DESTINATIONS February 23, 2015
• Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia join Irish Open
• Virginia, USA 10 Top New Restaurants 2015
• Fly to Brazil from Britain with TAP's new top offers
• Special Mother’s Day Treats from the ITAA
• Armchair Travel: Canada, Ireland, France
Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia join star-studded Irish Open field
Four-time Major-winner Ernie Els and Ryder Cup talisman, Sergio Garcia, have become the latest superstars to add their names to this year’s Irish Open at Royal County Down - fast becoming one of the strongest fields in the tournament’s recent history.
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This year’s event will mark Garcia’s first appearance in 15 years at the tournament which launched his professional career as a precocious teenager in 1999, when he captured his first European Tour title at Druids Glen.
Meanwhile Els, who has accumulated 28 Tour titles during the course of a glittering career spanning more than a quarter of a century, will visit the Irish Open for the first time since 1998.
Their long-awaited return will only add to the growing hype surrounding this year’s event at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland, with American Rickie Fowler and former World Number One Lee Westwood having already announced their attendance alongside tournament host and World Number One Rory McIlroy, his compatriots Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell and defending champion Mikko Ilonen.
McIlroy, whose charitable foundation The Rory Foundation will be the official tournament host this year, has been instrumental in attracting some of the biggest names in world golf to the County Down venue, regarded as one of the greatest links courses in the world.
Garcia, 35, is eagerly anticipating his first appearance on Northern Irish soil as a professional having enjoyed great success in the Republic, where he won the Irish Open as a teenager before playing a prominent role in The Ryder Cup at the K Club in County Kildare seven years later.
Why not join them !
Anyone wishing to witness the action first hand can purchase tickets at www.irishopen.ie. Tickets cost between £30 and £35 per day and families will be delighted to hear that kids under the age of 16 will be admitted FREE as long as they are accompanied by an adult (up to four children are allowed with one paying adult).
Corporate hospitality packages are also available for the event at a cost of £300 + VAT per person. Already sold out on Friday May 29, these exclusive tickets include course admission with reserved grandstand seat on the 18th green, an official programme, reserved VIP parking (for one or two people), and generous hospitality in the Grand Ballroom in the neighbouring Slieve Donard Hotel - including breakfast followed by a Champagne Reception, a buffet lunch served with fine wines, afternoon tea and a complimentary bar.
For information on the Irish Open 2015 or to purchase tickets, visit www.irishopen.ie
For information on accommodation offers and golf in Northern Ireland, visit www.discovernorthernireland.com/irish-open-2015.
Virginia, USA 10 Top New Restaurants 2015
Visit Virginia has a number of new innovative restaurants that cater for a variety of tastes and have sent us their list of the Top 10 new restaurants.
• Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia join Irish Open
• Virginia, USA 10 Top New Restaurants 2015
• Fly to Brazil from Britain with TAP's new top offers
• Special Mother’s Day Treats from the ITAA
• Armchair Travel: Canada, Ireland, France
Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia join star-studded Irish Open field
Four-time Major-winner Ernie Els and Ryder Cup talisman, Sergio Garcia, have become the latest superstars to add their names to this year’s Irish Open at Royal County Down - fast becoming one of the strongest fields in the tournament’s recent history.
This year’s event will mark Garcia’s first appearance in 15 years at the tournament which launched his professional career as a precocious teenager in 1999, when he captured his first European Tour title at Druids Glen.
Meanwhile Els, who has accumulated 28 Tour titles during the course of a glittering career spanning more than a quarter of a century, will visit the Irish Open for the first time since 1998.
Their long-awaited return will only add to the growing hype surrounding this year’s event at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland, with American Rickie Fowler and former World Number One Lee Westwood having already announced their attendance alongside tournament host and World Number One Rory McIlroy, his compatriots Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell and defending champion Mikko Ilonen.
