Biggest ever real estate development in New York
September 7th, 2016.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/massive-real-estate-development-to-alter-new-york-skyline-1.2772949
The skyline of New York is being transformed by the biggest real estate development ever in the US.
The project, called Hudson Yards, will see new skyscrapers tip the clouds and cover an area of 28 acres of midtown Manhattan between 10th and 12th Avenues and from 30th-33rd Streets. The site is bounded to the west by an elevated parkway, the Highline.
The $20 billion development by privately owned USRelated Companies and Toronto-headquartered Oxford Properties will include more than 17 million sq ft of commercial and residential space.
Ambitious schemeIt will include 100-plus shops, a collection of restaurants and food outlets, 4,000 residences, a 750-pupil public school, a 200-room hotel, a cultural space called the Shed and 14 acres of public parks. The extension of the No 7 Subway line will also serve Hudson Yards.
The yards refer to the rail yards of the Metropolitan Transport Authority, Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road where the development is happening. The massive construction project is being built on two platforms over the existing 30 active tracks where the trains are stored.
There are 23,000 working on the construction phase, and when completed in 2024, 125,000 people will work in, visit and call Hudson Yards home.
Manhattan stands on bedrock and 300 caissons are being drilled 20-80ft into the rock to form the platforms for the development. The trains will be cooled by massive fans similar to aircraft engines. The platforms are engineered to support large scale planting and act as a reservoir for storm-water management.
The first phase of the project, 10 Hudson, a 52-storey block, opened on July 1st, and the initial tenants are Coach and L’Oreal. Space has also been rented by SAP, The Boston Consulting Group andSidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet.
The tallest block will be 30 Hudson Yards at the southwest corner of 33rd Street and 10th Avenue. The 1,296ft tall building will be 90 storeys, and the second tallest in the city with 2.6 million sq ft. Designed by Bill Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen FoxAssociates, it will have the highest outdoor observation desk in Manhattan. The One World Observatory stands at 102 storeys high.
Early movers Time Warner has already acquired 1.5 million sq ft of office space and plans to move 5,000 employees from its corporate operations as well as CNN,Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros entities under one roof for the first time. KKR, a global investment firm, has acquired the top 10 office floors of 343,000sq ft, and Wells Fargo has taken 500,000sq ft. Both firms are relocating their corporate offices to the tower.
The first residential building to open will be 15 Hudson Yards at 30th Street and 11th Avenue. The 910ft tall block will offer 391 units for sale and for rent. It will be adjacent to the Highline and have access to the Shed. The Shed cultural space will be a multi-purpose venue and is expected to be ready for New York Fashion week in 2019. The Shed’s mission is to commission and present new work by artists across all disciplines for the widest range of audiences.
It will present a broad range of performance, visual art, music, and multi-disciplinary work.
Residents will have unobstructed views of the city and the Hudson River. There will also be a fitness centre by Equinox, concierge lobby, garage, valet parking and pet-friendly services. The building is expected to be completed in 2018.
The other two towers will be 35 Hudson Yards, a mixture of residential, Equinox Hotel, Equinox Fitness, offices and retail, and 55 Hudson Yards, at 780ft block which will have 1.3 million sq ft of offices. It was designed by A. Eugene Kohn of KPF Associates and Irish-born Kevin Roche, a Pritzer Prize winning architect, and will have a dramatic outdoor terrace on the 10th floor.
A one million square foot seven-storey mall will house the shops and restaurants at Hudson Yards. There will be the first Nieman Marcus luxury department store in New York City and more than 100 retail units.
Six acres of gardens and public plazas in the Eastern Yard will have a major piece of public art designed by English sculptor Thomas Heatherwickand costing more than €150 million to develop. The design is being kept secret for the moment but is expected that it will be to Manhattan what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.
September 7th, 2016.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/massive-real-estate-development-to-alter-new-york-skyline-1.2772949
The skyline of New York is being transformed by the biggest real estate development ever in the US.
The project, called Hudson Yards, will see new skyscrapers tip the clouds and cover an area of 28 acres of midtown Manhattan between 10th and 12th Avenues and from 30th-33rd Streets. The site is bounded to the west by an elevated parkway, the Highline.
The $20 billion development by privately owned USRelated Companies and Toronto-headquartered Oxford Properties will include more than 17 million sq ft of commercial and residential space.
Ambitious schemeIt will include 100-plus shops, a collection of restaurants and food outlets, 4,000 residences, a 750-pupil public school, a 200-room hotel, a cultural space called the Shed and 14 acres of public parks. The extension of the No 7 Subway line will also serve Hudson Yards.
The yards refer to the rail yards of the Metropolitan Transport Authority, Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road where the development is happening. The massive construction project is being built on two platforms over the existing 30 active tracks where the trains are stored.
There are 23,000 working on the construction phase, and when completed in 2024, 125,000 people will work in, visit and call Hudson Yards home.
Manhattan stands on bedrock and 300 caissons are being drilled 20-80ft into the rock to form the platforms for the development. The trains will be cooled by massive fans similar to aircraft engines. The platforms are engineered to support large scale planting and act as a reservoir for storm-water management.
The first phase of the project, 10 Hudson, a 52-storey block, opened on July 1st, and the initial tenants are Coach and L’Oreal. Space has also been rented by SAP, The Boston Consulting Group andSidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet.
The tallest block will be 30 Hudson Yards at the southwest corner of 33rd Street and 10th Avenue. The 1,296ft tall building will be 90 storeys, and the second tallest in the city with 2.6 million sq ft. Designed by Bill Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen FoxAssociates, it will have the highest outdoor observation desk in Manhattan. The One World Observatory stands at 102 storeys high.
Early movers Time Warner has already acquired 1.5 million sq ft of office space and plans to move 5,000 employees from its corporate operations as well as CNN,Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros entities under one roof for the first time. KKR, a global investment firm, has acquired the top 10 office floors of 343,000sq ft, and Wells Fargo has taken 500,000sq ft. Both firms are relocating their corporate offices to the tower.
The first residential building to open will be 15 Hudson Yards at 30th Street and 11th Avenue. The 910ft tall block will offer 391 units for sale and for rent. It will be adjacent to the Highline and have access to the Shed. The Shed cultural space will be a multi-purpose venue and is expected to be ready for New York Fashion week in 2019. The Shed’s mission is to commission and present new work by artists across all disciplines for the widest range of audiences.
It will present a broad range of performance, visual art, music, and multi-disciplinary work.
Residents will have unobstructed views of the city and the Hudson River. There will also be a fitness centre by Equinox, concierge lobby, garage, valet parking and pet-friendly services. The building is expected to be completed in 2018.
The other two towers will be 35 Hudson Yards, a mixture of residential, Equinox Hotel, Equinox Fitness, offices and retail, and 55 Hudson Yards, at 780ft block which will have 1.3 million sq ft of offices. It was designed by A. Eugene Kohn of KPF Associates and Irish-born Kevin Roche, a Pritzer Prize winning architect, and will have a dramatic outdoor terrace on the 10th floor.
A one million square foot seven-storey mall will house the shops and restaurants at Hudson Yards. There will be the first Nieman Marcus luxury department store in New York City and more than 100 retail units.
Six acres of gardens and public plazas in the Eastern Yard will have a major piece of public art designed by English sculptor Thomas Heatherwickand costing more than €150 million to develop. The design is being kept secret for the moment but is expected that it will be to Manhattan what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.
Restoration drama – An Irishwoman’s Diary about Prince Charles and the saving of Dumfries House
‘Three huge Pantechnicons already with the furniture in them were going down to London. They were literally stopped on the motorway at one o’clock in the morning and turned round.” So goes the description by Prince Charles of the saving of one of Britain’s most important Palladian mansions and its contents.
Dumfries House, in Ayrshire, which was built in the 1750s by the fifth Earl of Dumfries, William Crichton-Dalrymple, had been put on the market by the seventh Marquis of Bute, unable to afford the upkeep of the mansion and its 2,000 acres. The furniture, with many pieces by Thomas Chippendale, was expected to fetch millions at Christie’s. A Chippendale rosewood bookcase alone was valued at £2 million to €4 million. It is thought that 10 per cent of all Chippendales are in the house.
Heritage attraction
The Prince of Wales, known as the Earl of Rothesay in Scotland, managed to put together a consortium to find £45 million to purchase the estate in its entirety at the last minute, a far cry from the £7,979 paid to the Adam Brothers in 1759. Dumfries House is now owned by a charitable trust, the Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust, which maintains it as a heritage attraction.So how do you make an estate of this size and importance pay for itself? Nine years on and Dumfries is a thriving venture with many strings to its bow. The main house with its two grand wings is a showcase of Chippendale furniture, antiques, rugs and art, much of it unchanged in hundreds of years. The public can take guided tours of the house.
The six-bedroom Dumfries House Lodge was renovated and provides accommodation for events and weddings. In the courtyard, 22 luxury suites and two cottages provide paid guest accommodation.
Various sponsor arrangements have help turn the estate into a training ground for local people. For a period of five years, the supermarket chain Morrisons funded the restoration of the meat and dairy farm attached to the estate, for research and education into sustainable farming methods.
The former coach house and stable block have been renovated to be used as a catering facility, sponsored by Belling, as a hospitality training centre to deliver practical front- and back-of-house training. It has a teaching kitchen and commercial kitchen with a fully functioning restaurant.
Partnerships with organisations such as Scottish Power, UTC Aerospace and electronics company Selex-ES run programmes to help schools deliver Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education to students.
The engineering workshop has developed an outdoor play park for children around the natural elements of earth, water, fire and air. Children can use the free multisensory facility set into the woodlands. It is also open to schools and youth groups.
In the renovated water-powered sawmill, traditional building skills are taught. Stone masonry, dry-stone walling and rural woodcraft courses run alongside training in plastering, painting, plumbing, electrical work and brickwork. A lot of the training and skill courses are aimed at young people from 16 to 25 to open up employment opportunities.
The walled garden, once one of the largest in Europe, is being restored and used as a training opportunity for young gardeners. There is also an artist’s retreat, with courses by the Royal Drawing Society and an outdoor activity centre. An eco-village, Knockroon, is being built to create a sustainable mixed-use development of homes, shops and workplaces.
Local community
The intention of the trust is for the estate to become a self-sufficient enterprise and in the process revitalise the local community, which had been hard hit by the closing of the mines. Tourism is already bringing people to the area to see and stay on the estate, explore the grounds and walk in the arboretum. Dumfries is in Ayrshire, an area not very well known to visitors, though only an hour away from Glasgow.This year the big campaign of Visit Scotland is a social movement to ignite the power of a nation behind tourism. People are being encouraged to get out and about the country and take pictures and share them on social media using the hashtag #ScotSpirit.
Check out visitscotland.com to see some of the fantastic photographs of scenery and wildlife. Scotland is also marking this year as the year of innovation, architecture and design, a nationwide celebration of the built environment.
‘Three huge Pantechnicons already with the furniture in them were going down to London. They were literally stopped on the motorway at one o’clock in the morning and turned round.” So goes the description by Prince Charles of the saving of one of Britain’s most important Palladian mansions and its contents.
Dumfries House, in Ayrshire, which was built in the 1750s by the fifth Earl of Dumfries, William Crichton-Dalrymple, had been put on the market by the seventh Marquis of Bute, unable to afford the upkeep of the mansion and its 2,000 acres. The furniture, with many pieces by Thomas Chippendale, was expected to fetch millions at Christie’s. A Chippendale rosewood bookcase alone was valued at £2 million to €4 million. It is thought that 10 per cent of all Chippendales are in the house.
Heritage attraction
The Prince of Wales, known as the Earl of Rothesay in Scotland, managed to put together a consortium to find £45 million to purchase the estate in its entirety at the last minute, a far cry from the £7,979 paid to the Adam Brothers in 1759. Dumfries House is now owned by a charitable trust, the Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust, which maintains it as a heritage attraction.So how do you make an estate of this size and importance pay for itself? Nine years on and Dumfries is a thriving venture with many strings to its bow. The main house with its two grand wings is a showcase of Chippendale furniture, antiques, rugs and art, much of it unchanged in hundreds of years. The public can take guided tours of the house.
The six-bedroom Dumfries House Lodge was renovated and provides accommodation for events and weddings. In the courtyard, 22 luxury suites and two cottages provide paid guest accommodation.
Various sponsor arrangements have help turn the estate into a training ground for local people. For a period of five years, the supermarket chain Morrisons funded the restoration of the meat and dairy farm attached to the estate, for research and education into sustainable farming methods.
The former coach house and stable block have been renovated to be used as a catering facility, sponsored by Belling, as a hospitality training centre to deliver practical front- and back-of-house training. It has a teaching kitchen and commercial kitchen with a fully functioning restaurant.
Partnerships with organisations such as Scottish Power, UTC Aerospace and electronics company Selex-ES run programmes to help schools deliver Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education to students.
The engineering workshop has developed an outdoor play park for children around the natural elements of earth, water, fire and air. Children can use the free multisensory facility set into the woodlands. It is also open to schools and youth groups.
In the renovated water-powered sawmill, traditional building skills are taught. Stone masonry, dry-stone walling and rural woodcraft courses run alongside training in plastering, painting, plumbing, electrical work and brickwork. A lot of the training and skill courses are aimed at young people from 16 to 25 to open up employment opportunities.
The walled garden, once one of the largest in Europe, is being restored and used as a training opportunity for young gardeners. There is also an artist’s retreat, with courses by the Royal Drawing Society and an outdoor activity centre. An eco-village, Knockroon, is being built to create a sustainable mixed-use development of homes, shops and workplaces.
Local community
The intention of the trust is for the estate to become a self-sufficient enterprise and in the process revitalise the local community, which had been hard hit by the closing of the mines. Tourism is already bringing people to the area to see and stay on the estate, explore the grounds and walk in the arboretum. Dumfries is in Ayrshire, an area not very well known to visitors, though only an hour away from Glasgow.This year the big campaign of Visit Scotland is a social movement to ignite the power of a nation behind tourism. People are being encouraged to get out and about the country and take pictures and share them on social media using the hashtag #ScotSpirit.
Check out visitscotland.com to see some of the fantastic photographs of scenery and wildlife. Scotland is also marking this year as the year of innovation, architecture and design, a nationwide celebration of the built environment.
Addis Ababa Letter: human toil is transforming Ethiopian capital
Joan Scales
Is Addis Ababa falling down? On first view the city appears tumbledown with half-finished buildings, deserted roadworks, no pavements and battered corrugated fencing. Pedestrians, with or without loads on their heads, weave in and out of the traffic as cars, buses, minibuses, trucks and carts jostle for space. There are hardly any traffic lights, and even then they are ignored.
But beneath this aura of dusty demolition lies a story of a strong city striving to be the best city in Africa in five years. Look around and you will notice the half-built skyscrapers are covered in bentwood scaffolding and work is being down with little or no heavy machinery. There are a few still cranes on the skyline, and if you listen you will hear the sound of work being done by hand.
The first city suburban light-rail system is almost complete and will cover 32 kilometres. It will relieve the rush-hour queues for the battered blue-and-white shared minibuses. There is public transport but it is overwhelmed by the volumes of workers. Addis Ababa is an office city, where thousands of people work in the Brussels of Africa, the African Union.
HeadquartersThe organisation to promote co-operation among 54 African states and founded out of the Organisation for African Unity is based here. Having such an important body means good employment for this city, and jobs mean taxes to fund the ongoing development.
On March 23rd, the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan signed a significant document about consultation for the sharing of the Nile waters. Ethiopia, an energy-poor country, has begun building the biggest hydroelectric dam in Africa, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The $4.8 billion (€4.5 billion) project will provide not just Ethiopia with power but also allow the exporting of energy to neighbouring countries. When in full production, the dam will be capable to providing 6,000 megawatts of power a year. Access to cheaper power overcame Egypt’s long-standing objections to the project. The dam will also form a huge lake, at least 1,800km square. Funding for the dam is coming from various sources: taxes, bonds, aid and loans.
Ethiopia has come a long way since the drought of 1983-1984 – in fact people are reluctant to talk about the famine. More than half the population are under 25 and it is not even a memory for them. Poverty continues to be a big problem and it is most obvious in rural areas. However, access to education has improved dramatically and it is surprising to meet so many young people who speak very good English. The language is taught in school from first class and, by their teens, most children will speak it very well.
On a visit to Lalibela, site of the Christian rock-hewn churches, we were besieged by children looking for pens and wanting to practise English. They hustled about the dusty roads in plastic shoes using an empty water bottle as a football. There are an overwhelming number of people walking the roads, carrying water, just moving from place to place.
Road linksConstruction is going on to improve the road between the airport and Lalibela, about 50km away. Most of the work is being done by a Chinese firm with some local labourers. The small amount of machinery means it will be a long job.
For anyone who saw Dare to be Wild by filmmaker Vivienne de Courcy in the Jameson Dublin Film Festival last month, the scenery around Lalibela will be familiar. The film about Irish gardener Mary Reynolds, who won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, was partly shot at an extraordinary restaurant, Ben Abeba.
