What do a leopard statue in Kenya made from re-cycled scrap metal, Finland’s crazy version of Dragons’ Den, a DC-3 airplane in Hong Kong, a giant moose statue in Canada and a street-skating event in Paris have in common? They’re just some of the more unusual participants in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative for St Patrick’s Day 2019.
Tourism Ireland’s annual Global Greening initiative has gone from strength to strength – from its beginning back in 2010, when just the Sydney Opera House and the Sky Tower in Auckland went green, to this year, which will be the biggest Global Greening to date. Something like 420 sites in 53 different countries are signed up to take part for 2019. From Rome to Rio and from London to Las Vegas, a host of famous buildings and sites around the world will be turning a shade of green over the coming days.
I’m happy to report that Canada, which has a goodly share of Irish folks (including my wonderful wife), also is doing its part. In northern Ontario, the famous Wawa Goose is being bathed in soft green light to mark the occasion. The same goes for Mac the Moose in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; a steel and concrete sculpture that stands roughly 10 meters (32 feet) tall. And also for the world’s largest Muskoka chair in Gravenhurst, Ontario and the Big Fiddle of the Ceilidh, which is on wonderful Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia and is billed as the world’s largest fiddle.
The Big Fiddle in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia is getting the St. Patrick’s Day treatment this year. PHOTO COURTESY TOURISM IRELAND
Other quirky ‘Greenings’ this year include:
• St Patrick’s Bike Parade in Amsterdam: a festive green procession of bicycles, with the bike wheels illuminated with green LED lights. The parade will bring together two cultures: the bike (iconic for Amsterdam) and St Patrick’s Day (known for parades and turning the world green).
• ‘Niki’ Cathay Pacific DC-3 airplane in Hong Kong: a replica of Cathay Pacific’s second airplane, located in Cathay City, the headquarters of Cathay Pacific.
• a leopard statue called ‘Chiu’ in Kenya: a statue in Karura Forest in Nairobi, made by a local artist from re-cycled scrap metal.
• Perlan in Reykjavík: a futuristic, revolving glass-domed restaurant on the top of Öskjuhlíð hill in the Icelandic capital.
• two of Australia’s famous ‘Big Things’ – The Big Banana and The Big Kangaroo; and
• a carp statue, called ‘Fridolin’, in the town of Höchstadt an der Aisch, in Bavaria.
2019 marks the tenth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative.
Mac The Moose might disagree with Kermit the Frog about being green. PHOTO COURTESY TOURISM IRELAND
“This is the tenth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and it’s bigger and better than ever this year, with some wonderful (and unusual!) new additions like a leopard statue made from re-cycled scrap metal in Kenya and a parade of bicycles illuminated in green in Amsterdam,” said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. “St Patrick’s Day traditionally marks the real start of the tourism season for us; our aim is to bring a smile to the faces of people around the world and to convey the message that Ireland offers the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as wonderful scenery and heritage.”
New buildings and sites taking part in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening this year include Victoria Falls, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Lord’s Cricket Pavilion in London, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and Barrel House in Baltimore and the Absolut Home in Sweden.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
I had a chance this week to sit down with the engaging and charming Christian Hirt, general manager of Raffles Hotel in Istanbul, a city I was in only once, and that was back in 1989 when I was covering Toronto’s Olympic bid for the Toronto Star and the International Olympic Committee was meeting in Turkey.
Raffles Istanbul opened in 2014 — it’s a sophisticated, design-forward property with an extensive art collection (224 pieces and counting with tours led by the property’s art curator), great spa, restaurants, all located within an upscale entertainment/retail hub and modern-day bazaar, the Zorlu Center.
The spa at Raffles Istanbul.
Hirt told me the smallest room is 62 square meters, around 660 square feet. And that’s a BIG hotel room.
“We believe luxury is about space, too,” he said. “Nobody wants to sleep in a shoe box, even if it has the world’s best linens and marvellous amenities.”
All Raffles guests have access to butlers, who can not only help with pressing a wrinkled blouse or pair of pants but who also will add personal touches; perhaps adding family photos to your room for your arrival or making sure you have enough power cords for your phone or computer.
Hirt said the hotel has 185 rooms, 49 of them suites. All rooms have balconies, and the hotel is built on a hill near the Bosporus, which means there are exceptional views of one of the world’s great cities.
There have been some political issues in the past in Istanbul, but Hirt said it’s quiet now and that bookings from the west are quite strong.
A nice view at the Raffles Istanbul.
Raffles Istanbul is the only hotel in the city to have been given a five-star rating in the latest Forbes hotel guide, and that’s impressive when you consider the city also is host to such top names as St. Regis, Shangri-La and Four Seasons, he said.
Istanbul’s new airport is poised to be fully operational next month. Hirt said authorities are aiming to make it the biggest airport in the world, even eclipsing the traffic in Dubai. The city also will open a new cruise ship terminal in 2020, he said.
In addition to great sites like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, Istanbul is home to outstanding restaurants and wonderful neighbourhoods, including ones on the Asian side of the city that many tourists never visit.
