Tenerife for Christmas

On Christmas Eve we flew to Tenerife (South Airport) for some R&R over the Christmas break.

We had a lovely chilled out week - we got out walking every morning before breakfast and caught up on our reading. I brought 4 library books with me which I read within the first 3 days.  I then bought two books from a local shop and also downloaded 3 ebooks from the library.  That's how much reading I caught up on!!

We stayed on a B&B basis in the Vincci Hotel. The location is great and upgraded to a sea view balcony. The hotel is very close to the coast and every night we were lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves. Bliss!

This hotel is right on the San Blas square which has lots of restaurants and a pubs. We preferred to walk across the cliffs to the fishing village of Los Abrigos for dinner. 

All in all we had a quiet Christmas week in Tenerife and returned to Ireland rejuvenated for the year ahead!

Wow Burger, Ranelagh

We heard rumour that a burger joint was opening in Ranelagh. When we saw the old Itsa unit being renovated we began to get excited!

And it's open now and it is a "Wow Burger"

We visited today to see how the burgers stacked up....

We were wowed! The burgers were great with good bunability (bun didn't fall apart in your hand) and the fries were delicious - but next time we will go plain rather than garlic butter covered. The portion size of the fries is generous - we shared a portion.

The decor is very bright, kitschy and a tad on the tacky side - I loved it!

Like in 5 Guys, all toppings are free.  You also get a cup to fill your own soda which includes free refills.

We enjoyed our Wow Burger and I think it is a nice restaurant addition to the Ranelagh triangle. Perhaps too good of an addition - it may ruin our diets!!

Happy New Year - it's 2017!

We arrived back in to Dublin late last night and got the Aircoach from the airport through the city to our house.  The bus dropped us off at the top of our road at about 11.55pm and as we got to our front door fireworks started going off.  It was the New Year!

Today we got up early and picked up the dog from the minder - he looked like he enjoyed his little break from us.

We then headed to Ikea where we bought storage boxes for the Christmas decorations.

When we got home we started on the big job of taking down the Christmas Tree.

I'm feeling very organised - all we have to do is get them up to the attic now.

However, for the amount of time we got to enjoy the tree before we went away, it was a serious amount of effort.  I am really considering taking a break for a year and not putting up a tree in 2017.  I'll see how I feel next Christmas!

And finally I leave you with a #lifehack

Pack your Christmas Jumpers away with your decorations - they will be safely stored for next year!

About Time - How Long Will I Love You

I watched this film tonight - it's incredible!

My twin sister had told me that it was great but I never got around to watching it.

Wow, I'm glad I watched it now.  Brilliant story and an amazing soundtrack!

Well worth watching.....

Christmas and New Year Message from President Michael D. Higgins 2016

A Christmas message from the President of Ireland - my favourite president ever!

Dog pick up!

As I mentioned, after Basket Brigade, we browsed in town and did a little shopping.

After this Ciaran picked me up from the city.

He waited on Molesworth Street and when I got close to the car I saw this little friendly face in the car!

Basket Brigade 2016

It was an early start for a Sunday morning when I got up before 8am to pick up Amy and head to Croke Park for this year's Basket Brigade.

I had about 8 bags of food that all of my work colleagues had very kindly donated.

When we arrived everyone was hard at work wrapping boxes so we decided to unpack and sort all of the donated food.

Here we are with our best pal Alice who has been doing Basket Brigade with us for the past few years.  

The food is organised in to donated food and bought food.  

Each hamper gets a chicken, ham, fresh veg, tea, coffee, sugar, paper towels and a box of biscuits.

Then additional donated food is added - like pasta, sauce, breakfast cereal, canned food, etc.

Here are a batch of hampers all ready for delivery. Over 170 hampers were made in total!!

Amy's day was made when we got a pic with "Deco" (real name Dave!) from Fair City. She is a big fan!

Dave was a very nice guy and his support is very much appreciated along with the support that came from all other avenues too......Keith Duffy donated €1,000!

Afterwards we went to our usual spot after this event - Pitt Bros.

After great BBQ food we did a little Christmas shopping. 

What a great day and hopefully the hampers will help some families have a good Christmas 2016.