Daily Mirror - 17.08.2019

(^48) DAILY MIRROR SATURDAY 17.08.2019 DM1ST
Experience
the red tarmac
treatment.
Feel like a star the next time
you fl y by choosing expert
Meet and Greet airport
parking from Holiday Extras.
Holiday Extras. Less Hassle. More Holiday.
TRAVEL
Travel test
BY DEBBIE THOMPSON
WHAT: All-new Amazon Fire 7
tablet with Alexa, £49.99, amazon.
co.uk/fire7.
WHERE: East Anglia/Cheshire.
EXPERIENCE: This is a budget-
level tablet but comes with enough
oomph from the quad-core 1.3 GHz
processor for the average user to
stream movies, read Kindle
e-books, browse the web and
operate apps.
The 7in screen is bright and
sharp; it’s quite light to hold (a
reasonable 295g weight and quite
slender) and internal storage
comes at 16GB or 32GB, plus
there’s up
to 512GB
expandable
storage via a
microSD card – so
bags of room for
your digital
memories, music
and movies.
The battery life
seemed a little
better than the
billed “up to”
eight hours, and
the front and rear
2MP cameras are adequate for
social media snaps and videos.
It’s Alexa hands-free-capable
but I didn’t use it as I’m quite
content not talking to a gadget.
It’s a bit plasticky, but withstood
two months’ daily usage and being
regularly carried loose in a
handbag and holdall with not a
single blemish.
QUIBBLES: The unwanted
pre-loaded apps and constant
barrage of Amazon adverts when
you switch on are irritating.
VERDICT: For the money, it’s
terrific, and ideal for a bargain
holiday-use, low-cost tablet.
9.5/10
Stepping on board Scenic Eclipse is like
entering the set of a James Bond movie.
This state-of-the-art ship carries two
helicopters, which can be hidden away in
hangars on the top deck, plus a submarine
that can dive 1,000ft below the surface.
However, this isn’t the lair of some
despot intent on world domination, but an
“expedition yacht” that will take
passengers to the top – and bottom – of the
world, to the Arctic and Antarctic.
My mission was to be among the first
guests to visit Scenic Eclipse in Rotterdam
last Saturday as it made its way from a
Czech shipyard to Reykjavik in Iceland for
its maiden voyage last Thursday. The ship
will be christened by Dame Helen Mirren in
New York on September 10.
Scenic Eclipse cuts a sleek profile with its
long, sharp bow, black hull and layered
white decks.
Each copter can take six guests on up to
Cruise news
BY DAVE MONK IN ROTTERDAM
(^48) DAILY MIRROR SATURDAY 17. 0
Book
by August 16 to
get a BOGOF £60 full-
price ticket for Legoland
Windsor theme park. The Make
It a Monster Summer deal is valid
for entry up to September 3,
when bought in advance online
at legoland.co.uk/
buyonegetonefree.
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DAYS OF
RHINE &
POSES
Dave Monk discovers champagne
yoga, 24-hour food and delightful
stop-offs on a river cruise
Y
oga has never seemed as
enticing as with the class on
the sun deck of new river
ship AmaMora – because
every pose, from tree to
downward-facing dog, ended with
raising a champagne glass and taking a
rewarding sip of bubbly.
Putting the fizz into physical is all part
of the “wellness” philosophy of the latest
addition to the AmaWaterways fleet,
christened in July on the Rhine.
Each day, instructor Marcelo put
volunteers through their paces, beginning
with an early morning core-strength-
ening class, followed by line dancing or a
jog ashore in the afternoon.
It was his colleague Selina who led the
champagne yoga as the 156-passenger
vessel glided through the Rhine Gorge on
a hot, sunny day.
The rest of us weren’t left thirsty either,
as we sipped on a brandy-infused creamy
Rüdesheimer coffee while
listening to a running commen-
tary on the castles we were
passing on both banks – from
solitary towers to ruined
fortresses, plus sprawling
mansions and quaint hotels.
This is the most scenic part of
the 760-mile river, which flows
from Switzerland to the North
Sea, with its tales of robber
barons, plundering kings and the
legendary Lorelei, a siren reputed to have
lured passing sailors on to perilous rocks.
Here, the Rhine winds through steep
hills, with a new fortification around
almost every bend.
We joined AmaMora in Amsterdam
after being picked up at the airport and
driven right to the end of the ship’s
gangway. A few minutes later we were
checked in and escorted to our cabin,
with luggage arriving shortly afterwards.
Moored overnight, we took a
canal trip through the Dutch city
the next day, passing quirky
houseboats, Anne Frank’s house
and the peculiar jagged
architecture of many of the most
modern buildings.
One of the great things about
river cruising is that most excur-
sions do not take up much of the
day. Ships are able to dock so
close to the centre of towns and
cities that many attractions are
within a short walk.
This was the case the following day in
Cologne, where AmaMora drew up close
to the cathedral. We opted for a stroll
around the surrounding streets, ending
up in a brewery, eating traditional potato
Listen
to the
lapping
water as
you sit
on your
balcony
OM-BOARD Yoga
class in action
Get a taste for
Ireland’s cider
A feast of fun awaits at Northern
Ireland’s biggest food and cider
festival next month.
The event in Armagh runs from
September 19-22 and the
programme includes markets,
orchard and cidery tours, tasting
dinners, cooking masterclasses, a
Bramley apple banquet, hedgerow
foraging and foodie film nights.
visitarmagh.com/festivals