FINDING a sitter for a holiday getaway can be tough, but don't fret.

Jamaica and Its People T he island of Jamaica will be near the top of the list for anyone planning an idyllic holiday getaway.

"For a four-star luxury all-inclusive resort, by the last week in November, I couldn't find a thing," said Maureen Taran, a New Yorker whose search for a late holiday getaway with her boyfriend was turning up only shared bathrooms and expensive plane tickets.

He claimed he had since long planned a brief holiday getaway with his girlfriend after the case would end, and that he was denied entry due to not possessing a visa.

Across the snowy metropolitan region yesterday, the holiday getaway got under way early and took some unexpected turns, travelers and transportation officials said.

As for his holiday getaway to western Canada, Sather said he thought the team and the coaching staff would benefit from not having him around for a few days.

Well, before you start planning your North Korean holiday getaway, or the acquisition of that North Korean beer factory you've been eyeing, it's worth digging into some declassified C.I.A. documents to remind ourselves just how many times we've sidled up to North Korea at the bar, without success.

The opening ceremony of the Games on 27 July coincides with the usual Friday rush hour and "holiday getaway" traffic leaving the capital via corridor routes and the M25.

On a day when extra trains had been planned for a holiday getaway, almost no trains ran in or out of Penn Station and very few anywhere on the Island.