Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe

Your night at the Dresden Semperoper

25th October 202525th October 2025 funtime65

Theirs is an epic story of resilience and rebirth to play out ahead of your night at the Dresden Semperoper.

Twice destroyed by fire and once by water the Semperoper looks every inch the Renaissance classic erected in 1841.

Only this is the second opera house, the original having been destroyed in a blaze in 1869.

And then by Allied bombers targeting Saxony at the end of the Second World War.

The voice of Dresden: With Ingrid in Dresden

All of which I know and more from my freunde and guide, see I was listening Ingrid.

Dresden’s reputation as the Florence of the Elbe alas did not preserve it from Allied Bombers.

Despite the convention that cities of culture should be immune.

Feather touches

Dresden’s renaissance, brick by brick, fresco by fresco, makes it the perfect pick.

For your Institute for Cultural Travel mini-break.

Billed as The Magic of Dresden: A Three-Night Cultural Escape, your delve into history and opera comes in at from €1495pps for April 27.

You’ll arrive from Dublin on your Ryanair flight in Berlin early on your first day in Berlin.

And your guide will drive you the two hours down the road to Baroque palace and moated castle, Moritzburg.

If it’s hunting trophies and ornate gilt leather tapestries that’s your thing then Moritzburg is the place for you.

Never mind the famed Feather Room, adorned with over a million coloured ticklers… followed by lunch in a local restaurant.

The stage is set

You’ll stay the next three nights being wined and dined and sleeping the night off at the Hilton Dresden.

But maybe pace yourself as you’ve 700 years of history to walk through and that Verdi opera at the Semperoper.

Admire the graceful Augustus Bridge and the magnificent Residenzschloss, one of the city’s oldest and most historic buildings.

Your guide will take you to the historic Sophienkeller restaurant for pre-opera dinner and drinks.

Before taking your category 1 seats for La Traviata.

Culture vultures will delight in the next morning’s trip to the Old Masters Picture Gallery.

In the 19th-century Semper Building at the Zwinger, restored after seven years of renovation.

Answer to our prayers

And Dresdenophiles will advise that you visit the Frauenkirche and Martin Luther will point you in the right direction.

Ich bin ein Dresdener: Und Martin Luther

Of course, whatever you miss you can come back and see the next day.

Before your guide takes you back to Berlin and onwards to Dublin.

Countries, Flying, Ireland

Ryanair’s plane jokes for Dad’s Day

15th June 202415th June 2024 funtime65

Now we all like to give them a dig but they’ve turned it into a positive with Ryanair’s plane jokes for Dad’s Day.

Now Ryanair have been a game-changer in air travel since emerging on the scene 40 years ago.

And making it affordable for millions to travel to foreign destinations.

Some even within the same national postal code to the city you were heading!

Ryanair and their ubiquitous showboating CEO Michael O’Leary have heard them all before.

But Michael, the thick-skinned Irishman that he is has taken them all on the chin.

And come back with his own unforgettable stunts, pranks and wind-ups.

Taking the Michael

Who can forget Michael’s earnest announcement that his airline would start selling vertical seats or standing-room only.

Or charging a pound for spending a penny to go to the loo.

Michael has been front and centre of everything that Ryanair has done.

The face of the airline in many hilarious guises and always ready with a unique quip.

Such as: ‘If drink sales are falling off, we get the pilots to engineer a bit of turbulence. That usually spikes sales.’

Or on their sales pitches: ‘Anyone who looks like sleeping, we wake them up to sell them things.’

While he has never been backward in poking fun at his main Irish rival.

Laugh on our travels

So that when his bride arrived 35 minutes late for their wedding, he shot back: ‘She’s coming here with Aer Lingus.’

Don’t, of course, get Michael on ‘flyskam’ or flying shame.

‘If preserving the environment means stopping poor people flying so the rich can fly, then screw it.’

Of course, Michael, remains for ever a proud Irishman and he just gets it.

‘The airline industry is full of bullshitters, liars and drunks. We excel at all three in Ireland.’

