Though there was a time on board the MSC Preziosa when it was particularly slippy because of the Norwegian rain.
Photo album
And she looked as if she might fall overboard. I very nearly caught her too!
So opening up the album here are my Frostie’s Favourites and some of her creativity has even rubbed off on me. See if you can spot which are hers and which are mine?
The fjords
Which one’s the troll?
And She was up every morning bright and early to capture Norway’s waterfalls, inlets and try to spot trolls.
There was one still sleeping off the previous night’s wine, in our MSC Preziosa cabin room.
Bitesize Hamburg
Walking on air in Copenhagen
And when She wasn’t putting her feet up in the beach bar in tbe Rieperbahn she was snapping life around the port.
Amsterdam by George
Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam
And sometimes we make a rod for our own back because after staying at the Dylan Amsterdam where George and Amal stay then everywhere else is a disappointment.
Heart and Soll
White delight: In Soll
I fell for you Heart and Soll as Cole Porter sang. And while I was falling down the slopes She was getting the ski boots off and capturing the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser.
The power of Powerscourt
Towering talent… one of mine
And the two things that She loves more than anything in life and neither of them are me are in Wicklow that’s gardening and shopping.
Powerscourt has them both... and don’t my credit cards know it?
One of Hers
And one of Jose’s
And lastly here we are the picture of happiness as taken by our Portuguese guide, photography fan and pal Jose.
The rain in Northern Ireland is horizontal and the bar was 20 deep, pushing me to the apron of the canopy. My Sporting Weekend this weekend last year was Royal Portrush.
As golf reflects on its missed Open this weekend we all hark back to that magical week last year.
When the game’s oldest and greatest competition returned to Northern Ireland after 67 years.
Come rain or Shane
And Ireland’s own Shane Lowry crowned it all by taking the iconic Claret Jug.
The good news for Shane is that he is still Champion Golfer and will hold onto the trophy for another year.
I just about handed it back after I got the obligatory picture at Portrush.
The Co. Antrim course is credited with putting on one of the best Open Golf Championships in many a year in spite of the pelting rain.
Fantastic
The hospitality and the interactive golfing activities in the tents were second to none while the banter of the locals was relentless.
The course was set up wonderfully well with the intersections across the holes allowing you to take in multiple games.
Of course to get the best view you want to either get your steps out to see over the tall American in front of you.
Or just hunker down by the apron of the green.
Those trousers will dry themselves out.
Northern exposure
Though if you want to you can take shelter in the grandstands.
All of this, of course, makes us hanker after the return of spectators to the Royal and Ancient Game.
While Shane rightfully took the plaudits he would be first to accept that Northern Ireland was as big a winner over the week.
Sometimes we take for granted what we are used to.
And Northern Ireland is an old friend (jeez it’s the Murtys homeland from before the 18th century when they decamped to Scotland).
And one I usually passed through instead of stopping when I would drive from Aberdeen to Glasgow reporting on football matches.
Lounging around
Except for a boys’ weekend in Dunkeld, writing poetry for our Edinburgh Fringe Show. Now what rhymes with Glenturret?
New offers include Luxury for Less (from €99 per night), to the indulgent Highland Retreat (£499 for two nights). Rooms at Dunalastair Hotel Suites are from £129 per night.
And I now want to promote the splendours of Conrad Dublin, a hotel I’ve enjoyed on a function level but yet to laid down by head there.
Apart, of course, from when my head would hit the table through too much vino.
Among the goodies on offer in what they are packaging as Dream Away are the Picnic Package, the Literary Tour and Dublin City by Horsedrawn Carriage.
And seeing you’ve been locked away at home for months then why not treat the whole family to a night in the Conrad Family Room.
The interconnecting family room is €350 for the night for two adults and two children. See www.conraddublin.com.
To the lighthouse
Ciara O’Leary is all smiles at the lighthouse
So fine was the morning except for a streak of wind here and there that the sea and sky looked all one fabric, as if sails were struck high up in the sky, or the clouds had dropped down into the sky – Virginia Woolf
Lighthouses can be by contrast snug or solaces from people.
And Hook Lighthouse in Co. Wexford in the Republic of Ireland on June 29 is reopening its doors with the latter in mind.
Hook Lighthouse, the Lightkeepers Cafe and the outdoor dining option, the Seahorse, will all open seven days per week.
With last access to the grounds at 4pm and dining closes at 5pm.
Pre-book a free pass online at www.hookheritage.ie or take a guided tour by phoning (051) 397 055.
And a wee (well everything is wee in Northern Ireland) apology to my friends in that part of the world for overlooking them in Five Irish beaches.
So in an effort to redress the balance and because it’s the nearest place abroad that I can go without being quarantined on the way back, I give you Northern Ireland.
For Father’s Day.
Benchmark: With the Son and Heir in Belfast
Now the Murtys have been all over this part of the island and not just the present iteration.
The patriarch, ‘er me, took his first steps in this scribbling business at the Belfast Telegraph as an intern and got offered my first job on the Coleraine Chronicle.
While the Son and Heir studied at Queen’s before spending a year working in Belfast.
Weaving a tapestry
We were though merely following in the footsteps of weaver Patrick Murty of Co. Armagh who had come to Glasgow in the 1770s.
All of which blether brings me onto this offer around Giants Causeway around where we spent a family holiday.
