42 wicklownews
TRAVEL
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Living
TUESDAY 23 JUNE 2009
Home & Away with Robert Walshe PRIORITY Pass, the world’s leading independent airport lounge programme, has two new ways for members to get instant access to airport lounge details while on the move. A Priority Pass iPhone application is now available for download on the iTunes App Store. The application allows users to search its database of over 600 airport lounges. The application is ideal for travelers at airports who can simply request details of their nearest lounge. Meanwhile, for those travellers with mobile internet access from other phones, a new website prioritypass.com/mobile will also allow quick and easy searching for lounges by simply entering an airport code.
Holiday Hotspot
Bangkok is an exciting, high-energy melting pot of east meets west. The capital of Thailand, it’s an exciting, bustling city and is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Rivers and canals have traditionally been the lifeline of Thai
as one of the conpeople since ancient tinent’s most protimes and today, gressive capitals they present a fun for contemporary and exciting way art, design and arof seeing Bangkok chitecture. It’s a rather than the usual city to wander in. traffic-congested, With its compact chaotic channels centre, its fresh normally presented Atlantic air, its to tourists. There is tumbling cobbled a lot of fun things to ■ The Pracio, Lisbon streets and metredo in Bangkok. The ‘Krung Thep’ is your place for fun wide alleys, its unhurried pace and and adventure suiting all tastes and its cafes and bars, it offers a host of fascinating visitors with its vibrant, pleasures to anyone able to spend colorful scenery and risky night- a few days walking around it. On life. Thai food is found all over the arriving in a new city, there is much world but like many places, what to be said for heading for the highyou get in Thailand will totally est point. In Lisbon, that means blow your mind in terms of qual- climbing up to the Castelo de Sao ity and what authentic Thai food Jorge and walking along its battlereally tastes like. Thailand has a ments. The inclines may be steep tropical climate with an annual av- or slight, but each offers dramatic erage temperature of around 75 to views and is filled with vibrant life. 92 degrees. You’ll find every type of The Museo Calouste Glubenkian accommodation, from lavish 5 star is one of the world’s great art galinternational names to smaller hos- leries. Highlights are the Egyptian tels favored by back packers. The collection, some of the Iznik pieces jewel in the crown for me is The Pe- and the Renaissance collection. ninsula overlooking the har- Lisbon, being a place of vibrant bour.This has to be one of life is thereby a place of cafes and the finest hotels in the world outside bars. The city’s nightlife is and if your credit card al- located high up in the Barrio Alto lows it check their River Café (”High Neighborhood”) district. on the terrace and indulge Bars, clubs and pricey restaurants yourself in their spa. www. are literally on top of one another peninsula.com Deals to Asia and you could spend weeks explorare plentiful and Ethiad now ing Barrio Alto’s offerings while fly ex Dublin via Abu Dhabi. socializing with the personable locals. Lisbon is Western Europe’s www.ethiadairways.com least expensive capital. Visitors can Weekend Hotspot save even more with a Lisbon Card, Lisbon is rapidly emerging which is good for public transporta-
tion and free or discounted admission to top attractions. Prices are around $27 to $54 for cards good for 24 to 72 hours. Hotels to stay include Avenida da Liberdade. Aer Lingus depart Lisbon daily exDublin www.aerlingus.com www.visitportugal.com
Weekly Best Buy
Topflight have just launched their preview ski brochure for 2009/2010. The prices, many of which are lower than last year, give value for groups and families, particularly for low season dates. www.topflight.ie. Early bird special offers include low booking deposits, free child places, insurance, boots and lift passes, and free skis and sticks at selected accommodations. British Airways is to launch new thrice-weekly direct services from Gatwick to both Male in the Maldives and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt from October 25. This will be the first time British Airways has flown to the Maldives, but will be a return for to the Red Sea resort. www.ba.com. The Norwegian salmon fishing season opened on June 1 and there is availability for Irish anglers from Project Travel. Norway boasts some of the best salmon fishing rivers in the world and Norwegian specialist, Project Travel, is offering one week selfcatering packages on the Stjordal River from €1,995pp sharing. One week full board on the Beiar River in Arctic Norway is from €3,097pp sharing, including flights from Dublin and transfers in Norway. www. project-travel.ie
Home and Away Extra
THE Belgian city of Ghent is the first in the world to go vegetarian in a bid to promote healthy living. Every Thursday will be vegetarian day, with restaurants in the city guaranteeing a veggie dish on the menu and some going fully meatless for the day. Ghent boasts beautiful quayside buildings, cobbled streets, bicycles, canals dotted by spires and a cluster of exceptional restaurants, and is perfect for a gourmet getaway. Travel between July and August and you’ll enjoy the city’s annual art exhibition, plus 10 days of street theatre and puppet displays. www.vfbholidays.co.uk. Record numbers of volunteers have signed up with Projects Abroad, the world’s largest commercial volunteer abroad company for summer breaks. They are 25 per cent up year-onyear overall on volunteer numbers and staggering 64 per cent up year-on-year in the older volunteer category of traveler. The biggest growth area has been young people opting for Conservation/ Environment as an option, which is up 98 per cent year on year. Robert Walshe is a freelance contributor / broadcaster to travel publications and radio programmes across Ireland and the UK.
■ Bangkok
Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray
with Kathleen Murray: Animal Behavioural Therapist
What type of dog should I get? WHEN people are looking for a new dog they need to think about their home situation and what amount of time they have to spend with a dog. This is important as dogs need your time. People also need to think about what type of dog they want. Do you want a large dog or a small dog? Will the dog be with children? It is not a good idea to get a dog “for the children”. A dog needs an adult to look after it as it is a big responsibility. A child is not capable of that. Children can learn to look after a dogs basic needs and this is a good education for them but they cannot take the dog to the vet for vaccinations, train the dog, go out and buy the licence, lead, bed, disc (legal requirement) for its neck or pay for the solicitor if the dog causes an accident or bites someone. Some people want a small dog as they think it needs less attention and exercise. This is not the case. Little dogs need
quite a bit of exercise and a walk is more than that. A walk is a leadership ritual which is necessary for the mental wellbeing of a dog. Little dogs tend to get spoiled and they can become aggressive as a result. If you want a large family dog then you will need to have proper fencing to keep it on your property otherwise it will be all over the place causing problems.
It is illegal to have any dog out on its own. A dog is meant to be on a lead, or have an adult with it that is capable of controlling it without a lead, when the dog is off its own property. Secure fencing is a must for any dog. Little dogs can tunnel under them so the fencing needs to be installed properly. A dog is a lot of money, time and responsibility these days. Times have changed so people have to change too. If you want to get a dog it really doesn’t matter what breed it is. There is not one breed that is “good with children” or anything else. They all have to be taught, and some are better than others even within the one breed. If you’re expectations are not too high and you are willing to put quite a bit of personal effort, time and commitment into a dog then you will be a success for your dog, no matter which type you choose.