Uncategorized Archives - Page 9 of 54 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

And we’ve been had. I don’t know when and I don’t know where but it turns out that Modern Man has to serve ourselves.

But isn’t the whole point of serving that somebody else does it for you?

And that brings me to the other great con of our age, Do It Yourself.

You do it yourself, I want you to do it for me, that’s what I’m paying you for.

I have absolutely no interest either in spending my free time following a diagram only a nuclear scientist can work out.

To inevitably find that there is a piece missing and that we have to shoot across town for a replacement.

It starts when you book your holiday…. on the net which inevitably has its own challenges.

You’re at your screen and the family is bending your ear all around you, so there’s the danger that you might book the wrong time or pay too much.

And then when you get to the airport and you have to go to one of those baggage scanning machines.

I don’t know about you but I just end up asking for help (from a human).

I mean, I’m always happier when I see somebody else puts hands on my luggage and sends it on its merry way.

You get to the ticket scanner and you’ve got to remember which way to place your ticket.

I would have heart palpitations if I trusted in the barcode on my phone particularly as the memory on my phone would be down to 1%.

*Travel colleague Issy Conway, George Washington and his Vice-President*

And there would be no plug sockets in the airport.

After all that you want to refuel and go to the shop where there is another scanner…

And you just end up asking an assistant who is too busy taking to her pal to help,

Now when it comes to service Americans do it better than anywhere… http://www.visitusa.ie.

Although it comes with a premium… and tipping. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away!

But while I’m in an American mood having got together with American Holidays last week http://www.americanholidays.com I’ll give you a few of my Stateside jaunts.

A charming reception at Kimpton Hotels in Dupont Circle http://kimptonwashington.guestreservations.com/27185/booking?gclid=CjwKCAiAqqTuBRBAEiwA7B66hXNBLV3iZn4bCp-HGxyKpRmWYVppUlmlZbkva-XdL-bGPk5rEZMtgRoCeIgQAvD_BwE and my review http://Easy DC.

Through the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World in Florida… https://www.fourseasons.com.

They even bring Mickey, Minnie and Goofy out to join you for breakfast although The Donald is harder to get hold of… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/disney-why-i-love-the-donald/

Now I think of it, it’s the service and help that I’ve had while I’ve been away which have stayed with me long after I’ve returned.

And looking forward to returning to the Caribbean, this time Tobabo, how can I forget the hospitality at the Club Barbados Resort & Spa https://www.theclubbarbados.com?

With Tropical Sky http://www.tropicalsky.ie… and check out their deals there and across the world. Their discounts will knock your sandals off.

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When the Berlin Wall came crashing down

10th November 201910th November 2019 funtime65

Wall, huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again.

With apologies to Edwin Starr but this piece of graffiti on the wall on the prom beach outside our family home in Portobello, Edinburgh comes back to me today.

On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For FiftySomethings, and above, the Berlin Wall was the lasting symbol of Soviet Union and Iron Curtain oppression.

And its fall, although seemingly inevitable with the perspective of history, was anything but.

True, Ronald Reagan’s invective and Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika relaxation of Soviet totalitarianism helped.

But it was the pressure of East Germans coming back on holiday from Hungary and amassing at the Austrian border.

And a bumbling DDR apparatchik which drew people out to bring down the wall.

And thank God that they did.

With everything it is best to talk to and listen to those who were there.

And I was lucky enough to do just that when I attended the Germany Travel Fair, the Travel Mart in Dresden two years ago.

Saxon history

Where I heard from one Berliner about how a friend had been arrested in East Berlin because he had a rock’n’roll record.

And I also spent time with Saxon Ingrid who told me that it was important that they keep the wall mural of Communist rule in her native Dresden.

To remind us all of what Communist rule was like.

And that to airbrush history would be to repeat the mistakes that were made.

When they did the very same when they taught that Saxon history only started after the Russian Revolution.

I’ve dug out an Expedia break for you to go to Berlin… http://www.expedia.ie. Friday, November 30-Sunday, December 2,

Staying at the central NH Berlin Alexanderplatz, from €286pp including flight and hotel.

Here was my take on East Germany… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/dresdens-renaissance-martin-luther/.

And The Scary One is putting the foot down… she wants us to go to Berlin https://www.visitberlin.de/en next year. Ja, mein lieber Sohn

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Holiday snaps – TUI blue-sky thinking

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I’ve always had a soft spot for TUI as they grew out of Thomson’s which had a newspaper arm, who gave me my first job and my first holiday discounts.

TUI http://www.tuiholidays.ie which gave us the dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s and putting us in the middle and is now branding a range of holidays ‘Blue’.

