Weekend Cooking

September 2015 - Dromoland Ireland

Click here for photos of a rather damp day. But afternoon tea made it all better.

WARNING - do not read this if you just got up and there is nothing in the house but toast.

We booked tea for 2:30. Mrs. White's Afternoon Tea is named for a kitchen maid that worked for many years at the castle.

I can't think of a better place to be when it is lashing rain outside.

 Sandwiches - salmon, crab, egg, ham, that I remember. I think there was a tapenade also but I wouldn't touch that in a million years.

I do not like tomato chutney but this was delicious!

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.

Day 9 Cliffs of Moher

Italics tour company description
Photos are SOOC straight out of the camera, no editing.

September 11 2015

HALF DAY TOUR TO THE CLIFFS OF MOHER AND THE BURREN: After
breakfast at the Castle today you will meet with your driver guide and travel northwest to The Cliffs of Moher - a sheer precipice that stretches for 5 miles along the Wild Atlantic Way. The Cliffs of Moher rise to a height of 668 feet above the Atlantic and is one of the most impressive coastlines in Ireland. In nesting season the cliffs are home to a variety of seabirds. Entrances to Cliffs of Moher Visitors Centre included. T

Breakfast at the "Castle" at 9AM. There is a huge buffet with loads of fresh fruit, cheeses, cold meats, cereals and pastries.
The food is divine and I have the best potato cakes that taste exactly like my mother's, there just wasn't enough of them!!

It is a rather rainy and dreary day not at all what you would want on the day you are headed to the Cliffs of Moher. We dress as best we can for the occasion. Mick manages to procure a couple of hotel umbrellas from the doormen.

Cliffs of Moher
Standing 214m (702 feet) at their highest point they stretch for 8 kilometres (5 miles) along the Atlantic coast of County Clare in the west of Ireland. From the Cliffs of Moher on a clear day one can see the Aran Islands and Galway Bay, as well as the Twelve Pins and the Maum Turk mountains in Connemara, Loop Head to the south and the Dingle Peninsula and Blasket Islands in Kerry. O’Brien’s Tower stands near the highest point and has served as a viewing point for visitors for hundreds of years.

One of my absolute favourite places to visit in Ireland!! On a fine day....not so much today. The good thing is that it is not too crowded.

They are so famous that in 2011 they were included in the final twenty-eight candidates in a global on-line poll to find the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

They didn’t make the final seven but then neither did the Grand Canyon or the Galapagos Islands!

I have been here so many times and they have changed drastically over the years as they have  been commercialized with a vengeance with paved walkways, concrete viewing areas, touristy craft outlets and a visitor centre with restaurants and a gift shop.
Today the gift shop is absolutely packed with wet tourists!

The human story and history of the Cliffs of Moher dates back at least two thousand years as the name derives from a 1st Century BC fort that stood where Moher Tower now stands. The old Irish word “Mothar” means ruined fort and it is this that gives the cliffs their name.

There will also be some time to see the Burren Region a remarkable landscape of Limestone and littered with Neolithic sites dating back 6,000 years.

The Burren (Irish: Boireann, meaning "great rock") is a karst landscape in County Clare. It measures approximately 250 square kilometres and is enclosed roughly within the circle made by the villages of Ballyvaughan, Kinvara, Tubber, Corofin, Kilfenora and Lisdoonvarna.

Karst topography is a landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes, dolines, and caves.

Mick picks the perfect spot for a coffee break in Ballyvaughan. We had rented a house here in town in 2005.

The "salmon on bicycle" in the centre of the photo is part of a campaign against the setting up of Salmon farms in Galway Bay, because of concerns for their impact on wild Salmon and Sea Trout and other inshore fisheries

 In the early afternoon you will return to Dromoland Castle for free time to enjoy the castle.

We need to be back for 2:30 as we have afternoon tea booked. Traffic is heavy, we arrived back at 2:15 changed and made it! Lots more photos to come.

We all went back to our rooms until dinner! We were going to nap but we ended up in The Mystery of the Missing Underpants!! This morning's laundry had been returned but yesterday's had not. I called the desk and they were on the hunt. Several call backs and no luck.

