Where I’ve Been:

My Favourite; Barcelona:

Last year, I went to my favourite place on earth. On the coast of Catalonia lies the (in my opinion) best city in the world. With a population of 1.6 million living in the city, there is a lot of space. However, there is still a metropolitan atmosphere. Great Spanish architects and artists like Salvador Dalí moved to the city, inspired by other grand European cities and gave the area great, unique buildings like the Sagrada Familia and Guell Park.




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Like most cities, it is divided in to quarters (although there are many more than four!). These include Gothic, New, Old and Jewish ones. Every area has a mixture of residencial buildings, ecclesiastical facilities, educational areas and historical sites.




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Many of the places that would attract a tourist are free to access (like Guell Park which has escalators up a big hill for easy access) or can be seen partially from the outside (like the Sagrada Familia).

At every corner, there is a piece of history or somebody’s story. It is a very friendly and welcoming place. They love children especially there and most of the city isn’t tourist-y at all.

Been there many times; Lanzarote:

I wrote about Lanzarote in a previous post when I talked about La Graciosa, a remote island in the same biosphere as Lanzarote. But I didn’t talk about what a lovely and unusual place the island of

It is the eastern most of the Canary Islands . These islands are a popular holiday destination located off the West Coast of Northern Africa. It is one of the lesser populated islands with a population of just 139,000. The island has a huge tourism industry.




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Like Spain, Lanzarote attracts tourists because of its year round sunny weather and high, clear, blue skies. There is also a constant breeze, so it is never too hot – even in the height of Summer, but still leaves you with a great tan.


There are five main resorts on the island (Puerto Del Carmen, Arrecife, Costa Teguise, Playa Honda and Playa Blanca). I have been to all of these and have stayed in Costa Teguise three times as well as holidaying Puerto Del Carmen twice.




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The capital Arrecife is like any other Spanish city, but on a smaller scale. That means that is a very friendly place where everyone knows each other. There are plenty of small local shops, businesses and cafes.

Close to home; Ballyheigue, Co. Kerry:

A few summers ago, I spent one of the most boring months of my life in this place only four hours away from home. We stayed as a family on the side of a mountain, half a kilometre away from any town. Our neighbours were grazing cows and half of the time we were in a cloud. The pollen count was ridiculously high, causing most of my family to break out with hay fever. I got sick on three occasions and fell in muddy fields multiple times.

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However, its a beautiful place. Albeit isolated, living in a converted barn is an unusual experience that I would definitely revisit.

Life in Kerry is very different to Dublin. Livestock is everywhere in fields, along with crops that favour the wetter weather of the West. The population is less dense than in Dublin because of a lack of employment and facilities. A lot of people live in tiny villages like the one I stayed in - Ballyheigue.




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It has a beautiful coastline, with high rugged cliffs carved by the Atlantic Ocean, fields upon fields of emerald green grass. The people were nearly always friendly to us and there were a fair few tourist attractions in the county, like the beaches and a chocolate factory.

A long time ago; Dusseldorf, Germany:

About 13 years ago I visited Dusseldorf in the winter. I don't remember much about the trip but the flight was about two hours long to the city on the Rhine. The population is a bit over half the size of Dublin within the city boundaries. The whole time I was there it was bleak and cloudy but there was amazing architecture, a mix of old and modern. The parks were big and easy to access for picnics in the park. The most famous building in the city is the Rheinstrum, near the state parliament.




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Somewhere memorable; Tarragona, Spain:

About an hour by train from Barcelona lies the city of Tarragona. This was a Roman settlement a millennium ago and in the centre and on the coast of Tarragona lies a fortified town. You pay a small fee for all day access to this place but it is not a museum. People actually live in old Roman buildings. Although there are some tourists, it is mainly a place for people to live. Because it is not that touristic, prices are lower than in the surrounding resorts.

My favourite part of the city was visiting old houses. Throughout the centuries, nobles settled in fine mansions within the Roman town that are available to view today. One of these is Maison Castellarnau.


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Tarragona is most famous for its Castells. You may have seen this before but it is the competition where people build a tower of people. Larger, stronger people go on  bottom, then up to the top a smaller child climbs to hold up a flag. These can reach up to 500 people in one tower.


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Another amazing part of Tarragona is the Catedral Basilica Metropolitana Primada de Tarragona. It is absolutely huge, with rooms upon rooms of treasures, jewels and gold. Its Romanesque architecture makes it one of the most famous churches in the region. Some of the rooms are even locked because there would be too many to see during a tour.

Other places to consider visiting:

·       Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow.

·       Tenerife, Canary Islands.

·       Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.

·       Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.

·       London, United Kingdom.

·       Belfast, United Kingdom.

