American Holidays Launch 
Road Trip Recommender 
- from sea to shining sea

     American Holidays have launched their Road Trip Recommender tool. Check it out at www.americanholidays.com/en-ie/usa-road-trip-recommender/  For anyone planning a USA road trip it not only sets out ideas, it builds an itinerary around actual routes.

    A road trip through America is almost certain to be on everyone's bucket list - the Road Trip Recommender from American Holidays makes it even easier for you to plan.
   From sea to shining sea lesser in-between routes or Route 66, the West Coast highway, The East Coast down to Florida, Death Valley, Monument Vally, Indian Reservations, National Parks or themed to cities, luxury, food, dining, spooky places or sport.
    Unique to American Holidays, Road Trip Recommender is the perfect for planning your 2018 USA road trip. Take the Road Trip Recommender for a test-drive- visit

 www.americanholidays.com/en-ie/usa-road-trip-recommender/

Some sample itineraries on offer below!


Best of New England Fly/Drive

Spend 11 nights throughout New England from only €1581pp
Includes: •Boston •Portsmouth •Bar Harbour •White Mountains •Newport •Cape Cod
Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin to Boston, 11 nights' accommodation in selected fly/drive hotels, fully inclusive car rental, taxes and charges.
Ref No: 1531792
Travel: 1st May-31st October 2018
Sunshine Trails Fly/Drive
Spend 11 nights in the Sunshine State from only €1609pp
Includes: •Miami •Key West •Everglades •Naples •Sarasota •Orlando
Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin to Miami, 11 nights' accommodation in selected fly/drive hotels, fully inclusive car rental, taxes and charges.
Ref No: 1532045
Travel: All year round
Route 66 Fly/Drive
Spend 15 nights along Route 66 from only €1999pp
Includes: •Chicago •St Louis •Oklahoma •Springfield •Albuquerque •Las Vegas •Santa Monica
Includes: Return flights ex. Dublin to Chicago, 15 nights' accommodation in selected fly/drive hotels, fully inclusive car rental, taxes and charges.
Ref No: 1531803
Travel: April - Oct 2018

Call American Holidays on 01 673 3804
or visit 18-19 Duke Street, (just off Grafton Street} Dublin 2.
More information at www.americanholidays.com/

ITALY: What's On Autumn- Winter 2017

ITALY: What's On 
Autumn- Winter 2017

ART EXHIBITIONS

ROME
PICASSO, between Cubism and Classicism 1915-1925
Until 21 Jan 2018, Scuderie del Quirinale
www.scuderiequirinale.it
MONET

From 19 Oct 2017 to 11 Feb 2018 Ala Brasini at the Vittoriano
www.ilvittoriano.com/mostra-monet-roma.html

MILAN
SFILATA IN PALCOSCENICO - La Scala Opera costumes

Until 28 January 2018, Palazzo Reale
www.palazzorealemilano.it

INSIDE CARAVAGGIO

Palazzo Reale, Until 29 Jan 2018
www.palazzorealemilano.it

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

Palazzo Reale, 19 Oct 2017 – 4 Feb. 2018
www.palazzorealemilano.it

VENICE
BIENNALE D’ARTE atVarious locations until 26 Nov 2017

www.labiennale.org

FLORENCE
16th  CENTURY IN FLORENCE, Michelangelo, Pontormo and Giambologna, until 21 Jan 2018
Palazzo Strozzi
www.palazzostrozzi.org

VICENZA

VAN GOGH EXHIBITION, between wheat and sky, Basilica Palladiana from 7 October 2017 to 8 April 2018

www.lineadombra.it

TURIN

LADY DIANA, a free spirit, Reggia Venaria until 28 January 2018

www.lavenaria.it

ARTISSIMA FAIR 3-5 November 2017 International Fair of Modern Art held in various location in Turin.

www.artissima.it/site/events-in-town/?lang=en

PISTOIA

GIOVANNI BOLDINI – The Falconiera season, Musei dell’Antico Palazzo dei Vescovi, until 6 January 2018

SIENA

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI Santa Maria della Scala, from 22 Oct 2017 to 21 January 2018

www.santamariadellascala.com/it/mostre/ambrogio-lorenzetti/

NEW MUSEUMS/ ATTRACTIONS/EVENTS

FEDERICO II STUPOR MUNDI IN JESI (Ancona)

The Museum “Federico II Stupor Mundi” has opened in the town of Jesi in the Le Marche region, celebrating Frederick II of Swabia, born in Jesi on 26th December 1194, and defines his influence on local, national and European history. The museum is dedicated to the Swabian Emperor with an Arab heart: the "Stupor Mundi" which was the grandson of Barbarossa, patron of the arts, as well as a great innovator in the field of law, politics and sciences. The Museum is at Palazzo Ghislieri in Piazza Federico II, in Jesi.

www.federicosecondostupormundi.it

NEW MUSEUM OF ITALIAN JEWISH HERITAGE AND SHOAH

A new Museum of Italian Jewish Heritage and Shoah will be opened on 13 December 2017 in the city of Ferrara in Emilia Romagna. Housed in an ex prison.

www.meisweb.it/museo/

FESTIVALS 

VERDI FESTIVAL

Parma, until 22 Oct 2017

The yearly festival dedicated to the Maestro. Verdi’s operas will be performed at the magnificent

Teatro Regio and the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Busseto, his birthplace. Operas this year include:

Jerusalem, Stiffelio, La Traviata and Falstaff. www.teatroregioparma.it

SCIENCE FESTIVAL

Genoa – 26 Oct. – 5 Nov. 2017

www.festivalscienza.it

ROMA EUROPA FESTIVAL

Rome, until 2 December 2017

The 22nd year of this quirky festival that brings music, ballet, digital art, theatre and

circus in the piazzas and theatres of the Capital. www.romaeuropa.net/

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND SACRED ART

Rome, 4-10 November 2017, Sacred music concerts in basilicas and churches in Rome with some of the best philharmonic orchestras in the world. This year the festival will be opened with a concert

with the participation of King’s College Choir in Cambridge. www.festivalmusicaeartesacra.net/it/programm.php

TORINO FILM FESTIVAL, Turin, 24 Nov – 2 Dec 2017

The 35th year of the Turin Film Festival, this year’s major retrospective will be dedicated to the acclaimed director Brian De Palma. www.torinofilmfest.org

UMBRIA JAZZ FESTIVAL, Orvieto, Umbria, 28 Dec 2017 – 1 Jan 2018

The winter edition of this popular festival, held in Perugia in summer, moves to the medieval town of

Orvieto for the end of the year. It showcases some of the best jazz artists from around the world.

