LivingTRAVEL

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

with Kathleen Murray

Home & Away with Robert WalsheHome and Away Extra

Private Ireland has developed a ‘Golden City Streets to Star Filled Country Skies’ Package that allows guests to customise their own geta-way package and enjoy two very different Pri-vate Ireland Experiences during their getaway. The package combines a luxury overnight Bed & Breakfast stay plus a sumptuous evening meal in 2 individual Private Ireland proper-ties, which include, stunning Boutique Hotels, stylish Townhouses and charming Country Houses, available for a fl at rate of only €199 per person sharing. The combinations are vast and varied - Private Ireland member properties are located all over the country, from Galway to Dublin, Donegal to Kerry in the most pic-turesque, idyllic and breathtaking of settings. www.privateireland.ie

The London Sightseeing Pass gives access to over 55 top attractions in London. Users have priority access at the busiest sights to avoid queues, a free guidebook, and over 40 addi-tional deals, discount and freebies. A London Pass including a London Travelcard for access to public transport on tubes, buses and the docklands light railway is also available.

A two-day London Pass costs £52 for adults (£38 for children between 5 and 15 years), three-day passes are £63 for adults and £44 for children and a six-day option costs £87 for adults and £60 for children. www.londonpass.com One of Glasgow s most famous and his-torical buildings is being transformed into the breathtakingly luxurious fi ve star hotel, Blyths-wood Square. Formerly headquarters to the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, this landmark property has been redeveloped by Scotland’s stylish luxury boutique hotel group, The Town House Collection, to capture the glamour of a bygone era whilst showcasing the latest in designer styling. www.townhousecompany.com Fast-growing airport self-service is what you can expect in the near future, says a new global survey. In fact, a large majority of the world’s leading airport operators intend to make self- service their primary channel for check-in. This year’s survey confi rms that self-service is a global trend with almost 80 per-cent of respondents planning to make it the primary means for check-in by 2010 as is al-ready the case at 40 percent of the world’s top 100 airports. Almost two-thirds of all airports already have check-in kiosks which will further increase to 90 percent by 2012.

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

LONDON is included in a list of the ten best value destinations in the world to visit in the coming year in a book just published. Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2010 claims to cap-ture the world’s hottest travel trends, des-tinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead, bringing together the expertise of Lonely Planet authors, staff and travellers. This is the fi fth annual collection of the best places to go and the best things to do around the world for the year ahead. The 2010’s Best Value destinations are Iceland, Thailand, London, South Africa, Malaysia, Mexico, India, Bulgaria, Kenya and Las Vegas. Mean-while guests are becoming more concerned with hotels’ eco-credentials, according to a pan-European survey. Almost a third (29%) of respondents would choose a known ‘eco-friendly’ hotel if it was offered by a popular online booking system. The poll of 5,000 peo-ple found that more than half (54%) say sus-tainable energy sources, such as wind, solar or hydro-electric power, should be used. The travel industry will take at least three years to fully recover from the economic slump. The forecast is made by Euro monitor Inter-national saying a full recovery to pre-crisis levels for travel and tourism is not expected until 2013 at the earliest and consumers are expected to embrace thrift for the long term.

Weekend Hotspot

The Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort is a luxurious fi ve star vacation resort in the mid west of the Ireland. The ultimate com-bination of old and new works well and the principal features include world class suites, dining facilities, sight seeing, shopping, fi sh-ing & numerous activities to make you feel like a Lord of the Manor.. The neo- Gothic property was built by Lord Dunraven during the Irish famine between 1830 and 1860 and is a true architectural masterpiece. Located on the site of his old Georgian home high-lights include a turreted entrance tower at one corner, 52 chimneys, 75 fi replaces and 365 leaded glass windows. One of the most renowned parts of the manor is the Min-strels Gallery, inspired by Versailles is lined with 17th century Flemish choir stalls. Adare Manor was later converted in 1982, but con-tinues to retain the original’s stately home feeling. The lobby and public areas which are cosy and warm, boast huge fi replaces in and the deepest most comfortable armchairs. In the original manor there are 62 individually styled rooms and the interiors all feature antique furniture and original fi replaces. There are also modern, self-catering three- and four-bedroom villas and town houses in the grounds with their own village feel. The fi ne dining experience at the oak room res-

