An overnight stay in Ballynahinch Castle which you can read about here.

Well it’s a very late start to 2019, but we’re up and running with a few updates and trips lined up.  We’d a number of trips planned for the remainder of 2018, but due to unforeseen circumstances things had to take a back seat.

So we’re back with a bang, well, maybe not a bang, but a spark anyhow.  Our first short trip this year was to Seville, you can read about it here.

Then hop over to a very special meal in Girona, you can check out here.

An early flight out of Dublin had us arriving into Lisbon good and early to make the most of our three night stay.

The metro from the airport took a mere 20 minutes and brought us just around the corner from where we were staying. As it was too early to check in, we had time to get our bearings, do some window shopping and grab a coffee.  Lisbon is famous for custard tarts, but as we had a reservation for lunch we decided to forgo this treat for now.

It came time for lunch and we’d booked the Michelin stared Alma restaurant. On arrival we were greeted by a very friendly member of staff who brought us to our seats. This was soon followed by their sommelier who asked if we’d like a glass of something to start, we went with our usual favourite, two Kir Royals.

As is usually the case with a restaurant of this standard, a taster menu is the way to go as it gives you a taste of most offerings on the menu. However on this occasion we went a tad mad and went with the a la carte option.

To begin some bread arrived with olive oil and a herb butter. This was followed by a few amuse bouche. Some delicious charred red pepper and savoury crackers with some cod roe.  To start, I went with the squid served with confit tomatoes in a very rich seafood broth, C went for the mackerel served with a potato and lemon purée, a seafood crisp bread and a salsify jelly, both were tasty.  For mains, C opted for the pork belly, served with a Madeira jus, butternut squash purée and bok choi. I had sea bass with a clam and coriander risotto, which according to our waitress is a traditional Portuguese dish. Both dishes were tasty but the pork belly was exceptionally good.

To finish I went with the chocolate dessert and C went with the apple tart. Chocolate was the winner here, I’ll let the photos do the talking….

Overall a very enjoyable lunch and a deserving Michelin star.

After lunch it was time to check into our apartment. Yep an apartment for a change. It was bright and very spacious and more importantly spotlessly clean.

After relaxing for a bit, we hit the town and headed towards a place called By the Wine which as the name suggests is a wine bar 😀. There’s a fantastic vaulted ceiling covered in wine bottles and the place was hopping. We ordered some Prosecco, bread and a few tapas of charcuterie, cheese, olives and a fantastic salmon ceviche. Service was very friendly and the drinks and food went down very well.

The next day and after a quick coffee and pastry for breakfast we headed towards the Time Out market, which was our meeting place for our food tour.

The tour was fantastic, our guide, as well as a love of all things food had great insight into Portuguese history which made for a very informative day. We had 6 on the tour as well as our guide and we all got on splendidly. After almost five hours of eating and drinking our way around the streets and markets of Lisbon we were fit for nothing more than a rest when we returned to our apartment.

Later that evening we found a local bar and had a pre-dinner drink, although we were still quiet full after our tour there is no harm in having a little nibble. As it turned out we came across a new restaurant which did tapas so we gave it a go, it actually had a sign outside stating that it was a new restaurant 😉. We ordered just a few tapas, however, I ordered the “roast” sausage, which I actually had to cook myself on a little ceramic bbq thingy, it was sort of fun, although C felt it was a fire hazard😟

The following day we hopped on the metro and visited the Monastery dos Jerónimos but before that we grabbed yet another custard tart at Pastéis de Belém which is apparently where the original recipe hails from. It was tasty but for me the one we had on the walking tour was better, even though I feel they are very over rated.

For lunch we visited a small museum, grabbing just a sandwich and a coffee, before we checked out the Torre de Belém which is garrison type tower.

On our last day we did a lot of walking and a little shopping. We spent a good chunk of our day at the castle which was enjoyable. It overlooks the entire city and offers some amazing views. After lunch it was time to pick up our bags which we left with the owner of our apartment and hop on the metro back towards the airport to catch our flight home.