All of which Michael O’Leary gems is to mark the four decades of Ireland’s low-budget airline.

And the gags competition and offer the airline pitched for Dads Day for the funniest people on the planet, the Irish.

You’re a card

The three winners bagged themselves a €100 Ryanair Gift Card just in time for Father’s Day tomorrow.

And the comedians are Sharon Bell, Dino Salkić and Noëlie Charlot whose gags are now on Ryanair’s Facebook page.

#1 What kind of bagel can travel? A plane bagel.

#2 My dad Can’t stop telling Airport jokes… his doctor says it’s terminal.

#3 Why do French people eat snails? Because they don’t like fast food.

Of course, with everything Ryanair they have a pitch for us.

And those Ryanair Gift Cards are still available for tomorrow to one of Ryanair’s 250+ destinations.

Now as a bit of an exponent of Dad Jokes myself I will shamelessly try to pass these off as my own.

Ryanair’s plane jokes for Dad’s Day.

Countries, Flying

Tipsy and scratchy with Ryanair’s new cocktails

22nd May 202422nd May 2024 funtime65

Now it’s a flying experience like no other and it’s just about to get even livelier as we get tipsy and scratchy with Ryanair’s new cocktails.

Often more a fleein’ experience Ryanair‘s passengers like to get high before and during the flight.

And I’m reminded here and wondering too of our old country singer pal who performed for us in San Antonio, Dierks Bentley.

And if he had been inspired by a Ryanair flight to pen his hit Getting Drunk on a Plane.

The Ryanair flight crew will keep your spirits up with a constant stream of information on their offers.

Their merch and the foods and drinks they serve.

Including their famous scratch lottery cards.

All with a background of bells and whistles and blasts when they announce that they have got to their destination on time, or early.

Airport drinks

Of course, passengers quite often get a jump on their partying in the bar beforehand with the obligatory ‘airport drinks’.

Now all this craic, the haps and mishaps and the people we meet on Ryanair flights is best curated.

In my old colleague and fellow award-winning Travel writer Philip Nolan’s excellent Ryanland.

When he flew to each of the Irish low-fares’ destinations around Europe.

Now Ryanair may not be known for its upgrades so cocktails might come as a surprise to some.

But CEO Michael O’Leary who is known to let his hair down.

Particularly when buying the drinks for Irish race fans back from the Cheltenham Races knows his customers.

And hence he is introducing these drinks to the flying public.

Now, as you’ll quickly discover if you spend any time with the Irish, they love to spin a tale.

What’s in a name

And so Dublin Lemonade is only half the story.

It is actually a Jameson Irish Whiskey (or Jemmy as they call it in the Fair City), Sprite Zero and sparkling water.

While a Fruit Snack is Bombay Sapphire Gin, Sprite Zero and Capri-sun.

The Rose Spritz is rose wine and Sprite Zero.

While a Flying Iced Tea which is guaranteed to get you fleein’ drunk is Bombay Sapphire Gin, Absolut Vodka and Coca-Cola.

Whichever drink you imbibe, and they’re all under a tenner, isn’t it time to get tipsy and scratchy with Ryanair’s new cocktails?

Countries, Flying

An OTA airline rip-off

4th March 20244th March 2024 funtime65

And for everything that’s said about them Ryanair has our back and our thanks to them for pointing out an OTA airline rip-off.

An OTA being an online travel agency.

All on the back of the low-budget airline releasing its March OTA Pirate survey.

It exposed eDreams as the No.1 OTA Pirate, overcharging customers by 135% (€23.50).

For a reserved seat that costs just €10 on Ryanair.com.

The charges

Now Ryanair tells us this is the second time that eDreams has been named OTA Pirate of the Month..

It was previously shamed by the January survey for overcharging consumers by 125% for a reserved seat.

Now Ryanair has been banging this particular drum for some time.

Telling us that it continues to campaign for all consumers to be protected from OTA Pirate scams, overcharges, and invented charges.

