LivingTRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert WalsheWeekly Best BuySunway has launched their fi rst

ever escorted tours programme of-fering the fi nest selection of premium escorted tours. From start to fi nish Sunway carefully plan, arrange and co-ordinate every aspect of your holiday including fl ights, transfers, hotels, meals, excursions, and any optional extras you may require. Some of the most popular tours in-clude Treasures of France 8 day tour from €1,452 Highlights: Paris, Rouen, Honfl eur, Normandy, Bayeux, Mont St.Michel, Angers, Loire Valley, Sau-mur, Chambord, Amboise, Chartres Italian Dream 8 day tour from €1,263. Spanish Wonder 9 day tour from €1417. Prices include fl ights, local transfers, accommodation and meals as per itineraries, experienced tour guides www.sunway.ie.

Hospitality Collection- Private Ire-land are delighted to offer all Mum’s, Grandma’s & Mum’s to be a real treat this Mothers Day, with a luxury 2 night Bed & Breakfast break plus one evening meal available in any of the 7 Private Ireland Properties, made up of Boutique Hotels, Pictur-esque Country Houses and Stylish Townhouses, for a Flat Rate from only €199 pps. Mum will also receive a beautiful bouquet of fl owers and chocolates during her stay. www.pri-vateireland.com

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

ICELAND experienced its highest ever visitor numbers in January as its non-euro status and improved accessibility look set to boost popu-larity further in 2010.The destination suffered in 2009 as recession-hit Britain and Ireland stayed at home.

But Iceland Tourist Board said the country saw an 11.6% year-on-year increase in visi-tor numbers in January – which amounts to 4,312 compared to 3,865 for the same month in 2009. Travellers can already fl y to Iceland from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Manchester and Glasgow all airports providing excellent connections from Irish air-ports.

Transfer company a2btranfers.com has launched technology that removes language barrier problems for travelers who want to confi rm times for their airport pick up. The company offers clients its a2btransfers.mobi service which allows them to make a booking from their mobile phone and then view the pick-up time on the day of the transfer simply by tapping in a reference code. The company claims this pick-up time functionality is a fi rst. www.a2btransfers.com

Holiday HotspotBangkok 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 people since ancient

times and today, they present a fun and ex-citing way of seeing Bangkok rather than the usual traffi c-congested, chaotic channels nor-mally presented to tourists. There are a lot of fun things to

do in Bangkok. The ‘Krung Thep’ is your place for fun and adventure suiting all tastes and

fascinating visitors with its vibrant, colorful scenery and risky nightlife.

Thai food is found all over the world but like many places, what you get in Thailand will to-tally blow your mind in terms of quality and what authentic Thai food really tastes like. Thailand has a tropical climate with an an-nual average temperature of around 75 to92 degrees. You’ll fi nd every type of accommoda-tion, from lavish 5 star international names to smaller hostels favored by back packers. The Pan Pacifi c Hotel Bangkok, where the serv-ice is impeccable and the comfort and peace within the hotel seem a million miles from the traffi c in the city below is a very good location if you like the shopping and nightlife of nearby Patpong.

Located in the heart of Bangkok city and offering easy access to many exciting attrac-tions, Pan Pacifi c Bangkok also lies opposite Bangkok’s biggest green area, Lumpini Park. Every single one of the 241 well-appointed

rooms and suites feature panoramic views of the city and are fully-equipped to cater to your every whim. On the pacifi c fl oor from level 30-32 you can enjoy an even greater level of privacy and extra benefi ts including pri-vate check-in, complimentary international buffet breakfast, all day coffee & tea, soft drink and juices, plus daily evening cocktails, hot dishes and can-apés at the dedicated lounge. Guests can also enjoy a selec-tion of choice of fi ve restau-rants and bars serving eastern and western cuisine.

My favourite is Panorama res-taurant on level 23 which will defi nitely change your view on dining and the head chef uses the best products available in this cosmopolitan city. I en-joyed an amazing New Years Eve party here and the grand buffet was of world standard.

The décor at Panorama is an eclectic mix between arabesque Asian motifs and the boldness of Italian interior lines. It’s all very modern in a soulful way, using natural stones and rich tropical wood. For the most stunning view, step out to their semi alfresco dining patio.

Panorama also has a luxury cigar lounge with several spaces tailor made to individual tastes, from the whisky bar to the library Lounge.

The magnifi cent swimming pool on Level 24 offers an exclusive atmosphere, daily sunshine and spectacular views across the city skyline particularly at sundown with the most unu-sual mellow lighting at nightime perfect for a late dip to cool down after a busy day at the nearby markets and shopping centres. Pan Pacifi c guests will now receive 15% savings off the best available rate when they stay at Pan Pacifi c Bangkok until 31 May. www.panpacifi c.com

Home and Away ExtraThe Merrion Hotel is the perfect elegant set-

ting for a relaxing Easter break. Enjoy over-night accommodation in a Garden Wing room with Easter themed amenities and full Irish breakfast the next morning. Prices start from €110 per person sharing info@merrionshotel.com EasyJet has become the fi rst airline in Eu-rope to sell Starbucks coffee on all its fl ights. Starbucks VIA Ready Brew is being made avail-able to buy on all fl ights across its European network following a trail period from selected airports. The coffee will be available in Italian roast or Colombia blends.