Just a suggestion but you might want to talk about blue-sky thinking… my usual rate!

And here’s what they’re offering with their TUI Blue concept resorts.

Family fun

The 5T TUI BLUE for Families Atlantica Aegean in Rhodes sit on the edge of a sand and shingle beach.

With a jungle-themed waterpark bursting with tubes and slides.

And four restaurants with wellbeing at the core.

And it’s all just down the road with a regular bus service into Rhodes Town… http://www.visitrhodes.com.

Then there’s the 4TPlus TUI BLUE for All Grand Azur in Marmaris which comes with its own private Blue Flag beach.

Now as well as the best Turkish cuisine, I’m loving this…. Turkish language classes. Because I love Turkey http://www.goturkeytourism.com.

Guests can also visit a Hamam at the BLUE Spa.

And you won’t have to look at this motley crew from a trip to Istanbul either https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/wham-bam-thank-you-hamam/.

Now if you’re a fan of Portugal (of course you are) then try 4T TUI BLUE for TWO Falesia Atlantic.

Set on a clifftop location, there are two chic bars while you can reserve your table on the app.

The adults-only ‘instagrammable’ hotel is just a five-minute drive from the centre of Olhos D’Agua.

And if you want to explore lively Albufeira, it’s a 15-minute drive away, which lines up classy restaurants and late-night bars.

Portugal http://www.visitportugal.com is always high up my list of European destinations and recommendations.

Of course there’s the Algarve where for the sporty you can try the Campus in Quinta do Lago https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/06/12/sportugal/.

And for a different Portugal try Portugal Centro… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/secret-portugal-classy-centro/

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD

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Give us this Day – poppy collections

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They collect for everything at my church in Co. Wicklow but not poppies.

Which is all part of the antipathy in some quarters in Ireland towards Remembrance Sunday.

Because while it was born out of the trenches and is predominantly associated with the First World War.

It also covers the of British and Commonwealth conflicts, and there it jars with Irish nationalist history.

Only the Irish, including my two Fallen Donegal Great-Uncles, died in their tens of thousands in the Great War, both Catholic and Protestant, North and South.

So no poppy collection then, but two, count them, offertory collections at Mass.

Which brings me to how they do offertories over there.

It was on my trip to Ieper on my World War I Battlefields with G Adventures www.gadventures.com.

To Flanders www.visitflanders.com and the Somme https://www.visit-somme.com/great-war that I saw how they did it.

The Flems in Ieper, for example, send their wee old stooped women in to collect your money, in their white robes.

Where they carry small pots with felt at the bottom.

Why felt? Well, I’m thinking that it’s along the lines of the Rev. Ian Paisley’s Silent Collection.

Where coins would make a sound.

There’s another aspect to offertory plates (they’re reed baskets at our church) that bothers me.

The public shame, the sniffs and withering eyes when you make your contribution.

And a word to the wise here, don’t sit by the aisle where you will be first to put in your donations.

Then there’s the question about what you should give.

Here I’m going to pass the buck, and that’s probably not even enough, and say that Islam does it better.

By requiring that you donate 2.5% of your income (Zakat) to alms-giving.

Which is probably what they’re saying here in their Call to Prayer which you get constant reminders of when you travel.

In Istanbul Wham bam, thank you Hamam with http://www.turkishairlines https://visit.istanbul.

And Jordan Petra and the sands of time and http://www.visitjordan.com.

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Holiday Snaps – Cruise extra

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It’s in midwinter that we start looking to the new year and where we’ll go, and for many of us that’s a cruise.

And that’s what Celebrity Cruises http://www.celebritycruises.ie were thinking too when they invited us all out to the Ivy in Dublin https://theivydublin.com.

To talk about their 2020 vision, and the launch of Apex.

Apex will make her debut from Southampton in April.

There will be six diverse roundtrip sailings around Northern Europe before moving to the Mediterranean.

Apex is the second ship in Celebrity’s new Edge Class.

And remember what we all thought of Edge with its Magic Carpet, Eden lounge, Kelly Hoppen finishes, all highlighted by her innovative Godmother Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

When we went out to Fort Lauderdale to join the €1bn game changer on the high seas… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/im-a-celebrity-get-me-out-to-here/

Celebrity is also spending $500m bringing elements of Edge Class to more of its fleet, with many ships already updated.

Which they’re calling the Celebrity Revolution.

They’re also reminding us that they have this offer…

Of free drinks and $300 onboard credit.

Plus free flights to Europe from selected airports or gratuities included for guests 1 and 2 on sailings from Southampton when booking an eligible Ocean View stateroom or above.

Offer Ends 18 November 2019. T&Cs Apply.

