Ireland 10 - Molly's Yard Lavender Posset

I'm quite taken with Possets. I mentioned one in my Aran Island post - Enda's Lemon Posset - and gave a brief explanation.

A posset is a very very old English dessert, that was originally liked a curdled cream using lemon juice. In Belfast I ate the most sublime Lavender Posset with Shortbread - pictured above. And the Chef at Molly's Yard was happy to part with the recipe.

Molly's Yard Lavender Posset

500g Cream
150g sugar

Mix together, then add lavender flowers and lemon juice - bring to the boil, then strain into ramekins (little dishes) and chill.

Now, I was informed that instead of lavender you can use any flavouring you like - I'm going to test it out and see how it goes....imagine honey and lavender...MMMMMMMMM.

Ireland 9 - Day 7B, 8, 9 & 10: Three Nights in Belfast

Deep heavy sigh. I don't know where to start.

Belfast has bewitched me. I had no expectations, none at all, just an intense curiosity.

I have vivid recollections of confusion and fear as I watched the news on telly as a kid. The IRA, bombings, Catholics, Protestants...I never really understood it. Out of all the war horror of my early years, this is the one that really effected me the most.

I think the sight of a country that spoke the same language as me, wore similar clothes to me, lived a similar lifestyle to me made it realer. I'm embarrassed to say that - but there it is. It really scared me. It seemed closer to home than anything else. And being raised a Catholic...well, the big question for me was...how can they do it to each other? I never quite got it.

Now I'm starting to.

Coming from a country where my ancestral history is only just over 200 years old, a history of relative peace - no civil war, no invasions, no nasty centuries old baggage - I appreciate not just my good fortune, but also my innocence and idealism of my world view.

I was lucky enough in Belfast to meet some special people who lived through The Troubles, and they shared their stories with me. "The Troubles" is the name given to the period 1968-2008 - the deepest darkest times of the Northern Ireland "war".

I visited the Ulster Museum exhibition (first pic) which was emotional. I took a Black Cab Tour of "The Troubles" - including the Peace Wall, which I signed, and of course the famous murals which dot Belfast. One of the murals, above, has the UFF (Protestant side) lining you up in sight wherever you stand before it. The other big mural above is the portrait of hunger striker, Bobby Sands, which is painted on the side of the Sinn Fein headquarters.

I saw the gates that still, today, are closed at around 5pm every day to keep the two sides separate and safe at night around The Shankill Road. And the police station in town is there (pic 9), still with wire fencing to keep them safe inside.

All of this in a thriving, lively, fun, quirky city! In fact, I'd say probably the friendliest city I found in the whole of Ireland. I ate fantastically well, namely at Molly's Yard (pic 10) and the famous Mourne Seafood Bar (pic 11 is the divine Crab Mayo, and pic 12 one of the best Apple and Berry Crumbles ever!). I listened to hilarious comedy at The Empire. I saw where they built Titanic. I wandered the beautiful Queens University area (pic 13) where I was lucky enough to find my hotel, Dukes at Queens (one of the best hotels I've ever stayed in). I bought two pairs of sexy shoes on the trendy Lisburn Road, and I drank at the oldest pub in Belfast (and the most beautiful I've ever seen), The Crown (pic 14, 15, 16), where I chatted with an ex-English Military man who was stationed here for 4 years during The Troubles. I even lunched with an ex-IRA guy - now that blew my mind!

And I celebrated my birthday. I took myself off to my fave Belfast shop, Avoca, in the middle of town - they have a very cool cafe where I partook of a wacky, but yum monkfish, followed my birthday Meringue Roulade (last pic)! Happy Birthday to me.

So. What an intense 3 days. Such contrast. No wonder I've been in such a reflective place. Belfast cracked my mind way open. I learnt that good and bad are such arbitrary concepts...that all sides were right, from their perspective. I learnt that very good people do "bad things" ("bad" by world definitions) for their good reasons. And I learnt that sometimes there just isn't an answer, that sometimes things really are too messy.

Now, I've known all that stuff on some level for quite some time - but for the first time, I felt it. I felt deep down that the terms "right" and "wrong" were difficult to apply.

