I have a very particular set of skills I have acquired over a very long career. Not me (well, yes me) but another superstar.. Liam Neeson promoting Ireland and he will find you.
The big Ballymena man has that distinction which all the greats possess…
You can instantly recognise that it is him as soon as you hear his voice.
And he also possesses the gravitas and charisma which means that he can act as an ambassador both for his native Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Heck, he sees it the way he feels it, very Bryan Mills, as an Irishman and he wants to promote the island on which he was born and which developed him.
Because for as much as we on these islands know about the challenges and divisions that the two parts of the island of Ireland have had.
The rest of the world doesn’t want to make a traveller’s distinction.
They want to visit them both… and why not?
Taken star Liam has lent his voice to a new giant-screen documentary film.
It’s called Ireland which is produced by McGillivray Freeman Films and is sponsored by Tourism Ireland.
And it will go on release in select IMAX and giant-screen theatres across the US in February.
This is your pilot Liam talking
In another’s tongue it might sound cliched to talk of emerald islands and paradise but when it comes from Liam Neeson.
The Neesonathon celebrates the island’s rich history, culture, arts and music, as well as Ireland’s spectacular scenery.
It takes its American audience across Ireland.
Following writer Manchán Magan and others on an action-packed journey from Dublin to Belfast.
And from Kilkenny to Cong.
Viewers will see breath-taking footage of places like the Cliffs of Moher, the Giant’s Causeway and the Skellig Islands.
Ireland’s call
The Big Man and big-time Ireland rugby fan said: ‘There is a movement in Ireland to reconnect with our heritage, to rediscover what it means to be Irish.
“And I am delighted to help bring the joy and diversity of all that Ireland has to offer.
“Both the old and the new, to IMAX and giant-screen audiences worldwide.
‘As viewers experience Ireland’s great beauty and humanity on the world’s largest screens, they will fall in love all over again.’
And
A previous film produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films for Brand USA (destination marketing organisation for the US), called Natural Parks Adventure, was seen by around 8 million people in IMAX and giant-screen theatres.
And a sneak preview
And for those who want to get a flick of the vid and drown in Liam’s voice here’s a taster.
As promised more Black Friday offers (and like all the best Fridays they stretch into the weekend).
It’s always nice to share your favourite hotels with your friends.
Dublin’s delights
in with the fixtures: At the InterCon
And I’m glad to have passed on the charms of my favourite Dublin hotel, the iconic InterContinental in Ballsbridge, with my old pal and multi-award winning Travel writer Yvonne Gordon.
You’ll save 25% off their best flexible rate and enjoy:
A spacious deluxe guest room or a choice of luxurious suites with many with balconies.
And a special recommendation here from my own mermaid who rave about their 14m heated indoor pool and relaxation area.
And their 10% off ESPA products.
There’s limited time to book through Friday, December 3.
And the offers are for stays between Monday, November 29 this year and September 4 next year. And book three days before arrival.
Lusty helpings
Lusty Beggers… can be choosers
And you’ll have lusty helpings all right with the famous hospitality in Northern Ireland.
The deliciously named Lusty Beg Island Resort in Fermanagh is giving you 40% off a B&B courtyard stay for two for £105 per night.
Or book two nights B&B courtyard for two for £265 and receive. £70 voucher to use during your stay.
The offer is open from January 1 to March 31 and is open through tomorrow.
Donegal Mammy
Search and replace: That couple could be you
And, yes, no dip into Ireland can be complete without a namecheck for its northernmost county… my Donegal Mammy would never forgive me.
The scenic Harvey’s Point, set in the idyllic surroundings of Lough Eske and with the Bluestack Mountains as a backdrop, is just where you want to be at this time of year.
Or any time, to be fair.
Now if you book your gift voucher online before midnight on Monday you will get a 10% discount.
That’s towards the stay offers or can be used to enjoy an Afternoon Tea or a meal in the Lakeside Restaurant or Harvey’s Bar and Terrace.
So, even though it’s Saturday, I make no apologies for giving you Craic Friday.
We’d been seduced by a rooftop viewing over Cannes but I baulked at a $16.50 Aperol Spritz… before I learned this week about Cocktail Millionaire Hour.
They must have heard about me at Pay Day Loans because why else send me news of a $22,600 cocktail, Diamonds Are Forever?
