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The charms of Edinburgh for the Irish

2nd March 20262nd March 2026 funtime65

The charms of Edinburgh for the Irish used to only come every other year when their throngs of rugby fans would descend on Murrayfield in the city’s west end.

And now it seems they can’t get enough of us, the culture and the castle yes, but probably mostly the craic around the Rose Street hostelries.

With our friends at loveholidays reporting too that the Scottish capital is their leading emerging destination.

As part of a growing market for Britain.

Now its proximity and our Celtic kith and kin comradeship as well as Edinburgh being a much easier city to get around than, say London, is probably part and parcel of it.

And will account for why our travel provider pals have seen a 75% spike in bookings.

Who do we love?

Hat-a-boy: On the King Charles Bridge in Prague

Analysing bookings from the last three months, the online travel agent reports that Edinburgh is leading a distinct spike in city break popularity for 2026.

Not that London will ever lose its appeal with a notable 48% surge.

Indicating that holidays to the UK are taking off, while escapes to other European city destinations Prague (+48%) and Budapest (+44%) have seen significant increases too.

Now having enjoyed the delights of those two great Central European cities, and having been barred from most of the pubs in Edinburgh.

We’ve decided to take the wise counsel of our loveholidays friends to expand our Greek islands knowledge by booking up for Rhodes next month.

It is +54 per cent while perennial favourite is +63%.

New York, New York

This year’s blond: With ‘The Donald’ in New York

For long haul it will come as no surprise that New York continues to grow, and always will, with +30.

While Dubai, understandably, figures highly at the start of the year with +53%.

Now it helps with your city’s promotion to have somebody at the helm of loveholidays’ Irish promotion who loves their rugby and golf.

And my old mucker Clem Walshe, Irish Commercial Director at the firm, is just that.

Clem to fame

‘What unites these emerging destinations, from the cobblestones of the Royal Mile to the thermal baths of Budapest, is the variety that they offer,’ the travel provider expert opines.

‘Beach holidays remain a firm favourite, but there is a clear increased enthusiasm for city escapes this year. Edinburgh is the standout performer.’

Just remember, Clem, to promote the Golf Coast, east of Edinburgh and our championship-standard courses Muirfield, Renaissance and North Berwick.

Although you might have to give me a monster handicap next time you’re over.

Countries, Sport, UK

Curl up and enjoy this winter pastime

20th February 202620th February 2026 funtime65

If the exertions of Scotland’s Bruce Mouat have pricked your interest this last week for a new sport to follow then here’s where to curl up and enjoy this winter pastime.

Chances are that for most of us the strange sport of curling with its stones, brushes and dartboards only comes onto our radars every four years at the Winter Olympics.

But long before football became Scotland’s national team sport curling had a hold.

And there was indeed a rival for golf to be the Royal & Ancient game too.

Championed by one Queen Victoria.

We are amused

The story goes that the British monarch and Empress of half the world took to the quaint Scottish game.

On a visit to Scone Palace, near Perth in 1843.

When a certain Earl of Mansfield put on a demonstration of curling on the grand ballroom floor.

And she was so taken by the sport that she granted the Caledonian Club’s name to be changed.

To the Grand Caledonian Curling Club her Royal seal of approval.

The ink on the actual rules of this loose game had only, in truth, been dry on the paper for five years.

Swisskey and curling

Curling could actually trace its roots back as far as 1540,

When Paisley notary (or legal clerk) John McQuhin recorded in his protocol book a challenge.

Between monk John Sclater and Abbot worker Gavin Hamilton.

And he notes that Sclater threw a stone along the ice three times.

And he asserted that he was ready for the agreed contest.

Which is as much skills as yours truly showed halfway up, of all places, the Eiger in the Swiss Alps.

At the Ice Bar with a Swiss whiskey chaser to fuel me.

Now where Scotland led, others followed most notably Canada, the go-to country for Caledonian crofters and penniless Picts.

While, of course, winterlands like Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France also quickly picked up on curling.