And it calls again on UK and Spain governments and EU consumer agencies to take action to stop OTA piracy and consumer rip-offs.

Tell it as it is

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said: ‘This month we have a repeat OTA Pirate of the Month.

‘Meanwhile, Opodo continues to price gouge its customers with overcharges of 129% for a 10kg bag that costs just €23.84 on ryanair.com.

‘Opodo is also charging a “premium” fee of €17.99 – a “service” that does not exist, and Gotogate.comcharge a fraudulent €65 for a “refund” fee on a non-refundable Ryanair ticket.

‘It is unacceptable that despite these OTA Pirates repeatedly overcharging and scamming unsuspecting consumers…

‘Their UK and Spanish Govts and EU consumer agencies have still not taken any action.

‘Toprotect consumers from these OTA Pirate scams.

‘Ryanair will continue to campaign against these OTA Pirates.

‘Exposing their digital piracy and overcharging scams and will continue to call for these OTA Pirates to be outlawed and their anti-consumer scams ended.’

Extra hassle

As consumers it is all too tempting to cut corners in search of saving that bit extra.

But just be careful it doesn’t come back to bite you.

And you get caught out by an OTA airline rip-off.

Countries, Flying

Coladays and Don’ts on flights

20th September 202320th September 2023 funtime65

We often just skip refreshments on flights because of the prices so it’s good to know when it comes to Coladays and Don’ts TUI puts U and I first.

Now maybe you reckon it’s your holiday so you deserve a ‘proper’ drink.

But what about the juniors… the cost of those sugar fixes soon build up.

Toast of the skies

U in the middle: TUI

Global luggage storage company Radical Storage did the sampling.

And they found the company that puts you in the middle has the cheapest coke in Europe at £1.63 and Pringles snack at £1.74.

Still, you want a beer so here’s our Aledays and Don’ts on flights.

Well, we have to dig deep with TUI the cheapest in Europe at £4.12.

And experience tells us they’re small cans.

Air for the beer

Now why our Asian friends should get better value we don’t learn.

But Air Asia is the cheapest airline in the world with a Coke £1.12, Pringles £1.49, and a beer £2.30.

Now you’ll see your own favourite airlines on the list and inevitably fall on the budget ones.

And while Jet2 wins on the soft drinks and snacks over its rivals Ryanair Michael O’Leary knows his customer.

And Ryanair’s beers are cheaper at £4.62 against Jet2’s £5.10.

While EasyJet weighs in at £5.70.

Food for thought

Now our friends at Radical Storage have done all the heavy lifting here.

And they have a section here for the most nutritious-friendly and vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and allergy-conscious fleets.

And we’ll leave you to find which box you tick.

But I know you and you want the skinny on Coladays and Don’ts on flights.

And where to get the cheapest beers.

So drink up, we’re saving you money by telling you where the best value is in the skies.

Countries, Flying

Holidelays and Don’ts

30th August 202330th August 2023 funtime65

As you wait in the airport for your plane during the air traffic delay crisis (or GateGate as we call it) some Holidelays and Don’ts on how and what to claim.

And all those Brexiteers will no doubt be aghast that passengers are still governed by EU law.

And will therefore not claim compensation for delays of three hours or more.

Say your prayers: That your flight will take off

Our friends at the International Drivers Association point out that compo depends on the following conditions:

Departure from an EU airport, or arrival at an EU airport with an EU airline.
Delay is more than three hours.
The airline is responsible for the delay.

Watch your pennies

Ensure you cancel any booking or parking to avoid surcharges.

And keep your expenses minimal.

Many travellers tend to go overboard with unnecessary purchases during delays.

So steer clear of this trap and mind your budget and stick to buying only what is necessary.

This includes meals, drinks, transportation, and even accommodation if necessary.

How to lodge a claim

I’m on it: Flying around the Greek islands

Contact the airline, refer to the airline’s delay/cancellation policy, and state your claim.

Include your flight details, length of the delay, and incurred expenses.

Arm yourself with knowledge and persistence—sometimes, airlines might initially reject your claim.

