Not simly a beach, but a complete seaside resort right in the heart of Brussels on the edge of the canal, Brussels Beach, or Bruxelles Les Bains, offers half a mile (1km) of fine sand, coconut palms and waterfalls, and plenty of sport, relaxation and cultural activities. Sports like beach volleyball, pétanque and ultimate frisbee are available, or for the less actively inclined a Thai pagoda houses several professional masseurs for complete relaxation. Two stages provide entertainment in the form of live music, DJs and shows, and food stalls and beach bars afford the chance to savour flavours from around the world. Children both grown up and of the adult variety are well catered for with activities and entertainment that includes sandcastles, clowns and water games.

Venue: Bassin Béco, Port de Bruxelles; Date: August 2009 TBC; Time: 11am to 10pm (except Mondays); Website: www.bruxelleslesbains.be

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Europe’s main electronic and dance music event brings together more than 1,300 professionals from the international dance music community for a daytime conference and night time festival in Amsterdam’s city centre. Thousands of visitors dance the nights away at more than 12 clubs with top DJs and artists performing. The three-day programme includes everything from electro to trance and house.

Venue: Various city centre clubs, including Melkweg, Paradiso, Supperclub and Escape; Date:21,22,23 and 24 October 2009; Website: www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl

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The Wimbledon Tennis Championships are the highlight of the year’s tennis calendar, bringing together the world’s leading tennis professionals in a battle for glory on grass. The first championship event at Wimbledon dates back to 1877, but the first Ladies’ Singles championship was only introduced in 1884. Since then the tradition of strawberries and cream and a glass of Pimms on centre court has been enjoyed by thousands of tennis fans from around the world. The Wimbledon Championships are the most famous of the four tournaments known as the Grand Slam. The Grand Slam refers to the actual victory in this event, The Australian Open, The US Open and The French Open.

Venue: All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club; Date: 22 June to 5 July 2009;

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To celebrate over 800 years of harbour history, Hamburg’s birthday festivities entail many water and air-based shows and activities, as well as live music, a funfair and lots of entertainment. Aquatic events are at the centre of the celebrations and traditional highlights include the ship’s parade, tugboat ballet and dragon boat racing, while helicopter tours, hot air balloon rides and parachuting  take place above the harbour area.

Venue: Hamburg Harbour; Date: 8-10 May 2009; Website: www.hafengeburtstag.de

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The Dublin Toy and Train Fair is always a much anticipated event for children of all ages. With over 46 dealers from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and England attending, over 70 tables stocked with interesting collectors items can be expected. All sorts of collectible toys will be available including Diecast models by Corgi, and Dinky, Construction sets by Meccano, Bayko, Lead soldiers by Britains, Crescent. For those who prefer reading, a selection of Comics, TV and Film annuals from the 1940s to1960s will also be on offer.
Venue: Clontarf Castle, Clontarf Castle Hotel; Date: 24 May 2009; Time: 10am to 5pm

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I recall visiting the Chelsea Flower Show many years ago and can really recommend for a great day out for everyone

The Chelsea Flower Show is an annual event organised by the Royal Horticultural Society and since its inception in 1913, has been recognised as the foremost show of its kind in the world. An immensely popular event, the show draws crowds of thousands every year with its colourful and beautifully sculptured displays. Experts from the Royal Horticultural Society are on hand, ready to impart gardening advice to the show’s many visitors. Tickets can be bought via the website and visitors are advised to book early to avoid disappointment.
Venue: Show grounds at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea; Date: 19-23 May 2009; Website: www.rhs.org.uk

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So we headed from London to Dublin in a very short time and arrived a few days before the celebrations so that I could soak up some of the city before embarking on the celebrations on the 17th ..

My first stop was the Guinness Factory which was a lot of fun.  The tour was pretty good and the storehouse which was originally built in 1904 was very impressive. The inside of the building is modeled on a pint glass which was extremely cool.. What was great is that once the tour had finished we were given a token which actually contains a real drop of Guinness inside and also entitles you to a pint of Guinness at the Gravity Sky Bar. The first pint of the ‘Black Stuff” from the original Guinness factory was amazing. We sat around just drinking our pints in the sky bar above the factory which was great.

The second day we headed out of Dublin and visited what is known as Ireland’s Eye. The Island is located just off the coast and we got there by one of the many tourists boats Ireland’s Eye is a small uninhabited Island and the only signs any previous occupation are the ruins of Martello Tower and an 8th Century Church. There are loads of birds on this Island including Puffins which was one of the many that we got to see..