Rolling stones

Now, for those of us fortunate enough to live in this top bit of Britain, and for all you other Albaphiles.

The good news is that you can build a holiday around curling,

In Stranraer, in the south-west tip of Scotland, which to our shame we probably all pass through getting on and off the ferry to the North of Ireland.

If ye bide awhile, which you should, you will soon learn that the pride of Galloway is also the de facto home of Scottish curling.

Where Olympic silver medallists Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie.

And Olympics champion Vicky Wright from Eve Muirhead’s 2022 rink never have to buy a drink.

Bespoke curling breaks in Stranraer

Bespoke Holidays helpfully point us in the direction of residential stays residential stays, organised to suit any number of delegates from 2-100.

Beginners to the Roarin’ Game are welcome and breaks with curling lessons included can be arranged.

Of course, we’ll be roarin’ on Bruce Mouatt and his rink today.

And even putting our mind to that poster that has gone up in our own wee town of North Berwick.

Promoting curling in nearby East Linton for those bitten by Bruce’s heroics.

MEET YOU ON THE RINK

Countries, UK

Burns Day for Ellisland syne

25th January 202625th January 2026 funtime65

And for the day that’s in it and because it’s never brought to mind we’re marking Burns Day for Ellisland syne.

Ellisland Farm, near Dumfries in Scotland’s south-west, was where our national bard wrote the New Year’s anthem For Auld Lange Syne.

His witches’ tale Tam O’Shanter and his paean to doomed love Ae Fond Kiss.

But the only home the wordsmith actually built sits in the shadow of the National Trust village of Alloway and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.

Although there is a fightback by friends of Ellisland to restore the farmhouse in the Burns story.

Fair farm

It was to this little corner of Scotland where Burns at the height of his popularity had repaired to a more domestic lot.

The famously restless and spendthrift Burns had, by 1788, set his sights on the lucrative post of an Excise Officer.

And the writer settled on one of three vacant farms his trusty friend Patrick Miller had on offer.

With Burns describing 170-acre Ellisland Farm, with its view over the River Nith and orchard, as ‘the poet’s ch9ice,’

Burns’s choice was to turn it into a splendid six-apartment house, described as a “modest mansion” by visitors in 1789.

Ae Fond Nith

Walking in the footsteps: Inside Ellisland

It was here then among his new country gent set on Nithside that the Ploughman Poet was inspired to write his classic poems.

Surrounded by his ten cows, four horses and some sheep.

Of course, Burns’s native Ayrshire was never too far from his mind.

And it was while regaling himself in the sumptious surrounds of Ellisland Farm that his mind drifted back to the Alloway Kirk.

Dumfries Trail

The Ploughman Poet: In Dumfries and Galloway

And you can to this day see the gravestone of his father William.

Which Robert, brought up on spooky stories by his grandmother at the nearby cottage, used as the set for his witches’ fable.

If you want to find Robert Burns himself though then you’ll want to go back into Dumfries.

And the St Michael’s Churchyard where Robert lies for eternity with his long-suffering wife Jean Armour and some of their brood.

The Robert Burns House, another dwelling where the great man lived, on Mill Street is where he died at 37 and which is now a museum with free entry.

Other features on your Burns Dumfries Trail include the 18th century hostelry, The Globe Inn, known as ‘Burns Howff’ with poems etched on to window panes.

While the Robert Burns Centre , an 18th-century watermill on the banks of the river, features an exhibition about his life in the town.

And the Brow Well & Ruthwell, outside the town, is where Burns sought a cure for the illness which claimed his lfe.

The Immortal Memory

So we’ll tak a drink of kindness now and toast The Immortal Memory.

In truth we did so yesterday at our Burns Supper in the hoose.

And wish the Burnsophiles at Ellisland Farm good luck in their fundraising for their refurb.

With particular interest in the section reaching out to the Scots-American diaspora.

Now if only we could think of a Scots-American with deep pockets and influence who could help rebuild a big, beautiful Burns House.

