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DAILY STAR SUNDAY, September 14, 2014
DAILY STAR SUNDAY, September 14, 2014
TRAVEL CYPRUS: Pay £459 for a week n all-inclusive at the four-star Akteon Holiday Village in Paphos.
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VICKY LISSAMAN HALKIDIKI: Seven n nights on half-board at the five-star Eagles
Palace in Ouranoupolis is from £449. Fly from various airports in October 2014 and April and May 2015. See broadwaytravel.com. CORNWALL: Hire Uncle Tom’s Cabin in central Newquay from £275. It has one bedroom and is available until October 13. See holidaylettings.co.uk Home ID is 4931843. FLORIDA: Five nights’ room-only at the 3.5 star Guy Harvest Outpost Resort in Tampa is from £545pp based on two adults and two children. Fly from Heathrow in October including half-term. Call 020 8290 9797. RHODES: Enjoy seven nights at the five-star Princess Andriana Resort & Spa Hotel overlooking Kiotari beach from £588. Fly from selected airports in September. See inspiredluxuryescapes.com. CALIFORNIA: Five nights at the 3.5 star Doubletree by Hilton San Diego Hotel Circle in San Diego is from £799, travelling from Heathrow between September 17 and October 6. Car hire from £23 per day. Visit ba.com/sandiego. MALLORCA: An October half-term break for four is £1,303, staying for five nights all-inclusive at three-star Calas De Mallorca Resort in Cala Antena. Fly from East Mids on October 26. Call 020 8974 7200.
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Rollercoaster of fun and excitement never stops in
AUL’ REEKIE TAKES CENTRE STAGE n
TWILIGHT GLORY: Edinburgh’s beautiful skyline from Calton Hill. And fireworks at the Military Tattoo, right
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ZOMBIE hordes marauding through the streets, drunks performing Shakespeare and pinball games as art… it had to be festival time in Edinburgh!
Fly from Manchester and Gatwick on September 28. Just call 0808 909 8063 for more information. TENERIFE: A seven-night all-inclusive break at the four-star Hotel Trianflor in Puerto de
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festival city of Edinburgh
MIND GAMES: Amazing mentalist Colin Cloud
STAR n TURNS: Comic Richard
Herring and the No Fit State Circus, right
world music, the Book Festival, the International Festival and the Military Tattoo, with its displays of military bands inside the castle. With so much going on in venues spread citywide, you need somewhere to rest your weary bones. Edinburgh can be an dear place in the summer. I stayed with my husband, my son and his girlfriend in StayCity Serviced Apartments near Haymarket, just a stop or two from the main venues on the new trams. To save more cash, we cooked for ourselves in the classy kitchen. But if you fancy a cheap treat, head for the American dinerstyle City Café, just off the Royal Mile. It has a vast menu of bountiful breakfasts and mammoth burgers in daylight hours, along with drinks at night. If you can’t wait until next
summer to visit, there are more festivals throughout the year. Next month it’s the Scottish International Storytelling Festival for ten days from October 24. Then there’s Hogmanay, when you can join the 25,000 people carrying torches through the city and dance at the Street Party. Don’t miss the fireworks lighting up the castle at midnight. And 2015 will see the International Science Festival in April, the Imaginate Festival for children in May, the International Film Festival in June and the Jazz And Blues Festival in July. Then the festival month of August will be with us again. Phew! But one thing is for certain – whether or not I need my passport to visit in years to come, I will always be back.
on directline-holidays.co.uk or call 0800 088 7018. IBIZA: Pay just £197 for seven nights on room-only basis at the four-star S’Estanyol Hotel on San Antonio Bay. You’ll fly from Manchester on October 4. See lowcostholidays.com or dial 0800 111 6271.
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FactFile £86 per night. See staycity.com/edinburgh/ west-end/ for more information. Details of all Edinburgh’s festivals and ticket prices are available at edinburghfestivals.co.uk. To book travel and other places to stay, go to visitscotland.com. For more information on Edinburgh, check out thisisedinburgh.com.
Shakespeare
Arcade, inset right, while children played table football in the psychedelic room. I never knew art could be so much fun! Sadly, we were too late to snap up tickets for The Generation Of Z… the zombie apocalypse immersive event. I was quite jealous of the living dead marauding in George Square. Next time maybe. Instead, we headed to a performance of Bianco by No Fit State Circus. The death-defying act on high wires and trapezes was stunning. The following day, we decided to enter the independence debate, so it was All Back To Bowie’s. David Bowie famously appealed for Scotland to “stay with us”, so the entertaining lunchtime debate and cabaret packed with comedians and politicians was set in his “pad”. If we’d had the time, we could have also dropped in on the other four festivals on offer. There was the Mela Festival of
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Where to stay: StayCity Serviced n Apartments have a variety of differentsized locations, right, with prices starting at
YOU’RE n BARD: Sh*t-Faced
All eyes are on Scotland due to Thursday’s referendum but the Celtic capital is used to being the centre of attention.
Edinburgh hosts a staggering 12 festivals every year, attracting an audience of more than four million tourists to the beautiful city. We visited last month when there were six festivals running – from theatre and comedy, art and books to two international events – turning the entire city into a vibrant stage. Our trip lasted only two nights, so we had a lot to cram in – the Fringe Festival alone boasted more than 3,000 comedy, theatre, music and dance shows. We started with a mind-boggling hour with Colin Cloud, The Forensic Mind Reader. The marvellous mentalist left us gaping in wonder and we easily saw why he is being hailed as the new Derren Brown. After that, day one was devoted to comedy. We saw Irish award-winner David O’Doherty, whose quirky brand of musical comedy had us in stitches, stand-up legend Richard Herring and pun-slinger Tim Vine. Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare rounded off the night hilariously with their take on Two Gentlemen Of Verona. In this case, one of the classicallytrained actresses had downed a bottle of Prosecco and some cans of lager before stumbling on stage, slurring The Bard’s words. It’s fabulous fun, not to be missed. Edinburgh’s Art Festival took up most of day two. But even the art in Edinburgh is quirky and offbeat. We loved Jim Lambie’s Shaved Ice exhibition of ladders and mirrors at the Fruitmarket Gallery. And, at Summerhall’s massive gallery, I played pinball in the Deluxx Fluxx
la Cruz during October half-term is £489. Leaves Gatwick on October 26. See lastminute.com. MYKONOS: Grab seven nights B&B at the five-star Myconian Imperial Resort in Elia from £499. Flights leave Manchester, Gatwick and Luton on dates in September and October. For more details click
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