I left Belfast a couple of days ago now, and even as I wander the streets of Dublin, I can't get Belfast out of my head, like I said, it has bewitched me...sort of like an exciting, illicit, dangerous affair - I'm thrilled and mesmerised, but still trying to work it all out.

Ireland 8 - Roadtrip Day 7A: Giant's Causeway

All right. Enough of the mushy stuff (previous post)...on with the show...

Ok Ok, I finally arrived at the Giant's Causeway. In the rain. Bugger.

Now, just to set the scene. Almost everyone I ran into on the Irish trip asked "Have you seen the Giant's Causeway yet?"! Even HOS asked. Everyone asked.

So, let's just say I rocked up with a sense of major anticipation. I had no idea what was there, all I knew was there were "rocks". And sportsfans, that's what there is. Rocks. In pentagon and hexagon shapes, all joined together like a traditional patchwork quilt or an Escher drawing!!

I have to say I found the whole thing fairly underwhelming. No offence to the Irish, but really, if we're talking rocks...well, I don't like to brag, but Australia has some bloody good ones.

Sooooooooooo anyway...I walked over them, around them, up them and down them, walked along the long path to see The Giant's Boot (pic 8), then The Organ (pics 9 & 10), and all around to the Amphitheatre (no pics of that). The order of the pics above is the order of what you see as you tread the Giant's Causeway.

Now, there is a whole story to why it's called the Giant's Causeway, a whole fable fairytale thing. Yes well. I don't know what it is! Instead, all I know is that the rocks were formed in this shape due to volcanic rock cracking blah blah blah.

Anyway, enjoy the pics. They look good.

Oh, and the last pic there is my lunch after the walk...oh myyyyyy, now that was spectacular...toasted soda bread sausage and bacon sanger!! YUM.

Birthday Musings in Belfast

My Love gave me a present one year ago. The best present I could ever imagine. A present to feed my soul.

And today, I'm still in my present. As one of my dear friends wrote to me this morning, "it's the gift that keeps on giving"! Indeed it is.

Surprisingly, since arriving in Belfast a few days ago, I've been finding myself in a very reflective space. I think you can't but be reflective in this city of intense emotion and passion. And that, with the birthday on top...well...let's just say I've soaked in the tub for hours for the last two nights...just thinking. Reflecting.

Reflecting on the voyage so far. Reflecting on the amazing people I've met and the incredible experiences I've had along the way - taking me through a cycle of bursting out laughing, tearing up, then sighing, and back to the laughter, to start all over again.

I shake my head at my unbelievable good fortune to have found these people who have added so much texture and life to my voyage, and given even more depth and colour to an already beautiful artwork that was my life before I walked onto that plane.

I wonder if people ever really know the impact they have on others, from the smallest interaction, like a few jokes in a cafe queue at an Atlanta bakery, to the bigger ones, like a chance Vegas bar meeting resulting in a taken-up invitation to stay sometime, and the random foodie connection in Easter Island that will no doubt turn into a lifelong friendship, not to mention the RV door being generously flung open!

Thank you to you generous, warm, interesting, crazy people! You know who you are, and I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Of course birthday reflections aren't complete without thinking about my beautiful family and wacky and wonderful friends back home. I miss you. I love you. I can do what I'm doing because you're all there. Waiting for me. I love that. More than you can know.

And to My Man, who started this whole thing...well my love, I didn't know it would be this good. I didn't know we could be this good. I didn't know it would be possible to love you more than I did when we waved goodbye on 11 March 2010. But now I do. This amazing life we have together is risky. The risks we take leave me breathless at times, breathless with both fear and excitement, yet it's these risks that have made, and still make me, feel so much intense joy and such profound love for you, for me, and for us.

What a lucky woman I am to have all that.

And the thing that gets me every time I've thought about this over the last few days, is that there's still so much ahead. Crikey!

So. There ends the birthday ravings of a happy 41 year old in a Belfast cafe.

Happy Birthday to me!

