My Holidays

Geraldine O''Callaghan

What’s your earliest holiday memory?

I remember being in Wales with my family and cousins. There was a swimming pool with a cable car over it and you could slide across the top of the swimming pool. I loved it!

What was your worst holiday?

I went to Bruges, Belgium after seeing In Bruges. I was there on my own for three days, but you really only need to stay for a day. It was so boring. I expected it to be bigger and I did everything there is to do in a few hours. The only consolation was that they had the best chocolate in the world.

What was your best holiday?

Inter-railing around Europe for a month with my sister. We stopped in 14 cities in nine countries. We flew to France then zigzagged all the way down Europe, including Denmark, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Croatia. We discovered places that were quirky, like Ceske Budejovice where Budweiser originated.

We also got to places that you wouldn’t usually see, such as the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. It’s one of the saddest places I have been in my life and made me appreciate life and home. There was so much crammed into the holiday it was amazing.

If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?

The next holiday I want to go on is to Cuba before it changes too much after Castro and when the Americans lift the ban and modernise it.

It would be a step back in time with the 1940s and 1950s cars and art deco houses. I also want to learn salsa from a Cuban. So if I was to go anywhere tomorrow it would be to Cuba in a hurry.

If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?

I’d bring Tommy Tiernan because you’d be guaranteed a laugh, a bit of banter and some mischievous carry on.

What’s your favourite place in Ireland?

I love Wexford, as it’s really pretty and I have family there. I like the coast at Ballygarrett near Courtown. Being by the sea feels right to me, perhaps because I am cancerian which is a water sign.

Your recommended holiday reading?

I am a real chick lit type of girl. Being from the inner city you see guns, murder and crime which you read about when you open up the paper. So I just like getting lost in a happy bubble and a nice place as life can be too horrible.

Where will you go to next?

I’m going to do Route 66 from Chicago to LA on the back of a Harley Davidson in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital with a gang of 70 leather-clad bikers!

• Geraldine O'Callaghanis a former contestant on The Apprenticeand is a regular television and radio panellist

• In conversation with Genevieve Carbery