Does that work for you?

Now, onto the eight-night maiden voyage of Spain and Portugal on Apex from €1349pp, departing April 5.

Iberian campaign

You’ll take in Bilbao with its gastronomic delights and the Guggenheim and that Bilbao wow floral dog.

While Lisbon comes with its own Christ the Redeemer statue and there is no better place for a glass of port than in Porto and the Ribeira portside.

And if you like Portugal (and who doesn’t) then you might like https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/secret-portugal-classy-centro/. And https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/06/12/sportugal/

So check out http://www.visitportugal.com

Of course The Ivy was the perfect venue for our get-together.

And there was plenty of celebrity-spotting too… I try to make a point of agreeing to every selfie request.

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My Sporting Weekend – US YouTube boxing

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You Tube used to be a schoolboy insult that often preceded an invitation to fisticuffs.

And a ‘square go’ down by Blythswood Street in Glasgow.

Now it’s the domain for everything.

Including an invitation to, yes, fisticuffs with YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI fighting on paid television in Los Angeles tonight.

Of course, it has been derided by purists of the Sweet Science.

Who conveniently forget that the Greatest, Muhammad Ali was involved in a wrestling bout with Antonio Inoki.

In what has been seen as a precursor to Mixed Martial Arts. It finished a draw… surprise, surprise!

The fight will be a cruiserweight contest.

Which will take place over six rounds Downtown in the Los Angeles Staples Centre.

Downtown LA has been regenerated over recent years.

And it is well worth a visit not least because it is the home of the LA Lakers.

And a chance to people watch. As is West Hollywood and Hollywood of course as I did earlier this year…

When I dug up a legend and her final resting place… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/06/22/my-weekend-with-marilyn/.

And had myself some sporting and Disney fan in Anaheim… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/07/03/stair-wars-3/

http://www.visitcalifornia.com

*The puck stops here: With Wild Wing in Anaheim*

While Las Vegas is seen as the boxing and MMA capital of the world.

And if The Noble Art is your thing hit the Strip for a big fight… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/vegas-strip-the-light-fantastic/.

Also visit https://www.lvcva.com.

Las Vegans are sports mad and their nascent Golden Knights are on the up.

They only got to the Stanley Cup ice hockey final last year.

But I digress which is easy to do.

Because when you’re in California you think about maybe stretching it a bit and also taking in Vegas, and vice-versa.

Deal me in

Of course with American Holidays https://www.americanholidays.com/en-gb/easter-holiday-deals/?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~394981718283~kw~american%20holidays~mt~e~cmp~WG%20-%20NI%20-%20TC%20-%20American%20Holidays%20Brand~ag~American%20Holiday&gclid=CjwKCAiA5JnuBRA-EiwA-0ggPXELrlIE1iI52DVIxkJSR8hdAMaPAqxlFRKVc2s6y2GS-8PCHV-ltBoCq8gQAvD_BwE you can.

I caught up with my American Holidays pals this week, a little later than I’d intended.

But that was because I was off praying in Medjugorje with Marian Pilgrimages… http://www.marian.ie https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/18/medgugorje-whats-your-story/.

*Golden gate. Photo by Tae Fuller on Pexels.com*

When AH were throwing a cocktails party and watching Thelma and Louise in Dublin.

Back to that Vegas and California break though.

American Holidays have San Fransisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

It includes return flights from Dublin to San Fransisco to Los Angeles to Las Vegas and return.

And three nights San Fran (Hotel Carlton or similar), three nights LA (Quality Inn Walk of Fame Hollywood or similar), four nights Las Vegas (Excalibur Hotel or similar).

From €1699pps/£1576. Travel May.

*Everyone has their own Scary One. Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com*

I’ll return to my favourite foreign country, and American Holidays soon.

And just for you I’ll keep my eyes on the American sport, better still from the bleachers or a ringside seat.

MEET YOU AT THE STADIUM

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Germany leaves me gratified

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One of the greatest national misstereotypes is that the Germans have no sense of humour.

When they have the funniest language in the 6,500 spoken around the world.

English can be a hoot too, by the way.

And what is my yardstick?

Well, the rude words you find in the dictionary (schoolboys are the best judge of this I think you’ll find).

And I’m reminded here of when the Son and Heir asked me shortly after we had relocated to Ireland to tell him some dirty words.

I dare say because he didn’t want to be caught out st school.

Which happens.

I recall being tricked on the bus home when I was asked if I was a homosapien…

To which the 10-year-old Jimmy obviously said ‘No’.

Different times.

Back to the Son and Heir and he could probably teach me some dirty words now.

Now what were we talking about again?

