(upbeat music)
- We're just returning from a four night trip
to Western Massachusetts and we flew from Dublin
to Hartford Airport with Aer Lingus,
which was a great experience.
We were on their new aircraft,
which was a really smooth and pleasant journey.
And we also had the privilege of getting upgraded
to business class, which was a lovely experience.
Once we arrived we were greeted at the airport
and initially, brought out to the D Hotel
for the first two nights of our stay,
which was, really enjoyable.
There's a great Irish connection in the hotel.
The owner is Irish from Kerry.
And we experienced great hospitality.
We met a lot of the locals, as well.
In general, everyone that we met
was really welcoming and interested in,
in Ireland and where we had come from.
And the hospitality was fantastic.
So we spent the first two nights there.
And the first day we went to the Yankee Candle Shop.
So that was amazing.
It's a really big store that they have over there
with every candle imaginable and every scent.
They also, had a really good themed Christmas department
in the store, which is famous over there
and really big with the locals.
Especially, at Christmas time with kids and families.
Later on that day, we went white water rafting.
Which was a really enjoyable experience.
Unfortunately, it was raining.
But it didn't really matter because we got wet anyway.
But the scenery was spectacular
as we went in down the river.
And we went up to a three rapid, I think it was.
So it was a bit scary at times.
But overall, a really good experience.
In the same area you can also do ziplining and canoeing.
So there's great facilities for any outdoor enthusiasts.
What really surprised me was the food.
We experienced loads of different restaurants
and we never had a bad meal.
Like, really unusual.
We went to a German restaurant one night.
We did a Mediterranean another day.
So there was plenty to choose from.
Also had lots of steak.
Loads of lovely steakhouses.
And as I said, not a bad meal anywhere.
It was really good and more reasonable I thought, as well,
menu wise, than other parts of the States.
So after two nights at the D Hotel,
we left to stay in the MGM in Springfield.
Which is a relatively new hotel and it's super modern.
The style is very contemporary,
but they brought loads of different elements
of Springfield into the hotel.
Had lots of odd memorabilia and artifacts of the hotel.
So much to do.
There was multiple restaurants, a casino of course.
There was a pool a spa and plenty of restaurants
there as well.
So we stayed there for two nights.
When we were in Springfield, we went to some of the museums
that they had to offer.
The first one was the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Which was really, really interesting.
We got to tour the hall.
We saw a video clip and then we got to tour the hall.
And there were so many interactive, different things
that you could do there, especially if you were with kids.
And I found that particularly interesting,
because my kids play basketball a lot.
It was really interesting to see
the All Stars and everything.
It's such a big sport over in the States.
We also went to the Dr. Seuss Museum.
Which I really love.
Because we were always read Dr. Seuss as kids.
So it was really lovely to tour the museum
and hear a bit about the man himself.
And again, that was a really good activity
for families and kids.
We also went to the Forest Park.
Which is the biggest National Park and that was super.
You could spend, easily spend a day there.
Lakes, lovely walks, parks for the kids, picnic areas
and be really super in winter or summer for a day out.
The highlight of the whole trip, I think,
was our visit to the Big E.
Which is a huge exhibition that's held
over a two week period every September.
It's visited by loads of surrounding towns
in the New England area.
It's basically like the Irish Plowing Championship,
except maybe 10 times bigger.
I think one day alone, they had 1.5 million visitors.
It was really a brilliant day.
Yet, there was everyone at it from old and young families.
And there was something for everyone.
There was rides, rides and different attractions
and then they had loads of stalls.
There's a fair there.
So the food there was amazing.
There was so much choice.
If you want to experience real American cuisine,
like the choice was phenomenal.
They had giant turkey legs, cream puffs,
which are famous over there and plenty more to choose from.
And then they also had beer tents,
which are really good fun as well.
And it was just a really lovely atmosphere
in the whole exhibition.
And then they finish off with like,
live concerts and music and they have a parade there
every evening at five o'clock,
which was also great fun.
And we were lucky enough to be asked
onto one of the floats, which was a really great experience.
(upbeat music)