TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

Direct flights will operate from Donegal to Dublin and Glasgow from this Novem-ber. Scottish Airline, Loga-nair, will provide two round trip flights every day be-tween Donegal and Dublin. Services will start on Thurs-day, November 3rd, and will be operated by Loganair under its franchise agree-ment with Flybe. Starting the same day will be a new service to Glasgow, offer-ing between four flights per week and daily depending on seasonal demand.

Robert Walshe is a free-lance contributor / broad-caster and guest travel writer for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland

LivingThe number of foreigners studying english in Ireland will surpass 100,000 this year generating over €300m in revenue. Numbers are up 16 per cent in the first nine months of the year, according to Marketing english in Ire-land, the group representing half of english language schools in Ireland. There is likely to be a jump in reve-nue, as growth is coming mainly from the Asian market where students stay an average of 20 weeks while europe-ans stay for four weeks. Though num-bers increased just 3 per cent last year, from 93,000 to 96,000, revenue was up from €254m to €297m. Mean-while airline revenue from non-ticket sources – including baggage charges, in-flight food, travel insurance and car hire – is expected to rise by 44 per cent this year. It singled out Ryanair, easyJet, Aer Lingus, Malaysia-based AirAsia, and US-based Spirit Airlines as the “ancillary revenue champs”, as they generate the highest percentage of their income – around 20 per cent – through such sources.

Weekend HideawayTourists love to visit all parts of

Jamaica for its hot sun, beautiful sandy beaches and clear blue water. but there is more to it than swaying palms and sugar beaches. Capital city Kingston the largest english-speaking city south of the Miami while prima-rily a business hub is also a must see for tourists who want to feel the real beating heart of this exciting country. Surrounded by the Blue Mountains with the world’s seventh-largest natu-ral harbour in its midst, Kingston is the political, cultural and commercial centre offering an impressive mix of attractions to satisfy all tastes and age groups. The metropolitan area with a population of 800,000 includes the fishing village of Port Royal a hangout for the notorious pirates of the Car-ibbean before an earthquake in the summer of 1692. caused massive de-struction. Port Royal’s wild reputation lives on and the remains still attract visitors while the area north of New Kingston is lined with stunning homes and spectacular views. The neighbour-hood known as Spanish Town is on the western outskirts of Kingston and was capital of the island under Span-ish rule between 1662 and 1872. Today the architecture is an interesting mix of Spanish and British Georgian, and there are some historic attractions. A

great deal of Kingston is pure shanty town, but again one sees striking contrasts, espe-cially in New Kingston, situ-ated between the downtown and mid town areas and the fading but still gracious sub-urbs of St. Andrew. New King-ston is a business area which embodies the best of modern tropical town planning, gra-ciously combining high rise buildings and well-groomed gardens At the Blue Mountain hamlet of Mavis Bank on the trail to Blue Mountain Peak is the Jablum Coffee Company. The 100-year-old company is famous for its Blue Mountain coffee, and visitors can tour the working factory to watch the production process along. Around Kingston, reggae is everywhere, res-taurants, radio stations, juke boxes all play it. The Bob Marley Museum on hope Road one of the cities main attractions also doubled as the origi-nal studio for the famous Tuff Gong record label founded by Marley and The Wailers in 1970. It was here that the infamous failed assassination at-tempt on Marley failed in 1976, leav-ing him wounded but not dead. The Jamaican government designated this museum as a national heritage site in 2001. Guided tours include glimpses of Marley’s platinum disc collection, original press cuttings and authen-tic stage costumes. Guests are even given access to Marley’s bedroom and kitchen. I also got to visit the nearby Devon house a prime example of Ja-maican Georgian architecture. built in 1881 by Jamaica’s first black million-aire- it has fine landscaped grounds where you can stop for a famous ice cream or drink and the tour is well worth considering. Any tour company in the city will offer you a tour of King-ston’s cultural and historic points of interest or you can make arrangements with an individual taxi driver but it’s important to agree to a price before setting off. hotel standards in the city are exceptionally high and I felt spoilt by my one night stay at Spanish Court hotel a 109 bedroom boutique style property boasting Spanish ar-chitecture on the exterior and inside a sleek and elegant décor styled in wicker and floral; with bean-shaped white leather sofas, animal-print ac-cents and jatobá-wood floors. each