McIlroy, whose charitable foundation The Rory Foundation will be the official tournament host this year, has been instrumental in attracting some of the biggest names in world golf to the County Down venue, regarded as one of the greatest links courses in the world.
Garcia, 35, is eagerly anticipating his first appearance on Northern Irish soil as a professional having enjoyed great success in the Republic, where he won the Irish Open as a teenager before playing a prominent role in The Ryder Cup at the K Club in County Kildare seven years later.
Why not join them !
Anyone wishing to witness the action first hand can purchase tickets at www.irishopen.ie. Tickets cost between £30 and £35 per day and families will be delighted to hear that kids under the age of 16 will be admitted FREE as long as they are accompanied by an adult (up to four children are allowed with one paying adult).
Corporate hospitality packages are also available for the event at a cost of £300 + VAT per person. Already sold out on Friday May 29, these exclusive tickets include course admission with reserved grandstand seat on the 18th green, an official programme, reserved VIP parking (for one or two people), and generous hospitality in the Grand Ballroom in the neighbouring Slieve Donard Hotel - including breakfast followed by a Champagne Reception, a buffet lunch served with fine wines, afternoon tea and a complimentary bar.
For information on the Irish Open 2015 or to purchase tickets, visit www.irishopen.ie
For information on accommodation offers and golf in Northern Ireland, visit www.discovernorthernireland.com/irish-open-2015.
Visit Virginia has a number of new innovative restaurants that cater for a variety of tastes and have sent us their list of the Top 10 new restaurants.
1 GRAFFIATO, Richmond
Chef Mike Isabella’s second Graffiato restaurant offers seasonal small plates inspired by the fresh tastes of the Mediterranean cuisine, and the homely style of his Italian-American grandmother’s cooking. Guests can try one of Grandmother Isabella’s best dishes – a carrot gemelli (spiral pasta) with lamb sugo, mint pesto and pecorino. Or they can go for something completely different and try the charred octopus with blackberry mostarda – a fruit and mustard based condiment.
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| Visit: www.graffiatorva.com |
2 HOMEGROWN, Portsmouth
HomeGrown is the epitome of local cuisine – typically using ingredients from a weekly farmers market to create a menu of fresh sandwiches, entrees and regional pizzas. The aptly named ‘HomeGrown’ is a sauté of local fresh vegetables that changes depending on the market. The Farmer pizza is a firm favourite too, with local bacon, spinach and caramelized onions.
3 LAGER HEADS, Virginia Beach
Visitors of the state can relax just feet away from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront with a fresh, cold beer in their hand at the suitably named Lager Heads. This outdoor seated restaurant goes to town on the burger front, including the Cowboy Burger – a beef patty with cheddar cheese, tobacco onions, whisky laced barbecue sauce and sweet pickles on Texas toast.
4 LEGRAND KITCHEN, Norfolk
A tiny 16 seat restaurant based in Norfolk, LeGrand is said to be inspired by good food and rock ‘n’ roll, creating satisfying fresh dishes made with local, seasonal cuisine. The main dishes change with the seasons, but diners can eat their way through their seasonal salads in the sunshine, or try the Pimento Cheese smeared on toasted potato bread.
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| Visit: www.legrandkitchen.com |
5 PASTUREQ, Charlotesville
If guests are looking for a night of delicious Southern style BBQ food whilst chilling out with friends, Pastureq is the place to go. Diners can snack on pimento cheese and devilled eggs whilst they chat way into the night, or eat their way through the Three Meat Platter – a plate full of delicious pulled pork, beef brisket and hot sausage link.
6 LUCY’S, Richmond
For something a little quieter and quaint, travellers should head to Lucy’s. A friendly, comforting restaurant featuring Monrovia Farm beef and other produce from the local farm, Lucy’s is an uncomplicated approach to good food. Lots of the dishes are centred on the delectable Monrovia beef, for instance the dry-aged beef of the day, as well as providing delicious veggie sides such as black eyed peas and stewed tomatoes.
7 OFF THE HOOK, Chesapeake
Both a fresh seafood restaurant and a seafood market, Off The Hook has a relaxed vibe offering the best from the sea. The menu is created each day with what is seasonal and fresh from the market, but a keen favourite is the whole snapper – tender, flaky, moist, and deliciously fresh.
8 REPUBLIC KITCHEN AND BAR, Arlington
For contemporary comfort food with a modern twist, guests can head over to Republic Kitchen and Bar. Offering bar favourites, including chicken and waffles served with maple-bourbon-bacon syrup, this chic restaurant is airy and inviting.
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| Visit: www.republic-arlington.com |
9 THE SHACK, Staunton
One for the serious foodies, The Shack offers an innovative menu of classic Virginian dishes. Guests can sit in the shack-like interior and feast on the Maple Quail – oyster-cornbread stuffing, pumpkin, Brussel sprouts, cranberries and chestnuts, and finish with the Sweet Potato Fry Pie with lemon curd and burnt marshmallow fluff. The Shack has also been named one of the South’s best new restaurants in 2014 by Southern Living Magazine.
10 LE YACA, Williamsburg
Having re-opened in a new location, Le Yaca is now offering a bigger menu filled with delicious French cuisine in a relaxed surrounding. Les Escargots are recommended for all the foodies – half-dozen plump snails presented in wells filled with rich, melted garlic and parsley butter, and a side of tomato concassee with bread ready for dipping.
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| Visit: www.leyacawilliamsburg.com |
For more on Virginia and the Capital Region USA
visit www.CapitalRegionUSA.co.uk
Fly to Brazil from Britain with TAP's new top offers
TAP, the Portugese airline, currently has a number of offers to Brazil from Manchester and London, Great Britain.
TAP has return flights from Manchester and London to:
• Rio de Janeiro from £489 per person
• São Paulo (including Campinas) from £525 per person
• Salvador from £553 per person
• Manaus, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Natal, Fortaleza from £493 per person
• Recife, Porto Alegre, Brasilia from £496 per person
Prices quoted above are in British Pounds Sterling, and can be booked until 02 March 2015, for travel from 01/03/2015 to 26/03/2015 and from 07/04/2015 to 15/06/2015.
For further information and to book visit www.flytap.com or call 0345 601 0932. All deals are inclusive of taxes and subject to availability.
Special Mother’s Day Treats from the ITAA
The Irish Travel Agents Association, ITAA, have sent us some offers to spoil your mother this March 15th with these bargain holiday deals
3 Star Hotel Orquidea, Madeira, Portugal, 7th May, 7 nights, €399pp
Whisk her away to Madeira Portugal in May with Fahy Travel. Located in the centre of Funchal, this hotel offers guests easy access to all the main attractions including the "Se Cathedral", São Lourenço Fort and Palace, the Sacred Art Museum and theatres, museums and historic sites. As well as its fantastic location, guests can enjoy the Hotel Orquidea's facilities including a restaurant, bar and spa and wellness centre.
Price includes; seven nights B&B accommodation at 3*Hotel Orquidea, return flights and transfers.
For more information on this deal available from Fahy Travel visit: www.itaa.ie/mothers-breakaway/
3 Star Prage 1 Hotel, Prague, 14th March, 4 nights, €399pps
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Treat your mother to four nights in Prague for a special Mother’s Day gift from Blackpool Travel. An amazing destination for a city break, Prague has plenty to offer visitors with magnificent architecture, breathtaking views all along the river Vltava, great shopping opportunities, vibrant cafes and a magnitude of historical gardens and parks.
Price includes; four nights B&B accommodation at 3* Prage 1 Hotel, flights and transfers.
