Family Portrait

It has been a while since I updated our blog.  Summer has been and gone and our Dublin life has continued happily.  Michael managed to get some diving in including a weekend away at Quilty, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  

 June saw me attend the protest march against Donald Trump’s visit.  The protest attracted a sizeable crowd and the infamous baby Trump balloon made an appearance.  The placards that the protestors carried were less polite and witty than the ones I saw in London.  The Irish don’t mince their words when it comes to voicing their displeasure.  In July Michael invited me to one of his whiskey club events held at Bar 1661.  This particular event was a Whiskey Cocktail Masterclass where we were treated to a number of cocktails accompanied by some very funny banter from the host.  My favourite was a Belfast Coffee, which is a made from Ban Poitin, coffee, cream and nutmeg.  It was divine and Michael and I have returned to the venue a number of times for a tipple. 

James and Amber made a quick visit to Dublin for a weekend early in September and we had fun just hanging out together.  James and I visited the Butler’s Chocolate Factory where we learned all about the origins of chocolate and visited the chocolate gallery where we could watch the chocolates being made, sorted and boxed.  We finished the tour by decorating our own chocolate bears with liquid chocolate.  James’ bear looked quite artistic when he finished the decorating whilst mine looked positively demonic!

  

I made a couple of brief visits to London to see James in September. The highlight of these visits was a trip to Syon House to see the Percy Lion.  I had wanted to visit this historic home since reading a short story by Charles Dickens titled Gone Astray, which tells of a young Dickens staring with fascination at the stone lion atop Northumberland House and losing his guardian.  I discovered that Northumberland House was demolished in 1874 to make way for new roads and further research revealed that the lion was restored and placed upon the roof at Syon House.  The lion is distinctive in that it has a long, straight tail. 



Syon House itself is the magnificent residence of the Duke of Northumberland and is surrounded by an 80 hectare park.  James and I had a lovely time wandering the house and admiring the many beautiful rooms and furnishings.  We finished with walk around the gardens and park and visited the Great Conservatory.     

We received a visit from an old Cathedral Chorister friend of James, Michael and his new wife Sam.  We spent a lovely day playing tour guides and showing them around Dublin, even taking in a bit of traditional Irish music along the way.  Michael (the senior one) led them through the finer points of whiskey tasting and a enjoyable day was had by all.

The biggest excitement of all for us though was the visit of Tim and Jess.  It had been two long years since their last visit and it was absolutely wonderful to welcome them to Dublin again.  They arrived weary from the long flight however it wasn’t long before we were ensconced in a pub with a pint of Guinness, listening to their news and receiving an update on their wedding plans.  We spent the weekend roaming the city, stopping along the way for breakfasts, lunches and dinners.  In the interval since their last visit, two new distilleries had opened, so naturally we had to visit them, along with the old favourite, the Jameson Distillery, which they missed seeing on their last visit.  We also popped into a number of historic pubs along the way for a mandatory Guinness or two.  We walked pretty much the whole of Dublin, taking in the autumnal colours in the parks along the way.  Tim and Jess availed of the sunny weather and took in a game of golf at Clontarf.  This game was much more enjoyable than the one they played in the driving wind and rain of Connemara on their last visit.

Dark Bologna

One of the best things about living in Ireland is its proximity to Europe and so we organised a trip to Italy for the four of us.  It was to be Tim’s first time there while Jess had been before, however she hadn’t visited Bologna.  



 I refer to Bologna as “my happy place” and we spent the next two days wandering the beautiful city at a leisurely pace, stopping to eat some of the best pasta and mortadella along the way.  We drank fabulous wines with our meals and enjoyed nightly aperol spritzes and negronis.  There were also gelatos in numerous flavours, cannolis and, of course, excellent coffee and cornetta.  To say that we ate and drank our way around the city would not be an exaggeration.

A short, high-speed train trip took us to the city of Modena, the home of balsamic vinegar.  The ancient town is very beautiful and we strolled around the various town squares in the sunshine.  There was also a beautiful covered market, Mercato Albinelli, which was founded in 1931.  We were in Modena to lunch at Franceschetta58, the sister restaurant to Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana. 