www.umbriajazz.com

INAUGURATION OF THE LA SCALA OPERA SEASON, Milan, 7 December 2017

Andrea Chenier by Giordano will be the opening opera of the La Scala 2017-2018 season. The opera will be conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

www.teatroallascala.org

FOLKLORE/RE-ENACTMENTS/

PALIO DI VIGEVANO, Vigevano, Lombardy, 6-9 October 2017

Historical re-enactment of the Renaissance in Vigevano, with parades, Palio and typical food and wine in Lombardy, famous for its Castle and well preserved historical centre. www.paliodivigevano.it
THE FESTIVAL OF “MADONNA DELLA SALUTE”, Venice – November 21st 2017
The Festival of Health is perhaps the least spectacular of Venice festivities. In a religious context it is
an event dedicated to the Madonna in thanksgiving for her intercession to end the plague
in Venice between the years 1630-1631. www.comune.venezia.it
 HALLOWEN – THE FEAST OF THE WITCHES, Corinaldo, Marche, 28-30 October 2017
Since 1998,  Corinaldo in the Le Marche region hosts the “Feast of the Witches” to coincide with Halloween. The town transform itself into an open air amusement park with attractions - the tunnel of fear, fearful places and dressed up frightening characters. The main event is the election of Miss Witch, a beauty contest with a difference! www.missstrega.it
SANTA LUCIA FESTIVAL, Siracusa, Sicily, 1-13 December 2017. Celebrates Santa Lucia’s birthday on 13 December.
The Feast starts on December 1 with popular tunes played by the band along the city streets, on December 9 the religious celebrations start in the St. Lucia Chapel in the Cathedral and
culminates on December 13 with a solemn procession and fireworks. www.comune.siracusa.it/

All You Want for Christmas

All You Want for Christmas

Christmas and New Year Luxury from Classic Collection Holidays 
     The Canary Islands with guaranteed year round sunshine are by far the most popular destinations with Irish holidaymakers over Christmas and New Year. Here are just some of the hotels on offer from the Classic Collection Holidays range.
     For the week that takes in Christmas, Classic Collection Holidays have packages available in four of the Canary Islands, The Elba Carlota in Fuerteventura for €1,265 per person staying on a half board basis travelling out on the 22nd December.

     Lanzarote is probably the most popular of the islands and a week in the Hesperia Lanzarote departing on the 28th December is available for €1,485 per person on a bed and breakfast basis. The Hotel San Agustin Beach Club in Gran Canaria is also available over New Year - good value at €1,265 per person staying on a half board basis, departing on 28th December for seven nights.
     All Classic Collection Holidays prices include flights, accommodation, private transfers and complimentary access to the Executive Lounges at Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports. Holidays are available from any Airport on any day for any duration. The above prices are based on 2 people sharing with Aer Lingus flights departing from Dublin.
     For more details on these and many more offers contact your local travel agent or contact Classic Collection Holidays on 01 5413000 or visit www.classic-collection.ie

Europe's magical Christmas Markets from GoHop.ie

     Take a city break to the magical Christmas markets of Europe. Packages from GoHop.ie include:  

Prague

     Two nights in the 4 star Hotel Aida, on a b&b basis, from only €140pp.  (based on 2 sharing) Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 2 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges. 

Travel: 29th November 2017

     Three nights in the 4 star Relax Inn, on a b&b basis, from only €128pp.  (based on 2 sharing)

Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 3 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges. 

Travel: 29th November 2017

Budapest

     Two nights in the 4 star Triple M Hotel on a b&b basis, from only €166pp. (Based on 2 sharing)

Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 2 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges. Travel: 18th November 2017

Vienna 

     Two nights in the 4 star Apartments Ferchergasse on a b&b basis, from only €258pp. (Based on 2 sharing) Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 2 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges.  Travel: 7th December 2017

Berlin

     Four nights in the 4* NH Berlin Treptow, on a room only basis, from only €180. (Based on 2 sharing) Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 4 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges.  Travel: 17th November 2017

     All subject to dates and availability.

Visit www.GoHop.ie or telephone 01-2412389.

Bring France home for Christmas 

…start stocking that cellar now  from Aldi’s French Wine Range.

     Aldi recently added the Jean Claude Mas and Pardon My French ranges. With 18 French wines on the shelves priced from €6.29 to €14.99, there’s something for every palate, on sale in 129 Aldi stores every day.

• Cuvée Reserve Cote du Rhone Villages, €6.49 - Selected from the villages of the southern Rhone, in other words the best parts, this is a soft easy-drinking combination of Grenache, Mourvedre and a little Syrah. A real all-rounder and a great ambassador for the region. Awarded silver at the IWSC 2017 (Northern Hemisphere)

• Claret Bordeaux Reserve €6.29 – Classic red Bordeaux blend of mainly Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon. Blackcurrant fruit with a savoury finish

• Vignobles Rousselet French Pinot Noir €7.29 – There’s a deep colour to this multi-regional Pinot Noir: ripe fruit from the south and a freshness from the cooler north. A crisp, refreshing red wine

• Vignobles Rousselet French Malbec €7.29 – A lovely, dark, chunky red wine made from 100% Malbec. Blackberries and brambly fruit with a touch of spice and round tannins

• Domaine Lou Frejau Chateauneuf du Pape €14.99 - Chateauneuf du Pape is one of those classic red wines that are hugely popular and a lot of it could be confused for Cotes du Rhone were it not for the price. But not this one! From a single estate it’s dark, brooding, full of character and great with meaty dishes

• Jean Claude Mas French Classic Grenache Noir €8.49 - There’s something herby here amidst all the plump, ripe fruit. Think raspberries, dark cherries, plums, even a hint of tobacco. Commended at the IWC 2017

• Jean Claude Mas French Estate Malbec €9.49 - A rich, dry French red that demands beef or lamb. It smells of sweet brambly fruit and there’s a touch of liquorice again with warm spices. Yes, there’s a lot going on here. Why not try this with the Dijon steak sauté? Commended at the IWC 2017

• Jean Claude Mas French Estate Pinot Noir €9.49 – Pinot noir meets hot southern sunshine in the Languedoc to produce a classic red with a touch of new world opulence. Commended at the IWC 2017

• Pardon My French Ventoux €7.49 - This is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre – so the same as Cotes du Rhone but the vineyards are higher and cooler so the wine is lighter and more supple. The Mont Ventoux is a kind of wine bridge between the Rhone and Provence and this easy drinking red is too! Commended at the IWC 2017

• Pardon My French Fitou €7.49 - Grenache, Syrah and Carignan. It’s all plums, pepper and black liquorice. There’s even a suggestion of sun-drenched Mediterranean herbs. Chunky, complex, dark and delicious. This would be perfect with the French Lamb Bake