And so if you’ve got that down the back of a sofa then get yourself over to Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo.
What a sparkler
Glitzy: The Ritz-Carlton
We’re told the DAR in the skyscraper hotel is a Grey Goose vodka and a twist of lime…
And a $16,000 diamond on the side of the glass, and helpfully they advise not to swallow the diamond.
Not wanting to stymie any future chances of a stay at the Ritz-Carlton but that’s one expensive voddie and lime at $6,600.
It is made from a 1778 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac, 1770 Kummel Liqueur, Dubb Orange Curacao circa 1860 and two dashes of Angostura Bitters circa 1900s.
We don’t know what the tip is here but at 10% that’s $700 so be prepared when you hit the Big Smoke.
And the others
What every woman wants: The fast set
We’ve just extended our knowledge of Connecticut following our trip to Dublin for the VisitUSA Thanksgiving get-together.
And they were keen to flag up their rich casino tradition.
Usually if you’re gambling you’ll be offered a comp drink, but not alas a Sapphire Martini at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Now Hemingway sure loved his cocktails and the Bar Hemingway in Paris channels the Great Man.
Through its $1,670 Sidecars.
And one we made earlier: With my Cocktail Girl
When I go high set in Belfast I head for the Grand Central Hotel and the highest bar in Ireland, the Observatory.
Julius Caesar (stay with me here) has been kicking his stubby feet in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, for the best part of a year and a half.
The loggerhead sea turtle washed ashore in 2019.
Hail Caesar
Crate expectations: JC gets the deluxe treatment
Julius Caesar, thus named by the Donegal family who found him because of his fighting spirit, has been recuperating in Down.
At the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry where they have put the poor fella back together again.
JC was just three months old when he was swept along the current (and who hasn’t been there).
And he was carried along the Gulf Stream to Co. Donegal.
Donegal diver
Just the ticket: And it’s Turtle luxury on Aer Lingus
The poor wee thing was underweight, just under a few hundred grammes, and suffering from hypothermia.
So it was just as well that it was Donegal where he was found.
Because Ireland’s most northern county boasts the warmest people in the world.
OK I’m biased as my Dear Old Mum and her people are daughter and sons of the sod.
The Ulster folk are famous for their hospitality as anyone who has enjoyed their ‘wee’ Ulster Fry will testify.
Turtle’s Ulster Fry
Turtle loving care: And the crew is besotted
So it’s no surprise Donegal’s fellow Ulsterians filled JC up.
Those pounds piled up on a diet of fish mixture, squid and gel.
Just a thought here but I might just have been a turtle in a previous life.
As I’ve got on famously with them in Barbados and in the Maldives.
Well, after 20 months being pampered in Ireland the day finally came today for JC to head home to the Canaries.
And when you travel from Ireland you need to promote the national airline carrier.
And of course Aer Lingus was only too happy to fly JC on the EI 782 to veterinarian Pascual Calabuig at the Tarifa Wildlife Recovery Centre on Gran Canaria.
Turtle on board
It’ll take longer: The swim back to the Canaries
JC’s minder Portia Simpson is going along for the company.
Our turtle, now weighing 25kg, is protected in a specially designed waterproof crate.
I can only say the best things about Aer Lingus’s flight experience… and the same can be said for turtles.
Another rogue loggerhead turtle, Leona, was found in Co. Clare in 2013 and transported to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria by Aer Lingus in December 2014.
This is your pilot speaking
Next time I’m flying: And i’ll choose Aer Lingus
Pilot Captain Peter Lumsden introduced the VIP to the passengers.
‘It is our pleasure to welcome aboard a very special passenger today and to ensure the safe transportation of JC the Turtle to Gran Canaria.
‘Keeping the turtle’s temperature above 19 degrees is critical to his wellbeing and he requires regular monitoring and shell lubrication so placing him in the aircraft hold was not an option.
‘Like all of us on the flight today, I’m sure he is looking forward to the warmer climate upon landing.’
Turtle minder
And so say all of me. The Canaries are a pleasure any time of the year, but especially in the late summer after a year in cold storage.
So the next time Portia needs a hand, then I’d be happy to fly turtles to the Canaries.
It has been a favoured hangout for journos all that time.