But if you’re eligible under EU laws, don’t shy away from appealing the decision.

The downside is if unusual circumstances (like extreme weather or security risks) caused the delay, the airline might not be obligated to compensate you.

But it doesn’t hurt to check.

Your roadmap

Follow these actions whenever a severe delay occurs:

Contact the airline ASAP.
Keep a record of the delay.
Retain all relevant receipts.
Lodge your compensation claim.

With these strategies, you can transform a seemingly difficult situation into a manageable one.

And maintain control over your finances, time, and overall travel experience.

I owe you

In truth, I definitely owe hard-pressed airline staff far more than they owe me.

And if I’ve let a four-hour Ryanair delay slide without claiming compo (it’s still there from Edinburgh to Dublin) then it’s small change compared to the help I’ve received at check-in desks around the world.

So when I misread the small print on my connecting flight from Munich to Athens Bertha at the Lufthansa desk my little boy lost act.

And put me on the next flight without paying an extra Euro and avoided turning a Greek tragedy into a crisis.

Add to that flights back from London to Dublin when either me or my trip providers got the times wrong.

Or when a certain Scary One wasn’t on the list for our Air France flight to Amsterdam.

All were resolved.

Of course for thousands of passengers stranded in airports and across Europe they clearly have not been so fortunate.

I only hope these Holidelays and Don’ts help and that you’ve had a good break.

Because money can always be replaced… memories can’t.

Countries

Home comforts when away

31st May 202331st May 2023 funtime65

We couldn’t have been alone in missing a flight because we’d gone back to the house, yes, we all have to take care of home comforts when away.

And so as we’re checking out our summer holiday brochures and deals online our friends at A-plan insurance bring some vital housekeeping rules to us.

So in this latest in our occasional series Holidos and Don’ts avoid among other obstacles worrying about whether you left the boiler on on your Ryanair flight out from Edinburgh to Co. Wicklow.

Home prep

Before the whirl: Dervish story in Istanbul

And the Scary One is a whirling dervish at the best of times but this is her before a holiday.

Clean 1 or 2 rooms a day: Eliminate stress by hoovering, disinfecting, and tidying up a room at a time so you don’t have to leave it all till the night before.

Unplug ALL unnecessary appliances: One way to rack up your energy bills while away is by leaving your devices plugged in or on standby.

Kitchen prep

Because she always finds there’s something you haven’t done, or for you to do.

Empty out your fridge: Throw out any food set to go off and freeze any food you may want to keep.

Utility prep

Avoid unneeded spending on bills while you are away:

Switch off your water: Turn off your water system in your home to avoid any chance of flooding and leaking.

Check your boiler: Many new homes have a more energy-efficient holiday mode so you don’t have to turn your boiler off for a few weeks.

Overall maintenance

Try the next house: Burglars on the prowl

The biggest deterrent for burglars is ensuring your home is secure.

Mow your lawn: And nobody loves a garden more… I could sit and look at the Scary One all day. Burglars sniff out messy grass.

Turn off any outside lights: Any home with its outdoor light on all day can alert bad uns.

Avoid post build up – And don’t have any deliveries made to your home while you are away to be left outside.

Ensure all your alarms are set: Before leaving, lock all your doors and hide your valuables.

Vehicle prep

Apply a steering wheel lock: One of the easiest and cheapest ways to stop TWOCERS (taking without consent).

GPS Tracker: A tracker is a great way to know your vehicle’s whereabouts and can connect to a smartphone.

And that’ll help you ensure you have some home comforts when you’re away.

Countries

A Swift guide to Dublin

15th February 202315th February 2023 funtime65

And a celebration of the little people with a Swift guide to Dublin.

The little people in question not the fabled leprechauns.

You can find them in the Leprechaun Museum in Jervis Street across the Liffey in north Dublin.

Although they tell us they’re on an adventure until the summer – looking for their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

No, the little people we’re talking about are the Lilliputians of Gulliver’s Travels fame.