• Henri de Lorgere Sancerre €10.49 - Sauvignon Blanc as grown and planted on its home patch, the cool, green Loire Valley. Blackcurrant leaf, green peppers, even a touch of crushed nettles! And there’s a real mineral twang in the heart of this zingy white

• Exquisite Collection Touraine Sauvignon Blanc €7.99 - Amazing value for a Loire Sauvignon that could pass as a Pouilly-Fumé. Crisp, zesty and dry, it’s as fresh as a frosty morning. All green leaves, grapefruit zest, gun flint! Awarded bronze at the IWSC 2017 (Northern Hemisphere)

• Vignobles de Rousselet French Sauvignon Blanc €6.99 – Zingy, zesty and pungent, this Sauvignon Blanc is all about blackcurrant leaf, green peppers, passionfruit and citrus zest

•  Exquisite Collection Muscadet Sevre et Maine €7.99 - Bone dry, almost austere, this is absolutely classic Muscadet with its steely backbone and aroma of warm bread (which comes from the way the yeast is used). Very stylish, very grown-up. Awarded silver at the IWSC 2017 (Northern Hemisphere)

• French Chardonnay IGP Languedoc €6.99 – An unoaked Chardonnay with southern French ripeness and a suggestion of minerality

•  Jean Claude Mas French Classic Organic Blanc €8.49 - Five separate areas in the Languedoc contribute the grapes for this unusual and fabulously attractive white wine. There’s Grenache Blanc and Vermentino for freshness, Viognier adds a kind of peachiness and the lovely touch of rose petals and spice is from Muscat. Gloriously drinkable, delightfully different. And organic! The perfect accompaniment for the Smoked Mackerel Paté. Commended at the IWC 2017

•  Jean Claude Mas French Organic Estate White €9.49 – A deliciously fresh and succulent white wine using several grape varieties to add to the core Grenache Blanc. Sourced from cool climate vineyards in the Languedoc. Commended at the IWC 2017

• Pardon My French Cotes de Gascogne €7.49 - Most people tasting this white wine for the first time will go “Oh! Sauvignon!” But it’s not. The green pepper, gooseberry, blackcurrant leaf thing comes from the Colombard grape. There’s also some Ugni Blanc and the touch of honey is from the Gascon grape Gros Manseng. So, all in all, a bit different! Dry, crisp, aromatic and very fresh. Awarded bronze at the IWC 2017

All of the above products are on sale now in all 129 Aldi stores nationwide.

Airlines and Hotels not included

Shopping around the Christmas Tree
The ITAA have provided a selection 
of top destinations for Christmas shopping

Rome Christmas Markets, 28 November, 3 nights, from €189pp with Kanes Travel this November. The Piazza Navona Christmas Market is the biggest and best Christmas Market in Rome with a variety of stalls selling Christmas candy, decorations and toys, as well as special appearances by Father Christmas.

You will also have time to explore this historic city and see the top sites including the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum and the Vatican City. By evening, taste authentic Italian cuisine, relax with a bottle of wine and soak up the atmosphere of this magnificent city.
Price includes: Return flights from Dublin with Aer Lingus and 3 nights accommodation in either the San Remo Hotel or Alexis Hotel
For more information on this deal available from Kanes Travel:
www.itaa.ie/2017/09/20/rome-christmas-markets

Christmas shopping in New York City, 9 November, 3 nights, from €599pps with Tour America is perfect for completing your Christmas wish-list!  Begin on 5th Avenue, taking in Saks department store and the famous jewellers Tiffany & Co. Make sure to include some time browsing around Bloomingdale's and Macy's and take a trip to the Soho district where you'll find a mix of cool high street shops and niche shops selling unique and original clothing.

Full of culture, shopping and entertainment, New York truly is the city that never sleeps. Aside from the shopping, why not hop on a ferry to Staten Island and view Lady Liberty, take in the breathtaking skyline from the top of the Empire State Building or catch a show on Broadway.
Price Includes: direct flights with Aer Lingus & 3 nights hotel
*Book before 30th Sept and get a second bag for FREE and a 20% Macy's voucher*
For more information on this deal available from Tour America:
www.itaa.ie/2017/09/14/new-york-city

Madrid City Break, 25 November, 3 Nights, from €279pp with Travalue.ie and enjoy the best retail experience Spain has to offer . The area around Gran Vía is one of the liveliest areas of the city and is great for shopping, dining and nightlife. It features all the major Spanish brands, including Zara, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti and the wonderful department store El Corte Ingles. It is also where the famous Primark is located. With a retail area of 133000 sq ft and spread across five floors, this store is slightly bigger than the Penneys we're used to!

     Head to Serrano for luxurious shops located in what were once small palaces, the outlet shopping centre Las Rozas Village or El Rastro, the most popular open air flea market in Spain. This package also includes a half day tour to the beautiful Medieval city of Toledo. Known as the “city of the three cultures”, because Christians, Arabs and Jews lived together there for centuries, Toledo preserves an artistic and cultural legacy in the form of churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques and synagogues.
Price includes return flights, 10kg hand luggage per person , 3 Nights accommodation and a half day tour to Toledo
For more information on this deal available from Travalue.ie:
www.itaa.ie/2017/09/20/madrid-and-toledo

NYC shopping break with GoHop.ie
Shopping havens Macy's,  Bloomingdales, Tiffany's 
- there is no better shopping destination! 

Black Friday Shopping Trip -spend 5 nights at the 3 star Hotel Central Fifth Ave from only €790pp. Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 4 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges. Travel: 23rd November 2017
Christmas Shopping Spree - spend 4 nights at the 3* Manhattan Times Square Hotel from only €887pp. Price includes: Return flights ex. Dublin, 4 nights' accommodation as stated, taxes and charges. Travel: 7th December 2017
Prices are subject to dates and availability.
Visit www.GoHop.ie or call  01-2412389.

