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Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

Living

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

with Kathleen Murray

Animal Hygiene“HYGIENE” and “Animals” are two words that many people will not put together. That’s sad because animals are hygi-enic in their own way.

When it comes to dogs and cats there are many people that will not let them inside the house because they think that animals are dirty. These animals are made up of fl esh and blood and hair, just like us.

They eat, sleep and play in different areas just like us… so then why are they considered so dirty? Peo-ple that raise animals and children in the house to-gether often think that the

kids are dirtier than the animals. When children go out to play they often come in mucky and smelly. They are cleaned up or dried off and then life goes on. No-body dies of a disease. If an animal gets mucky or dirty when playing outside, or during a walk, then owners take them in and clean them or dry them off. Children (and some grown ups) pick their nose, eat their “noots” and poke their behind, then they open a loaf and make a sandwich for themselves. People are not as clean as they make out and they don’t tell you about it, but

we seldom get diseases from being in other people’s houses or from contact with unhygienic people.

A lot of the “dirt” that we encounter is normal and im-portant dirt. It is part of who we are and it helps to boost our immune system. There is a reasonable level though, as with all things. When children go outside to play with a dog the mother often makes them wash their hands when they come in. This is a good and healthy practice especially before eating. Unfortunately for the very hygienic mum the kids don’t always do this and often come back in and

touch everything around the house in the course of their normal day.

Mum is also touching these things but she is not getting a disease. Dog hair is often shouted about. We lose hair ourselves. You only have to look at hairbrushes to see this. They have to be cleaned oth-erwise they’d be clogged up. This hair goes on everything from cushions and pillows to carpets and our clothes. No-body shouts about that. Dog hair is not dirty. It’s just hair like ours. If it’s brushed it will stay clean and although it may need a wash occasionally it is not hard to maintain. The

people that have problems here are people with carpets or mats that don’t go in the washing machine.

A quick hoover over a hard fl oor gets rid of any hair. It’s not a big deal. A dog should be brushed out well a few times a week to keep the hair in good shape. We have to do ours every day… much more hassle. If a dog is maintained properly there should be no hygiene problems to worry about. Animals are good for our health so don’t be afraid of them. If they were so bad then farmers, vets, animals trainers, groomers etc would all be dead long ago.

IRELAND’S unpredictable weather does not put off overseas visi-tors according to research. In a survey, 1,000 consumers in more than 30 countries worldwide were asked to rate how much they agreed with this statement: “I would not want to visit Ireland because of the weather there.”On a scale where 1 meant “strongly disagree” and 7 indicated “strongly agree” - the average score was 2.76 showing that most people were not discouraged from visiting Ireland by the weather. Another survey shows that most foreign tourists come to the Ireland to take part in activities that are not affected by the weather such as shopping, pubs and the infamous craic.

Weekend HotspotEvery year a large number of

tourists from different parts of the world visit Rajasthan, India es-pecially to explore Jaipur and its fascinating attractions like forts, palaces, temples, havelis, temples, gardens. The city is also famous for its shopping malls, multiplexes, clubs, discos and night life.Jaipur represents the culture of Rajasthan in terms of the tradition, festivals and heritage and local handi-crafts are world famous for their art, technique and utility. Some of these include miniature paint-ings, marble paintings, jewellery, textiles, metal works and stone works; I suggest you browse the Bapu Bazaar where you will fi nd Jaipur’s famous block-print fab-rics, tie-dyed mirrored bags and slippers. but remember to bargain hard. Hassle is everywhere and there are beggars and swindlers galore, so be fi rm but friendly. One of the main attractions is to ride a painted elephant up to the Amber Fort, 11km north of Jaipur, where the palace complex of mirrored, painted and enamelled courtyards and quadrangles gives a taste of 17th-century Mughal living. The fort looks stunning, all-built in white marble and red sandstone. To add to its charm, Maotha Lake makes its foreground. The inte-rior of the Fort provides a sooth-ing and warm ambience, which is least expected from its outer ap-

