Every day’s a poll day around the world and while the UK’s political poster boys and girls will go to the recycling centre tomorrow, others will pop up elsewhere.
If you’ve got election ennui, are sick of candidates smiling down on you.
Tomorrow, July 4, will be my first British general election in nearly 20 years and one of the very few areas where the Brits score is in how clean their elections are.
No, the parties sling more dirt than an incontinent dog at a lamp post, it’s that they curtail the amount of posters they allow on them.
In my old stomping ground of Ireland very definitive rules surrounded the erection of posters at election times.
Only that was countered by the fact that with numerous candidates returned around constituencies.
As part of the proportional representation system the lamp posts creak with the number of posters.
Poster your sell-by date
Poster boys: Irish election in Greystones
So everybody breathes a sigh of relief when it is all over and they come down and you get your vistas in your cities, towns and villages back.
Posters and ties used to erect them need to come down within 7 days of the polling date.
Local councils will remove posters left up, and they can seek the costs of doing so back from the party or individual who put them up.
And after that, individuals or parties can be fined €150 for each poster that remains on display under the littering law.
Now you don’t have to be a political geek (guilty) to feel that you’re getting something a little bit extra.
If you visit a country when an election is going on.
And this year more people are voting in elections than at any time in history.
Votes through the years
He’s not going away: Donald Trump in 2020
Of course the ones closest to our hearts here are in the UK and the US.
I remember well becoming engaged in the process IN 1982 when our sleepy suburb of Glasgow Hillhead was invaded.
By the British media when SDP political heavyweight Roy Jenkins carpetbagged his way into town.
Because we’re worth it Destinology, who promote themselves as tour operator to the stars and Premier League, like to flatter us by saying… you book like a million pounds.
So sit back, bask in the compliment, and pore jealousy at what you could have won if you had brains in your feet rather than your head.
Destinology has only launched a three-month long once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa, India, Asia, Australia and Dubai.
Costing a million pounds for a family of four.
The perfect ten
Trunk call: And you’ll see the locals
Of course it’s the highest of high end and activities including off the beaten track wildlife and wilderness excursions.
And explorations of some of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan cities in the world.
Accommodation has also been carefully picked to include fancy shmantzy hotels, wilderness lodges, rainforest cabins and glamping.
While air travel is business class or by private helicopter charter.
You’ll take in ten different countries… so that’ll be 100,000 worth of each.
Animal magic
Cool for cats… in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
You’ll kick off in Kigali, Rwanda, including three nights in a Forest Villa in Volcanoes National Park with a gorilla trekking excursion.
Sunset Champagne cruises, helicopter tours, a stay at Gorse Elephant Camp, explorations of the Cape Winelands and Treetop villas await in South Africa.
Before travelling to Mauritius for nine nights at the One&Only Le Saint Géran.
And then the Seychelles archipelago for an eight-night stay in a private villa at the secluded Six Senses Zil Pasyon.
Asia major
Ya dancer: India
Most trips to India are rushed but Destinology offers 12 nights.
Plenty of time to explore the heritage, glitz and glamour of Mumbai.
A private culinary walking tour of New Delhi, a visit to Agra – home to the Taj Mahal and the 16th century forts.
Followed by an exploration of Jaipur, famed for its spice markets and Rajput architecture.
The Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, is what you’d expect it to be.
And you’ll be treated to a private Grand Palace tour.
There is a two-night stay in Elephant Hills in a lake view villa and guaranteed Dumbos.
Before heading off on jungle trek and canoe excursions.
And then taking in seven nights in the tranquil Devasom Khao Lak Beach Resort & Villas on the island of Khao Lak.
As an Irish-Scot it’s when I’m at my most conflicted when it comes to international sports, but when it comes to egg-chasing mine’s is increasingly an Irish rugby conversion.
My own native land is Scotland of course, and let me remind you I followed them as a schoolboy through thin and thin in the late 70s and reported on them in even thinner times in the early 90s.
And now while the same can’t be said for Ireland in a football sense, in rugby the Boys in Green are actually for the most part Irish.
As opposed to a Scotland side which is filled with players who have been discarded by New Zealand, Australia and worst of all England.
In fact we’ve even coined a name for the legion of South Africans who have rebranded themselves as Scottish… Springjocks.
All of which running around aimlessly brings me to the imminent Rugby World Cup in France next year when I will more than likely be waving my Tricolour instead of my Saltire.
Now if you want to put yourself in the safest travel hands then get on board my old Irish pals Cassidy Travel‘s deals for France RWC 2023.
