Our national airline carrier is offering up to 20% off destinations across Europe.
Fashion capital: Milan. Photo by bruce mars on Pexels.com
Prices start from €39.99 for Bordeaux, Lisbon, Faro, Paris, Milan, Paris, Toulouse and Vienna. Travel between 23 September and 24 October and rise but not by much.
The sale ends Thursday midnight.
These are all good cities I think you’d agree, although Faro is more of a thoroughfare.
One whose airport is a pleasure to rest awhile in and where you bump into the most unlikely of people.
Faro is certainly one place I need to investigate more rather than just jump in the taxi, coach, or hired car.
Too early for the mistletoe
But if it is your starting point then Aer Lingus offers this package: €297pp with seven nights at the. 4* Estrella do Vau.
It’s not surprising that Andy Murray has had to have his body reconstructed from spare parts.
Because it’s not easy carrying the sporting hopes of an entire nation, Scotland, on your back.
And yes, we know he’s also British.
But, of course us Scots love to joke that the English media call him British when he’s winning.
But Scottish when he loses.
Or golf
To us Scots though he’s always a winner, and we will miss him not playing at the US Open in Flushing Meadow which starts this weekend.
He won the title here, the first of his three grand slams, in 2012.
I had the pleasure of spending some quality time with Andy’s mum, Judy, the world-renowned tennis coach.
And Strictly Come Dancing sensation.
Judy was giving a group of British and Irish journalists a coaching class at The Campus sports complex in Quinto da Lago in Portugal.
Or cycling
Of course it was a great privilege although there is always a class joker who has to be brought to heel.
Coaching schools are increasingly popular holiday packages for the whole family.
And as well as Judy’s classes, The Campus offers the best in golf technique and expertise at the Paul McGinley Academy.
And beautiful courses.
If it’s cycling you like then this part of the Algarve is unspoiled, quiet.
Or yoga
And for this cyclist whose bike is in the shed because it’s so hilly around Co. Wicklow in Ireland, Quinto most importantly is flat.
Portugal has become a great favourite for sports fans with golf holidays long established.
But if your game is of the crazy variety then you might prefer a kick about instead.
Even if you’re not Premier League standard, and top English teams go to The Campus on training camps, then there are plenty of other football courts around.
A daily five-a-side game was something I got up looking forward to in Cabanas.
Or football
With Duffers, Ray and the local Portuguese kids.
The banter was great between Manchester United fan and Paul Scholes lookalike Terry and Leeds United fan Ray.
Terry still had the skills that saw him have trials at Chelsea although age had caught up with him.
While your diarist got to sport his green and white hooped Sporting Lisbon top although no Cristiano Ronaldo me.
Only one man walks on water in Barcelona. He’s everywhere – in every shop window, on the backs of every family of tourists.
Or parading his skills before 100,000 worshippers at the cathedral of football, the Camp Nou.
Only on the day I visited the Spanish city, he’s not.
Messi and Murty: On Oasis of the Seas
The ubiquitous Lionel Messi is back in his native South America on international duty playing for Argentina rather than curling in free-kicks for his adopted Barca.
Barcelona has a vacancy for a sporting hero then… and I’m thinking that if I nail it I might just my name off the back of the football top that fluffy bear is wearing.
He’s sitting in a sports car in the shopping area of a cruise ship in port at the bottom of La Rambla. Such are the trappings of fame, and I want some of it.
And I have the chance.
To walk on water on Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas’ surf simulator FlowRider.
And I only have the best in the business to get me up to speed, Irish surfing superstar Geared McDaid.
That’s Gearoid, not me
We’re lucky to have Geared here, his feet rarely touch the ground.
Geared is not long back from a couple of months surfing in Chile, was in Indonesia before that and is on his way to Portugal.
Geared is not what I expect though, no man bun, goatee beard, beard, tattoo sleeve.
Just a regular Sligo boy, although he is pals with Kia Egan!
Thankfully there is one Fifty-something who keeps up appearances with his bandana and windswept beard.