Perched on a hill, the restaurant is the brainchild of Scottish home economics teacher Susan Aitchison, who relocated here seven years ago, and local man Habtamu Baye. Designed by two Ethiopian architects, the building spirals upwards, casting off terraces at different levels to capture views. Reynolds designed a Celtic-themed terrace for the restaurant. Kevin Thornton, the Michelin-starred chef, is a regular visitor to this area. He is involved in the Connect Ethiopia project, which provides mentors for local communities, and has been known to cook in Susan’s kitchen.
Joan Scales
Is Addis Ababa falling down? On first view the city appears tumbledown with half-finished buildings, deserted roadworks, no pavements and battered corrugated fencing. Pedestrians, with or without loads on their heads, weave in and out of the traffic as cars, buses, minibuses, trucks and carts jostle for space. There are hardly any traffic lights, and even then they are ignored.
But beneath this aura of dusty demolition lies a story of a strong city striving to be the best city in Africa in five years. Look around and you will notice the half-built skyscrapers are covered in bentwood scaffolding and work is being down with little or no heavy machinery. There are a few still cranes on the skyline, and if you listen you will hear the sound of work being done by hand.
The first city suburban light-rail system is almost complete and will cover 32 kilometres. It will relieve the rush-hour queues for the battered blue-and-white shared minibuses. There is public transport but it is overwhelmed by the volumes of workers. Addis Ababa is an office city, where thousands of people work in the Brussels of Africa, the African Union.
HeadquartersThe organisation to promote co-operation among 54 African states and founded out of the Organisation for African Unity is based here. Having such an important body means good employment for this city, and jobs mean taxes to fund the ongoing development.
On March 23rd, the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan signed a significant document about consultation for the sharing of the Nile waters. Ethiopia, an energy-poor country, has begun building the biggest hydroelectric dam in Africa, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The $4.8 billion (€4.5 billion) project will provide not just Ethiopia with power but also allow the exporting of energy to neighbouring countries. When in full production, the dam will be capable to providing 6,000 megawatts of power a year. Access to cheaper power overcame Egypt’s long-standing objections to the project. The dam will also form a huge lake, at least 1,800km square. Funding for the dam is coming from various sources: taxes, bonds, aid and loans.
Ethiopia has come a long way since the drought of 1983-1984 – in fact people are reluctant to talk about the famine. More than half the population are under 25 and it is not even a memory for them. Poverty continues to be a big problem and it is most obvious in rural areas. However, access to education has improved dramatically and it is surprising to meet so many young people who speak very good English. The language is taught in school from first class and, by their teens, most children will speak it very well.
On a visit to Lalibela, site of the Christian rock-hewn churches, we were besieged by children looking for pens and wanting to practise English. They hustled about the dusty roads in plastic shoes using an empty water bottle as a football. There are an overwhelming number of people walking the roads, carrying water, just moving from place to place.
Road linksConstruction is going on to improve the road between the airport and Lalibela, about 50km away. Most of the work is being done by a Chinese firm with some local labourers. The small amount of machinery means it will be a long job.
For anyone who saw Dare to be Wild by filmmaker Vivienne de Courcy in the Jameson Dublin Film Festival last month, the scenery around Lalibela will be familiar. The film about Irish gardener Mary Reynolds, who won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, was partly shot at an extraordinary restaurant, Ben Abeba.
Perched on a hill, the restaurant is the brainchild of Scottish home economics teacher Susan Aitchison, who relocated here seven years ago, and local man Habtamu Baye. Designed by two Ethiopian architects, the building spirals upwards, casting off terraces at different levels to capture views. Reynolds designed a Celtic-themed terrace for the restaurant. Kevin Thornton, the Michelin-starred chef, is a regular visitor to this area. He is involved in the Connect Ethiopia project, which provides mentors for local communities, and has been known to cook in Susan’s kitchen.
Walk off the post Christmas lethargy in Connemara
Blow away the post-turkey lethargy with a few days exploring Connemara with an enthusiastic guide.
Archaeologist Michael Gibbons has been leading the Connemara Four Seasons Walking Festival for a number of years and is a joy to listen to.
The festival begins with a talk the first evening by Michael on the history and secrets of the Connemara highlands and islands.
His knowledge of the landscapes, culture, history and traditions of this rugged region is legendary. Two days are then spent exploring the landscape.
One of the walking days will be to Omey Island, the spiritual tidal island off Claddaghduff, home to St Féichín’s monastery, a holy well and ancient Christian sites.
The storms of last winter have exposed strata from the Neolithic era. On our visit some years ago a sperm whale was beached on the island and people came from far and wide to see it. There will also be a walk in Connemara National Park.
The other walking day will take you up Erris Beg Hill for magnificent views of the landscape and will be followed by a walk on Dog’s Bay to see Inishnee Island, a drowned forest and abandoned famine cottages.
The walks are moderate, and will require boots and wet gear.
STAY: The base for the walking festival is the Station House Hotel in Clifden and costs €199pps for two nights including dinner one evening and packed lunches and €269pps for three nights with two dinners and packed lunches, December 27 - 30.
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/alternative-new-year-s-eve-connemara-1.2004257
Further details from (095) 21699 andconnemara4seasonswalkingfestival.com
Archaeologist Michael Gibbons has been leading the Connemara Four Seasons Walking Festival for a number of years and is a joy to listen to.
The festival begins with a talk the first evening by Michael on the history and secrets of the Connemara highlands and islands.
- Alternative New Year’s Eve: Dingle
- Alternative New Year’s Eve: Aran Islands
- Alternative New Year’s Eve: Longford
- Alternative New Year's Eve: Ardmore, Co Waterford
- Alternative New Year’s Eve: Achill Island
His knowledge of the landscapes, culture, history and traditions of this rugged region is legendary. Two days are then spent exploring the landscape.
One of the walking days will be to Omey Island, the spiritual tidal island off Claddaghduff, home to St Féichín’s monastery, a holy well and ancient Christian sites.
The storms of last winter have exposed strata from the Neolithic era. On our visit some years ago a sperm whale was beached on the island and people came from far and wide to see it. There will also be a walk in Connemara National Park.
The other walking day will take you up Erris Beg Hill for magnificent views of the landscape and will be followed by a walk on Dog’s Bay to see Inishnee Island, a drowned forest and abandoned famine cottages.
The walks are moderate, and will require boots and wet gear.
STAY: The base for the walking festival is the Station House Hotel in Clifden and costs €199pps for two nights including dinner one evening and packed lunches and €269pps for three nights with two dinners and packed lunches, December 27 - 30.
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/alternative-new-year-s-eve-connemara-1.2004257
Further details from (095) 21699 andconnemara4seasonswalkingfestival.com
Christmas Markets in England - closer than you think.
CRIB FIGURINES, HOT CHESTNUTS, GINGERBREAD AND MULLED WINE: IT’S CHRISTMAS MARKETS TIME - get there with Aer Lingus Regional
The Christmas Market, an icon of the festive season, gives us an excuse to start celebrating Christmas early. There are now more Christmas Markets to choose from than ever before – this year sees city centres, cathedrals, castles and – for the first time - beach huts hosting stalls selling everything from traditional wooden toys and handmade jewellery to gingerbread and mulled wine. This year also sees bilingual butlers line the capital’s streets offering shoppers five-star service while the opulent Orient-Express trains will travel to Christmas Markets in cathedral cities. Here, VisitEngland and Aer Lingus Regional highlight some of the best festive shopping experiences on offer and how to get there.
Birmingham – twinned with Frankfurt
15 November – 22 December
Taking inspiration from its twin city, Frankfurt, Birmingham’s Christmas Market is the largest German-style Christmas market outside Germany. Showcasing some of the city’s finest craftsmen, these markets should be firmly at the top of anyone’s Christmas list. Birmingham’s markets comprise over 180 glowing wooden chalets sprawled across Victoria Square, Chamberlain Square and New Street, each one packed with treats from glistening handmade baubles to traditional wooden toys. You might stray from gift shopping though, as it’s rather difficult to resist the smells of marzipan, mulled wine and rich gingerbread.
www.birmingham.gov.uk/frankfurtmarket
Georgian Christmas in Bath
22 November – 9 December
Each year, the quaint streets and square between the stunning Bath Abbey and the internationally-renowned Roman Baths are transformed into a Christmas shopper's haven as more than 140 traditional wooden chalets adorn the streets of Bath; each one offering unique, handmade and unusual gifts, decorations and food. Shop for locally-produced handcrafted items and sip on hot mulled wine as the sounds of Christmas carols fill the air.
Getting there: This year the British Pullman and Northern Bell are taking festive journeys to England’s finest cathedral cities and Christmas markets, including Bath, Lincoln, Canterbury and Salisbury. The vintage carriages, evoking the era of the golden age of travel, will be bedecked at Christmas time, setting the mood for festive celebrations. Liveried stewards will serve traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings as the trains wend their way through the English countryside. Prices start at £370 per person.
www.orient-express.com/uktrains
www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk
Manchester – the bigger, the better
17 November – 23 December
Considered to be amongst the biggest in Europe, Manchester’s Christmas market transforms the city centre with its charming wooden chalets. Get into the Christmas spirit by browsing hundreds of twinkling market stalls and soaking up the unique, bustling atmosphere across eight picturesque city centre locations. You'll find an amazing selection of goods on offer from European and local producers, selling everything from fine amber jewellery, handcrafted leather bags, and top quality bonsai trees, to Dutch flower-bulbs, French soaps, and Spanish chorizo. Don’t miss the iconic giant Father Christmas perched on top of the town hall – perfect for a seasonal selfie!
www.visitmanchester.com/articles/shopping/christmas-markets
London – winter wonderland and bilingual butlers
A true family favourite, Winter Wonderland (23 November – 6 January) returns to London's Hyde Park this November with big top shows, the observation wheel and of course it’s famous Christmas market. Enjoy hot cider, mulled wine and farmhouse foods alongside a spot of rustic revelry in the shape of an outdoor fire pit at the park’s heart. Elsewhere, from 11 - 14 December, Sloane Street will be lined with immaculately dressed multi–lingual butlers. The butlers, fluent in Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic will be on hand to open car doors, offer insider info on the street and deliver a 5* concierge level of service to visitors.
www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com
www.sloane-street.co.uk
Bavarian Bristol
8 November - 22 December
The popular German-themed Christmas market will return in quaint wooden chalet-style stalls to Bristol’s Shopping Quarter at Broadmead this weekend. Unique gift ideas, original homemade crafts and German-themed food and drink like Glühwein, Bratwurst and Lebkuchen will be on offer. Between browsing the stalls, visitors can relax in the Bavarian beer garden and enjoy festive music from the Salvation Army band.
http://visitbristol.co.uk/discover-bristol/christmas-in-bristol
Winchester – Christmas in a cathedral city
21 November - 22 December
Winchester Christmas market is renowned for its unique location in the cathedral grounds, high quality exhibitors and bustling atmosphere. The Christmas Market is inspired by traditional German Christmas markets and attracts more than 350,000 visitors each year. The pretty wooden chalets are situated in the Cathedral’s historic Inner Close, set around an open-air ice rink.
http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/christmas/christmas-market/
Ludlow – Christmas in a castle
24 – 25 November
Get ready for two days of non-stop merriment and tomfoolery at the Ludlow medieval Christmas fayre, held in the ruins of Ludlow’s ancient castle. Expect chivalrous knights in full armour, dancing damsels, fire breathing jesters and impressive bird of prey displays. Plus, get your hands on one-of-a-kind knight helmets and fine silver earrings as gifts for loved ones (or for yourself).
www.ludlowmedievalchristmas.co.uk
York – Christmas in costume
25 November
York’s St Nicholas Fayre kick-starts the city’s Christmas celebrations. It’s York's biggest and most popular Christmas market and sees the city come alive with Victorian costumed traders, carol singers and the delicious smells of roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate laced with brandy. The market sells a mixture of arts and crafts, gifts and locally-produced food and drink. Tickle your taste-buds at the food court, where liveried chefs serve global flavours, or amble through the Christmas trees to find a festive plant from far away.
http://www.visityork.org/seeanddo/christmas/default.aspx
For more info visit www.visitengland.com/en/Christmas-markets
CRIB FIGURINES, HOT CHESTNUTS, GINGERBREAD AND MULLED WINE: IT’S CHRISTMAS MARKETS TIME - get there with Aer Lingus Regional
The Christmas Market, an icon of the festive season, gives us an excuse to start celebrating Christmas early. There are now more Christmas Markets to choose from than ever before – this year sees city centres, cathedrals, castles and – for the first time - beach huts hosting stalls selling everything from traditional wooden toys and handmade jewellery to gingerbread and mulled wine. This year also sees bilingual butlers line the capital’s streets offering shoppers five-star service while the opulent Orient-Express trains will travel to Christmas Markets in cathedral cities. Here, VisitEngland and Aer Lingus Regional highlight some of the best festive shopping experiences on offer and how to get there.
Birmingham – twinned with Frankfurt
15 November – 22 December
Taking inspiration from its twin city, Frankfurt, Birmingham’s Christmas Market is the largest German-style Christmas market outside Germany. Showcasing some of the city’s finest craftsmen, these markets should be firmly at the top of anyone’s Christmas list. Birmingham’s markets comprise over 180 glowing wooden chalets sprawled across Victoria Square, Chamberlain Square and New Street, each one packed with treats from glistening handmade baubles to traditional wooden toys. You might stray from gift shopping though, as it’s rather difficult to resist the smells of marzipan, mulled wine and rich gingerbread.
www.birmingham.gov.uk/frankfurtmarket
Georgian Christmas in Bath
22 November – 9 December
Each year, the quaint streets and square between the stunning Bath Abbey and the internationally-renowned Roman Baths are transformed into a Christmas shopper's haven as more than 140 traditional wooden chalets adorn the streets of Bath; each one offering unique, handmade and unusual gifts, decorations and food. Shop for locally-produced handcrafted items and sip on hot mulled wine as the sounds of Christmas carols fill the air.
Getting there: This year the British Pullman and Northern Bell are taking festive journeys to England’s finest cathedral cities and Christmas markets, including Bath, Lincoln, Canterbury and Salisbury. The vintage carriages, evoking the era of the golden age of travel, will be bedecked at Christmas time, setting the mood for festive celebrations. Liveried stewards will serve traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings as the trains wend their way through the English countryside. Prices start at £370 per person.
www.orient-express.com/uktrains
www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk
Manchester – the bigger, the better
17 November – 23 December
Considered to be amongst the biggest in Europe, Manchester’s Christmas market transforms the city centre with its charming wooden chalets. Get into the Christmas spirit by browsing hundreds of twinkling market stalls and soaking up the unique, bustling atmosphere across eight picturesque city centre locations. You'll find an amazing selection of goods on offer from European and local producers, selling everything from fine amber jewellery, handcrafted leather bags, and top quality bonsai trees, to Dutch flower-bulbs, French soaps, and Spanish chorizo. Don’t miss the iconic giant Father Christmas perched on top of the town hall – perfect for a seasonal selfie!
www.visitmanchester.com/articles/shopping/christmas-markets
London – winter wonderland and bilingual butlers
A true family favourite, Winter Wonderland (23 November – 6 January) returns to London's Hyde Park this November with big top shows, the observation wheel and of course it’s famous Christmas market. Enjoy hot cider, mulled wine and farmhouse foods alongside a spot of rustic revelry in the shape of an outdoor fire pit at the park’s heart. Elsewhere, from 11 - 14 December, Sloane Street will be lined with immaculately dressed multi–lingual butlers. The butlers, fluent in Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic will be on hand to open car doors, offer insider info on the street and deliver a 5* concierge level of service to visitors.
www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com
www.sloane-street.co.uk
Bavarian Bristol
8 November - 22 December
The popular German-themed Christmas market will return in quaint wooden chalet-style stalls to Bristol’s Shopping Quarter at Broadmead this weekend. Unique gift ideas, original homemade crafts and German-themed food and drink like Glühwein, Bratwurst and Lebkuchen will be on offer. Between browsing the stalls, visitors can relax in the Bavarian beer garden and enjoy festive music from the Salvation Army band.
http://visitbristol.co.uk/discover-bristol/christmas-in-bristol
Winchester – Christmas in a cathedral city
21 November - 22 December
Winchester Christmas market is renowned for its unique location in the cathedral grounds, high quality exhibitors and bustling atmosphere. The Christmas Market is inspired by traditional German Christmas markets and attracts more than 350,000 visitors each year. The pretty wooden chalets are situated in the Cathedral’s historic Inner Close, set around an open-air ice rink.
http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/christmas/christmas-market/
Ludlow – Christmas in a castle
24 – 25 November
Get ready for two days of non-stop merriment and tomfoolery at the Ludlow medieval Christmas fayre, held in the ruins of Ludlow’s ancient castle. Expect chivalrous knights in full armour, dancing damsels, fire breathing jesters and impressive bird of prey displays. Plus, get your hands on one-of-a-kind knight helmets and fine silver earrings as gifts for loved ones (or for yourself).
www.ludlowmedievalchristmas.co.uk
York – Christmas in costume
25 November
York’s St Nicholas Fayre kick-starts the city’s Christmas celebrations. It’s York's biggest and most popular Christmas market and sees the city come alive with Victorian costumed traders, carol singers and the delicious smells of roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate laced with brandy. The market sells a mixture of arts and crafts, gifts and locally-produced food and drink. Tickle your taste-buds at the food court, where liveried chefs serve global flavours, or amble through the Christmas trees to find a festive plant from far away.
http://www.visityork.org/seeanddo/christmas/default.aspx
For more info visit www.visitengland.com/en/Christmas-markets
Swim in Safety
It's wroth repeating the message of safe swimming, with people heading to the sun spots of the Canaries, Egypt and Florida at this time of the year.