For more information on this deal available from Blackpool Travel visit: www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-special-offer/
3 Star Avenida Gran Via Hotel, Madrid, 13th March, 3 nights, €696 for two
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JustSplit.com want to whisk your mother away to Madrid this Mothers Day! Madrid has plenty to offer for art lovers, the Reyna Sofia Museum is almost attached to the hotel and the El Prado Museum is a short distant away by foot. The deal includes a free panoramic Madrid sightseeing tour, perfect for discovering as much of the city as possible in a short few hours. Famed as a fashion capital, stylish mothers will love the shopping options in the Salamanca District and along the Calle Serrano.
Price includes; three nights accommodation at 3* Avenida Gran Via Hotel, return flights to Madrid and a free panoramic Madrid sightseeing tour.
For more information on this deal available from JustSplit.com visit: www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-offers-city-breaks/
…and check out these:
3 Star London Stay for 3 nights, from €420pp with Premier Travel. www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-special/
4 Star Paris Stay for 3 nights, from €369pp with The Travel Broker. www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-in-paris-from-e369-00/
4 Star Lisbon Stay for 3 nights from €279pp with Travalue.ie. www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-offer-to-lisbon/
Armchair Travel: Canada, Ireland, France
In the last of the series, Getaways, Monday, February 23, 7.30pm., BBC1 N Ireland, Joe Lindsay and Angela Scanlon visit Toronto, Canada, where Angela checks out her vertigo rating on the CN Tower's EdgeWalk, the highest full-circle, hands-free walk in the world. They visit the Blue Mountain alpine ski resort and take a boat trip under Niagara Falls. In Ireland, Angela takes a break in Newcastle in Co Down.
A Cook Abroad: Monica Galetti's France, February 23, 9:00pm., BBC2 N Ireland: Masterchef judge, Monica visits the Jura region of eastern France, with the area's food producers. She joins a boar hunt, learns the secret of French cheese making. Ends up on the slopes of Mont d'Or, Monica preparing a homely feast using produce she gathered herself.
Dara and Ed's Great Big Adventure, RTÉ One, 10.15pm Thursday February 26,
Dara Ó Briain and Ed Byrne encounter the Mayan deity Maximon at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Dara investigates the dangers of the highways, and learns of travellers frequently robbed by gangs. They later visit the old colonial city of Antigua and nearby Pacaya, a still active volcano. In El Salvador, one of the most violent countries in Central America. Their final stop in this episode is Lake Nicaragua.
Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South, BBC2 N Ireland, 9.15pm Saturday February 28, Georgian-born, London-based comedian drives across the American South and this week is in Alabama, where he attends a Lynyrd Skynyrd gig and learns about the city of Muscle Shoals' role in the development of soul. Reg then heads back to Georgia, where in Athens - home to rock bands the B52s and REM - and the birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King in Atlanta, the birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King and rapper Ludacris. Also contributions by Arrested Development, St Paul and the Broken Bones, Clarence Carter and Sharon Jones.
Fly to Brazil from Britain with TAP's new top offers
TAP, the Portugese airline, currently has a number of offers to Brazil from Manchester and London, Great Britain.
TAP has return flights from Manchester and London to:
• Rio de Janeiro from £489 per person
• São Paulo (including Campinas) from £525 per person
• Salvador from £553 per person
• Manaus, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Natal, Fortaleza from £493 per person
• Recife, Porto Alegre, Brasilia from £496 per person
Prices quoted above are in British Pounds Sterling, and can be booked until 02 March 2015, for travel from 01/03/2015 to 26/03/2015 and from 07/04/2015 to 15/06/2015.
For further information and to book visit www.flytap.com or call 0345 601 0932. All deals are inclusive of taxes and subject to availability.
Special Mother’s Day Treats from the ITAA
The Irish Travel Agents Association, ITAA, have sent us some offers to spoil your mother this March 15th with these bargain holiday deals
3 Star Hotel Orquidea, Madeira, Portugal, 7th May, 7 nights, €399pp
Whisk her away to Madeira Portugal in May with Fahy Travel. Located in the centre of Funchal, this hotel offers guests easy access to all the main attractions including the "Se Cathedral", São Lourenço Fort and Palace, the Sacred Art Museum and theatres, museums and historic sites. As well as its fantastic location, guests can enjoy the Hotel Orquidea's facilities including a restaurant, bar and spa and wellness centre.