Back in the day the Irish Times Belfast office relocated there (to work!) after their offices were gutted following a car bomb.
While there have been a pantheon of celebrated journalists who have frequented the Europa.
And those who reported on The Troubles are Trevor McDonald, Kate Adie and John Sergeant.
And yours truly and a group of journos from south of the Border.
Your only man
The Penthouse Poppets: Belfast’s bunny girls
We got bombed too (drinks!).
And don’t get all PC on me as our Nordie pals are all about the gallows humour.
The night was a Van Morrison cabaret dinner and the drink was flowing.
While there was also the obligatory stumble across to Belfast institution the Crown for a nightcap or two.
In this instant orange stout, and I kid you not.
The Europa has been owned by the inimitable Hastings family for the past 30 years..
And as you would expect they’re laying out the red carpet for the big 50th anniversary celebrations.
Hastings the last word
Former US President, Bill Clinton with concierge Martin Mulholland.
They have invested over £40m in renovations and have added 88 new luxurious bedrooms to the existing 184.
A new renovation programme is currently underway.
It will see the 90 front-facing superior bedrooms, 85 classic bedrooms and six suites redesigned and upgraded.
Of course, there will always be some rooms which are kept for Presidents (and Travel Editors of the Year).
Clinton fits the bill
Survivor: The Europa Hotel
And as well as yours truly, Bill Clinton has been a visitor, in 1995.
He booked 110 rooms for his entourage. He returned to stay in 1998.
The Europa story was told in a book published ten years ago called In The Headlines because it always was.
Julie noted
The bould boys: At the Europa
And CEO Julie Hastings proudly recalled: ‘My father had the courage and optimism to buy it when nobody else wanted to.
‘He invested heavily at the time despite the bombings that followed over the next three years.
‘It was his confidence and that of many others that led to Belfast, and Northern Ireland, to begin its journey, to become the well-loved tourist destination that it is today.’
The Europa has launched a Golden Moments package from £115 per room which includes a plush stay, full Irish, signature cocktail in the Piano Lounge, signature truffles and exclusive golden Hastings duck.
And for those of you who haven’t stayed in a Hastings hotel, and if not why not, then you’ll know that rubber ducks are their signature.
Eider expect Julie will have one lined up with a typically punny name to join the likes of her others in the past such as Rory Quackilroy.
My first morning in the Eastern Cape in South Africa was a surprise, spent doing a tour of the Port Elizabeth lighthouse where I scaled the winding steps.
And built up a thirst… they had laid out a lovely picnic and wine on the ground floor.
I think my kids would be resilient enough for the lighthouse life.
They passed the first test when they bounced back quickly from a choppy passage across to Rathlin Island from the North coast of Antrim.
Did we tell them to lay off the fizzy drinks and the chocolate yes.
Did they listen. They’re kids, so of course not.
But by the time we got on the island and picked up our bicycles they were back on track.
You’ve got to keep it tidy. Picture Bernie Brown/Tourism Ireland
We cycled up to the West Light http://www.visitorthernireland.com which shines 23 nautical miles out to sea from a quirky upside down lighthouse built into the cliff face.
And the spider bit. Well, Robert the Bruce is said to have taken inspiration from a spider weaving a web in a cave nearby.
Whether he said ‘if at first you don’t succeed then try, try, try again’ is questionable but it is writ into Scottish legend.
What is a matter of history though is that he pushed the English out of Scotland and reasserted Scottish independence.
I love an oul’ festival…. they’re almost always not what you expect, and even better too.
Take for example the Festival of the Trays which too me conjures up an image of people banging beer trays over their heads.
It used to be popular in the Seventies and was featured in one of Esther Rantzen’s That’s Life shows I’m sure. I have vague recollections of doing the same one Hogmanay (or New Year’s Eve to those not of the Scottish persuasion).
This Festival of the Trays in Portugal though is far more serene. In commemoration of Queen Saint Isabel and the Holy Spirit, this is all about hundreds of young girls carrying trays of gifts on their heads.
The trays are blessed, there are street decorations and quilts in the windows. Flowers are thrown over the procession too, naturally!
The Procession of the Tabuleiros, heralded by pipers and fireworks is led by the Banner of the Holy Ghost and the three Crowns of the Emperors and Kings.