Top Water Safety Tips Abroad
1) When researching your holiday, check the safety arrangements of any water-based activities
2) When booking your holiday check if the pool/beach has lifeguard cover. Not all water sites have supervision at all times – shockingly 60 per cent of people have never researched whether the hotel pool was lifeguarded and only six per cent of people said it was a big priority to know whether the hotel pool was lifeguarded when booking a holiday**
3) Check bathing sites for hazards, check the safest places to swim and always read the signs – find out what local warning signs and flags mean
4) Make sure the whole family can swim and know what to do in an emergency
5) Swim with any children in your care – it’s more fun and you can keep them close and safe
6) Take time to check the depth, water flow and layout of pools. Follow the pool rules
7) Never enter the water after drinking alcohol
8) On beaches check when the tide will be high and low and make sure that you won’t be cut off from the beach exit by the rising tide
9) Inflatable dinghies or lilos are a well-known hazard – each year there are drownings as people on inflatables are blown out to sea. Do not use them in open water
10) Do not swim near to or dive from rocks, piers, breakwater or coral
11) Swim parallel to the beach and close to the shore
12) Never swim alone
· Also, be aware that many holiday accidents occur in the first or last hour at a resort, when parents are most likely to be distracted.
In addition to the above tips, ensure you and your family know the SAFE code –
Spot – spot the dangers
Advice – follow safety signs and advice
Friend – stay close to a friend or family member
Emergency – shout for help and call 999 or 112
It's wroth repeating the message of safe swimming, with people heading to the sun spots of the Canaries, Egypt and Florida at this time of the year.
Top Water Safety Tips Abroad
1) When researching your holiday, check the safety arrangements of any water-based activities
2) When booking your holiday check if the pool/beach has lifeguard cover. Not all water sites have supervision at all times – shockingly 60 per cent of people have never researched whether the hotel pool was lifeguarded and only six per cent of people said it was a big priority to know whether the hotel pool was lifeguarded when booking a holiday**
3) Check bathing sites for hazards, check the safest places to swim and always read the signs – find out what local warning signs and flags mean
4) Make sure the whole family can swim and know what to do in an emergency
5) Swim with any children in your care – it’s more fun and you can keep them close and safe
6) Take time to check the depth, water flow and layout of pools. Follow the pool rules
7) Never enter the water after drinking alcohol
8) On beaches check when the tide will be high and low and make sure that you won’t be cut off from the beach exit by the rising tide
9) Inflatable dinghies or lilos are a well-known hazard – each year there are drownings as people on inflatables are blown out to sea. Do not use them in open water
10) Do not swim near to or dive from rocks, piers, breakwater or coral
11) Swim parallel to the beach and close to the shore
12) Never swim alone
· Also, be aware that many holiday accidents occur in the first or last hour at a resort, when parents are most likely to be distracted.
In addition to the above tips, ensure you and your family know the SAFE code –
Spot – spot the dangers
Advice – follow safety signs and advice
Friend – stay close to a friend or family member
Emergency – shout for help and call 999 or 112
Bristol and Bath, two riverine pearls
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/avon-calling-1.1549009
The twin river cities of Bristol and Bath may be just 12 minutes apart by train yet they seem centuries apart. Bristol appears young – it hides its abundance of historical and architectural gems amid the concrete of the past 60 years. Bath, on the other hand, is just missing the carriages of the Georgians and the stink of horse manure.
Arriving in Bristol for a weekend, I am charmed to discover that Gromit is everywhere. Not just familiar Gromit, of Wallace and Gromit fame, but Gromit appearing as a pirate, a super hero, as Isambard Kingdog Brunel, as Salty Sea dog, as Eldoradog. There are 80 Gromits dotted all around the city, painted by artists and celebrities for the Gromit Unleashed summer trail.This 10-week event by Aardman Animation raises funds for Bristol children’s hospital. It is a great success: happy families hunt the Gromits, while later in the evening squiffy clubbers pose excitedly beside them.
Bristolians are mightily proud of their city and point out that they have more Georgian buildings than Bath does, a bit miffed when you say you are going there. They also remind you of their ties to the sea, being an inland port for sail and steam for more than 1,000 years.
Sail and steam is on display with the caravel (a replica 15th century ship) Matthewtaking visitors around the floating harbour while the SS Great Britain sits in all its metal glory. The floating harbour is one of Bristol’s great treasures. Almost an inland lake, it’s perfect for rowers and sailors messing about and it provides a safe berth for many narrow boats and sail boats.
The River Avon has one of the biggest tidal drops in the world, and Bristol’s importance as a port in earlier centuries produced an engineering feat in the early 19th century of locks, undercuts and overfalls that still work today.
The sea trade may be reduced but the floating harbour is an intrinsic part of the city, redeveloped to house cultural venues like the Arnolfini contemporary-art gallery and a science museum. At night the harbour hums with restaurants, clubs and traditional pubs. The huge, all-you-can-eat ZaZa Bazaar seats 1,000.
One name that crops up time and again in Bristol is Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The engineer has left his mark on the skyline with the Clifton Suspension Bridge and in the harbour with the SS Great Britain and dozens of other unseen civil engineering works.
Today it is artists who are leaving their mark: the animatic art of Aardman Animation and graffiti artist Banksy.
Aardman Animation has been in Bristol for 40 years. Wallace and Gromit may be its best-known production, but Aardman produces a huge range of TV series and commercials.
Banksy, the satirical graffiti artist who defaced the concrete jungle that was 1980s downtown Bristol, is now an art icon of the city. Taking a street art tour with John Nation of wherethewall.com, it’s hard not to be amazed by the turnaround in attitude.
Nation was a youth worker for Banksy, or Robin Banks, and other teenagers, and godfather of the street art that has turned this city into a gallery of modern expression. Such is the international reputation of Banksy that Nation’s tours attract people from all over the world.
A major event that changed the landscape of Bristol was the See No Evil festival in 2012, when 30 international artists were invited to transform the concrete canyon of Nelson Street and its environs. Using the backdrop of multi-storied buildings, the street is now an outdoor gallery. Irish artist Conor Harrington has a painting on disolay called theDuel of Bristol.
The grassroots of street art continues to appear, almost daily, with artists dodging the wrath of the city council. The area of Stokes Croft has become a haven for street artists, with dozens of buildings painted, many with anarchic messages; they call it the people’s republic of Stokes Croft.
Feeling the need for a twinset and pearls, I hop on the train to genteel Bath, knowing I won’t have to confront the messages of a graffiti rat. Here it will be refined entertainment, upmarket shopping, tasting menus and luxury lodgings. Bath is built on seven hills: maybe that is why the Romans were attracted to it. Seven hills of the most perfect honey-stoned buildings.
If you could blink the cars away, it could be the 1700s. Romans and Georgians were the denizens of Bath and they have left their mark.
The current residents of Bath must feel like caretakers: the tiny city is immaculate, with perfect Georgian crescents, squares of green and bursting baskets of flowers everywhere, with the odd Roman temple and Corinthian pillars popping up.
What better way to begin a visit to Bath than with afternoon tea. Frenchman Richard Bertinet, of Café Bertinet, has lived in Bath for eight years.
He has two cafes, a cookery school and will be participating in the Great Bath Feast this month, which will have simple things, such as good breakfasts, to taste trails, farmers’ markets, cookery courses, gourmet evenings and visits from chefs, including Mary Berry, Angela Hartnett, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall and Prue Leith.
It follows the annual Jane Austen festival in September when the city is awash with Regency-era clad people from around the globe. This year’s finale was a 600-strong costumed promenade and it ended in a masked ball in the Pump Room.
This is a splendid dining room of vast proportions, part of the Roman Baths, and is where you can drink the spring waters. The hot spring waters of Aquae Sulis were adored by the Romans who built a massive complex of baths and temples.
The site has been redesigned and restored over thousands of years with every stage of change on display. There are four big, green pools, which are no longer in use for health and safety reasons.
The museum is fascinating. Archaeological digs have revealed Roman streets, coins, statues, jewellery (including a beautiful gold Irish cloak pin) and, my favourite, curses written on metal and thrown into the spring. The Romans believed that the springs would not only cure them but would also fulfil their wishes.
Stepping back into reality after a tour of the Baths is almost surreal: people throng around photographing the abbey and bustling shoppers explore the many lovely independent shops.
Shopping in Bath benefits from the influx of visitors that help support one-off shops for jewellery, books, art, shoes, music and high-end clothes. There are also many specialist food shops and fine restaurants, from gasto pubs such as the Garricks Head to the Michelin-starred Bath Priory.
It is impossible to leave Bath without mentioning the Royal Crescent, the most perfect symmetry of Georgian architecture. Number 1 Royal Crescent was originally lived in by Henry Sandford, MP for Roscommon, and is a restored museum of Georgian life.
In the middle of the Royal Crescent is the hotel of the same name: it is the only building with a magnolia growing on it. Behind the doors of this gem is a lovely garden and upscale Dower House restaurant.
Rumour has it that Johnny Depp stays there during the Glastonbury Festival, so that’s where you may find me next year.
How to . . . Bath and Bristol
EAT – Bristol
The River Grille at the Bristol Hotel uses local ingredients. It overlooks the floating harbour.
ZaZa Bazaar offers all you can eat in two hours.
Dine beside Banksy and Cosmo Sarson art at The Canteen, Stokes Croft , with live music
EAT – Bath
Beside the railway station Graze is devoted to all things beer and beefy.
The Garricks Head gastro pub has local produce.
Sunday lunch at the Royal Crescent is £37.50 (€44.70).
SLEEP
The Bristol Hotel, from the doylecollection.com, has a Cork manager, Mark Payne. Rooms from £99 (€118).
Bailbrook House Hotel just outside Bath is in a listed building. From £143 (€170.40).
Rooms at Royal Crescent cost from £180.
GET THERE
Aer Lingus flies to Bristol
Joan Scales travelled as a guest of Visit England tourismhttp://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/avon-calling-1.1549009
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/avon-calling-1.1549009
The twin river cities of Bristol and Bath may be just 12 minutes apart by train yet they seem centuries apart. Bristol appears young – it hides its abundance of historical and architectural gems amid the concrete of the past 60 years. Bath, on the other hand, is just missing the carriages of the Georgians and the stink of horse manure.
Arriving in Bristol for a weekend, I am charmed to discover that Gromit is everywhere. Not just familiar Gromit, of Wallace and Gromit fame, but Gromit appearing as a pirate, a super hero, as Isambard Kingdog Brunel, as Salty Sea dog, as Eldoradog. There are 80 Gromits dotted all around the city, painted by artists and celebrities for the Gromit Unleashed summer trail.This 10-week event by Aardman Animation raises funds for Bristol children’s hospital. It is a great success: happy families hunt the Gromits, while later in the evening squiffy clubbers pose excitedly beside them.
Bristolians are mightily proud of their city and point out that they have more Georgian buildings than Bath does, a bit miffed when you say you are going there. They also remind you of their ties to the sea, being an inland port for sail and steam for more than 1,000 years.
Sail and steam is on display with the caravel (a replica 15th century ship) Matthewtaking visitors around the floating harbour while the SS Great Britain sits in all its metal glory. The floating harbour is one of Bristol’s great treasures. Almost an inland lake, it’s perfect for rowers and sailors messing about and it provides a safe berth for many narrow boats and sail boats.
The River Avon has one of the biggest tidal drops in the world, and Bristol’s importance as a port in earlier centuries produced an engineering feat in the early 19th century of locks, undercuts and overfalls that still work today.
The sea trade may be reduced but the floating harbour is an intrinsic part of the city, redeveloped to house cultural venues like the Arnolfini contemporary-art gallery and a science museum. At night the harbour hums with restaurants, clubs and traditional pubs. The huge, all-you-can-eat ZaZa Bazaar seats 1,000.
One name that crops up time and again in Bristol is Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The engineer has left his mark on the skyline with the Clifton Suspension Bridge and in the harbour with the SS Great Britain and dozens of other unseen civil engineering works.
Today it is artists who are leaving their mark: the animatic art of Aardman Animation and graffiti artist Banksy.
Aardman Animation has been in Bristol for 40 years. Wallace and Gromit may be its best-known production, but Aardman produces a huge range of TV series and commercials.
Banksy, the satirical graffiti artist who defaced the concrete jungle that was 1980s downtown Bristol, is now an art icon of the city. Taking a street art tour with John Nation of wherethewall.com, it’s hard not to be amazed by the turnaround in attitude.
Nation was a youth worker for Banksy, or Robin Banks, and other teenagers, and godfather of the street art that has turned this city into a gallery of modern expression. Such is the international reputation of Banksy that Nation’s tours attract people from all over the world.
A major event that changed the landscape of Bristol was the See No Evil festival in 2012, when 30 international artists were invited to transform the concrete canyon of Nelson Street and its environs. Using the backdrop of multi-storied buildings, the street is now an outdoor gallery. Irish artist Conor Harrington has a painting on disolay called theDuel of Bristol.
The grassroots of street art continues to appear, almost daily, with artists dodging the wrath of the city council. The area of Stokes Croft has become a haven for street artists, with dozens of buildings painted, many with anarchic messages; they call it the people’s republic of Stokes Croft.
Feeling the need for a twinset and pearls, I hop on the train to genteel Bath, knowing I won’t have to confront the messages of a graffiti rat. Here it will be refined entertainment, upmarket shopping, tasting menus and luxury lodgings. Bath is built on seven hills: maybe that is why the Romans were attracted to it. Seven hills of the most perfect honey-stoned buildings.
If you could blink the cars away, it could be the 1700s. Romans and Georgians were the denizens of Bath and they have left their mark.
The current residents of Bath must feel like caretakers: the tiny city is immaculate, with perfect Georgian crescents, squares of green and bursting baskets of flowers everywhere, with the odd Roman temple and Corinthian pillars popping up.
What better way to begin a visit to Bath than with afternoon tea. Frenchman Richard Bertinet, of Café Bertinet, has lived in Bath for eight years.
He has two cafes, a cookery school and will be participating in the Great Bath Feast this month, which will have simple things, such as good breakfasts, to taste trails, farmers’ markets, cookery courses, gourmet evenings and visits from chefs, including Mary Berry, Angela Hartnett, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall and Prue Leith.
It follows the annual Jane Austen festival in September when the city is awash with Regency-era clad people from around the globe. This year’s finale was a 600-strong costumed promenade and it ended in a masked ball in the Pump Room.
This is a splendid dining room of vast proportions, part of the Roman Baths, and is where you can drink the spring waters. The hot spring waters of Aquae Sulis were adored by the Romans who built a massive complex of baths and temples.
The site has been redesigned and restored over thousands of years with every stage of change on display. There are four big, green pools, which are no longer in use for health and safety reasons.
The museum is fascinating. Archaeological digs have revealed Roman streets, coins, statues, jewellery (including a beautiful gold Irish cloak pin) and, my favourite, curses written on metal and thrown into the spring. The Romans believed that the springs would not only cure them but would also fulfil their wishes.
Stepping back into reality after a tour of the Baths is almost surreal: people throng around photographing the abbey and bustling shoppers explore the many lovely independent shops.
Shopping in Bath benefits from the influx of visitors that help support one-off shops for jewellery, books, art, shoes, music and high-end clothes. There are also many specialist food shops and fine restaurants, from gasto pubs such as the Garricks Head to the Michelin-starred Bath Priory.
It is impossible to leave Bath without mentioning the Royal Crescent, the most perfect symmetry of Georgian architecture. Number 1 Royal Crescent was originally lived in by Henry Sandford, MP for Roscommon, and is a restored museum of Georgian life.
In the middle of the Royal Crescent is the hotel of the same name: it is the only building with a magnolia growing on it. Behind the doors of this gem is a lovely garden and upscale Dower House restaurant.
Rumour has it that Johnny Depp stays there during the Glastonbury Festival, so that’s where you may find me next year.
How to . . . Bath and Bristol
EAT – Bristol
The River Grille at the Bristol Hotel uses local ingredients. It overlooks the floating harbour.
ZaZa Bazaar offers all you can eat in two hours.
Dine beside Banksy and Cosmo Sarson art at The Canteen, Stokes Croft , with live music
EAT – Bath
Beside the railway station Graze is devoted to all things beer and beefy.
The Garricks Head gastro pub has local produce.
Sunday lunch at the Royal Crescent is £37.50 (€44.70).
SLEEP
The Bristol Hotel, from the doylecollection.com, has a Cork manager, Mark Payne. Rooms from £99 (€118).
Bailbrook House Hotel just outside Bath is in a listed building. From £143 (€170.40).
Rooms at Royal Crescent cost from £180.
GET THERE
Aer Lingus flies to Bristol
Joan Scales travelled as a guest of Visit England tourismhttp://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/avon-calling-1.1549009
Finding great value holidays this summer.