Virginia is for LOVERS - not Haters

Virginia is for Lovers - not Haters

Virginia Tourism Corporation came to Dublin in June 2017
with Governor Terry McAuliffe of the Commonwealth of Virginia 
to promote the 'Virginia is for Lovers' tourism campaign at the Gravity Bar 
at the Guinness Storehouse. Pat Keenan went along and was impressed 
by the Governor's address. Following recent events in Charlottesville 
when Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists 
descended into Charlottesville. Governor McAuliffe stood firm,  told them to 
"Go Home, you are not wanted in this great commonwealth"

     The 72nd Governor of Virginia, USA, a Democrat, Terry McAuliffe was in the news recently making the a speech that most Americans felt the President Trump should have made. One woman died and many were injured when car was deliberately driven at speed into a crowd of people protesting against hundreds of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members who arrived in Charlottesville for what they described as their largest rally in decades to “take America back” - many wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ caps. (Two police monitoring the situation also died that day when their helicopter crashed.)    As Governor McAuliffe said: “all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today: Go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth.” The driver, from Ohio, had taken time off from work so he could attend the rally.
     But from President Trump, known for his quick reply tweets, nothing, no tweets, no comment. Much later in the day at a press conference about health care for veterans he finally made  statement with no mention of white nationalists, Neo Nazis or KKK: “The hate and the division must stop and must stop right now, We condemn…this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” pausing he emphasised “on many sides.” Visiting Charlottesville that day the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and Trump supporter replied: “remember it was White Americans who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists.”
     I have never been to Charlottesville but I know fro follow travel writers that it is a beautiful leafy affluent city and home of learning including the prestigious University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson and one of the original Public Ivies and a UNESCO World Heritage Site attracting thousands of students, their families, visitors and tourists every year.

     Not long ago it was a pleasure to meet Governor McAuliffe and his team visiting Dublin to promote Virginia as a travel destination with the slogan ‘Virginia For Lovers’.  Impressed by his address that evening at Guinness Store I had to ask  if he would ever consider a run for President. I got the standard non-committal political reply: “the good people of Virginia elected me Governor and would want me to put my all into the job of governing”. I took that as a very possible ‘yes’, given that from November 2017 he will be Governor no longer since  he will not be eligible to run for re-election as Virginia is the only American state that prohibits its Governor from serving consecutive terms. Impressed as I was in Dublin I was doubly impressed on the way he handled the Charlottesville crisis.
     Following the press conference in New York where Trump 'went off the rails' as CNN put it, effectively defending white supremacists,  Governor McAuliffe released the following statement:
     “Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight. One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not 'both sides.'
     “Our Commonwealth and nation are still reeling from one of the largest outpourings of hatred and violence we have experienced in recent history. We need real leadership, starting with our President.
     “Leaders from every corner of this nation and every partisan point of view have denounced these people and their acts in plain terms without hesitation or dissembling. The American people need the same from their President and we need it now.”

Governor Terry McAuliffe at the Gravity Bar in Dublin

     And he had the requisite Irish connections. Governor McAuliffe has maternal (Lonergan) and paternal family roots tracing back to Upper Church Co.Tipperary. I even met one of his Irish cousins at the Gravity Bar in Dublin. He and his wife Dorothy were married in 1988  and have five children. Terry was previously Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and co-chair of President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, and in 2008 was chair of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

Governor Terry McAuliffe, Pat Keenan, HOLIDAYezine and Rachel Beresford, Irish Daily Star

My Pictures of the Dublin Visit

     Here are some of my photos taken with available light (forgot my flash !)at the great evening we enjoyed at the reception in the Gravity Bar of the Guinness Storehouse with the Virginia Tourism Corporation, Governor Terry McAuliffe of the Commonwealth of Virginia and TravelMedia.ie/ Some backdrops are from ’Jamestown’ the TV series set in Virginia, USA,

I'm Reading: An Officer and a Spy, a novel by Robert Harris

I'm reading:
An Officer and a Spy
by  Robert Harris
Published by Hutchinson 2013

     An Officer and a Spy by English writer Robert Harris was published in 2013. It is a semi documentary style historical fiction thriller. Having just finished his latest book Conclave, I’m joyfully going through a Robert Harris phase. An Officer and a Spy is based on the Alfred Dreyfus affair. Like almost everyone else, I knew about it  - but not a lot, a French miscarriage of justice; antisemitism;  incarceration on Devil’s Island and that Émile Zola wrote J'Accuse about it - that’s about it. It already contained all the ingredients of a thriller, it could be said that Harris has added a few fictional details, an over simplification perhaps, but with his deft writing skills he has given us a compelling read.

Left to right: Devil's Island prisoner Alfred Dreyfus; investigator and the book's main character Colonel Georges Picquart; real spy Commandant Ferdinand Esterhazy; forger Lieutenant Colonel Hubert-Joseph Henry.               Montage by Pat Keenan

“Whenever a crowd is running one way, it's my instinct to run the other”
     “Whenever a crowd is running one way, it's my instinct to run the other” was part a reply by Harris in an interview with Andrew Anthony about An Officer and a Spy in The Guardian (2013). Harris got the idea for the book from Roman Polanski who had an apparent interest in the Dreyfus affair. Perhaps Polanski saw some parallel with his own exile from Hollywood. Robert Harris, a friend of Polanski,  defended him in the New York Times when his extradition seemed imminent when charged with the rape of a child in the 1970s. In fairness Andrew Anthony adds: “it would be offensive to equate the Dreyfus and Polanski affairs – Roman did a terrible deed – but nonetheless there were features of the mass media hysteria and a refusal to examine the difficult legal technical issues that led up to both”.
     The book might be a good companion on a trip to Paris. Here are a few locations.

Hôtel de Brienne, once the Ministry of War on the Rue Saint Dominique, Paris.                           Photo: Jiel Beaumadier

Travel settings:

          • The book, largely set in Paris,  begins on the Rue Saint Dominique at the Ministry of War in the Hôtel de Brienne - mansions are called ‘hôtels’ in French - today it is the home of the French Minister of Defence. The Ministry of War was divided into four sections: first - administration; second - military intelligence under the command of General Charles-Arthur Gonse; third - operations/training where the book's main character Colonel Georges Picquart headed a small intelligence unit, known as the Statistical Section. The fourth section was transportation.  

     • The École Militaire on the Champ-de-Mars is where Dreyfus, before a gaping crowd, was publicly humiliated, had his medals, epaulettes, buttons and gold braid wrenched from his uniform, his sword broken, and marched around the grounds, jeered and spit upon amid crys of “Judas" and “Jew”.

Dreyfus degradation: in the Morland Court of the École Militaire on the Champ-de-Mars, Paris, January 1895
Picture: Henri Meyer on the cover of Le Petit Journal -it was captioned "The Traitor".

