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.
A man goes into the doctor: ‘Doctor, I feel like an Italian island,’ Doctor: ‘Don’t be Sicily.’
Dramatic: Sicily Photo by Mauro Reem-Itchy on Pexels.com
You obviously need more than a morning and afternoon to spend in Sicily but alas that is all we had on our day trip from Malta.
Of course we could easily put that right with award-winning Italian holiday specialIsts Topflight.
Their Italian sale is up and running from today with savings of up to 30%.
There are discounts for the remaining summer season (August – October) on every date across all their featured resorts including on a selection of family holiday options.
There is also a raft of Italian escorted tour experiences on sale.
Topflight’s Italian Holiday Sale offers holidays from Dublin, Cork & Belfast. It ends at midnight on Thursday, 15th August.
As a sample, Topflight offers seven days in Sicily on August 24, staying in the 3* Villa Linda (B&B), Giardini Naxos was €871 now €599pps.
Or leaving on the same day, 4* plus RG Naxos (B&B), Giardini Naxos was €1255 now €869pps
And from Cork why not try out Lake Garda? Seven nights departing August 17 and staying at the 3* plus Hotel Garda Bellevue (H/B) was €1037 now €699pps.
With savings of up to €850 per person on seven night stays at Casa de Campo for travel completed by November 6, if booked by August 31.
The offer means that your holiday will cost from €1,509pp.
Among the features are 50% off access to three championship golf courses; 20% off Spa treatments pp.
You’ll have complimentary non-motorised water sports, tennis, horse riding, golf cart and teen-only activities, including billiards tournaments, air hockey and movie nights.
Based on two sharing on all-inclusive basis and including flights from Dublin and transfers.
Licence to chill
Toe the line: Hemingway’s six-toed cats
It’s obligatory as a Scot (and many others) to say that Sean Connery was the best James Bond but I’ve always been different and like my own childhood Bond, Roger Moore.
Pearse Brosnan is the best modern-day Bond while Timothy Dalton is the most underrated. Daniel Craig? Pat!
This year is the 30th anniversary of one of the best Bond films, Dalton’s Licence to Thrill when Bond went rogue.
The opening scene takes place on the Seven Mile Bridge with other segments filmed at Key West International Airport and on Whitehead Street at the Key West Lighthouse and Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum.
Pappa Hemingway is a template for journalists, and not just his adventurous life.
And he was also a cat man.
He had a penchant for polydactyl cats. That’s six-toed cats. Check out the 40-50 polydactyl cats who live on-site.
Aer Lingus flies to Miami. Visit www.aerlingus.com. We found a return trip Dublin to Miami from €457.63.
See you in Tenerife
Old fishing boat at the Mirador de El Archipenque. La Gomera island in the distance
I’m counting down the days to my trip to Tenerife in September.
Travel Department has a Tenerife Coast & Cuntry seven-night full-board guided holiday.
Excursions will include a full-day guided tour of the highlights of the island, a trip to the UNESCO World Heritage colonial city of La Laguna and a visit to Mount Teide National Park.
Prices start from €659pp for seven nights including return flights, full-board 4* hotel accommodation, all transfers and fully-guided excursions with an expert local guide, departing regularly from September – November 2019.
I always associate the Shelbourne Hotel with travel functions and balmy summer nights.
The iconic Dublin hotel are billing their latest package as The Shelbourne Swan Song.
It is a special occasion but you deserve it.
Running from August 18 until September 5 it’s an an overnight stay that includes breakfast and a Summer Spritz cocktail on their new Terrace for €299 for two people sharing.
It’s only 137 days until Christmas and Santa and TUI are getting ready.
TUI will fly you out and back to Lapland on the same day with departures from Dublin on December 7 and 14.
All guides, visits to Santa and outdoor activities like sledging and snowmobiling are included.
All your thermal wear is included in our winter wonderland too; just bring your normal warm day clothes to wear underneath and you’ll be toasty and warm.
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
