TUESDAY 25 AUGUST 2009
TRAVEL
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wicklownews 27
Living
Home & Away with Robert Walshe My favourite hotel company, Kempinski, will be the first international luxury hotel group to be present on the Istrian coast, Coatia’s up-andcoming and still relatively undiscovered region. www. kempinski-adriatic.com. To celebrate autumn, Hotel Métropole Monte-Carlo will mark the transition between the summer and winter season from September 18 to November 26. Using autumnal shades of brown, beige and reds, the hotel will be displaying unique creations using natural materials throughout all the public areas. Superior rooms start at €495 per night from 27 September until 24 October. Superior rooms start at €410 from 25 October until 3 December. www.metropole.com. Baby Shop Travel has teamed up with Leisurely Life to produce Watch Frog Aqua Guard Pool Alarm, an electronic transmitter concealed in a small frog character on a tamper-proof and comfy fabric bracelet fitted to a child’s wrist. Should the device become immersed in water, the wireless transmitter will send a signal to the base unit in your home, emitting an alarm. www.babytravelshop.ie.
Holiday Hotspot
Huw and Rosella Beaugie started Think Sicily in 2002, passionately believing that Sicily had the most impressive mixture of history, culture, gastronomy, climate and natural beauty of anywhere they had ever visited. Having just returned after a week on the island, I have to agree. The best villas and apartments are on offer exclusively through Think Sicily. The company also arranges a series of add-ons and experiences including private drivers and transfers, helicopter rides, 4x4 Mount Etna excursions, speedboat and yacht hire and wine-tasting tours. One of the most exciting as-
most popular archaeological sites in Sicily, the ‘Greek Theatre’. This is a superbly preserved amphitheatre that is the venue for numerous live music and theatre events. The Restaurant “Il Giardino degli Ulivi” at the Relais and Chateaux member Grand Hotel San Pietro is very chic with its white linen tablecloths, fine china, silverware and crystal glasses.www. relaischateaux.com/pietrosicily. Catania, meanwhile, is a surprisingly modern city. Rebuilt after devastation by Etna in 1669 and again by an earthquake in 1693, its lava-black veined piazzas and palazzi now play host to a plethora of upmarket boutiques and unusual designer bars. Palazzo Biscari is the most magnificent private building in the city centre offering stunning architecture www.palazzobiscari. com. Aer Lingus fly to Catania from Dublin weekly on Sundays. www.aerlingus. com. Accommodation and travel advice can be arranged through Think Sicily at www.thinksicily.com.
n Poolside at
Donna Carmela.
Weekly Best Buy
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n Mount Etna summit
pects of Sicily is its volcanic activity. Mount Etna, situated near Catania on the eastern side of the island, is the most famous. The excursions last from 9am to 4.30pm and geologist Roberto Caudullo leads a passionate team at www.volcanotrek.com. Chartering a yacht in Sicily for a day is also a fabulous way to see the coast. The best company to work with are the established experts www.waypointyachting.it and I highly recommend their day trip from Milazzo to the local islands.
Pet’s Corner...
n Borgo degli Aranci Sic
ily.
Any trip to Sicily would not be complete without a wine-tasting tour and the options are many and varied. The stunning Terre Chiuse del Signore lead the charge on the eastern side of the island. Donna Carmelo in the village of Carruba di Ripostois is a 19th century Sicilian house that has been refurbished in a simple but ultra luxurious way. Elegantly refined, the building dominates the 10,000
square-metre nursery gardens boasting the hundreds of varieties of Mediterranean and subtropical plants. www. donnacarmela.com. Food lovers are in the right place on Sicily. Being next to the sea, the freshest fish is brought on dry land every day. Taormina is the main town on the east coast popular with tourists and famed for its superb beaches as well as one of the
A new Las Vegas getaway is on offer for seven nights at Circus Circus Hotel for €525pp. Prices based on four sharing travelling in DEC on Delta Airlines. www.americanholidays.com. Enjoy one night’s accommodation at Beweleys Hotels for two adults and two children and a family zoo pass for just €99. www.bewleyshotels.com. Experience the essence of Costa Rica at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge, owned by Peter Aspinall. A 14-night itinerary to Costa Rica costs from £2,352 pp including return www.sunvil. co.uk. To celebrate the arrival of Head Chef Peter Brennan to Parknasilla Resort & Spa, the luxurious Kerry-based hotel is offering a special food and wine package for priced at €375pp sharing.
Home and Away Extra Passengers travelling with Aer Lingus can now carry up to 10kg/22lbs cabin baggage on all flights. Additional small items such as cameras, personal stereos, overcoats and handbags can also be carried onboard. www.aerlingus.com. The biggest ever choice of winter holidays for singles is now on offer in the 2009/10 brochure from www. friendshiptravel.com. Continental Airlines announced president and chief operating officer Jeff Smisek, 54, will become chairman and chief executive officer effective January 1, 2010. Smisek will succeed Larry Kellner, 50, who decided to return to private equity at year-end after 14 years with Continental. I have to say I will miss Mr Kellner’s happy welcome onboard. Guoman Hotels’ central London properties The Royal Horseguards and Charing Cross Hotel are proving a hit with Harry Potter fans. Stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson recently spent a day in and around the five-star The Royal Horseguards, in the heart of Whitehall, while filming the seventh movie. Experience the five-star magic of The Royal Horseguards from just £190 per room per night with breakfast and VAT www. theroyalhorseguards.co.uk. P&O Cruises has launched a website dedicated to children and teenagers. ‘The Cyber Reef’ www.pocruises.co.uk/ reef is the first of its kind in the holiday industry, a fun and interactive base for those aged 17 years or under. Robert Walshe is a freelance contributor / broadcaster to travel publications and radio programmes across Ireland and the UK.
with Kathleen Murray
with Kathleen Murray: Animal Behavioural Therapist
When owners don’t follow the instructions There are lots of books and information about dog training and behaviour problems in the world today… so how do so many people still get it wrong? The mistake that lots of people make is that they try to do things according to the book only or listen to “a man down the road with very little experience.” Raising a dog is about gaining proper experience as much as it is about reading a book. It is a big learning curve for many people. Anyone that has ever had a child knows that no two children are alike and that none of them go according to
the book. That is why mothers ask grandmothers for help because of their experience. It’s the same with dogs. Sometimes you need to ask if you are on the right path or not. There are many factors to consider like personality for example. Your personality and the personality of your dog. If you had a dog before that was great and that did everything so well then this is because you were either very lucky with that dog, you were also younger with more energy maybe, or you lived in a time before the dog laws were tightened up. Now, this time around, you
may be making the mistake of thinking that this new dog is going to be the same as the old one. For a start you are starting all over with a younger, more energetic dog and it may be a totally different personality to your other dog. It may have more exercise needs or maybe it needs more mental stimulation as it is more mentally alert than the previous one. The new one may be a bigger dog or a smaller one. This can produce problems as smaller dogs are often more indulged and cause trouble also. On top of all that when some owners bring their dog to have a problem looked at then they
usually blame the dog and are not prepared to see how their behaviour is contributing to the problem as well. It’s no use saying “It doesn’t work”. It takes two to tango. It is a partnership when you have a dog. You have your role and the dog has theirs. If one side is not pulling their weight then the problem will not go away. If a problem does arise that needs treatment then it is vitally important that professional instructions are followed to the letter otherwise it will all have been a waste of time and none of it will have been the dogs fault… but it will probably pay the price.
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