TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

With the opening of the “Das Tirol”, Kempinski Hotels fi nally opened its fi rst property in Austria. The luxurious hotel has a lot on offer: it is the only fi ve-star-hotel in Kitzbühel and the sur-rounding area that has direct access to the slopes. Kempinski The Spa is an oasis where guests can feel at ease and relax and was labelled as a Leading Spa. Moreover it belongs to the distin-guished circle of The Leading Hotels of the World – being the only hotel in this sought after ski resort. The property boasts 118 superior double rooms, 13 junior suites, 16 suites and one Pent-house suite. Two restaurants with dis-tinctive menus on offer: The Steinberg and the Sra Bua by Wini Brugger res-taurants. Down-to-earth cuisine from the Tyrolean mountains and surprising taste sensations from Asia. A special opening offer is valid until 25 December – the superior double room starts at € 200 a night including breakfast. www.kempinski.com

LivingAER Lingus has announced the ad-dition of new routes and increased frequencies to its summer 2012 schedule.The airline will introduce Verona and Stockholm to theal-ready extensive summer schedule on offer which has holiday op-tions for everyone, whatever your budget or taste. Along with these fresh new sun and city break des-tinations, Aer Lingus is also set to increase frequency on thirteen of its other routes, including Faro, Perpignon and Zurich. www.aer-lingus.com Meanwhile the visits of US President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth to Ireland last year helped boost visitor num-bers to the Guinness Storehouse by 10pc, bosses have said. Some 1,025,677 people passed through the doors of the St James’ Gate attraction in Dublin, making it Ire-land’s top fee-paying international tourist draw. Paul Carty, managing director of the Storehouse, said one in every two visitors to the capital have the brewery on their itinerary.

Weekend HotspotThe London Victoria & Albert

Museum is well-known all around the world by its shortened recog-nition - V&A. The V&A in London city is a treasure of design and at-tractive fi ne art items. It is home to a compilation of over 4.5 million fi ne art items. . Its derivation goes back to the year 1852 as the South Kensington Museum.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is extended above twelve and half acres of land, and is home to 148 art galleries in its bosom. It has a wonderful col-lection of art and design objects straddling from 5000 years old works of art, passing from olden to recent times. Its superb set of art and design things are varied traditions like North Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. V & A in London has for its neighbours, world famous organizations like Natural History Museum and the Science Museum.

When visiting for the weekend the splendid Westbury May-fair Hotel is one of my favourite places to stay. This exclusive de-luxe property is the only hotel on Bond Street. The Westbury boasts

Versace, Tiffany’s, Armani, Sotheby’s and Burberry as neighbours and is very close to the main shopping areas of Oxford and Regent Street. Sho-paholics will natu-rally be delighted by these nearby shops but there is also something for eve-ryone in the area, be it restaurants, bars or tourist attractions such as Piccadilly Cir-cus. The fi rst West-bury was opened in 1927 in New York City by the polo playing Phipps family. Later in 1955 The Westbury Lon-don was opened, becoming the fi rst 5 star American hotel in the capital city. Bond Street views are the highlight of the guestrooms which have been designed to re-fl ect the decadence and elegance of the hotel! For four decades, the Polo Bar has been a favourite Lon-don rendezvous and a location, making it a perfect place to meet.

The intimate setting and warm, inviting ambience of The Polo Bar make it one of Mayfair’s leading destinations. With its extensive range of champagne, classic and modern cocktails, sumptuous bar snacks and a pianist to set the mood, it is no wonder that the bar is popular with both London-ers and guests alike. Today, the new look Polo Bar has a contem-porary, vibrant yet sophisticated style. The fi nishes of the bar in-clude Swarovski crystal and styl-ish Gucci furnishings. The Gallery Restaurant enjoys a glamorous French inspired period décor with glittering chandeliers, mirrored walls, velvet chairs and a beauti-ful mosaic fl oor.

Crafting high-end European dishes acclaimed chef Brian Fantoni brings expertise from The Savoy and Claridges to the kitchen. The menu at this all-day dining destination includes fresh langoustine ravioli, or rabbit with polenta and raisin dressing. Dinner could begin with starters of pork and pistachio terrine with Italian lardo and mustard fruits or bal-

lotine of foie gras fi lled with prune and Banyuls wine and served with toasted brioche. Main courses include fi llet of red mullet with aromatic couscous, green olives and al-mond tapenade or lobster with baby leeks, potato gnocchi, kum-quat and lobster dressing.

