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Europe, France, Travel Stories

Lyon City: History, Food & Culture

France’s Historic Second City and Gourmet Capital Lyon is the number two city of France and on a recent visit to France proved was a revelation. It has many interesting sights to see, great food / gastronomy, magnificent buildings, massive rivers in a city that will not disappoint. Lyon dates back to the Roman and early Christian period. Situated on two major rivers, the Rhone and the Saone, if you remember from your school geography lessons. Today it is a bustling thriving city of 1.5 million people, much the size of Dublin but with many lessons for here. Lyon is an excellent stop over between Paris and the North, a half way point to the south and its sunnier climes of the Riviera. We were heading south on a brief road trip in the past, but never made the city centre. Old Lyon or “Vieux Lyon” was a revelation. A friend from Lyon but based in Waterford, Laurent, gave me some useful tips in advance. He said focus on the old parts but also check out the modern side and its great culinary heritage. We were there in 2024 and suggest it for 2026. Getting There & Around Lyon is well served with transport but the airport is far out of town. Some helpful locals at the airport explained the best way to the city via local bus to tram way and then onto the city centre via lines to the main station. A local Moroccan working as a building engineer made sure we made the right connections and was most obliging as we made tracks for our city centre hotel near the main Perrache station. Across the main river Saone, a tram link on the other side proved useful to visit the local market, Les Halles, where good fresh food awaited. Old Lyon – Vieux Lyon It was then onto “Vieux Lyon” on what was becoming a nice sunny day. A chat and snack saw some more options. Bellecour is a fine place to start too with its wide open square and main focus for shopping, where the FNAC shop overlooks the square. There is a great impression of the city’s prestige and wealth here, tourism office close by and various downtown hotels. It is a 15-minute walk or short tram ride. Paris looks splendid but Lyon gives it a strong impression too with facelifts and regeneration. Old Lyon attracts many tourists but is not overbearing in June, early in the tourist season. See the Iris Galerie, art on eyes and health. A miniature is also an attraction, many interesting points near Place de la Basoche. We sat on an open square under the Jean Baptiste sculpture and took it all in, as it faced the main cathedral of the same name. The fountain had flowing water and a local guy just dashed along to cool off from the water, provoking conversation with nearby locals as he made a bow for his genuine effort, offering a welcome smile and bow (Metro Vieux Lyon). It was a nice introduction again to this impressive city. Along the streets of Vieux Lyon, browsing interesting shops and restaurants, thus finding possibilities for the next day. Guided Tours & Architecture The local tourist office has city tours at 10am daily, given by Laurence. She had great knowledge of the Roman origins and can show you, walking through the city, the incredible Lyon architecture and restoration of older buildings to make them now a tourist attraction with expert guidance. Various tax incentives and local supports encouraged this process. We need to send some Irish urban planners here and see good practice. The quality was superior to our standards but they had great heritage buildings to restore. Local stonemasons and builders have great expertise in this work, restoring residences of four to five storeys high in multi-apartment dwellings over shops and inner courtyards. The thick walls are great in summer heat with shuttered windows. There are apps for such tours also and puzzles. Rivers, Hills & Views The river walks are splendid and give a sense of importance to these great rivers. Other tips from locals are on the edge of the city’s hills or “Colline de Fourvière”. The Esplanade de Fourvière is very impressive. We were recommended to see the river and try some of the boat tours, the food market Les Halles, and the bouchon restaurant area near Bellecour. Bellecour is a fabulous square in the centre of the city, a great meeting place and also the location for the main tourist office. Near access to the rivers of Saone and Rhone and the great bridges, we were recommended to visit an amazing hotel transformed from its previous existence as a hospital. Fabulous job and open to the public for drinks and outdoor dining in the courtyard. This is now known as the Grand Hôtel-Dieu. Locals love it as they remember it from the hospital era. Silk, Fashion & Workers’ History Lyon as a city has tremendous heritage and fashion is another one. It was known as the French city of silk, a prize won by the Sun King Louis XIV as they battled with the Venetians and Italians over trade openings. Venice gave its silk secret to Lyon as part of a deal. Croix Rousse is the area for silk and an old silk artisan building is still operational for visitors to watch and buy silk. Some small artisans still use it but most production is now in Asia. Lyon still has a sense of style but also a cosmopolitan flavour with many nationalities, some from former colonies in Africa and the Caribbean. In the 1830s there were riots and deaths as workers rebelled over wage regulation reductions, with police opening fire on strikers. Over a hundred died. They were called the Canuts and the story is explained at Maison des Canuts at Croix Rousse Metro, about 300 metres from the station. Music, Bars & Nightlife Vieux Lyon is a good location

