We’ve been here before, flagging up Toronto and Canada and celebrating their favourite catchphrase. Eh!
I can’t say my brother returned from living for eight years in Toronto saying ‘Eh’ at the end of his sentences.
But he did talk about going for ‘errands’ and the ‘sidewalk’.
The great raconteur Peter Ustinov referred to Toronto https://www.seetorontonow.com and https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada.html as ‘New York run by the Swiss’.
And, yes, Toronto doesn’t have the raw edge of NY, or graffiti, but it works for them and is still cool.
It’s a great sports city too.
And it has made its mark with two relatively new franchises in baseball and basketball.
We went to the ball park to watch the Blue Jays during the summer I worked in Boston in the Eighties.
And you could see that the Torontonians were taking to their new team.
Who went on to win back-to-back World Series, beating the best from across the border which went down quite well.
Star of the team was Dominican (he hailed from the Dominican Republic rather than being a monk) George Bell.
With the fans ringing a bell every time he stepped up to bat.
While this year the Raptors shocked everyone, and perhaps even themselves.
By beating the stellar Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry et al, to lift the NBA Championships.
All of the hoo-ha that greeted each victory Downtown Toronto I’m reliably informed is but a whisper.
Compared with how the ice-hockey daft Torontonians are when the Maple Leafs are on a run.
I’m just saying but I have game.
All of which is my usual tangental way of flagging up a Flyday Friday deal.
This time courtesy of Air Transat http://www.airtransat.com which has a St Stephen’s Day sale on.
With a round-trip from Dublin from €318 (April 14-20).
Montreal, Toronto’s great rival, with its Canadiens hockey team, is from €329 (April 14-20). Tres bien! Visit https://www.mtl.org/en and https://www.tourismvancouver.com
And Vancouver, who boast the Canucks, from €363 (April 28-May 17).
Book by December 31. No flights available from this month to March .
Three million New Year cheers
I’m up early for every deal (on your behalf).
And so are Aer Lingus who have a January sale just released at a minute past midnight earlier today.
Ireland’s national airline carrier has three million seats on sale.
With up to 30% off European travel and North America from €189 each way.
Valid for travel from March 1 to June 15.
While flights to North America are from just €189 each way, Travel valid between April 1 and June 15.
You know this is the blog to come to for America… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/21/old-new-york-hamilton/ https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/obama-washington-dc/ https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/philadelphia-freedom/
While also try https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/06/22/my-weekend-with-marilyn/ https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/disney-why-i-love-the-donald/
And all points in between.
Book by midnight, January 21. Visit http://www.aerlingus.com and http://www.visitusa.ie.
Januairy sales with Ryanair
Where Aer Lingus goes Ryanair follows although of course, they prefer to be out in front.
And the no-frills low-fares airline has up to 30% off too on return flights.
With 1 million seats to fit for travel between April and August.
Nice is from €24.99, Ibiza €28.99, Alicante €28.99, Faro €28.99, Malta €34.99 and Thessaloniki from €34.99.
Now let’s have a look at a couple of those from my visits there…
The French Riviera https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/the-boat-dazur/, Faro and the Algarve https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/06/12/sportugal/ and Greece https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/21/acropolis-later/.
And, yes, I know that that last post is on Athens but it’s just a teaser.
And on that trip to Athens, Kythera and the Attica region my colleague Dutch Bas flagged up what he thought was Greece’s best city, Thessaloniniki.
He obviously knows his stuff… it’s just I like to check these things out for myself.
Lauda and louder
I didn’t always turn the telly over when the Grand Prix came on… in the days of Nikki Lauda and James Hunt I did follow them around the chicanes (whatever the heck that is).
While, of course, the film Rush with Chris Hemsworth, also reminded us of the fantastic story of their rivalry and ultimate friendship.
I’m reliably informed by my female friends that Chris Hemsworth in a film greatly increases the enjoyment levels.
Nikki Lauda, who we lost this year remained a huge figure in Formula 1, broke into airplanes (and by that I mean launched his own livery rather than cracked the lock).
Ryanair’s fully owned Austria subsidiary Laudamotion is to increase frequency on its Vienna to Dublin route from daily to eleven times weekly from March 29-October 25.
And here’s a reminder of what Austria http://www.austria.info has to offer both in winter and in the spring, summer, autumn…
That’ll be https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/soll-mates/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/01/austrian-toilet-humour/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/03/__trashed/.
And seeing we’ve just put one election to bed in the UK and are preparing for an Irish election over here while the Americans also have it all to do next year too..,
How about? https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/11/25/moanday-morning-electioneering/
MEET YOU IN THE SKIES