UK Archives - Page 2 of 59 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Glasgow and Boston now sisters by a different mister

3rd July 20263rd July 2026 funtime65

And where better to mark their new bond than The Haven… Glasgow and Boston now sisters by a different mister.

In this the 250th anniversary of the USA the cradle of the revolution was overrun by familiar old faces.

A friendly invasion by the Tartan Army, the legendary foot soldiers who follow their national team around the world and at this World Cup.

Cone yersel: With Scotland’s biggest fan

And put traffic cones on statues.

In the manner of the iconic one of the Duke of Wellington in the Merchant City back in Scotland’s biggest city.

All of which came to the attention of Michelle Wu, the Mayor of Beantown.

Boston with pride

Cone but not forgotten: With Mum at the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow

Mayor Michelle chose Boston’s Scottish pub The Haven, to sign a letter of intent to sister the cities.

To be formalised next April during Tartan Week.

The Sisterhood

And so Boston joins a sisterhood which was kicked off in a spirit of war reconciliation by Nuremberg in Germany in 1985.

Following a student exchange programme in the Fifties.

And closely followed by Rostov-on-Don in Russia, which is currently suspended.

Dalian in China was next up with Havana in Cuba hot on its heels and then Turin joining the party.

Lahore in Pakistan was next with Marseille joining the fun in 2006.

Before Bethlehem, and Mykolaiv in Ukraine got in on the act.

Haverin’ about The Haven

And what of Boston’s Scottish pub, The Haven.

An oasis in an island of Irish Boston bars?

And where was it when I worked for a summer after university in the Black Rose and had The Black Velvet Band whirling round my head?

Well, Jason Waddleton was off doing his own thing in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.

When this Aberdeen Uni alumnus was off in Boston.

But he got there in the end and opened up his Scottish ‘Cheers’ in 1998, the last time Scotland made the World Cup, in France.

Of course, he was full of beans when Scotland got drawn in his adopted city to play two games and win one, against Haiti.

All of which means The Haven is the pub to go to when you’re in Boston.

It’s where everybody knows your name and your clan.

Countries, Europe, Sport, UK

When the famous Tartan Army met the Teuton Army

2nd July 2026 funtime65

When the famous Tartan Army met the Teuton Army in the Euros in Germany two years ago it changed everything.

With bonds between the 200,000 Scots and their German hosts forged and rekindled.

And promises made to meet up again in two years time in America at the World Cup.

Alas, our paths weren’t to cross in the US with Scotland and Germany being drawn apart and both being knocked out early.

But did last night at a Scottish-German get-together in Edinburgh last night.

Where we raised a Prost and a Sláinte with Harald, Charlotte and unsere alten Freunde.

And parked any Schadenfreude for England’s travails until they squeezed by DR Congo.

Back at kindergarten

Not, in truth, that the Germans have ever bought into the grudge that England feels for them.

With, in fact, it being the Dutch with whom the Germans share a rivalry.

Now while football was to the fore, and the World Cup is poorer for Scotland and Germany being out.

We were in town to celebrate the links between our countries and learn, of course, new things.

Because, after all every day is a kindergarten day.

And didn’t we discover our hosts for the night. Anderson Strathern LLP, boasted a Nuremberg chest heirloom dating back to 1701?

My German footballing odyssey

My own German footballing odyssey involved Nuremberg .

When I took in my first game in Deutschland, a Bavarian derby with Bayern Munchen during my first Oktoberfest.

And not even getting a smack in the nose back outside the Hofbrauhuis.

For trying to split up two footballing frauleins, from one of their boyfriends I’m saying, has put me off my love of football.

Which was cemented on a memorable tour around the Ruhr, the spiritual home of German football, while also visiting the German football museum.

Where they bask in the glory of four World Cups and three European Championships (count them).

Flower of Scotland in Germany

World in our hands: At the German Football Museum

So everything is still rosy in the German garden and also in the Ruhr region which will bring a different tourist over next year for their very special gardening spectacle.

All of which has got me thinking, mibbeees I should present a trip to the Ruhr Valley as a horitcultural holiday to Der Scary One.

