A day for us
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2009
1
9
21
Trip End
Jul 06, 2009
Where I stayed
Adare, County Limerick, Ireland
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I got up and decided to explore a bit of the grounds. There are 840 acres, and I maybe walked one or two, but in that I was able to see the river, the front gardens, the tree garden, the secret garden, and the pet cemetery.
Afterward, Andrew and I went into the village and ate at a little thatched roof restaurant called The Blue Door Restaurant, where I had the most bizarre Caesar salad. The dressing was more of a dijon mustard dressing, and it had not only lettuce (yay!) but tomatoes, cucumbers and bacon, on top of the expected croutons and cheese. It wasn't what I expected, but it was good nonetheless.
The rest of the day, we decided to hang out and relax. Andrew watched about five different sports matches, I think. I napped and uploaded photos. We were supposed to do a historical tour of the manor at 3 pm, but that didn't happen. Instead, we just got some much needed rest.
Then at 6:30 pm we had our big event of the day -- an eight-course tasting menu in the formal dining room. This was part of our package, so we have been anticipating it since making our booking. Here's how it went:
Pre-meal: Warm rolls with butter
Course 1: Trout over lobster in a yummy buttery sauce - Absolutely dreamy
Course 2: Foie gras over white asparagus with a pesto - Both of our first liver experience
Course 3: Deep fried goat cheese with a berry jam and medallion onions - WOWOWOW yum-oh
Course 4: Sea bass with mixed vegetables and garlic gnocci - good, but by this time I was kind of full
Course 5: Pink grapefruit and lemongrass sorbet - really sour, felt like dessert
Course 6: Grilled beef with potatoes and onion jam - really good, but I was SO full by this point
Course7: Pineapple gazpacho with pina colada foam - yummy
Course 8: Chocolate raspberry torte with chantilly cream and fresh raspberries. Now, by this time I was so full I couldn't stand, but I found a special little hidden compartment for this really, really good, rich, chocolatey yumminess.
After dinner was over, we took another walk around the grounds and got a photo of us in front of the manor. It really was a splendid day together.
This experience is something we would have never done for ourselves (thanks Sarah and Joel, Glen and Liz, Uncle Dave, Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue, Uncle Bob and Aunt Steph, Matt and Tiffany, and the Grahams), but I'm so glad that we had a chance to experience it, even if we never do anything like it again.
Tomorrow, we move north again, this time toward Ballycroy.