Where to find value - Joan Scales
Finding the elusive great travel deal is getting harder all the time with airlines and tour operators carefully controlling capacity off this island. The days of holidays at rock bottom prices being dumped on the market are gone. Instead we have to be flexible, think fast and book rapidly when a good deal, fare or holiday appears.
Accommodation is easier to book with dozens of hotel websites and a lot of additional self-catering units in the market. In Spain, our favourite destination, flights on the principal routes of Malaga, Alicante and Murcia are more expensive than ever. Prices are returning to pre-2007 rates. Other routes to Spain are more competitive. The Barcelona area has flights to the main airport, El Prat, and to Gerona and Reus. All of these routes will give you easy access to the coast and the resorts of Costa Brava and Costa Dorada.
Accommodation this year in Spain is expected to cost less than previous years due to the domestic holiday market suffering from the recession. Flights to Santander will get you into the more reasonable provinces of Cantabria and Asturias on the Atlantic coast. The lovely historic city of Santiago de Compostela is better value in high summer when it is too hot for Camino walkers.
Look at the less obvious places for cheaper fares – in France, Carcassonne, Marseille, Nantes, Rodez and La Rochelle are well priced, under €200. For Portugal, the city of Porto is lovely and from Lisbon there is easy access to the seaside resorts of Cascais, Estorial and Sintra. In Italy there are three airports around Milan and a good train service to take you into the lakeside resorts around Lake Garda and Lake Como. Flights to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily are also quite well priced at present.
If you live within easy access of Belfast or Derry airports, some holidays are cheaper. Check late deals on thomson.co.uk, thomascook.co.uk and jet2.com. Turkey will be good value again this year with value for money exchange rates and plenty of competition between the main tour operators and newer entrant Wings Abroad.
Online travel agents are the ideal way to find a good deal if you are flexible on dates. Companies like clickandgo.com, lowcostholidays.ie, steintravel.ie, ebookers.com, flexibletrips.ie, lastminutes.ie, latedeals.ie, travelcheaper.ie, aerlinguspackages.com and travelnet.ie offer a wide range of accommodation from two star to luxury all inclusive.
Using geography, you can also find that if you take a chance on the weather, prices can be considerably cheaper. The rainy season begins in the Caribbean in June and prices drop. In the tropical zones like Thailand the rainy season is July-October, and while downpours do happen they are usually short and sharp and the weather is still warm. You can get a week in Thailand during our summer for about €1,000pps. See trailfinders.ie and gohop.ie.
In the drier regions of the Middle East the temperature climbs towards 45 degrees, but you could be staying in a luxurious five-star resort for a fraction of the usual price. See what Tropicalsky.ie has on offer in Dubai; some deals include meals.
The best value to the United States this year will be after September. Most holidays for the summer are booked and although we have a lot of additional US flights this summer, the prices have not come down. Travelling with a specialist tour operator such as touramerica.ie, flydriveusa.ie and americanholdiays.ie will provide better value.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/cutting-the-cost-of-your-summer-holidays-1.1397505?page=3
Finding the elusive great travel deal is getting harder all the time with airlines and tour operators carefully controlling capacity off this island. The days of holidays at rock bottom prices being dumped on the market are gone. Instead we have to be flexible, think fast and book rapidly when a good deal, fare or holiday appears.
Accommodation is easier to book with dozens of hotel websites and a lot of additional self-catering units in the market. In Spain, our favourite destination, flights on the principal routes of Malaga, Alicante and Murcia are more expensive than ever. Prices are returning to pre-2007 rates. Other routes to Spain are more competitive. The Barcelona area has flights to the main airport, El Prat, and to Gerona and Reus. All of these routes will give you easy access to the coast and the resorts of Costa Brava and Costa Dorada.
Accommodation this year in Spain is expected to cost less than previous years due to the domestic holiday market suffering from the recession. Flights to Santander will get you into the more reasonable provinces of Cantabria and Asturias on the Atlantic coast. The lovely historic city of Santiago de Compostela is better value in high summer when it is too hot for Camino walkers.
Look at the less obvious places for cheaper fares – in France, Carcassonne, Marseille, Nantes, Rodez and La Rochelle are well priced, under €200. For Portugal, the city of Porto is lovely and from Lisbon there is easy access to the seaside resorts of Cascais, Estorial and Sintra. In Italy there are three airports around Milan and a good train service to take you into the lakeside resorts around Lake Garda and Lake Como. Flights to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily are also quite well priced at present.
If you live within easy access of Belfast or Derry airports, some holidays are cheaper. Check late deals on thomson.co.uk, thomascook.co.uk and jet2.com. Turkey will be good value again this year with value for money exchange rates and plenty of competition between the main tour operators and newer entrant Wings Abroad.
Online travel agents are the ideal way to find a good deal if you are flexible on dates. Companies like clickandgo.com, lowcostholidays.ie, steintravel.ie, ebookers.com, flexibletrips.ie, lastminutes.ie, latedeals.ie, travelcheaper.ie, aerlinguspackages.com and travelnet.ie offer a wide range of accommodation from two star to luxury all inclusive.
Using geography, you can also find that if you take a chance on the weather, prices can be considerably cheaper. The rainy season begins in the Caribbean in June and prices drop. In the tropical zones like Thailand the rainy season is July-October, and while downpours do happen they are usually short and sharp and the weather is still warm. You can get a week in Thailand during our summer for about €1,000pps. See trailfinders.ie and gohop.ie.
In the drier regions of the Middle East the temperature climbs towards 45 degrees, but you could be staying in a luxurious five-star resort for a fraction of the usual price. See what Tropicalsky.ie has on offer in Dubai; some deals include meals.
The best value to the United States this year will be after September. Most holidays for the summer are booked and although we have a lot of additional US flights this summer, the prices have not come down. Travelling with a specialist tour operator such as touramerica.ie, flydriveusa.ie and americanholdiays.ie will provide better value.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/cutting-the-cost-of-your-summer-holidays-1.1397505?page=3
Holiday time on Marian Finucane Show March - Majorca featured
It was lovely to be on Marian on Saturday with Joe O'Shea. We were talking about summer holidays, the notes are here but we did digress and talk a bit more about cote d'Argent, Biarritz and San Sebastian. See Ask Joan for details of food holidays in San Sebastian which I mentioned.
the link to the show is here. http://www.rte.ie/radio1/marian-finucane/programmes/2013/0302/371713-the-marian-finucane-show-saturday-2nd-march-2013/?clipid=1014837
The message again this year is book early, don’t wait for the special offers they will be few and far between. If you see a good deal book it. Also with the Gathering this year, prices In Ireland will rise in hotels and self-catering.
Already flight prices have increased substantially on last year and you just have to look at prices to the Canary Islands to see that fares are going mad – i.e. 600 to Lanzarote with Aer Lingus next week.
My Top Destinations this Year are
Majorca, you can get here from all over the country and if you want to stay in a two star self-catering apartment or a five star designer hotel, you will find it here. The Island is perfect for short breaks and family holidays. This year the extra flights including a charter from lowcostholidays.ie will make it more attractive. An example of some prices are; a week all-inclusive with lowcostholidays.ie in July from €490 in Sa Coma, Falcon Holiday Village, terrific for families from €786 and Club Mac Marte from Thomascook.ie from €850.
For an adult break away or a girls weekend the city of Palma is fantastic, great shopping, wonderful old city, lovely hotels, cultural events all year round, and huge selection of restaurants and good night life. If you like walking,the Tramuntana Mountains are beautiful and the area around Soller perfect for hiking. Ryanair are operating to Palma in March and I have seen tickets for €97 return.
Other places on the radar this year
Croatia – extra flights to Dubrovnik and also to the Dalmatian Riviera with Ryanair to Zadar. Tickets from 70 return in April. Croatiatours.ie
Corfu with Aer Lingus – fantastic value in April and May with a week in a hotel for around €400.
San Sebastian in Northern Spain for food. And a city with three beaches.
Puglia – or Apulia, the heel of Italy with Topflight.ie, Traveldepartment.ie and DiscoveryPuglia.com. Great food, lovely scenery and pretty towns.
Families
Package holidays will continue to be good value with Tour Operators adding extra attractions to increase value and many people opting for all-inclusive. Falcon Holidays Villages and Splash World, Aquamarina resorts from Thomas Cook are ideal for families as there is terrific entertainment for the children. Best value this year will be Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt. Wings Abroad will continue their value programmes from Dublin, Cork and adding Shannon this year. The May prices are great with a week for under €400 and the weather will be nice.
Generally you can expect to pay from €650 for a week in the sun in high season. Some travel agents like Clickandgo.com and Lowcostholidays can shave this price down by being flexible on dates of travel and with access to cheaper accommodation.
Campsite holidays will continue to offer great value in France, Spain and Italy and flying rather than taking the ferry can work out the same price, if you book in advance. The ferry prices have come down a little bit in recent years with more competition from CelticLink Ferries to France. Expect to pay around 2,000 for a holiday for a family in France with the cheapest prices in early June and late August, Campotel, Vacansoleil.ie, BrittanyFerries.ie, IrishFerries.com.
New flights
Regional airports will benefits from extra flights this year, a mixture of scheduled and charter services will increase the choices, Sunway will have a charter from Kerry and Knock to Majorca. Knock with have new flights to Malaga. This improvement in services from Knock means a great variety of places are easily accessible from the west and north west.
Shannon will have a new service to Faro in the Algarve with Aer Lingus and again the packages are great value.
Kerry will again have flights to the Algarve with Ryanair twice a week and Concorde Travel have combined packages with hotels and self-catering options to give a good variety for holidays.
Aer Lingus will have a weekly flight to Corfu during the summer on theaerlinguspackages.com website you will find a week in the five star hotel from 395pps in April. By the way April is the best value month this year for flights as Easter falls in March and all the summer service some into operation in April.
The popular Camino de Santiago will gain more walkers/pilgrims this year with Aer Lingus extending the season to Santiago de Compostela by ten weeks, from April to end September, Caminoways.ie and OneFootAbroad.ie.
Going to America
Is going to be a lot easier and a bit cheaper due to the Gathering as there will be at least 20 per cent extra seats on the Transatlantic this summer, including the service to Charlotte in North Carolina, So with Uncle Sam and relatives come to Ireland, we will have the opportunity to visit them back with all the extra flights, though none yet to the West Coast. Canada is also going to have extra flights this year with Air Transat and Air Canada.
Tour Operators like Touramerica, Sunway, America Holidays and Flydriveusa.ie are creating great packages at really good prices. The euro strengthening recently will help prices. For example, Flydriveusa.ie will have a 14 day trip around the west coast with flights, car hire and accommodation from 1,600pps. Packages to Florida for families will be from 650pps.
the link to the show is here. http://www.rte.ie/radio1/marian-finucane/programmes/2013/0302/371713-the-marian-finucane-show-saturday-2nd-march-2013/?clipid=1014837
The message again this year is book early, don’t wait for the special offers they will be few and far between. If you see a good deal book it. Also with the Gathering this year, prices In Ireland will rise in hotels and self-catering.
Already flight prices have increased substantially on last year and you just have to look at prices to the Canary Islands to see that fares are going mad – i.e. 600 to Lanzarote with Aer Lingus next week.
My Top Destinations this Year are
Majorca, you can get here from all over the country and if you want to stay in a two star self-catering apartment or a five star designer hotel, you will find it here. The Island is perfect for short breaks and family holidays. This year the extra flights including a charter from lowcostholidays.ie will make it more attractive. An example of some prices are; a week all-inclusive with lowcostholidays.ie in July from €490 in Sa Coma, Falcon Holiday Village, terrific for families from €786 and Club Mac Marte from Thomascook.ie from €850.
For an adult break away or a girls weekend the city of Palma is fantastic, great shopping, wonderful old city, lovely hotels, cultural events all year round, and huge selection of restaurants and good night life. If you like walking,the Tramuntana Mountains are beautiful and the area around Soller perfect for hiking. Ryanair are operating to Palma in March and I have seen tickets for €97 return.
Other places on the radar this year
Croatia – extra flights to Dubrovnik and also to the Dalmatian Riviera with Ryanair to Zadar. Tickets from 70 return in April. Croatiatours.ie
Corfu with Aer Lingus – fantastic value in April and May with a week in a hotel for around €400.
San Sebastian in Northern Spain for food. And a city with three beaches.
Puglia – or Apulia, the heel of Italy with Topflight.ie, Traveldepartment.ie and DiscoveryPuglia.com. Great food, lovely scenery and pretty towns.
Families
Package holidays will continue to be good value with Tour Operators adding extra attractions to increase value and many people opting for all-inclusive. Falcon Holidays Villages and Splash World, Aquamarina resorts from Thomas Cook are ideal for families as there is terrific entertainment for the children. Best value this year will be Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt. Wings Abroad will continue their value programmes from Dublin, Cork and adding Shannon this year. The May prices are great with a week for under €400 and the weather will be nice.
Generally you can expect to pay from €650 for a week in the sun in high season. Some travel agents like Clickandgo.com and Lowcostholidays can shave this price down by being flexible on dates of travel and with access to cheaper accommodation.
Campsite holidays will continue to offer great value in France, Spain and Italy and flying rather than taking the ferry can work out the same price, if you book in advance. The ferry prices have come down a little bit in recent years with more competition from CelticLink Ferries to France. Expect to pay around 2,000 for a holiday for a family in France with the cheapest prices in early June and late August, Campotel, Vacansoleil.ie, BrittanyFerries.ie, IrishFerries.com.
New flights
Regional airports will benefits from extra flights this year, a mixture of scheduled and charter services will increase the choices, Sunway will have a charter from Kerry and Knock to Majorca. Knock with have new flights to Malaga. This improvement in services from Knock means a great variety of places are easily accessible from the west and north west.
Shannon will have a new service to Faro in the Algarve with Aer Lingus and again the packages are great value.
Kerry will again have flights to the Algarve with Ryanair twice a week and Concorde Travel have combined packages with hotels and self-catering options to give a good variety for holidays.
Aer Lingus will have a weekly flight to Corfu during the summer on theaerlinguspackages.com website you will find a week in the five star hotel from 395pps in April. By the way April is the best value month this year for flights as Easter falls in March and all the summer service some into operation in April.
The popular Camino de Santiago will gain more walkers/pilgrims this year with Aer Lingus extending the season to Santiago de Compostela by ten weeks, from April to end September, Caminoways.ie and OneFootAbroad.ie.
Going to America
Is going to be a lot easier and a bit cheaper due to the Gathering as there will be at least 20 per cent extra seats on the Transatlantic this summer, including the service to Charlotte in North Carolina, So with Uncle Sam and relatives come to Ireland, we will have the opportunity to visit them back with all the extra flights, though none yet to the West Coast. Canada is also going to have extra flights this year with Air Transat and Air Canada.
Tour Operators like Touramerica, Sunway, America Holidays and Flydriveusa.ie are creating great packages at really good prices. The euro strengthening recently will help prices. For example, Flydriveusa.ie will have a 14 day trip around the west coast with flights, car hire and accommodation from 1,600pps. Packages to Florida for families will be from 650pps.
Macau - a fascinating mixture of east, west, old and new
Macau – Not such a Sin City
Joan Scales
When Andrew Stow, an English pharmacist working on contract in Macau, was reluctant to leave he used his professional training to invent a famous dessert, Lord Stow’s custard tarts. The little bakery that would provide an income and the means to stay made the lad from Essex a lord and a legend in his beloved Macau. The lord part is an honorary title from charmed Macanese; the legend is the custard tarts.
The original bakery is in the village on Coloane Island, it’s easy to find, you’ll smell the lovely vanilla scent and join the queue in a tick. The wait is part of the ritual, watching the staff scooping up the tarts, six at a time and dropping them into yellow boxes.
Clutching the hot box, you can’t wait to taste them, and what a taste. Andrew experimented until he got it right, flaky pastry around a flavour bursting semi solid custard Yum.
Poor Andrew died in 2006, from an asthma attack. But he knew the Macanese and the Chinese really love their pastries and Lord’s Stow custard tarts live on. Every where you go in Macau you see people with boxes and carrier bags of cakes and biscuits, carefully packaged, taking them home.
Macau may now be the Las Vegas of the East and gambling a prime interest for people, but for many it is the chance to be tourists, go sightseeing, shop, eat and not swim, the Chinese are not particularly partial to swimming in the sea.
They flood in to Macau in their thousands, the world’s newest tourists, waving their money and credit cards. Many are classic empty nesters, enjoying the freedom to spend two incomes. The Special Administrative Region of Macau is easy to get to and while they need a permit to visit, they do not need a visa, unlike many other places.
The peninsula of Macau and its two islands Taipa and Coloane was a very different place before it returned to China in 1999. On the delta of the Pearl River, Macau was a trading place for the Portuguese between China, Japan, India and Europe, from the 1500s. The ships of the empire sailed the South China Sea to bring all types of luxury goods back to Europe.
It was also home to pirates and brigands who terrorised traffic in the South China Sea up until as recently as the 1990s. Now this former outpost of Portugal, a sleepy backwater is rapidly transforming into the destination for holidays in the East and the world’s biggest gambling location. The landmass alone of the peninsula has almost doubled in recent times through reclamation.
