Showing posts with label part. Show all posts
Showing posts with label part. Show all posts
Tour of Ireland Part I Dublin
Friday, April 4, 2014
Question: How many days does it take your body to recover from 7 straight days of binge drinking?
I left Ireland two weeks ago and yet Im still fairly certain my liver is working overtime to right the many wrongs I committed against it. But despite any damage I may have done to my internal organs, it was totally worth it to see the sheep (more on that in future posts), the landscape (ditto), and to drink unpasteurized Guiness (more on that in EVERY SINGLE POST I DO ABOUT IRELAND!).
The first stop on our itinerary was Dublin. We landed at 6 in the morning, Irish time, and immediately went to pick up our rental car. I then proceeded to scream in terror for the next 45 minutes during the drive to the city center. Irish roads are narrow as ish yall, and driving on the left side of the road is realllllllll trippy the first few times you do it.
After battling morning rush hour traffic, we arrived at the Four Seasons. I was really excited to see our room, not only because I had never stayed at a Four Seasons, but because I needed to pee like, real bad.
The beautiful fresh flower arrangement greeting us upon arrival at the Four Seasons
Ill say this: the Dublin Four Seasons IS incredible, but the room itself was fairly modest. It was quite large, but the bed was "springy" and the TV was pretty out of date (not that we spent any time in the room watching it, of course).
On the upside, however, I believe that any hotel worth its salt has great toiletries and a terry cloth bathrobe in the room, and in THAT way, the Four Seasons did not let me down.
Both Kyle and I had been to Dublin before, so we did less sight-seeing than we did eating and drinking, however, we did manage to stumble upon a real live bagpiping band...??? Is that a thing, what I just said? Ah, well, anywhere, here:
Both of us had done the Guinness brewery tour (which, btw, you must do, even if you arent a Guinness drinker), so this time we decided to take a tour of the Jameson Distellery. Iiiiiiiiiittttttttt...wasnt as good as the Guinness tour. Unless youre a big whiskey drinker DYING to see mannequin reenactments and a taxidermied farm cat (yes, really), save the 12 euro and just hang out at the bar and get a really well made Irish Coffee or Whiskey Hot Chocolate.
I even managed to find a paleo dessert amidst all the potatoes and beer!!
I was dying...DYING...to try this smoked goat cheese. I get the feeling it would be absolutely amazeballs in this.
On our last night, Kyle and I went back the The Pearl Restaurant, where we ate at on our first trip to Dublin. It was also the same night he told me he loved me for the first time. And in answer to the question youre asking? No, he did not propose to me. I know, right??? Oh, but anyway, the Pearl is fantastic French cuisine. Definitely go there and order the pumpkin risotto.
I can only assume it was my stunning good looks that compelled the bartender to invite me behind the bar for a personal lesson on Guinness pouring.
Clearly, I now run the bar.
And when Im not running Irish shit, Im drinking their cider.
The next day, we had to leave Dublin, but we made sure to fill our bellies with some hearty Irish meals. Kyle had an Irish stew:
While I proceeded to CRUSH a seafood pie. Covered entirely by mashed potatoes.
Like I said...DOMINATION!
Next up, Galway!! See you there!
The Cheltenham Five Part 1 where we eat CAKE!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
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| The best cake plate is an empty one! |
The internet is a wonderful place to meet like-minded people and even within the food blogging community you find yourself drawn towards certain peoples blogs and certain conversations on Twitter. Some of those conversations were verging on the smutty and so our hashtag #smuts was born.
There are eight of food bloggers who make up the #smuts, Karen of Lavender and Lovage, Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes, Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog, Fiona from London Unattached, Ros of The more than occasional baker, Sue from Heaven on a Plate, Dom from Belleau Kitchen and me! After many false start discussions and meetings of two or three at various events, we felt it was time we all met together. As we are flung to the far corners of the UK and France, we settled on Cheltenham as a reasonable place that was easily accessible by rail.
Early on in our planning we lost one #smut, as Jac was off to the sun for a well earned holiday. Then more unavoidable events meant that Dom and Sue both had to call off almost at the last minute. And then there were five...not of all of those present will be featured in this post, Karen and I dont give a damn so you will see a lot of the two of us! Fiona also features as long as her hair is okay ;-)
Fiona and Karen came up from London on the train together and I met them at Cheltenham Spa station. After checking into our hotel, we had a bit of a scout around the sales in Cheltenham including Cath Kidston, Radley and Toast.
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Its located in one of Cheltenhams oldest shops and is a real delight, in terms of decor, customer service and the tea itself.
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The shelves are groaning with beautiful vintage china tea sets.
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Kitsch cherubs adorned the walls along with tapestries.
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As we were eating fairly early, we were supposed to be limiting our cake consumption, so ordered a Cake Medley a selection of six cakes to share for £10.95. My favourite was the Cinnamon and Rhubarb Cake which was moist and delicious. All the cakes were very good indeed, although the Bakewell Tart was a bit too thick for me and not a moist as the other cakes. The tea flowed freely with lots of top ups and the staff were very friendly and indulgent of our blogging ways.
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Superb!
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| Bloggers do it with pictures! |
Information about the menu and prices is available on the Well Walk Tea Room Menu page.
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In the basement, the tea room has a Christmas Shop with vintage style decorations, open all year round.
I can thoroughly recommend the Well Walk Tea Room for a cup of tea and a cake and particularly for their delicious scones.
I was not paid for this post and received no advantage from writing about the Well Walk Tea Room, I am sharing this review because it was a very good tea.
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