CONCORDE Travel are offering 9-night packages on a charter pro-gramme from €854 per person which includes fl ights, transfers, taxes and 9 nights in 3*+ hotel. Travel Dates as follows:

Belfast 6th September (one off), Cork 15th September (one off) and between 24th September and 21st October from Dublin. Only a fi ve hour fl ight from Ireland, Tel Aviv is the East’s hidden hotspot that of-fers a temperate climate, fabulous beaches, archaeological and histori-cal sites, and unique geography to make this country one of the most appealing holiday destinations around. www.concordetravel.ie

Holiday HotspotDelhi is a city of extreme wealth

and brutal poverty, outstanding natural beauty and polluted urban sprawls, modern metropolises and medieval bazaars. For the fi rst time visitor like me, a trip can be daunt-ing; however if you look beyond the surface, and you’ll fi nd a place rich with history, culture and overwhelm-ing colour There are monuments, mosques and tombs in abundance, impressive colonial architecture, brilliant museums, excellent res-taurants and more than enough bazaars, markets and shops. In fact, your only problem will be fi tting it all in. You will see many aspects of India in Delhi, with its vast diversity in culture, tradition and religion. It’s a city of contrasts, where an el-ephant can overtake a Mercedes on the streets, where colonial mansion stands next to a slum, and where cows are revered and allowed to freely roam. The city’s pace is cha-otic, yet relaxed, and makes it ideal for exploring. In New Delhi, you’ll see the remnants of the former co-lonial power with wide streets, big squares, and spacious parks. This is also the part of Delhi where you can visit Gandhi’s memorial. Old Delhi is quite the opposite with small narrow alleys, little shops and a bustling daily life. This is also the area where you’ll fi nd, amidst all the hectic daily practices, serenity and quietness when you enter the Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) and have a look over Delhi’s outskirts and visit the Red Fort. This is one of the most impressive sights in Delhi. It was built in red sandstone

by the Mughal Em-peror Shah Jahan in 1648. The monument is located along the river Yamuna as an irregular octagon. The main entrance is the Lahori Gate, a former royal market. There are a lot of in-teresting buildings in-side the Fort like the Rang Mahal (the water cooled apartments for the royal ladies (or the Diwan-E-Aam for public audiences. Be-sides that, there are several good museums and interesting sights dispersed over the rest of Delhi and its vicinity, such as the National Museum and Humayun’s Tomb. Rajghat is the cremation site of The Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Situated on the banks of Yamuna River, the entire area is very peaceful. The Iron Tower at Qutub Minar is another monument that is a must see in Delhi. Built by Qutub-ud-din Aibak it represents the highest stone tower in the coun-try and is one of the major tourist sites. If you are more of an adven-turous person, do not miss taking a ride on a cycle rickshaw. . It is an eco-friendly ride amid the modern means of transportation and is an amazing experience. Cycle rick-shaws are banned from New Delhi itself but can be handy for travel-ling around ‘Old’ Delhi. The city and suburbs are awash with hotels to suit all budgets and tastes. As the hub of Delhi’s burgeoning informa-tion technology business, Gurgaon is also seeing the launch of many new hotels and leading the charge is the ultra chic Leela Kempinski. A 15-minute drive from the Indira Gan-dhi International Airport and 20 km from the Delhi city centre the hotel adjoins the largest luxury shopping and entertainment centre in India. The property designed in a modern minimalist style. offers the capitals most expansive rooms and suites boasting as standard LCD televi-sions with Blue Ray players, Bose iPod docks, high-speed Internet and advanced security systems. King and twin beds come equipped with ergonomic mattresses, the marble

baths are outfi tted with large soaking tubs and rain show-ers and some rooms have terraces. I absolutely loved The Royal Club which offers guests a private lounge and personalized butler service on two floors. The Leela Kempinski is also home to the award winning “Spectra “restaurant with live kitch-ens serving dishes from all across the globe. Cuisines offered include Chinese, European, Indian, Thai, Ma-laysian and Japanese and the experience was one of most memorable culinary experiences to date. When it comes to dining Indian, their option is “Diya” while “Zanotta” with an open kitchen lay-out offers the best Italian culinary delights. The “ Lavanya” spa at The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon can only be described as a refuge from the stresses of the nearby and hectic city life offering everything you need to indulge, pamper and revive yourself.. The Leela group of luxury hotels has properties in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam, Gurgaon and Udaipur, with new properties set to launch in Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune. For special monsoon and honeymoon deals, see www.theleela.com.. India tour-ist information is available at www.incredibleindia.org