Off Pat

If you want a Swift history of Ireland’s other little people then you need to retrace the steps of the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Dr Jonathan Swift.

When Swift wasn’t clericing he was satirising the establishment of his day.

Their pomposity, self-interest and petty squabbling – he’d have even more fun with the politicians of today.

Alas Swift can no longer deliver his rapier wit from his workplace, St Patrick’s Cathedral, off Medieval Dublin on the south of the river.

But he does live on in his writings, the movie of his most famous book, and on the walls of the flats within the vicinity of the church.

While his body rests for eternity at St Patrick’s Cathedral.

A temple of writing

Now most visitors these days won’t travel further than party central, Temple Bar, but if you can carry on down the river.

Then you’ll come across hallowed ground in St Patrick’s Cathedral.

It is here in its gardens they mark the well where the patron saint of Ireland is reputed to have baptised the first Irish Christians.

Now Ireland being affectionately known as the Land of Saints and Scholars its writers too are celebrated within its grounds.

With discs of the likes of Shaw, Joyce, Synge, Beckett, Behan et al built into the walls.

By Jameson Whiskey and the publicans of Dublin.

And for that purple prose and poetry then we naturally follow the recommendations of James Joyce himself.

Or his great character Leopold Bloom, in whose mouth he put these words: ‘Good puzzle would be cross Dublin without passing a pub.’

The Joyce Crawl

Hats off: Politician David Norris and a Joyce impersonator

Dublin by pub helpfully give us a Joyce pub crawl.

Including Davy Byrne’s where Leopold ate a cheese sandwich and glass of burgundy and the pub off Grafton Street does the same.

If Davy’s is the best-known drinking den for Joyceans it’s not the only one, it’s just the others are known now under other names.

The International, the old Ruggy O’Donoghoe’s, J & M Cleary’s, back then The Signal House, Kennedy’s, the old Conway’s.

As well as The Oval which still carries the old name but was destroyed in the Easter 1916 Rising.

The Fairest City

You can and should, of course, branch out further than the Joyce pubs.

And we did at popular watering hole Sheehan’s, Chatham Street, near Trinity College Dublin.

Before putting our heads down at the always accommodating and comfortable and central Maldron Hotel on Kevin Street.

And then a red eye back to Edinburgh with Ryanair knowing we would be back soon.

And that every visit to Dublin, even after spending 13 years in one of the world’s great cities, brings areas we haven’t explored before.

So with that a Swift guide to Dublin in a long history.

Countries, Ireland

Bloomin’ heck it’s a Dublin airport breakfast on Bloomsday

16th June 202216th June 2022 funtime65

And because Leopold Bloom didn’t have this option back in 1904.. bloomin’ eck it’s a Dublin airport breakfast on Bloomsday.

Bloomsday is a celebration of the mythical day in the life of James Joyce‘s great creation Leopold Bloom, June 16th 1904.

And this year is a special Bloomsday.

And not just because the day of Joyce japes is back after being put on hold these last couple of years because of Covid.

You have to wonder too if Leopold’s famous breakfast of ‘grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine’ would have been a cure-all for coronavirus.

While Joycers reenacted the Great Man’s Day, minus the naughty bits, in his native Dublin.

This one-time English Lit graduate spent the morning in that most modern-day of pursuits.

Waiting at the airport.

Red-eye, must fly

The 6.25am Ryanair red-eye from Dublin back to Edinburgh is a bit of a marathon.

And you can get caught between two stools of whether to get an overnighter or take a nap at the airport.

The pod bubbles will contort you in a bit of an unnatural position.

But then they are more comfortable than lying across the seats or trying to nod off when you’re sat up.

The boy in the bubble: In Dublin Airport

Equally, it came as a bit of a surprise to discover that the Aircoach doesn’t go right through the night.

Instead it now finishes at 12.30am, and meaning I had to get a taxi back from O’Connell Street, but hey-ho.

I had spent only £25 and a couple of £6 extras for seat selection and early check-ins so I had saved already…

Message to the broken British train service here which charges £100+ to go from Edinburgh to London.