Ah, yes, those funny Germans.

I have been onto them ever since my first trip to Germany, for the Oktoberfest when I was 19, and I returned when I was 20.

I noticed straight off (I have a radar for such things) that they put fahrt at the end of many of their words.

And my eagle eyes honed in on the sign in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria.

*Peaking: At the German-Austrian border*

Wanktunnel… I didn’t see that coming.

But there it was, a big sign for the erection (warning, there will be plenty of this) of the tunnel.

Which is due to be finished off next year.

Now I did a few mountains on my Topflight www.topflight.ie trip to Ehrwald, Tirol and Garmische-Partenkirchen.

I had a Zugspitze, a Berwang… but I didn’t have a Wank.

I don’t know why, I imagine you feel breathless after it.

Its 1780m climb.

Still you can relax at the peak in the Wankhaus.

Now the website is all in German but there are pictures…

Of a beautiful mountain hut where I dare say they boast any number of different-sized, coloured and shaped sausages.

*Lie back and think of Germany: In the Coburger Hutte*

And serve some meaty treats in the restaurant too.

Now that I’ve got a warning sign for surfing the net for Wank and am anticipating some dodgy emails, I’ll just leave you with this challenge.

Can you find me the Selbstbefriedigung Mountain in Germany?

They find this a lot funnier in Germany than we do their name.

If you like your toilet humour I’ll get to work on loo signs around the world.

But for now here are some Austrian loo thoughts… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/01/austrian-toilet-humour/ And https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/03/__trashed/

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Hungry and Thursday – the worst bar none

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Chocolate is better than men because… we’ve all seen those posters and mugs.

But sometimes it goes wrong.

Such as with the branding you sometimes get with sweets and chocolate.

My trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina with Marian Pilgrimages http://www.marian.ie gave so much, an audience with Our Lady in Medjugorje, a history lesson in Sarajevo.

And an insight into the peoples of this region, the crossroads of East and West in the Balkans.

In Medge they are Croatians with the only thing vying for space with Our Lady in the shops Croatian flags and football tops. Medjugorje, what’s your story?

My old mucker from university, Davor, a Croatian-Scot was my first introduction to them.

But I have come to know them better through Croatia Tours http://www.croatia.ie on the River Liffey in Dublin…

And joining them before the World Cup final against France for wine and lunch (it was never a penalty!)

Thankfully there was none of the chocolate I found in a petrol station on the way to the airport in Split.

There’s just no amount of thumbs-up with Victorian dandy that makes this right.

I’m guessing they’re lozenges but I put them back on the shelf.

I can’t imagine for a minute that they meant any harm but…

Then there are those brand gaffes where there’s just been no quality control.

Such as this chocolate bar http://www.isischocolates.be in Brussels Airport on my way back from my tour of the World War I Battlefields… In Flanders fields.

With GTI The Group Travel Specialists www.gtitravel.ie.

Now the sentiment is right and before you think it’s cashing in on the War just remember that chocolate would have been a treat for the Tommies.

No, it’s just the acronym for the people who make it… ISIS!

It’s always an awkward one here, the quality control at TravelTravelTravel.

What to put in and what to leave out.

I think I’m on safe ground here though with this one which is a particular delicacy for Salzburgers.

And it was something that the indomitable Mrs M was particularly taken with…

Mozart’s Balls, or Mozartkugel http://www.mozartkugel.at on a Top Flight http://www.topflight.ie skiing trip to Austria… Soll Mates.

Send me the branding that goes wrong..

And in the Travel blog that brings you the best in toilet humour more to add to the annals of… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/01/austrian-toilet-humour/

And https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/03/__trashed/. Look out for the name of the Bavarian tunnel I never saw coming… coming soon along the tracks.

It would make Our Lady blush!

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Every day’s a poppy day

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Take up your quarrel with the foe.

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with those who die.

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McRae, Canadian Expeditionary Force

This week I will wear my red poppy cufflinks with pride, pride that my paternal grandfather fought and was gassed out of the front.

And returned to Scotland to marry an Irish nurse.

If he hadn’t my father wouldn’t have come along and wouldn’t have met his own Irish nurse.

Who herself hailed from a proud Irish Nationalist family who gave two sons, my Great-Uncles, to the cause.

My story will be a familiar one, a heroic one, of extraordinary, ordinary people, Irish, Scottish, English, Canadian, American, German… from all around the world.

I stood by my Great-Uncle Willie’s gravestone in Ypres, the first of my family to pray by his cross since he fell.

I found Great Uncle Patrick’s name too among those of the missing on the Thiepval arch.

And I also visited Canadian and German cemeteries, a lake made out of the crater from the bombs, and a trench.

