The Kiely clan was able have a reunion in Europe this summer - and t'was lovely! : ) First stop was County Cork, Ireland in the tiny town of Kinsale -- where my dad still has his Irish roots. This is the sunroom in my parents' rental house -- it was the perfect place to enjoy the elusive Irish sunshine.
The first day, between jet lag and the time change, was admittedly rough. We did have a nice walk along the water (Scilly Walk) into downtown Kinsale where we ate at Jim Edwards Bar for a delicious lunch,
but afterwards we went over the the Blue Haven hotel for a much needed triple shot mocha. We even bought Sophia her own mocha (the barista was horrified when she figured out that we were caffeinating our 5 year old). And in Sophia's words: "Ireland is a great place, where kids get their own mochas."
We had a lovely time enjoying the family sights catching up with our Irish relatives at The Spaniard.
This picture was taken in the little church in Belgooly where my grandfather, Papa Maurice was baptized.
This is "The Ballyfeard House" where my grandfather grew up.
Kiely's Cross is the name of this cemetery where all my ancestors were buried,
and this is my great grandfather's spot at the pub in Tracton, The Overdraught, where people used to complain about his pipe smoke.
My favorite memory was the evening that Greg cooked us a fantastic meal of Shrimp Scampi, Bean Salad, and Caprese salad served in our sunroom for the big group!
Dinner was followed by a fun dessert of different locally made chocolates. Then we all walked down to our local pub, The Bulman, where we spent the evening all together drinking our favorite stouts, while debating whose favorite was truly the best tasting: Guinness, Murphy's, or Beamish?
The girls got to play with the I-Pad
and were able to teach Dado a thing or two.
Sophia will tell you her favorite day was getting to tour the Blarney Castle. The grounds were gorgeous, and we had a lovely time!
So when your cousin (thanks Anne!) gifts you 6 lobsters, how do you divide it among the 10 of us? Lobster salad. It was incredible, Greg. We didn't even remember to take a picture of it before it was all devoured.
And what's a trip to Ireland without the Fish and Chips? We ate this at Dino's downtown, where we even met Dino, himself!
Kinsale, overall, was a LOVELY place, with LOVELY people. We will definitely be back!
(How many times can one use the adjective "lovely" in just one blog post??? Apparently a lot!)
No comments:
Post a Comment