If you have been keeping up with my blogs (don’t worry I
will forgive you if you haven’t) you would already know that we had some time
to kill before moving into our new place, WHICH WE ARE NOW IN, yippee for that. What better way than to tick another country
off the list...or get another stamp on the passport...and head on over to the
much anticipated Ireland where I have heard raving reviews about the food, the
people and the country side.
First stop was to investigate Dublin for a few days and I
had been given a raving review about a little cafe called The Winding Stair on
top of a bookstore. It was first stop
for lunch overlooking the River Liffey.
It was a cute quirky cafe and I opted to try a stuffed cabbage parcel
with spiced rice, mushrooms, lentils and cashews. I must admit the quality of food was
exceptional but I am not sure that I would rate it as one my favourite
restaurants in the world as recommended to me, although well worth a visit if
you enjoy a relaxed quirky atmosphere with a little out of the ordinary dishes. With only a few days and unfortunate timing
for a cold I managed to fit in the Guinness factory to my travels, although I
think if you went to Dublin and didn’t go to the Guinness factory you’re not a
real tourist. It was a very interesting
experience to see the entire production process and the amount of things Guinness
is added to such as sauces, chutneys or even the merchandise they sell is a
little mind boggling. The highlight of
my trip to the factory was easily getting to pour my own Guinness. Never having ‘pulled’ a beer of any kind in
my entire life I was rather proud of the perfectly poured pint which I gave
away to some lovely looking thirsty tourists as I cannot stand the taste of it
haha.
We were also lucky enough to be in Dublin for the Hurling grand final. Now I admit I had heard of the sport, but had
no clue what it was, who played it or any knowledge of what equipment was used
if any and it turns out the sport is crazy.
It’s no wonder I had no knowledge as wow, the men go out onto the field
with only a helmet for protection and pretty much use a wooden stick to hit a
ball around, yet they appear to be allowed to use the stick to hit each other
around too! The Irish love it and the
entire town was covered decorations so it was a great experience to watch it in
a pub with some locals but gosh, good luck getting me to try that sport out. After a tough afternoon watching some sport I
kept with the Guinness theme and tried a traditional Steak and Guinness stew. The amount of food in the bowl was
unbelievable but the meat was perfectly tender and in all honesty it tasted
like a stew Mum would serve up with a few different ingredients here and there. Certainly a hearty Irish meal that has been
adapted around the world but an old favourite on a cold winters day.
Unfortunately I didn’t explore Dublin as much as I had
anticipated due to the cold I mentioned earlier, but as a local said to me in
the pub while watching the Hurling, “ ah you see one capital city, you’ve seen ‘em
all”. I’ll take his word for that as we
headed off on our little road trip in a hire car for the next week. Our first destination was Blarney in County Cork,
however we stretched the 2 and a half hr drive into about a 5 or more hours with
a few stops with the first being for lunch.
We stopped at a little town of Enniskerry for where we met a lovely
older lady at a cafe who was extremely concerned for us when we told her we
were driving to Cork that day. She
stressed that it was a LOOONG way (2 hours is a BIG deal to the Irish it seems)
to drive in one day and that we must make it there by dark, bless her cotton
socks! We did her proud and made it
there just before dark too I might add, but this is where my soup addiction
began. I tried a bowl of some delicious
vegetable soup served with soda bread, something that is very common in Ireland
I learnt, having never heard of it before I gave it a try and it was rather
nice. On the road again we continued south
through the mountains and had a quick stop over at Wikclow’s gap for a photo and
then off to Kilkenny, the home of the winning Hurling team from the previous
day. Every inch of the town was
decorated with black and yellow and we were excited to see the players arrive
home to parade through the town on an open top bus, but unfortunately they didn’t
arrive in town until late that night so we checked out one of the largest, most
impressive castles I have seen in the middle of a town with a gigantic green
park attached to it and continued on our way. A few more quick stops here and there we
arrived at Blarney. Now I booked our
accommodation here knowing full well we would have a car so could go a little
further out of town and get a great place, but gosh our hotel was a whole
village! We had an enormous shop with any type of souvenir you could imagine as
well as a restaurant, pub and gym. It
was amazing, not to mention the rooms themselves were the best ones we have
stayed in. By the time we arrived we
were getting rather hungry so first stop to the restaurant. I think this meal was the tastiest meal I
have eaten in a long time, and easily the best meal I had in Ireland. I am sure you will all be shocked to know
that it was a chicken curry, doesn’t seem overly Irish, but it was served on roast
potatoes. Just looking at the picture
while writing about it makes me want to go back to eat it again. If only I had the guts to go back the restaurant
and ask for the recipe!
Back to the restaurant we went for breakfast with baited
breath about a delicious breakfast.
Limiting myself to eggless dishes the most appealing on the menu was a
bagel. Now the only reason I commenting
on this is that never in my life had I tried a bagel before, admittedly Ireland
may not have been the place to do it, but I am not sure what the fuss is about
America? It is just like bread but with
cream cheese smeared all over it! First
stop the next day was the very famous Blarney castle and Blarney stone. I had no expectations for this castle or what
the whole kissing the stone concept was about, but before I knew I was on top
of the castle, laying upside down over a gap where I could literally see the
ground beneath me with two strange men holding me and explaining what part of
the stone kiss. Not sure how I walked
into that one so blindly, I thought they were there doing construction works to
the castle to keep it safe, haha, but I am now blessed to have the gift of the
gab, along with the hundreds of thousands of other tourists that were that
day!! It was actually a beautiful place
with magnificent gardens and easily the most preserved castle I have been to without
a lot of reconstruction works done to it.