That is me
But boy can he surf. Gearoid, that is.
The simulator is on the 15th deck of the €1.4bn Oasis of the Seas cruise ship which is on it way to Majorca, France and then Italy with 6,300 passengers.
Each enjoying five pools and numerous bars, restaurants and shows. And a park. ‘Central Park’, you’ll forget you’re at sea.
Keep your shorts on: With Kai, my instructor
But alas without us who will have to get off kicking and screaming before sail time.
If they can’t find us hiding away down in the staff quarters.
The idea of the simulator which is 40ft long, is that a rush of water shoots out to build up the swell which you then surf against.
It’s all in the knees, back and arms – and the trick is to sway and not panic.
I’m not the only one who is bushy: In Central Park on Oasis of the Seas
Too late, the road went that way and the bandana and everything under it the other way.
It’s official. I don’t walk on water (but my family could tell you that!)
Maybe I’ll have better luck on my knees.
Eureka or ‘goooooal.’ as Lionel Messi might shout. I manage to master those waves in the prayer position on a boogie board with more than a little help from Mauritian teacher Kai.
Zip slidin’ away: And I’m off zip lining
Suddenly I feel indestructible. And here I was worried that I’d be caught with my shorts down, and quite literally I almost was at half mast.
I hadn’t pulled the cord tightly enough before the surfing class and the waves carried me away.
To be avoided – particularly if you’ve booked up for my next challenge, the 82ft zipline
No-obe nine deck below on the Boardwarl want to have Stars and Stripes board trunks land on them, believe me, when they’re out there shopping.
Or having an early-afternoon drink or are on their way to lunch.
Cocktail hour: And a photobomb
Thankfully, I can’t do much damage in the Spanish restaurant, other than embarrass myself and my party by getting my maracas out (steady!).
Well, once in we weighted into the plats of tapas and a big jug of sangria (when in Spain).
That sangria is’t going to last long
Fuelled with patatas and shrimp al ajillo we swagger off the ship.
Only taking time to pas by an eight-year-old boy twisting and turning on the other simulator and onto Barcelona’s famous La Rambla shopping and market thoroughfare.
Christopher Columbus is still there where I remember him from the last time I visited Barcelona 15 years ago and drew back the curtains of my balcony cabin.
He is proudly guarding the city and pointing out to sea.
To be fair, the arm is right, though I’d maybe bend the elbow and those legs are way too straight.
Sorry, Chris, but you’d be no use on a surfboard either.
Travel facts
Oasis of the Seas: Sail the Western Mediterranean for seven nights on Oasis of the Seas from €1,049pp based on two sharing. Departing Barcelona. Visit Palma, Marseille, Florence/Pisa, Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples and arrive back at Barcelona. See http://www.royalcaribbean.ie. Flights not included.
Where to stay in Barcelona: Hotel Concordia http://www.hotelconcordiabarcelona.com is a central hub and has a rooftop pool that will tempt you to linger. Pride was on when we visited and the neighbourhood was jumping. €135 per night.
There is no better way to sign off your trip to Universal Orlando than to sit back and join everyone’s favourite ogre and his sidekick Donkey as they battle the evil Lord Farquaad.
Shrek is a 4D cinematic experience, you’ll go on a thundering gallop through a haunted forest ride on a fire-breathing dragon.
You’ll plunder over a waterfall.
All in the quest of Princess Fiona.
You’ll have ‘spiders’ fly out at you and be sprayed in the face and be tilted back forward and back in your seats.
Kick-ass entertainment and few do it better than Shrek and the magical cast of Universal Studios.
Relaxing: The Loews Portofino in Orlando
Fly me there
How to get there: Aer Lingus fly from Dublin to Orlando four times weekly; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Fares start from €259 each way including taxes. Visit aerlingus.com for more information.
When an airline pulls out of a route it merely opens up the market for another, and who can blame Aer Lingus for putting their hands up?