Price includes; seven nights B&B accommodation at 3*Hotel Orquidea, return flights and transfers.
For more information on this deal available from Fahy Travel visit: www.itaa.ie/mothers-breakaway/
3 Star Prage 1 Hotel, Prague, 14th March, 4 nights, €399pps
Treat your mother to four nights in Prague for a special Mother’s Day gift from Blackpool Travel. An amazing destination for a city break, Prague has plenty to offer visitors with magnificent architecture, breathtaking views all along the river Vltava, great shopping opportunities, vibrant cafes and a magnitude of historical gardens and parks.Price includes; four nights B&B accommodation at 3* Prage 1 Hotel, flights and transfers.
For more information on this deal available from Blackpool Travel visit: www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-special-offer/
3 Star Avenida Gran Via Hotel, Madrid, 13th March, 3 nights, €696 for two
JustSplit.com want to whisk your mother away to Madrid this Mothers Day! Madrid has plenty to offer for art lovers, the Reyna Sofia Museum is almost attached to the hotel and the El Prado Museum is a short distant away by foot. The deal includes a free panoramic Madrid sightseeing tour, perfect for discovering as much of the city as possible in a short few hours. Famed as a fashion capital, stylish mothers will love the shopping options in the Salamanca District and along the Calle Serrano.Price includes; three nights accommodation at 3* Avenida Gran Via Hotel, return flights to Madrid and a free panoramic Madrid sightseeing tour.
For more information on this deal available from JustSplit.com visit: www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-offers-city-breaks/
…and check out these:
3 Star London Stay for 3 nights, from €420pp with Premier Travel. www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-special/
4 Star Paris Stay for 3 nights, from €369pp with The Travel Broker. www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-in-paris-from-e369-00/
4 Star Lisbon Stay for 3 nights from €279pp with Travalue.ie. www.itaa.ie/mothers-day-offer-to-lisbon/
Armchair Travel: Canada, Ireland, France
In the last of the series, Getaways, Monday, February 23, 7.30pm., BBC1 N Ireland, Joe Lindsay and Angela Scanlon visit Toronto, Canada, where Angela checks out her vertigo rating on the CN Tower's EdgeWalk, the highest full-circle, hands-free walk in the world. They visit the Blue Mountain alpine ski resort and take a boat trip under Niagara Falls. In Ireland, Angela takes a break in Newcastle in Co Down.
 |
| Monica Galetti in the French Mountains pruning the vines. Photo: BBC/Nadège Laici |
A Cook Abroad: Monica Galetti's France, February 23, 9:00pm., BBC2 N Ireland: Masterchef judge, Monica visits the Jura region of eastern France, with the area's food producers. She joins a boar hunt, learns the secret of French cheese making. Ends up on the slopes of Mont d'Or, Monica preparing a homely feast using produce she gathered herself.
Dara and Ed's Great Big Adventure, RTÉ One, 10.15pm Thursday February 26,
Dara Ó Briain and Ed Byrne encounter the Mayan deity Maximon at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Dara investigates the dangers of the highways, and learns of travellers frequently robbed by gangs. They later visit the old colonial city of Antigua and nearby Pacaya, a still active volcano. In El Salvador, one of the most violent countries in Central America. Their final stop in this episode is Lake Nicaragua.
Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South, BBC2 N Ireland, 9.15pm Saturday February 28, Georgian-born, London-based comedian drives across the American South and this week is in Alabama, where he attends a Lynyrd Skynyrd gig and learns about the city of Muscle Shoals' role in the development of soul. Reg then heads back to Georgia, where in Athens - home to rock bands the B52s and REM - and the birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King in Atlanta, the birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King and rapper Ludacris. Also contributions by Arrested Development, St Paul and the Broken Bones, Clarence Carter and Sharon Jones.