invaders.

Medieval and Silver, well we can probably work out what we’re getting.

Day out from Dublin

And the thing is prices for any, or all of the museums is well-priced, probably not much more than Medieval silver.

Waterford, on the south-east coast, is only a two-hour drive from Dublin.

Or a two-hour train ride with return tickets from Heuston for €19.15.

And no danger of missing your train back to the capital with all those timepieces around you… unless you want to, that is!

Clock Irish history in Waterford? It’s time well spent.

Countries, Europe, Flying, Ireland, UK

A favourite airline now gone, Stobart Air

13th June 202113th June 2021 funtime65

Sorry to be such an old misery guts on your rest day but every day will now be a rest day for Stobart a favourite airline now gone.

Stobart Air has been the wings beneath my winding my way from Ireland back to Scotland.

On more occasions than I care to remember.

Liquidation looms

But alas the 50-year-old carrier has been forced into liquidation now.

By Covid and Irish Government inaction.

For every Irish adult Stobart Air will always be Aer Arann.

Aer Arann got off the ground in 1970 to serve Inishmore in the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland.

And Galway and the West, where I would spend my childhood summer holidays, is best.

Aer Lingus, the national airline carrier, saw the possibilities and soon got on board, contracting Aer Arran to operate their short-haul commuter links.

Stobart story

Stobart Group jumped in during the choppy mid Twenty-Teens and rebranded as Stobart Air.

Which is when I started to lean on them as my taxi service back and forth to Scotland while living and working in Ireland.

And revisiting my old haunts such as my young party days in Aberdeen, my adopted home Edinburgh and my home city Glasgow.

There are other airlines and they will fill the gap left by Stobart Air mist critically now where flights have been lost.

But the collapse of any airline is to the detriment of passengers.

A sad day

The wider the range of airlines the greater choice on offer and the better value.

This is all on the back of the collapse of FlyBe.

And they were a favourite too with their flights to cruise town Southampton, Stobart Air’s decline is a sad day for us all.

We’ll be told that it is Covid collateral damage but try telling that to those who have lost their jobs.

And passengers who have been left out of pocket.

And until governments change their attitude to Travel as vital and not trivial…

Then it might be Stobart a favourite airline now gone today but there will be countless others tomorrow.

America, Countries, Ireland, Music, UK

Donald Duck Day is a quacker

9th June 20219th June 2021 funtime65

Eider expect your party is in full swing already because… Donald Duck Day is a quacker.

Our beloved Donald first waddled onto our screens on this day back in The Wise Little Hen.

And oh boy, oh boy, oh boy… we’ve been loving his company ever since.

I first met The Original Donald when another was trying to steal his shade back in November 2018.

He Disney half look good

Donald was wintering where we all want to make for, Florida.

While, of course, Donald has homes all over the world.

And I followed him from Orlando to Anaheim.

And danced away with the Three Caballeros.

Of course while today is about the Donald I’ve taken my duck fun wherever I find it.

The Duckmaster

So when the Duckmeister invited us to the Duck Parade in Memphis, well I was there in double quack time.

I’ve been hooting my quacker today, lining up my Northern Ireland Hastings ducks in a row and getting ready for my party.

So don that duck suit, waddle around the house and watch your Donald Duck films.

Me? Being of the Scottish variety be celebrating with my people, the McDuck clan.

The McDucks are, of course, from a rich lineage going back to the ancestral home of Dismal Downs.

Near the village of MacDuich somewhere in Rannoch Moor.

The McDucks

We owe it all to the union of Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck and gave us the genius creation of Scrooge McDuck.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I’ll get a smile out of old Scrooge.

On this day because Donald Duck Day is a quacker.

America, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Ireland

The summertime is coming

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The summertime is coming and the trees are softly blooming. And the wild mountain Jim rolls around the blooming heather.

I’d rather be rolling around the blooming beach though I’ll settle for my front garden, North Berwick, until I get back out to the Caribbean.

But to mark the sun coming out, although I might jinx it, here’s some summer sizzlers to lift your Rainy Days and Songdays.

I remember that summer

Summer in Dublin, Bagatelle: And this was the soundtrack of 1980 which is where he would always spend my summer.

I can’t remember the Liffey stinking like Hell but I was one of those young people looking so well on Grafton Street in Dublin.

Rock’n’roll never forgets, nor us, and singer Liam Reilly who was taken from us last year will always be a sound of our Dubliners summer.

It’s summer Irie

Money Well Spent, Biggie Irie: It’s the last day of Crop Over and I still have room for Bacchanal.

The Crop Over carnival, to be fair, lasts all summer and is the only thing Bajans devote their attentions to.

California, the best trip

Sloop John B, The Beach Boys: And it may have been the worst trip Brian Wilson ever went on.

But visiting SoCal, Southern California, and being entertained by the Boys, Snoop Dogg et al, was the best trip I’ve ever been on.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Here comes the Sun, The Beatles: And The Beatles light up any summer.