And I slide off to Essen, Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen.

Countries, South America, Sport, UK

How Scotland brought goals to Brazil

24th June 202624th June 2026 funtime65

And for the World Cup day that’s in it… how Scotland brought goals to Brazil.

And the story of a true pioneer of the Beautiful Game, who you would probably have never heard of here in Scotland.

Unless, of course, you live in the village of Busby, south of Glasgow, where there is a small bust to the great man.

Sprouting Thomas

We are, of course, name checking dye maker Thomas Donohoe here.

For it was he who organised the first informal football match in Brazil near Rio in 1894.

And is as is so often the way is celebrated more here than in his own homeland.

With the five-time world champion Brazilians erecting a 5m statue of Thomas outside the Bangu Shopping Centre.

In the Bangu neighborhood, home to the textile mill where Donohoe worked.

Miller’s tale

Proper Charlie: Father of Brazilian football

Where Thomas led other Scots followed with Charles Miller, the son of a Scottish engineer and Brazilian mother credited.

As the Father of Brazilian Football.

Who established the Paulista League, the country’s first organised football competition.

Of course just introducing a ball, boots and posts to a country doesn’t guarantee that they can turn that into a fine art.

Our Beautiful Game

And this is where Archie McLean emerges next in the story of Brazilian football.

The Paisley mechanic arriving in São Paulo in 1912 and founding the Scottish Wanderers.

And introducing the Scottish short-passing style known in Brazil as A Tabelhinha (the rhythm).

Which in the passing, as it were, we gave to our English neighbours decades before.

And you’re welcome, even if you don’t give us the credit.

Brazilians had until then played a kick-and-rush style.

A nod here too to Ayr footballer Jock Hamilton who the Scottish Football Museum credit as the first professional football coach in Brazil.

And we gave them Pele, Ronaldo and Vini

A sliding doors moment which meant that Brazil would cultivate.

The Garrinchas, Peles, Zicos, Romarios, Ronaldos, Ronaldinhos, Neymars and Vini Jnrs.

Rather than, well, the workmanlike types who will try to shake up the world tonight when Scotland face Brazil in Miami.

Hoping to make history by progressing past the group stages of the World Cup finals at the eighth time of asking.

Where do you want your statue?

Of course, all of this adulation and worship of false idols will escalate to a whole new level.

Should Scotland do the unthinkable and get the right result to qualify for the last 32.

And Super John McGinn do the business off the back of his moon-sized backside.

When we will gladly tear down the statue of slave apologist James Dundas, atop the 150ft Melville Monument in Edinburgh.

And replace him with Bravearse.

America, Countries, Sport, UK

Jock Tamson’s bairns on tour in America

20th June 2026 funtime65

And here’s a fun game for Jock Tamson’s bairns on tour in America… mark off all the Robert Burns statues in the States.

Scotland’s Tartan Army have been taking in the sights and sounds and bars of Boston.

And paying homage to Scotland’s Second Most Famous Scot.

Come down the road: Bandanaman and his Mum

Who they stumbled upon on their way to the iconic Fenway Park for the Red Sox’ Scottish Day.

And naturally put a traffic cone on his head.

On a podium

Not that they, or you, should be surprised.

As the Ploughman Poet pops up all round the world.

Bettered only as a dedicated non-religious icon only by Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus.

Burns popularity derives, of course, from his poetry and his songs.

But also his rags to riches story, his everyman message and his rock’n’roll life.

And his legend and suppers which the Scots diaspora brought with them all around the world.

Miami nice

Bostonians will say a sad farewell to the Scots who are moving on to Miami for their final group game with Brazil.

Alas, the Miamians are yet to honour Rabbie although they could still.

Particularly with a certain half-Scots Commander in Chief living just up the road in Mar a Lago.

Now to my shame and I’ll no doubt have my Scottish citizenship reexamined on the back of this big reveal.

Of Yanks and Men

But I missed the Burns statue in my summer working in Beantown after university or return 35 years later.

While I was also too busy at the John Lennon Memorial in visits to New York to notice Burns’s place in Central Park.

