TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away ExtraBelfast’s world-famous Europa

Hotel is celebrating its 40th birthday this year and wants to give everyone the chance to get into the party spirit. There will be numerous events to look forward to throughout the year and this Valentine’s Day, the landmark hotel is giving couples celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary an extra special gift…Anyone who got hitched in 1971 and chooses the Europa in the heart of Belfast city cen-tre for their extra special Valen-tine’s dinner on Sunday 13th or Monday 14th February, will be offered an overnight stay with full Irish Breakfast the following morning free. www.hastingsho-tels.com

Robert Walshe is a freelance contributor / broadcaster and is guest travel writer for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland

LivingAccESSIBlE Travel has launched a river cruise ship which is specifi-cally adapted for the disabled mar-ket. The company claims The MS Alegria is the first accessible River cruise launched. The Alegria has a number of deluxe cabins with toi-lets and showers totally accessible by wheelchair.

The ship’s lift can take passengers in wheelchairs, scooters or using mobility aids from their cabin deck to the promenade deck to the res-taurant, library and bar. The lifts also go up to the large sun deck, allowing the ship to be a totally barrier-free environment. The em-barkation & disembarkation is fully wheelchair accessible and coach transfers are provided by adapted coaches.

Holiday Hotspot

Sao Paulo is the industrial and commercial powerhouse of Brazil. The city grew wealthy on coffee cultivation in the mid-19th century, thanks to the rich soil of the region, and the plantation owners took up residence in the bustling regional centre. Gradually the coffee barons diversified their interests and in-vested some of their wealth in local industry, resulting in a demand for labour and a resultant surge in im-migrant population.

lacking in natural attractions, the city’s leisure pursuits are mainly cultural and artistic, and there are some impressive public buildings to delight sightseers, as well as some top-notch museums, theatres, bars, and some of the best shopping in Brazil. There’s a real buzz about São Paulo.

With 19 million inhabitants this huge and sprawling metropolis is not only the third largest city in the world but a remarkably cosmo-politan one, and that makes for very good eating options. The vibrant food culture is bolstered by a large Italian and Middle Eastern com-munity, and there’s an even larger Japanese population (SP is home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan). While visiting this city, it is a good idea to fall into the Brazilian way of dining. Breakfast light, just some of the world famous coffee and perhaps a sweet roll. The

main meal of the day is almoco, which is served from about 11:30 AM to 3 PM. Dinner, or jantar, is served from 7 to 11 PM. In metropolitan areas Bra-zilians dine late. Plan to arrive at your restaurant about 10 PM on Friday and Saturday evening. The top area for trendy nite-clubs is called Vila Madalena; the places are so trendy, in fact, that they come and go at will. It is wise to have your hotel call first to make sure the place you are interested in is open. Neighbourhoods like Bela Vista and Bixiga are very photogenic, with mansions and impressive skyscrap-ers. In fact many local fami-lies who made fortunes from coffee built mansions in the Avenida Paulista neighbour-hood. Beginning with the post-World War II industrial boom, these homes gave way to skyscrapers. Many of the best hotels are also on or near this avenue. During the eco-nomic growth of the 1970s, many businesses moved west and down-hill to a former swamp.

You’ll find the tall buildings of Avenida Brigadeiro Faria lima, the stylish homes of the Jardins neigh-bourhood, and the Shopping cen-tre Iguatemi (Brazil’s first mall) just off the banks of the Rio Pinheiros. Within 40 miles of Sao Paulo there are excellent beaches, while the mountain region is less than a two-hour drive away. The Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo is a stylish 5 star hotel ideally located in the new, prestig-ious Marginal Pinheiros district. It offers guests a truly unique expe-rience with spectacular views of the city’s new landmark, Estaiada Bridge.

The rooms are modern, minimal-istic, comfortable and practical offering floor to-ceiling windows with uninterrupted skyline or river views. Stylish decor featuring natu-ral woods, stones and fabrics create a luxurious, residential feel along-side a marble-tile bath with domed shower and soaking tub, exclusive bath amenities together with a

work area offering high-speed Internet access. Two restau-rants, Eau and Kinu, serve French and Japanese fare, respectively. A fully equipped fitness centre boasts treadmills and weight machines. A spa with eight treatment rooms is on hand for those determined to relax. Other facilities include an in-door pool and the Upstairs lounge, a live jazz and bossa nova venue. This Brazil Hotel is close to the offices of major international and national corporations and to sev-eral shopping centres. Sao Paulo’s congonhas domestic airport is less than 15 minutes by car and Guarul-hos International Airport is 50 min-utes away. www.saopaulo.grand.hyatt.com

Weekly Best Buy

Take your loved one to lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Bath — a perfect winter escape — this Valentines. couples can enjoy romantic walks through the frosty woodland, relax and be pampered in the world class spa and then spend cosy afternoons curled up in front of a roaring log fire

followed by a Michelin starred din-ner in the The Park Restaurant…..Valentine’s Weekend, prices from £420 per person for a 2 night stay inclusive of the following:2 nights’ accommodation over Valentines weekend (valid 11th — 14th Feb-ruary 2011), Full English breakfast daily, champagne cream tea in the Drawing Room ,3 course dinner for 2 in The Park & Half bottle of rosé champagne and red rose in your room on arrival. Prices are based on two adults sharing a standard room and are quoted inclusive VAT and full use of the Spa facilities. Six miles from Bath, lucknam Park is one of the UK’s leading coun-try house hotels and a member of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux. www.lucknampark.co.uk

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray: Animal Behavioural Therapist

with Kathleen Murray

n Sao Paulo Cathedral

n Views of Estaiada Bridge at Hyatt Sao Paulo

n Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo Brazil

Grumpy old dogsDOGS go through changes in their lives just like us. They develop in a certain way at certain stages in their lives. When they are very young, life is all about leaning lessons and having lots of fun.

As they get older they will start to set-tle down a bit and become more know-ing about things.

They will have had many experiences and will not be as excited, or distracted by things that pups would be excited or distracted by.

When dogs reach middle age which is about six or seven-years old then many of them become less tolerant of unruly pups jumping on them, or children pull-

ing at them. They just want some order in their

lives. It is at this time that some of them growl at other dogs or maybe snap at children if left unsupervised. Some dogs live longer than others so middle age comes a little later for some.

The average age that a dog lives for is about 13. Some die younger and some live till they are 19 and older.

Small dogs tend to live longer than large dogs. It is always good to super-vise dogs in the presence of children no matter what age the dog is and, as dogs get older and more feeble they need to be supervised more, and protected from things that they would have taken

in their stride when they were younger. Heart problems, arthritis and other medical complaints can cause dogs to appear grumpy.

This is because the dog is frail and needs to be handled in a gentle way. It can be painful for a dog to have a tod-dler fall on it or pull it around when it is not well. Very often, an owner doesn’t see the problem until something hap-pens.

Never take a dog for granted. It is an animal that is capable of anything given the right circumstances. Please watch out for signs of change in your dog as they age. Grumpy old dogs need a quiet and peaceful retirement.