Traveldesk: medieval festivals in Tuscany, travelling to Mexico and Jamaica

FIVE MEDIEVAL FESTIVALS IN TUSCANY

June marks the beginning of the Tuscan festival summer, with a series of pageants and sporting engagements that began in the Middle Ages and continue to this day, albeit with slightly less fatal consequences for most competitors. Here are five to watch out for:

Calcio Storico Fiorentino (Florence) Calcio means ‘kick’; it’s also the Italian word for ‘football,’ but this traditional game – whose rules were laid down in 1580 – is more like rugby and wrestling than soccer. Four teams of 27 players representing the four parishes of Florence scrap for the honour of being crowned champions on June 24th, the feast day of John the Baptist, the city’s patron saint. The two qualifying games are played on June 13th and 14th. See

[ calciostoricofiorentino.it ]

Gioco del Ponte (Pisa) More than 100,000 spectators gather on the third Sunday in June to watch the city’s districts ‘fight’ for control of a bridge over the river Arno in a variation of a tug-o-war, but instead of a rope the ‘armies’ push a seven-tonne trolley into enemy territory. It’s highly competitive. See

[ giocodelpontedipisa.it ]

Giostra dell’Orso (Pistoia) Similar to the better-known jousting contest in Arezzo, Pistoia’s Piazza del Duomo goes all medieval on July 25th as the rione (the districts) compete for the palio (a cloth banner) by lancing a shape that looks vaguely like a bear (hence the name ‘Joust of the Bear’). See

[  giostradellorso-pistoia.it  ]

Giostra del Saracino (Arezzo) The ‘Joust of the Saracen’ takes place on the third Saturday of June and the first Sunday in September in Arezzo’s Piazza Grande. The city’s four neighbourhoods (quartieri) participate, complete with armour, horses and lances; but instead of jabbing each other, they aim their lances at a wooden dummy called the buratto. See

[ giostradelsaracinoarezzo.it  ]

Palio di Siena The most famous medieval festival of them all is a 90-second bareback horse race around the sloping Piazza del Campo. On July 2nd and August 16th, 10 of the city’s contrade, or districts, race for the drapellone, or large drape at dangerous speeds. Each race is surrounded by a four-day festival that is usually thronged with visitors. See

[ thepalio.com ]

DIRECT TO MEXICO AND JAMAICA

Tour operator Falcon Holidays and sister company Thomson have announced that they will be operating direct flights from Dublin to Jamaica and Mexico from June 2016.

The new routes are a first for an Irish operator and will be serviced by a Thomson Airways 787 Dreamliner – Boeing’s newest flagship aircraft. Weekly flights to Cancun in Mexico will begin on June 12th and to Montego Bay in Jamaica (pictured) on June 13th. Both charter services will have the option of Premium Club service, which gives passengers a 38-inch pitch, greater recline and a four-course meal. Bookings for both will begin in June. See

[ falconholidays.ie ]

or

[ thomson.co.uk. ]

TRAVELLING WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

There are few resources available to families travelling with children with special needs such as Down syndrome or autism spectrum disorder. US website SpecialGlobe is trying to address that inadequacy.

This relatively new website is an online forum where parents can exchange tips and suggestions on how best to manage all aspects of a holiday for children with cognitive or physical disabilities, from which airlines are best suited to dealing with the needs of such families (last month United Airlines was heavily criticised for removing a family with an autistic daughter from one of their flights) to recommendations on amenities at hotels and attractions that can make travel more comfortable.

The forum currently deals only with US destinations, but is looking to expand its reach across the globe and encourages readers to contribute their experience and advice. See

[ specialglobe.com ]

AIRPORT NAMASTE

Nothing quite tightens the muscles like an airport security queue or the words ‘flight delayed,’ but some airports are creating spaces where you can unfurl your yoga mat and destress into a downward dog.

Since San Francisco International opened the first designated yoga room in 2012, a number of other US airports have followed suit, including Chicago O’Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth. San Diego International has spent $200,000 on a meditation room. In Europe, you can strike a pose in the SkyTeam Lounge in Heathrow’s Terminal 4 (access costs £27.50); you can practise your asana for free at Helsinki Airport’s yoga room (pictured), or chill out completely in its brand new GoSleep pods (€9), a recliner in a hard-case outer shell.

Place your luggage in the storage compartment below, plug in your phone to recharge and fall asleep inside the pod – but don’t forget to set the in-built alarm

BALENCIAGA BACK IN BASQUE

A Basque hotel is paying tribute to designer Cristóbal Balenciaga, hosting an exhibition of photographs of some of his most famous work. Deep in Basque wine country, the Hotel Viura in the medieval village of Villabuena de Alaba (157km south of San Sebastián) is showing Balenciaga’s Dream Cinema until the end of October, with Hollywood stars like Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner and Marlene Dietrich clad in Balenciaga creations. The restaurant has created a tasting menu (¤50) based on ingredients from the Getaria region, where Balenciaga was born in 1895. Rooms start at €145; see

[ hotelviura.com ]

GET AWAY AT HOME

Summer is here, and the Powerscourt Hotel Resort & Spa (powerscourthotel.com) in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow is offering a Power Up package for ¤165pps which includes a midweek overnight in a deluxe room plus dinner. Salthill Hotel (salthillhotel.com) in Co Galway has a two-night B&B family deal that includes one dinner in the Prom restaurant for two adults and two children from €399. Finally, Ashford Castle (ashfordcastle.com) has a summer package that includes B&B for two and a table d'hote dinner in the George V restaurant from €615.

MICRO-GUIDE: SEVILLE

YOUR 60-SECOND CITY GUIDE

STAY

Hotel Casa 1800 (Calle Rodrigo Caro 6; hotelcasa1800sevilla.com; rooms from €200) A Santa Cruz palace converted into a luxury hotel.

EAT

La Brunilda (Calle Galera 5; tapas €3-7) Excellent fusion tapas in a back street of the Arenal district.

DO

Museo del Baile Flamenco (Calle Manuel Rojas Marcos 3; museodelbaileflamenco.com; €10) Fabulous museum dedicated to flamenco, with nightly concerts (€20) in the courtyar