Or the bronze figure in Garfield Park in Da Pope town, Chicago, commissioned and cast in Edinburgh in 1906.

And the bronze Burns in City Park, Denver, gifted by the city’s Scots Caledonian Club in 1904.

Burns Cottage industry

Drink up: With Tam and Johnnie in Alloway

Now Burns’s popularity is shared by all stripes of American, North, South, East and West.

And across the globe with Rabbie popping up in more than 60 guises.

And to see just where they all are a bronze plate of the world with mini-Rabbies then go back to where it all began.

In the little village of Alloway on the west coast of Scotland.

America, Countries, Europe, Food & Wine, UK

Irish bar flagging up Ivorian green, white and gold

17th June 202617th June 2026 funtime65

And as Scotland basks in World Cup glory let’s include our Celtic cousins too and the Irish bar flagging up Ivorian Green, white and gold.

Now we’ve been here ourselves, and too often, with the world champions in waiting (that’s us) outside looking in for 28 years.

And in that decade and a half trying to immerse ourselves in the tourney through clever tie-ins.

Like adopting whichever team is playing England with some smart word play in the marketing merch.

Although worryingly one in ten Scots want England to do well, including Royalist Roy next door.

The Green, White and Verde

It is the birthright, of course, of all Celts that you get to support Ireland or Wales too if your own country miss out.

And in Ireland’s case anybody with any tangental connection.

Such as Cape Verde’s Roberto “Pico” Lopes, a Shamrock Rovers defender the Africans tapped up on LinkedIn.

After discovering he qualified through his father.

Now Ireland and the diaspora have lent their support to Cape Verde.

With the Honey Fitz bar in Astoria, New York adopting the archipelago as their team for the tourney.

And we dare say that the old family bar, the iconic Irish Cottage, in Queens too would have done the same was it still here now.

Men in the mirror

For us living in the country of the world champion heir apparents there is another Irish link, for when Scotland aren’t playing.

In the shape of Cote D’Ivoire, or the Ivory Coast, because their flag is the mirror image of Ireland’s.

Ireland’s green, white and orange represented green Irish catholicism, orange Northern protestantism and white for peace.

And the Cote D’Ivoire’s green for its grasslands, orange for its forests and white, er, for peace again.

Edinburgh and Ivory

Your best Biddy: Channeling the Ivorians

Biddy Mulligan’s in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket has gone full Ivorian.

With all Irish flags, which feature the same tricolour as the Ivory Coast in a different order, will be flipped to represent the African nation.

While Ivory Coast tunes will be played before and after matches.

And Biddy’s has also partnered with an Ivory Coast snacks company to bring food to customers ‘straight from the source’.

And have even bought in hundreds of bottle of African Guinness. with the stout selling more in Africa than any other continent.

Countries, Culture, Deals, UK

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, 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, Flying, Ireland, UK

Iolar where the Aer Lingus eagle dares again

27th May 202627th May 2026 funtime65

Is it a bird, is it a plane… no it’s an Irish plane Iolar where the Aer Lingus eagle dares again.

Should you have been out for a stroll around Bristol in the West Country of England on May 27, 1936 then you’d have been in for a shock.

When a Havilland DH.84 Dragon, or Iolar or Irish eagle in Gaelic parlance, flew over your head.

If you’re still around today of course, you won’t bat an eyelid at metal birds flying over your heads.

But sometimes it does no harm to turn the clock back.

And that’s what Aer Lingus has done, flying the EI-ABIIolar from Dublin to Bristol as part of its 90th anniversary celebrations.

The craic was 90

Green for go: Aer Lingus cabin crew members Laura Stapleton and Nicola Crimmins. Picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Back in 1936, Aer Lingus was a fledgling airline with one aircraft, one route, five passengers, driven by an ambition to connect Ireland to the world.

Since then, the airline has flown everyone from Popes to Presidents, proudly providing an enduring connection between Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America.

Aer Lingus’ de Havilland DH.84 Dragon, EI-ABIIolar, is one of the last remaining aircrafts of its type and represents Ireland’s rich and storied aviation history.