Ireland 7: Roadtrip Day 4, 5 & 6: The Burren to Ballycastle

Right. I hate to say it, but these days were sorta tedious. I think I did a bit too much driving, and put myself onto too much of a mission - so I kinda flew through these days to tick boxes. Hmmmmmmmm. Just think lots of green countryside, rain, seafood, brown bread, and dodgy small town hotels (but one lovely B&B).

Here's the basic summary, which is more for me than you. So I don't forget. I kinda already have and had to go back to my map!

Day 4
Left the beautiful Inisheer (Aran Island), drove through the desolate limestone landscape that is The Burren (pic 1 and 2), which is home to over 700 flowering plants! And also home to the wonderful Tea & Garden Rooms in the little village of Ballyvaughan (just before you hit Galway). Maria from Inisheer had recommended the place, so I stopped for a snack - check out the snack table (pic 3)!!!! OH MY! You won't believe it, but I actually had a toasted sambo! But boy it looked good. I think I'm just into food perving now. Is that sick???

Anyway, I'm rambling. So, after the cake table, it was on to Galway (pic 4) in the pouring rain. Hmmmmm. I booked a cute little B&B, Devondell, which was fantastic. I made friends with the other Yanky guests, and headed out to dinner with a couple of them - there's my Local Ocean Salmon with Samphire (posh seaweed) and Salsa Verde - very very good. A few drinks at a pub, then sleepy bo bos.

Day 5
Woke up to a FAB breaky made by Berna, the B&B owner, then hit the road heading through the Connemarra region into Westport. I had been told not to miss Westport House, a still functioning restored grand manor (pics 7 & 8). Well worth it. I then drove a few more hours into County Donegal and Donegal Town. I stayed at the dodgy Abbey Hotel (pic 9), but it was great because there was a wedding on, it was Saturday night after all, so after my 6th month anniversary dinner of Lobster (pic 11), I sat and watched a bit of the wedding fuss in the lobby - a total hoot! Then off to the local pub for traditional Irish music (pic 12) where I ran into the magnificent aussies, Trev and Anne - we spent a great few hours listening to the music and watching the locals! GOLD MATE!! Back to the hotel, then, for a bit more lobby watching!

Day 6
I was up early. My room was a cell. Off to Northern Island today. I hit the road and headed to Malin Head, the Northern most point of Ireland. I met some sheep on the way (pic 13), then arrived at the windiest place ever, Malin Head (pic 14). Now, here was the highlight of the day...at Malin Head there was a mobile coffee van from a local bakery. In that mobile coffee van was not just coffee, but home-made cake. Mmmmmmmmm. He'd run out of the Lemon Drizzle, so I went for the Gingerbread. OH MY GOSH. He even gave me an extra slice for free - so for the grand price of 1 Euro, I sucked down two slices of the best gingerbread I've ever eaten. I was driving along and put some in my mouth...and just went "oh my god", I had to pull over so I could eat the rest. It was an almost religious experience.

So, post-gingerbread, it was onto the car ferry from Greencastle and on to my um...well dodgier hotel, The Marine Hotel in Ballycastle! Surprisingly, the food here in Ballycastle was quite something. There's a great little cafe/restaurant there, I had pork for dinner, but forgot to take my camera, hmmmmmmmm and I can't bloody remember the name and didn't write it down. Bugger. Sorry folks. Can't find it on google either! So, dinner was "class"!

But the best food experience of Ballycastle came from the guy behind the counter at the local Spar (Europe's answer to 7/11). They didn't have the Trolli hotdogs I like, so he recommended the Drumstick (pic 16), so I bought two. I ate both. In about 5 mins. YUMMMMMM. I also bought from the same guy a bag of Dulse, which is dried local seaweed - they sell it in those bags (last pic) for about 2 Euro, and is sort of like eating a bag of chips for the locals. BIZARRE. Of course I grabbed a bag and tested it out. Well, this wasn't so YUM. It was like salty plastic paper, if that makes any sense at all. And on further discussion with the hotel reception, it seems that most people don't eat it, and is in fact, a very acquired taste. No acquiring here.

So, that was the march into Northern Island. Tomorrow is the famous Giant's Causeway and Belfast. COOL.