While recognising the challenges for everyone in the aviation industry, our national airline carrier was quick to flag up its product in the wake of the Norwegian news.
Aer Lingus, as we all know, has 16 direct routes to North America.
With Mineapolis-St Paul the latest to arrive on the rank.
And while it is something of sport to diss them probably because they represent the institution.
Crackin’ city: Philadelphia
But I’ve been more than a happy flyer with them, particularly when they moved me when a poor lady was sick next to me half an hour into our flight to LAX.
And they arranged a wheelchair for her on her arrival in Los Angeles.
Aer Lingus flies Dublin to LA from €209, a one-way fare based on a return trip. Valid for travel between October and November.
And at the other end of the scale is Dublin to Philadelphia from €139 and Dublin and Shannon to New York from €149.
As calling cards go it does the job – simple, functional and just what is needed if your stock painting will be halos.
With a swish and a brush of red paint Giotto di Bondone had announced himself to the Papal envoy with his freehand circle.
And within a few years he would announce himself to the world with his magnum opus.
His fresco in 1305 in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padova would in turn inspire Michelangelo when he came to adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
For all of us who have attempted a still life and ended up with an egg in a basket of fruit instead of an orange you will know how difficult it is to draw the perfect circle.
But only perfect circles would do as Giotto’s patron Enrico Scrovegni had let his halo slip and needed a grand gesture.
To gain absolution and enter through the gates of heaven.
Enrico’s crime was usury – charging excessive interest on loans.
A crime so serious that it resulted in the banker being damned the fires of Hell.
Worth a shot in Ireland.
Rather than appealing straight to Our Lord, though, Scrovegni had the bright idea of asking Jesus’s mother to intercede on his behalf.
Mary cradles Christ
And then dedicated the chapel and the frescoes to her life with a celebration of her role in human salvation.
And just to leave nobody in any doubt of his devotion he had Giotto paint him into the main scene.
Presenting a model of the chapel to her in the fresco The Last Judgment.
The Scrovegni Chapel is Padova’s calling card but it is only a hint of a more expansive canvas.
I am in Padova (Padua), 38km west of Venice in the Veneto region and 209kms from Milan.
St Anthony’s Basilica
As well as looking upwards – Padova is the City of Frescoes – it looks outwards.
It has been home to the Venetians, French and Austro-Hungarians over the last millennium and embraced all their influences.
Today it is looking westwards which is where we Irish probably come in.
But more immediately to Milan’s Expo 2015, a showcase for feeding the planet and energy for life.
Padova has a rich history of doing both.
The Brenta River which leads right down to the Grand Canal teems with life.
While the Venetian Plain attracted the mariners of that great city to avail of its rich agriculture.
And build grand villas and palaces to entertain dignitaries.
It is also home to the oldest botanical gardens in the world.
On this trip, we will get to witness all of this.
But today it’s Sunday so Church and a visit to the Basilica of St Anthony of Padova.
The Piazza dei Signori
Yes, that St Anthony, the one who helps you – for some coins in his charity box – to find your keys,
St Anthony we are told has a wider reach than just those objects that fall out of your rucksacks and handbags.
He is also the patron saint of people who have lost their way in life or lost or fear losing something or someone close to them.
St Anthony’s bones are kept in an altar tomb in the basilica and people pass it in veneration, touching the side.
Which is adorned with photos of their loved ones.
A little bit more of St Anthony
The image of a young man, his head bowed and his hand placed on the side in silent invocation was truly moving.
I have to confess that this simple devotion touched me more than the veneration to St Anthony’s tongue and the bottom of his teeth in elaborate gold reliquaries further up the church.
The story goes that when St Anthony’s body was exhumed his tongue was still moist in recognition of his great preaching prowess.
So the Padovans decided to place it on show for veneration.
St Anthony hailed from Lisbon, but had he been Italian then you’d have to think his hands would have been on display.
Water, water everywhere
They are a famously expressive people, the Italians.