After that we headed back to the city where we just wandered around and due to the parade the following day there were many free events taking place. We headed down to the docklands where there was a free concert taking place which was pretty cool…

The next day was St Patrick’s Day itself… We were awake pretty early as we wanted to get a good spot for the famous parade. After getting all ‘’ greened ‘’ up with our hats, costumes, tattoos etc we were ready to go.  The parade was great it was really colorful and the music was entertaining, everyone dresses up so there are little green people everywhere.  There were lots of street performances taking place which were great to watch.

The St Patrick’s Day parade was great but the festivities started once the parade finishes.. After the parade we headed over to the Temple Bar, which is in a great area with the old cobble stoned pavements and although right in the centre of Dublin it is an area with lots of traditional and quaint pubs.

The Temple bar was packed and the place was electric not just the young but the old were all in the same place drinking pint after pint of Guinness, telling stories of the old days and as the day turned into night they started singing the old folk songs and then the Irish jigs started..

We stayed in the Temple Bar for the remainder of the night which was great fun.. It was fab being in the country where the legend of St Patrick comes from and the Irish certainly know how to enjoy themselves I have never seen so much Guiness…

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One of Valencia’s major claims to fame is that it has the only Vatican recognised bit of the Holy Grail in it, so we decided to visit the cathedral where it is supposed to be. The Cathedral was gorgeous with its bright blue domes. The so called Holy Grail cup is kept behind the glass but it was definitely worth a visit

The beach is about a 30 minute ride from the city centre by local bus which was always good fun. The beach is the sand was very soft and water very warm and the weather couldn’t have been better for soaking up the summer sun..

We did have a few nights out on the town in which was a lot of fun we went to Barri del Carme which is the main nightlife destination in Valencia. There are plenty of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs to choose from, it is worth mentioning that Valencia has a huge number of lady boys. We noticed quite a few of them, just wondering up and down the street and not just at night time either it is very hard to keep a straight face when they walk past you due to the fact that they are obviously not ladies

After our few days in Valencia we headed to a little town called Brunol for the tomato throwing festival. The festival was started to celebrate the end of the picking season, and every year it gets bigger and bigger attracting people from all over the world I think this year there were about  40,000 people and over 140 tones of tomatoes were to be thrown, the worlds biggest food fight, quite possibly and I was part of it.

The small town of Brunol, is about a 40 minute train ride from Valencia, and was full of people from all over the world. As we arrived into Brunol you can feel the excitement in the air and atmosphere was just electric and we just headed to a small café for our first beer of the day not a bad start to the day

The walk into the actual town was loads of fun there are stalls selling everything that you could possible require for the festival, many people were actually buying swimming goggles which was amusing, you could even buy your beer for the walk

As you arrive into the main street it is an amazing sight. A very small and peaceful little town comes alive for one day. With thousands of people and cramming into the little streets and it’s still only 09:30

As the clock slowly starts to tick towards 10am the whole place is alive and the excitement of actually throwing something is all too much and people start throwing there t-shirts, shorts and I am sure a pair of boxers whizzed past me at some point.  At the other end of the street, people are drowning each other in water from all directions, even the little old ladies watching from the safety of their balcony are chucking buckets onto the crowds below..

Then  at about 10 am, there is an almighty bang like a firecracker and everyone starts cheering , then just rounds the old town corner you catch a glimpse of the first 40 tone dump trucks stacked full of Ripe Red Roma Tomatoes! This is when the chant of “Tomatina” is belted out by the crowd.

The truck drives on tooting its horn trying to get through the crowds and then it suddenly just stopped. I wasn’t really sure what was happening at this point but then the truck started to tip its backload and thousands of lovely red tomatoes start to fall from the back on to the street and people below.. This is when the madness began, Tomatoes are being thrown from every direction again the little old ladies on their balconies have there on buckets and are joining in the fun.

Already I can see the next truck of tomatoes making its way to the main street ready to hit the carnage that is taking place, over the next hour the area look like the site of a massacre and people are screaming with laughter and trying to keep their balance and not fall into the tomato pulp

At exactly 11am and being hit numerous times and covered in tomato the throwing is over and the locals are out with their hoses spraying everyone with freezing cold water, which was gratefully required by myself, after the festival we headed to the nearest bar for sum much needed Sangria before heading back to Valencia for one more night before home.