Whether in Liverpool or Hamburg where I’ve followed in the Fab Four’s footsteps and I suggest you do the same.

Espana por favor

Y Viva Espana, Sylvia: And Swede Sylvia’s song falls into the summer anthem category along again with Typically Tropical’s We’re Going To Barbados.

And, of course, it’s Britons and Irish go-to summer hotspot and ours too.

All of which brings us back to el hobby horse: why are the Canaries, off the coast of Africa not a special case.

After all those Tenerife trails won’t walk themselves.

So, seeing the summertime is coming then we should all blooming get out in the sun and sing and dance.

Countries, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

A wee Irish breakfast?

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It’s the question every Irish guest house landlady or hotel waitress will ask you… a wee Irish breakfast?

Of course no Full Irish breakfast is ever anything like wee.

So to celebrate the reopening of Irish guest houses and breakfasts this week on top of hotels last week a celebration of The Wee Irish.

And a Sunday confession from where they do it best… Northern Ireland.

Tis Grand

The Grand Central Hotel Belfast puts on one of the best breakfasts you’ll find anywhere on the island. Or anywhere anywhere.

Alas the Observatory Bar with the best views of Belfast does the best cocktails too.

The wine flows like water at the Europa Hotel.

Where if you’re lucky you can take in a cabaret dinner watching Van Morrison and his jazz pal Joey DeFrancesco at the Europa Hotel.

While the combination of two Scotsmen abroad finishing off with an orange stout nightcap in the iconic Crown Bar…

Full Irish

And so when the Full Irish arrived the next morning my eyes quickly sent a message to my belly.

And I could touch neither pork sausages, crispy bacon, scrambled or poached sausages or black pudding and mushrooms.

All of which nearly saved me for my reunion with The Son and Heir at his digs and a walk around town and through the Botanical Gardens.

Now while the Grand Central offers up an Irish Breakfast for inclusivity, a couple of words more here on The Ulster Fry.

The Ulster Fry

The Hairy Bikers point us in the right direction.

And for those who want to know how an Ulster Fry might deviate from a Full English, well…

Potato farls anyone? Well they’re a delicious potato and flour flat fried savoury cake.

Soda bread? And there was always this slice of Ireland on our breakfast table in our Scots-Irish house growing up.

It’s pretty much as it says on the packet, if the packet is in the shape of a wee Ulster mammy, of which my Dear Wee Mum is one.

The Nine Counties

Belfast boys: With the Son and Heir in Belfast

The secret ingredient is, of course, magic Ulster fairy dust.

More too here on Ulster and I’m not being political here but the province is bigger than the country Northern Ireland.

So that’s the six counties of the North, Armagh, Antrim, Down, Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone.

And the three from the South, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, with my Mum’s county Donegal in the South but further North.

Irish logic

Well, that’s Irish logic for you.

Only to mention this because I did manage to get my Ulster Fries of my Donegal youth.

And when on best behaviour with the Scary One elsewhere in the Northern Irish capital, and in Monaghan.

So a wee Irish breakfast anyone?

Well, yes, but watch out for the wee night out the night before and the invitation for a wee drink?

America, Countries, Deals, Europe, Ireland

Princess Grace – what a Corker!

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She is for ever Monaco’s princess… but Princess Grace – what a Corker!

Grace’s people hail from Newport, Co. Mayo.

And her grandfather John Peter Kelly, an honest brickie, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1867.

The bould JP only founded a construction company in the City of Brotherly Love.

And he built his fortune which found its way down to Grace.

It subsequently helped her to forge her way in the acting world.

Kelly’s aye

Seeing that this site prioritises all things American and Irish then Grace Kelly walks, nay sashays, into our world.

Particularly as the Irish are celebrating her this month to mark 60 years since she and her famous family visited Cork.

The Imperial Hotel Cork has a 60th anniversary special by pitching their prices at, yes you guessed it, €60pps for June 26.

You can only wonder how many suitcases Grace, Rainier, Caroline and Albert had that day… or what treatment they received.

But thousands of Corkonians lined the South Mall and would have gladly served as her bell hop.

Imperial mint

You’ll be pampered too.

The historic 200-year-old Imperial, known as the Grande Dame of Cork, is putting on a two-night Princess Grace themed pampering package.

And a bespoke Princess Grace Afternoon Tea features artisanal pastries made in the hotel and is inspired by her fave things.

Dine at the hotel’s new restaurant Thyme at Seventy Six on the Mall where you can eat like a royal.

So that’s a Royal Beef Stew just like Grace and her famille did in 1961.

Tea pour deux

Afternoon Tea at Imperial Hotel Cork.
Photo Joleen Cronin

That Princess Grace Afternoon Tea?… well, you’ll relax at High Noon (obvs) in La Fayettes, the stately tearoom that dates back to 1813.