pearance. The intri-cate carvings on the walls and ceilings simply astonish the visitors. The minute mirror work adds to the grand appear-ance and royalty of the halls. Find out how the Maharajahs dressed through the centuries at in Jaipur’s City Palace complex. Some rulers were 7ft tall and some were dwarfs but all were magnificently attired. This is a beau-tiful palace complex which includes beauti- f u l palaces and structures like Chan-dra Mahal (Moon Palace), Mu-barak Mahal (Welcome Palace), Mukut Mahal (Crown Palace), Ma-harani Palace (Queen’s Palace), Govind Dev Ji Temple, Pitam Niwas Chowk, Diwan-I-Khas, Diwan-I-Aam, and the City Palace Museum. The City Palace Complex is one of the best and most visited attrac-tions of Jaipur tourism. The Hawa Mahal, also known as the Palace of Winds, is also one of the remarka-ble and most famous attractions in the city. This magnifi cent palace is noted for its amazing architecture which is strange and spectacular than of other forts and palaces in Rajasthan. A highlight of any visit to India, and a unique way of expe-riencing the country’s fascinating heritage, is a stay in one of India’s magnifi cent palace hotels. These hotels were actually once home to India’s royalty, and in some cases still are, but have been converted into accommodations in recent years as a way of sustaining their existence. The necessity for this, and the rise and fall of India’s pal-aces, can be traced back through India’s ever evolving history.In fact the grandeur and mystique of one of the Royal families of Rajasthan can be seen and experienced at The Raj Palace located on the main Amber Road. The Raj Palace built in 1727 to be Jaipur’s fi rst palace is an unrivalled specimen of the Pink City’s character, charm & gran-deur. Princess Jayendra Kumari

descended owner of the palace converted it into an exquisite luxury hotel in 1996. Museum suites have been created giving the Raj Palace the honor of being the fi rst palace hotel with such accommodations in India. Its breathtaking Dur-bar Mahal Suite, acknowl-edged as “Asia’s Leading Suite” in the 2008 World Travel Awards, was used by the Maharaja himself. As a 5-star heritage hotel, The Raj Palace provides accommodation in 38 tastefully furnished rooms which are fur-ther categorised into: Standard Rooms, Heritage Rooms, Histori-cal Suites, Prestige Suites, Palace Suites & Presidential suite. When it comes to dining, the hotel of-fers impeccable choices includ-ing the Swapna Mahal which is based on a 18th century me-dieval European setting offer-ing breakfast, lunch and dinner through multiple cuisines The Swapna Mahal means the palace of Dreams. The double height ceiling has breathtaking majestic crystal chandeliers and is built with several beautiful arches, silver Jharokas and coloured glasses. The setting of dining hall conjures up images of its fantas-tic past and every meal is tribute to royalty. Every chair and table of the restaurant is so elegantly designed which will give you the feeling of the princely state and

Maharaja’s. The Raj Palace is an extremely convenient place to stay during your visit to Jaipur. Being in the middle of four main palace complexes of Jaipur (Amer, Jaigarh Fort, Nahar Garh Fort and the City Palace com-plex), it is located at a short dis-tance from all sightseeing and shopping places. www.rajpalace.com www.incredibleindia.org

Weekly Best Buy Experience The Croke Park

Hotel this August and Septem-ber from just €99 per room, per night. Sitting just a few steps from the Croke Park Stadium and close to the city centre and Dublin airport, this is one of the city’s most popular hotels. The Croke Park Hotel provides complimentary internet access, complimentary car parking and complimentary transfers to the IFSC for guests. www.doylecol-lection.ie

with Robert Walshe

were magnificently attired. This is a beau-tiful palace complex

■ Raj Palace Swimming Pool, Jaipur.

palace converted it into an exquisite luxury hotel in 1996. Museum suites have been created giving the Raj Palace the honor of being the fi rst palace hotel with such accommodations in India. Its breathtaking Dur-bar Mahal Suite, acknowl-edged as “Asia’s Leading Suite” in the 2008 World Travel Awards, was used by the Maharaja himself.

■ Raj Palace Exterior, Main.

ETIHAD Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has an-nounced it will commence operations to the South Korean capital, Seoul, on December 12, Seoul will become the 65th destination on Etihad’s network.Etihad will operate a daily return serv-ice to Seoul’s Incheon Airport from its home base in Abu Dhabi, operating Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route. www.ethiad.com According to re-ports, the Irish Government are plan-ning on renaming Dublin Airport after former Fianna Fail Taoiseach Sean Le-mass.Paddy Power are quoting odds of just 1/5 that Dublin will be renamed after the former statesman and Aer Lingus founder. There has even been a handful of bets placed on Cork man Roy Keane, Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and U2 frontman Bono at odds as big as 500/1!

Robert Walshe is a freelance con-tributor / broadcaster and is guest travel writer for River Media newspa-per titles across the island of Ireland

Living

descended owner of the palace converted it into an descended owner of the palace converted it into an

Living

■ Amber Palace Jaipur

Livingwith Robert Walshewith Robert Walshe

■ My gang...Pet’s corner correspondent Kathleen Murray at home with her dogs.