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Countries, Deals, Europe

Gym today in Sardinia

2nd August 2022 funtime65

It’s a quantum leap from our PE teacher Hessie tripping the lad sprinting to the pit… to gym today in Sardinia.

But it’s a jump I want to take because nightmare PE memories, a thing for Fiftysomethings, is so 1972.

Gym today is fun and even something kids want to do on holiday.

Particularly if they’re going to be under the tutelage of an Olympic gymnast champion.

Lord of the Rings

Jury Chechi will forever be the Lord of the Rings from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

And he will be on hand this Autumn season at the 7Pines Resort Sardinia for the launch of a first sports academy.

Jury will host the calisthenics academy from the 6^th to 14^thSeptember.

And the resort is looking forward to hosting a range of diverse sports academies next year.

For all you gym bunnies, 7Pines Resort Sardinia features a fully equipped gym.

With floor to ceiling windows, with views overlooking the resort’s main swimming pool area.

Guests can also choose from indoor and outdoor yoga classes.

Off on our adventures

The adventures don’t stop there with horseback riding through the scenic Costa Smeralda region.

Then there’s picturesque e-bike guided hikes along scenic trails and an exclusive helicopter flight along the coastline.

The choppers I’ve enjoyed above Barcelona and the Grand Canyon, and it’s always better when somebody else is at the wheel.

That somebody at home is The Scary One which is why I’ve sought out driving opportunities abroad.

Only for the company running Fiat 500 trips around the Cote D’Azur put the brakes on me taking one out.

It’s a thing in the Med and 7Pines have one too, a super-car tour in a Ferrari 488 Spider.

While there’s a vintage sailing trip through the turquoise water of La Maddalena archipelago too.

Water joy

Dip your toe in: A water world

The resort’s idyllic seafront location also makes it the perfect place for watersports.

Guests can choose from a snorkelling adventure through the waters of the Costa Smeralda.

A stand-up paddle along the coastline or a kayaking trip to explore Sardinia’s intriguing hidden sea caves.

Eat and drink

The resort’s Concierge team can also arrange traditional cookery classes such as gnocchi making.

An archaeological tour of northern Sardinia’s middle to late Bronze Age sites.

A discovery trip to learn the longevity-lifestyle secrets of the island.

A shepard experience at a farm with cheese-making and visits to family-run wineries.

Drink up and work it off later… it’s gym today in Sardinia.

Stay at 7Pines Resort Sardinia, part of Destination by Hyatt starting from €550 per night including breakfast:

Countries, Deals, Europe

Bon Anniversaire Diana á 60

1st July 20211st July 2021 funtime65

Bon Anniversaire Diana á 60 and here is her love letter to France.

Aujourd-hui est son anniversaire and our final images of Princess Diana are of her holidaying in France.

Hers is a well-trodden path although none of us can afford a superyacht in the Med or the Hotel Ritz in Paris.

But there is a magnifique vacation (and that’s mon Francais exhausted) to be had in Paris/Cote d’Azur.

Diana’s City of Love

The French capital is, of course, heralded as the City of Love although for four spotty teenage lads there was nothing debonair about our overnighter.

Or Ritzy room. Instead we reposed on the floor of the Paris Saint-Lazare train station.

And were awoken not with a copy of Le Monde and a Mimosa but a kick to the ribs by gunned-up gendarmes.

But just to daydream a little, here’s what a fancy 218sqm Suite Impériale with a view of the Place Vendôme in the Ritz looks like.

Crowning glory

I don’t know how prescient it is to stay in the Marie-Antoinette Bedroom but here goes.

The Ritz flag it up as a replica of the Queen’s bedroom at the Chateau de Versaille with a canopy bed, draped in silk.

You can look up in the Marie/Antoinette at 6m high ceilings

And around at features including massive chandeliers, screens, an embellished chaise longue, pedestal tables and antique clocks.

A wash isn’t a swish of water from the sink at the station but a large bathtub in a room done entirely in carved wood features.

Je suis un parade

You’ll be treated like a king, just like Louis XV as an 11-year-old in 1721, as a guest of the Duchesse de Gramomt, then the lady of la maison.

Now they can’t promise a parade as the Turkish ambassador brought down below then with his procession and camels.

But you will see Paris life in all its élan.

Suites are from €2500 a night and rooms from €1300, although we assume the Marie Antoinette is at the top end.

Princess Diana’s last Summer of Love began on that yacht off Sardinia before taking a private jet to Paris.

For us as 16-year-olds it never got past school French on the dance floor… Comment allez-vous?

