TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

BMI, British Midland International, is to launch a new, daily service from London to the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The service, operated by an Airbus A319, will begin on 1st De-cember 2010.

Customers in economy will enjoy bmi’s full service benefits such as free checked baggage to a total weight of 20kg and a complimentary food serv-ice including a hot breakfast and full bar service throughout the day. Visi-tors to Tripoli, a vibrant oil city, will find much of its ancient charm still intact, including the Roman arch of Marcus Aurelius. Day trips can be taken to the sites of several Roman ruins and there are many beautiful beaches outside the city. London Heathrow-Tripoli schedule (from 1 December 2010) BD469 Depart Lon-don Heathrow 08.55 - arrives Tripoli 14.30. BD470 Depart Tripoli 15.15 - arrive London Heathrow 16.45. www.flybmi.com Our close neighbour Scotland is famed for its delicious natural larder, and rightly so - you only have to glance at the fresh pro-duce available in the local markets and the menus in award winning res-taurants throughout the country to see the very best seasonal produce is served up daily – and it’s all only a short ferry or plane ride away. 2010 is the Year of Food & Drink in Scot-land, meaning that the very best that the country has to offer is waiting to be enjoyed by Irish food and drink lovers alike. To help visitors navi-gate the more traditional Scottish dishes, Visit Scotland, Scotland’s national tourism organisation, has launched a Scottish Delicacies Dic-tionary, available at www.visitscot-land.com/harvest

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

LivingMY FAVOuRITe hotel in the world The Peninsula Bangkok will cel-ebrate one of Thailand’s most fa-mous traditions, the Loy Krathong Festival, on 21 November with a special Loy Krathong package fea-turing luxury accommodation and breakfast, a gala buffet dinner at the River Cafe and Terrace – the best place in the city to view the colourful Bangkok skyline - and a stunning firework display over the Chao Phraya River. The evening will also feature classical Thai en-tertainment and dances, and each guest will receive a krathong to set afloat on the water. Loy Kra-thong is one of the most popular events on the Thai calendar and originated when Thai people of-fered thanks to the Goddess of Water by floating their krathongs - delicately crafted floats made of lotus or banana leaves, and bear-ing a candle and incense sticks - on the river to wash away all bad luck and misfortune, and make wishes for good luck in the future. The package ben-efits include: a one-night stay in a deluxe room, tickets for two to the Loy Krathong Gala Dinner Buffet at the River Cafe and Terrace, complimentary daily breakfast at the river cafe and terrace and a ,complimentary spa gift certificate from The Peninsula Spa by eSPA www.peninsula.com

Weekend Hotspot

Letterkenny is one of the busiest towns in Ireland with numerous hotels of all standards but leading the way is the recently crowned four star Silver Tassie hotel & spa offering the very best of both worlds - a rural setting with amaz-ing views across Lough Swilly all only a five minute drive from the North West’s retail capital. The Silver Tassie has evolved over the years into a unique, cosy and intimate family run hotel which is now synonymous for service and award winning home produced cuisine. The Blamey family have every reason to be proud of their latest achievement with the open-ing of the Seascape Spa. The pas-sionate spa team offer a range of treatments from purifying scrubs,

exotic massages, organic facials, soothing wraps, seaweed to aro-matic bathing rituals with steam room and experience showers to totally soothe away all your cares and worries. The 36 bedrooms are spacious and luxurious all with free wifi available. If the weather is on the damp side make use of the DVD players in all rooms alongside the comprehensive DVD library avail-able at reception. As well as the à

la carte menu

g u e s t s can enjoy snacks in the lounge, carvery lunch daily or af-ternoon tea in the conservatory watching the world go by. The Sil-ver Tassie offer exceptional value for money with their special dinner menu at €27.50 and the seafood mornay and freshly roasted joint of the day are better than home. Tra-ditional Irish music is available in the every Friday night with special meals to enjoy before the session begins. Music starts at 9pm in the lounge and a great evening of craic promised. The Silver Tassie Hotel & Spa is an ideal base to explore the North West with a great selection of activities close by to keep you busy & entertained. My favourite is Glenveagh National Park which lies along the Derryveagh Mountains. This beautiful park is a 20 minute drive away and includes a 14,000 hectare deer park set amongst the mountain range around Lough Veagh. Here also is a visitor cen-tre with audio-visual displays and

G lenveagh Castle surrounded by one of the finest gardens in Ireland. If you want to take in the scenic drives a reminder that Fanad Peninsula is 20 miles from the Silver Tassie onwards to Milford & Kerrykeel to the west and Rathmullan and Ram-elton in the east. Closer to home in Letterkenny is An Grianán Thea-tre, numerous cinema & shopping complexes, traditional craft shops, restaurants, pubs and the must see Donegal County Museum. The Blaney Group is a Donegal based family run hotel business with other property interests including the Milford Inn and Waters edge. There are exceptional offers avail-able at the Silver Tassie Hotel & Spa including the Weekend “Here come the girls” package, 1BB1D plus 2 mini escape Spa treatments €139pps you can choose 2 “Mini escape” spa treatments, unwind in the aroma steam room with tropi-

cal shower, chill in the Cocoon Room or new snooze room.. Once you have worked up an appetite enjoy a 4 course gourmet dinner in the restaurant all for €278.00. www.silvertassiehotel.com

Weekly Best Buy

Knockranny House Hotel, West-port, Co Mayo is offering you the chance to come and experience incredible food, enchanting atmos-phere and friendly service. From €130 per person you can spend two nights at the award winning hotel with breakfast on both mornings and an evening enjoying the Head Chef Seamus Commons’ Tasting Menu whilst gazing out at views of Croagh Patrick and Clew Bay in La Fougère Restaurant. Offer will run throughout November 2For more information visit www.khh.ie

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

with Kathleen Murray

n Junior Suite at Silvertassie Hotel

& Spa Letterkenny

n SilverTassie Spa Letterkenny

n Afternoon Tea at Silver Tassie Hotel & Spa Letterkenny

Home and Away Extra

Veterinary ExpensesVeTeRINARY expenses are a subject that many people find daunting. People are amazed at what they are charged often. It can be very expensive. Having a sick animal is as expensive as a sick person.

An operation is an operation. There are materials and equipment involved, time involved and expertise involved. These all cost money.

Sometimes people don’t think this far ahead when they get an animal, or worse, they think they can do the job of the vet themselves.

Vets spend many years in college for a very good reason. Joe Soap down the road cannot do their job. There’s a saying “A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous

thing” and this has been demonstrated time and time again by amateurs playing at being vets.

When things go wrong with a proce-dure (it happens) then it’s easy to tell who’s who. Trying to save money, by dabbling in things like this doesn’t work. It often costs the animal its life and also a huge amount of needless pain and suf-fering before it died.

This is the height of cruelty. Take for example an animal that has eaten poison. There are different treatments for differ-ent poisons. The wrong treatment could cause the animal suffering and death.

I have seen the end product of people trying to neuter an animal themselves.

Apart from the horror of not using an an-esthetic the animal was left in a terrible state. It was very lucky to be alive when it was found.

What is wrong with people that do these things? Do they not know that animals have feelings too? Animals abso-lutely do feel pain! No doubt about that! Please get a vet if you have something wrong with your animals.

If you can’t afford it then you need to look at the situation again. Maybe you should cut down on the number of ani-mals you keep, or have none.

Animals can’t speak for themselves. They depend on us to know what we are doing, and to take proper care of them.