I was very impressed and it was a tie with my favourite castle that I
have in Scotland from my highlands trip.
The remainder of the day we spent driving around the coastal areas and
checking as well as the town centre of Cork before heading back home to Blarney
for some fish and chips with mushy peas that were HORRIBLE for dinner then
prepare for a big drive the next day.
The ring of Kerry was our destination for today, apparently
one of the most spectacular drives in Ireland.
We first headed to Killarney, which will be our home for the next two
nights, to begin the loop of the Kerry County.
There was some magnificent scenery including costal views, mountains and
waterfalls during the good 3 or 4 hour trip with many stops along the way for
photos. If I was recommended any place
for tourists to go in Ireland I would highly rate this on top of your list.
Finally making it back to Killarney in time for dinner we headed to a lovely restaurant
where I opted for salmon served with roast potatoes, sundried tomatoes and
olives with salsa on the side, an interesting mix to be served alongside salmon
but it surprisingly worked quite well.
As this seemed like a little bit of a fancy restaurant, I opted to try
an Irish desert that is on every menu I have seen, bread and butter
pudding. I was not too sure what to
expect but I think the best part of it was the ice cream and the butterscotch
sauce that served with it! It was a lot denser than I had imagined.
Our second day in Killarney and we made the day trip out to
Dingle. First stop when we arrived was
the fish and chip shop for lunch.
Apparently a well known fishing area the recommended catch was cod so we
gave it a try. It sure was fresh and it
just fell apart when you ate it but not the best tasting fish I have had as it
was rather bland. Probably our worst
weather day in Ireland we spent a lot of time in the car to avoid the wind and
the rain but I was amazed at how black the water looked in the ocean,
especially seeing water so crystal and blue in places like Greece or Croatia. After toughing out the conditions we made it
back to Killarney for dinner (with a little stop on the way for some more
vegetable soup at a country town bakery, delicious) where I opted for a prawn
linguine dish, I am pleased to say that the prawns were the best part of the
dish and cooked just right. I have discovered
that a lot of places like to ensure their meat, seafood etc is well and truly
dead before serving it, something that I am trying to adjust to but sometimes
you think gosh you are ruining a good prawn!
Heading further north we arrived at the most photographed place
in Ireland, the cliffs of Moher. I was
not too sure what to expect but the photos do not do it justice. The cliffs are HUGE, a spectacular site but I
am not sure I truly appreciated them until the following day when we did a
little boat cruise across to the Aran Islands and back via the cliffs. Wow they are so much bigger than I can
describe and to see them from water level just gives you a whole new appreciation
for some of the landscape the world has to offer. After a long morning it was time for lunch
and more soup was on order....did I warn you that I have become addicted to
soup!
Continuing north along the coast we stumbled across some amazing rocky landscape
where the rocks go as far as the eye can see right up to the edge of the coast,
all the way into the mountains. Looking
back at my photos, they really don’t do it justice as to just how unique it
is. We made it to Glasgow where we
needed a little pick me up afternoon before dinner snack, what better way than
to try some local cheeses with some wine.
It was a fun experience and I look forward to visiting the wine
districts in Australia just to taste test some cheese with a glass of great
wine, something that will be high on my list when I get home. The cheese were much stronger than I have had
in the past but all being made in Ireland bar one, they were a great end to the
afternoon. Back in the car and to our
final destination for the night, Kinvara.
We were staying in a cute B&B opposite a pub so we headed across for
a late dinner and then mingle with the locals.
After trying a lot of seafood in Ireland, this was probably the best bit
of fish I was served, poached hake served with a salsa dressing. While
dinner was a highlight of this pub, we were greeted by some lovely Irish folk
that were performing a ‘jam’ session, a regular occurrence apparently, one
night getting up to 25 additional people joining it. I was so impressed with the music let alone
strangers asking if they can join in with their instruments, including accordions,
violins and guitars and all being able to play the same tune was something that
admired.
After jamming with the locals, getting up early was the last
thing on my wish list, but I am so glad I did as arriving at Doolen cove to
catch a ferry across the Aran Island was the highlight of my trip. Waiting for us at the cove was a pod of about
7 or more dolphins. Being a lover of animals
in their natural habitat I was so excited, in fact I almost missed the ferry as
I was so distracted by them I had to jump on as it was pulling away from the
dock but they continued to please me and swam happily along and with the ferry
even diving in the air, so impressive for my first ever dolphin viewing.
The remainder of our Ireland trip was a little bit of a blur with a lot of
driving in a couple of days to get up as north as Donegal and then back across
to Dublin via Blackrock, oh and it’s so true that sheep just wander around
Ireland as they please, but I cannot finish without mentioning our stop at Slieve
League mountains as it was breathtaking.
I would have to say even more impressive than the cliffs of Moher, it
was well worth the climb to the top. I
could have continued to sit up there all day and enjoy the views but it was time
to head back to Edinburgh which was so exciting in its own right as we could move
into our flat.
Ireland certainly was an adventure and I am glad I have that stamp on my
passport as it was probably one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip but
gosh it is good to be writing this from our dining table, before I head to the
kitchen to cook dinner.
While this might be a break in the cuisine reviews from
different countries, I am so excited to be able to have control over what goes
into my food and try new and exciting recipes from the places that I have
visited so I look forward to sharing that with you as I can give you the inside
scoop that I have already tried something new that was an interesting first experience!
Until then, keep smiling xox