To finish, we both really enjoyed our visit to the Portuguese capital and especially we enjoyed some fantastic food. However we felt it lacked a little excitement and atmosphere compared to other European cities, but nonetheless it was still worth a visit.

Until next time, bye for now.

C&J

London is one of our favourite cities in the World and it’s only a short flight from home, which makes it a doddle to visit.

It’s changed a lot over the last couple of years, especially the restaurant scene which has exploded with new and exciting places to eat, whether it’s a Michelin starred meal, a gourmet burger joint or an amazing Butter Chicken from the many restaurants along Brick Lane, you’ll never run short of places to grab a bite to eat.
Not forgetting the numerous attractions, museums, fantastic markets and few of the worlds biggest diamonds thrown in for good measure.
This coupled with bars, Champagne, cocktails and otherwise, there’s no excuse for not enjoying yourself.

So we flew from Shannon which makes a pleasant change, less than an hours drive from home, along with a short flight and 20 minute Tube journey had us at our hotel and as always, we dropped the baggage and hit the town, but not before a pre-dinner drink at the hotel bar 🙂

Friday in London is nearly always a casual affair when we arrive and this Friday was no different. We headed off for tonights meal, casual all the way, a burger from Honest Burgers. Over the past couple of years loads of gourmet burger places have opened up, our favourite is Byron with a few dozen branches in and around London, however on this occasion, we wanted to try Honest, not having done so before.

The nearest branch to us was near the Kensington tube station just one stop from where we’re staying.

So what’s it like, just ok, to be fair, we had higher expectations given the connection with a certain burger bar at home. The service was friendly and we were waiting no more than a few minutes to get a table. We also ordered chicken wings, onion rings and coleslaw, way too much food. The onion rings and the coleslaw were very tasty, the wings were also pretty decent, but the burger and fries were disappointing, but perhaps we’re in the minority as the place was heaving, anyhow for us it’ll be back to Byron next time.

Saturday was spent with friends of ours, so most of the day was wandering around the shops, grabbing a coffee here and there and lunch at the Old Spitalfield Market, a very enjoyable day.

Big Ben and Bus

Butter and Bread Sketch

Dessert Selection Sketch

Mango Dessert in Sketch

Breakfast in Berners Tavern

Cool new Tube

Too much food ordered 🙂

Toilets in Sketch, yep, daft looking

Mains in Sketch

Saturday night was something special, a meal at the amazing Sketch. It’s difficult to describe what the place is like, there’s three different dining options, we were on the “fine dining” floor which was fantastic. The decor was opulent to say the least, the service was exceptional and the food certainly did not disappoint. The other two options are a more casual dining affair, but the decor has to be seen to be appreciated. The best thing to do is search Sketch restaurant London and click on images, you’ll see what I mean.

Sunday morning was brunch at the always fantastic Berners Tavern which was enjoyable, probably not as good as having an evening meal, but still tasty and the service is very good.

We had time for one last detour before catching out flight home, a quick trip into Harrods, London’s 3rd most popular tourist attraction don’t you know.

So that’s it, hope you enjoyed this brief description of our London weekend, until next time, bye for now.

C&J

As the slow month of January is coming to and end and if like us, it’s been a dry one, February won’t come fast enough 🙂

However, why wait until February for a trip when January is a great time to travel, especially with the Ski season in full swing……..

Alas, we’re not going Skiing this January but maybe later in the year, perhaps 🙂

We are however going away for a weekend next week, but for now I’ve to keep it under wrap, is’s a surprise for C. So watch this space……

I’ve also finally got around to uploading some photos from Iceland and Japan, you can find the link to photos on the right of the page, enjoy them.

C&J

One of the great aspects of travelling, is food. No matter where you go in the World, there’s always several types of food, you just won’t get at home. So last night we went to a very fancy restaurant and while not a planned choice, we could not pass up the chance to eat some whale and puffin, or rather, “I” could not pass up the chance.

So, what did they taste like, well, fishy from the whale and a gamey flavor from the puffin, both very nice if I do say so.

