Eating West Cork

Sunday, 13 March 2011

A quick trip to England and Wales

My brother-in-law (Simon) and I went to the Ireland/Wales game in Cardiff on Saturday night. I left Gwen and the girls home alone and flew from Cork to Birmingham on Friday afternoon where Simon picked me up and we drove down to Cheltenham where he and my sister Clodagh live. We went straight to their lovely local where are I met all the locals and then had a truly excellent Pizza in a old church. It is my first time visiting Cheltenham where Clodagh has lived for a very long time being very successful in the book publishing business. (we are all very proud of her!).

Early Saturday morning we drove down to Ledbury where they are building an oak framed Tudor style house which as you can see from the photographs is spectacular. After a lovely lunch we took the train to Cardiff for my first ever game at the Millenium stadium and watched Ireland controversially lose to Wales. Great game and what a great place to watch a game of rugby although a bit annoyed that they cheated!

So back in Cork again after a three hour flight delay and am knackered!

Clodagh and Simon - thank you so much for entertaining and feeding me. I had a great time and look forward to returning with the rest of my gang and staying in your lovely new home. You must be so proud of it.

A few pictures follow from the weekend..

Me and Clodagh at Zizzi in Cheltenham

Simon and a terrific pizza

Eating pizza with my sis.

Their beautiful oak framed home that they are building

Rear view of the house

This will be the kitchen

Kitchen floor

Living room. (Simon wittled the mantle piece by hand)

Check out these ceiling beams.

Pub in Ledbury

the local brew - beer was called "Batty Boy"!

allegedly a bullet from English Civil war.

Not too often one sees an English man dressed like this.

Me and Clodagh before heading off to the match

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

My plane eventually arrived at Birmingham to take me home!

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Visitors from Somerset.....

After we got home from out trip to Kerry my good friend Mark, his lovely wife Debs and their real life "Charlie and Lola" kids popped down to Kinsale to visit us. It was just a quick trip staying one night. All the kids got on famously while the adults caught up on one one all our lives over a few glasses of wine and some good food. Mark had visited us a few weeks early while on business in Cork but it was our first time seeing Debs again since our wedding way back in 2002.

They made a very similar big life changing move to us a few years ago by selling up in London and relocating to the countryside in Somerset where they now live in a fabulous old converted mill with a mini farm. They are a huge inspiration to us and our decision to come to Kinsale. Debs/Mark, thanks again for visiting us, it was lovely seeing and catching up and we hope we can do it again sometime.

Our girls headed back to school on Monday after mid-term break (Spring break) so we are just about getting back into normal routine again. Last night we organized a sitter and headed into the town for a fantastic dinner at Man Friday Restaurant. We had oysters, crab, duck, rack of lamb and a sticky toffee pudding (and a nice St. Émilion wine). Really nice food and the restaurant had a great buzz about it so we will definitely be eating there again. BTW: Daniel Defoe who wrote Robinson Crusoe lived for some time in Kinsale if you are wondering about the restaurant name!

As always some pictures from last few weeks follow....enjoy!