Blog Entry

Viking Splash Goes to Bollywood

Tuesday, 18 October 2011 11:37

The streets of Dublin are awash with colour and music as the Bollywood production “Ek Tha Tiger” has come to town. The international production tells the tale of spy sent to Dublin on a top secret mission; however life becomes a bit complicated when he falls in love with a woman studying dance in Trinity College.

The principal parts are played by international superstars Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan, two of the top leading actors in the Bollywood industry. Such is their popularity; most of the shoot locations are a closely guarded secret to avoid throngs of people gathering to get a look at the celebs!

The production team has been busy filming all over Dublin city with action crash scenes, parades and crowd scenes. Viking Splash Tours was delighted to participate in what is the first full feature length Bollywood movie to be filmed entirely in Ireland.

Jimmy the Gallant (who’s always harbored ambitions to make it on the big screen) jumped at the chance for what would be sure to be his chance to shine. Bright and early on Thursday morning he captained ‘Thor’ down to the shoot location where filming of one of the main dance scenes was taking place, in what was (apparently) a veritable explosion of song and dance.

After nearly 12 hours of filming it remains to be seen whether Jimmy himself will make the actual cut, one thing for sure though is we’ll all be watching very closely when the film is released.

We'll have some photos to share in a couple of days so watch this space....

And in the beginning...

Written by Lynn Walsh Saturday, 12 March 2011 10:22

It's been a very busy start to the season here at Viking Splash Tours.

For a start, we kicked everything off weeks earlier than we have in other years. We figured people were so down in the dumps with talk of elections and bailouts that we really had an obligation to get out there on the streets and give people a way of venting their frustrations. I don't know about the rest of the country, but I personally can't think of a better way to get all of that stuff out of your system than roaring at the top of your lungs with a group of equally mad people.

Before we could get out on the streets again we had to make the fleet look presentable! After a month without tours they were starting to look a bit dusty around the edges. So Jimmy the Gallant was in painting and scraping - whilst the mechanics 'got their grease on' (technical term there...) and started doing whatever it is they do under the hood to make the Dukws purr like kittens. Except 'Thor' who has a reputation as being a bit of a beast - 'Thor' is, after all, the Viking God of Thunder and Noise. Similar to Vinny the Voracious who favours driving 'Thor'. And Barry the Brutal (pictured below) whose just a noisy fella who drinks a substantial amount of tea.

Odin re-painted and ready to rock! barry

With Dukws looking good it was time to show 'em off so Jimmy the Gallant, Vinny the Voracious and Thor the Viking all headed out to Croke Park to launch the 'Ultimate School Tour'! I'm just going to post a few photos (taken by yours truly, or a professional photographer - guess which is which!) because they speak for themselves really. Awesome day out and awesome idea for a school tour this year - probably the best value you'll get too.

Good times were had by all!

Now, as a natural-born-reddser, I was thrilled to hear about the campaign to create a National Day For Gingers. Gingerfest... sounds incredible eh? And to make things even better... Thor the Viking got to meet Bosco!

gingerfest

That's all I've got for you now ladles and jellyspoons!

Check back in again shortly for some more updates, including an emotional farewell to our much loved driver-guide-viking-lunatic, Willy de Mental and some videos and photos from a Viking Splash Tours night out at the Arlington Hotel in Temple Bar!

~ Lynn the Red

Viking Splash Tours Opening This Christmas!

Monday, 01 November 2010 12:58

Well it finally feels like Winter... at Viking Splash Tours that normally means stripping down the vehicles for winter storage, packing away all the plunder from a year of raiding, organising a final meet up with staff before hibernating until February the following year. Sometimes we even look forward to those quiet, dark November and December days when the streets are quiet and Christmas shoppers feel safe and peaceful...

However, this year, after a little research, we have decided to extend our season out to Christmas! It's all very exciting here at Viking HQ as we start the search for Christmas lights for the Dukws and organise our drivers for the weekend raids that are to come. We would advise all our passengers to give us a call and make sure that we are open on the day they want to come in for a tour. And if you can't take a tour this Christmas then you can always buy a Viking Splash Tours gift card instead!

So, here is what I found out about the Vikings and Christmas...

Liffey Town

As Vikings, we are naturally ... curious about what goes on around us. A monastery in Glendalough? Oh, interesting! An undefended village on the West Coast? Oh, is that so? Like I said, it's natural!

So when we heard about houses being built on the Liffey we were very interested, naturally. I took a walk down by the boardwalk ('The planks on the banks!') this morning and saw the little monopoly like structures happily secured to the riverbed, oblivious to the obviously wary seagulls that made a point of fluttering away. I took a few photos which I'll share here, and also post a link to the website of Fergal McCarthy which has alot more information about the mini-village on our watery doorstep. Check it out here.

I've saved the best til last about Liffeytown. For anyone harumphing over it, check it out at night. A tiny little town ideal for watery-leprechauns with lights in the 'windows' and everything. We at Viking Splash Tours approve of the little Liffey-side village and will refrain from raiding it for now :)

In other news, Jimmy the Gallant played host to Síle Seoige from RTE Radio 1!

If you missed it on the radio on Monday September 13th, check it out here now. It gives a really great insight into Viking Splash Tours and GlideTours.

That's all for now folks.

~ Lynn the Red

Summer's Ending

Sunday, 22 August 2010 13:15

It has been a very, very busy summer here at Viking Splash Tours. The sun has been keeping us company and keeping our spirits high. The streets have been jam-packed with the nasty Celts making our jobs very easy!

We will be doing some really great Autumn discounts from the beginning of September so keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates there.

And for those die-hard Viking Splash Fans who want to take the look home with them, we will soon be selling Viking Helmets! Watch this space. With only a few days left of the summer holidays, make the most of it and do something fun with the kids, book online now or call our office to speak with our savage but helpful Viking Splash operators.