Day 5: A Taste of Ireland
As our guide said, today was a "Grande Day" as in the Irish dialect Grande is interpreted many ways....and for us it was a very good day despite the day long fog and rain. We arrived in Dublin around 8 am and our excursion began at 9am. But because we were not docked, but anchored in the harbor we had to be in the Star Theatre at 8:15 in order to organize and be transported to the pier via tender boat.
It was about a 25-30 min cruise to the pier which is located well outside of Dublin city proper and it was raining fairly steadily as we went through the covered areas to the outside area where the buses were located. We had a group of less than 30 going to Ballyknocken House and Farm for a cooking demonstration on making scones....and then we would be eating them. The hour long and change drive was narrated by our Irish guide who was very upbeat and entertaining, as well as informative to listen to making the drive go by quickly as we looked out on the passing Irish countryside. Once we reached the farm we discovered it is not only a working farm but a cooking school as well and once the owner and chef introduced herself we were immediately engaged by her enthusiasm and passion for cooking. Her name is Katherine Fulvio and she's hosted several TV shows, even won an Emmy award, and she is featured regularly on the Today Show on NBC. She gave an interesting background to her family and how she came to be where she is today and then she began demonstrating how to make Irish bread and more importantly scones. On our table there was authentic Irish butter (which comes from grass-fed cows, leading to a richer color and flavor) as well as home-made marmalade which was made from a mixture of the berries grown on the farm. Once the demonstration was over we were served the scones with authentic Irish tea. It was a nice, tasty treat. We had about 15 minutes to wander their gardens - the rain had nearly stopped - and then we loaded the bus for the return trip. All in all we were gone about four hours from stepping off the ship to stepping back on. Kim and I both remarked that we were glad we'd NOT done the traditional "city tour" and rather took in the more unique countryside trip and to enjoy the cooking demonstration. The only downside to the day was we were unable to make our visit with our gal-pals from Australia work :( Tomorrow we will be in Liverpool where we are going to enjoy "The Beatles Experience" for our excursion!
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