taurant featuring European haute cuisine is com-plimented by an impressive wine list .all against a backdrop of ele-gant chandeliers and oak panel-ling. Afterwards the Tack Room one of the oldest parts of the hotel hosts evening en-tertainment with a resident pianist and local singers and is jovial way to end a very spe-cial evening at the manor. The spectacular views & landscapes combined with very high standards in facili-ties & staff service makes the resort a must see weekend destination. The spa offers a selection of luxury health and beauty treat-ments and is located overlooking the won-derful gardens. The entire property is on 840 acres and the golf course designed by Sir Robert Trent Jones offers serious golfers many facilities. In fact the centuries old Car-riage House is now home to the clubhouse. and the course hosted The Irish Open in 2007 & 2008. Excellent fi shing is available on the River Maigue which fl ows through-out the grounds and the local plumb brown trout catches are legendary. The Co Limer-ick region is especially renowned for its wild Atlantic coastline (the cliffs of Moher and Baltard and the Burren) and the River Shan-non, which runs through local hills and land. There is so much to enjoy and experience at the fabulous Adare Manor undoubtedly one of Ireland’s fi nest 5 star resort experiences. www.adaremanor.com and www.shannon-development.ie

Weekly Best Buy

The Christmas spirit is already in full swing at the Westport Plaza & Castlecourt Hotel Resort as they prepare for their renowned Christmas Parties, Christmas Breaks and New Year’s Black Tie Gala Ball. This year, Santa has defi nitely come early to fi ll your Stockings with some very special Mid-Week Breaks! Whether you have been naughty or nice, the Castlecourt Hotel invites you to enjoy a 2 night Bed & Breakfast break for 2 people, with a lovely bottle of wine from as little as €99 In Total, or from €129 In Total in the Westport Plaza. Party Season kicks off in style on Friday 27th November and con-tinues every Friday and Saturday night up

until the 19th December.

C o n c o r d e Travel has just announced an early book-ing discount offer for all sailing and yacht charter holidays next year. Whether a seasoned sailor with thou-sands of blue miles under your hull or an ad-venturous holidaymaker who has decided to go sailing for the fi rst time, Concorde Travel recommend the European hot-spot of Croatia for nautical holidays in 2010. With sailing yacht charter prices starting from as little as €800/week per boat, Concorde Travel will organize everything from your fl ights and transfers to your boat charter. Boats can be hired with or without a skipper. It is also possible to combine a week sailing with a week on land. The most popular yacht bases are Split, Kastela, Trogir, Dubrovnik and Zadar. www.concorde.ie Sunway are of-fering Christmas companion ten day cruises for free if you book before November 30th. Enjoy 2 nights in Prague, then visit fascinat-ing Christmas markets between Nuremberg and Budapest with prices from: €1,329. De-parture dates on 07th, 12th, 14th & 26th December www.sunway.ie. The Normandie Wine Warehouse in Cherbourg is hosting a Wine Fair on board the Irish Ferries cruise ferry Oscar Wilde during its sailing from Rosslare to the French port on departing Friday, 27th November returning two days later on Sunday, 29th. In Cherbourg, shop-pers will have up to 5 hours to purchase the wines sampled at discount prices with the Normandie Wine store Avenue Carnot out-let remaining open until the vessel departs again for Rosslare. www.irishferries.com.

with Robert Walshe

and is jovial way to end a very spe-

■ Adare Manor, Co Limerick

■ MInstrels Gallery at Adare Manor

FARM animals are a worry for many people. If you have never been raised on a farm or have not spent time on one then you may be disturbed by conditions that are some-times seen in the winter or in very wet weather on farms.

Cattle are often the biggest concern for people. When people are out driving in the countryside they may see cat-tle standing in muck in fi elds. Standing in muck is one thing but sinking up to their arm-pits is another.

People see this as cruelty and often report this to the proper authorities. The rea-

son that I’m writing this is because it is good to know what is cruel and what is not. First of all it is important to understand that cattle are very heavy animals. Even a rabbit will break the ground in wet weather from running up and down.

They will wear a mucky lit-tle path into the ground. Dogs that are excited will wear a path from pacing on wet ground very quickly, so it is not hard to turn the ground to muck. Feeding stands for cattle are usually close to a gate so that food can be put there easily and regularly.

Cattle come to the feeding stand to eat and as they are heavy animals they churn up the ground as they walk around the stand.

They are often happy to stay there for lengthy periods of time and if there is heavy rain then the whole scene be-comes a mud bath. The cru-elty part comes in if the cattle do not have dry ground that they can move to, away from the feeder, in order to dry off or lie down to rest when they need to. Sometimes this involves having to move cat-tle from one fi eld to another every now and then to give

the ground a chance to re-cover.

Farmers are normally very good at taking care of their livestock, even under the worst weather conditions… but you will always get the one that doesn’t.

If you are concerned about a farm animal then you could ring the Department of Agri-culture for help or you can report it to any of the animal welfare organisations or the Gardai.

Any of them will be happy to help you. Numbers for these organisations can be got at your local Garda Station.

Farm animals