TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away ExtraParisian leaders wheeled

out the first of the city’s blue, bubble-shaped recently aiming to be one of the largest self-service electric car schemes. Anyone with a driving licence will be able to pick up one of the four-seater electric “Bluecars” for short journeys around the city, dropping it off at any bat-tery point. The Autolib service follows the French capital’s suc-cess with Velib, the self-service bike scheme that has been cop-ied by London. The project is the brainchild of the city’s So-cialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, to deal with traffic, pollution and the nightmare of parking. More than half of Parisians do not own a car.

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

LivingKeLLy’S Resort in Rosslare was named best hotel at the 2011 national hospitality awards recently. The best value hotel was Blue Haven Hotel in Kinsale, Co Cork which the judges said offered “exceptional value” while the River Lee Hotel in Cork city won best business hotel. The best bou-tique hotel award went to Inis Meáin Restaurant Suites on the Aran Islands. It was praised for complementing its surroundings.The best pub award went to The Bank on College Green in Dublin for the quality of its serv-ice and the passion of its staff. The best pub with food gong went to The Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare. Its fare was “inspirational with a level of service and friendliness to match”. The best traditional pub was Crotty’s, Kilrush, Co Clare while the best hospitality website went to the Mulranny Park Hotel near Westport in Co Mayo.

Holiday HotspotMontego Bay is the second largest

city in Jamaica and is the heart of the tourist industry on the island. The city has much to offer its visitors in terms of accommodations, shopping plazas, beaches, fine dining, and chal-lenging golf courses. Montego Bay is an ideal launch pad for families wish-ing to enjoy a Caribbean holiday with natural variety and no stress The beaches offer the island’s best wa-ters for swimming and other sports because the bay’s geography pro-tects swimmers from rough currents. Doctor’s Cave Beach is the most popular area with its white sands, azure coastline, and a wide selec-tion of restaurants and bars. Historic great houses such as Rose Hall offer a unique opportunity to explore a co-lonial heritage that manifests itself in the city’s Old World feel. This mag-nificent house was the home of the infamous Annie Palmer (The White Witch of Rosehall), known for her murderous ways to both husbands and slaves. Another house that de-serves a mention is Greenwood Great House. This was the former plantation home of the Barrett fam-ily. elizabeth Barrett Browning spent time there during her childhood. The house still contains furnishings and personal items belonging to the family. For bird enthusiasts, there is the Rockland’s Bird Sanctuary which houses countless varieties including

the Streamertail Hum-mingbird, the National Bird of Jamaica. Visitors focused on bringing home an authentic Jamaican souvenir will enjoy inves-tigating the wares of Mon-tego Bay’s street markets, such as the Craft Market and Old Fort Craft Park. If you prefer relaxation, then several renowned golf courses in the area are popular including Cin-namon Hill, Half Moon and Tyrall Club. At the marine park it is possible to watch fish within their marine en-vironment without getting wet. A semi submersible watercraft allows passen-gers the benefit of viewing the rich undersea from an air-conditioned underwater cabin. Located minutes from Montego airport the all-inclu-sive, family-friendly Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort offers 524 guestrooms and 27 suites. All rooms have a bal-cony or patio with air condition-ing, satellite television, refrigerator, coffeemaker, high-speed wireless internet and full bathroom. Ameni-ties include two outdoor swimming pools, hot tub, fitness center, tennis court, children’s club, game room, six dining venues & two bars. www.holi-dayinn.com The annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues festival is the social highlight of the year in the Carribean and the 2012 promises to be the best yet. Dubbed the “Art Of Music” the festi-val will kick off the third week of Janu-ary in Rose Hall just outside Montego Bay. It’s a three night festival which draws over 40,000 people with Alicia Keys, Michael Bolton, Diana Ross, Air Supply, Shaggy leading the stage in recent years. www.jamaicajazzand-blues.com For those interested in a twin centre holiday Negril is located at the westernmost point in Jamaica (about 1.5 hours drive from Montego Bay). It is loved by holidaymakers for its picture-postcard beaches, rug-ged cliffs, and breathtaking sunsets. Negril enjoys a Rasta-hippie flavour that made it famous in the 60s, but it has also been built up, with bigger resorts on the east and smaller in-dependent ones along the West end cliffs like Tensing Pen a chic boutique hotel which I instantly fell in love with. The property is totally secluded