My inner Joyce

I’ve been channeling my own inner Joyce with these flying visits back to Dublin.

Since relocating back in Scotland two years ago and I’ll continue to do so.

I’ll fill you in with the details of our Caribbean Road show at the Iveagh Garden Hotel in Harcourt Street.

And it is Dublin’s go-to entertainment street (only tourists think it’s Temple Bar).

And the apres with old friends and new.

But, of course, wine and Guinness, needs some soaking up.

And as good and as welcoming our buffet was with chicken, obligatory in the Caribbean, obviously on the menu, you will hit that food wall.

In the early hours in the airport.

Of course, in the early hours the food outlets are closed but start opening up, I’m thinking about 4am/4.30am or after.

So if you can hold out there are enticing food variations.

Now, for the day that’s in it it’s worth pointing out Leopold Coffee House.

It serves fresh coffee, teas, breakfast and a selection of baked goods, pastries and sandwiches.

Airport drinks

Now, this is Ireland after all so there is a culture of airport drinks.

But, and this will be the last time you’ll hear this, I’m pretty much a good boy around this.

And I prefering to keep any boozing until when I get there (wherever there is).

But if you’ve got a thirst on you then you might want to check out the Tap + Brew Craft Beer + Kitchen, the specs of which read thus…

‘A contemporary kitchen and bar offering a range of local artisan beers paired with gourmet hot dogs, loaded nachos, and tasty waffles.’

And so you get bacon waffles and the like, although at prices in the mid-teens I gave it a miss.

Of course, for coffee lovers, then there are the usual branded stores.

What the Butler saw

But when in Ireland you should check out Butler’s, a favourite of ours. and with that little touch of a comp chocolate.

Now this is by no mean a definitive guide and there are a lot more choices to explore in the hours you have in the airport.

As well as the kerching and retail stores.

But as we’re creatures of habit, and I’m still kicking myself over shelling out more on the taxi after missing the Aircoach, I went back to an old staple.

The WH Smith meal deal, and I’m thinking about €6.50 for a packaged sandwich, drink (water or fizzy) and a bag of crips. It’s £5 in Edinburgh.

Bloomin’ heck it’s a Dublin airport breakfast on Bloomsday but it’ll do for me.

And, of course, the hick with the stick (Dubs have a more earthy nickname) was right to eulogise his home city.

With his epic day in the life odyssey. It’s become my signature trip.

Countries, Cruising, Ireland, UK

P&O no no, Stena’s who to know

18th March 202218th March 2022 funtime65

We’re loath to diss operators here but there’s no defending torpedoing of staff… it’s P&O no no Stena’s who to know.

Like many of the Fiftysomething Irish-Scots variety I knew my way around a ship long before I stepped on a plane.

And Townsend Thoresen from Cairnryan to Larne were as familiar a transport provider to me as the 44 bus across Glasgow to school.

P&O took over TT in 1987 by which time I had disembarked to England and started flying to Ireland.

A different ship

And with Ryanair emerging to fly us at budget prices ferries were reserved for family holidays and house moves.

When Stena had emerged as the protectors of la famille Murty from Scotland to Ireland and back.

Now ships have certainly upgraded from the Seventies when I would run the toy cars on deck which I had bought from the ship shop.

I have been fortunate enough to be hosted by Stena in dock in Dublin, viewed their cabins and cinema hubs, bars and restaurants.

Treat your staff well

Child’s play: Better than running toy cars

I pride myself on the courtesy I was taught by my parents never to look down on staff.

If only the same could be said for P&O.

Stena offers a sample three-day return from Cairnryan to Belfast from £119.

Alas, The Scary One insisted our last Stena trip to Scotland was a single!

If you tolerate this

So, if you want to protest against P&O, and in the words of Manic Street Preachers…

‘If you tolerate this, then your children will be next.’

Then sail with our go-to ferry company, you won’t be disappointed.

So from us it’s P&O no no Stena’s who to know.