From a Dante-esque hell to the heaven of home

The staff at the Airport Regal do a good job and my ten-pace room was ok but I still feel like I have escaped from room 1072 rather than simply having checked-out.

Reigning Supreme at the Regal while discovering a new variant

To ward off bordeom I recommend the COVID equivalent of the old Pick-up Sticks game. In this version (I guess we should call it a variant) you use swabs instead and push them up your nostrils.

Local flavour, world-class experience – a snapshot of South Africa at Durbanville Hills

What we’ve discovered in the past few days is the sheer diversity, wealth and quality of South African cuisine, alongside magnificent hospitality.

Discovering 5-star values in Phuket

Tourists, so often lost in their own pleasure zones, tend to be unaware of what their presence can mean to regional economies. In contrast, local people are profoundly aware of it.

Cementing an accident-prone reputation

In a battle between a concrete mixer truck and a Bangkok cab, there can be only one winner.

Planes, (s)trains and very expensive automobiles

Breaking news: A very different kind of airline high jacking at Heathrow.

A world turned upside down

With my recent luck, if I avoid COVID, I’ll get sunstroke instead.

Shedding and selling some Writers’ Tears as green becomes the new black

What an outstanding showcase for Irish whiskey Aer Rianta International provides at The Loop (which may, just may, have been named after a Johnny Sexton-called backs move).

Feeling iffy by the Liffey

Oh what great craic this travel life is, sitting isolated in a foreign hotel room shoving cotton buds up one’s nostrils.

Celtic rays and Camouflaged peas

I didn’t mind the price but I did question the value. The peas were about as freshly minted as a 1930s coin, more the colour of army camouflage gear than the bright, fresh-picked green of the menu photo.

Miscellaneous

June 30, 2022

Mounting a challenge at Mount Juliet

“It’s not how, it’s how many.” With that well-worn golf phrase and a wry smile did Paraguayan pro Fabrizio Zanotti try to temper my disaffection with another ropey golf shot at the Horizon Irish Open Pro Am at Mount Juliet, County Kilkenny on Wednesday. There I was a guest of Executive Vice Chairman and CEO

Saying Chuc Mung in Hanoi as Vietnam Duty Free comes of age

Creating a (pink) hue and cry in Cannes and discovering some Michelin Star magic

From ‘Fast, Factual, Free’ to ‘The website that never sleeps’ – 24 years on