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What is a Christmas Market?

A Christmas market is a street market that held in many cities, towns and villages in many countries especially in Germany during the Christmas celebrations. These markets were originated in Germany and Austria and then spread to all over the world. During the Festive, Christmas markets attract many visitors with traditional arts and crafts, Christmas lights and decorations, Santa Claus dancing and entertaining the children.

In Christmas markets, there are all kinds of Christmas goods and gifts, especially traditional things such as crib figurines, toys, wood carvings, marionettes, candles and lambskin shoes.  Delicious Christmas cookies such as Lebkuchen and Magenbrot and also Glühwein ( hot mulled wine), are some of the main highlights of these fantastic markets.

There are so many Christmas market throughout the world, so it is diffucult to choose where to go but the best solution is that you can choose the one in a city for some serious shopping and another one in a village or town for some small shopping in a warmer  atmosphere.

Christmas Markets usually start in the last week of November and run through to Christmas Eve or a day or two before. They are usually open every day from 10am to about 8 or 9 pm.

The history of Christmas markets

The history of these markets goes back to the fifteenth century in Germany. The first markets used to last for a couple days and instead of today’s stands, traders laid their goods out in the streets.
In those days, each market only sold local delicacies and traditional products so that it remained faithful to its own particularities. Nowadays, markets offer the same function that they have for centuries but also richer in variety.
 It is likely that Christmas markets drew more attention when religious reformer Martin Luther instituted new customs for Christmas. It was Luther who suggested that children receive presents from “the Christ child,” hence the name “Christkindlsmarkt,” a popular name for the Christmas Markets in Germany.

Usually taking place on the town square and adjacent pedestrian zones, Christkindlsmarkt  sells food and drink from open-air stalls with other seasonal items and traditional singing and dancing. On opening nights, onlookers welcome the “Christkind”, or boy Jesus, acted out by a local child.

Christmas Markets around the world

Famous Xmas markets take place in the cities of Nuremberg, Dresden, Stuttgart and Augsburg in Germany. The Nuremberg and Dresden are said to be draw 2 million people each year and Stuttgart market attracts more than 3 million people.

There is a famous Christmas market, Christkindelsmarik, in Strasbourg, France. Large Christmas markets are also held in Leeds and Birmingham in England. Moreover,with German immigrations to the United States, Christmas markets are popular there too.

We booked our flights and accommodation and worked out the best way for us to get to the track. We decided to use public transport instead of paying €40 each way which was what some companies were asking for, we used the local ferry and buses which totaled about €10 return and got us there easily and it was more fun catching the ferry and being able to see the wonderful sites of Istanbul with its towering mosques intermingled with all the new buildings.

We made sure we ate a good breakfast, filling our thermal flasks and grabbing some fruit with us as we knew food would be expensive at the track, which it was. The entertainment outside of the actual track was great with many of the teams having their own stands and it was great seeing everyone get involved. There were plenty of competitions and little things to be won.

Luckily we were given ear plugs before we entered the track which was a good thing as I had never been to a live race before and didn’t realize how loud it would actually be. Luckily it was a sunny day in Istanbul so we were able to sit on the grass just on the first corner.  When the practice started the noise of the cars was literally deafening I never thought it would be as loud as it was. The practice race was great and many people were cheering for their favorite team.

We spent the day walking to different parts of the track trying to work out where the best place to grab a picture would be it was very hard trying to take photos when the cars were passing you at 120mph but it was all fun trying.

There was plenty to keep us amused the whole day with the different things going on and we couldn’t wait until the main race on the Sunday.

The following day was fab there were far more people there and main race was amazing.
Felipe Massa made it three in a row at Istanbul after sealing his third victory at the Speed Park even though there was intense pressure from Lewis Hamilton who led an inspiring charge to second place but it wasn’t quite enough to beat Massa.

The biggest drama of the whole day was at the rear of the field on the opening lap when Giancarlo Fissichella overcooked the first corner and ploughed into the back of Kazuki Nakajima, ripping the rear wing off the Williams and inflicting irreparable damage own his own car but the safety car immediately cam out onto the track as a result of the incident. It was great to watch it all!!!

All in all the weekend was great and half the price of what we would have paid if we had gone to Silverstone to watch the races and we got out of the UK for a few days and managed to see a few of the amazing sites in Istanbul and watch the races.