Lads' Weekend versus a Week Wiv Da Family (What is your ideal Holiday?)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	What is your ideal Holiday?
Date:	31/03/07 (954 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Holidays rock

Disadvantages: Surely none?

I love going on holiday but then don’t we all? There’s nothing better than getting away from the stresses and strains of work (or studies if you are a student) and all of those other commitments that weigh us down from day to day. Over the years I’ve had some great holidays. The ones that stick out the most would be visiting Florida twice and a truly awesome week in New York. I suppose the question of what makes an ideal holiday was crystallized by recent experiences only this year. I’ve not long returned from a long weekend in Dublin and I’m about to depart for a week in Wales with the family. These two experiences simply couldn’t be any more different and it’s an interesting call as to which one I will actually prefer *checks to see if wife’s reading over shoulder*

Option 1 in this case was a long weekend with mates in Dublin. Inspired by a Brummie friend of Irish descent, 17 of us descended on the Irish capital for a few days of culture and education. Erm....OK....I’m clearly lying but it was worth a try *reader rolls eyes* Nope, I shared a room with a friend at a hotel in Ballsbridge and we embarked on a loooong drinking spree taking in the Ireland v Wales game at a well known pub in Malahide as well as suffering the Israel v England fixture in another pub by our hotel before hitting the city centre for our second night’s revelries. When I look back, this whole experience was top quality. Good friends, loads of beer, great pubs, decent night clubs and a very friendly local population. Big up to those Irish girls - you rock hugely! Dublin reminds me a lot of London, what with the style of housing, the sprawl of night life and the high prices of the drinks. Yessiree, we took in all the classic haunts like “The Hairy Lemon” pub, “Break for the Border” nightclub and all those other obvious tourist traps that suck in virtually every hen night going in the UK! So by the time we’d landed at Manchester airport on the Sunday, I’d had copious amounts of beer, lots of great conversations, dancing, revelry and was pretty tired with it all (so much so I wanna go again later this year!). So could *anything* top that?

In complete contrast, I’ve hired a cottage in Abergavenny in Wales for a week during Easter. This will be a week with the family exploring National parks, the Welsh coast and taking in lots of scenery and fresh air avec cross colley dog for the first time. We’ve had this kind of holiday before when we visited the Highlands of Scotland and Kerry in Ireland. Both were fabulous experiences. Scotland was breathtakingly beautiful. On that holiday we took in a trip to Loch Ness, driving through the Highlands and Fort William on our way to the famous tourist site as well as exploring Loch Lomond, Stirling Castle and the Trossachs while we were over there. This part of Scotland is truly stunning and we loved it so much that we even considered moving up there! Ireland was also lovely. With a population of approximately five million, bizarrely nearly everyone seems to live in and around the Dublin area. On our visit, we trekked across Ireland by car after having arrived by ferry from Holyhead. It was worth the journey as Kerry replete with Dingle and Funghi the dolphin was brilliant. We stayed in a small cottage just a few miles from the coast and those beaches and general scenery remained unspoiled due to far to many people not realising what’s there! This seems to be a great opportunity in the Celtic countries with lots of unspoiled countryside and a more relaxed way of life probably driven by having far less people in the country as a whole.

So two very different types of holiday but which one is better? Well, if I throw in my other experiences in New York and Florida then we have another couple of scenarios that put a spanner in the works. City breaks are a good idea if you like taking in the urban attractions that come with it. I loved New York because the place was crackling with life every second of every day. We shamelessly did all of the tourist attractions including Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and Central Park to name but a few. New York truly is the city that never sleeps and you could go through some serious money taking in all the sights and sounds of the Big Apple. All I would say is that it’s worth every penny/cent and I intend to go back some time as it feels like I have unfinished business over there.

Yet another contrast is Florida. I’ve been twice, taking in the ephemeral Orlando and Disney. Again, shamelessly, I loved it on both occasions. Florida has a wonderfully, sub-tropical climate (got me a sunburn on my first visit!), lots to see and do and a very efficient, tourist-friendly machine in the shape of the people that actually look after their guests over there. I’ve been with wife and children as well as just me and my good lady and it was excellent on both occasions. There's nowt better than doing the theme parks but then I'd still love to visit the Everglades some day and the other side of the State, over Miami and St Petersburg way, is absolutely gorgeous. All I would say is that if you going to take children then make sure that they are old enough to appreciate the experience. My lad was six when we went and he remembers most of what went on but I can never understand those people that take little kiddies in push chairs who are too young to remember a thing and yet mom and/or dad have spent a small fortune on the experience. It’s just weird.

Well I suppose I really ought to make a decision by now as to which is my favourite kind of holiday. Hmmmm....well, I guess if you pressed me then I truly prefer the more scenic holidays like Ireland and Scotland where I can take in the sights and sounds of the countryside and meet friendly people. Then again…I did like the lads' weekend in Dublin though :O)

Thanks for the read

Mara

Summary: My take on favourite holidays