O Brother, where art thou? I just missed you in Amsterdam and Venice so I’ll just have to follow George and Amal to Lake Como.
George and Amal have integrated into Italian life so much that the Hollywood A-lister has taken to flogging their coffee!
And they have drawn us to the Italian playground for the well-heeled in the north of Italy.
Which is something that our friends at Travel Department have been doing for years.
Bounceback
Gorgeous George: George Clooney
TD has welcomed its first customers back to Italy with its Lake Como, Milan ad St Moritz tour including the Bernina Express recently.
And it is hoped it will be a springboard for the bounceback.
They should know too with 25 years’ experience bringing holidaymakers to Il Bel Paese.
Cara Sara
Como FOMO: The beautiful Lake Como
My old (but not old) friend Sara Zimmerman, CEO of Travel Department said: “We were delighted to welcome our first customers back to Lake Como.
“It’s clear that many of those joining our tour, whether first timers or returning customers, really welcomed the reassurance of travelling with a trusted tour operator with best in class safety standards.
“Our customers know that they can rely on us to check all the finer details in advance of travel.
“And to provide guidance on any additional paperwork, so all they have to do is relax and enjoy their well-deserved holiday.
“Our Lake Como, Milan and St Moritz tour includes all the same highlights as before.
“But on top of that, our customers are benefitting from the services of an experienced local guide, ready and waiting to share their insight.
“Not only on the local sights and culture, but also on local Covid-19 safety protocols.
“We are also operating smaller group sizes to allow for social distancing and more personalised attention”.
Deal me in
Water playground: Lake Como
To celebrate being back in Italy Travel Department has launched its Italy Offer which gives €50pp* off any 7 night or more 2022 holiday to Italy.
By using the code: VP-ITALY50 when booked before 30th of September 2021.
Everything is included in your Travel Department Holiday price from flights, accommodation, transfers, and excursions to an expert local guide.
So we’d advise all lovers of Il Bel Paese to follow George and Amal to Lake Como.
Now have you any biscotti with the coffee, George?
And Olé for Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto who is championing our return to Espana.
She told the TV station, Antenna 3: ‘We could be in a position to start implementing the digital passport when FITUR (Spain’s Travel Fair) in Madrid starts on May 19.’
The government over here in the UK has held out May 17 as the date when travel can resume from England.
Although that relies on the findings of the Global Travel Task Force report on April 12.
And Dennistoun in the East End of Glasgow, the birthplace of my Dear Old Dad and Buffalo Bill’s stomping ground, has won its rightful place in the world’s hearts.
Dennistoun is the unlikely inclusion in a top ten of a Time Out list of Coolest Neighbourhoods.
Eighth behind Esquerra De L’Eixanple, Barcelona Downtown LA and Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York.
And ahead of Haut-Marais, Paris and Marickville, Sydney.
James Manning, Time Out’s International Editor congratulated Dennistoun on its response to the pandemic.
Murtytown, Glasgow
‘With independents pipping up and artists brightening the winding streets.’
But Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Riders, Chief Sitting Bull among them, knew that already, choosing Dennistoun as his sole Scottish venue on his first Euro tour.
Buffalo Bill’s Grave, Colorado
There’s a statue to Buffalo Bill on Whitehill Street and Dennistoun is written large in the scrolls of the Buffalo Bill Museum in Golden, Colorado, where he is laud to rest.
The mighty Aphrodite and Cyprus
And because I like to see a job through, I want to get to the beginning and end of the Aphrodite story.
Having checked in on Kythera where Aphrodite was born out of the swell of the waves I obviously have to see whete she passed onto the Great Beyond in Cyprus.
With Travel Department who are offering seven nights from €1039pp, including flights, transfers 4* half-board hotel
Plus excursions and tour guide. Depart April, September, October and November.
Not past her shell-life: Aphrodite and Cyprus
You’ll whizz around the Medieval town on a half-day tour, the capital city Nicosia.
And one I’ve been building up for years, one of the great joys of Travel, crossing the border of an island, into Northern Cyprus.