And while in the big cities there is less of a willingness to indulge those who wish to try out their Italian.
I found the Padovans and, in particular, our guide Mariaclaudia charmingly engaging.
Perhaps it is because this is a university city but not just any old university city, among the top ten oldest in the world.
And where Galileo taught.
Naturally the statue to him which is among 78 in the Isola Memmia in the Prato della Valle portrays him with his hands outstretched.
It is also where the first woman anywhere in the world graduated.
Piazza special
An inclusive place then and one where you can, if you don’t have two left feet like your writer, get up to dance the tango.
With dozens of other Padovans in the piazza at night.
The Villa Pisani
Perhaps with another glass of Venetian Spritz – the local speciality of Aperol (think Campari), Prosecco and mineral water.
Well, next time.
My own personal foodie
A word on the food and drink.
I had the good fortune to have accomplished Travel writer, food expert and bon viveur Peter on our trip.
I’m insisting that he come on all my future expeditions with me.
To describe in erudite fashion how good the likes of regional favourite Risi e bisi is.
A merely English translation as rice and peas clearly doesn’t do it justice.
So it’s best left in Italian.
A work of art on a plate
I’m sure other restaurants do Risi e bisi just as well as Taverna degli Artisti but my dish came at the end of an enchanting visit to Cittadella.
It is a 13th Century walled city which stands 14-16ft high and 4,793ft around.
Taverna degli Artisti stands opposite the quaint old we entered behind a market stall.
And through what looked like a lock-up door.
A treasure more memorable because it feels hidden away.
A touch of colour
There is nothing shy and retiring though about the baroque Villa Pisani in Stra on the banks of the Brenta.
Built by Alvise Pisani, the 114th Doge, or leader, of Venice in 1735, there would be 114 rooms.
Villa thriller
With frescoes of gods and men and women living and loving lustily.
With vino flowing as copiously as the water on the nearby Brenta.
And without the dams that that river employs to hold it back.
In the pink
Pride of place in the villa is Napoleon Bonaparte’s bedroom – the little general bought it in 1806.
Bony’s bed
Bony’s bedroom is surrounded by empirical emblems and deliberately is the first the sun hits in the morning.
Not to be outdone, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler met here in Villa Pisani for the first time.
One imagines there must have been a fight to get Bony’s bed.
The Villa Pisani comes with its very own maze, the Labyrinth of Love.
Where we are told a young cloaked woman would stand in the centre at the top of a spiral staircase.
Amazing maze
She was, of course, the prize for the man who managed to wend his way through the maze.
There is no historical record that Bony, Benito or Adolf burrowed their way manically through the maze.
But you would imagine that like us, they did.
We can only assume too that the young woman was on a day off when we visited!
But anyway it was time to get back on our burchiello – or boat.
As we skirted along the river at a gentle pace, gurgling wine and scoffing hors d’oeuvres we feel like those nobles of old.
Energy of the water
We are informed that many of the villas along the banks are also richly blessed but lie empty, still needing to be renovated.
It is a theme that keeps recurring: that the Italians, having finished what they had set out to build during the Renaissance packed up early.
And laid back and enjoyed the fruits of their labour.
So with dragonflies gently skimming along the water by our side I contemplate how the energy of life sometimes has to come in great rushes.
But it is often best captured in quiet moments and in water colours.
A gondola by the banks suggests Venice is drawing nearer but that is for another time.
Merchant of Menace
And besides the Brenta boat voyage runs both ways and it was inland to Padova and its environs that the Venetians, after all, came for their pleasure and sustenance.
So, who am I to argue?
Travel facts
How to get there: Aer Lingus flies to Venice on Fridays, returning Sundays.
Package: The Only Weekend Padova option offers a double room in the central Hotel Europa which offers a comfy night’s stay, a balcony and breakfast. For two nights at €155.
Besides free admission the Padova Card www.padovacard.it also provides discounts on attractions and allows visitors to use urban transit buses for free.
This article was first published in the Irish Daily Mail.
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.
