Broadcaster Helen Carroll
What was your best holiday?I met my husband Peter in the summer of 1994 and on St Stephen's Day we went to New York together. I was instantly in love it with it. We stayed in the Chelsea Hotel, took the Staten Island Ferry and went up the Empire State Building.
On New Year’s Eve, we went from a seedy club where Sandra Bernhard was performing to the other extreme of the Carlyle to see Eartha Kitt. There are no half measures in New York at that time of year, with decorations up at Macy’s and the Rockefeller Center. It was like walking into a movie set. Next time I was back there was on my honeymoon, again for New Year’s Eve.
What was your worst holiday?I haven't had a holiday from hell but have had weather from hell. I went to Club Med in the south of France with my daughter (Katie), then five, as I thought it would be easy. We unpacked and as soon as we got into the pool there was a clap of thunder and it rained for two weeks. But everything else was great.
If budget or work were no restriction what would be your dream holiday?I'd love to go to Taormina, Sicily, for the summer. It's an old-style Italian town up the mountains and like something from The Godfather. It's hard to leave home during the summer as we have polytunnels of vegetables, a dog and bees. So to pay someone take care of that for an entire summer while I go with my family and rent a villa with a full-time chef would be a dream.
Who would you bring on holiday with you if you had your pick?We have a new baby boy (Luke) and a 10-year-old daughter. When he gets to the stage of sleeping through the night I look forward to bringing them away on our first proper holiday together.
What's your favourite place in Ireland?Every summer we go to Ardmore, Co Waterford. It has beautiful cliff walks and nice beaches. My two aunts are Presentation nuns and the order has a big rickety holiday home there which I have gone to every summer with my extended family. But last year it was just ourselves and we rented a lovely boathouse. Ardmore reminds me of my childhood holidays with nothing to do but walk and nothing to buy but 99s.
Your recommended holiday reading?It's always fiction; Last year I read Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada and A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. For this summer I have put aside The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler.
Where will you go to next?Back to the Ardmore boathouse in August and, depending on how easy Luke is by autumn, we may go further afield.
Helen Carroll presents Ear to the Ground on RTÉ television and blogs on rural life at the3acres.com
In conversation with
GENEVIEVE CARBERY