We were all looking forward to our meals so much that I was a little concerned that the restaurant might not live up to the hype.  I needn’t have worried, as the entire experience was fabulous from start to finish.  The service was terrific, the wine outstanding and the food absolutely delicious and beautifully presented.  The icing on the cake for me though was spotting Massimo himself sitting in his car outside the restaurant.  I was the only one who noticed him and after much discussion, Jess returned to the restaurant to verify my sighting.  Jess agreed that it was Massimo who was sitting there smiling as he could obviously hear every word of our argument through his open car window.  I suppose we can put this episode in the “embarrassing mother” file!

We had a bit of time before our return train was due, so we decided to try a tasting of balsamic vinegars.  We were led through a tasting of 5 vinegars, each one older than the previous.  You would think that there wouldn’t be much difference between the various balsamic vinegars, however the flavours of the older vinegars were beautifully complex and the liquid viscous. 

The City of Dante

It was time to briefly leave Bologna, as we wanted to show Tim and Jess some more of Italy, this time the beautiful city of Florence.  We took another short, high-speed rail journey and in no time at all we had checked into our apartments and were ready to explore a new city.  Florence was much busier than sleepy Bologna, and I think that Tim and Jess were a little taken aback by the vast number of tourists that thronged the streets.  I dread to think what the city is like in peak tourist season.  That is the problem with having such a beautiful city – everyone wants to visit.  We mainly let Jess and Tim discover the city for themselves, while Michael and I walked the familiar streets, stopping now and then for a glass of wine or spritz and to sit in the sunshine and people watch.  We would meet up with them at the apartment for a pre dinner drink, The Age Quiz and a game of Bananagrams before heading out for another fabulous meal at one of the many, many restaurants in the city.

We did have a dose of culture though, taking them both to the Uffizi Gallery to see The Birth of Venus (Michael’s favourite artwork) and Medusa (my favourite).  We made sure to arrive at the gallery early in an effort to beat the crowds however it was hard to get close to the more popular artworks due to the ever present tour groups.  While we were on a roll we also took in the Galleria dell’Accademia to see the wonderful David.  

Cheeky

 It doesn’t matter how many times I view this sculpture it never loses its magic. 

To celebrate Tim’s birthday we booked lunch at Antinori nel Chianti Classico a wonderful winery that is 40km south of Florence.  The vineyard has been refurbished at the cost of 85 million Euro in a modern style with the racking rooms, offices and car park under the vineyard and a restaurant on the top overlooking the countryside and winery. The weather was perfect to sit outside and soak up the sun while enjoying a tasting of wines.


We then moved onto the terrace for lunch and immediately the adjoining table filled with a group of 10 extremely loud American men.  Jess politely asked if we could move and we relocated ourselves to a table on the opposite side of the terrace with uninterrupted views of the vineyard where we toasted Tims’ Birthday and James and Amber’s engagement.




 

We enjoyed a wonderful meal of freshly prepared local food accompanied by sensational wines.  The waiter could see that we were appreciating the wines so much that he brought us a bottle of the local brandy to share.  It truly was a memorable day and a perfect way to celebrate Tim’s 30^th birthday.

It was time to depart Florence but, before doing so, I made sure that Tim, Jess and myself rubbed Il Porcellino’s snout to ensure that we would return the city someday. 


We were all excited to be returning to Bologna, as Jess still had a number of recommended restaurants that she wanted to try and there was still more of the city to explore.  We then spent the next two days doing exactly that – eating, drinking and exploring.  Bologna really is my happy place and now I think that it just might be Tim and Jess’ too!

General Guinness

We left the sun and warmth of Bologna and returned to good, old Dublin where it was raining and 10 degrees Celsius. Time to get the coats out again!

It was the Halloween long weekend and Jess had her friends Mitch and Tom come over from London for the weekend. Jess took Mitch to the Guinness Storehouse, leaving us with Tim to entertain.  Michael found a brand, new brewery, 5 Lamps, which had only opened that week and booked a tour for us.  The brewery is housed in a former cinema, which has been beautifully renovated, and after watching a short film about Dublin we were then treated to a tour and tasting.  We had a great time listening to the Master Brewer explaining the brewing process and then leading us through the tasting.

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Mitch and Tom and it was great to finally meet them.  We enjoyed a leisurely brunch with them and luckily the weekend weather took a turn for the better and Tim and Jess were able to show them the city without getting soaked.

We also managed to squeeze in a trip down to Howth to see Sammy the seal and his friends and to enjoy the fresh sea air and a nice seafood lunch.

All good things must come to an end and Tim and Jess flew back to Australia. It was sad to see them leave after such a wonderful few weeks together however the positive thought is that we will see them again in March at their wedding.  Roll on 2020!