Dublin, Ireland

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling.....

Sorry for my goat like singing folks, it's probably the nostalgia! It's been a few months now since we've been to Dublin and the memories are still fresh! We fell in love with that city! The buzz, the shops, the Irish pubs, the views - a delight!

Firstly, I must say that although architecture wise it's nowhere near as beautiful as Edinburgh this city has a really good feel to it! The busyness, the street entertainers, the modern buildings mingling with the old ones, the cafes, the restaurants - all blended for an amazing show for the eyes and senses!

There are shops and banks in very old but stylish buildings. From the outside no one would blame you if you thought those are museums or old libraries!

One main attraction that we completely loved is the Guinness Storehouse! Pure delight and entertainment! The Guinness shop is compelling, the restaurants very inviting and many to choose from, the story of making beer very insightful, the images of hops are very refreshing, the tasting room is more than tempting and the 360 degree view over the city room at the top of the Storehouse is the climax! We easily spent there a good few hours and if we weren't worn out by the crowds and all the excitement we could have easily spent there another day or two!

What more can I say about Dublin? The pubs and the Guinness can make your head spin...but leaving you wanting for more! ...Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling...oops...maybe I had one two many beers....but who could blame me? :)

Alnwick Castle

Drama, glamour, history....all this could easily sum up Downton Abbey! Yes, you guessed! Our next place to visit was one of the magnificent location of Downton Abbey! Who could say pass to Alnwick Castle and oh, boy! we had fun! :)

Not only it was a beautiful sunny day but the place had plenty of entertainment for all ages! The lost cellars with their frightening stories, the historical tour, the crafts (a pretty accurate depiction of life in the 1900s), the film tour - showing the Downton Abbey cast and the places where they filmed inside the castle. The ballroom scene in the movie and the dinning room were spectacular! The elegance, the size, the history were breathtakingly beautiful! They made the whole experience interesting for the little ones as well. In each room they hid in plane sight a lion toy to capture the children's interest in finding it while browsing the glamorous rooms!

One of my favourite activities was the 'have a go archery' which is so much fun, even more if you discover this is one of your hidden talents and you are better at it than your partner and he, being jealous of your new found skills, accuses you of secretly being a hunter. :) Oh yes, that really happened!

Needless to say, we tried their cafe and because it was such a warm sunny day we decided to sit at a table outside for a change. We had a beans jacket potato and a burger, both really tasty. We couldn't help trying a scone with cream and jam. Must say, that wasn't the best decision ever. Although looking tempting, the taste was disappointing, dry and very hard!  We'll know better next time :)

Won't say anything else but there are still plenty things to discover there, the Alnwick Gardens being one of them! Bye-bye now!

My perfect person

Considering I don't have many followers I wouldn't expect many complaints about my very sporadic posts. Wrong! Apparently someone is missing my jibber jabber. So I decided to keep blabbering one more time for him :) Hope that'll make him happy!

A lot of things happened since last time I posted. Many places were visited, more coffee shops tried and lot's of thoughts were exchanged on the matter.

From Portobello to city centre, from Alnwick Castle to Ireland we enjoyed them all and that only enhanced our appetite for eating our way around Scotland and further away! What could possible make this even better if not doing it all alongside your perfect person?

In good company the grass looks greener, the sky bluer, the rain less sharper and the wind less biting...yes, even in Scotland! But someone as amazing and funny as my sweet cheeky darlingo has the power to make all this real! The power of love ? (...now that song's stuck in my head!!)

There are more adventurous times ahead of us I'm sure! Let's enjoy them all! :)