Of course back in the days of Aphrodite it wasn’t an issue.
Paphos is mighty for Aphrodite… and Omodos for the wine.
Party like a German
Good to see my old German friends from the German Travel Mart and hear that the Beethoven 250th celebrations are still on course.
With December seeing two major musical events from his birthtown Bonn.
Beethoven 2020 will now be Beethoven 2021 too.. a bit like an extra symphony.
So let us entertain you with this sample of how broad Beethoven can be.
While you’ll want to watch out for Robbie Williams’ take on Beethoven next year.
We’re on the eve of the 400th anniversary of the First Thanksgiving Dinner in Plymouth, New England next year.
When the Pilgrims and the Natives shared harvest.
And that alas, if it happened like that at all, is when the sharing stopped and the newcomers took their land and sent them packing.
The pipes of peace
Which is probably where the Choctaw Indians and the Irish were sent to Hell or Connaught by the same British forged their links.
The Choctaw sent money to the starving Irish during the Famine and the Irish reciprocated during these COVID times.
And that’s the subject that remains hanging in the air from the last AIATA webinar.
I’ll return to it and my Native American friends whom I first met in Washington DC and then again in Denver and LA
Wigwam Jim
When I’ll get me the American Travel fair that COVID robbed me of in Vegas.
AIANTA’s will come from Albuquerque next month and will reach us all virtually with the organisers waiving the registration fees.
I’ll be there to bring you all the news.
And it’s gentle cruising
Aran Islands
The sea oh the sea is the gradh geal mo croide. Long may it stay between England and me. It’s a sure guarantee that some day we’ll be free. Oh thank God we’re surrounded by nothing. – The Dubliners
And for the uninitiated those strange Irish words mean ‘sweet love of my heart’.
The song is a celebration of Irish waters.
Including my favourite Meeting of the Waters in my erstwhile County Wicklow home which was immortalised by poet Thomas Moore.
My old friends at Travel Department are used to taking us to exotic places near and far.
Connemara’s old sod
And now in Ireland too.
Galway, Connemara and the Aran Islands is from €599pp for three nights including 3* B&B hotel, transfers, excursions and local guide.
We’ve all been let down by the promise of a panorama which turns out to be a speck in the distance… but get this, you can see four countries from the Red Sea.
Which also means two continents – Asia and Africa.
Now having dipped my toe in the Jordan part of the Ref Sea, I’m ready to try Egypt, Israel and Saudi.
The only way to ride
Now let’s start with Egypt and our friends TravelDepartment www.traveldepartment.ieand let’s start in its capital, Cairo.
There you will absorb the ancient sites including a full-day guided city tour.
Taking in the Egyptian Museum and a visit to the Khan El Khalili bazaar.
Then head for the Pyramids of Giza and thr Great Sphinx on a half-day guided tour.
Fancy a relaxing river cruise on the 4* HS Radamis II down the Nile?
Sphinx can only get better
With a range of excursions along the way taking in the Temple of Horus, the Valleyof Kings, the High Dam and the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Finally, you’ll enjoy a three-night stay in Hurghada, the beautiful beach resort toen stretching 40km along Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
Egypt is over there somewhere
Prices start from €1,629pp for 12 nights including return flights, 7 night full-board 4* river cruise, 4* and 5* B&B/half-board hotel accommodation, transfers, and excursions with expert local guides, departing April – November 2020
Mariaclaudia kept us on a tight leash which is as it should be and is fiercely proud of her Padova.
Which is why her antennae pinged when I asked to be dropped off at the train station during free time.
Of course she drew out of me that I was going to spend the afternoon in Venice.
And that I would be taking two Venice tyros with me.
Against type I took a clean shirt and tie with me in my rucksack for the official function at the Padova Botanical Gardens, the world’s first, opened in 1545..
For emergencies… and yes, the train was late and so were we.
‘The Dragon’ wasn’t so preemptive and drew withering glances for wearing a t-shirt and boardies.
There are other ways to traverse the Veneto region that you’re more in control of such as on your bike.
