TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

The Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, Co Limerick has been awarded a Karen Brown Readers Choice Award for 2010 for being “a splendid splurge”.

The awards, given by US travel guide publisher Karen Brown’s World of Travel, rate hotels and B&Bs around the world under the headings “great-est value”, “most roman-tic”, “warmest welcome” and “splendid splurge” and are voted for online by readers.

Ballyvolane House in Co Cork won a “most roman-tic” award; The Quay House in Clifden, Connemara, a “warmest welcome” award; and Ballaghtobin House in Callan, Co Kilkenny, a “greatest value” award.

LivingTHE Isle of Man based airline, Manx2.com launched a new direct service from George Best Belfast city air-port to Cork last month. Two daily fl ights will now operate each week day from Monday to Friday with a late fl ight on Sunday nights. Noel Hayes, Chairman, and Manx2.com, said: “We are acutely aware of the need to maintain and improve con-nectivity in Ireland, particularly in diffi cult economic times. New serv-ices to Galway from Belfast Interna-tional are now gaining in popularity www.manx2.com Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced it will commence operations to the South Korean capital, Seoul, on December 12, Seoul will become the 65th des-tination on Etihad’s network. Etihad will operate a daily return service to Seoul’s Incheon Airport from its home base in Abu Dhabi via Dublin. operating Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route. www.ethiadairways.com

Weekend HotspotGalway is an excellent location for

beach access. Although our summer days are well and truly over now, it’s still nice to stroll along the beach. Salthill and Silverstrand are Galway’s two most notable beaches, both hav-ing attained “blue fl ag” status.

Other beaches in the area worth a visit are Grattan Beach and Bally-loughane. There are luxurious hotels and at the same time a wide range of good value accommodations. Over-looking Eyre Square, the elegant Hotel Meyrick is my favourite place to stay in the city This 5-storey hotel was built in 1845 and renovated in recent years. Hotel Meyrick com-bines a stunning Victorian hotel with a superb convenient location ~ the delights of Galway City are right on your doorstep; with many shops to explore, theatres to delight, restau-rants in Galway to sample and night-life to enjoy all a short walk from the hotel. There are a total of 116 rooms on offer to guests and facili-ties include a foyer with a reception desk, a lift, and a restaurant with a non-smoking area, a bar, a cocktail bar, 5 conference rooms and a cof-fee shop. You can enjoy the use of the Hotel Meyrick’s spa & leisure fa-cilities in the exclusive level 5 areas where you can choose from a range of relaxing treatments, such as an

aromatherapy back, neck and shoulder massage, an Indian head massage or a signature facial. The junior suite furnish-ings are plush with a large king size bed and spacious mar-ble bathrooms. while standard rooms are decorated in a mod-ern, contemporary theme. The Oyster Grill Restaurant sets the scene for a fi ne din-ing experience, serving mouth-watering steaks and Galway bay native seafood. One of the features of this restau-rant is the Oyster Tank, where one can choose from a selection of fresh lobsters or shellfi sh. After dinner the Oyster Bar is an ideal place to chill out with the local talent.

The city is steeped in history but as a quarter of the population consists of students expect a contemporary and arty vibe. Food lovers will feel in at home here where world famous oysters can be sampled, as well as other delicacies. My dining experi-ence at local restaurant “Oscars” was exceptional and the staffs a delight but remember to book early. Blake’s Castle is located in the heart of Gal-way.

This 15th century building was once used as a jail and after restora-tion its new role is part of a hotel. A bit similar in style to Lynch’s castle, this is a nice building to view, as it re-ally conveys that “old world” appear-ance of medieval Galway. The other popular activities in Galway include

Surfi ng the west coast: Surfi ng on the west coast will gift you an oppor-tunity to have view of Ireland’s wild and fantastic coast line.

Spas: Ireland has a variety of spas at your service (destination spas, re-sort spas and hotel spas) to soothe you in a relaxed and comfortable en-vironment.

Exploring country side on foot: Ballinasloe, Clifden, Mervue, Mill-town and Oranmore are fi ve “Sli na Slainte” walking routes in County Galway which can be a great walking experience to taste the scenic beauty of Ireland.

Fishing Trip: You can choose to go

for sea angling and fi shing at various locations in Gal-way.