In the city when you look up there is a feel of Manhattan with shiny towering building, but look down and you will be walking in Portugal. The streets of the old city are cobble-locked in white with black edging. Colourful traditional buildings house the city council, schools, hospitals, residences. Pale green is the official colour of Macau, so you know which ones are state buildings. Beautiful tree-lined squares are meeting places, with the wavy cobbled, Senado Square the principal meeting place in the city.
Undulating over a series of hills Macau has spread and spread but it is the old city where you most feel the confluence of east and west. Temples, churches, period building both Asian and European, high street shops and pharmacies are juggled together.
Take in the panoramic views from the 200-year old Guia Fortress and Lighthouse and you will see how the territory has changed and is changing. Zu Hai city in China is on the doorstop and the Macau’s islands cling to it by a series of modern bridges.
The lighthouse used to be on the coast and warn sailors of the shallows in the Pearl River delta, now it tops the Flora Garden Park where people practice Tai Chi, and you feel you can almost touch the new Grand Lisboa Hotel. There a cute funicular to take you to the top, if you don’t fancy walking up.
People are very religious and there are many churches, temples and shrines. Take St. Paul’s or what’s left of it after a fire in 1835, the grand carved façade, a memory of the first Jesuit church and college in China, and a reminder of the introduction of Christianity in Asia. Go around the side and you will find a small temple with incense burning; Taoism and Christianity are friends here. The Macanese are a mixture of cultures where you can find Chinese who are Christians and Europeans who are Taoists.
The newest tourists love the history and difference of Macau. Every day thousands of Chinese come here on holidays, mainly middle aged, excited, talking loudly, carrying umbrellas to ward off the sun, filling tour buses, visiting sites of interest, lighting incense, and bungee jumping from the 338-metre Macau Tower.
They swarm up the steps of St. Paul’s clicking away with the latest in camera equipment and smartphones before going shopping for fashionable clothes, make-up, and baby milk! Yes, you are reminded of that scandal when you see so many shops and pharmacies selling it. Consumer confidence in Western goods is high.
The Chinese have discovered shopping in a big way. You wonder how they know so much about western brands, because that is all they want to buy. Shops selling luxury goods are in all the malls, and casinos; Prada, Gucci, Vertu, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Swarovski. As well as high street staples such as the Body Shop, Berskha, H&M, Nike, Calvin Klein, Godiva, the Body Shop, Lush and even a Manchester United shop..
Prices are a bit more expensive then here and no signs for sales or discounts – full price everywhere. The big brands know that the Chinese middle class will be the world’s biggest consumers. Apart from that, they love buying presents and it is not unusual to see a man shopping for the latest designer handbags.
One thing that fascinates me is the interest in very expensive whiskies and brandies. There are shops that sell exclusive or limited editions brandies from €1,000 to €40,000 each! Status symbols for the fast emerging wealthy class.
For many years there was only one casino in Macau, the Lisboa, in the downtown Dynasty area. This circular designed hotel, known as the bird-cage, was the height of luxury and a destination for not just gamblers but sophisticated tourists from all over the region, particularly from Hong Kong.
The handover of Macau to China has been significant; an area that had become a sleepy backwater, making toys, fireworks and fancy goods has been transformed into a major tourist destination in less than ten years. The change has been fuelled by gambling, and the SAR government’s relaxing of regulations to allow casino operators in. It is a more sedate and polite Las Vegas, lacking in the sin.
The Lisboa is now dwarfed by its sister hotel the Grand Lisboa, a 38-storey lotus shaped building that can be seen from all over Macau. The grandest of the new casino era now one of 32 in Macau surrounded by the Las Vegas big brothers of MGM, Wynn, and Sands.
However, it is on the reclaimed strip of land between the islands of Taipa and Coloane; called Cotai that the biggest casino resorts are. In just a short six years this area has become home to among others, resorts like the Venetian, which is about the double size of the one in Las Vegas. The Galaxy with more than 3,000 rooms and the City of Dreams, home also to the House of Dancing Water Show and sports facilities.
Every day, 24 hours a day, people stream into the casinos to play the tables, Baccarat is the favourite game, feed the Hungry Tigers (slots) and beg the cards to bring them riches. The odd roar here and there livens up the bubbling murmur from the tables. A sudden crowd will gather around a winning streak, holding their breaths while the player peels backs his cards. Oohs or aahs, and then they disperse again.
Gambling is the future hope of Macau but I think about the Taipans of the past and wonder what they would make of it now. I expect they would embrace the change and learn Baccarat quickly and probably get into the construction business.
Macau – How to Get There
Cathay Pacific, the world’s friendliest airline has daily services from London to Hong Kong then it is just an hour on the high speed Turbojet.com ferry from the airport to Macau. Irish passport holders do not need a visa to visit Macau on holidays. Fares are from €800, CathayPacific.com.
Where to stay
The Mandarin Oriental a five star is one of the smaller hotels in Macau with 200 rooms, and is built like the prow of a ship heading into the Pearl River. Rooms cost from €220 including an unfishable breakfast, 00853-88058888, MandarianOriental.com/Macau.
The Grand Lisboa glitters and gleams with fantastic museum-quality carvings on display in the lobby. The light show playing on the exterior is brilliant, you could spend all night watching it. Rooms from €180, 00853-28283838, GrandLisboa.com.
The Portuguese heritage of Macau means there are Pousadas to discover. The Pousada de Mong-Ha has a lovely park on its doorstep and guests can also eat modern Chinese cuisine in the Institute of Tourism Studies next door, rate from €70 B&B per night, 00853-28515222, IFT.edu.mo
The Pousada of Sao Tiago is close to the temple of A-Ma, from which Macau gets its name, and is a 12-room gem dating from the 17th century. A Relais et Châteaux property, there is a nice shaded courtyard where you can watch the ships on the river. Rooms from €250 per night. 00853- 28378111, SaoTiago.com.mo.
Westin Resort at Coloane
On the beach at Coloane Island the Westin Resort is ideal for relaxing and getting to swim in the South China Sea. It is a full service resort with pool and spa facilities. 00853-28871111, Westin.com
Eating out
Macanese cuisine is a mixture of Chinese, Portuguese and Malay and eating out is reasonable. They also pride themselves on a huge selection of good quality food. Portions are usually substantial, so be careful when ordering. There are also great Chinese restaurants, mainly Cantonese and coffee shops and cafes abound. There are seven restaurants with Michelin stars including two at the Wynn Resort.
The Grand Lisboa Hotel is home to 8 Restaurant – a Michelin starred Chinese restaurant where the six course tasting lunch costs from €33 and is a delight of beautifully presented surprises.
A Lorcha near the A-Ma temple is a typical example of Macanese cuisine. Inside it is like a rustic Portuguese restaurant. Food comes out in tureens and every dish enough for four. The wine list has a good variety of Portuguese wines.
Vida Rica at the Mandarin Oriental is a mix of Chinese and European cuisine with great service. Try the sea whelks with spring onions for an unusual dish.
Espaco Lisboa is a traditional restaurant on Coloane Island and serves Lord Stow custard tarts for dessert with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
What to do
The Handover Museum
A beautiful modern building constructed to house the fabulous gifts presented to Macau on its return to China in 1999. The 56 regions of China gave beautiful presents made by the finest craftspeople from the most expensive and revered materials.
Macau Tower is a 338-metre high entertainment complex where you can see the sights of the area as well as taking a Skywalk around the outside, not for the faint-hearted. Daredevils can do a bungee jump to massive clapping from the onlookers.
The House of Dancing Water is a spectacular show where the central stage area becomes a lake and solid again in the blink of an eye. Artistes dive, jump, trapeze, dance and boats appear and disappear, Thehouseofdancingwater.com.
Visit the 20-metre high white granite statue of A-Ma, Goddess of seafarers on Coloane Island and then the Great Temple in the A-Ma Cultural Village to light incense for the health, happiness and prosperity of your loved ones.
The other statue to visit is the golden topped Kum Lam the goddess of mercy, a gift from Portugal, she stands on the outer harbour, beside the futuristic Science centre, facing into the changing city.
Tourism Information from Macau Government Tourism Office on Macautourism.gov.com/en.
10 other Mayan sites to see
While there is little debate that the Mayans had an amazing knowledge of numbers and astronomy, many of us hope their calculations regarding December 2012 being the end of the world are a bit off. However, if there are only a few months left, we should pay our respects to the civilization that gave us the “heads up.” Although many travelers are satisfied with visiting the more accessible and well-known Chichén Itzá and Tikal, VirtualTourist members always strive for the more off-the-beaten path and unique spots. With this in mind, the members and editors of VirtualTourist.com compiled a list of the “Top Ten Less Crowded Mayan Ruins and Sites.” It should be noted that Mayan ruins can only be found in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador.
Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico
Courtesy of © CPTM, Foto: Ricardo Espinosa
One of the most important cities of Mayan civilization, Calakmul was once home to more than 50,000 inhabitants. Though the city’s timeline goes as far back as the Preclassic period (300 B.C. to 240 A.D.), its golden age was in the Classic period (250 A.D. to 900 A.D.), when it served as Tikal’s main rival and battled for dominance of the central Mayan area. Many visitors might focus on the 6,000 structures within the city, but it’s equally important to experience the surrounding Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses over 723,000 hectares (292,594 acres) of protected land and wildlife. While the reserve is a paradise for bird watching, the site itself is a hotbed of stelae, or stone monuments, often in the form of a high-relief sculpture, that were popular and characteristic of the Mayan civilization. 117 stelae have been discovered at Calakmul so far, more than any other Mayan site, and all of them from the Classic period.
Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
Palenque was the most important city of the low western lands during the late Classic period, reaching its peak between 600 and 800 A.D. Along with Tikal and Calakmul, it was one of the most powerful Classic Mayan cities, as well as the seat of the distinguished Pakal dynasty. Much of the architecture (tilted facades on the buildings, stucco-sections) is unique and uncharacteristic of the time period; it has become a real hot spot for archeological research interested in architecture and written language. One of the most notable aspects of Palenque is Temple XIII, where the Tomb of the Red Queen was found in 1994. This tomb is significant because it share the same platform as the Temple of the Inscriptions, suggesting nobility; the remains found are referred to as “the Red Queen” because the tomb was entirely covered in red cinnabar. A VirtualTourist member suggested getting to the park early in the morning, since the morning mist is great for photographs, and the site’s location in southern Mexico means very hot afternoons.
Yaxchilán, Chiapas, Mexico
Located on the Usumacinta River, Yaxchilán is a great example of the Usumacinta style that dominated the Classic Mayan of the Low Lands from 250 – 900 A.D., with architecture adorned in epigraphic inscriptions and extensive relief sculpture. The city was allied with Tikal, and had a major battle with Palenque, which seems ironic according to a modern map since Palenque is in both the same state and nation as Yaxchilán and Tikal is across the border in Guatemala. The city exhibits strategic planning ,as it was built on a peninsula formed by a bend in the Usumacinta River. Even today, Yaxchilán can only be accessed by lancha (small boat) up the river. For those adventurous enough to make the trip, keep an eye out for the image of Bird Jaguar which can be found throughout the site, particularly on stelae standing over the plaza and on the staircase.
Campeche's Edzná, Mexico
Despite being one of the most significant Mayan ruins, Edzná receives fewer visitors in a year than Chichén Itzá does in a day. The city’s architecture reflects an amalgamation of differing cities and influences, including roof styles and corbeled arches from Palenque and giant stone masks of the Petén style found in Tikal. Founded around 400 B.C., the city reached its peak during the late Classic period, with a gradual decline beginning around 1000 and its abandonment in 1450.
Since the city was located in a valley, it had frequent flooding problems, which caused the creation of a complex network of canals. The canals were used for trade and transportation, as well as defense, and gave the city an agricultural edge over other cities in the region.
Ek Balam
Ek Balam, which means “black jaguar” in the Yucatec Maya language, is one of the few Mayan settlements that remained occupied until the arrival of the Spaniards. While not the hardest site to get to (it’s in the Yucatan), it is under active restoration, so visitors can get a great overview of the entire archaeological process. Ek Balam is also not nearly as crowded as other notable Yucatan Mayan sites, such as Chichén Itza and Uxmal. One unique aspect of this site is the 100-foot El Torre (or Acropolis) pyramid, which easily surpasses Chichén Itza's El Castillo; visitors can still scale El Torre today. Once climbers reach the top, they can see both Chichén Itza and Coba in the distance!
Quiriguá, Guatemala
Quiriguá (pronounced Kiri-gua) is a relatively small site, almost directly across the border from Honduras’ Copán. Strategically located on the Montagua River trade route, which was important for the transport of jade and obsidian, it was also originally a vassal of Copán. However, Quiriguá rebelled and defeated Copán, then allied itself with Calakmul, after which it erected elaborate stone monuments in a style similar to that of Copán. In fact, one of the monuments at Quiriguá, known as “Stele E,” is the largest known quarried stone in the Maya world, standing 35 ft (10.6 m) tall and depicting a Mayan lord over three times life size.
VirtualTourist members suggest crossing the border and also visiting Copán, since the two sites share so much history and Copán had such a large cultural influence in the Classic period. The must-see highlight at Copán is the Hieroglyphic Stairway, which contains more than 1,800 individual glyphs, making it the longest known Mayan hieroglyphic text.
El Mirador, Guatemala
Deep in Guatemala’s Petén jungle, El Mirador hides under 2,000 years’ worth of jungle overgrowth. Though the well-known Classical Maya ruins in Tikal National Park are frequently visited, the largest Preclassic Mayan city is much more difficult to access. El Mirador is actually over twice the size of Tikal, with over 80,000 people residing at the site from 300 B.C. to 150 A.D. The grandeur and size of the site suggest that there were already complex state societies in the Late Preclassic period, contrary to the popular thought that the Preclassic period was a formative period. El Mirador is only accessibly by foot, horse, mule, or helicopter, lying over 60km from the nearest road. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the site is difficult to access, this does not protect it from being endangered – deforestation, looting, logging, and drug trafficking all threaten the site and its surrounding rainforest. Among the sites many highlights is the Danta Pyramid, the tallest pyramid in the Maya region and the largest in the world, measuring 300m wide by 800m long and 72m high (984 ft. wide by 2625 ft. long and 236 ft. high).
Lamanai, Orange Walk, Belize
Lamanai, the Mayan word for “submerged crocodile,” was aptly named. Not only do crocodiles appear in the site’s effigies and decorations, but you are likely to see crocodiles while trying to get there. In order to reach the site, you must take a small boat up the winding New River through the tropical rainforest of central Belize. Lamanai was one of the longest continuously occupied cities, starting in 500 B.C. to 1675 A.D. or even later, probably due to its strategic location on the trade route of the New River. The most notable among this site’s ruins is the Mask Temple at the northern end of the complex. A VirtualTourist member mentioned that this temple was actually built in five construction phases, lasting from 100 B.C. to 900 A.D. It is also interesting to note that the facial features of the masks are clearly related to the Olmec, the first major civilization in Mexico, particularly in the upper lip and wider nose.
Caracol, Cayo District, Belize
Once you turn off the main road, it will take you over 2 hours by 4-wheel drive to arrive at Caracol, but VirtualTourist members promise it is worth the trip! Despite being located along the Guatemalan border and about 80 km (50 miles) from the nearest town of San Ignacio, there are 11 causeways into Caracol, signifying the importance of transportation routes throughout the site. Additionally, the excavation data collected in Caracol suggests that the social organization of the settlement included not only elites and specialists living in the urban centers with peasants living on the peripheral, but also a sizable “middle class.” There is also evidence of artesian specialization, similar to the guilds found in the European Middle Ages, making this site a very unique find and of great anthropological significance.
Joya de Ceren, La Libertad Dept, El Salvador
Joya de Cerén is a Pre-Columbian site in El Salvador that preserves the daily life of the indigenous settlements prior to the Spanish conquest. Often referred to as the “Pompeii of the Americas,” Joya de Cerén was buried under ashes of a violent volcanic eruption, therein preserving evidence of the lifestyle and activities of a Mesoamerican farming community around 6th century A.D. This site is unique in that it is still being excavated today, and since excavation was halted for much of the 1980’s it is highly likely that middle-aged and older travelers have not had the opportunity to visit these ruins. Visiting Joya de Cerén can easily be combined with visiting San Andrés, a nearby site whose findings suggest it had strong contacts with both Copán and Teotihuacán.
While Chichén Itza and Tulum are the more famous Mayan sites, VirtualTourist members know that Mayan secrets can also be found among the lesser-known ruins preserved by volcanic ash and jungle overgrowth. We hope our member’s insights and the highlights from each site intrigue you enough to venture off the paved road and discover the Mayans while you still can!
VirtualTourist.com is the premier resource for travelers seeking an insider’s perspective. Real travel tips, reviews and photos from real people who have actually been there and done that; this is what makes the travel content on VirtualTourist so useful! If you would like addition information about VT, or photos, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I can be reached at Kimberly@virtualtourist.com.
Notes from Holidays by Rail, a feature on the Marian Finucane Show on RTE1 June 9, 2012
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/marianfinucane/
The return of a leisurely way to travel.