We were meeting in the bar at 7 so I stopped by the desk and still nothing. They couldn't understand what had happened to it. then the bellhop steps into the back office and magic! there is the missing laundry.

We have dinner reservations in the Earl of Thormond. Just a sampling here.

Day 8 - Adare Bunratty Dromoland

Italics tour company description
Photos are SOOC straight out of the camera, no time to edit!!


September 10 2015

IRELAND'S PRETTIEST TOWN BUNRATTY CASTLE AND FOLK PARK.

After breakfast today you will meet with your new driver/guide and travel over the Conor Pass and
via Tralee. t

Nope, we are lucky that Mick will continue to be our driver.

Some photos from Emlagh House where we spent the night. Breakfast was good but the first place that didn't serve until 8AM so we had messaged Mick that we would be later than our planned 9AM start. This was also the slowest breakfast service we encountered, not finishing until after 9.

Taken last evening.

Conor Pass


Conor Pass or Connor Pass (Irish: An Chonair) is one of the highest Irish mountain passes served by an asphalted road. The 456-metre (1,496 ft) high pass connects Dingle, on the south-western end of the Dingle Peninsula, with Brandon Bay and Castlegregory in the north-east.

They are not joking when they say this is a twisty one-lane asphalted road.considered one of the most beautiful in Ireland.

The scenic road leading to the pass weaves its way around the sharp cliff faces and past high corrie lakes.



A corrie is an amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion  - corrie (from Scottish Gaelic coire meaning a pot or cauldron).

Mick adds the town of Blennerville to the agenda for a quick photo op. Blennerville Windmill stands out as the dominant landmark in Tralee Bay, where the town of Tralee meets the Dingle Peninsula.

Blennerville was the main port of emigration from County Kerry during the Great Famine (1845 to 1848). I spotted this adorable cottage around the corner.

We had stopped at the Windmill Restaurant in 2005 for lunch.

The pretty town of Adare is regarded as Ireland's prettiest towns. You will make a stop here to explore the town.
  John and I had been here several times before and it really is a pretty town. I had also shopped here in the past, buying a lovely green jacket and shawl.

What a shock to see that several of the cottages had burned down in June 2015!!

I'll post more of the town and the church in separate posts.

You will bypass Limerick City and travel to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park where we include entrance and a guided tour of the famous castle. Bunratty Castle is the most complete and authentic medieval fortress in Ireland.

Built in 1425 it was restored in 1954 to its former medieval splendour and now contains mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings, tapestries, and works of art which capture the mood of those times. Adjacent to the castle is Bunratty Folk Park where you can enjoy the sights, sounds tastes, scents, of this enchanting place as you stroll from house to house or around the charming village street complete with school, post office, doctors house, hardware shop, printers and of course McNamara’s pub! 
There will be time for lunch perhaps at Durty Nellie’s beside the castle and nearby are The Woollen Mills where there is a chance to buy a wide range of Irish goods and souvenirs at great prices.


Bunratty Castle and Folk Park - just some highlights. We decide to have lunch within the park at Mac's Pub. I have smoked salmon and the others have the seafood chowder. Again we skip the Woollen Mills.

I am drawn to the green but suppress my urges!

 In the mid-afternoon you will check into Dromoland Castle for 2 nights in 2 Queen Anne rooms (upgraded rooms may be possible on request). With a reputation built on its unparalleled warmth and hospitality, you will understand just what a special experience it is to stay at one of the finest 5 star hotels in Ireland. The balance of the day and the evening are free to enjoy the wonderful facilities at Dromoland.


Dromoland Castle is our destination for two nights. A REAL CASTLE!
We were greeted immediately by the staff eagerly awaiting to assist us with luggage and our car. We climbed the steps to the lobby area, which was filled with antique furnishing and armored knights guarding the reception.

 

Dromoland Castle (Irish: Drom Ólainn) is a castle, now a 5-star luxury hotel with golf course, located near Newmarket-on-Fergus in County Clare. Its restaurant, the Earl of Thomond, was awarded a Michelin star in 1995.

Our room. Time to get some laundry done and I have a well-deserved nap. John does too!

 We meet up in the bar at 7PM and then have dinner.