All on my GTI The Group Travel Specialists https://gtitravel.ie trip to Flanders https:www.visitflanders.com/en/?country=en_GB and the Somme https://www.visit-somme.com/great-war.

GTI offers a four days WW1 Flanders & The Somme, price from €697pps. Dates available 07 Apr 2020 – 10 Apr 2020 24 May 2020 – 27 May 2020 25 Jul 2020 – 28 Jul 2020 10 Sep 2020 – 13 Sep 2020

I have had to defend my wearing of the red poppy while living these past 13 years in Ireland, which I’m happy to do, for my Grandpa and my Great-Uncles.

A symbol of peace

The objection is that the red poppy is worn for the fallen of all British soldiers across all conflicts.

Which includes the Troubles and also raises the thorny subject of Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972.

I understand the difficulties for some over that, my Grandfather having lived a large part of his life there.

Many of my aunts, and an uncle, having been born there, and Grandpa having run pubs there over a period which also covered The Troubles.

I have also fielded criticisms from friends (they’re still friends) who say the red poppy has been appropriated by big commerce and narrow nationalism.

I can only say that I have had similar journeys of conscience regarding the red poppy.

But my visit to Flanders and the Somme have focused me on the universality of the human sacrifice there.

How all the crosses regardless of social status are the same size and pristine white.

I was touched by the respect shown by the youths of so many nations there.

And was honoured to be picked with my good friend Dominic Burke, MD of Travel Centres, to present the wreath at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ieper.

I will light my candle on Sunday and watch it flicker, blow it out and then reflect on the fragility of life and the permanence of death.

And the greatest sacrifice any human can make, to give up their life for their friends.

Here is my tribute… In Flanders fields.

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Fireworks

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They hail from China, herald in the New Year, mark the burning of a Catholic traitor and are banned in southern Ireland.

And fireworks will be lit all over the UK tonight to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

That was when a group of disenchanted Catholic noblemen attempted to blow up Parliament and the Protestant British monarch James I.

*Swizzle: Photo by Javon Swaby on Pexels.com*

Now a bit of back story here about Jazza (as he’s never been known, probably more of a Jacques which is why Scots are called Jocks).

James had reason to be more afraid of gunpowder than the next man (and who doesn’t jump when a cannon goes off?)

Because his mum Mary, Queen of Scots (the real one, not that awful Saoirse Ronan version) blew up her Dad Henry, Lord Darnley.

That would tend to do it.

Anyhoos, fireworks.

I’ve seen a few, though few compare to home when I don’t make the bed properly or plump up the cushions.

Edinburgh

Every Hogmanay (it’s Scottish for New Year’s Eve) there is a fireworks display and a series of concerts.

You can actually set your clock by it.

Which is why a fellow journalist wrote it up in advance of the event.

In the eye of the storm

The only thing is that this would be the one year when an electric storm would lead to it being cancelled.

Embra is one of the great cities, was my home for ten years, and may yet be again.

Ryanair www.ryanair.com and Aer Lingus http://www.aerlingus.com both fly there. And Visit Scotland www.visitscotland.com will sort you out.

Disney

The Happiest Place on Earth does fireworks spectacularly.

You’d be disappointed really if it was a damp squib, which incidentally is a firework.

Mickey’s mates

I looked out on the nightly pyrotechnics on the parks from my billet at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando www.fourseasons.com. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_GB/?CMP=OKC-wdw_themeparks_gmap_421

Here’s how it all went down with me and The Donald in Florida… Why I love The Donald.

I caught up again with the big-mouthed one in Anaheim this year…

Where I partied with Mickey and the gang.

Dresden

Fire is an elemental force that we must always handle with care

The fireworks over the River Elbe on our evening cruise were illuminating.

Dresden’s party

All the more so as this city has been burnt by fire, the Allied airmen’s firebombs in the Second World War razing the Saxon Venice to the ground.

That the Dresdeners rebuilt their city exactly how it used to be marks it down

As one of the most remarkable stories of modern urban planning… Dresden’s renaissance. And https://www.dresden.de/en/tourism/tourism.php.

Category: Uncategorized

Moanday Morning – Self-service

When the Berlin Wall came crashing down

Saxon history

Holiday snaps – TUI blue-sky thinking

Family fun

Give us this Day – poppy collections

Holiday Snaps – Cruise extra

Iberian campaign

My Sporting Weekend – US YouTube boxing

Deal me in

Germany leaves me gratified

Hungry and Thursday – the worst bar none

Every day’s a poppy day

A symbol of peace

Fireworks

In the eye of the storm

Mickey’s mates

Dresden’s party