There’s a host of festive fun in store STOUT & ABOUT!
SOMERSET: Arrive on Friday for the three-night Shiiine On Weekender at Butlin’s Minehead, celebrating Indie and dance music from the late 80s and beyond. It costs from £195pp based on four sharing a silver selfcatering apartment. More at bigweekends.com or dial 0330 102 5295. MALDIVES: Depart Manchester on Tuesday to enjoy a seven-night all-inclusive stay at the four-star Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi Hotel on Lohifushi Island for £1,016. Visit awayholidays.co.uk or dial 0208 705 0107. FUERTEVENTURA: Check out this value break costing £157 for seven nights on all-inclusive at the four-star Jandia Golf Hotel in Morro del Jable. Fly from Gatwick on November 29. You can find out more details at teletextholidays.co.uk. JACK WILSON I’M sipping a pint of Guinness, seven floors above Dublin with a perfect view of the city.
To the east is St Patrick’s Cathedral, built nearly 1,000 years ago.
Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university, is close by, while in the distance are the rolling Dublin Mountains.
They say you can experience all four seasons within a few hours here. Well there’s only one out there – a deep, dark, winter chill.
Fortunately, the Guinness Storehouse warms the cockles (and mussels, myself and girlfriend Charlotte are in Dublin after all). Put simply, this is the one place in the city you really must visit.
You get a run-through of the history of the drink, what goes in it and how it’s made before having a chance to taste it yourself.
That comes on the seventh floor at the Gravity Bar, which is the big pull. Here you get a 360-degree panoramic view over Ireland’s capital. There is no better place in the city to take in the views while staying warm and dry.
The ticket price of £20 includes a pint, either when you get to the top, or on the third floor.
It’s on floor three where you can learn how to pour Guinness like a pro in six easy steps and you’ll get a certificate to prove it.
And the answer to the million dollar question? Guinness really does taste better in Dublin. Scientists have even carried out tests to prove it.
While there’s always a reason to celebrate here, the city goes all out on its Christmas and New Year festivities. Already up and running is The Moving Crib at St Martin Apostolate. This much-loved nativity scene features more than 100 handcrafted figurines, handpainted backdrops and sets.
The official start to the festive season is on November 13, when the Grafton Street Christmas lights are switched on. The crowd can enjoy free musical acts, carols, a magic show and comedy from 4pm.
Once again, Custom House Quay will host the “I Believe” Christmas Market featuring food, drink, craft, horticulture products and an apres-ski pop-up bar from November 26. Meanwhile, Ireland’s largest Christmas theme park, Funderland Christmas Market, returns to Simmonscourt Pavilion from December 12 with rides, an outdoor ice rink, speciality foods and crafts. Then comes Dublin’s New Year’s Festival, an almighty three-day blowout which transforms the city. Starting the party on December 30 is Luminosity, where Dublin’s Custom House is turned into a dazzling video canvas of crazy spinning wheels in mind-boggling optical illusions.
Then, at shows throughout the festival, the Sky Dance aerial display artists turn the building into an amazing 4D performance.
Catch Dublin’s emerging musical talent for free at the all-day music trail taking place in 15 venues, go on one of the many fascinating walking tours, or be surprised by pop-up events such as the Hit