Twin visit!

I have finally got around to posting my twin sister's recent and very unexpected visit to Dublin, a little while back. Having sourced a great last minute deal, my twin sister made a very short impromptu visit to Ireland. It was a quick fly in and fly out long weekend visit but boy did we pack a lot in - I like to describe it as a curated weekend for her and indeed she let me handle all of the restaurant reservations and bookings.

Here's some pics of what we got up to.

To start it was wings with Alice in The Canal Bank. I can only imagine how jet lagged Amy feels in this pic but it was smiles all round as we took this fun picture of us all wearing our reading glasses. It was great to have this gang all back together and we even began to nail down some plans for our next trip to celebrate a big birthday that is approaching next year.

Friday night brought us in to town where Dublin was hopping. The weather had not hit our recent heatwave highs but it was extremely pleasant and only a light jacket was needed. 

I had to work on Friday but I made a booking for L'Gueuleton on Fade Street for 6.30pm. However as I left Dalkey I experienced train delays so I was able to go online and push back the reservation to 7.15pm.

We had the Steak Frite which was just perfect with a glass of red wine.

Instead of a starter, at Amy's suggestion we opted for a glass of prosecco and some smoked almonds. What fun!

The ambiance in L'Gueuleton was everything we had hoped for and we got a great window seat facing out on to Fade Street where I was even able to point out to Amy where PIGSY held his last solo exhibition.

Virtuously  on Saturday, we went to early morning yoga in Yoga Yard ,where we took a hot yoga class with Jenice. Yoga Yard is the most incredible studio I have ever visited and I convinced Amy to go with a promise of a "spa like " experience. Well while not quite spa like(!) it is a beautiful studio and we had a great class with a cool down afterwards in the garden just off the studio.  Amy loved it!

After yoga it was on to O'Doheny & Nesbitt for the two things that Amy was hankering for - a full Irish breakfast and a Bloody Mary. Both well deserved after the early energetic start having completed both the yoga class and the 15 minute cycle to Ringsend and then a further cycle in to town from the studio.

Next up was a family meet up and then the Take That concert in The Aviva which I had long made plans for but Amy was able to snag a ticket for at short notice. I sat with my friends and she sat alone - but not really alone because she was surrounded by perhaps 50,000 Take That fans!

On the way to meet our family we stopped off in Stephens Green and explored the park, discovering parts we never had seen before. Here we are pictured at the little lake with a water fall and we also found a small area/amphitheatre known as "The Mount". This is well worth a visit and we really enjoyed seeing it.

At Aviva Stadium we had to go our separate ways to enter, even though we were not seated too far away from each other.

What a great Saturday in Dublin!

As I mentioned, Amy was happy to leave all of the reservations and restaurant selections to me. However, there was one spot that she absolutely wanted to go to and that was the newly opened Dions on the roof of the old Central Bank Building (designed by Sam Stephenson) in Temple Bar.

With 360 views of Dublin it is a stunning restaurant that is a must go destination for everyone - at least just once anyway!

We had a fantastic night taking in the views and enjoying great chats over a nice dinner.

Check out this amazing view of Dublin - what a great sight!

We even went for dessert which was divine!!

It was back to work for me on Monday, but I was able to book the afternoon off because Amy and I had big plans for more fun stuff which included going to get our hair done in a salon just off Grafton Street, And then on to The Shelbourne for a much anticipated seafood platter. 

Look at this platter - it was sensational!

I am off oysters so we asked for them to leave some off which they very kindly did and substituted crab salad which was sooo good.  With the relaxed atmosphere in The Shelbourne and the good food, this was a highlight of the weekend - out of so many great experiences.

You may be noticing a theme in some of the pics - Amy was a search for the best Bloody Mary in Dublin ;-) 

For some reason or other, I felt like we needed a little something before the seafood platter so I ordered a sausage roll. While very tasty it was entirely unnecessary because the seafood platter was huge!!

All in all it was the greatest busiest best weekend - a gorgeously curated selection of the best of Dublin which I was treated by my twin sister. What a great experience and super memories!