So earlier that day we went for our walking tour of Reykjavik. While very cold, it was dry and only slightly overcast. Our guide was very nice and made the walk very interesting, including pointing out some good places to eat, drink and find a really good coffee. After out guided walk we explored a lot more of the city, the Harbour area, which is the “up and coming” part of the city, the amazing Opera House and had a very long walk along by the sea front.

Our last day was another long road trip, the weather was very indifferent as the day went by, sometimes the sun would show itself briefly but a lot of the time it was cloudy. The highlight of the day was a trip to the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. A torrent of a waterfall rising up to over 100 meters, the fun part, you can walk in behind it, – and yes, you get pretty wet, so wet gear and good boots were essential. Along with several other attractions, more waterfalls, the famous dark sand beaches and glaciers, it was a fantastic day, finishing up in the Secret Lagoon.

Our last meal was also a local secret, pointed out by out walking guide the day before. A very quirky bar, serving pizza, made in it’s award winning restaurant downstairs. Gourmet food and pizza from the same kitchen, the pizza was excellent.

So that is pretty much that, Iceland was truly amazing, a great outdoorsy vacation, well worth a visit. As always, I hope you all enjoyed reading the blog, until next time, bye for now. (and yes, I will get to photos at a later date)

C&J

Our last night in Akureyri was once again spent chasing lights. We grabbed a bite to eat and soon after met up with our tour guide. The conditions were much better than the previous night, next to no wind, but it was a little cloudy.

We headed much further out of town at least a 45 minute drive before stopping up near a river and waterfall. We all got out of the mini bus and walked a few minutes before setting up base of operations for the evening, camera tripods mostly 😏. We waited and waited, but after just over an hour, it had become too cloudy and it was time to move on to an other location.

Heading back towards Akureyri we stopped at a mountain pass and our driver pulled over on to an iced over parking area. We all got out again, but now we were walking on ice, it was funny watching everyone sliding around in almost complete darkness. Our guide insisted we move towards the snow, which was almost two foot deep. So there we are, up to our knees in snow, staring into a cloudy sky, freezing cold – waiting.

I’d like to be able to say that all this effort was worth it, but unfortunately, there was no light show. It’ll have to wait for an other time.

The following morning we packed up, grabbed some breakfast and hit the road for the five hour drive to Reykjavik. Once on the outskirts of Akureyri the road continues up into the mountains. It was a clear morning, sun shining and still loads of snow cover all around. It’s this part of Iceland where scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed.

With a few stops for photographs and one for lunch we arrived into a very overcast and wet Reykjavik. It was also rush hour so the traffic was busy. We eventually got to where we were staying and after checking in we hit the town.

Reykjavik is much bigger than expected which was evident on the drive in and the city centre. Despite its size it’s a very walkable place with most of the bars, cafes, restaurants and shops all very close together. For a drink we went into the Lebowski bar, themed after the movie The Big Lebowski. For dinner we just grabbed a casual bite to eat in another bar.

The following morning it was time to hit the road. We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed off, our plan for the day was to drive the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle incorporates a multitude of attractions ranging from mountains, waterfalls, geysers, sinkholes etc. Two of the main highlights were the Pingvellir national park and Geysir.

Pingvellir is where the tectonic plates of North America and Europe meet. Very interesting to walk through and on a side note it’s where the Vikings set up the worlds first democratic parliament 🤓. Geysir as the name suggests is an area dotted with dozens of hot gushers and geothermal pools, too hot to bathe in though. One of the main geysers shoots boiling hot water up to 30 meters in the air every 10 minutes or so, it’s pretty impressive. There’s also a decent choice of restaurants here where we had lunch

Despite the rain it was a very enjoyable day although the drive back to Reykjavik was very slow due to very thick fog and heavy rain.

We pushed the boat out a little for dinner and had a very nice meal in one of the fancier places in town 😉. We also came across a very cool bar called Vinyl where we stopped for a drink.

So today, we’re doing a walking tour of Reykjavik which kicks off at 10:00 and lasts about 3 hours. The plan after is perhaps visit the Harbour area of the city and later if it’s a nice evening maybe go looking for those lights……again 🙄.

