TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

Thomson appears most in Google searches for short haul holidays with Virgin Holidays’ coming top of long haul. A report which analyses brand visibility online, found Thomson was most popular for ‘natural’ short haul holiday searches on Google - this is where the company is listed due to its relevance to the search - achiev-ing 64% share of searches. Virgin was most visible in both the natural and the advertiser paid searches for long haul. Saga was the most visible advertiser in short haul searches while Thomson and Thomas Cook were the most visible brands across social media. The ‘Holidays Issue 11’ report also saw more holidaymakers searching the African continent since November last year. The continent, which accounted for 17% of searches, came a surprising second place after Europe which accounted for 47% of searches. North America, Caribbean, Far East and Middle East followed.

LivingWHAT do a hamster, 100 Duchess of Cambridge masks, a Vera Wang wedding gown and an urn have in common? They’re amongst the many weird and wonderful objects found in Travelodge’s lost property office. The budget hotel chain also reports Ferrari keys, a suitcase of designer dog outfits and collars and a rare Toby jug as items left behind by customers. Predictably perhaps, a mobile phone or charger comes top of the list of forgotten items but leaving a teddy bear behind is the third most common. Travelodge says it has reunited 75,000 forgot-ten cuddly bears with their owners during 2011.

Holiday HotspotThe Kempinski Emirates Palace,

located in the capital of the Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi, is not only a national landmark with its remark-able 114 80 meters high domes but also one of the world most exquisite and luxury hotels. This majestic hotel boasts 302 Grand rooms and 92 suites combining the ultimate extraordinary experience. Built in 2005, it’s so big guests can borrow bicycles to get around the grounds surrounding the building, which is modelled on a medieval Islamic palace filled with fountains and domes glittering under impossibly blue Arabian skies. The world’s most expensive hotel was built and is owned by the Abu Dhabi govern-ment showing

the beauty of Arabian culture. Traditional decor is used inside mostly in silver, gold, marble and glass mosaics. The chandeliers are made of Swarovski crystal. There are 114 domes (including the Grand Atrium which is higher than the dome of St.Peter’s Basilica in Rome), 200 fountains, the luxuri-ous and technologically advanced Conference Centre. Famous as the setting for part of the second Sex And The City movie there’s even a gold ATM in the lobby. Coral, Pearl and Diamond Grand rooms, plus Khaleej Deluxe and Palace suites are all decorated in tranquil colour combinations of light blue, gold and crème in silk upholstery, brightened up by brown wooden veneer and marble floorings. All are spacious and have balconies. As you can imagine in this part of the world the technology is totally futuristic with large plasma TV’s, and a wireless internet network that covers the Palace, pool and beach areas with a fully interactive TV system. The Emirates Palace offers numerous dining options of-fering the world’s finest cuisines. I enjoyed Le Vendome Brasserie with the most impressive buffet I have ever experienced anywhere!

Afterwards I visited the Havana Club; evocative of traditional gen-tleman’s clubs from bygone eras. The palace has its own shopping arcade with a vast

range of some of the most exclusive brand names, including the finest jewelers, perfumeries and fashion shops in the world. A 1.3km private beach is limited to residents ensur-ing privacy and exclusivity. The East Wing swimming pool is a re-laxation pool complete with swim up pool bar, separate Jacuzzis & a covered children’s pool area. The West Wing swimming pool is an adventure pool equipped with water slides, waterfalls, and a lazy river. Emirates Palace has two Fitness Suites on the ground floor of the East & West Wings. Abu Dhabi is taking a differ-ent approach pitching itself as civilised city of culture. It is no surprise that a lot of the attrac-tions of this desert metropolis pride themselves on being the most luxurious on the planet. Abu Dhabi is a city of contrasts; on one hand you have many tra-ditional buildings constructed using Arabic styles such as the Grand Mosque and the other is the modern, futuristic Abu Dhabi. The Corniche runs for 6 km along the city’s coast and is populated with plenty of green parklands, fountains and outdoor cafés where peo-ple take a rest from the desert heat and enjoy the views. There are many examples of local tradi-tions, craft and cultural expression

with many curios shops and galleries brimming with lo-cally produced embroidery work, pottery, woven shawls and handmade baskets. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is the 8th largest in the world, and an architectural masterpiece. It’s massive, with 82 domes and the world’s largest car-pet. The Emirates Palace part of Kempinski is proudly borne by a growing collec-tion of distinguished prop-erties around the world. As Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group, they are committed to providing guests with memorable journeys in-spired by exquisite flair and in the UAE they excel on all levels. www.kempinski.com Ethiad Airways fly daily ex Dublin to Abu Dhabi. www.ethiadairways.com

