Foreign Perspectives

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Isn’t it amazing at what a relatively small amount of natural pollution can do?

Whilst we all knew that Iceland was covered in ice, volcanoes and lava, very few people gave it much thought aside from when their banks all went bust. Why should they? After all, it’s a tiny place quite a long way from anywhere. However, now that just one of their volcanoes has erupted we find that northern Europe is basically set back 50 years in terms of travel and with no end in sight. Despite all the advances in modern technology (or rather because of them) there doesn’t seem to be any easy short term solution.

Will this make any difference to global warming? Yes, but probably not a whole lot but then this is just one volcano.

Listening to some people talk about how it’s affected them, it’s quite laughable how far they expect the airlines go in helping them. One lady on this morning was wailing about her severely disabled being stranded in Paris after a Eurodisney trip. The airline had provided accommodation for one night but said that was all they’d do. Presumably that one night was more than enough to sort out alternative travel arrangements: after all, Paris is pretty much the hub of the French travel system so there’s no shortage of means to get to and from it. The disability thing was stressed as medication was needed yet there’s no shortage of medicine, doctors or medical facilities in Paris. Granted, it’s a nuisance and a major one to be stranded like this but planes aren’t the only means of getting about and getting “stranded” in a major European city is hardly the disaster that some people make out.

When I was little the entire family including grandparents, aunts, uncles and all the associated children went to Portrush every Easter Monday but it’s been quite a long time since that procession set off and with the grandparents dead and most of the children having their own children what used to be three or four car loads of people was cut down to just one.

Quite surprisingly, for me anyway, the traffic wasn’t anywhere near as heavy as it had been when I was younger. In those days, whatever the weather, the end of the motorway signaled the start of the traffic buildup and there was always a tailback of several miles going into the town itself. Yesterday though there was relatively traffic the whole way and we were able to drive right into the town, parking just a few hundred yards from Barry’s, the amusement park.

For old times sake, we followed the traditional pilgrimage route from the car park, passing Barry’s before heading on down to the main street as far as The White House. The weather ruled out sandcastles on the beach but we had the usual session in Barry’s.

In these days of computer gaming everywhere, Barry’s has changed surprisingly little. The ghost train, dodgems and big dipper are still there and still in the same spot within the complex from the days when I was a child.  If I could dig out an old photo of the place I suspect that the only way you’d be able to tell the difference would be from the clothing for little else seems to have changed. It’s the same for the town too. Not only the mix of the shops remains the same but the names of them too, or at least so far as I can remember.

Of course, that’s part of the reason for the lack of traffic jams. Sure, the kids loved Barry’s but, really, there was very little of interest for the adults. For a family resort, there needs to be attractions for all the family and that’s just not the case these days. Even worse, whilst the majority of the small shops don’t take cards, both the cash machines had run out of money by 11am.

Nice for a nostalgia trip, but it needs to do something if it wants to remain as a successful resort town.

Most people are still in search of their ideal holiday spot I’m sure. But what is “ideal” anyway?

Obviously it should take into account your interests and those of the group which you’re travelling with. But is it enough to consider each of those individually? What if there was a single spot that took account of all possible interests?

Argueably, orlando vacations would be very close to allowing for all possible interests. Granted, not quite in a single spot but in a fairly compact region you can take in theme parks, beaches, wildlife, museums and just about everything else that you can imagine.

Does that make it “ideal” though? Not for everyone certainly but it is very close to ideal for an awful lot of people.

It’s hard to believe that Hogmanay is just around the corner. Obviously for such a popular event much of the accommodation has already been booked months ago but there’s still a chance of finding somewhere decent if you don’t hang about.

What’s it like then though? Think of Mardi Gras only in a colder climate and you might get some idea of the sheet quantity of activities that are going on throughout the city at that time. Street theatre is thick on the ground as are shows in venues all over the city. Although there are lots of venues, it’s also worthwhile booking somewhere for the New Years Eve party well in advance as just about everywhere is pretty much overflowing with people.

The celebrations run over four days so you’ll need to pace yourself to take it all in!

First off though, don’t hang around if you’re thinking of going as all the Edinburgh hotels book out very, very quickly.

Not so long ago, drive-by guests made up a substantial proportion of our bookings but with the combination of a rapid rise in the profile of online reservation systems and mobile internet the drive-by is very much a dying breed.

Over time this trend seems sure to have a substantial impact on the “ideal” locations for hotels. After all, when drive-by guests are less important there’s not so much need to build your hotel right on the highway as used to be the case. Nowadays, it’s much more important to be findable by a satnav system so we’re quite fortunate in being a place on most of the systems in current use.

The other notable effect is that, on the whole, you don’t need nearly so many signs to your place as you used to. Locally it’s quite noticeable that those hotels with the most signs tend to have the least number of guests. That’s down to their concentration on signage to the expense of an Internet presence.