     • Dreyfus lived with his wife and two children  at 6 Avenue du Trocadéro

     • Colonel Georges Picquart visits the head military intelligence General Charles-Arthur Gonse at his country home in Cormeilles-en-Paisis, Seine-Oise

     • The German Embassy was put under surveillance by Picquart from apartments across the street. They establish that real spy Commandant Ferdinand Esterhazy visited on more than one occasion. The embassy was the Hôtel de Beauharnais, 78 rue de Lille, Paris

     • The Cherche-Midi military prison also housed the courthouse where Alfred Dreyfus was court martialed. Later it was the scene for the court martial (in secret) of the real spy Esterhazy. Picquart was called to give evidence. Esterhazy was acquitted unanimously and greeted outside by his cheering supporters and anti-Semitic riots broke out all over Paris. Émile Zola also attended and the experience stirred him to write the now famous “J’Accuse,” front page in the newspaper L’Aurore on January 13, 1898, just two days after the acquittal. Zola, charged with libel by the French government was himself put on trial and convicted He later appealed fled into exile in England. The Cherche-Midi military prison and courthouse was demolished and replaced in 1968 by the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales)

J’Accuse! by Émile Zola on the front page of L’Aurore January 13, 1898

     • Colonel Georges Picquart  likes to pop in for a pint, a smoke, to read the papers and some times for meetings at the Café Saint Lazare, 104 Rue Saint-Lazare.

Dreyfus Tower on Devil’s Island in French Guiana                                                              Photo: Arria Belli

     • Dreyfus is obviously central to the novel but is not actually a playing character, nor do we ever visit Devil’s Island. Of course there are many references to the penal colony where he spent nearly five years of a life sentence before being pardoned. Devil's Island is one of the Salvation Islands (Îles du Salut), about 14 km off the Atlantic coast of French Guiana, South America. It faces north from the mainland town of Kourou. For a fictional visit to the island read the novel Papillon by Henri Charrière.

Captain Dreyfus statue outside the Museum of Jewish Art and History   Photo:© Sylvain Sonnet

     • Outside Notre-Dame-des-Champs station (line 12 of the Paris Métro), on Boulevard Raspail,there is a statue of Dreyfus with his broken sword.A duplicate statue is in the courtyard of of the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan housing the Museum of Jewish Art and History at 71 rue du Temple.

     • Captain Alfred Dreyfus died in Paris in 1935, aged 75. His grave is in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris.

     • Georges Picquart died following a fall from a horse in 1914. He is buried in Cimetière Saint Urbain, Strasbourg - in his native Alsace

     • Ferdinand Esterhazy, the real spy and perpetrator of the treason of which Alfred Dreyfus was convicted, fled France and ended his days on Milton Road in the village of Harpenden in England. He is buried there in St Nicholas' churchyard, under an alias - Count Jean de Voilemont.

     • Hubert-Joseph Henry was arrested for having forged evidence against Alfred Dreyfus and ended up in military prison at Fort Mont-Valérien,  Suresnes - a Paris suburb overlooking Bois de Boulogne. There in 1898 (aged 52) he was found,  his throat slit and a blood smeared shaving razor - a razor he didn’t have when searched on his entry into prison.

Aldi's Wine Lovers Sale

The Wine Lover’s Sale at Aldi

Pat Keenan joined up with few other seasoned tasters 

including Tom Doorley, Aldi’s Wine Ambassador, 

at The Cliff Town House. 

We swirled our glasses, sniffed, sipped, swished, spit 

(some swallowed) our way through the entire collection. 

     My travels last week took me to Germany, Spain, Chile, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and I did it all overlooking St.Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Aldi’s wine experts did the travelling and are about to add new wines as part of The Wine Lover’s Sale from Aldi’s 129 stores nationwide from Thursday, 3rd August, 2017. The new wines comprise six white, five sparkling and twelve red.

My 8 favourites:
UVA Pirata Petit Verdot 2016 (Spain)
Peter Mertes Gold Edition Mosel Riesling (Germany)
Graspa Rossa Lambrusco (Italy)
Goldeck Sparkling Grüner Veltliner (Austria)
Fourth Dimension Adelaide Hill Pinot Noir 2016 (Australia)
Fork & Spoon Sparkling Shiraz (Australia)
Fleurs de Prairie Côtes de Provence Rosé 2016 (France)
Berton Vineyard Durif 2016 (Australia)

Tom Doorley’s 5 favourites:
Painted Dog Chenin Blanc Viognier 2017: “Dry, fresh, fabulous”,
Goldeck Sparkling Grüner Veltliner: “exhuberant, dry, elegant”,
Graspa Rossa Lambrusco: “A real discovery”,
UVA Pirata Petit Verdot 2016: “a meaty wine par excellence”
El Casetero Old Vines Garnacha 2014: “lovely complexity”.

Three wines we both liked

Goldeck Sparkling Grüner Veltliner (Austria)
Graspa Rossa Lambrusco (Italy)
UVA Pirata Petit Verdot 2016 (Spain)

The New Range (while stocks last) 
and look at these prices
Sparkling
• Goldeck Sparkling Grüner Veltliner (Austria) 75cl €14.99
• Gardo & Morris Sparkling Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) 75cl €19.99
• Pata Negra Vintage Cava (Spain) 75cl €11.99
• Louisvale Cap Classique Sparkling Chardonnay (South Africa) 75cl €17.99
• Fork & Spoon Sparkling Shiraz (Australia) 75cl €12.99
White
• Lebegés Grüner Veltliner (Hungary) 2016 75cl €6.99
• Fleurs de Prairie Côtes de Provence Rosé 2016 (France) 75cl €9.99
• The Forgotten Row Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2016 (New Zealand) 75cl €9.99
• Nonius Chardonnay Feteasca 2016 (Romania) 75cl €7.99
• Painted Dog Chenin Blanc Viognier 2017 (South Africa) 75cl €9.99
• Peter Mertes Gold Edition Mosel Riesling (Germany) 75cl €7.99
Red
• Grand Sud Merlot 2016 (France) 1L €8.99
• Black Star 2016 (Germany) 75cl €9.99
• Graspa Rossa Lambrusco (Italy) 75cl €12.99
• UVA Pirata Petit Verdot 2016 (Spain) 75cl €11.99
• El Casetero Old Vines Garnacha 2014 (Spain) 75cl €9.99
• Exquisite Collection Hawke’s Bay Merlot Blend (New Zealand) 75cl €9.99
• Fourth Dimension Adelaide Hill Pinot Noir 2016 (Australia) 75cl €10.99
• Valle Hermoso Cabernet Franc Gran Reserva 2015 (Chile) 75cl €9.99
• Punta de Lobos Carménère Gran Reserva 2015 (Chile) 75cl €9.99
• Amigo Secreto Organic Syrah-Carignan 2016 (Chile) 75cl €9.99
• Berton Vineyard Durif 2016 (Australia) 75cl €9.99
• The Restless Wine Merchant Wrattonbully Shiraz 2016 (Australia) 75cl €10.99