For years we jumped in our cars, flews to airports, and pooh poohed the idea of rail travel. In the 1990s CIE tried to get people to use the trains more with the introduction of Railbreaks, and the £10 day fare to various cities around the country.
Now due to investment and improvement in trains, the cost of petrol and the fact that all our mums and dads with their free passes, use the trains freely, there is a growing interest in train travel. It is so much more eco friendly. Fares have gone down. Cheap fares are released 30 days before travel.
RailtoursIreland an Irish company owned by train enthusiast Jim Deegan spotted the gap in the market almost ten years ago and have been taking tourists all over big chunks of Ireland every day. Stand in Heuston or Connolly any morning and you will see the yellow-anoracked Railtours staff sorting out dozens of people for their tours.
Who would think that you could go to Limerick, tour the city, take one of the best drives in the world along the Clare Coast to the Cliffs of Moher, lunch in Doolin and still have time in Galway to buy a souvenir and be home by nine for €109. Or what about the Giant’s Causeway and the Antrim coast, how many people always wanted to do it and haven’t yet. For another €20 you can go to the Aran Islands for the day using the train and flying from Galway.
Across the water the big news in rail travel is the Eurostar. It seemed to take ages to gather popularity but now it is a firm favorite with British and French alike. The idea that you can go to Paris or London for lunch or dinner in two hours is just fascinating. Why does it still take two hours 50 minutes from Dublin to Cork, I’m beginning to think we have the slowest trains in Europe.
Eurostar also means that rail holidays from the UK to Europe are growing. Take Railholidays.com, apart from the great holidays around England, Scotland and Wales, that they do, you can spend three days exploring Belgium and Bruges from £299 or five days visiting Amsterdam and the spectacular Floriade from £595. Or various cities in Europe, even right down to the Mediterran cost of France, Spain and Italy. The London to Paris return fare is from £69 and the website makes it easy for you to find the cheaper fares. Eurostar.com
While I’m talking about Europe, I wanted to mention Interrail which is the first introduction many students get to travelling around Europe but Interrail is also open to any age passenger and there’s no reason why it should not be considered as a cost effective way to get around. Passes for five days rail travel in ten days cost €267 and one month passes are €638 for adults and a bit less if you are over 60 or under 26, Interrailnet.com.
The German rail network Bahn.de is widening their influence on European rail and their computer system is such that you can book a lot more rail journeys around Europe though them at great prices. They recently appointed an agent in Ireland Atts.ie, (018665841) who you can call with your queries. RailEurope.com is a good website too for finding train times, fares and tickets.
Many of the fans at the Euros will be using trains to get around. The European rail network is excellent, trains run on time and are reasonably priced. Quite a few fans have told me they will be flying to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Krakow and other cities then taking the trains to get around. The fare from Berlin to Poznan is only €38 return (2 hrs 45) and from Frankfurt from €108 return for a 7 hour 40 mins journey. For fans basing themselves around Poland fares are very cheap Warsaw to Poznan is only €16 on PolRail.com, and from Poznan to Gdansk is about €17.
The French rail system we have always admired, particularly the TGV which gets you around France in comfort and great speed. The website for making booking in English is TGV-Europe.com, where they have some smashing deals not just for rail travel but also combining accommodation. Rail fares Paris to Nice from €50 each way.
Spain’s train system is picking up the pace too with the introduction of the AVE services, high speed links between cities and very good fares too. Madrid to Valencia is only 1 hour 35 mins.
It is the more exotic journey that people love to hear about. Like the Orient Express, still going strong after all these years. Celebrating 30 years back on the tracks this years, but originally founded in 1883. You can still take the dark blue vintage trains from London to Paris and Venice, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, not cheap but an experience www.Orient-Express.com. London to Paris is £570 single and the two day one night service to Venice costs from £1,830.
In the past year or so I have noticed a substantial interest in rail journeys and one that a lot of people are interest in is the Rocky Mountaineer, which takes you though the most famous mountains. A two day journey with overnight in a hotel will cost around €855 in the RedLeaf service or €1,550 in GoldLeaf luxury class. RockyMountaineer.com.
I also have to mention another great train journey or a series of them, Amtrak around America. The US rail network was one of the most extraordinary feats during the 19th centrury when the Irish Chinese and Scandinavians laid tracks all over the country. The rail network went into decline in the past 50 years….but you know what, it’s coming back and people like Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway have put $24 billion dollars into rail investment in the past two years showing that they believe in the future of rail, particularly for freight.
The Amtrak network can take you from east to west and north to south at very reasonable prices. The trains have great names too, for example the Empire Builder runs from Chicago to Seattle in the Pacific North West every day and fares are from $159 dollars for the 46 hour journey that takes you along the part of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Mississippi river through the west and over the Rockies. Or the City of New Orleans that takes you down the Blues Highway. Amtrak.com.
The Travel Department.com have a 16-day rail tour across America that begins in New York and ends in Los Angeles calling to Washington, Chicago, Denver along the way. You stay in hotels some nights and on the train the other nights and it costs around €2,500 including flights to and from the US.
There are many extraordinary train journeys around the world and one the most special I have taken is the Blue Train from Cape Town to Pretoria in South Africa. The journey takes 26 hours and is extraordinary as you pass right through the heart of South Africa over 1,000 miles and various climates zones from the balmy coast to the High Veldt through the Karoo. The sights along the way are fabulous and the service is fantastic. You sleep on the train, in luxury cabins with butlers waiting on your every need. The luxury experience costs from €1,500pps.
Other very special experiences are Rovos Rail in South Africa, the Swiss rail network that cover extraordinary mountainous landscapes, the Butterworth express In Australia you can travel on the most famous train the Ghan that leaves Adelaide twice a week for the trip north to Alice Springs over 40 hours, and then on to Darwin for less than €300. Or go east to west on the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth, takes 66 hours or so.
In Asia one of the most famous journeys is from Bangkok to Singapore which takes 48 hours through the tropical landscapes, with stops in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
And the Trans Siberian train is still taking people across the vast wilderness of the Russian Federation. There are three journeys Moscow to Vladivostok, Moscow to Beijing and Moscow via Mongolia to Beijing. You will need plenty of time to do these trips as they take at least a week and you may want to stop off along the way to see the sites.
My favourite rail website is Seat61.com, where you will find details of railways all over the world.
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/marianfinucane/
The return of a leisurely way to travel.
For years we jumped in our cars, flews to airports, and pooh poohed the idea of rail travel. In the 1990s CIE tried to get people to use the trains more with the introduction of Railbreaks, and the £10 day fare to various cities around the country.
Now due to investment and improvement in trains, the cost of petrol and the fact that all our mums and dads with their free passes, use the trains freely, there is a growing interest in train travel. It is so much more eco friendly. Fares have gone down. Cheap fares are released 30 days before travel.
RailtoursIreland an Irish company owned by train enthusiast Jim Deegan spotted the gap in the market almost ten years ago and have been taking tourists all over big chunks of Ireland every day. Stand in Heuston or Connolly any morning and you will see the yellow-anoracked Railtours staff sorting out dozens of people for their tours.
Who would think that you could go to Limerick, tour the city, take one of the best drives in the world along the Clare Coast to the Cliffs of Moher, lunch in Doolin and still have time in Galway to buy a souvenir and be home by nine for €109. Or what about the Giant’s Causeway and the Antrim coast, how many people always wanted to do it and haven’t yet. For another €20 you can go to the Aran Islands for the day using the train and flying from Galway.
Across the water the big news in rail travel is the Eurostar. It seemed to take ages to gather popularity but now it is a firm favorite with British and French alike. The idea that you can go to Paris or London for lunch or dinner in two hours is just fascinating. Why does it still take two hours 50 minutes from Dublin to Cork, I’m beginning to think we have the slowest trains in Europe.
Eurostar also means that rail holidays from the UK to Europe are growing. Take Railholidays.com, apart from the great holidays around England, Scotland and Wales, that they do, you can spend three days exploring Belgium and Bruges from £299 or five days visiting Amsterdam and the spectacular Floriade from £595. Or various cities in Europe, even right down to the Mediterran cost of France, Spain and Italy. The London to Paris return fare is from £69 and the website makes it easy for you to find the cheaper fares. Eurostar.com
While I’m talking about Europe, I wanted to mention Interrail which is the first introduction many students get to travelling around Europe but Interrail is also open to any age passenger and there’s no reason why it should not be considered as a cost effective way to get around. Passes for five days rail travel in ten days cost €267 and one month passes are €638 for adults and a bit less if you are over 60 or under 26, Interrailnet.com.
The German rail network Bahn.de is widening their influence on European rail and their computer system is such that you can book a lot more rail journeys around Europe though them at great prices. They recently appointed an agent in Ireland Atts.ie, (018665841) who you can call with your queries. RailEurope.com is a good website too for finding train times, fares and tickets.
Many of the fans at the Euros will be using trains to get around. The European rail network is excellent, trains run on time and are reasonably priced. Quite a few fans have told me they will be flying to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Krakow and other cities then taking the trains to get around. The fare from Berlin to Poznan is only €38 return (2 hrs 45) and from Frankfurt from €108 return for a 7 hour 40 mins journey. For fans basing themselves around Poland fares are very cheap Warsaw to Poznan is only €16 on PolRail.com, and from Poznan to Gdansk is about €17.
The French rail system we have always admired, particularly the TGV which gets you around France in comfort and great speed. The website for making booking in English is TGV-Europe.com, where they have some smashing deals not just for rail travel but also combining accommodation. Rail fares Paris to Nice from €50 each way.
Spain’s train system is picking up the pace too with the introduction of the AVE services, high speed links between cities and very good fares too. Madrid to Valencia is only 1 hour 35 mins.
It is the more exotic journey that people love to hear about. Like the Orient Express, still going strong after all these years. Celebrating 30 years back on the tracks this years, but originally founded in 1883. You can still take the dark blue vintage trains from London to Paris and Venice, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, not cheap but an experience www.Orient-Express.com. London to Paris is £570 single and the two day one night service to Venice costs from £1,830.
In the past year or so I have noticed a substantial interest in rail journeys and one that a lot of people are interest in is the Rocky Mountaineer, which takes you though the most famous mountains. A two day journey with overnight in a hotel will cost around €855 in the RedLeaf service or €1,550 in GoldLeaf luxury class. RockyMountaineer.com.
I also have to mention another great train journey or a series of them, Amtrak around America. The US rail network was one of the most extraordinary feats during the 19th centrury when the Irish Chinese and Scandinavians laid tracks all over the country. The rail network went into decline in the past 50 years….but you know what, it’s coming back and people like Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway have put $24 billion dollars into rail investment in the past two years showing that they believe in the future of rail, particularly for freight.
The Amtrak network can take you from east to west and north to south at very reasonable prices. The trains have great names too, for example the Empire Builder runs from Chicago to Seattle in the Pacific North West every day and fares are from $159 dollars for the 46 hour journey that takes you along the part of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Mississippi river through the west and over the Rockies. Or the City of New Orleans that takes you down the Blues Highway. Amtrak.com.
The Travel Department.com have a 16-day rail tour across America that begins in New York and ends in Los Angeles calling to Washington, Chicago, Denver along the way. You stay in hotels some nights and on the train the other nights and it costs around €2,500 including flights to and from the US.
There are many extraordinary train journeys around the world and one the most special I have taken is the Blue Train from Cape Town to Pretoria in South Africa. The journey takes 26 hours and is extraordinary as you pass right through the heart of South Africa over 1,000 miles and various climates zones from the balmy coast to the High Veldt through the Karoo. The sights along the way are fabulous and the service is fantastic. You sleep on the train, in luxury cabins with butlers waiting on your every need. The luxury experience costs from €1,500pps.
Other very special experiences are Rovos Rail in South Africa, the Swiss rail network that cover extraordinary mountainous landscapes, the Butterworth express In Australia you can travel on the most famous train the Ghan that leaves Adelaide twice a week for the trip north to Alice Springs over 40 hours, and then on to Darwin for less than €300. Or go east to west on the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth, takes 66 hours or so.
In Asia one of the most famous journeys is from Bangkok to Singapore which takes 48 hours through the tropical landscapes, with stops in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
And the Trans Siberian train is still taking people across the vast wilderness of the Russian Federation. There are three journeys Moscow to Vladivostok, Moscow to Beijing and Moscow via Mongolia to Beijing. You will need plenty of time to do these trips as they take at least a week and you may want to stop off along the way to see the sites.
My favourite rail website is Seat61.com, where you will find details of railways all over the world.
The Blue Train - Cape Town to Pretoria, a very special trip.
The Lounge on the Blue Train
Blue Heaven is a place on earth – and it is called the Blue Train
Joan Scales
Imagine a world that is cocooned in luxury, dressed in finery, passing through a landscape that is startlingly beautiful and yet untouchable. You are an onlooker to one of the most beautiful countries on earth. A passer-by to vistas of mountains, gorges, rivers, valleys, deserts, vineyards, and remote farmhouses. On the journey you will traverse hundreds of miles and yet it will cause you no physical hardships.
The journey is a very special one, and one that will live in your memories for a very long time. The images can be played over for re-enjoyment, for how often in life do you feel totally cosseted and special.
Born in an age before jet travel and the haste to be somewhere before you leave, the Blue Train is a journey into the past, with the comforts of the present. A mode of transport through one of the most beautiful and exciting countries in the world –South Africa.
Wide open spaces and infinite sky are the backdrop for a leisurely journey by rail, a journey that is taken in such comfort as to lull you into a world of unsurpassed luxury. My journey began with the backdrop of Table Mountain, in Cape Town. A thousand miles lay ahead to Pretoria – 26 hours of wonder.
Arriving at Cape Town station the blue-liveried staff tag and take your bags, check you in and lead you to the Blue Train Departure Lounge to await the train. Champagne and caviar canapés are a fitting start to the experience ahead.
On the way to my suite the sheer length of the train strikes me – 416 yards long. My butler, Eddie awaits. He explains the mechanics of television, which will relay the views outside the train, CD player, adjusting the air conditioning, the remote control to raise and lower the blinds, cellphone and hotline to the train manager.
When he withdraws, I dart around, checking out everything, oohing over the bathroom with its gold taps and earmarking the toiletries for my luggage. The idea of having a bath on a train is inviting. But I must wait; it would be too odd to have a bath in the station.
The suite is furnished with a table, ottoman window seats, lockers, a large sofa, cabinet, and wardrobe, in blue and earthy coloured upholstery that reflects the Blue Train’s colours. The veneered wood panelling oozes warmth. In a suite that is 9ft 8 inches wide, I am awed at the designers who have turned limited space into such an accommodating environment. The fixtures and fittings blend with the design and anything that is not needed can be stowed or folded away.
It is time to explore the entire train. First stop is the Club Car. Fitted out in soft brown and fawn tones the animal-print upholstery gives an indication of where we are. The Library area is well stocked with books, magazines and newspapers. The bar is semi-circular and just the right height to lean languidly against.
Past the kitchens, the white-hatted chefs are already hard at work preparing lunch. The lounge is just the place to take afternoon tea or play some board games, while watching the scenery pass by. The Dining Room is bustling with waiters preparing the tables. Fresh flowers on each and the finest glassware, china and cutlery. There’s a little shop, where a glamorous lady is preparing her stock of Blue Train memorabilia.
Finally, the Panorama Car. The whole back wall of the train is a picture window. You can sit here and watch the countryside change and the track disappearing behind. Today it is set up for a conference. I wonder how they intend to get any business done with such a view. All through the train are items of original African art, a picture here and sculpture there, carefully chosen to reflect the surroundings
Exploration over it is time to go back to the Club Car to wait the whistle. Just as I sit down the train begins its journey. I am so excited, slowly it pulls out of Cape Town station, through the city and gathers speed, until it reaches its normal journey rate of 68 miles per hour. As it passes, onlookers stand and watch. Time for a Blue Train cocktail – what else?
There are two sittings for lunch noon and two o’clock. We have opted for the later sitting and now have time to sit, relax and watch the scenery. The train is heading westwards first through the Stellenbosch, the Winelands, along the Hex River Valley this is the fertile Cape country. Turning north it traverses the Great Karoo desert and climbs to the High Veldt to reach Pretoria.
This is the track that tells a story of South Africa. The lines that carried British Troops into battle against the Boers during the 1899-1902 war. These are also the lines that hauled men and machinery to extract gold from the Witwatersrand Reef and diamonds from the hard, black soil of Kimberley. The lines that carried families inland to farm. These are the lines that built South Africa.
It is autumn-time and the vines are changing colour. Rows and rows of reds, golds, browns, yellows and flame-coloured vines dominate the scenery. We had visited the Stellenbosch by road but had failed to realise how extensive the Winelands are.
Time for lunch and the steward leads us to our table. Decisions, decisions, what are we going to have. The wine list if pored over, it is an extensive selection of South Africa’s best vintages. We chose a Semillion Chardonnay to accompany the starters and the Meerlust Rubicon for the main course. Lunch is a languorous affair, exclaiming over the food and the scenery. Service is friendly and unstuffy, the waiters are renowned for their deadpan humour and Winston gave us touch of it.
