Ireland 2008

January 24th, 2009

Well Hello! I know its been a while but I have been out of town…like a lot. Christmas Day we flew to Dublin so I’ll start there…

We spent a week driving around Ireland, it was exactly like you imagine it! Gorgeous green rolling hills, tons of sheep, little seaside towns, completely adorable. We went with Michelle and Gary and had an amazing time. We spent 2 days in Dublin, 1 in Galway, 1 in a small town on the west coast and 2 in Cork. 

Throughout the whole trip we were a little bit shocked at the quality and taste of the food. We happened upon more than 1 fabulous meal and my new obsession, the carvery. The first night we were there we walked past a pub that had a number of signs proclaiming it ‘Best dining Pub 2007″ also 2006. 2005, 2004, etc etc. Since it was only a 2 block walk from our hotel we decided to have dinner there on our first night. The carvery is basically like a buffet of carved meats – you choose what you want (Roast Beef for me!) and then you choose from about 10 different sides, 4 of which were potato, no joke. When I said I only wanted mashed potatoes to go with my peas and cabbage the cute Irish guy behind the counter was sort of offended and said “only ONE kind of potato???” That is apparently unheard of in those parts.

The drive from Dublin to Galway was great, Matthew just about mastered driving on the wrong side of the road by saying “Keep Left!” to himself every time he turned. He was such a great driver!  It was a beautiful, sunny day which was quite unexpected and took us about 2 hours.

We explored Galway and had a bite to eat for lunch. It was there that I discovered the veg soup. Pureed vegetables, a bit of cream and spices. It was delicious and perfect on the cold wintery day, and every single day after. Seriously, every restaurant had a veg soup. There was definitely a day I had it twice. Galway was cute and we were very close to the adorable cobble stoned shopping district that every city in Ireland has. We learned in Dublin just to follow the Christmas decorations hanging above and you will find shopping. In the evening we decided to go to a movie just because.

The next day was the day I was most excited about – we were driving to the Cliffs of Moher, a really amazing sight and something I was most looking forward to. On the way there we randomly passed a castle on the side of the road. It was just gorgeous.

Another beautiful, sunny day but the cliffs were FREEZING. I’m not sure what we expected 200+ meters above the ocean but wow, we couldn’t handle it for long. Unfortunately the position of the sun wasn’t the best for photo ops but they DID have a number of funny signs. And I really love funny signs.

After the experience at the cliffs we drove to a tiny town called Doolin and went into the only restaurant open on a sunday afternoon, the pub. From the second we got out of the car it just smelled good. I got the veg soup, everyone else got fish and chips. The second I saw the fish and chips i regretted my decision, they were the freshest, lightest fillets and besides chips there was a real, honest to goodness salad on the plate! Everyone gave me a taste of theirs to hold me over from ordering my own but it was the most surprisingly delicous meal in all of Ireland.

That night we stayed sort of in the middle of nowhere at my favorite hotel of the trip. It was really modern and clean, free internet, free breakfast and only 99 euro. 

The next day (day 4 if you are counting) we drove down to Cork  - about an hour or so south. On the way there Matthew let Gary drive and well…

Maybe that was a mistake. Everyone was fine and besides the 2 pregos in our car, the other car involved had 3 small children in it! We had insurance through the rental car company so after a bit of form filling off we went. With Matthew driving of course!

On the way into Cork we stopped at Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. It was enough for me to go to the top of a castle, there was no way I was leaning over backwards to kiss the stupid thing once we got up there. Its not just like sitting on the side of the road – you have to climb to the top of this castle and do gymnastics to earn the gift of eloquence. I passed. 

Matthew kissing the Blarney Stone

Blarney Stone from below

Cork was great, definitely my favorite town in Ireland. It was really beautiful, there were tons of interesting people and shopping, and it happens to be the culinary capitol of Ireland. Yum! 

They have a great shopping district and a farmers market called English Market that has food stalls and cooked food and chocolates and lots of other stuff. We walked over (5 minutes from the hotel) on our second day there and stopped in for lunch.

Matthew and Gary had sausages

The last day there we drove back to Dublin, the longest drive of the trip  - about 3 hours or so. On the way back we stopped at the Rock of Cashel, a cathedral and priory built around 1100. It was a pretty amazing place.

That’s pretty much it. We got back to Dublin for New Years Eve, had Indian food for dinner (sooo sick of pub food) then packed up and got ready for our 6am trip to the airport. We waited for the stroke of midnight and watched the fireworks in London and Scotland on TV before passing out.

Where We Stayed
Dublin:Westin Dublin 
SAS Royal Hotel
Galway: Park House Hotel
Between Limerick and Cork: Bunratty Castle Hotel
Cork: Jurys Cork

Where We Ate (reccomendations)
Dublin:O’Neills Bar
Jaipur 
Galway: Galway Baking Company
Cork: Fenn’s Quay
Liberty Grill
Ambassador Chinese Restaurant
Doolin: O’Connor’s Pub

Entry Filed under: On the road