Forget about that ridiculous ubiquitous Ed Sheeran,, Country star Steve Earle’s Galway Girl is the definitive tribute.
Some of my earliest longings and fumblings were for Galway girls, on holiday to a Salthill mobile home park.
Of course, in the late 70s and early 80s, the tradition for awkward, gawky Glaswegians was to sit in the corner and well, just gawk at the girls.
Galway, this year’s European Capital of Culture, tops a Conde Nast Traveler Readers Choice Awards list of favourite cities.
And they’ll just love beating Dublin into second place.
The two Irish cities push the jewel of the Med, Valletta, into third.
The Maltese city boasts, for me, the most gorgeous harbour in the world.
And memories… I bent down there to tie my shoelaces 26 years ago, Miss F shouted Yes and one year later became the Indomitable Mrs M.
While my readopted city of Edinburgh also makes it onto the list at No.7 and the epic Athens at No.9.
Green Mickey
Ears to you, Mickey
Maybe y’all missed No Coal Burning Mickey, the eco-friendly alternative to Steamboat Willie, but Da Mouse is right on point with cleaning up the planet.
Mickey has come out on top of an Uswitch eco-friendly poll of the leading tourist spots around the world.
Who knew? Well, you do now.
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney in Florida boasts a 270-acre 50+megawatt solar facility which operates enough sun to operate two Disney parks.
The solar facility has the power to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 52,000 metric tons.
Which is equivalent to removing 9,300 cars from the road each year.
Of course the warmest thing you can get at Magic Kingdom is a Mickey hug. And here’s to when we can all repeat this.
And, of course, his is a hug that wraps around the world, from Florida to California, to Paris, to Hong Kong.
All our old faves are on the poll, Niagara Falls, our pals at Universal, Universal Studios Orlando, Universal Studios Hollywood and SeaWorld Orlando.
And the others we’ll get round to when we…
MEET YOU ON THE ROAD