Weekly Best BuyHighlife is giving free equipment

to anyone booking a skiing holiday to Meribel in the French Alps on March 25th and is offering a free kids’ club at Easter in Morzine, also in the French Alps Meribel costs €905 for adults and €744 for chil-dren for seven night’s half-board ac-commodation in a chalet. The free equipment includes skis, ski boots and a helmet. Seven nights in a cha-let in Morzine from April 1st-8th and April 8th-15th costs €840 for an adult and €686 for a child, inclusive of kids’ club which Highlife says col-lects the kids from ski school and entertains them with “fun activities in a safe environment”. Highlife also provides free ski guiding so guests get the best value from their lift passes. www.highlife.ie

Robert Walshe is a freelance contributor / broadcaster and Travel Editor for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

How to get a well behaved dogWE all know a dog that is out of con-trol. It jumps on us, runs all over the house and furniture, pees where it wants barks at everything and won’t stop when you tell it, snaps food where it can get it and chews and destroys our clothes, shoes and valuables. What a joy that must be to live with?

A dog that displays that kind of behaviour is not spoilt it is unman-nerly. A spoilt dog can still have perfect manners. You can kiss and hug your dog, give it treats and let it sleep with you if you want... and it can still have excellent manners. So why do some dogs get so out of con-trol and downright unmannerly? It’s a human problem. Short and sweet.

Either the dogs owner/handler

is a walkover for the dog, they are afraid to offend the visitors by say-ing “leave the dog alone until he’s/she’s calm, otherwise you’ll turn my dog into a looper, or they don’t know what manners are. Some peo-ple don’t want to offend the dog so they let it do whatever it wants, and so the dog become incredibly un-popular with family and friends.

We all (most of us anyway) had to learn manners when we were grow-ing up. This was so that we would know how to behave in someone’s presence someone house or in pub-lic. If it was good enough for us then why is it not so for some dogs? What are manners?

Manners are about knowing your place and showing respect. If a dog

does this then it will be a popular and happy dog. So why is it so dif-ficult for some people to teach this? Some people have their own par-ticular hangups. They may resent authority, they may feel inadequate, they may think that (as with some children) that the dog can do what it wants because they were “kept down”, as children themselves, and for so many more reasons.

The dog should not be the one to pay for a person’s problems. People should get help with their issues and then address the dog’s behaviour. Good manners from a dog towards people is that it doesn’t jump on them when they are in it’s presence. It should not beg for your food, It should not pull on a lead during a

walk. It should come in and go out when you tell it without question.

It should do it’s business outside. If you invite your dog onto the sofa or bed then t h a t ’ s OK. If it jumps up by itself then that is not OK. It should wait until you put the food in front of it and then invite it to eat.

It should stop barking when you ask it to. These are some basic things that any dog should be able to do given a little guidance. It is good to remember that a dog doesn’t understand what you are saying so you have to show it in a certain way for it to make sense to the dog. Talk-

ing to it in a verbal language will confuse it. It has to learn that language one word at a

time. A dog’s natural lan-guage is body language. A

dog that is excited or one that hasn’t been exercised properly will not be able to carry out your requests as that energy will over ride any abil-ity to comply.. You need to address those issues first. Your dog should not be the one to meet people at the door,... you should.

The dog should be asked to stay a respectful distance away until the person has entered the house. A well behaved dog is a joy to live with. Please don’t let your dog down. 0863192247 for advice

n Diamod Grand Room Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi.

n Emirates Palace Auditorium.

n Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi UAE.