Europe, Ireland, Travel Stories

Visit Sligo

Surf, Yeats, Coastline & Culture in Ireland’s Northwest We recently ventured to the northwest. Having visited Carrick-on-Shannon, we went a little further to reach the port town of Sligo. We recall the days of the great Blues team and some tussles with Sligo Rovers. Yeats’ poetry is another common link, as is surfing for Tramore people and golf. Like Waterford, Sligo has a fine coastline — not as large — but also beautiful mountain scenery and remarkable megalithic sites, from dolmens to cairns and standing stones. It is easy to spend a few days here without having to drive too far, as activities are varied and close at hand. Sea, Surf & the Atlantic Coast Tramore surfers know Easkey and Strandhill beaches well and have competed there in national competitions. We met people from local surf schools and know the Moore and Moran surfing families, some of whom have spent time here as surf teachers or competitors. Allow around two hours for surfing, including preparation, lessons, and wetsuit changing. Adult group lessons cost approximately €50 per person, with a minimum of three people per group. See StrandhillSurfSchool.com. Mammy Johnston’s ice cream in Strandhill is excellent. However, this is not a safe place for swimming — it is best suited to surfing. We also noted a good menu at the Strand Bar and Restaurant. Another popular attraction is the seaweed baths, where you can enjoy VOYA skin treatments. Swimming is best at Rosses Point beaches and around the pier area near the Sligo Yacht Club. After your swim, try the hot sauna option — €15 for 45 minutes, including a plunge pool — which was busy even midweek. Swimmers can also try the nearby beach, which has soft, dark sand. It was a little blustery on the day, but there is ample parking. The Sligo Metal Man is also located here near the Yacht Club, guarding the shipping channel into Sligo Port. It was built at the same time as the Tramore Metal Man by Lloyd’s of London, though this one stands directly in the sea rather than on a pillar. Rosses Point is also famous for golf. We hear Strandhill also offers good golfing, though it is a challenging links course. Where to Stay Sligo has a good selection of hotels. We stayed at the recommended Sligo Park Hotel in the suburbs. If you prefer a more central location, the Glasshouse Hotel is another option. The Sligo Park Hotel also boasts a fine restaurant. Food, Cafés & Local Dining Other dining options in town include “The Restaurant”, “Hargadon”, and “Osta”. Try real Italian ice cream at Fabio’s near the post office, and visit Lyons Café Bakery. Dining and pubs often feature jazz and live music programmes. Music, Heritage & Local History The famous Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman was based in New York and was one of the first to record Irish music on vinyl. A tribute to him is housed in the town museum, and the Michael Coleman Cultural Centre is located outside the town. The museum also displays the mayoral chain, following changes to Sligo City Council status under Minister Phil Hogan. There are photos of soccer player Dixie Dean at Sligo Rovers, an FAI League pennant from 1937, and many fine historical images from social and revolutionary periods. The Hawks Well Theatre hosts shows and films. Visit the City Museum on the Mall and the Model Gallery, where we saw excellent Yeats-related exhibitions. Another famous Sligo figure is Countess Markievicz, Irish revolutionary and namesake of the local GAA ground. She grew up at nearby Lissadell House, which is open to the public during the summer months. Lough Gill & the Yeats Landscape On this visit, we skipped the Yeats poetry trail due to fine weather and instead took a boat tour on Lough Gill, operated by the McGoldrick family. This is good value, and the guided commentary explains much about the lake, including readings from Yeats’ poems such as The Isle of Innisfree, which also lends its name to the comfortable, covered boat. The Fiddler of Dooney was another Yeats poem quoted during the tour. Lough Gill is remarkably unspoiled and provides drinking water for both Sligo and Leitrim. An American whiskey investor, Sazerac, has taken over a local distillery producing the Garavogue brand at Hawks Rock Distillery. Hazelwood House is to be restored as part of expansion plans, including a new visitor centre near the lake. There is plenty of wildlife around the lake, and some fishing boats are tied up by locals for leisure use. Doorly Park, where the boat departs, is close to town and includes a lovely community café at the old gate lodge. For Yeats enthusiasts, guided tours from the town centre are recommended. Local experts from the Yeats Society are available, including journalist Susan O’Keeffe, a director of the society. A local bank in town also displays Yeats memorabilia. Art, Trails & Landscape After the Lough Gill boat tour, we visited the Jack Yeats exhibition at the Model Gallery, where 20 original paintings from the Niland Collection are on display until late November. Entry is free. There is also a map outlining the Yeats Trail, with five points around Lough Gill, forest areas, and coastal locations. We missed sites such as the Kesh Caves, Knocknarea (Queen Maeve’s Cairn), and Benbulben Mountain, which are all listed on the trail. See: Yeatstrail.ie Roseofinnisfree.com (boat tours, tel. 087 259 8869) Sligowalks.ie for the Queen Maeve Trail near Strandhill Queen Maeve is a fascinating historical figure, reputedly married several times. The Green Fort of Sligo traces the story of the Jacobite Wars of 1690. There is also the Diarmuid and Gráinne Lovers’ Cave, later used as an IRA hideout during the Troubles. Jack Yeats’ paintings in the Model Gallery depict scenes such as horse racing on the strand, the funeral of Harry Boland, political meetings in the west over a 100 years ago, and local scenery. Getting There Trains and buses operate from Dublin Connolly