Golf Courses: If you love playing Golf, you will be happy to see a lot of golf courses which can be found in Galway County.

Horse Riding: You can trek through the woodlands while having a taste of the Burren, Co. Clare. The fan-tastic views of the majestic Cliffs of Moher, the heart of the Burren where you can see stone forts and old famine ruins and the views of Galway Bay, Fanore and the Aran Islands will take your breath away.

Adventure Sports: These include boating, scuba diving, and surfi ng, wind surfi ng and cycling. Centres providing adventure activities in-clude Achill Adventures, Atlantic Ad-venture Centre, Irish Film Adventure and many others.

Tourist Attractions: Visitor attrac-tions include Rinville Park, Croagh Patrick, Bold Art Gallery, Tumble Jungle, King House Georgian Man-sion, Athenry Castle and many oth-ers.

The Hotel Meyricks “Winter Warmer” packages include two nights’ bed & breakfast with one evening dinner in the Oyster Grill Restaurant on the night of your choice plus complimentary access to leisure centre &spa from 179 EUR pps. www.hotelmeyrick.ie

Weekly Best BuyLapland is the last remaining ex-

panse of wilderness in Northern Europe and in winter it becomes a wonderland of snow where you can experience the fun of snowmobiling, toboggans and sleigh rides.

Rovaniemi, Lapland’s capital, sits on the Arctic Circle and this is also where you’ll fi nd the one true home of Finland’s most popular resident: Santa Claus.

From the moment you arrive in the snow clad magical world of Lapland your time is fi lled with things that dreams are made of including an ex-clusive meeting with Santa Claus at home.

Sunway is offering two (18 Dec) or three day options (16&19 Dec) to La-pland with prices starting from €999 per adult and €919 per child. www.sunway.ie

Robert Walshe is a freelance con-tributor / broadcaster and is guest travel writer for River Media news-paper titles across the island of Ire-land

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

with Kathleen Murray

with Robert Walshe

mouth-watering steaks and Galway bay native seafood. One of the

■ Exterior Hotel Meyrick, Galway.

with Robert Walshewith Robert WalsheLiving

for sea angling and fi shing at various locations in Gal-

Living

■ Galway City Centre.

Living

at various locations in Gal-

Golf Courses: If you love playing Golf, you will be happy to see a lot of golf courses which can be found

Horse Riding: You can trek through the woodlands while having a taste of the Burren, Co. Clare. The fan-tastic views of the majestic Cliffs of Moher, the heart

for sea angling and fi shing at various locations in Gal-

■ Hotel Meyrick lobby.

Are you afraid of dogs?BEING afraid of dogs has a big effect on some people’s lives.

There is a difference be-tween people that just can’t stand the sight of dogs and people that are genuinely scared of dogs.

Sometimes a person may have been bitten at some stage and developed the fear, or they may have learned to be afraid because a parent, or friend, was afraid of dogs. It is very important to get over the fear so that life can be less stressful.

People that are afraid of dogs attract dogs. That is the last thing they want but

it’s what they automatically do. This makes matters worse all round. Dogs know when someone is scared so they become curious. Fear attracts dogs because, when they hunt, their prey gets scared and starts running. Their instinct is to chase anything that is scared, squealing and running. Dogs are not normally attracted to people that stand still and quiet with their arms by their sides. They will just sniff around the person, as this is how dogs say hello, and then move on to something else. This is how normal dogs be-

have. Unfortunately, in this day

and age, not all dogs behave normally. Some are incred-ibly indulged, over-excited, anxious, under-exercised and dominant. Knowing a normal dog from a potentially danger-ous dog is important so that an incident doesn’t occur. Learning how to handle a “sit-uation” is important.

Children should not be al-lowed to approach any dog unsupervised, and not at all, if they don’t know the dog. If a parent is scared of dogs then someone else should be with the child if they are visiting

someone with a dog. Never tell a child that the dog is “ok” or ask the child to stroke the dog. The dog may need time to get used to someone new. Not all dogs like to have peo-ple approach them, they may be nervous and could bite to defend themselves from what they see as a threat (dogs get scared too).

If you, or your child has a fear of dogs then please get help so that you can move on to happier, more relaxed times. Dogs are not going to disappear, so people need to be able to live among them in harmony.