Sunday Times,
28 December 2003
Weekend world — 52 quick getaways for 2004
Why be a weekend couch potato when you can carnival, kayak and ride
on the beach? Jeremy Lazell has the top trips to transform your year
How much holiday do you reckon you’ve got next year? Four
weeks? Five? Think again. Tot up 47 two-day weekends, four days off at
Easter
and Christmas, and three bank holidays, and you’ve 111 days to
play with in 2004, even before you start eating into the company allowance.
Better yet, weekend breaks are just what our cash-rich, time-poor hearts
desire, and holiday companies can’t wait to meet that need. You
just need to know where to look.
Or rather, you just need to read on, as we hand-pick 52 breaks to colour
your calendar — one for every weekend of the year. A few require
a day off work, but most start late on Friday, ensuring absolute full
value for your time.
...
21st-22nd February
CARNIVAL, VENICE
Why? Misty, ethereal, and with everyone from shopkeepers to gondoliers
in masks and capes, Venice in February is a magical escape from porridge
and permafrost back home. This break includes tickets to the city’s
most opulent ball, at the 15th-century Palazzo Pisani-Moretta, overlooking
the Grand Canal.
The details: from £750 for two nights, four-star, including ball
tickets, water-taxi transfers and EasyJet flights (out 5.30pm Friday,
back 10.30pm Sunday); costume hire from £150. Contact Bellini Travel
(+44 (0)20 7602 7602, www.bellinitravel.com).
...
3rd-4th July
PALIO, SIENA
 Why? Siena is pinch-yourself picturesque, especially during the Palio.
Exactly 408 years after the first madcap dash around the Piazza del
Campo, this is not so much a horse race as a journey back in time.
You’ll need a day off work to do it — resign if the boss
says no.
The details: from £1,200 for two nights, five-star, including tickets
for the Palio on Friday evening, dinner in the Piazza del Campo afterwards,
and BA flights to Pisa (out 8am Friday, back 10.05pm Sunday). Contact
Bellini Travel (+44 (0)20 7602 7602, www.bellinitravel.com).
...
11th-12th December
OPERA, MILAN
 Why? With La Scala reopening after nearly three years in refurbishment,
this normally suave city looks set to lose its cool. Organisers haven’t
published a programme yet, but the opening opera is likely to be Salieri’s
L’Europa Riconosciuta, which was first performed at La Scala in
1778.
The details: from £790 for two nights at the five-star Grand Hotel,
with La Scala tickets, transfers and Alitalia flights to Milan (out 7.20pm
Friday, back 6.30pm Sunday). Contact Fine Art Travel (+44 (0)20 7437 8553,
www.finearttravel.co.uk).
...
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