The pasta section offers pap-pardelle with wild boar ragout, cooked in red wine and fresh herbs or velvety langoustine ravioli with fennel and tomato confi t. An incomparable dessert selection includes almond-in-fused pannacotta with macerated cherries, amaretti crumble and sour cherry sorbet; and Valhrona dark chocolate and olive oil par-fait with caramel cream and warm honeyed fi gs.

The Gallery also boasts a casual bar that is the perfect setting for a leisurely lunch along with a se-lection of fi xed price options and daily specials. www.westburymay-fair.com

Weekly Best BuyTrinity Capital Hotel on Dublin’s

Pearse Street has been award four star status! To celebrate this achievement, they are offering a special Four Star Treat Package at only €89. The Four Star Treat Package is bed & breakfast for two, plus one of the following lucky dip ‘4 Treats’ picked at check in– a complimentary upgrade to one of the Trinity Capital’s lavish Execu-tive Suites, a bottle of bubbly on arrival, complimentary dinner in Café Cairo Restaurant and a pre-

dinner drink, or a 40% discount voucher off the bed & breakfast rates of your next stay. All this for just €44.50 per person sharing. It’s a true 4 star celebration. www.trinitycapitalhotel.com Start 2012 with a break to the North West to the 4-star Castle Dargan Resort, located just minutes from Sligo town. Enjoy a ‘Golf or Pamper break’ offering guests two nights accommodation in one of the re-sort’s luxury bedrooms with din-ner on one evening and the choice between a round of golf on the resort’s Darren Clarke designed golf course or an Elemis spa treat-ment (back, neck & shoulder mas-sage or facial) in the hotel’s oasis of relaxation, the Icon Spa. Avail-able from €129 per person sharing. www.castledargan.com

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

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

with Robert Walshe

cus. The fi rst West-

■ Westbury Mayfair London Delux Suite.

with Robert Walshewith Robert Walshe

lotine of foie gras

LivingLiving

■ Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip at Guinness Storehouse.

Living

Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip at Guinness Storehouse.

■ Verona Opera from Aer Lingus.

Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip at Guinness Storehouse.

Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip at Guinness Storehouse.

Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip at Guinness Storehouse.

IN many houses the dog is put outside because the owners fi nd it too time consuming, too dirty or too much hard work... some end up in the pound.

It’s always good to ask your-self why you have a dog. Unless it was a stray, the dog did not suddenly appear in your life on it’s own. Someone spoke to it, fed it or bought it and took it in.

A person is the reason why the dog is there, so why does the dog become the one to pay for that? So many dogs have good lives and as with everything there will be the ups and downs.

There will be days where things go well and days where it all goes wrong but in general most people give their dogs a reasonable life.

Unfortunately, it’s not that way for all dogs. Enjoying a dog

is about the little things. Like every relationship it’s the little things that help with the bond-ing and the memories. Big things are not as important, so buying your dog an expensive bed is not as important as knowing what he likes and what he doesn’t like.

It’s about being interested in your dog. My old dog won’t be around for much longer. She’s nearly 15 years old and the times that I have had with her have been great. I wouldn’t change a thing.

She has been like my right arm since I fi rst met her. She’s a col-lie and has worked with me all her life. She was the most obedi-ent, wise, intelligent and pushy little creature I ever met.

Once when I was training a sheepdog pup years ago, I was using ducks to teach it the com-

mands. I had already trained my dog to work with sheep and the

ducks were her pals. I told my dog to stay at the house (bot-

tom of the fi eld) so that the pup could learn without dis-traction.

As we worked, the pup scat-tered the ducks and was over excited so I went to regroup the ducks and settle the pup down when all of a sudden my dog jumped out of the hedge (where she was hiding), rounded up the ducks and left them at my feet and then jumped back into the hedge again so I wouldn’t send her back to the house.

Today she is kept going on heart tablets, and attention. She is in the early stages of demen-tia, she is half deaf, half blind, and swaying at the back end now and then when she gets a bit dizzy from circulation prob-lems (like myself), but when I open the fridge door she’s right there beside me. She’s no less

intelligent or pushy when she’s in tune with the rest of the world and she still makes me smile when I see the things she comes up with.

If she’s not hungry she puts a lot of effort into hiding her food in case one of the other dogs gets it. She has raided waste paper bins and covered the food bowl with papers or has taken the blanket off her bed and covered the bowl with that.

Parts of her are only half there but she’s still on her feet and staying a step ahead of the posse. She’s actually very healthy, doesn’t have any joint problems or arthritis, but she’s winding down as the months go by. She’s great company. It’s important to enjoy your dog. It won’t always be there.

Do you enjoy your dog?