Holi get Travel

Amy went to Porto by herself but came back with a friend (Picture: Amy Matthews) Sitting outside a restaurant in Porto, Portugal – I smiled as I watched the world go by. I was relaxing after I had enjoyed the most incredible brunch complete with a traditional croquette and some white port, when a softly spoken gentleman appeared and asked if he could share the table. It was a very busy restaurant and I was technically at a table for two, so I gestured to the chair and he joined me. Now, there’s always a moment as a woman alone in public where, when you’re approached by a man, you’re concerned.  Will they do or say something that puts you at ease? Or will they confirm your initial suspicion that you are indeed going to have to find an excuse to leave? Luckily the gentleman did the former. But for those thinking this is the start of a whirlwind holiday romance , allow me to burst your bubble – I am not his type. ‘My husband is back in England,’ he smiled. ‘And I’m m...

Q. I’m quite strict with what I eat and will usually only eat one or two meals a day rather than all three. However, friends have booked an all-inclusive hotel in Turkey for a weeklong trip and it looks like it will be all terrible restaurants with fried foods and sweet cocktails, and they all want to eat dinner together at 7pm (I often don’t eat dinner). I’ve mentioned my concerns but they think I’m being antisocial. How can we ensure group harmony? A. It’s taken a lot of self-control and determination, but I’ve managed to give up dieting. My idea of a “balanced diet” is to have a slice of cake in one hand and a glass of champers in the other. But nothing makes me lose my appetite faster than a fervent dieter’s monotonous mantras of kilo dissection and “clean eating” options. Seated next to an Oxford don at a dinner party recently, I was so looking forward to his nourishing food for thought. What would we discuss first? Proustian philosophies or achieving world peace? Well, the bi...

Bank Holiday on July 13: All nationalised and private banks in India, including the State Bank of India (SBI), will remain shut today, July 13, becasue it is the second Saturday of this month. Banks will also be closed on July 27 for the fourth Saturday off; and July 14, 21 and 28 for Sunday weekend leaves. Overall, July 2024 has at least 12 listed non-working days for banks on account of weekend leaves, religious celebrations and regional holidays. Besides this, each month has second and fourth Saturday and every Sunday off. July 17, 2024: Banks will be closed across India on account of Muharram / Ashura to mark the beginning of the Muslim's sacred month; and U Tirot Sing Day (celebrated in Meghalaya) to recognise the courage of freedom fighter U Tirot Sing, who resisted British colonial rule in the region. Weekend Offs: Sunday leaves on July 7, 14, 21, and 28. And the second and fourth Saturday offs on July 13 and 27. These holidays have been declared by the Rese...

Nikos – not his real name – 44, grew up in Naxos, the largest of Cycladic Islands in the Aegean Sea. As a child, he could travel everywhere in Greece. “Back then, it was very cheap to travel to Paros, Santorini, and so on. Nowadays, things are difficult,” he told BIRN. “We can’t go on holiday to a Greek island. The cost of the tickets is very expensive when you have a family, and we can’t afford it,” said Nikos, who has a family with three children and owns a small shop in the centre of Athens. He added that he cannot even afford to go to his former home island of Naxos this summer. The Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, INSETE, a Greek non-profit, reported that in January and February 2024 revenues from tourism rose by 24.5 per cent compared to the same period of 2023, totaling 570 million euros. But relatively few of these holidaymakers are Greeks, it seems. Experts told BIRN that, due to high inflation and low salaries, Greeks themselves are either redu...

'I don't want to jinx it' - PM on Euros bank holiday Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said "we should certainly mark the occasion" if England win Euro 2024. But he stopped short of confirming there would be a bank holiday if the Three Lions were victorious, saying he did not want to "jinx it". The Liberal Democrats have called for an extra bank holiday if England win, following their 2-1 semi-final victory against the Netherlands on Wednesday. England will play Spain in the final in Berlin on Sunday. Speaking at the Nato summit in Washington, the prime minister said: "We should certainly mark the occasion. "I went to the last Euros finals. I don't want to go through that again so I don't want to jinx anything. "We must mark it in some way but the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday." He previously backed calls for an extra bank holiday if England won the Women's Euro 2022, which they did....

The German government has again made changes to its summer truck ban restrictions. In response, a German haulage organisation has already published a map of alternative routes. You can read this article in 4 minutes At the end of June, the German government published a regulation on summer traffic restrictions, introducing some changes. The revised document regulates the ban on trucks over 7.5t and trucks with trailers from 7 am to 8 pm on all Saturdays between 1 July and 31 August 2024 and in subsequent years.  The routes covered by the summer restrictions were supplemented by the section of the A67 motorway between Darmstädter Kreuz and the Viernheimer junction. Other road sections with summer bans remain unchanged from last year’s list: A1 from Erfttal junction via Leverkusen-West junction, Wuppertal, Kamener Kreuz, Münster to Lohne/Dinklage junction A2 from Oberhausen interchange to Bad Oeynhausen interchange A3 from Oberhausen to Cologne-East junction, from Mönc...

Keir Starmer has said he wants to “mark the occasion” if England win the Euros football tournament, after the team beat the Netherlands to secure a place in Sunday’s final. However, the prime minister stopped short of confirming there would be a bank holiday if Gareth Southgate’s team emerged victorious from their final against Spain, saying that he did not want to “jinx” the outcome. The Liberal Democrats have led calls for an extra bank holiday after England claimed a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday. Starmer previously supported calls for a bank holiday when England’s women’s football team made it to the World Cup final last year. The prime minister, speaking at the Nato summit in Washington, said: “We should certainly mark the occasion, I don’t want to jinx it. I went to the last Euros final, I don’t want to go through that again. “I don’t want to jinx anything but we must mark it in some way. But the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday.” ...