Bringing up the rear are cartloads of bread, meat and wine, pulled by the symbolic sacrificial oxen with golden horns and sashes. Visit www,tabuleiros.org and http://www.visitportugal.com. The festival starts today and goes on until July 8.
Ah! But if Maria and the Von Trapps had climbed every mountain as The Sound of Music told us they did they would have ended up in Hitler’s back yard.
Sorry, I just tell it like it is and so do the Salzburgers who burst our bubble on a tour of the city…. they do take you to some great Sound of Music sites and it is seriously good fun.
Me telling it like it is, it’s important to flag up what a great summer destination Austria is and what great deals there are out there.
TUI has last-minute deals for July 3, seven nights B&B staying at the *3 Hotel Obermair, Mayrhofen, from €449pps or seven nights half-board at the *3 Pension Hannes, Neiderau from €469pps. Visit http://www.tuiholidays.ie or call 1850 45 35 45.
An offer you can’t refuse
I went into the doctor and told him that I felt like a small Mediterranean island. He told me to stop being Sicily.
Like many who have visited Malta I spent way too short a time in Sicily on a day’s catamaran cruise. Of course, I will be back and when I do I will take it all in, The Godfather history, the beautiful coastline and vibrant villages.
You can get great value with a late deal to Sicily with Sunway. Seven nights for €499 on July 6. Visit http://www.sunway,ie,
The best China
You’re my rock: Tang and Zhang
Zhuhe, Tang Yixin and Zhang Ruoyun. Which, of course, is congratulations, but you knew that anyway.
And maybe that they are a Chinese celebrity couple who chose Adare Manor to marry.
Tang and Zhang are TV drama stars back home and have 33 million followers on Weibo, the social media platform in China. Now Bandanamann followers with a wee nudge we might make a dent in that!
Tang and Zhang’s combined showbiz name would be Tang, meaning she’s in charge which is a bit like most marriages really!
If that conjures up images of a packed Blackpool or Brighton or Magaluf then we wouldn’t blame you.
But this is The English Beach in Great King Valley in La Gomera.
La Go-where? Yes, this is the Canaries and it’s the more unspoiled, smallest and less visited of the seven islands which makes it all the more appealing.
Thing is though that they’re peeling off too. Billed as hippy and alternative there’s a clue there. Thing is though that the first post on Trip Advisor said that it’s half and half.
I can only imagine that it was a Swinging Sixties crowd of English that gave it its name.
I leave the choice to you but check out La Gomera anyway. Fly to Tenerife and then get a crossing is the best way to get there.
But if you do decide to go au natural, for goodness sake don’t leave your clothes on the beach. Visit http://www.lagomera.travel/en.
Let’s duck out of here
You’re quackers: With The Donald
Yes, I know any excuse. I’ll tell you what every time The Other Donald tweets something daft or puts us on the brink of war…. and I’m not forgiving him this week after his antics caused the rearrangement of my trip to Iran… then Ill put up a photo of The Real Donald.
And anyway American Sky has a great saving of up to €530 per family on a seven-night stay at the *4 The Grove Resort Hotel & Spa in Orlando, valid for travel before February 11 2021. This holiday now costs from €649.
This is a new resort, just a few minutes drive from Walt Disney World Resort and it includes a kids Surfer Water Park.
There are four on-site restaurants.
Based on two adults and two children sharing and return flights from Dublin with transfers and accommodation on a self-catering basis.
For Reasons Unknown Ronnie Vannucci Jnr tried to bat off the well-wisher who approached him at the Culloden Hotel, Holywood, Co. Down, and said that he was a delegate at a science convention.
But we were onto him or at least The Son and Heir and The Scary One were… and she let him know that I was their biggest fan.
I know I’ve drip-fed you this story but it’s just that the world’s greatest rock band who were playing up North are headlining Glastonbury tonight.
I’ve got it taped of course while I’m away in Barcelona but I expect they’ll be Wonderful Wonderful.
I’m not surprised that The Killers were staying at the Culloden. It’s only had a £750,000 refurbishment. Visit http://www.hastingshotels.com.
Two for you
… A double helping of Bandanaman today. Lourdes and the Pyrenees in The Herald and Star Wars Millennium Falcon: Smugglers’ Run at Disneyland Anaheim in the Irish Daily Mail.