Weekly Best Buy The Stafford London, by Kem-

pinski is a British gem in Mayfair, tucked away in St. James’s Place

not even 1.5 minutes from St. James’s Park, walking distance to Piccadilly and Oxford Street, min-utes away from the West End and all the exciting museums and galler-ies, shopping, walking and wonder-ing, the London Eye, and whatever else you can think of! This August and September is for families with the Stafford Family Package, start-ing from £ 600 per night for two in-terconnecting King or Twin bedded rooms in the main house or from £ 800 per night for two interconnec-tion Junior Suites in The Stafford Mews. The price includes conti-nental breakfast for four as well as some bread to feed the ducks in St. James’s Park! For individual travel-lers or couples, the ‘3 for 2’ offer is perfect to soak up the lively atmos-phere of London without breaking the bank. Rates start from £ 220 for a single room, and £ 235 for a double room per night. This rate excludes VAT and breakfast and every third night is free www.kem-pinski.com/london

TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

Living

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

with Kathleen Murray Local Dog ShowsEVERY year there are several dog shows in the county. These are mostly held during festivals, agri-cultural shows and as fund-raisers for local charities.

Every year more and more dogs come along and it is great to see the interest rising. It is a great oppor-tunity for you and your dog to be sociable. Dogs need to learn to be in the company of other dogs, and people, from a young age to help them to grow up into well rounded, sociable personalities... but there is a limit as to when to start.

Every year, as more people become interested in the shows, and the so-cialising, there are always people that bring along very young pups. This is a big No No. A young pup has no defence against disease. It’s im-mune system is not strong enough to fi ght off the serious germs that it may encounter at dog shows.

Anywhere that a group of dogs come together there will be risks for unvac-cinated dogs. That’s why vaccinations are important. The initial vaccinations that a pup gets at the veterinary sur-gery are very impor-tant. They protect the pup from deadly diseases like par-vovirus and others. Parvovirus kills very quickly. A pup can start off with some diarrhoea, it may be sick, it will stop eating and drinking and become tired and dehydrated... then it dies. This can take place within 2 days.

From the time that people notice the problem until they get it to a vet, the pup is already too far gone.

This is not a disease to be messed with. Your pup or grown dog (if not vaccinated) can pick up Parvo any-where at any time.

Dog shows, and anywhere that dogs roam, are dangerous places for an unvaccinated pup. Breeders often tell owners that the pup is vaccinated when they come to pick

it up. The danger here is that it may have been done by the breeder and not a vet.

If an injection is not given properly then the pup may not have received the proper dose. Half of it may have run down the dog’s coat on the outside. Paperwork to prove that the vaccina-

tion was given can only be handed out by a vet. If the vet doesn’t give the vaccination themselves then there will be no paperwork and the pup will have to start over again... putting the pup through more upset than is necessary.

Pups under 3 months should not be at a dog show. Pups that are not vac-

cinated (regardless of age) should not be at dog shows. Vaccinated dogs can pass on diseases even though they are protected themselves so please don’t pup your pup at risk. There are people that will say “I had my pup at a show and nothing hap-pened, it even won a prize”. I would say “You are an irresponsible owner and your pup was very lucky”.

The pup should not have gotten a prize because this only encour-ages people to take big risks with helpless young animals, regardless of how pretty they, are or their fu-ture potential in the show ring. The pup deserves better. As a dog gets older it’s immune system becomes stronger and it can handle things better but young pups have no de-fence once they are weaned from their mother and fi nd themselves in the outside world for the fi rst time. Always ask a vet for advice.

with Robert Walshe

public audiences. Be-sides that, there are several good museums and interesting sights

■ India gate, New Delhi

baths are outfi tted with large soaking tubs and rain show-

LivingLiving

■ Leela Kempinski Gurgaon Delhi Main

soaking tubs and rain show-ers and some rooms have terraces. I absolutely loved The Royal Club which offers guests a private lounge and personalized butler service on two floors. The Leela Kempinski is also home to the award winning “Spectra “restaurant with live kitch-ens serving dishes from all across the globe. Cuisines offered include Chinese,

baths are outfi tted with large soaking tubs and rain show-

Leela Kempinski Gurgaon Delhi Main

■ Spectra at Leela Gurgaon Delhi

SAS will increase the number of departures this autumn on several intra-Scandinavian routes due to strong demand. SAS will add two daily departures between Copen-hagen and Stockholm, taking the total number of daily fl ights to 15 as of September 1st. SAS will also increase the number of de-partures on the following routes: Copenhagen-Bergen, Copenhagen-Oslo, Copenhagen-Stavanger and Oslo-Stockholm. In total, SAS will add 62 new departures a week.

Scandinavian Airlines fly 24 times a week direct from Dublin to Oslo, Stockholm, and Copen-hagen and onwards to Scandina-via and the Baltic’s from as little as €69 one way including taxes. www.fl ysas.ie

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

Livingwith Robert Walshewith Robert Walshe