About The Show

If you had a few days to spare and €500 in your pocket – where would you like to go? It doesn’t sound a lot but if you had the time to avail of cheap flights and accommodation, you would be surprised just how far you can get.

That’s the challenge set to some intrepid travellers in a new series of the popular RTE Cork programme Time on their Hands.

The first programme sees Dominican nun Sr. Margaret McCurtin fulfil a long held dream to follow in the footsteps of her heroine Saint Teresa of Avila. She travels to Madrid and Avila to discover more about the sixteenth century saint who she describes as the greatest woman she has ever encountered.

After that it’s time for a pamper weekend in the Hungarian capital Budapest. Journalists Carmel Higgins and Muriel Bolger sample some of the city’s delights, including several luxurious spa treatments as well as a night at the opera.

Tailor to the stars Louis Copeland achieves his aim of skiing down a World Cup run in snowy Slovenia. Accompanied by his daughter Rachel, the two of them make the most of one of Europe’s most affordable winter sports destinations.

Former ballet dancer Kevin Flanagan manages to dance a mean tango when he visits Berlin which happens to be the biggest tango capital after Buenos Aires! Kevin and his friend Alan Bruton – hairdresser to the rich and famous – re-trace the last days of Hitler and also re-live some defining moments in the careers of David Bowie and U2.

Journalist Anne Hailes makes an emotional return to Auschwitz in Poland to leave her own memorial to the thousands of people who died there. However she also manages to nip across to Prague to catch up with an old friend,

Finally, former Irish Times international editor Seamus Martin rediscovers the historic Baltic city of Riga to explore how the Latvian capital has changed in the last thirteen years. He’s also in search of the final resting place of two eighteenth century Irishmen who once governed the region.

But did they all manage to stick to their budget of €500? Stay tuned to Time on their Hands and find out.