J

One of the most elusive and must see natural attractions when it comes to travelling are the Aura Borealis and people travel from all over the world to the hotspots to catch a glimpse.

Last night we headed out on our Northern Lights tour. Our guide was confident we’d have a viewing despite the storm, full moon and complete cloud cover. We headed about 6km west out of Akureyri but turned back and headed in an easterly direction. We stopped at a favourite viewing spot of our guide but after about half an hour, nothing and got back in our mini bus.

Continuing further out of town he brought us to a fermenting shed, which are used to ferment shark, a strange delicacy they eat over here, it was just a side trip while we waited for the clouds to clear.

Over one hour later standing out in 80km winds, in the wilds of the countryside, nothing. It was time to give up and head back to Akureyri – and try again.

So today we wandered around and took in a few more sites before picking up our hire car. After lunch we went on a road trip and with no plan to begin with we just headed off admiring the amazing scenery. After spinning around for a few hours we headed towards the Godafoss waterfall, just one of the many amazing sites scattered throughout the country.

So tonight, we’re off hunting the Northern Lights again…….lets hope we have more luck this time.

J

Cab, bus, flight, bus, bus, flight and finally a cab, we arrived into Akureyri in the north of Iceland. As we arrived late evening there was just enough time to drop the bags and head out to grab a bite to eat and a drink or two. It’s delightfully mild and nowhere near as cold as we had expected, it’s hovering around 1C. We went to a place called Akureyri Backpackers, yes the local hostel for dinner, they do local and international cuisine and the place has a good vibe and as you’d expect, it’s busy, as it is Friday evening.

Akureyri is small with a population of less than 18,000 but it offers a great base for tours and sightseeing. However our main reason for making the journey here is skiing and Akureyri is the best place in Iceland to ski.

While it pales in comparison to the Austrian Alps it still has a few good runs with rental gear available and lessons if you like. While we did get to do a little skiing, the resort had to close due to really bad weather and we were informed it would not improve anytime today.

Tonight, we’re on a tour to “hopefully” see the northern lights. It can be hit or miss and it’s all dependent on the weather, which is still very stormy. With the tour we’re going on if you do not get a viewing tonight, they give you a voucher to go again, which we will tomorrow evening if need be.

Akureyri is indeed very small, there’s about 3 hotels, a few guest houses and the hostel. There are however a few nice coffee shops, restaurants and a few shops and gift stores. The scenery however is very spectacular surrounded by amazing snow capped mountains and it has Iceland’s biggest fjord.

As I type, we’re at the Shinkansen south gate waiting to catch the train back to Osaka, for our flight home tomorrow.

We covered a lot of the major sites and attractions in and around Tokyo, a place we feel everyone should visit. They are already gearing up to the 2020 summer Olympic Games and we’re hoping we may make it back for them 😊

The past two days were spent doing a lot of window shopping and enjoying some of the parks which are really nice to stroll through. We also visited the Tsukiji fish market of all things, which believe it or not is actually one of the must see attractions in Tokyo, why, because it’s the worlds biggest fish market. It was huge and a crazy selection of fish available, it was well worth a visit. There are also 100’s of other market stalls selling all sorts of foods and drinks.

After our amazing dining experience at the Molecular Tapas Bar, we opted for sushi the following evening.
However this was sushi on a 21st century level. You order your food with a touchscreen menu, which makes it very easy as you can visually see what your ordering and you can go into the various categories. In front of you are three shelves, which are magnetic conveyor belts!
When you place your order and after only a minute or two, your prompted by your touchscreen to say your dish is on the way and which conveyor it’s on and sure enough, your food arrives to where your sitting, you take it off the little hover board thing, confirm on your touchscreen and the tray moves off again, back into the kitchen. All you have to do then, is tuck in and order as much more as you like, it’s pretty cool!

To finish, we’re going to do some last minute shopping in Osaka (I don’t think the credit card is maxed out yet 😉) and we’ll grab a bite to eat, more sushi perhaps!

Hope everyone enjoyed reading the blog – we will get some photos up when we get home, bye for now, see you all when we get home.

C&J

You can Check out some photos here;  Photos