And those favourite things of Grace’s that inform the pastry decorations?

How about a GK perfume bottle, a mini-Hermes handbag, a rose, Champagne and a selection of mini-sandwiches?

The 1hr 40mins Graceful Express spa treatment will allow you to channel your inner Grace (men be warned!)

The turn down service too has been especially developed with our heroine in mind with a new Princess Grace signature scent.

And all Graceophiles will know that Fleurissimo was her fave perfume, and this new signature scent will be infused with rose and bergamot.

Wall of fame

Dwell awhile in the lobby and peruse the archival newspaper exhibition.

And pick out too the famous people who have stayed here over the hotel’s 200 years.

The royal packages

To recap there’s that €60 special but because you want to be royally treated there are accessories.

That Princess Grace Pampering Package is from €195pp sharing and includes among other goodies one night’s dinner at Thyme and Prosecco for two at La Fayettes.

Royal-tea: And we’re channeling our Princess Grace

The Graceful Escape is a one hour 40 minutes treat you deserve and been saving for, for €180pp.

And tea pour deux is €60 avec Prosecco.

Now that is High Society!

Hello China: And she’s full of Grace, obvs

Princess Grace – what a Corker! And here’s the evidence.

And obviously a Philadelphian.

Back in Monaco

And Monégasque which I saw first-hand when I visited Monaco after school in the days after her tragic death.

We could hardly afford an ice cream then but deservedly I get treated these days in the royal manner in the Riviera.

America, Europe, Ireland, Sport, UK

Babe Ruth and his curse

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Even those who have never played baseball or watched a game will likely have heard of Babe Ruth and his curse.

George, for that was his Sunday name, is mostly associated with two teams.

The Boston Red Sox, where he made his name, and the New York Yankees to where he was traded and became a superstar.

But he actually hailed for Baltimore and started out with the Baltimore Oriioles.

And it is the Maryland city where you will find the Babe Ruth birthplace and museum.

On this day back in 1935 the Babe retired at the age of 40 with all manner of records to his name.

His records were to last long after his death alas too early at the age of 53.

And his reputation would grow with the years.

Not least because the Red Sox did not win a World Series after he left only breaking that 86-year run in 2004.

As is the way with these sporting sensations, and readers will know about the curse around the Philadelphia teams, there is a Bostonian superstition too.

A ‘reverse curve’ road sign on Longfellow Bridge over the busy Storrow Drive was graffittied.

And it came to read the ‘Reverse the Curse’ and it was left in place until the hoodoo was broken.

After which the sign was edited to read ‘Reversed Curse.’

You want to hear about some other curses from across sport? Thought you did.

Ghoulish Gaels

Mayo: But avoid the funeral cortege on the way home

Mayo Gaelic Football team: And in superstitious Ireland it comes as little surprise that there is a curse hanging over Mayo.

The story goes that following their last All-Ireland victory in 1951 the returning heroes failed to wait quietly for a funeral cortege to pass.

And that the presiding priest pledged that they would never win another Sam Maguire Cup until all that team had died.

Mayo have played in the final ten times since without success.

And while Pat Prendergast and Mick Loftus defy the Grim Reaper we doubt they will.

Romani revenge

Birmingham City FC: And you can take your pick of gipsy curses on football teams but it might be because we’re fans of Peaky Blinders that we’re going for this one.

Birmingham lived to regret building their new ground back in 1906 on gipsy land .

When they were cursed not to win a major trophy for 100 years.

High-profile managers Ron Saunders and Barry Fry tried to break the curse.

Saunders putting crucifixes on the floodlights and painting the soles of the players’ boots red.

While Fry urinated in the four corners of the pitch, supposedly because a clairvoyant told him so.

In 2011 Alex McLeish who had no need to empty his bladder there led the Blues to the 2011 League Cup.

Talladega tremors

Talladega Superspeedway: And, of course, it’s never good to build on an Indian Reservation.

Drivers have been known to hear voices as they steered their cars around the Alabama track.

Although petrolhead fans just say it adds to the appeal of the races.

Duck, it’s Drake

You selfie so and so: Drake with sports stars

Drake and sport: And this is more a sports-mad rapper being a Jonah rather than a curse but the Torontonian is in because he’s showbiz.

The musician brings bad luck on whoever he supports.

Whether it’s Paris Saint-Germain, UFC champ Conor McGregor, boxing king Anthony Joshua, Manchester City footballer Sergio Aguero or basketball great Kevin Durant.

These strange turns of luck might just all be in God’s Plan.

But Drake wasn’t taking any chances when he used the curse against him.

And he wore a pair of Philadelphia 76ers shorts when watching the Pennsylvanians against his home Toronto Raptors.

The oft-times cursed Philly sports fans really needed that and lost!

So we’ve given you Babe Ruth and his curse and a few others.

But what’s your fave and let’s hope your sports team has lifted it?