·       Cornwall, United Kingdom.

·       Cardiff, United Kingdom.

·       Birmingham, United Kingdom.

·       Co. Antrim, United Kingdom.

·       Southern Sweden.

Ittoqqortoormiit I, the arrival

A Festival for Every Season:

In this post, I am going to tell you about a famous festival for each season of the year.

1.    Autumn; Diwali, India:

The history of this autumnal festival most likely dates back to ancient India when it might have been a harvest festival. Some people say it is about Lord Vishnu marrying Lakshmi. Some might say that it celebrates Lord Rama’s return from exile.

Diwali is also known as Divali or Deepavali and it is the Hindu festival of lights. Every autumn, it is celebrated. The importance of it is light winning over darkness, good beating the bad and hope triumphing over despair. The festival (including preparation) is five days long. Indian schoolchildren get ten whole days off for it! Many tourists flock to India each year. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus from all over the world.

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 A typical Diwali would go something like this:

Day 1: (Dhanteras). On this day, the Goddess of Wealth (Lakshmi) is celebrated. A lamp is lit in people’s houses and Dhan-Lakshmi is welcomed to their houses. Alpana and Ringoli designs welcome Lakshmi in to people’s houses. Some people buy jewellery of gold or silver. Some people gamble. People sing hymns to Lakshmi and offer food.

Day 2: (Choti Diwali). According to legend, on this day Lord Krishna got rid of a demon Narakasur and from then on the world no longer had fear. This day is for relaxation. Many people relax with baths, massages and oils. This is so that the rest of Diwali can be celebrated well and properly.

Day 3: (Diwali). The way in to people’s homes are is lit up and has patterns. Lakshmi and Vishnu are welcomed and Lakshmi Puja is done on this day.

Day 4: (Bestavarsh). This is spiritual harvest day and the last day for Hindu business.

Day 5: (Bhaj Dooj). This day is technically after Diwali. Brothers go to the house of their sisters and the brother gets teeka put on his forehead.

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Some places to go for Diwali in India are Jaipur, Goa, Varanasi and Amritsar. In Jaipur, the markets are lit up wonderfully. In Goa, you can gamble and watch the demon get burned. In Varanasi, you can watch fireworks over the Ganges and in Amritsar, you can celebrate Diwali with Sikhs.

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In other places like Belfast, Dublin and London there are also Diwali celebrations that you can visit.

2.    Winter; Hogmanay, Scotland:

Hogmanay is New Year’s Eve, and Hogmanay means last day of the year. It is a combination of Samhain, (Halloween), the Winter Solstice, Yule (Vikings) and the Twelve Days of Christmas.

On New Year’s Eve, a lot of people sing Auld Lang Syne. This originated in Hogmanay. Typically, people go out to celebrate by drinking past midnight. Some people continue to do this until 2 January, when there is a national holiday in Scotland.

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The most widely used custom is first-footing. This is when you are the first person to go over the threshold of someone’s house, bearing a gift, which could be something like salt. This gives you luck for the rest of the year.

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Many people flock to Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland) for the New Year Celebration.

3.    Spring; Carnival of Venice, Italy:

This runs from the 31^st January to 17^th February is covered with history. It was, in the past, the last party before Lent and some people say it is tied to Pagan events. This is similar to Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday. This is because the parties were often held to get rid of fatty, indulgent foods before Lent. In the 13^th century, there is evidence of maskwearing at this festival. That is what the event is most famous for. Wearing a mask was popular in Venice’s history but was prohibited to three months of the year by the 18^th century.

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Citizens of Venice would go to the Palazzo Ducale to greet Doge. These could be rich merchants, the most respected of monarchs or even factory workers. They all wore a disguise. To this day, there is a masked ball in the Palazzo of Venice which carries on the tradition. People dress up in all of their finery and masks for a night of mischief and disguise.

Private companies organise balls that anyone can attend in beautiful palaces all around Venice. You can buy costumes for them all around the city during the event.

Volo Dell’Angelo takes place the first Sunday of the carnival. A young acrobat walks a tightrope across the square to the Palazzo and showers the Doge with gifts and the crowd with confetti. At one point, this was done with a wooden dove.

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Galani and Frittelle are the foods of the carnival. Galani are sweet, fried, thin pastry strips that look like poppadoms. Frittelli are small, round doughnuts.

However, you must book early and in advance because it is one of the busiest times of the year in Venice.

4.    Summer; Independence Day:

The Fourth of July commemorates the anniversary of America getting independence from Great Britain. It is probably the most famous revolution, and celebration of revolution to this day. In the USA, it is a national holiday.

In the past, many people celebrate this day the night before with mass gatherings and bonfires. There were often competitions for the highest bonfire (40 barrels is the highest to date).