Countries, Flying, UK

Concorde by a nose in Scotland

21st January 202621st January 2026 funtime65

And because you can still board the greatest plane ever built without shelling out a fortune, we mark 50 years since its inaugural flight and how it’s always been Concorde by a nose in Scotland.

Because, here on our doorstep at the National Museum of Flight in East Fortune in East Lothian, east of Edinburgh, Concorde still holds pride of place in its own hangar.

Which you can board, and enjoy, for just £14.50 of your Earth money.

And see how the other half lived, and flew, back then.

It wasn’t inevitable, of course, that Scotland would house a Concorde, in this case Golf-Bravo Oscar Alpha Alpha, the first of her kind to go into service with British Airways.

Since her maiden flight in January 1976, she has flown 22,768 hours and 56 minutes, landing 8,064 times and going through 6,842 supersonic cycles.

Concorde’s most dramatic journey

In almost 25 years of service, she traversed the globe, touching down in New York, Paris, Bahrain, Miami, Calcutta, Auckland and Barbados.

Its most dramatic journey perhaps though was one where it never got off the ground.

When G-BOAA took to the water instead.

On an unforgettable week-long journey from Heathrow to a bunch of fields east of Edinburgh.

Aisle be looking after you: In-flight entertainment

Concorde was loaded onto a specialist barge, the Terra Marique, at the Thames port of Isleworth.

And sailed up the Thames and north,.

Before being rolled ashore at the British Energy jetty at Torness, East Lothian.

The pipes are calling

She was then guided by members of 39 Engineer Regiment’s 53 Field Squadron (Air Support), with a helicopter hovering overhead.

Before, in true traditional Scottish style, was greeted by two pipers on arrival.

Which is a little bit extra.

And not what you’d get at any of the four Concorde sites in England.

Worth the journey then.

America, Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

St Stephen’s Day v Boxing Day which is better?

26th December 2025 funtime65

Straddling Britain and Ireland means switching Christmas hats… so St Stephen’s Day v Boxing Day which is better?

Just one of the many cultural differences between the two islands is in what we call the Day After Christmas.

Being the first Christian martyr, St Stephen, of course, came before the consumerist Boxing Day.

And he has the jump on the alternative by dint of being by appointment to the Almighty.

With the Church decreeing early that the first martyr should bank the day after the day of Jesus’s birthday.

While Boxing Day had to wait until 1833, with Queen Victoria’s seat still warm on the throne.

When the aristocracy handed down some crumbs from their table.

From Melbourne to Massachussetts

The upper classes would box up gifts and give them to their servants, the poor or tradespeople the day after Christmas Day.

Now as you’d expect Boxing Day took root in the countries of Empire, now Commonwealth, and are still celebrated today.

With Boxing Day in Melbourne, Australia, noted for its Test Match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or MCG.

Although England, on the end of an Ashes humiliation, aren’t doing much partying.

Randomly, there is a corner of America where Boxing Day is a thing and that is in the least likely, Patriots’ Massachusetts.

Where since 1996 it’s been celebrated, in response to the efforts of a coalition of British citizens to ‘transport the English tradition to the United States’.

Long to wren over us

Czech it out: On the King Charles Bridge in Prague

Stephen’s Day, on the other hand, is where the rest of the Christian world outside of the King’s hails the first Christian martyr.

And where the Good King Wenceslas first looked out in Prague, with his pizza deep pan, crisp and even.

The best tradition though, and we are biased here, is in Ireland.

Where Stephen’s Day is also called Wren Day… well, they would have two names for it.

It goes back to the legend that a wren’s cooing gave away Stephen.

And where Wrenboys, dressed in masks and costumes sang songs and played music for money,.

And used to hunt for wrens although now they’re carried around as stuffed or fake wren.

Then there’s the Mummer’s Festival, held every year in the village of New Inn, County Galway, and Dingle in County Kerry.

From Magyars to Murtys

While there’s also a Magyar Festival, a fertility ritual, which we discovered on our travels this year.

Where Hungarians wear sheepskin furs and use a bagpipe and a chained stick to make music.