Aldi currently has 129 stores in Ireland 
      Dublin (Newlands Cross, Tallaght Cross West, Parnell Street, Coolock, Fonthill Retail Park, Belgard Road, Finglas, Palmerstown, Santry, Longmile Road, Rathmines, Mulhuddart, Nutgrove Retail Park, Terenure, Sandyford, East Wall Road, Ballyfermot and Sallynoggin), Cavan, Carlow (Hanover Road, Graiguecullen, Bagenalstown and Tullow), Clare (Ennis, Kilrush and Ennistymon), Cork (Bandon, Blackrock, Blackpool, Charleville, Mayfield, Westside Retail Park Ballincollig, Main Street Ballincollig, Ballyphehane, Grange, Glanmire, Macroom, Mitchelstown, Midleton, Cobh, Mallow, Carrigtwohill, Dunmanway, Fermoy, Wilton, Skibbereen and The Elysian), Donegal (Donegal Town, Ramelton Road Letterkenny, Neil T. Blaney Road Letterkenny, Buncrana, Ballybofey and Dungloe), Galway (Galway Retail Park, West City Centre Retail Park, Portumna, Clifden, Ballinasloe, Gort, Oranmore, Knocknacarra and Loughrea), Kildare (Athy, Celbridge, Kildare Town, Maynooth, Clane, Monread Road Naas and Jigginstown Road Naas), Kilkenny (Callan, Waterford Road Kilkenny City and Hebron Road Kilkenny City), Kerry (Tralee Rathass, Tralee John Joe Sheehy Road, Kenmare, Killarney, Killorglin, Listowel and Castleisland), Laois (Portlaoise and Portarlington), Leitrim (Carrick-on-Shannon), Louth (Dundalk Newry Road, Dundalk Ramparts Road, Drogheda Town Centre and Drogheda Retail Park), Longford,  Limerick (Childers Road, Newcastle West and Dublin Road), Mayo (Castlebar and Claremorris),  Meath (Kells, Ashbourne, Navan and Clonee), Monaghan (Carrickmacross), Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary (Tipperary Town, Cashel, Clonmel, Roscrea, Thurles, Cahir, Carrick-on-Suir and Nenagh), Waterford (Ferrybank, The Ashe Road, The Glen, Dungarvan and Ardkeen), Offaly (Edenderry and Tullamore), Westmeath (Athlone and Mullingar), Wicklow (Arklow, Blessington, Bray and Greystones), Wexford (Bunclody, Enniscorthy, Newtown Road Wexford Town, New Ross, Gorey, Wexford Retail Park Wexford Town and Trinity Street Wexford Town).

The Tower of London: how to plan the perfect trip

The Tower of London

The Tower of London has featured large in 

recent television portrayals of the reign 

of Henry VIII in programmes 

like 'The Tudors', 'Wolf Hall' , et al 

Pat Keenan visited the Tower 

and tells you how to plan the perfect trip 

through time from as far back as the 11th century, 

on through those Tudor times... and to the present day

Map and photos by Pat Keenan

1   Tower Hill Trinity Square Gardens

     Between 1388 and 1747 over 100 people were beheaded here. The site of the actual scaffold is marked by a paving stone in the west of the garden. The paving stone is actually a memorial to two Jacobites, both victims to the axe. They were the William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock and Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino, both beheaded in 1746. The Jacobites were the supporters of the Royal House of Stuarts after the defeat of James II at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland. At the root of it all was James II 's conversion to Catholicism and the so-called ‘Popish Plot’ to place him on the throne. 

Over 100 people were beheaded here: Trinity Square Gardens,  Tower Hill                                  Photo: Pat Keenan

    The last person to be beheaded here in public was the eight year old Jacobite, Lord Simon Fraser Lovatt in 1747. On the day of that execution in 1747 the platform erected for the viewing public collapsed killing, we are told, 'many people'. This was also the last time an axe was used for executions in Britain. The very first execution here in 1388 was the execution of Simon DeBurley, the tutor of Richard II, impeached by the Commons for treason.
Others executed here:
•  Sir Thomas Moore in 1535 was canonised a saint in 1935. When Henry VIII asked Moore to arrange a dissolution of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon he resigned as Chancellor. Henry had him arrested and imprisoned in the Tower (see also 2 The Bell Tower)
•  Thomas Cromwell also fell victim to Henry VIII. He was made Earl of Essex for arranging Henrys marriage to Ann of Cleves. The marriage failed and Cromwell became a public liability. Cromwell was executed here in 1540
•  Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset was a brother of Henry VIIIs ??th wife Jane Seymour. He was axed here in 1552.
•  Archbishop William Laud was beheaded here in 1645. His attempt to rid Scotland of Presbyterianism and England of Calvinism led to what became known as the ‘Bishops War’
•  The English rebel leader James Scott, Duke of Monmouth carried a black box with him claiming it contained proof he was heir to the throne. When a plot to have King Charles II assassinated and have Mommouth succeed was discovered he fled to Holland. On his return he was captured after his small peasant army was defeated. He was executed here in 1685. The conspiracy to kill Charles II was called the Rye House Plot.
•  Another arrested after its discovery was Algernon Sidney who was executed here in 1683 following a suspect trial by the infamous Judge Jeffreys, His name was cleared six years later.

2   Imprisoned in the Bell Tower
Those imprisoned here in the Bell Tower included:
•  Sir Thomas More (photo)was held here for treason before his execution on the Hill (see 3) (see also Westminster Hall)
•  Bishop and Saint John Fisher was imprisoned here after opposing HenryVIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. While here Pope PaulIII made him a cardinal He was beheaded and in 1935 the Vatican canonized him a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
•  ElizabethI, daughter of HenryVIII and Ann Boleyn was imprisoned here for 19 years by her half sister MaryI, Catherine of Aragon’s daughter. In all those years Elizabeths only exercise was the walk between here and the Beauchamp Tower (11) This section is known as ‘Elizabeths Walk’
• The Duke of Monmouth, John Scott was taken here after his defeat at Sedgemoor in 1685. He was beheaded on the Hill (3)

3   St. Thomas Tower and Traitors Gate

• During the first World War Sir Roger Casement was imprisoned here  at St. Thomas Tower and Traitors Gate for treason. Returning from Germany in 1916 in a submarine he was captured by British forces in Ireland. He was hanged and buried in Pentonville. In 1965 his body was returned to Ireland where he received a state funeral.

• Sir Thomas More was also held here for a time (see also 6 the Bell Tower)

• The second wife of HenryVIII Anne Boleyn was also imprisoned here (see 8, 10, 12)

• HenryVIII’s fifth wife Catherine Howard was sent here accused of adultery with Francis Dereham. She was incidentally related to Anne Boleyn. (see12)

4   The Bloody Tower

• Two young princes were murdered here in the Bloody Tower by their uncle. One was EdwardV, made king under the guardianship of his uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester. The other was his brother Richard Duke of York. Their bones were found in a box near the present entrance to the White Tower (?) Over the past 500 years there have been many sightings of the ghosts of the two princes here in the Bloody Tower.