He suggests we take coffee in the Club Car, where we lounge on the sofas with our feet up. There is one stop coming up around 4 o’clock. The only stop on the journey, Matjiesfontein, once a desert outpost, once a health resort, once military base, now a one-street village famous for two things. The Lord Milner Hotel and the Blue Train’s only stop on its northward journey. It is a corner of South Africa that will be forever British. A Victorian relic that has survived and yet has not changed.
At the Lord Milner, you can take sherry or afternoon tea and enjoy the Victoriana of it all. Take a visit the museum or boost the local economy by purchasing some souvenirs. The most famous resident was Olive Schreiner, whose first novel “The Story of an African Farm” was set in the Karoo. She lived here and kept up correspondence with her European friends such as George Bernard Shaw and William Gladstone.
In correspondence with Havelock Ellis she says “now I am going to put my hat on and go out for a walk over the Karoo, such a sense of wild exhilaration comes over me when I walk over the Karoo. The effect of this scenery is to make me so silent and self-contained. And it is all so bare, the rocks and the bushes, each bush standing separate from the others, alone by itself.”
There is no time to experience Olive Schreiner’s walk – the Blue Train waits for no one. A little lie-down is just the antidote to lunch. Eddie has been in and converted my suite into a sleeping compartment. I climb up onto my bed, its so high I feel a bit like the Princess, but there is no pea. The scenery is too distracting for sleep, so I lie between the stiff cotton sheets and luxuriate in having the time to do nothing but watch it pass by.
Time passes in an almost hypnotic state, it is so hard to draw myself away from the moving pictures, but the bath is calling. I fill it as high as possible with lots of bubbles and then lie back for a long soak. My mobile phone works and I set about ringing everyone I can. After all who can say that they have had a bath on a train. My mother wants to know if I am sipping champagne too. I kick myself, all I had to do was ask Eddie and he would have brought it.
Dusk is starting to fall, cocktail time approaches, and time to dress for dinner. Dinner is formal but not as formal as black tie. Jackets and ties for the men and cocktail dresses for the women. We meet in the Club Car for aperitifs, admiring each other’s finery. There is a definite feeling of Hollywood glamour and the movies, it all so romantic.
Dinner is called at nine o’clock and in we go to yet another sumptuous meal, choices include West Coast crayfish tail, ostrich fillet, loin of lamb and lemon tart. There is no hurry, again we pore over the wine list, finally consensus is reached, everyone is happy with the choices. Photographs are taken and a giddy meal passes in convivial company.
After dinner we adjourn to the Club Car for drinks. It is definitely cigar time for the gentlemen, the ladies try a Davidoff too. The atmosphere is decidedly clubby. The conference group, who have been hard at work all day, join us too. They are South African business people, a mixture of black and white, men and women. We share stories and question them at length about their country.
Outside it is as black as black, with the odd light in the distance. The night moves on and friends are made. Time for bed. Eddie, now working behind the bar, hears me saying I don’t want to get up for breakfast and whispers, would I like it in bed. Thumbs up for service. When I return to my suite, the bed as been remade and the carelessly strewn clothes expertly folded.
A discreet tap on my door at nine and here he is with a beautifully set tray, coffee, fresh fruit, warm croissants and a cut flower. During the night the scenery has changed again, we are climbing up the higher, drier veldt. We pass towns and villages with more frequency. The journey’s end is getting closer.
The Club Car has become the outpost of the Irish and honorary Irish, we meet to discuss the previous evening’s fun. Coffee, canapés and sandwiches arrive, just in case we are hungry. A sense of sadness is also beginning to creep over the passengers, increasing as we get closer to Pretoria. The train begins to slow down and make its way into Pretoria Station. We disembark, clutching our Blue Train certificates, the hustle and bustle of a busy station is overwhelming, our feet lack sensation and legs have developed a definite marine-like gait. The fantasy disappears in a puff of reality and all too soon we are standing outside the station looking for a taxi and wishing we were taking the Blue Train anywhere.
Panels
Blue Train Journeys
The Blue Train is actually two identical trains that cover four routes. The route described is called the Classic route. The Zimbabwe Spectacular winds its way from Pretoria to Victoria Falls crossing the Kalahari Desert for a spectacular view of the Falls from the bridge spanning the Zambezi gorge. The Garden Route meanders along the coastal line from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth though lush foliage, verdant forest and spectacular mountain passes. The Valley of the Oliphants heads east from Pretoria though the Northern Province, famed for its moody scenery as much as for the abundance of wildlife.
How to Get There The Blue Train is a five-star hotel that moves from destination to destination. The cost is fully inclusive of all drinks, meals and accommodation and prices for the route I travelled begins at 7,300 Rands single and 9,800 Rands double. There are approximately eight Rands to the Irish punt. Further details on the Blue Train can be read on www.bluetrain.co.za. Sunway Travel, organise tailor-made trips to South Africa that can include the Blue Train (01) 288 6828.
Joan Scales
Imagine a world that is cocooned in luxury, dressed in finery, passing through a landscape that is startlingly beautiful and yet untouchable. You are an onlooker to one of the most beautiful countries on earth. A passer-by to vistas of mountains, gorges, rivers, valleys, deserts, vineyards, and remote farmhouses. On the journey you will traverse hundreds of miles and yet it will cause you no physical hardships.
The journey is a very special one, and one that will live in your memories for a very long time. The images can be played over for re-enjoyment, for how often in life do you feel totally cosseted and special.
Born in an age before jet travel and the haste to be somewhere before you leave, the Blue Train is a journey into the past, with the comforts of the present. A mode of transport through one of the most beautiful and exciting countries in the world –South Africa.
Wide open spaces and infinite sky are the backdrop for a leisurely journey by rail, a journey that is taken in such comfort as to lull you into a world of unsurpassed luxury. My journey began with the backdrop of Table Mountain, in Cape Town. A thousand miles lay ahead to Pretoria – 26 hours of wonder.
Arriving at Cape Town station the blue-liveried staff tag and take your bags, check you in and lead you to the Blue Train Departure Lounge to await the train. Champagne and caviar canapés are a fitting start to the experience ahead.
On the way to my suite the sheer length of the train strikes me – 416 yards long. My butler, Eddie awaits. He explains the mechanics of television, which will relay the views outside the train, CD player, adjusting the air conditioning, the remote control to raise and lower the blinds, cellphone and hotline to the train manager.
When he withdraws, I dart around, checking out everything, oohing over the bathroom with its gold taps and earmarking the toiletries for my luggage. The idea of having a bath on a train is inviting. But I must wait; it would be too odd to have a bath in the station.
The suite is furnished with a table, ottoman window seats, lockers, a large sofa, cabinet, and wardrobe, in blue and earthy coloured upholstery that reflects the Blue Train’s colours. The veneered wood panelling oozes warmth. In a suite that is 9ft 8 inches wide, I am awed at the designers who have turned limited space into such an accommodating environment. The fixtures and fittings blend with the design and anything that is not needed can be stowed or folded away.
It is time to explore the entire train. First stop is the Club Car. Fitted out in soft brown and fawn tones the animal-print upholstery gives an indication of where we are. The Library area is well stocked with books, magazines and newspapers. The bar is semi-circular and just the right height to lean languidly against.
Past the kitchens, the white-hatted chefs are already hard at work preparing lunch. The lounge is just the place to take afternoon tea or play some board games, while watching the scenery pass by. The Dining Room is bustling with waiters preparing the tables. Fresh flowers on each and the finest glassware, china and cutlery. There’s a little shop, where a glamorous lady is preparing her stock of Blue Train memorabilia.
Finally, the Panorama Car. The whole back wall of the train is a picture window. You can sit here and watch the countryside change and the track disappearing behind. Today it is set up for a conference. I wonder how they intend to get any business done with such a view. All through the train are items of original African art, a picture here and sculpture there, carefully chosen to reflect the surroundings
Exploration over it is time to go back to the Club Car to wait the whistle. Just as I sit down the train begins its journey. I am so excited, slowly it pulls out of Cape Town station, through the city and gathers speed, until it reaches its normal journey rate of 68 miles per hour. As it passes, onlookers stand and watch. Time for a Blue Train cocktail – what else?
There are two sittings for lunch noon and two o’clock. We have opted for the later sitting and now have time to sit, relax and watch the scenery. The train is heading westwards first through the Stellenbosch, the Winelands, along the Hex River Valley this is the fertile Cape country. Turning north it traverses the Great Karoo desert and climbs to the High Veldt to reach Pretoria.
This is the track that tells a story of South Africa. The lines that carried British Troops into battle against the Boers during the 1899-1902 war. These are also the lines that hauled men and machinery to extract gold from the Witwatersrand Reef and diamonds from the hard, black soil of Kimberley. The lines that carried families inland to farm. These are the lines that built South Africa.
It is autumn-time and the vines are changing colour. Rows and rows of reds, golds, browns, yellows and flame-coloured vines dominate the scenery. We had visited the Stellenbosch by road but had failed to realise how extensive the Winelands are.
Time for lunch and the steward leads us to our table. Decisions, decisions, what are we going to have. The wine list if pored over, it is an extensive selection of South Africa’s best vintages. We chose a Semillion Chardonnay to accompany the starters and the Meerlust Rubicon for the main course. Lunch is a languorous affair, exclaiming over the food and the scenery. Service is friendly and unstuffy, the waiters are renowned for their deadpan humour and Winston gave us touch of it.
He suggests we take coffee in the Club Car, where we lounge on the sofas with our feet up. There is one stop coming up around 4 o’clock. The only stop on the journey, Matjiesfontein, once a desert outpost, once a health resort, once military base, now a one-street village famous for two things. The Lord Milner Hotel and the Blue Train’s only stop on its northward journey. It is a corner of South Africa that will be forever British. A Victorian relic that has survived and yet has not changed.
At the Lord Milner, you can take sherry or afternoon tea and enjoy the Victoriana of it all. Take a visit the museum or boost the local economy by purchasing some souvenirs. The most famous resident was Olive Schreiner, whose first novel “The Story of an African Farm” was set in the Karoo. She lived here and kept up correspondence with her European friends such as George Bernard Shaw and William Gladstone.
In correspondence with Havelock Ellis she says “now I am going to put my hat on and go out for a walk over the Karoo, such a sense of wild exhilaration comes over me when I walk over the Karoo. The effect of this scenery is to make me so silent and self-contained. And it is all so bare, the rocks and the bushes, each bush standing separate from the others, alone by itself.”
There is no time to experience Olive Schreiner’s walk – the Blue Train waits for no one. A little lie-down is just the antidote to lunch. Eddie has been in and converted my suite into a sleeping compartment. I climb up onto my bed, its so high I feel a bit like the Princess, but there is no pea. The scenery is too distracting for sleep, so I lie between the stiff cotton sheets and luxuriate in having the time to do nothing but watch it pass by.
Time passes in an almost hypnotic state, it is so hard to draw myself away from the moving pictures, but the bath is calling. I fill it as high as possible with lots of bubbles and then lie back for a long soak. My mobile phone works and I set about ringing everyone I can. After all who can say that they have had a bath on a train. My mother wants to know if I am sipping champagne too. I kick myself, all I had to do was ask Eddie and he would have brought it.
Dusk is starting to fall, cocktail time approaches, and time to dress for dinner. Dinner is formal but not as formal as black tie. Jackets and ties for the men and cocktail dresses for the women. We meet in the Club Car for aperitifs, admiring each other’s finery. There is a definite feeling of Hollywood glamour and the movies, it all so romantic.
Dinner is called at nine o’clock and in we go to yet another sumptuous meal, choices include West Coast crayfish tail, ostrich fillet, loin of lamb and lemon tart. There is no hurry, again we pore over the wine list, finally consensus is reached, everyone is happy with the choices. Photographs are taken and a giddy meal passes in convivial company.
After dinner we adjourn to the Club Car for drinks. It is definitely cigar time for the gentlemen, the ladies try a Davidoff too. The atmosphere is decidedly clubby. The conference group, who have been hard at work all day, join us too. They are South African business people, a mixture of black and white, men and women. We share stories and question them at length about their country.
Outside it is as black as black, with the odd light in the distance. The night moves on and friends are made. Time for bed. Eddie, now working behind the bar, hears me saying I don’t want to get up for breakfast and whispers, would I like it in bed. Thumbs up for service. When I return to my suite, the bed as been remade and the carelessly strewn clothes expertly folded.
A discreet tap on my door at nine and here he is with a beautifully set tray, coffee, fresh fruit, warm croissants and a cut flower. During the night the scenery has changed again, we are climbing up the higher, drier veldt. We pass towns and villages with more frequency. The journey’s end is getting closer.
The Club Car has become the outpost of the Irish and honorary Irish, we meet to discuss the previous evening’s fun. Coffee, canapés and sandwiches arrive, just in case we are hungry. A sense of sadness is also beginning to creep over the passengers, increasing as we get closer to Pretoria. The train begins to slow down and make its way into Pretoria Station. We disembark, clutching our Blue Train certificates, the hustle and bustle of a busy station is overwhelming, our feet lack sensation and legs have developed a definite marine-like gait. The fantasy disappears in a puff of reality and all too soon we are standing outside the station looking for a taxi and wishing we were taking the Blue Train anywhere.
Panels
Blue Train Journeys
The Blue Train is actually two identical trains that cover four routes. The route described is called the Classic route. The Zimbabwe Spectacular winds its way from Pretoria to Victoria Falls crossing the Kalahari Desert for a spectacular view of the Falls from the bridge spanning the Zambezi gorge. The Garden Route meanders along the coastal line from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth though lush foliage, verdant forest and spectacular mountain passes. The Valley of the Oliphants heads east from Pretoria though the Northern Province, famed for its moody scenery as much as for the abundance of wildlife.
How to Get There The Blue Train is a five-star hotel that moves from destination to destination. The cost is fully inclusive of all drinks, meals and accommodation and prices for the route I travelled begins at 7,300 Rands single and 9,800 Rands double. There are approximately eight Rands to the Irish punt. Further details on the Blue Train can be read on www.bluetrain.co.za. Sunway Travel, organise tailor-made trips to South Africa that can include the Blue Train (01) 288 6828.
Macau shakes off its images of pirates and privateers
JOAN SCALES
MACAU LETTER: The region, handed back to Bejing over a decade ago, has boomed and drawn tourist wealth as infrastructure develops
ON THE highest peak in Macau, a 20m white marble statue of Ah Ma, the goddess of the sea, wishes the Macanese health, happiness and prosperity. It is a gift from a Chinese benefactor – and its wish is already coming true.
In the harbour, the gift from Portugal – a 20m golden-topped statue of Kum Lam, the goddess of mercy – watches over the transformation of the former Portuguese territory.
The now Special Administrative Region of China is reaping the benefits of massive investment and sharing the profits of a new regime with average annual growth of 19 per cent in the past 10 years. The quaint and colourful Portuguese buildings are overshadowed by massive skyscrapers.
When the Portuguese handed Macau back to China in December 1999, there was less fanfare then when Hong Kong went through the same process two years previously. But taking a walk around the Handover Museum and seeing the beautiful gifts from the 56 regions of China, you realise that the handover was a long-planned and organised event; a prodigal returning.
Some 12½years later, a transformed Macau is happy, prosperous and certainly a lot wealthier. For a start, Macau is a bigger place: land reclamation has seen the peninsula and its two islands expand by thousands of hectares. Since 1983, it has expanded from 16.1sq km to 29.7sq km with the speed of reclamation increasing in the past 10 years and plans for further expansion.
The 200-year old lighthouse is now in the city centre, far from the sea.
Within Macau, getting around has improved with new roads and bridges and a rail system is under construction. Work on the longest bridge in the world from Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai city, 50km long, began in 2009. Through a series of bridges and tunnels, this will connect the three cities of the Pearl River Delta, making it a short car journey to probably what will be the richest region of China and give access to millions more visitors.
At present, most visitors arrive in Macau by bus from China or by high-speed ferry from Hong Kong. The border crossing at Zhuhai city opens from 7am to midnight every day, but will soon open 24 hours. Macau airport has limited flights from countries within South East Asia. Visitors are the reason for Macau’s huge wealth – tourists and specifically gamblers and shoppers.
Before the handover, Macau had one casino, the Lisboa, a favoured haunt of visitors from Hong Kong, but the 40-year monopoly ended in 2002 when new licences were issued.
Now there are more than 30 casinos, many of them famous names from Las Vegas, like MGM, the Venetian, Sands and Wynn Resorts.
The Venetian, a super-size version of the property in Las Vegas, is the largest casino in the world, 40-storeys high and over 10,000,000sq ft. It has 3,400 slot machines (known as “hungry tigers”) and 800 gambling tables, 3,000 bedrooms, two canals with gondolas, and 339 shops, including high-street names like Zara, Sisley, Juicy Girl, Mango, Lush, Body Shop, L’Occitane, Nokia and even a Manchester United shop. The Chinese love to shop, particularly for high-end brands. Luxury Scotch and brandy is on sale from €1,000 to €40,000 per bottle.
The newer casino resorts are built on a strip of reclaimed land that now joins the two islands of Macau, Taipa and Coloane – hence the name Cotai. There is Galaxy, City of Dreams and the new Starwood resort with three hotels of more than 1,000 rooms each, the Conrad, Holiday Inn and Sheraton. The original downtown area of Dynasty has the MGM, Wynn and spectacular Grand Lisboa casinos.
