Dublin Chinese New Year

2013 celebrates the year of the snake in Chinese culture. Dublin will be joining in with all the festivities from February 8th to the 22nd. The well established Dublin Chinese New Year Festival will showcase the best of the Sino Irish Culture. The 2013 festival not only marks the year of the snake, but it’s also the 6th year of the internationally recognised festival.

Snake Years are sixth in the cycle, following the Dragon Years, and recur every twelfth year. The Chinese New Year does not fall on a specific date, so it is essential to check the calendar to find the exact date on which each Snake Year actually begins.

Visit www.cny.ie for more information and a list of what’s on. For more information or to make a room booking call 01 646 1000 or go online to www.grandcanalhotel.ie

Volcano...it could get worse

One of the geeks at the hotel couldn't help himself and has been doing a bit of research on the Volcano that is causing travellers so much trouble since April, and what he discovered is a little alarming. I won't bore the pants off you with too much technical information but here we go. The volcano that erupted on the 20th of March is called Eyjafjallajökull (try pronouncing that). The 1821 eruption which lasted just under two years was not an issue for flights because the plane had not been invented at that stage. However an alarming aspect of the eruption is that it was followed by an eruption from Katla, a much larger nearby volcano and this has been showing signs of unrest since 1999. Geologists have concerns that it might erupt in the near future. Monitoring has been intensified following the March 2010 eruptions of a smaller neighbouring volcano - Guðnasteinn - beneath the Eyjafjallajökull glacier. In the past 1,000 years, all three known eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull have triggered subsequent Katla eruptions. The concequences of Katla erupting could be catastrophic for the airline industry as it would eject far more ash into the atmosphere. On 20 April 2010 Icelandic President Ólafur Grímsson said "the time for Katla to erupt is coming close...we [Iceland] have prepared...it is high time for European governments and airline authorities all over the world to start planning for the eventual Katla eruption". Get your holidays in quick people.