Ritz-Carlton has announced it will build a hotel on the Caribbean island of Aruba. The new property located on Palm Beach, will have 320 rooms and is expected to open by late 2012.

It is the group¹s seventh property in the Car-ibbean. www.ritzcarlton.com Indian airline Kingfi sher Airlines has been granted traffi c rights to seven new international routes by the Indian government. The destinations are New Delhi to London, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai, and Mumbai to Columbo, Bangkok and Dubai. Crystal Cruises will introduce two new Black Sea voyages this year, calling for the fi rst time to Sevastopol in the Ukraine.

The 12-day cruises from Venice to Istanbul on July 19 and August 24 on Crystal Serenity will also take in Greece and Bulgaria. The itin-erary includes a visit to Greece’s Katakolon, the birthplace of the Olympics, and Navplion; Nesebur in Bulgaria; Yalta and Odessa in the Ukraine and a cruise through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus Starits. www.crystalcruises.com

The Stafford has joined the Kempinski port-folio. Heralding the brand’s re-entry into a key Europe capital, the hotel has been renamed The Stafford London by Kempinski. The prop-erty is located on St. James’s Place between

with Robert Walshe

fering the fi nest selection of premium escorted tours. From start to fi nish Sunway carefully plan, arrange and co-ordinate every aspect of your holiday including fl ights, transfers, hotels, meals, excursions, and any optional extras you may require. Some of the most popular tours in-clude Treasures of France 8 day tour from €1,452 Highlights: Paris, Rouen, Honfl eur, Normandy, Bayeux, Mont St.Michel, Angers, Loire Valley, Sau-mur, Chambord, Amboise, Chartres My favourite is Panorama res-

LivingWeekly Best BuySunway has launched their fi rst

ever escorted tours programme of-fering the fi nest selection of premium

Weekly Best BuySunway has launched their fi rst

ever escorted tours programme of-fering the fi nest selection of premium

defi nitely change your view on dining and the head chef uses the best products available in this cosmopolitan city. I en-joyed an amazing New Years Eve party here and the grand buffet was of world

The décor at Panorama is an eclectic mix between arabesque Asian motifs

Panorama also has a luxury cigar lounge with several spaces tailor made to individual tastes,

Ritz-Carlton has announced it will build a hotel on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

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

with Kathleen Murray

WE all like to play games. Some games are fun and some are trouble. All are educational. We learn from games. When you play a game with your dog it is important for you to know what you are doing. Dogs do things that we see as “just fun” but they are more than that to the dog.

When two pups (no matter how cute they are) run around together pulling a twig be-tween them we need to know that this is no game to the pups, it is more than that. It is an assessment. The one that ends up with the twig is the more dominant one. With very young pups the “winner” can vary from day to day but as they get older and stronger and smarter, this all changes. They hold on harder and harder, not wanting to let the other one have it and can sometimes

growl if another pup approaches to warn it off. Dogs spend their lives trying to win “games”. They are very competitive.

They always have to be alert in case an-other dog tries to take over their role as the leader. In a family situation it is important to know that, when you play these games with dogs, the dog is assessing the family. They know who will “give up” and who will “hold on” to the toy. They know from a sim-ple game like this who they can dominate and who will dominate them.

Tug-of-war games need to be won by the family, not the dog, if they want to be able to control the dog. It can be great fun but it is very important that the family member, not the dog, ends up with the toy.

Dogs that pick up tea towels or other

things like shoes and run off with them need to be dealt with in a certain way. The minute you run after the dog to get it back you are “in the game”. You need to win that game. People that laugh at dogs when they do things like this, or fi nd it “cute” to let the dog have “some fun” with the stolen item, or take it into their bed with them, are handing over control to the dog. If the dog is in control then it doesn’t have to come when you call it or do anything you say because you have no authority in its eyes.

You told the dog all this when you let it win the game. Play is important, mind games are a different matter. Don’t be taken in by how cute that little innocent face is… it is judging you every time it is in your company.

Green Park and St. James’s Park offer-ing 105 rooms and suites set in three historic buildings surrounding a quiet courtyard. Offering a haven of calm, the property recalls its past incarnation as a stately residence, with buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Further augmenting the guest experi-ence, all public areas, guest fl oor cor-ridors, and 24 rooms in the Main House are to be completely renovated by the end 2011. Known worldwide for its col-lection of distinctive and historic prop-erties, Kempinski Hotels was founded in 1897 and remains Europe’s oldest lux-ury hotel group. www.kempinski.com

■ Pan Pacifi c Bangkok Pool Retreat.

■ Pacifi c Lounge at Pan Pacifi c.

The games we play