DATELINE MONDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2017

Happy Monday, I hope February is going well for you, another six weeks and Spring will start springing, we can then all look forward to daffodils blooming, blossom erupting and cupboards filling with hats, scarfs, gloves and heavy winter coats but whoooaaaa not yet, its getting colder yet again, by the end of the week frost and chilly icy blasts from the frozen East will be heading our way.

I have just spent a few days in Iceland, the capital of the country Reykjavik is changing and developing very quickly indeed. The interest in Iceland as a destination is huge, the one thing I learned over and above anything else whilst being in Reykjavik with Thora, Ylfa, Kristin, Perla Linda the team at Nordic Visitor DMC the DMC we have been representing since 2012 was that if you and your clients’ needs space in Reykjavik, you have to plan it in advance. Getting fifty or sixty rooms with a six week two month lead in time is challenging. A client of mine is going on a long weekend break this month and the only accommodation she could get herself was an air B&B studio.

DMC News* MM and Company News * Destination News*

Mauritius Anusha, Davina and the team at Connections DMC have told us there is a public holiday on Thursday 9th February Thaipoosam cavadee, is one of the most popular festivals celebrated by Indo-Mauritians whose ancestors originated from Tamil Nadu, India. The festival, which is held in either January or February each year according to the Tamil calendar and is in devotion to Lord Muruga. If you need urgent assistance in Mauritius, you can contact Anusha on her mobile or let me know.

Iceland Ylfa, the Linda’s (there are three of them), Fjola, Perla and Kristin of Nordic Visitor took amazing care of me during my brief visit to Iceland, I stayed at the brand new Canopy Hotel by Hilton, very nice hotel, slap bank in the centre of Reykjavik nicely appointed. I love heated bathroom floors, could not fault the hotel, very casual, very welcoming. The weather was great not cold, London was colder a couple of weeks ago. One day I drove up to the Glaciers in a super jeep and did a site inspection of the ICE TUNNEL. I have got some great photographs of it, it’s a tunnel that has been created 200 metres under the Glacier, a unique and awesome location for lunch or gala dinner for up to 100 people. I have not seen the Ice Tunnel before, well it’s only just opened and I was very impressed, you want something different Nordic Visitor DMC has got it for you.

Leyla and Hannah’s twitter and witter bit of the Monday morning e mail

Readers of my Leyla and Hannah column will know the drama we have been having with Leyla’s iPhone, I allowed her to buy a new iPhone 6S with some of her Batmitzvah money. In less than a year the iPhone had been dropped, smashed, two screens replaced and finally it drowned in the bath. She has been without a digital device for six weeks. I sent her device back to Apple, they graciously agreed to replace her damaged phone with a new one in exchange for £279. Leyla now has the new phone she is one very, very happy 14 year old. We now have a written iPhone contract between Central Command (parents) and madam face Leyla. The T&C’s are in place to protect her new innocent digital device.

Hannah decided she wanted an Afro hairstyle last Sunday night, with the assistance of Leyla she rolled her hair up in various curls and tied it up with toilet paper, she went to bed. Monday morning early, I was leaving I needed to be at Heathrow for 8 o’clock which meant leaving the house at about 7 o’clock (traffic on Monday morning). I woke the girls up, made sure they were out of bed, I was just about to leave the house when I heard a scream from the girl’s bathroom. I ran upstairs to find Hannah in floods of tears, all she could say was “Daddy, my hair, my hair”. She had an enormous Afro, it was hilarious, I couldn’t obviously laugh. Hannah was crying and saying “I can’t go to school like this, everyone will laugh at me”, her hair was totally wild. I got the shower going, I stuck her head under warm water and soaked the curls away. I said to Hannah, now go and blow dry it, it will be fine. “Really, do you promise it will be fine?

”I said “I promise” without being too sure that the promise would be delivered. I phoned her half way into my journey to Heathrow, it had worked thank goodness for that.

And that dear reader is it you are fully up to date.