Two young princes murdered: The Bloody Tower                                              Photo: Pat Keenan

• Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned here for 16 years during which time he wrote History of the World. The territory that would become the the present US state of Virginia was named by him in honour of Queen Elizabeth I. Today that state’s capital is the city of Raleigh. It was Raleigh who first introduced new produce from America including potatoes and tobacco. A charge of conspiricy against James I  led to his incarseration here. On his release he set sail again, this time in an unsucessful attempt to fine gold in Guiana. He was arrested again on his return and executed outside Westminster.

During his imprisonment: Sir Walter Raleigh's writing desk                       Photo: Pat Keenan

• Another in the court of JamesI was Robert Carr who fell in love with the Countess of Essex Frances Howard. They planned to marry but she would first have to get her marriage annulled. Carr’s private secretary Sir Thomas Overbury opposed the marriage and as a result ended up a prisoner here. Frances however wanted Overbury dead and arranged a gift for him of cakes and pies, all laced with poison. Overbury died here and shirtly after both Carr and Frances Howard were on trial for his murder, during which they also were held here at the Tower for a time and then released. Ann turner who made the cakes and Sir Gervaise Elwes, the keeper of the Tower who allowed the cakes into Overbury’s cell were both executed. Carr and Howard went free.

• The notorious Judge Jeffreys died here in 1689. He condemned more than 300 people to death and more sold into slavery when he presided over the Bloody Assizes, the infamous trials following the defeat of the Mommouth Rebellion.

• Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was imprisoned here before his death by burning at the stake in Oxford  in 1556. 

• Another Archbishop, William Laud was incarsurated here before his beheading in 1645 on Tower Hill (1). From  a window here in 1641 the Archbishop blessed the Earl of Strafford, Sir Thomas Wentworth on his way past to the scaffold at Tower Hill (1).

5   Wakefield Tower

• At the entrance to Wakefield Tower here, on the floor, a plaque marks the spot where in 1471 Henry VI was assassinated while kneeling in prayer. Throughout the War of the Roses Henry was merely a puppet having lost his sanity. He was deposed by Edward IV, his army defeated at Barnet and imprisoned. He was murdered here by students of Eton College and Kings College Cambridge.

Henry VI assassinated, here, while kneeling in prayer                                                       Photos: Pat Keenan

6   Queen’s House

• Lord Nithsdale, William Maxwell on the eve of his execution was smuggled our of the Queen’s House, here,  dressed as a woman by his wife Winifred. They both escaped to Rome where they lived for thirty-three years. This is perhaps the most audacious escape ever made from the Tower. The day after the escape two Jacobite sympatisers were executed. They were Robert Earl of Kenmure and the Earl of Derwentwater, both captured in Preston after the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion.
• A more recent prisoner was Adolf Hitler’s deputy in the Nazi Party, Rudolf Hess. In 1941, on the eve of war with the Soviet Union, Hess flew to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace, but was arrested. He was a prisoner here for two days. He died aged 93 on August 17, 1987 while under Four Power imprisonment at Spandau Prison in Berlin. He was found in a "summer house" of the prison with an electrical cord around his neck. His death was ruled a suicide.

Queen’s House: the most audacious escape ever made from the Tower  Photos: Pat Keenan

7   Yeoman Gaolers House

Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife was imprisoned here in the last days before her execution in 1536,
Lady Jane Grey through a window here saw the body of her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley, return from the scaffold.
In the Council chamber here Guy Fawkes was tortured and interrogated about his plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The day he was arrested November 5, 1605 is commemorated in Britain every year with the burning of his effigy.

8   Beauchamp Tower

Beauchamp Tower is named after Thomas Beauchamp who was imprisoned here by RichardII between 1397 and 1399. On the walls of the first floor room the names prisoners scratched on the walls can still be seen. Over the fireplace, the name of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel is carved and on the right is theornate inscription with roses of John Dudley, his father and four brothers, all prisoners here.   Ambrose, Earl of Warwick with oak leaves, Robert, Earl of Leicester, one of the plotters to make Lady Jane Grey Queen of England, with gilly flowers, Lord Guilford, husband of Lady Jane Grey and with thehoneysuckle, Henry. On the north wall of the room the name Jane is inscribed. This Jane was Lady Jane Grey Queen of England who reigned for just 10 days.

Beauchamp Tower: names scratched on the walls by prisoners can still be seen.                                 Photo: Pat Keenan

9   Where the scaffold stood

This is the spot where the scaffold stood, where many a royal and noble head rolled. This site was used almost exclusively for the royal execution.
• 1536,  Anne Boleyn was beheaded, not by an axe, but with a sword. Her ghost has been reported seen walking about here.
• 1541  The Countess of Salisbury
• 1542  The  Countess of Rochford
• 1542  Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife.
• 1554  Lady Jane Grey
• 1601 Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

The scaffold: where many a royal and noble head rolled.                     Photo: Pat Keenan

10   White Tower

The White Tower was the first building constructed at the Tower of London started in 1077 by William I the Conqueror and completed by his son ‘Rufus’ William II  in 1097. William the Conqueror was the illeggitmate son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, known as’The Devil’ William claimed the English throne on the basis of a promice he got from his cousin Edward the Confessor. He invaded England and on October 14, 1066 won the Battle of Hastings. Harold was killed in the battle and william was crowned King of England. He may have won the battle but the resistance went on until 1070. He died, fighting the Freach in a horse riding accident. His son ‘Rufus’ ( because of his red hair) also died accidentally. While hunting in the New Forest his friend Walter Tirel shot him by mistake.
Bishop Ranulf Flambard was first person to be imprisoned at the Tower and, ironically, he was also the first to escape. Imprisoned by Henry I in 1100 at the White Tower, Flambard threw a party for his guards and when they were all drunk enough hr slipped away. The Bishop using a rope lowered himself down the outside wall of the tower and escaped by boat down the river.
In the basement there is a display of17th century  Stuart armour. This was where Guy Fawkes was streached on the rack in an effort to extract why he attempted to blow up the Housea of Parliament ( see11)

The White Tower: first building constructed at the Tower of London           Photo: Pat Keenan

St Johns Chapel on the first floor is where in 1381 rebel, followers of Wat Tyler, captured Archbishop Sudbury, took him to Tower Hall and executed him. This was part of the Peasants Revolt against serfdom and a poll tax. There was three days and nights of violent protest. During the revolt Tyler was killed in a fight.
Also in this chapel in 1554 Mary I married PhilipII of Spain by proxy causing her to loose popular support. It also prompted a rebellion against her by Sir Thomas Wyatt. The revolt failed but so did the marriage with Philip leaving the country in 1555. The persecutions that followed the restoration of Roman supremacy lead to her better known name - ‘Bloody Mary’
On January 24, 1885 the Fenians, an Irish Republican society with American connections, planted a bomb here on the second floor. The explosions seriously injured many people. Two men are sentenced to penal servitude for life as a result.. In 1866 the Fenians launched a failed invasion of Canada from the United States of America, The following year 1867 they failed in a rising against English rule in Ireland.
In a German air raid in the Second World War two bombs exploded here exposing tunnels dating back to the time of CharlesII. During that raid five people were killed.
In the Mortar room on July 17, 1974 one person was killed and 35 injured in a terrorist bomb attack. A plaque marks the spot.

11   The Chapel Royal of St.Peter ad Vincula

Two of HenryVIII’s wifes are buried here, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. An officer on sentry duty here one night noticed the lights were on in the chapel. Looking through the window he saw a woman lead a procession down the aisle He watched for several minutes as the assembly, all dressed in period costume began to fade leaving the chapel in darkness. They say the woman was Anne Boleyn. Another lady said to haunt the chapel is Lady Jane Grey, the senenteen year old ‘queen for a day’ - it was actually ten days. Sir Thomas More (photo)was buried here but his body was removed and is buried in Chelsea Old Church(photo) and his head is at Canterbury.
Also buried here: •Lady Jane Grey’s father-in-law John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland in 1553, •Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in 1552, • Bishop John Fisher was interred in the crypt in 1553, • Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex in 1601

The Chapel Royal of St.Peter ad Vincula                                          Photo: Pat Keenan

12   Devereaux Tower

Robert Devereaux, 2nd Earl of Essex was confined here prior to his execution for treason. he was a handsome man renouned for his clarm and good looks, a favourite on and off of Queen Elizabeth I Off when he married, on again with his attack on the Spanish at Cádiz, off when, in an angry exchange of words, he remarked that some of her views were ‘as crooked as her carcass.’ That was going too far and she sent him packing to Ireland as Lord Lieutenent. When he returned, without permission, he was arrested, taken here and beheaded at the Tower’s scaffold(13). Incidentally his son, also Robert, the 3rd. Earl of Essex married Frances Howard who after the marriage failed took a lover Robert Carr and went on to arrange the murder of Sor Thomas Overbury (9)

13   Old Waterloo Barracks

The notorious gangland Kray twins, Reggie and Ronnie Kray started their National Servive here in 1952 at the headquarters of the Royal Fusilers. Two years later they returned to the EastEnd to organise their criminal empire

Old Waterloo Barracks   Photo: Pat Keenan

14   Bower Tower

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence was imprisoned here in the Tower charged with communicating with the dead in an attempt to foretell the future. In William Shakspear's Richard III he describes how, in this tower, the Duke was drowned in a vat of Malmsay wine. People, less poetic, say this is more accurately interpreted as meaning he drank himself to death.

15   Martin Tower

In 1671, Anglo-Irishman Colonel Thomas Blood (born in Co.Clare, Ireland) managed to steal the Crown Jewels from the Martin Tower. He was apprehended but later received a pardon from Charles II.  Before this escapade he had been involved in a foiled attempt to storm Dublin Castle, and kidnap James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, for ransom. Blood evaded arrest by hiding with his co-conspiritors in the Dublin mountains, from where he managed to escape to the Netherlands. A few of Blood's collaborators were captured and executed.
On his return to England, he made a second attempt, this time with the intention killing Ormonde.  On the night of December 6, 1670, Blood and his accomplices dragged Ormonde from his coach in St James's Street. Bound and tied he was taken on horseback along Piccadilly to Tyburn (now MarbleArch) where they intended hanging him. Ormonde somehow freed himself and escaped. So secret was the plot, Blood was never suspected of the crime.

16   Miniature Rifle Range: in moat between Martin and Constable Towers
      The last person to be executed at the Tower of London was during World War 2 when Josef Jakobs, a German spy, was shot by a military firing squad here in August 1941.
 Shortly after he landed by parachute at Huntingdonshire, Britain, he was captured by the local Home Guard, Later he was convicted of espionage by by a military tribunal. Jakobs was shot by a military firing squad at the miniature rifle range in the grounds of the Tower of London. He was not hanged because he was captured as an enemy combatant and not by the civilian police service.
During the two world wars many German spies died here by firing squad - in the Second World War alone, eleven German spies were executed.

17   Salt Tower/ 18  Cradle Tower
Jesuit priest Father John Gerard was imprisoned here in the Salt Tower in April 1587. He corresponded with a number of people, sending letters with secret information written in orange juice, invisible until treated.  One of the recipients was a fellow Tower prisoner, John Arden, in the Cradle Tower opposite the Salt Tower. They formulated a plan of escape and on October 5 1587, in collaboration with people outside, they descended the Cradle Tower, swung across the moat escaped by a boat that was waiting for them.

Travel File:
By Air
Aer Lingus www.aerlingus.com from Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Knock, Shannon.
Ryanair www.ryanair.com Cork, Dublin, Knock, Shannon
CityJet  www.cityjet.com/London from Dublin to London City Airport
EasyJet www.easyjet.com from Belfast

By Tour Operators
www.abbeytravel.ie/travel-deals/city-breaks.aspx
www.budgettravel.ie/cheap-sun-holidays/.../london-holidays.aspx
www.clickandgo.com/City-Break-Deals
www.clubtravel.ie/city-breaks/city-breaks.aspx
www.ebookers.ie/deals/city-break-deals/
www.lastminute.ie/city-breaks/
www.lowcostholidays.ie/london-deals.htm
www.trivago.ie/Short-London-Breaks‎

By Trains
Tower Hill is the nearest Underground station and I connected to the Tower by an underpass. The DLR will take you to Tower Gateway 
By Bus
A vintage Routemaster No 15 from Charing Cross to Tower Hill
or the RV1, from Aldwych to south the River Thames and back over Tower Bridge. For routes, check out www.tfl.gov.uk
By Boat 
To Tower Millennium Pier from Greenwich, passing through Tower Bridge, or from the City of Westminster. 
From Embankment to Tower Millennium Pier by Thames Clippers www.thamesclippers.com
City Cruises  www.citycruises.com offer combined River Cruise and Tower of London entry.

Admission
The Tower of London www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon opens in winter 9.00 am to 4.30pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10am to 4.30pm Sunday and Monday; from March 1 it will stay open for an additional hour in the afternoon and entry prices rise slightly. Tickets cost £22 for adults (£20.90 when booked online), £11 (£10.45) for children ages 5-15, £18.70 (£17.60) for concessions.