Riviera of dreams

And un petit tent in Saint-Raphael.

I’ve upgraded on my travels to the Riviera since and sped on a boat around the coast of Cannes.

And you don’t have to be a princess or a Dodi either to enjoy Cannes with the family-friendly Mimozas, Mandelieu-la-Napoule,

Bon Anniversaire Diana á 60.

Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe

Phoenicia Malta

27th June 202127th June 2021 funtime65

Peter, our guide, is a mongrel, a citizen of Phoenicia Malta…. with British, Italian, Greek and Arab and other blood mingled in.

Phoenicia, you say? Well, we know it from the Bible.

Ezekial called these post-Canaanites from today’s Lebanon and Syria ‘the princes of the seas’

And they set foot on Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, northern Africa (Morocco) and southern Spain.

We see evidence of their impact on the Med in a shipwreck off Gozo, Malta’s little brother.

And in names throughout the archipelago of Malta, Gozo and Comino.

And the Phoenicia Malta hotel which we’re glad to reveal has had a refurb.

The Phoenicia Malta is rightly proud of its 7 and a half acres of gardens which stretch to the walls of capital Valletta.

All of which they transformed from an overgrown mini-golf course and which they will use to cultivate vegetables.

And bring them from garden to plate and treat you too to cookery demonstrations.

The emphasis is on peace and relaxation with stunning views of one of the world’s great harbours.

While you’ll be pampered too in the Deep Nature Spa.

And enjoy the infinity Bastion Pool, its poolside menu, chill-out music and waters warmed by the Maltese sun.

With Malta a flagship destination on the UK’s new green list.

Kirker Holidays are offering a three-night break in August from €799pps including flights, private transfers and accommodation with breakfast.

And Kirker Guide notes and the services of the Kirker concierge.

A week’s stay comes in at €1489pps.

With Malta green-lighted the jewel of the Med is the present, the future and the past all rolled into Phoenicia Malta.

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Grazie to Aer Lingus – New Italy + more USA

13th November 201915th January 2020 funtime65

I felt a heel when I had to let colleagues know that I was sending someone else to sunny shores.

Sometimes it might even have been me.

But my pal Mary Conroy always delivered.

And I always enjoyed presenting her stories and pictures and I’m sure you enjoyed them too.

Now Mary’s travels sprang to mind today when I heard of Aer Lingus’s latest plans.

With two new routes in Italy and increased flights to their North American destinations.

I remember that Mary’s trip to the heel of Italy, Puglia, was ‘Trulli Magical’.

And that Seattle was ‘Nirvana’… an out’ new headline always kept me happy.

So, back to our busy national airline carrier http://www.aerlingus.ie…

They are opening up Brindisi, Puglia and Alghero, Sardinia from next summer.

The Dublin-Brindisi service will run twice a week kicks off on May 23 with one-way fares from €79,99.

And here’s what you need to know about Puglia https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/spostarsiinpuglia.do?r002=spostarsiInPugliaMezziPubblici&r019=en

While the Dublin-Alghero service begins on May 24 (also twice a week) at €79.99 one-way. And this is Sardinia… https://www.sardegnaturismo.it/en

You know already how much I love Italy, Il Bel Paese, but here’s a reminder…

My Roman holidays https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/04/see-rome-on-e50/, https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/small-roads-lead-to-rome/

And the frescoes up north… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/15/padova-city-of-frescoes/

Orlando, here we come

They’re also all over Orlando, my American playground. https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/aaawlando-orlando-the-rollercoaster-capital/

The Floridian fantasyland https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/disney-why-i-love-the-donald/ will now get two extra flights per week bringing it up to six flights per week.

We all think we know Orlando but there’s much more to find out… http://www.visitorlando.com.

Miami http://www.miamiandbeaches.com I’m yet to get around properly.

After having had only six hours proper time in.

And going around in a circle, missing Little Havana altogether (yes it’s possible).

The route to Miami will grow from two to three flights per week.

Coming back to that mini-Miami stay I did meet a little Havanan and their restaurant in Biscayne and here’s the evidence in the picture above.

And then there’s Seattle http://www.visitseattle.org which is very much on my to-do list.

Aer Lingus is making it even easier too, with daily service in the summer.

I’m listening

Increasing from five flights per week to a daily service.

Now we’ll likely be seeing a lot more of Seattle next year too.

With Kelsey Grammer hinting that the greatest television programme ever made, Frasier, will be making a comeback.

See you in Cafe Nervosa, Frase.