Our household of all nations, for our part is called ‘You do the Christmas clean-up Day’.

Countries, Deals, Music, UK

Mamma Mia in London

2nd December 20252nd December 2025 funtime65

And if you don’t want to leave your kids with a ‘free house’ then take them with you… to Mamma Mia in London.

Take one precious neighbour back home in Ireland.

And a much-earned weekend away in the West End.

And your peace will be broken.

With endless texts about how she’s had to get the Gardaí out to break up the Son and Daughterie’s party.

Just as you are dancing away to the show-stopping finale to Beautiful: The Carole King Story.

Take a chance on Mamma Mia!

Alas, it’s too late baby to see the brilliant which packed up and moved on.

But Mamma Mia! Here we go again with the magical musical on at Novello Theatre (Holborn).

And you can dig in the dancing scene with Cassidy Travel who are offering a two-nights package in March.

With two nights’ accommodation, March 11 and 12.

You’ll get a seated show ticket in the Dress Circle with return flights (optional). Prices from €289pp.

Super troupers

Now if you’re looking for a Christmas gift for Herself.

And aren’t women always harder to buy for than men.

Then why not take your Dancing Queen to London’s bright lights for the big Abba musical.

Only make sure that you don’t leave a free house behind.

And seeing you’re asking then all My Own Little Spirit of Christmas wants is…

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy… a man after midnight.

Countries, Culture, UK

The updated Story of Scotland’s Flag

1st December 20251st December 2025 funtime65

And here’s one Big Bang’s Sheldon Cooper missed so we’ll fill in the gaps… it’s the updated story of Scotland’s flag.

Because the history of our Saltire is being brought up to date.

Sixty years after we started telling people about it in the region where it was spawned, the village of Athelstaneford in East Lothian, 22 miles west of Edinburgh.

Raise the flag: But Sheldon missed our Saltire

And nearly 1,200 years after King Angus mac Fergus designed the drape.

Or rather somebody far higher than even a Picts and Scots monarch did.

Fearing defeat to a much larger Northumbrian army, Angus prayed for help.

And took solace in the vision of a white cross against the blue sky, which spurred his army to victory.

God’s own country

Fighting Scots: They can never take our flag

Now cynics would prosaically say that Angus was suffering from pareidolia.

Countries, Sustainable Tourism, UK

At 60 it’s nae sweat sitting it out in a sauna

25th November 202526th November 2025 funtime65

And we’ve our Finnish friends to thank for our favourite pastime with our clothes (almost) off… and naturally at 60 it’s nae sweat sitting it out in a sauna.

Or any age really depending on where you live in the world.

Where our guide in the Austrian Tirol regaled us of his childhood memories when he would go with his grandparents… and they all shed their clothes!

Not that British or Irish people are ready for that kind of open living.

Although I have noticed over the years that we have got more confident in actually talking to each other.

Which is how we, the Daughterie, Mr Daughterie and myself found ourselves getting to know Pippa’s Crew.

Sauna etiquette

A set (if that’s the collective noun for saunaphiles) of Edinburgh and East Lothian yummy mummies.

At Hot & Bothy Community Sauna on the Archerfield Estate in Dirleton 23 miles east of the Scottish capital.

Some subjects are, of course, off limits with Hot & Bothy reminding us not to pass comment on people’s body image or tattoos.

Although not having seen Mr Daughterie with most of his clothes off, as no father-in-law ever should, I did break that to ask him about his inkings.

And whether it was safe for him to wear his piercings, which as a sauna expert from his time in Finland he assured us that it was.

Too damned hot

What might not be unless you’re one of those roughie-toughie Finns is competitive saunaing is the World Sauna Championships.

Which were held in Saonola from 1999 to 2010.

And whose competitors were asked to sign a waiver.

Which was a get out of jail card when the beaten finalist in the last championships, a Russian expired.

And we’re not reading anything into the fact that the winner was a Finn, Illka Poyjoa.

Hot & Bothy rules

O Shower of Scotland: With Mr Daughterie

Hot & Bothy operate a hut and a yurt from behind the Archerfield Walled Garden.