Europe, Travel Stories, United Kingdom

Bradford City of Culture

Art and Urban Renewal Bradford has become the latest UK city of culture, we wrote about Coventry in the past, which had many Waterford links through sport and work. Hull was more recent and Derry got a boost to from this accolade. You will be impressed with great art and fine sights to see from Little Germany in Bradford to the model village of Saltaire. Bradford is in West Yorkshire between Manchester and Leeds, which also have Irish links. We were invited there by local contact in Bradford city council and via local journalist and given a number of interesting things to see like the Media Museum, the old town and the model town of Saltaire. We also visited galleries, linked to world renowned local artist David Hockney, who now lives in Los Angeles. The art galleries were free as was the media museum. Getting There & Accommodation The city has an airport nearby covering the Leeds Bradford area, with local bus links. The Midland hotel was recommended as being central to the old town that grew from the woollen mills in the 19th century, when it was known as Woolanopolis or Worstedopolis, as their textiles were sent to the empire world and Europe. They went so much to Europe that German buyers and traders came over to construct impressive sand stone buildings in the city and what is now still called ‘little Germany’. Many important institutions use the buildings today. We had been to this area in the 1990s. There have been noticeable building up grades and cleaning of exteriors in the city centre, on a negative side too many bookies and gaming places are in the centre. City Life, Food & Nightlife Night time area downtown is on Ivegate, where the Dubliner pub located, some pubs midweek charged 3 pound a pint. Nice eateries nearby, including as the city is famous for curries. The city centre reflects prosperity in the past and the city of culture was added to provide further rejuvenation. Media Museum & David Hockney Media museum has a brilliant David Hockney exhibition, where layered and photography using joinery methods where several cameras used on vehicle to film 4 seasons in local Woldgate woods in East Yorkshire, done in a split second and pieced together. Hockney is a brilliant modern artist with these multiple images. On the downstairs of the Media museum, there is a tribute to the early days of photography from its early discovery and science to the early pictures in France and UK in mid 1850s to the Kodak Brownies and seaside snapshots of visitors. Photos were the preserve of the well off originally but then holiday makers and families would go to photo studios. Polaroid cameras would have big impact, but the digital camera would see the almost the end of film photography and Kodak from the American city of Rochester, twinned with Waterford and the home of Bausch and Lomb also. Cartwright Hall & Further Art We took a bus ride to the Cartwright Hall for more art on Hockney and others like Lowry, again free and worth the visit, the local lad who made good, starting in the local art college and then the Royal College of Art. He had studios after in Notting Hill and very innovative using modern styles and photography. Light and change are used so well. Hockney still works into his 80s and loves swimming pool settings in LA and has his own one.!! loves also the American west, less so loud New York. Saltaire – Model Village Our final destination was the model village of Saltaire, built by mill owner Titus Salt, where better living conditions for workers were created with company housing, schools, community center and church plus a mill employing 3000 workers. Trading could change in the post war eras and eventually, the mill would close. A local entrepreneur would purchase it and turn it into a gallery, concert venue and local shops. Hockney would support him as a friend with an art donation and still does to new operators. Jonathan Silver would die of cancer when only partly achieving his objective. Today it is a must see and highly recommended by locals, we had been there in the 1990s prior to the full transformation but now is outstanding. Saltaire even has its own local craft brewery, brewing not allowed in the old days, even a Titus bar too, nearby fine bakery, where you can buy a fine local Yorkshire pasty and home made soup. Timothy Taylor is the local brew in Bradford, be sure to try this fine ale. Industry, Community & Heritage It would be great if something similar was possible for the Portlaw tannery plant, but it takes a lot of money. Nearby modern Leeds based workers have bought the nice sandstone houses and with convenient Saltaire rail links, the area is revived and Fashionable. Salt mills had thriving shops, galleries and eateries, just a few miles from hills of Yorkshire where sheep graze. The local wool was the raw material for this world renowned wool industry. Saltaire also used Alpaca from Peru to get premium market leadership. It is a great tale, watch the film on top floor about the story of Titus Salt family and its development, fascinating. Get there via local bus from Cartwright Hall, the number is 662 and will also bring you to Bradford city centre. There is a large Asian community in the city form the sixties to work in the textiles industry prior to its demise. See Manningham Lane on this route where there are many Asian clothing shops. Bargains to be had here. Food, Culture & Links In terms of Asian food and restaurants try the International Sweet Centre and My Lahore in the city centre, see visit bradford.com, where they have even a curry guide. Bradford also famous for the Bronte family. Derry, which we know and Coventry were previous culture cities we wrote about, areas that have potential for

