Easter Monday Brunch

My Easter break came to a lovely end with a brunch in Pot Bellied Pig. It was an impromptu brunch. We were just passing by the restaurant after dropping items that I was clearing out to the charity shop in Rathmines. Rain was bucketing down and it was a miserable day so we decided a nice brunch was a good idea!

Pot Bellied Pig is a cute place with friendly staff and great food. I had Pulled Ham and Eggs with Benedict. Ciaran went off menu choosing poached eggs and black pudding. He was unsure what type of pudding it was but reckoned it tasted as good as Clonakilty.

The restaurant was not busy probably due to the rain and also because it was the last day of a very long weekend. Our food was made super fast but was cooked to perfection and very tasty. It sure hit the spot.

Afterwards, it was back home to more house cleaning and clearing out. I am happy to report that my the house is clean from top to bottom!

Trá an Dóilin (Coral Strand)

Before we headed back to Dublin on Sunday we took a jaunt along the Wild Atlantic Way and visited the Coral Beach in Carraroe.

Sunday was a cold day weather wise so we didn't spend too long on the beach as the wind would cut you in two. 

I was glad to see the beach, it is very scenic and as I mentioned in my last blog, I love a view of water!

Love this classy corten signage

The gravel beach is made of coral algae known as maerl and it made a light crunchy sound as we walked on it. Bones also was completely camouflaged by the colour of the sand and his sandy coloured fur.

Bones! Where are you???!

There was just time for the obligatory selfie and then back in the car to Dublin!

Road Trip!

It's always great to get out of Dublin and head West. 

On Saturday morning, I picked Amy up bright and early and we set off on a road trip to Galway. We brought along Bones for the company (well in reality I couldn't have gone with Amy if I didn't bring him because his other hooman was also gone away). 

As a first time visitor, I was stunned by the serenity of our destination when we arrived. Look at this amazing view from where we were staying. 

I LOVE a water view!!!

 
 We had such a lovely afternoon chilling in the garden. The weather was amazing - chilly but very bright and sunny at times with small patches of cloud and rain. Very changeable but on the whole, very nice.

 

We were well fed with Amy making a full Irish on arrival which we needed badly....let's just say we would have made good time except for coffee stops, losing our way (just once!) and a very enjoyable detour in to our younger sisters home for a cup of coffee (she lives on the other side of Galway).

Later in the evening we walked to a pub in the village where we had a lovely chat and a drink but we left before it got dark as we didn't want to walk on country bothair-eens with no paths - even though we had brought a torch for safety......high viz vests would probably be a good idea too.

We stood in the garden and looked over the lake as the sun set with the colours changing from time to time as the sun went down.

Is there anything nicer than the sun setting on a great day with your sister?!

Good Friday was a Great Friday!

For the first time in 91 years alcohol can be sold in Ireland on Good Friday. Back in 1927, legislation was brought in to ban the sale but after years of discussion it was changed and the ban is no longer.

It means that there will be no rushes to the Off Licences on the Thursday before Good Friday with huge queues to buy alcohol for fear of "running out" on the day!!  I'm sure the pub owners are happy but the Off Licence owners probably aren't.

So given that I have always partaken in a drink on Good Friday, I continued as always.

Dillingers was open for brunch (for the first time on Good Friday again due to the law change) so we headed there for a bite to eat late in the day nearing the end of their brunch which is on 12pm to 4pm.

Food was great as usual and my vodka & diet coke was served in my usual glass so it certainly made for a GREAT Friday!

 

Can you tell how hungry I was?! I ordered this steak and eggs - I hadn't eaten all day til 3pm

 

Above is chilli fries and below are wings and vegetarian tacos.  All so so good!!

Dog Friendly Ireland - Isle of Dogs preview

We were spotted in the Herald by a friend.

Check us out in the top right corner at the Isle of Dogs preview in the Lighthouse Cinema.

The Lighthouse Cinema has now added lots of Dog Friendly screenings of Isle of Dogs over the Easter weekend due to popular demand. 

The #DogFriendlyIreland movement is starting!!!

A Whole World at your Local Library

Do you know about all of these services that are offered in your local library?!

Isle of Dogs - Dog Friendly Screening at the Lighthouse Cinema

What a fun morning at the cinema! We were up early (after losing an hour due to the clocks going forward) to take Bones for a long walk to calm him down before a special event.

The Lighthouse Cinema were holding a dog friendly screening of the new Wes Anderson movie the Isle of Dogs which we were really excited to have got tickets to.

Bones got his own ticket and it was really exciting to walk up to the cinema and see lots of people with dogs heading on in.
Bones was a little nervous at first because there were so many other dogs and big crowds but before long he was making friends with other doggies.

 When we took our he seats he just chilled out and then proceeded to sleep through the whole film.......which is no reflection on the movie as we thought it was brilliant!!

Before the screening there was coffee and pastries with dog biscuits and water provided for the VIP guests.

Here's the obligatory selfie in the cinema

It was a lovely visit to the cinema and if dog friendly screenings become more common it is something that we definitely would do again.

There were a lot of dogs at the screening so I was expecting some bad behaviour but amazingly there was none! Just one big bark from a large dog when the film started and then a little howling when the dogs in the movie howled!!
But the best thing was there was nobody checking their phone or chatting through the film! The dogs were definitely better behaved than humans at the cinema ;-)

And after the cinema we went and had a very tasty full Irish breakfast in The Third Space in Smithfield

You can read more about this dog friendly movie screening on the Daily Edge here