And two plunge pools, a cold shower.

And a firepit where you can sit and drink their tea and ginger and sing Kumbaya, although that’s not compulsory.

Before you dress back into your clothes in the changing rooms.

And all for the price of a night’s drinking at £17.50 and you’ll feel a lot better for it.

Countries, Cruising, Music, Ships, UK

Inflatable in the Eighties

19th October 202519th October 2025 funtime65

It’s inflatable in the Eighties as we go cruising again around Britain, as we did back then, so Relax and read on.

Ambassador Ambition are only offering a Sixty-something’s dream trip, a Back to the 80s Mini Cruise.

Southern comforts

Billed as a nostalgic two-night voyage for less than £10/monthpp or £259pp.

And departing next November 11, you’ll sail from Bristol to London Tilbury.

With the options of £170pp full board or £295pp all-inclusive.

Of course, this being the Eighties you’ll wanna dance (in your Air Jordans) with somebody who loves you.

And Ambassador Ambition’s DJs have all the anthems we rocked the floor to back then.

Dress to thrill

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Eighties-themed party without the opportunity to stick on those leg warmers and leotards.

And there will be plenty of that either on the dance floor.

Or through those energetic on-board workout classes.

Ambassador promise engaging quizzes for you.

And just a tip, just say Jacko, Madonna or Tom Cruise if you’re not sure.

Vogue like Madonna

Or dress like them if you want to win the fancy dress competition.

Although you’re bound to bump into those icons so maybe a Boy George or Cyndi Lauper instead then.

Now, this wouldn’t be our first rodeo off the south coast, having rocked it in the English Channel.

So we’d be looking out for.

And would know what to expect from Ambassador’s spectacular themed cabaret shows and lunches.

While we’re always open to new experiences and would obviously be front of the queue.

For the Captain’s Gala Dinner and Baked Alaska Parade and Captain’s Cocktail Party.

And at the end of it all, you’ll be sent home with a ‘Back to the ‘80s’ cruise badge & decade-themed booklet.

Countries, Deals, Ships, UK

Irish Ferries are in with the bricks for Halloween

5th October 20255th October 2025 funtime65

And as we build for Halloween… let’s go Lego and Irish Ferries are in with the bricks for Halloween.

Bringing visitors across the Irish Sea.

With the culture and mores which we’ve all adopted in Britain in our calendar of festivities and celebrations.

Such as Samhain which the Brits and Yanks have repackaged as Halloween and claimed as their own.

Scaring up a treat

Now, of course, we’re all for cross-fertilisation especially when it adds to the enjoyment.

Which our friends at Lego have always done.

And where Irish Ferries are giving us a fresh incentive this Autumn to join in.

As part of their 10% savings on your theme park package break if you book before October 13.

Now we all have our favourites with some parks feeling like they’ve been around since the first Halloween.

Although they never feel old and are always freshening things up.

Particularly around Halloween, one of the biggest dates in the calendar.

On a theme

Thrill seekers can look forward to the return of award-winning Scarefest at Alton Towers,

While we’ve also been alerted to a fang-tastic Halloween at Chessington World of Adventures, HOWL’O’WEEN!

Both of which look frighteningly good and we’d encourage you to check out.

Gruff break: Gruffalo trail in Chessington

Still, we know that those of us who live in the earthly world are a little more limited in our mobility.

So we’re focusing on one theme park from our old stomping ground.

Brick or treat party

My own Scary One’s back yard of Berkshire in the south of England.

And Legoland Windsor which back in our time was a Safari Park.

But which is now the realm of our favourite blockheads.

And which will naturally be throwing a Brick or Treat party.

Cut us in

Best seat in the house: Legoland attractions

And so you can get your Legoland Windsor package at a cut-price €636, down from €706.

You’ll be treated to a return cruise ferry journey.

Stay for two nights at the Novotel Reading Centre

And enjoy a day at the theme park.

All for two adults and two children up to the age of 11.