Life has been rather hectic around here for the past few weeks. We have so much happening at the moment.
We had a fantastic one day festival in the village on Sunday with one of our pigs on a spit-roast.
We have the Tullamore Show – the biggest one day agriculture show in the country this weekend. We have taken a stand at it. And the following weekend we have our second barbecue course. But more about those later.
Last Friday I travelled to Dublin for an interview, and had tickets to the new Aviva Stadium for the opening rugby match on Saturday. So a weekend break in the big city was on the cards.
As I wasn’t sure of where I was heading for the interview I allowed plenty of time. Arrived half an hour ahead of the schedule time. All going well so far!
Until the guy at reception hadn’t a clue what I was talking about!!! Warning bells! Oh yes, I was early! I was a week early! Talk about feeling stupid! But the nice guy suggested I look on it as being enthusiastic! Thank you nice guy!
Anyway, now I had time to kill before I met with my friend, Sheena, for lunch.
So I decided to walk through Temple Bar. I must have looked sweet pulling my overnight case behind me! It is years since I’ve been around Temple Bar. As I walked through Cow’s Lane I spotted Queen of Tarts which I have only read about. So still feeling rather silly and stupid, I thought I needed to stop and half a nice cup of tea!
I must admit it was a lovely experience. Tea served in china tea cup.
China Tea Cup
And I really couldn’t resist a scone too! And what a range of scones and pastries they have to tempt! I settled on a raspberry scone with cream – it was delicious!
Raspberry scone
It all helped to make me feel more human again! And sustain me to continue on my journey out to Donabate to meet with Sheena.
Sheena bought my old house from me. It is a strange experience the first time you return to your old home which is now full of someone else’s possessions! This time around we had fun going around the garden as Sheena has only recently had her gardening eureka moment. So I was put to the test to remember what was planted where! Lots of advice and identification was done!
Friday evening was dinner with more friends at Masterson’s in Swords. A great night of food, wine and chat. The sizzling prawns starter were absolutely delicious! I can still taste them! And the Thai Beef Salad was also so good.
Saturday’s visit to Aviva Stadium was in true rugby weather – it lashed down! We got drenched.
Aviva Stadium
No idea who these guys were… but they were willing to pose in the torrential rain!
The match was quite disappointing…. the Leinster/Ulster combination beat the Munster/Connaught combination 68 0 – white-wash really!
But the abiding memory of the afternoon the price of a burger and chips! €10.50 each. Can you believe it? There is a wide range of food available – seafood, sushi – you name it but at those prices!
The plan hadn’t been for so much food! Dublin is definitely more expensive than rural venues! The prices in Aviva were the worst. Generally speaking everywhere was much more expensive than I’ve gotten used to here in the country!
A Year In Redwood 
[…] cup of tea when out. The only place I’ve ever had tea served in a China tea cup was at Queen of Tarts which I wrote about last year. And I’m not expecting restaurants to invest in China tea […]