And walked across the Carick-a-Rede rope bridge with the Son and Heir, now a full head taller than me, on my shoulders.
A sail at sunrise to catch your own breakfast on the Causeway Coast; Catch & Sea, and you’ll set sail from Portrush Harbour into the rising sun over the Mull of Kintyre and Rathlin Island.
You’ll get a rundown on the history of the area and the cave where Robert the Bruce took inspiration from a spider reweavung his web – to try, try, try again.
Catch of the day
You’ll take your catch to a local chef.
They will lay out a home/-cooked breakfast with your fish as the centrepiece.
All of which meanderings brings me back to Hotel Westport’s plans for the revived summer season.
Estate of the nation
Fill up my bowl
Westport Estate stretches to 400 acres – plenty of room for social distancing there. And it is also at the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way https://www.wildatlanticway.com/home.
And it is overlooked by St Patrick’s mountain Croagh Patrick.Which that very same Mum never tired of telling us she walked up barefooted and without a good breakfast when she was pregnant.
I let her off because it was my brother she had on board.
Westport is an ideal set-up to showcase what I believe will be a new direction in how we take our holidays… slow travel.
Carry on camping
Round the campfire
Take their Family Bush Camp which will give families the chance to reconnect with nature through bush crafting and survival activities.
Packages start at €79 pps for Bed & Breakfast and bookings can be secured at www.hotelwestport.ie.
The upside of our clamour for more space in our post-lockdown holiday is that we will reacquaint ourselves with all those great country houses.
Where families can run around the corridors to their hearts’ content.
Westport House is an 18th-century manor house also on Westport Estate and just a stone’s throw away from the hotel.
Visitors can stroll through the grounds and enjoy the gardens and take in the 3.5k looped Lakeland and woodland walk.
House about that?
Caravan of love
The house itself is open to day-visitors and they will be able to immerse themselves in 300 years of Irish heritage.
Camping and caravan breaks will be in vogue when we all get out on the road again.And you can take advantage too in the onsite 3* park on the Westport House Estate? Visit www.westporthouse.ie.
For those for whom gastronomy is central to their holiday experience.And the Irish food experience is rightly celebrated around the world then here’s some more good news.
The owner and head chef of Cian’s on Bridge Street, Cian Hayes, will be opening a pop-up restaurant experience in Hotel Westport this summer.
If you have been keen to stretch your legs, and you will be fitter than you think with all those laps around your neighbourhood.Then you will be eager to get out on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Ride on!
Can I cycle for ever?
And for cyclists then Clew Bay Bike Hire have a fleet of two-wheelers with your name on them.
Guests at Hotel Westport can truly experience the wild Atlantic west by hiring bikes on site.And then cycling an exclusive and accessible 10km loop through the estate, the harbour, and the town.
And if you’re feeling ambitious, why not take on the breathtaking Great Western Greenway?
And meanwhile in the Disunited Kingdom
I’ll let the pictures from Bank Holiday Weekend in the United Kingdom.Where England has different rules to lockdown than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland speak for themselves.
I’m indebted to my old pal Tony Flynn for this lockdown game… use the initials of your Christian name for what you need when you’re holed up at home.
But Tony, I know you better than that… Tea, Onions, Noodles, Yogurt?
And you know me better too… and that’s why I went for Johnnie Walker, Ardbeg, Mossburn, Elements of Islay, Springbank.
You must have known I’d have used my full Christian name… more whisky, you see.
It’ll put a smile on your face
And in this regular feature, ‘Hungry and Thursday’ that’s what it’s all about, and being in lockdown my whisky is my best friend.
And while punters snap up the cheap lager from the supermarket shelves I’m happy to report that there’s still plenty of uisce beatha, or water of life, to be had.
So here’s a trawl of whiskies around the world…
Smoky Scotch
For peat’s sake
Scotland: The original and the best, Scotland is the home of whisky.
It has five clearly defined regions, of which the smoky and peaty whisky from the isle of Islay is the best. Think an ashtray of water… no, seriously, it will grow on you.
Now I’m not just saying this because I want regular Open golf from Muirfield which is near my new home in North Berwick. OK, I am.
But I’m only a week back here and already I’ve discovered that there is a real threat to Muirfield’s regular slot on the Open rota.
My old mucker, golf scribe extraordinaire Martin Dempster, of The Scotsman https://www.scotsman.com, tells us…
That Muirfield and Carnoustie have fallen behind others in popularity with the R&A https://www.randa.org.
North Berwick, and Scotland’s Golf Course
To the likes of Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland where last year’s Open was held and I was the guest of the Northern Ireland Tourism board… www.visitnorthernireland.com
Portrush… and dreams do come true
200,000 is now the figure given as the target which courses must now which apparently stands against the two Scottish courses.
And it is Marin’s contention, and his instincts are usually bang on, that Muirfield and Carnoustie will be in a 15 to 20 year loop with Royal Lyrham & St Anne’s.
Now just on Muirfield, near Edinburgh on Scotland’s Golf Coast, didn’t do itself any favours with its policy on women’s members.
But that has changed now and other esteemed golf courses have had questionable policies too: – the WASPish Augusta anyone?
Now judging courses on their winners how about this list of winners, all of them in my lifetime: Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo (twice), Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.
While before that there was Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, the latter who I followed around Hoylake.