Deal us in
Vive La France: Les Bleus
Cassidy’s packages include return flights, return airport transfers, hotel accommodation (unless it’s a day trip) and t tickets,
So, whether you want a quick day trip, a longer 2-3-7 night option or a bespoke tailor-made sport holiday then Cassidy have you covered.
Game on
Drum up support: Romania
So without further ado here are the matches you can be at, starting with the Romania mania.
Rugby World Cup 2023 – Ireland v Romania
Day Trip Package to Bordeaux!
9th September 2023
Don’t have time to stay? No problem at all! Make it a day trip!
Ireland meet the European runners-up in Bordeaux.
Package Includes:
Return flights
Return Airport Transfers
Match tickets
All from €599pp!
Rand old team
Rainbow nation: South African support in the townships
Bok your team, if your team is Ireland, against South Africa.
Rugby World Cup 2023 – Ireland v South Africa
2 Night Package to Paris!
23rd September 2023
The perfect two-night deal for rugby fans!
Package Includes:
Return flights from Dublin or Shannon
Return Airport Transfers
2 Nights in a 3* Hotel
Match tickets
All from €1099pp!
From Bok to Jock
Split loyalties: Ireland v Scotland
And one where any Irish-Scot can’t lose.
Rugby World Cup 2023 – Ireland v Scotland
2 Night Package!
7th October 2023
Two-night deal for you to enjoy one of the best
Rugby World Cup France 2023 events.
Package Includes:
Return flights
Return Airport Transfers
2 Nights in a 3* Hotel
Match tickets
All from €899pp!
Pieces of eight
Hakademic: The All Blacks’ Haka
Rugby World Cup 2023 – Quarter Finals!
Tickets to both matches included!
14th & 15th October 2023
Should they progress, Ireland will then meet the winners or runners-up of Pool A,
which includes France and New Zealand, at the Stade de France.
Package Includes:
Return flights
Return Airport Transfers
2 Nights in a 3* Hotel
Match tickets for Both Games
All from €1599pp!
And, of course, if Ireland beat the All Blacks (and everyone defeats them these days) they get to keep them!
So get your green out and support the Boys in France next year.
And that even includes Irish-Scots looking for a proper team to support… it’s an Irish rugby conversion.
And when I say I first laid eyes on Thandie, our tracker Hewurt does that for a living and brought us to see Mother and Children.
They’ll be three now and I bet they’re a handful… ‘appen I should pop around and see for myself.
Cool for cats… in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
My old pals at Hayes & Jarvis are my go-to people for bespoke long-haul adventures.
And they will be there from the very beginning with your personalised passport folder right through your vacation.
But don’t just take my word for it but I got my own video message from ‘African Queen’ Catherine after checking out their offer.
Two for the price of one
Stick your neck out: In Namibia
And because we’ll be in the vicinity anyway why not visit the neighbours?
And I had Namibia waved under my nose by my old pal Tony when he represented the south-west African country in Ireland.
H&J have a 16-day Namibia and South Africa holiday with a guide price of £5,199pp.
The highlights
Table’s set: Table Mountain
H&J have handily bullet pointed out some of the highlights for us.
*Look out for The Big Five on an exhilarating safari drive.
*Drive along the scenic Garden Route on your way to stunning Cape Town.
*Take a cable car up Table Mountain for views of Cape Town and Table Bay.
*Discover the tallest sand dunes in the world in the heart of the Namib Desert.
On the road
Hostess with mostest: With Rachel in SA
Right, it’s a self-drive holiday but firstly they advise you board an internal flight from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park.
Situated in Mpumalanga and covering 19,633 square kilometres, Kruger boasts over 100 mammals, over 500 bird species and more than 300 tree species.
It’s a spectacular spot for wildlife and nature lovers, with luxury lodges dotted throughout the park.
Travelling onwards to Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape via the Garden Route, you can uncover sandy beaches, great museums, galleries and excellent restaurants.
Before heading on to the iconic Cape Town.
H&J recommend the SA vineyards, the 600 million year old Table Mountain and Boulders Beach, home to the African penguins.
Wham bam Namibia
Stick it in the trunk: Self-drive
Right, what to do with the other 12 nights.
Take in ‘The Beauty Queen of South Africa’ at your ease.
Namibia’s capital Windhoek boasts a Zoo Park, castles and alluring restaurants, shopping and places to stay.
And for the adrenaline junkies, there’s exciting water sports and paragliding and kite surfing.
For a complete change of scene, strike out on a trek of the 1,600km Namib Desert and enjoy the red sand dunes of Sossuvlei.
The coastal town of Swakopmund is popular for walking tours, shopping and expanses of beach.