for the discerning traveler seeking pure relaxation. With no sandy beach, ladders lead down to the blue and green waters below for swimming and snorkeling The cottages made of wood, thatch and cut-stone have private outdoor showers and the four poster beds are draped in pure white sheets. www.tensingpen.com At sunset people from all over the world saunter down the road to Rick’s Café the place to be seen to eat, drink, party, swim, cliff dive and watch native Jamaican divers. www.rick-scafejamaica.com The Pushcart res-taurant and rum bar at Rockhouse on pirates cove serves dishes inspired by Jamaican street vendors. Natives together with the Chinese, Spanish, the english and Indian communities all brought their own culinary cook-ing techniques when they settled on the island. Drawing from these di-versities award winning Chef Kevin Broderick offers both traditional and new Jamaican cuisine with creative flair. www.rockhousehotel.com/pushcart Negril may be best loved for its casual, laid-back atmosphere but it’s where you can have fun doing absolutely nothing. 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 information please call 0044 8444 2092 770 www.virginatlantic.com For information on Jamaica, visit www.visitjamaica.com

Weekly Best BuyStena Line, is giving customers the

opportunity to sail and rail to Britain from only €36* single per adult for travel from Dublin Port to Holyhead or Rosslare to Fishguard. Whether your travel is for a short break, sport-ing occasion returning to university or visiting family and friends, you can set sail from Dublin Port onboard the Stena Superferry and enjoy a rail connection on to your chosen desti-nation. There are lots of final desti-nations on offer including Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Bangor, Llandudno or Wrexham. www.stena-line.ie A week in December in Gran Canaria from €395pps is available from www.thomascook.ie Or a week from Cork to Lanzarote from €385pps www.falconholidays.ie Stay three nights at the Armani hotel in the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, with breakfast and flights from Dublin for stays from May 11th to June 30th from €1,169pps. www.trailfinders.ie

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

Dumping animals - a major issueTHIS practice is one that has gone on for a very long time. For the past three or four years it had eased up a bit as people had more money and were in a better position to hold on to animals, or neuter them.

Dumping is not the answer to a cri-ses with an animal problem. It doesn’t matter if it is a cat, dog, cow or horse there is an answer to the problem. An-imal charities are overwhelmed with calls and animals, and are at the worst time ever in their history with regard to funding, so their hands are often tied when it comes to helping to solve the problem.

To solve the problem that you may be having with an animal right now you need to ask yourself a few ques-tions and be very honest with yourself

when you answer. No point in telling yourself a lie it won’t solve the prob-lem now or in the future. First ques-tion... why do I want rid of this animal? Is it a money problem, a behaviour problem or a population increase problem?

If it is none of these then you may be getting rid of an animal simply because you don’t like it or it has medical prob-lems that are causing you more work around the house. If you don’t like the animal why was it there to begin with? Did another family member get it and now you have all the work with it? It is important to understand that what-ever problem there is with an animal in your life the animal should not be the one to suffer, it is never the fault of the animal. Second question... Are

you in a position to put things right between you and the animal. Now that it’s there then working the problem can cure the problem in many cases, so there is no need to get rid of the animal. If it is not a behaviour prob-lem then it may be a financial problem. For farm animals you can call the Dept of Agriculture for help. They will guide you and offer assistance in resolving the problem. There is no shame in not having the money (the people who robbed us blind have no shame) but there is a shame in leaving an animal to die of starvation or to fend for itself “in the wild” when it has been raised by people who provided the food up until now. It won’t know how to feed itself, and won’t have access to proper feeding if dumped.

The risk to the public, to motorists especially, from wandering animals is very high not to mention the injuries that the poor animal will receive as well. If it is a cat or a dog then it may not meet with an understanding per-son if it appears in someone’s garden and causes trouble like raiding bins or chasing their cats etc.

If it is fortunate enough to arrive in good hands then you have caused mis-ery for the animal and also for some soft hearted person as well, as they may not be in a position to keep it and won’t know what to do with it, ending in anxiety, sleepless nights and less food for themselves as they may be in hard times also. If it was a problem that your animal has been reproduc-ing because you couldn’t afford to

neuter it then the charities may be in a position to help you with that if you explain your case.

you could do a little fundraiser for the charity and get enough to neuter your animals out of it, back from the charity again. It is a way of helping them to help you. If all is lost and you can see no way forward then ring the ISPCA and surrender your animals so that they can be put to sleep kindly, or rehomed elsewhere and go on to have a decent life elsewhere with someone in a better financial position right now. you would be more at peace with yourself if you didn’t have to dump them somewhere and then wonder what became of them, not knowing if they lived a cruel life or died a cruel death.

n Lionel Ritchie Jamaica Jazz & Blues

Festival.

n Sunset at Ricks Cafe, Negril, Jamaica.

n Tensing Pen Negril, Jamaica.