guestroom includes a 42-inch flat-screen TV, iPod dock, mini bar, safe, a coffee machine, black-out blinds, a large oval-shaped soaking tub and shower and free wireless web access. The Sky Terrace is highlighted by a 50-foot lap pool, a sweeping veranda with chaise lounges and shade umbrellas and a bar, which offers secluded privacy with a panoramic view. www.spanishcourtho-tel.com You can holiday in Kingston at any time of the year and be assured of sunshine and tropical days and night. This is because the city is sheltered by the Blue Moun-tains from the rain and you are most unlikely to have tropical storms to take the sunshine out of your visit. Virgin Atlantic fly three times weekly to Montego Bay from London Gatwick all year round or to Kingston Jamaica direct up to March 2012 Fares start at £655.50 (including tax). For more in-formation please call 0044 8444 2092 770 www.virginatlantic.com For more information on Jamaica, visit www.vis-itjamaica.com

Weekly Best Buyhead to Rome from November 5th

and your escorted holiday includes guided tours of the Vatican and the eternal City. Staying at the three-star hotel della Conciliazione near the Vatican, the four-day break is from €534pps. www.joewalshtours.ie Get a 10 per cent discount on 2012 Irish Ferries sailings to France if you book by December 15th (deposit €100). And for bookings in June, July and

August it is including a free sailing to Britain www.irishferries.com One of my favourite properties in Ireland the Cliff house, Ardmore has a special dinner on November 14th when chef Martijn Kajuiter cooks an eight-course menu and sommelier Anke hartmann chooses the wines for each course. Dinner, including wines, is €125pp. BB for two costs €135. www.thecliffhouse-hotel.com Catch some rays this win-ter with the following sun offers from Gohop.ie including the Algarve - Stay 5 nights at the 2* Clube Brisamar on a self catering basis from €182. Depart: 6th November. Nice - Stay 5 nights at the 3* Kyriad Nice Centre Gare on a self catering basis from €283. Depart: 9th November. Lanzarote - Stay 7 nights at the 3* Flora Apts on an All Inclusive basis from €499. Depart: 11th November. Fuerteventura - Stay 7 nights in the 5* Sheraton Fuerteven-tura Beach Golf & Spa on a B&B basis from €547. Depart: 13th November.Gran Canaria - Stay 7 nights at the 3* Dunas Mirador Maspalomas on a Self Catering basis from €490. Depart: 3rd November. www.gohop.ie

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

Wildlife - feeding in wintereVeRYONe is familiar with feeding the birds over the winter. Bird ta-bles are stocked with seeds etc so that when the cold weather, or snow, comes and food is hard to find, the lit-tle birds still have something to keep them going.

People should keep a watch out for unusual birds. Sometimes a pet bird escapes from the house and would surely come to a very cold sad end in this weather. Time is a major factor if a house bird (parrot, budgie, bara-band etc) escapes.

They cannot take the cold at all so need to be found very quickly. Keep a close eye on your bird at all times. Doors and windows should always be closed when your bird is out of the cage. What else should you watch out

for in the cold weather? You could watch out for hibernating animals.

hedgehogs are often in danger be-cause people don’t know that there is one in their garden and may light a fire without noticing the sleeping hedge-hog under leaves or bits of wood. One thing that brings great joy to people at this time of year is the arrival of the swans and the wild geese.

They are beautiful to look at. They arrive in October and leave again in April so enjoy them while they are with us. Watch out for their welfare as swans mate for life and when one re-turns alone it is a very sad and lonely sight. They can get caught in wire or netting, or may walk on broken glass by accident, as they cross a road etc.

If you are an animal lover then you

could leave a little box or crate of some kind in a quiet corner of the gar-den in case an animal wants to rest up for a little bit, out of the wind and rain. Animals often get lost or have accidents on the road and run away in shock.

They are often disorientated and lost. Sometimes they just need some-where to put their head down for a sleep until they are well enough to move on again. If you wake up to a pile of cats from the neighbour that didn’t bother to neuter, then that’s a whole different story. Lift the box and all that’s in it and set it down in the neighbours garden again. Get yourself a new box and continue with your good work. The animals will ap-preciate it.

n Bob Marley

n Devon House Kingston Jamaica.

n Spanish Court Hotel.