Lovely Cheetah: Thandie
And it’s an ideal stop-off before continuing on your way to Etosha National Park, close to the salt desert of Etosha Pan.
And we’re back to the wildlife and the elephants, rhinos, leopards and lions, prior to flying back home.
But all after I see my Thandie baby in South Africa.
What Olof Palme the Swedish moral pioneer would think of Russia threatening his country over their choice of friends isn’t hard to work out.
It’s easy to think that neutrality amounts to diffidence and non-commitment.
When it allows a people to retain their independence from power blocs.
And question any and every human right violation wherever in the world they see it.
That independence of spirit and voice doesn’t comes though without sacrifice.
Citizen of the world
Table mountain of beer: The Red Location
And for former Prime Minister of Sweden, Olof Palme, that came at the ultimate personal cost with the Swede losing his life because of his opposition to Apartheid.
Thirty-six years ago today.
But apart from eliciting our admiration for his strong moral compass and bravery why does Palme matter to us globetrotters?
Because it’s in our DNA to care about what happens to our global fellow travellers on the journey of life.
I must have been one of the very few kids in Glasgow to be lullabied to sleep with old Republican songs… and because of that and my own journey I’m an avowed internationalist republican which is why today I say Vive La Republic of Barbados.
Now you’ve heard me wax lyrical already many times about the magical island of Barbados and my Kiss With Rihanna and Rumba there.
And Bim, as it is affectionately known (hence me being known on the island as Bim Jim) is the talk of the Scottish and British Travel scene with the Bridgetown route rolling out from Edinburgh next month.
Now to celebrate Barbados becoming the latest country to throw off the shackles of monarchy and go out on their own, here’s to all those nations who have taken their destiny in their own hands.
And decided to be governed by one of their own.
Now a true republic, just like a true democracy or a true anything these days in double speak, is a moveable object.
But you’ve got to start somewhere which is why we’re going with 160 (now Barbados have signed up).
All republics lead from Rome
And if you know you’re Classic History, and my Latin is better than my Ancient Greek then you’ll know that republic derives from the two Latin words res and publica (public thing).
So that’s one of the famous things that ‘the Romans did for us’ although, of course, if you’re British then it’s an experiment from which we’ve run far away.
Apart, of course, from a brief period from 1649-1660 when these islands of Britain and Ireland entered into a Commonwealth which was really a theocracy.
But while Westminster claims to be the mother of all parliaments (doubtful, and Europe’s oldest in Iceland might have something to say about that).
It’s Rome which is the mothership of all republics, and we have the good fortune that the Forum, the hub of Roman public life is still there.
No fools those Ancient Romans though with their togas as I found out when I almost fainted in the Eternal City heat in my modern clothes.
An Italian fixture
Venice: And let’s catch a gondola back to Padova
Now where Rome led the rest of Italy followed.
And chief among them was the 1100-year Venetian Republic which still styles itself thus and is hewn into every gondola and the very bricks of the Campanile.
Florence, Siena, Amalfi, Pisa and Genoa all saw what the Doges were doing and how fetching their hats were and followed suit.
But the republicaniest of all the republics and the longest-standing is San Marino.
And so what they lack in football skills (0-10 v England) they more than make up for in their political skills.
La Republique, mais oui
Je suis L’Empereur: Napoleon
Ah, yes, the French. like so much, would have us believe that they are the shining light of Republics.
So much so that they have had five of them ever since Corsican Napoleon got le ball rolling.
Notre ami soon decided though that L’empereur sounded so much better…
And he did that with one arm behind his back (or affectedly tucked in his jacket then).
It must be a poncey royal thing because the UK’s Prince Charles who very graciously decided to attend the signing-over papers to the Bajans (and bag himself some sun at the time) does pretty much the same thing.
And on a tangent we’ll not say anything about the carbon footprint, Prince Save The World.
None of us are perfect, of course, it’s just the rest of us don’t bleat on about it and preach to the rest of us who do hop on planes.
Middle Ages and Middle Europe
Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam
The breeding ground for republics in the Middle Ages was what we now know as Germany.
And a quick count chronicles 62 in the northern European powerhouse.
All of which would be a good exercise and excuse to traverse modern-day Germany with a Michael Portillo type notebook.
I’d have to start in my favourite German city Hamburg first of course.
There are some who have gone the opposite way to the Bajans and jumped from republic to monarchy like the Dutch.
Others who have had a brief dalliance with republicanism, Catalonia, and still have hopes of a return to those halcyon days.
Battle hymn of the Republic
Southern men: At the statue of Stonewall Jackson at Manassas
Yes, their eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
And while the North eulogised its Republic, the South too held its close to its bosom, albeit for just five years.