As Aer Lingus’ first aircraft, EI-ABI Iolaroperated for two years with the newly-formed Irish airline, before it was sold and later lost during World War II.

Today’s Iolaris, a sister aircraft to the original, which was welcomed into the Aer Lingus fleet in the 1960s.

It was first restored for the airline’s 50^th anniversary in 1986. Now re-registered as EI-ABI, Iolar remains an enduring symbol of Aer Lingus’ heritage.

The Irish Volunteers

Landed: Laura and Nicola emerge from EI-ABI, Iolar. Picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Iolar had been proudly on display in Aer Lingus’ maintenance headquarters at Dublin Airport in recent years.

With preparations to return the aircraft to its former glory commencing ahead of Aer Lingus’ 90^th anniversary.

The four‑month restoration, carried out by Midland Aviation at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome in County Longford, was supported by a dedicated group of Aer Lingus volunteers.

The skilled team combined archival research, engineering expertise and traditional craftsmanship to restore the aircraft.

‘While preserving its structural integrity and historical authenticity.

The restoration work included maintenance and certification checks, including full top overhauls of both engines and careful cosmetic restoration of the airframe.

With the skills of one of Ireland’s last aviation carpenters playing a vital role in preserving the aircraft’s authenticity.

Around the world with Aer Lingus

Flying Aer Lingus: My go-to Transatlantic carrier

Lynne Embleton, Aer Lingus Chief Executive Officer, said: ‘I am incredibly proud of the dedication and expertise shown by our colleagues and partners in bringing Iolar back to life.

‘And preserve an important piece of our history for future generations.

‘As we mark our 90th anniversary, we’re conscious not only of where we have come from, but how far we have progressed over the past nine decades.

‘From that first flight carrying five passengers across the Irish Sea, the airline today connects Ireland to over 100 destinations across Europe, the UK and North America.’

Of course, much as we would like the intimacy of a five-passenger flight we recognise times change and will relent to share our experience with others.

Even when liquored-up rugger buggers (and England’s west country is full of them) think it’s a great wheeze.

To chuck nuts at each other and past our heads.

Thankfully though Aer Lingus’s angels in the air are always there to intervene on our behalf.

Countries, Deals, Europe, UK

The best of times in London and Paris

24th May 202624th May 2026 funtime65

It was the best of times in London and Paris it was… well, time heals the scars from even the most stressful family getaway.

Which may very well be the best argument for going it alone.

So you don’t have to spend your mornings battling to get kids changed and out.

Arbitrating in arguments on les rues et boulevards and stopping every other hour so they can graze.

Thankfully then there’s a specialised tour provider, Solos, who will think only of you.

London calling

And seeing we’re all being adults about this, which means starting your London leg of your tour with a traditional pub welcome dinner.

And also putting on classic experiences including Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and a Thames River cruise.

All made easy with included public transport access.

Paris light

All before you travel by Eurostar to Paris.

Where naturellement you’ll visit to the Eiffel Tower.

And see how the other half lived before the Parisians embarked on their spring of hope…

Mais oui, a full-day visit to the Palace of Versailles.

This being the City of Light you can walk the streets of Montmartre with élan, or Alain or Elaine…

This is your Solos holiday after all.

You’ll admire Notre Dame, and dip into the Louvre, before rounding things off with a farewell dinner cruise on the Seine.

Just the ticket

A seven-night London and Paris Multi-City Break departs on 1 October.

From £3,525pp including Eurostar from London to Paris, flight from Paris to London, airport taxes and charges,

You’ll get the London Oyster card with £20 credit, Paris Vistre travel card zone 1-5.

Breakfast daily and two dinners, a welcome drink and informal welcome meeting.

Entrance to Westminister Abbey, standard experience on the London Eye and a Thames River Cruise.

The Eiffel Tower ticket to the top, entrance and Vox audio-whispers.

The Palace of Versailles Palace State Apartments & Gardens, standard visit including audio-whispers to Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris.

Dinner cruise with Bateaux Parisiens and an experienced Solos Tour Leader.

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.