Balearic bliss

SUMMER MEMORIES:'MY FIRST FAMILY holiday abroad was in Mallorca. I smashed my elbow while chasing a girl called Mary Rose across a hotel lobby marble floor. I was 10. I broke my arm. When we came home I had to have it reset. Years later it's still a funny shape.

“While still in school my girlfriends and I went to Crete for a summer break. It seemed the rest of Ireland had similar plans. There were loads of girls from my school, Loreto in Bray, and the town’s boys’ schools were well represented, too. “I was rather shy back in those days and my mother was worried sick. She’d read all the sensationalist stories in the tabloids at the time. And no, we weren’t tucked up in bed by 8pm, but she trusted me and knew I could take care of myself.

“Although Crete is steeped in history I’m ashamed to say I learned nothing of its heritage on that trip.

“After the Leaving, I went inter-railing with many of the same friends. We got kicked off a train in Slovakia for having the wrong ticket and spent a day sitting on the platform in a tiny village waiting for the next train out. We had no money and one of the girls had to call her father and have him try and wire us the money. Looking back, it was funny but not at the time.

“In Prague we tried to hire paddle boats that were for over 15s only. It had been raining hard and we looked like drowned rats and were highly indignant about being carded when 18. Eventually, they let us aboard only to have one of the girls crash into the Charles Bridge and get photographed doing so by loads of tourists. I was absolutely mortified but also laughed myself silly.

“This summer, I’m working right through and am working for MTV at Ibiza Rocks. I’ve only been to the island once before and am not really into the club scene. But there is another side to the island that flies beneath popular culture’s radar.

“There are gorgeous beaches everywhere – you just need to know where to look. One of the chicest is the Blue Marlin Beach Club, a place where you can literally dine on the sand. The views across Cala Jondal Bay are absolutely breathtaking. “Although I’m from the seaside town of Bray I have to confess that I prefer the place off season. In summer, everyone and their sister descends on the place and it’s just too busy.”

In conversation with Alanna Gallagher

This summer, Laura Whitmore is presenting MTV Digs, Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm