TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

Opening this December, Club Med’s newest property, Club Med Sinai Bay, will become one of the brand’s flagship destinations. Located on the shores of one of the most splendid beaches in the Aqaba Gulf the newly built resort is at the heart of a natural amphitheatre. The resort has been designed in a style which perfectly blends in with the sur-roundings. Easy access to Mount Sinai, the Coloured Canyon and Petra in Jor-dan means that Sinai Bay is the ideal base to explore the region as well as enjoy the fabulous underwater life of the Red Sea. Club Med Sinai Bay also offers ‘The Oasis’, an exclusive 5 Trident luxury space comprising of Club Rooms to Family Suites within the 4 Trident Re-sort. Its stunning location, luxury facili-ties, variety of sports, children’s clubs and gourmet food will make Sinai Bay one of the most sought after holiday destinations this winter so book now to secure your space and be one of the first to stay. www.clubmedsunway.ie

LivingSO you want to be part of the epic Oz-Bus London to Syd-ney adventure but don’t have 3 months available? Then why not join Oz Bus for half of this fantastic journey either start-ing from, or finishing in, the magnificent Himalayas. Nor-mally taking 85 days, Oz-Bus has put together a package for those of you who are time poor but looking to get a piece of the Oz Bus action.

Budget trip from London to Kathmandu from £2,749 with a 46 day itinerary including Bruges - Prague - Vienna - Buda-pest - Istanbul - Goreme - Cappa-docia - Esfahan - Tehran - Lahore - Delhi - Taj Mahal - Agra - Vara-nasi - Chitwan - National Park - Kathmandu - The Himalayas and also a trip from Bangkok to Sydney from £2,249 on a 36 day itinerary taking in Bangkok - Ko Samui - Penang - Sumatra - Bali - Kakadu National park - Ayers Rock (Uluru) - Adelaide - Sydney

Package includes; All accommo-dation and transport (bus, flights and local ferries), all breakfasts, tour leader and local guides/en-trance fees. www.oz-bus.com

Weekend HotspotLocated in the commercial dis-

trict of South Mall in the centre of Cork the Imperial hotel has graced the city since 1813 and is something of a Leeside institu-tion, that has entertained count-less illustrious guests throughout is near 200 year history playing host to writers such as Sir Wal-ter Scott, William Thackeray and Charles Dickens the famous composer Franz Liszt. On the 21st Aug 1922, Michael Collins checked into the Imperial Hotel unaware that this was to be his last night alive. The hotel began life as the front portion of today’s hotel in 1813, in a building com-missioned as a meeting place for the transaction of business, reading of foreign newspapers and drinking of claret by the Cork Committee of Merchants. It was called The Commercial Rooms. The property has been run by the Flynn family (of the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, Co Clare) since

1998, and they have completed a major refurbishment of the hotel, which has brought new life to its fine old public areas and transformed others. Its impres-sive lobby is decked out in old mahogany and marble amid a sweeping staircase and stunning chandeliers. As well as upgrading existing bedrooms, new superior rooms have been added and also a stunning 2-bedroom penthouse suite with balcony and views over the city. All the bedrooms are well appointed with soft colours and comfortable furnishings. I ate dinner in the the main Pembroke restaurant which was bright and modern. In quieter moments the restaurant looks like a club lounge, dark floors, glass walls, statement lights and chunky leather chairs but on a busy Fri-day night it was definitely the city centre brasserie to be seen as I always remembered it to be! Informal dining is offered in the Parisian styled “Lafayette’s” cafe and an impressive bar menu and carvery is available in the tradi-tional pub setting of South’s an elegant old fashioned bar with character. Designed for both men and women to indulge in, The Im-perials Escape Salon & Spa is a diamond waiting to be discovered in the heart of the city centre. They have tailored a number of packages for you to experience a

total escape. I opted for the “ focus facial for him “ which was a 45 minute revitalising pure focus facial treatment designed specifi-cally for men combining aromatic steam towels. At Escape Salon & Spa therapists are highly trained in Aveda spa treatments and the vitality suite dispels all tension and stress with its tropical rain and mist showers, aroma and salt grottos, and the unique Evian hy-drotherapy pool. The relaxation suite, with soft music and muted lighting, will help restore inner peace, and the Salon stylists will ensure that outer peace is also rebalanced! Escape is a 5,500 square ft Salon and Spa offering a perfect haven from the city and life’s pressures, featuring 10 pri-vate treatment rooms inspired by the elements of nature, a dry flotation bed, a vitality suite to dispel all tension and stress with its tropical, rain and mist show-ers, aroma and salt grottos, and a unique Evian hydrotherapy pool. Put all the stresses and pressures of Christmas behind you this Jan-uary. With one nights stay and full Irish breakfast in Cork city’s old-est and most beautiful hotel, the Imperial, treatments to choose from include one hour in the Hydrotherapy Suite, Caribbean Glow Body Scrub, Dry Floatation and time in the Relaxation Suite from just €150pps. Central to the city the Imperial is perfectly

placed for exploring Cork, tak-ing in a show at the Opera House or Everyman Theatre, spending a few quite hours in the Craw-ford Art Gallery, or shopping in the city. The Imperial is also well placed for access to the re-nowned golf courses at Fota and the Old Head of Kinsale . www.flynnhotels.com/imperialhotel

Weekly Best BuyThe Northern lights time of

the year is coming around and Project Travel has a few things to keep you occupied while you wait in hope. A Norwegian five-night trip including flights, two nights in a hotel and three nights on a Hurtigruten ship watching the night sky costs from €1,395pps www.project-travel.ie

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

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

with Kathleen Murray

The Snow – how did pets feel?WELL, that was some amount of snow. How did people manage with their animals? Dogs that are used to being in a house won’t have enough hair to protect them against this cold if they are put outdoors for lengthy periods of time, especially at night.

Short haired dogs especially, like Dalmations, can‘t be out in the cold at night. Being shut in for lengthy periods of time gets to everyone after a while. Many people couldn’t get out due to different circumstances and ani-mals suffered because of it. Many driveways and roads were too dangerous to walk on so many dogs didn’t get taken out for walks.

Dogs can become destructive due to frustration so, mats, skirt-ing boards, furniture and other stuff will have been chewed.

Animals on medication will have suffered because maybe the owner couldn’t get to the vet. Some animals are on heart medi-cation, medicine for arthritis etc and it is important that they get their dose when it is due, just like ourselves.

There are tragic circumstances where maybe an owner broke their arm or leg due to a fall and couldn’t care for their animals properly as well, or have circu-lation problems due to the cold. People and animals alike, suffer when things like this happen, so

never think that animals can fend for themselves, it is just not the case.

Our animals are not used to these temperatures and, if they were living in the house normally, they will not have a thick enough coat to put them “outside” if the owner is laid up temporarily.

A good tip in circumstances like this is to wrap a hot water bottle in a towel and put it in the dogs bed, should it have to go out tem-porarily.

Put a couple of blankets in the bed also. For dogs that haven’t learned not to chew then put a cage (just big enough for the dog to lie flat out in) in the shed and put a table cloth or blanket over

three sides of it. Tuck it under to prevent

draughts and leave something in the cage that is safe for the animal to chew. Place a hot water bottle against the cage on the outside so the animal can benefit from the heat without having access to chewing it.

Don’t forget to let the animal out to the toilet and take it for some exercise for the sake of its circu-lation and mental health. This is a temporary measure until circum-stances return to normal again. People do the best they can in freak weather conditions so if someone is struggling then please assist them. They will appreciate it… so will their animals.

n Imperial Hotel Escape Spa - Vitality.

n Imperial Hotel Cork exterior.

n Pembroke restaurant at Imperial Cork.