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Most people celebrate the day off with parades, picnics and fireworks. The colours of the festival are red, white and blue. These are also the colours of the American flag. As fireworks are lit, Americans like to sing patriotic songs like Yankee Doodle and the Star Spangled Banner.

Dark Tourism:

What is Dark Tourism? Dark Tourism is tourism that involves travelling to places that are associated with suffering and death.

A few years ago, I read a book called the Dark Tourist by Dom Joly. This book was absolutely fascinating to me because I had never opened my eyes to any places other than Spain, Wales and Lanzarote for a holiday. I thought that travel was supposed to be all about a sun or ski holiday. But the Dark Tourist showed me that there are other, slightly darker options.

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The Dark Tourist brought me to some unusual places – the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Chernobyl in the Ukraine and Auschwitz in Poland. But I’m not here to write a book review. I’m here to write about the geography of Dark Tourism.

There is an Institute for Dark Tourism Research (IDTR) in the University of Lancashire led by Dr Phillip Stone. Along with other academic and medial interest in the subject of Dark Tourism, the phenomenon has become very popular and well known.

Dark tourism is also known as thanatourism. The two phrases mean the exact same thing. Thanatourism comes from the Greek word for death – Thanatos, and thanatourism means travelling to places that are associated with death and suffering.

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Some dark destinations you might never have considered to be ‘dark’. Pompeii could be one of those. The eruption of Mount Etna occurred so long ago that I think we feel detached to it, because none of us have a personal connection to it like we do with 9-11 or the Holocaust. In fact, some people even see the city of Pompeii as a place of beauty – with Roman architecture and history, it is an ancient civilisation frozen in time. If it weren’t for science and historic records, that is what I would see the place as. However, because Pompeii is a place associated with the death and suffering of thousands because a nearby volcano destroyed the town, I do not.

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Other places you probably most definitely associated with Dark Tourism. One of those is Auschwitz-Birkenau – a disused concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland. Up to 1,000,000 victims of the Nazis were killed there (there are no actual records). That is one sixth of Jewish extermination camp casualties in World War II.

Medical experiments like injecting women’s uteruses with chemicals in an effort to seal them off and prevent reproduction or using x-rays to try to sterilize Jews took place in Auschwitz. Now, many people go to Auschwitz for a tour. There is a rumour that birds do not sing when they are in the camp.

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Some cemeteries are considered to be dark tourism sites because of who is buried there. One of such places in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. Famous and rich people such as Edith Piaf, Oscar Wild, Frederic Chopin and Jim Morrison are buried there.

Old gaols are also considered to be places of dark tourism. In Wicklow, Wicklow Gaol provides a spooky tour through the unused prison with actors in old clothing, creepy wax figures and damp, old classrooms where child prisoners were taught. You can visit the cells and see where people were executed. Melbourne Gaol in Australia is also considered a dark destination. This was the place for 135 executions and happens to be one of the most popular tourist activities in Melbourne.

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You may have noticed that nearly all of the places I have mentioned are to do with history. It’s true that most places with Dark Tourism are to do with their past. Most of the destinations are not still associated with present day pain, death and suffering.

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However, there are always exceptions to a rule. The whole country of North Korea is considered to be part of Dark  Tourism. This is due to the secrecy that surrounds the country and the rumours that have risen due to the privacy of North Korea. Concentration Camps, lovingly named with just numbers are one of the rumours. These camps are allegedly where whole families of comrades of DPR Korea, and their grandchildren’s grandchildren are locked away for life. Starved, beaten and tortured they only know suffering for their entire lives. Many people say this is to show the other people in North Korea a lesson.

Along with dark tourism, there are other types of ‘unusual’ tourism. Slum tourism involves visiting poor areas like the favelas of Brazilian cities or the slums of Mumbai. In the 19^th century, Manhattan and London were popular. Originally, people wanted to see ‘how the other half lives.’ In the 1980s, black people in South Africa organised tours for whites from the government to see how they were being treated.

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Another type of deathly tourism is war tourism. This is when you visit a war site for recreational purposes. Disaster tourism is when you visit a place where a disaster, such as an earthquake has occurred to quench your curiosity.

Some people do not specifically go on dark tourism holidays. Often, people mix in a day of visiting a dark place with the rest of their holiday. An example of this would be in Chernobyl. Due to the radioactivity in the area, you can only stay for a few hours. However, with travel that ends up being a whole day of your holiday.

Dark tourism can also be dangerous. Like I mentioned above, you can go to nuclear sites or to areas with strict governments that could imprison you like North Korea. Recently, a journalist was imprisoned in North Korea who was working for a cable show.