cjfoodandtravel

Yes, we’re back in London again, if you’ve been here before, you know London remains one of our favourite cities to visit.  There is always something new going on, whether it’s new attractions, new shows or the ever changing dining scene, there is always so much to do.  For this little trip, we’re pushing the boat out…a lot.  We’re staying in a very well-known hotel in the centre of London and add to that, we’ve manged to snag a booking for a, well, let’s just say, a very well-known chef.  Throw a new musical into the mix and it will make for the full London experience – and you can read all about it here.

Ok, I know what you are thinking, ‘who’ in Munich.  Rammstein for your information are the most successful German band of all time.  Now, I’m going to call a spade a spade here, the type of music Rammstein play (industrial metal/heavy rock/type of thing) is not usually to my taste and most definitely not to C’s taste.  However, my brother had raved about their stage show after seeing them several months previous and insisted that next time they play, he would get us tickets so we can see for ourselves.  So here we are, travelling with family, going to see a band we know next to nothing about and add to that, they sing in German – what could possibly go wrong!  On a plus though, we are visiting one of our favourite cities, Munich – and you can read all about it here.

Over the past number of years, especially with the arrival of social media – a lot more people are now familiar with the acclaimed Michelin stars.  Restaurants wait with bated breath to see if they made the list, whether it’s one star or more, or if they get some of the other awards now handed out, such as the new Green star or the also well known, Bib Gourmand.  For Irish restaurants, we form part of the Michelin Guide to Great Britain and Ireland.  For us, it’s exciting to see who made the list for the first time and who has maintained their coveted star(s) – or, even lost the award.  Prior to the awards announcement, we wasted no time and booked two restaurants we had not been to before, Terre who were hotly tipped to get a star and Dede at the Customs House who already had a star.  You can read all about our Michelin star dining experiences by jumping over here.

As we traverse around the country, we always try to incorporate some of the many Irish tourism attractions whether they be some of the major ones, such as the Cliffs of Moher or smaller ones, like visiting the Kennedy homestead.  For this short trip, we are visiting the famous megalithic tomb in Newgrange, Co. Meath and we’re staying in nearby Johnstown Estate – as always you can read all about it here.

Little known fact, the world’s most visited country is France and let’s face it, what’s not to love about all things French.  For the start of the year, we decided to have a short break in Paris and as always, you can read about it here.

Who does not like a Christmas market?  In the past, we visited Christmas markets, in the likes of say, Vienna, or Budapest, however, the German markets are considered to be some of the best.  This trip was booked way back in the summer which seemed strange at the time, however, we managed to get a good price on a ‘fancy’ hotel, hence the early booking, so, as always, you can check out the festive details right here.

It was a bit of a last minute decision, but we decided a short break was needed just for kicks and we decided on the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.  I have been before but this is a first for C and she is really looking forward to it.  We booked a nice hotel bang in the centre of the city which is always handy.  As always, you can check out all the details here.

With the summer ending, we decided to hit the road for a short trip to East Cork and stay at one of our favourite spots, Ballymaloe house.  While there, we also spent a night in the small fishing village of Ballycotton and checked out a little known place called Cush.  You can check it all out here.

This was a return trip to Adare Manor, we had last visited just a few months before COVID arrived so for this little spiel, I’ll incorporate some elements of that previous visit and this more recent one, you can check it all out here. 

Over two and a half years ago, we booked tickets to see Green Day in concert, but due to that COVID thing it was rescheduled, cancelled, rescheduled again and finally now we get to see them in concert. I’m sure it’ll be a slightly different gig than the one we just came from in Edinburgh. You can read all about London right here.