Each day thousands of giggling Chinese pour through the doors to admire the opulence, jostle politely to take photographs, shop for branded goods, and gamble.
And they love to gamble: the favourite game is baccarat and it is played by everyone. Men and women, puffing away, but not drinking, beg the cards to perform. Waitresses ply the players with Red Bull and fruit juices. But the real gambling goes on behind closed doors, where spectators are not welcome to watch the nouveau riche squander thousands.
At the end of the Cotai Strip on Coloane Island, charmingly rural in places, the government is trying to keep up a massive building campaign to house all the workers needed to keep the casinos operating.
Thirty-storey-high skyscrapers are taking shape in a new town that will house up to 50,000. Getting trained staff is one of the biggest problems for the casinos, and some are not operating at full capacity for that reason.
Revenue from the casinos last year was $33.5 billion (€25 billion), five times that of Las Vegas. The profits are so high that the government of Macau will give residents 11,000 patacas (about €1,000) each this year as part of the wealth redistribution scheme. Income tax is a meagre 3.5 per cent too, so you hear few complaints about the government. The one country/two systems approach seems to work for Macau.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0514/1224316064797.html
JOAN SCALES
MACAU LETTER: The region, handed back to Bejing over a decade ago, has boomed and drawn tourist wealth as infrastructure develops
ON THE highest peak in Macau, a 20m white marble statue of Ah Ma, the goddess of the sea, wishes the Macanese health, happiness and prosperity. It is a gift from a Chinese benefactor – and its wish is already coming true.
In the harbour, the gift from Portugal – a 20m golden-topped statue of Kum Lam, the goddess of mercy – watches over the transformation of the former Portuguese territory.
The now Special Administrative Region of China is reaping the benefits of massive investment and sharing the profits of a new regime with average annual growth of 19 per cent in the past 10 years. The quaint and colourful Portuguese buildings are overshadowed by massive skyscrapers.
When the Portuguese handed Macau back to China in December 1999, there was less fanfare then when Hong Kong went through the same process two years previously. But taking a walk around the Handover Museum and seeing the beautiful gifts from the 56 regions of China, you realise that the handover was a long-planned and organised event; a prodigal returning.
Some 12½years later, a transformed Macau is happy, prosperous and certainly a lot wealthier. For a start, Macau is a bigger place: land reclamation has seen the peninsula and its two islands expand by thousands of hectares. Since 1983, it has expanded from 16.1sq km to 29.7sq km with the speed of reclamation increasing in the past 10 years and plans for further expansion.
The 200-year old lighthouse is now in the city centre, far from the sea.
Within Macau, getting around has improved with new roads and bridges and a rail system is under construction. Work on the longest bridge in the world from Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai city, 50km long, began in 2009. Through a series of bridges and tunnels, this will connect the three cities of the Pearl River Delta, making it a short car journey to probably what will be the richest region of China and give access to millions more visitors.
At present, most visitors arrive in Macau by bus from China or by high-speed ferry from Hong Kong. The border crossing at Zhuhai city opens from 7am to midnight every day, but will soon open 24 hours. Macau airport has limited flights from countries within South East Asia. Visitors are the reason for Macau’s huge wealth – tourists and specifically gamblers and shoppers.
Before the handover, Macau had one casino, the Lisboa, a favoured haunt of visitors from Hong Kong, but the 40-year monopoly ended in 2002 when new licences were issued.
Now there are more than 30 casinos, many of them famous names from Las Vegas, like MGM, the Venetian, Sands and Wynn Resorts.
The Venetian, a super-size version of the property in Las Vegas, is the largest casino in the world, 40-storeys high and over 10,000,000sq ft. It has 3,400 slot machines (known as “hungry tigers”) and 800 gambling tables, 3,000 bedrooms, two canals with gondolas, and 339 shops, including high-street names like Zara, Sisley, Juicy Girl, Mango, Lush, Body Shop, L’Occitane, Nokia and even a Manchester United shop. The Chinese love to shop, particularly for high-end brands. Luxury Scotch and brandy is on sale from €1,000 to €40,000 per bottle.
The newer casino resorts are built on a strip of reclaimed land that now joins the two islands of Macau, Taipa and Coloane – hence the name Cotai. There is Galaxy, City of Dreams and the new Starwood resort with three hotels of more than 1,000 rooms each, the Conrad, Holiday Inn and Sheraton. The original downtown area of Dynasty has the MGM, Wynn and spectacular Grand Lisboa casinos.
Each day thousands of giggling Chinese pour through the doors to admire the opulence, jostle politely to take photographs, shop for branded goods, and gamble.
And they love to gamble: the favourite game is baccarat and it is played by everyone. Men and women, puffing away, but not drinking, beg the cards to perform. Waitresses ply the players with Red Bull and fruit juices. But the real gambling goes on behind closed doors, where spectators are not welcome to watch the nouveau riche squander thousands.
At the end of the Cotai Strip on Coloane Island, charmingly rural in places, the government is trying to keep up a massive building campaign to house all the workers needed to keep the casinos operating.
Thirty-storey-high skyscrapers are taking shape in a new town that will house up to 50,000. Getting trained staff is one of the biggest problems for the casinos, and some are not operating at full capacity for that reason.
Revenue from the casinos last year was $33.5 billion (€25 billion), five times that of Las Vegas. The profits are so high that the government of Macau will give residents 11,000 patacas (about €1,000) each this year as part of the wealth redistribution scheme. Income tax is a meagre 3.5 per cent too, so you hear few complaints about the government. The one country/two systems approach seems to work for Macau.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0514/1224316064797.html
Make Some Me Time - Holisitic Holidays
HOLISITIC HOLIDAYS: Get off the treadmill and use your holiday to improve your mind, body and spirit writes JOAN SCALES
LIFE HURTLES BY so fast that sometimes you want to just stop, get off the superhighway and breathe. Our lives are about being “always on”, the constant beeping, thrilling and tweeting of electronica demands our attention. There are times, though, when we need to say, “stop, I’m getting off,” and find some me time.
But even downtime has to be organised. Here are some ideas for retreats to appeal to differing lifestyles, interests and personalities. They all have one thing in common – time to stop and think, meditate or just let your mind wander.
Clare Island
When you get to Roonagh Pier, the journey to Clare Island and peacefulness is just beginning. The Clare Island yoga retreat is on a 240-acre hill farm, run by Ciara Cullen and Christophe Mouze, and is the perfect place to escape to. Throughout the year there are a range of yoga and cookery courses. Various forms of yoga are practiced. During the summer, you can explore the use of yoga with horsemanship with Vanessa Bee, who teaches how to achieve positive relationships between rider and horse.
The three-day course costs from €300 per person including accommodation, meals and tuition. Volunteers can also come to help work on the farm in return for lessons and board.
Tel: 098-25412, yogaretreats.ie
Findhorn
This year is the the 50th anniversary of the Findhorn Foundation, a community that helps people balance the divine within with the world around.
Findhorn began life in a modest caravan park in the north east of Scotland and is now an eco-village and educational foundation that helps people apply spiritual values to daily life. Each year thousands of people from all walks of life attend courses and events. The Waterboys are regular visitors and named their album Universal Hall after the hall at Findhorn where music, drama and theatre events take place.
One of the best ways to understand Findhorn is to attend an Experience Week, when you can join in daily life and interact with people in the community. The week includes meditation, sacred dance, nature outings and being part of a group, with time to open your mind and listen to your inner-self. Courses run through out the year and cost about £665 (€800) for a week, including accommodation and meals. Tel: 00-44-1309-691653, findhorn.com
Skyros
Skyros was one of the first alternative holidays to promote the ethos of personal growth, creativity and self-discovery. The original Skyros was on the Greek Island of the same name, and has now expanded to locations including the Isle of Wight, Cuba, Thailand and Cambodia.
The Skyros experience includes activities ranging from creative writing, salsa dancing and windsurfing, to meditation, life coaching and swimming with dolphins. Holidays are in idyllic locations with good food and lots of fun. Prices vary depending on the course and the location.
Tel: 00-44-1983-865566, skyros.com
The Mayr Treatment
Developed by Dr F X Mayr in 1936 in Austria, the Mayr Treatment includes fasting, supplements, an individually-designed alkaline menu and a re-education of eating habits. It is a medically-based detox with abdominal treatments, massages, blood and urine analysis and physical activities. The treatment diet gives your digestive system an opportunity to rest, renew and rejuvenate. People with intestinal upsets can find it helps ease symptoms. The Mayr Treatment is available at a number of places in Austria, with prices from €1,200 per week. viva-mayr.com
Monastic retreats
One of the best-known monastic retreats in Ireland is Glenstal Abbey, founded by the Benedictine monks and set in 500 acres of woodland in Co Limerick. The abbey is also a boarding school and farm, and there’s a guest house which is open for visitors who want to spend time in a monastic environment and enjoy peaceful surrounding. You can attend Mass and the liturgies and if you want, can arrange spiritual guidance. Evening meals are taken with the community. The suggested donation is €70 per night.
Tel:061-386108, glenstal.org
Shamanic holidays, Iquitos, Peru
Iquitos in Peru has become a place to find spirit healing with the aid of indigenous plants. The brew, Ayahuasca, is taken with a Shaman who invokes the spirits through chant and song to help the seekers on their journey. Ayahuasca ceremonies have grown into a substantial tourism industry, so much so that they were featured in Vanity Fair in November. People who have tried the Ayahuasca journey include the musician Sting. Genuine shamans tend not to have websites – you need to go there to find them.
Peru.travel
Deprivation holidays
Turning your back on comfort and excess seems the antithesis of a holiday, but it is a new trend for people wanting to push their bodies to the maximum. Deprivation holidays might sound like a nightmare to some, but to others they are an antidote to stressful lives, the obesity epidemic and a way to kickstart a big lifestyle change in a short period of time. And they are not cheap. A week at a top resort such as The Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu will cost from $5,600 (€4,256). For that you will be exercising 10 hours a day – no opting out – hiking the Santa Monica Hills for at least four hours a day, doing yoga and weights and all on a vegetarian diet. The only luxury is a daily massage, a dip in the pool and a lovely cottage to sleep in. You might also meet some movers and shakers.
theranchmalibu.com.
Jiva healing
Surviving on fruit juice for a week might seem extreme, but if you want to detox and de-stress, a week in a lovely hillside hotel above the Aegean or in the Andalucian Hills could be the escape you need. Jiva Healing combines the detoxifying effects of a juice and soup diet with yoga, massage and classes in nutrition, sustainable living and happiness. The break will take you out of the loop of a high pressure life. The first few days are difficult but at the end of the week you will expect to feel ready to face the treadmill again, or not. Retreats are in India, Turkey, Spain and England. A week in Turkey in June costs from £670pps (€816), excluding flights.
jivahealing.com
Freedom from clothes
Sometimes all you need to feel free and relaxed is to throw off your clothes, take away the trappings of life and be yourself. Next February, Bare Necessities Travel has chartered Carnival Cruise Line’s ship Freedom , for 3,000 passengers and it will be re-named Clothes Freedom . With the luxury of deciding what not to wear, it will be like any other cruise, lots of great food, Broadway-style shows, dancing, activities and lectures. Passengers will join the ship in Fort Lauderdale on February 9th for eight days cruising to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and back to Fort Lauderdale. Prices are from $800pps (€608)
Cruissenude.com
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2012/0225/1224312270398.html
HOLISITIC HOLIDAYS: Get off the treadmill and use your holiday to improve your mind, body and spirit writes JOAN SCALES
LIFE HURTLES BY so fast that sometimes you want to just stop, get off the superhighway and breathe. Our lives are about being “always on”, the constant beeping, thrilling and tweeting of electronica demands our attention. There are times, though, when we need to say, “stop, I’m getting off,” and find some me time.
But even downtime has to be organised. Here are some ideas for retreats to appeal to differing lifestyles, interests and personalities. They all have one thing in common – time to stop and think, meditate or just let your mind wander.
Clare Island
When you get to Roonagh Pier, the journey to Clare Island and peacefulness is just beginning. The Clare Island yoga retreat is on a 240-acre hill farm, run by Ciara Cullen and Christophe Mouze, and is the perfect place to escape to. Throughout the year there are a range of yoga and cookery courses. Various forms of yoga are practiced. During the summer, you can explore the use of yoga with horsemanship with Vanessa Bee, who teaches how to achieve positive relationships between rider and horse.
The three-day course costs from €300 per person including accommodation, meals and tuition. Volunteers can also come to help work on the farm in return for lessons and board.
Tel: 098-25412, yogaretreats.ie
Findhorn
This year is the the 50th anniversary of the Findhorn Foundation, a community that helps people balance the divine within with the world around.
Findhorn began life in a modest caravan park in the north east of Scotland and is now an eco-village and educational foundation that helps people apply spiritual values to daily life. Each year thousands of people from all walks of life attend courses and events. The Waterboys are regular visitors and named their album Universal Hall after the hall at Findhorn where music, drama and theatre events take place.
One of the best ways to understand Findhorn is to attend an Experience Week, when you can join in daily life and interact with people in the community. The week includes meditation, sacred dance, nature outings and being part of a group, with time to open your mind and listen to your inner-self. Courses run through out the year and cost about £665 (€800) for a week, including accommodation and meals. Tel: 00-44-1309-691653, findhorn.com
Skyros
Skyros was one of the first alternative holidays to promote the ethos of personal growth, creativity and self-discovery. The original Skyros was on the Greek Island of the same name, and has now expanded to locations including the Isle of Wight, Cuba, Thailand and Cambodia.
The Skyros experience includes activities ranging from creative writing, salsa dancing and windsurfing, to meditation, life coaching and swimming with dolphins. Holidays are in idyllic locations with good food and lots of fun. Prices vary depending on the course and the location.
Tel: 00-44-1983-865566, skyros.com
The Mayr Treatment
Developed by Dr F X Mayr in 1936 in Austria, the Mayr Treatment includes fasting, supplements, an individually-designed alkaline menu and a re-education of eating habits. It is a medically-based detox with abdominal treatments, massages, blood and urine analysis and physical activities. The treatment diet gives your digestive system an opportunity to rest, renew and rejuvenate. People with intestinal upsets can find it helps ease symptoms. The Mayr Treatment is available at a number of places in Austria, with prices from €1,200 per week. viva-mayr.com
Monastic retreats
One of the best-known monastic retreats in Ireland is Glenstal Abbey, founded by the Benedictine monks and set in 500 acres of woodland in Co Limerick. The abbey is also a boarding school and farm, and there’s a guest house which is open for visitors who want to spend time in a monastic environment and enjoy peaceful surrounding. You can attend Mass and the liturgies and if you want, can arrange spiritual guidance. Evening meals are taken with the community. The suggested donation is €70 per night.
Tel:061-386108, glenstal.org
Shamanic holidays, Iquitos, Peru
Iquitos in Peru has become a place to find spirit healing with the aid of indigenous plants. The brew, Ayahuasca, is taken with a Shaman who invokes the spirits through chant and song to help the seekers on their journey. Ayahuasca ceremonies have grown into a substantial tourism industry, so much so that they were featured in Vanity Fair in November. People who have tried the Ayahuasca journey include the musician Sting. Genuine shamans tend not to have websites – you need to go there to find them.
Peru.travel
Deprivation holidays
Turning your back on comfort and excess seems the antithesis of a holiday, but it is a new trend for people wanting to push their bodies to the maximum. Deprivation holidays might sound like a nightmare to some, but to others they are an antidote to stressful lives, the obesity epidemic and a way to kickstart a big lifestyle change in a short period of time. And they are not cheap. A week at a top resort such as The Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu will cost from $5,600 (€4,256). For that you will be exercising 10 hours a day – no opting out – hiking the Santa Monica Hills for at least four hours a day, doing yoga and weights and all on a vegetarian diet. The only luxury is a daily massage, a dip in the pool and a lovely cottage to sleep in. You might also meet some movers and shakers.
theranchmalibu.com.
Jiva healing
Surviving on fruit juice for a week might seem extreme, but if you want to detox and de-stress, a week in a lovely hillside hotel above the Aegean or in the Andalucian Hills could be the escape you need. Jiva Healing combines the detoxifying effects of a juice and soup diet with yoga, massage and classes in nutrition, sustainable living and happiness. The break will take you out of the loop of a high pressure life. The first few days are difficult but at the end of the week you will expect to feel ready to face the treadmill again, or not. Retreats are in India, Turkey, Spain and England. A week in Turkey in June costs from £670pps (€816), excluding flights.
jivahealing.com
Freedom from clothes
Sometimes all you need to feel free and relaxed is to throw off your clothes, take away the trappings of life and be yourself. Next February, Bare Necessities Travel has chartered Carnival Cruise Line’s ship Freedom , for 3,000 passengers and it will be re-named Clothes Freedom . With the luxury of deciding what not to wear, it will be like any other cruise, lots of great food, Broadway-style shows, dancing, activities and lectures. Passengers will join the ship in Fort Lauderdale on February 9th for eight days cruising to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and back to Fort Lauderdale. Prices are from $800pps (€608)
Cruissenude.com
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2012/0225/1224312270398.html