That said the Confederate States of America still exist in the hearts and minds of many in the Deep South.
And you don’t need me to tell you that that was the first battle of the US Civil War.
Post-colonial
Cool for cats… in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
There were, of course, a rash of republics in the post-colonial world which is where Barbados join us now.
While in Africa and Asia the cry went up for the ‘public thing’ which alas all too quickly became the ‘dictator thing.’
And because of these precedents it ratchets up our hope that the South African Rainbow Nation experiment proves successful despite its challenges.
And the USSR and its satellites
The voice of Dresden: With Ingrid in Dresden
Dogmatic ideologists, of course, think nothing of hijacking the word republic for something that looks nothing like it.
And hovering up previously self-governing nations, which is where Russia came in and formed the bloated Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic.
Unless I find me a time machine a trip back to those days will inevitably elude me, although that’s where museums and heritage come in.
And you can still immerse yourself into the spirit of those days on any trip out there.
Which is exactly what you get when you visit the old DDR.
Now we all know of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie but more of us should visit the mural to communism which stands as a reminder of Russian misrule and occupation in Dresden.
Irie, Barbados
It’s a republic, now: With Ruby in Barbados
And so good luck to the incumbent President of Barbados. Sandra Mason, incidentally also the last governor-general.
Vive La Republic of Barbados.
I’ll raise a glass of rum punch to you on the official date of handover tomorrow.
Which is a shared holiday, Barbados’s National Day, and Scotland’s too.
In Scotland, Barbados: Honest
And until my own native land becomes a republic (I’m not holding my breath) I’ll. mark yours, and America’s and France’s.
And the whole lot of you, 160 or so, who have taken the revolutionary step of deciding that you wanted to be ruled by someone of the people.
I often think I was born out of my time… not ahead of it, more behind it, which is why when my peers were expressing their angst through Joy Division I was finding meaning through Paul Simon, 80 years young today.
As the youngest of three boys with a five and eight year gap between us my early influences were The Beatles, The Stones, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Pink Floyd, Heavy Metal… and Simon & Garfunkel.
And as a gangly shy adolescent I find solace in the longing, introverted, wanderer music of Paul Simon… I still do.
The man: Paul Simon
Now there have been rockier, wilder concerts (The Killers, The Proclaimers), equally as iconic singers (David Bowie). and more celebrated venues (OneRepublic in Red Rocks, Colorado) but there have been no more rewarding gigs than Paul Simon on his farewell tour which touched down in Dublin.
So how does your favourite Travel blog mark the 80th birthday of the Poet Laureate of Pop?
Well, by shining a light on the places Rhymin’ Simon loved the most and whose musical influences burst out in his timeless songs.
Apple of his eye
Remember him: ‘The Donald’ in New York
New York: A proud son of Queen’s borough, Simon’s songs about New York are some of the most recognisable about the Big Apple.
The Boxer is a plaintive exploration of down on your luck New York life which includes a reference to the ‘whores on 7th Avenue’.
Simon told the story at a concert of a fan who told him she would sing the song to her child only she changed the words to ‘toy stores’.
There’s something quite playful too about the 59th Street Bridge Song and I referenced it too on my route to the RDS for that 2019 concert.
You’ll find, in truth. New York references in numerous Simon and Simon & Garfunkel songs, some with NY in the title as in The Only Living Boy In New York and the Statue of Liberty in my own favourite, American Tune.
Rainbow Simon
Cool for cats… in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
South Africa: Now, how many of us, hand on heart can say that they knew much South African music before Paul Simon introduced it to a Western audience with his seminal album Graceland.
And, before we get to that, let’s just reference the titular song Graceland, a tribute to Elvis, which Simon revealed was his favourite piece of song-writing (few arguments here).
Of course none of us outside of South Africa knew of Ladysmith Black Mombasa either… but once heard never forgotten.
Simon also opened up the joy of South Africa at a time when understandably we associated the country with injustice, bigotry and hopelessness.
Brazil: And once Simon had got on a roll (or a rock’n’roll if you like) he was off to South America.
Who can forget those huge drums on The Obvious Child. Nothing obvious though about the drummers’ talent or Simon’s songwriting.
And finally in an English train station
He was here: Widnes Railway Station plaque
Widnes, England: And, of course, unless you’re a Rugby League fan, you’ll never have been to Widnes in Merseyside.
Unless you’re a budding New York musician (Paul Simon) who was feeling homesick here and penned the classic Homeward Bound. There is a plaque there now.
Or if you’re another budding wordsmith, en route to Liverpool from Scotland (you have to wait here for the next connection) to take the next rung in his celebrated writing career.