Europe, Portugal, Travel Stories

Lisbon for City Break and Day Trips

Top Quality City Break and Ideal Base for Day Trips Lisbon is now one of Europe’s top city-break destinations, and it can easily be combined with a beach stopover or day trips to places such as Sintra. Its setting on the River Tagus, impressive high-level bridges, and proximity to the sea at Estoril and Cascais make it a highly desirable place to visit. On this occasion, we explored areas to the south of the city, including the beach town of Vila Nova de Milfontes. This was our fourth visit to Lisbon, and there is still much left to discover. Getting Around For longer stays and trips outside the city, a car can be useful. However, public transport within Lisbon is excellent and, in our view, more efficient than Dublin’s. Trams, metro lines, buses, ferries, and trains make it easy to move around without the hassle of driving. We stayed near the river at Vila Galé Ópera, close to Santos and the main transport hub at Cais do Sodré, with metro, train, and tram connections. Historic Areas and Landmarks Many visitors head straight to Belém to see the famous riverside monuments, museums, and walkways. Highlights include: Belém Tower, dating back to the 1600s The Discoveries Monument, marking the voyages of explorers such as Vasco da Gama Jerónimos Monastery, where Vasco da Gama’s remains are interred Portugal’s colonial past is strongly reflected here, with historic links to Asia, South Africa, and South America. There are also Irish connections, as some Irish officers served in the Portuguese Navy after leaving Ireland post-1690. We also enjoyed exploring the older districts of Alfama and Graça, where Lisbon’s character remains largely unchanged. Narrow streets, small cafés, local grocery shops, and residents watching street life from doorways give these areas a timeless feel. Bridges and Modern Lisbon The striking red bridge near the Vila Galé Ópera resembles San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Built in the 1960s, it is now known as the 25th of April Bridge, commemorating the peaceful 1974 revolution that ended the Salazar dictatorship. Nearby, the MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology is a must-visit, with engaging exhibitions. The Berardo Collection Museum offers an impressive modern art collection featuring Picasso, Miró, Warhol, Damien Hirst, and more. The former Royal Coach Museum is also worth a visit. Art, Culture, and Museums Lisbon excels in art and culture. The Gulbenkian Foundation museums are exceptional, housing collections ranging from Egyptian artefacts and Ming porcelain to Flemish masters, Rembrandt, Turner, Monet, and Manet. The foundation also supports contemporary artists and study programmes. We also discovered the MNAC – National Museum of Contemporary Art, which featured an exhibition on Irish-born architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose work later gained international recognition. Some of her designs have since sold for record prices and can be seen in collections such as Collins Barracks in Dublin. The Model Gallery, city museum on the Mall, and Yeats-related exhibitions further enhance Lisbon’s cultural appeal. Day Trips and Boat Tours A harbour boat tour or a ferry crossing using a travel card is a great way to experience the river. We recommend a short ferry trip to Cacilhas for lunch and views back across the Tagus. Sintra is another popular day trip, while coastal areas such as Cascais and Estoril offer easy beach escapes. Food, Drink, and Markets Lisbon’s food scene is vibrant and varied: The Mercado da Ribeira / Time Out Market is lively and social, with stalls run by well-known chefs Traditional cafés such as A Brasileira are ideal for a break The Rossio area is great for shopping, books, and maps Alfama and Graça offer excellent local fish dishes and desserts For something special, Michelin-recommended restaurants are available, but booking ahead is advised. Music, History, and Nightlife Fado music is deeply rooted in Lisbon’s culture and is best experienced live. Music venues across the city also feature Brazilian, Cape Verdean, and international performances. For 20th-century history, the Aljube Museum provides powerful insight into Portugal’s dictatorship, censorship, and colonial wars. This former political police headquarters offers archive film and exhibitions that are both educational and moving. Practical Tips Lisbon is best explored on foot and by public transport Avoid driving in the city centre due to narrow streets and heavy traffic Watch for pickpockets in busy tourist areas Tram 28 offers a scenic route through historic districts The Lisbon Card provides transport and attraction discounts Getting There We flew from Dublin with TAP Air Portugal, offering convenient daytime flights and efficient airport handling. Lisbon Airport has excellent metro, bus, and train connections for onward travel. Where to Stay Vila Galé Ópera, Santos area – good value off-season Hotel Eden, near Restauradores Apartments and B&Bs in Graça or Alfama for a more local experience Lisbon combines history, culture, food, and coastal access in a way few European cities can match. Friendly locals, a relaxed atmosphere, and excellent value make it a destination well worth returning to.

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