Freedom Treks have the field covered and to celebrate the 75th anniversary of UNESCO they are flagging up Bolzano to Venice among others.
You’ll have luggage transportation, travel guide with maps and route notes and GPS tracks available on request.
Get on your bike in the Veneto region
There will be a welcome meeting, local contact number for assistance, four-hour ferry cruise on Lake Garda, entrance to Villa Valmarana ai Nani and ice cream in Vicenza.
Return flights, transfers, bike hire, cycle helmet and local taxes extra. Freedom Treks (01273 224 066, www.freedomtreks.co.uk).
Typical street in Vejer de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain
The effervescent Eva (and you’ll be hearing a lot more about mine hostess) had put our CanariaWays.com http://www.canariaways.com group to bed in Tenerife.
And was already thinking of her next group in Tenerife.
I will come back to Tenerife, both in person and on this blog, but I don’t want to ignore the rest of Spain.
After all there are two million visits from Ireland every year.
Every year in Trinity College our travel circuit are treated to the company of the signors and ignores of Seville.
And some flamenco dancing which has me twirling and clicking and swirling all the way home. Filled with vino naturally.
The traffic lights stop on this street: In Andalusia
Travel Department’s trip to Costa de la Luz in Andalusia also includes Seville, the Moorish town of Niebla, a wine museum at Bodegas Andrade. And a walking tour in the vineyards.
Prices start from €659pp for seven nights including return flights, 4* half-board hotel accommodation, transfers, and excursions with an expert local guide, departing this month and next.
Plaza de Espana – Spanish Square in Seville, Andalusia, Spain
For more information or to book, CLICK HERE or call 01-6371600.
The four-hour flight
Moroccan culture. Photo by Nicolas Postiglioni on Pexels.com
A deal maker for many is flights under four hours and Sunway http://www.sunway.ie has them aplenty and is happy to share.
Morocco felt like the nearest furthest place I’d visited when I went there 15 years ago. And probably still is.
Marakech, the Pink City, is a hustle and bustle of souks and stall-holders, snakes and spices.
More of which another time but let’s flag up the charms of its little brother, Agadir.
Blarney Castle. Photo by Chris Carter on Pexels.com
There are three new countries to the Journeys product line. As well as us here in Ireland there’s Singapore and Greece.
It doesn’t surprise me that Ireland is included. I remember well a story-telling afternoon in an authentic Irish cottage in Killiney, Co. Dublin when I stayed at the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel http://www.fitzpatrickcastlehotel.com.
For those who don’t live in Ireland, why not?
And here’s their package: Iconic Ireland– 9 Days from €2,449.
Uncover Celtic culture and admire medieval architecture across the stunning countryside, and delve into historic Dublin and the rebel city of Cork. Eat, dance, and sing with the locals.
Of course you’ll also kiss the Blarney Stone.
Croatian delights
The Plitvice Lakes in Croatia
Must split… the Scary One is calling.
But before I go (and I’ll sneak back for more updates) let me tempt you with Split and Croatia.
I’ll be stopping off on my way to Medjugorge where I’ll complete the set of Fatima, Lourdes and Medj next month and sharing.
Travel Department has an Undiscovered Croatia package highlighting the medieval town of Zagreb and a wildlife walk through the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Plitvice Lakes National Park.
See, my ramblings all come around in the end.
You’ll also be charmed by Opatija, Rijeka and Pula.
Prices start from €859pp for 7 nights including return flights, B&B or half-board 4* hotel accommodation, transfers and guided excursions, departing this month and next.
For more info or to book, click here or call 01-6371600.
And if I’ve still got your attention I’m hearing that you want more Snaps. So I’ll snap to it.
Ruby do: With Ruby in Barbados
Dip your toe into Kythera in Greece
Una ciocolatta di calda densa: In Bergamo
Rosa and Thistle in Memphis
Buffalo Bill’s Grave, Colorado
Rome, it has msn a lovely dome
Woooah, we’re going to Barbados
And I’m channeling the good guys
The pipes of peace
Wigwam Jim
