Even though we put 1200 kms on our comfortable Renault while in Ireland and hit almost every pub in Adare, we actually spent some wonderful time in the villa as well.  We were all committed to rising early to get a good start on the day.  D would put the coffee on (in truth it was the slowest and nosiest coffee maker I have ever encountered) but this would give us lots of time to sit in the “extra” room and talk about our day.

This room had one of the two ethernet connections and a sleeper couch.  The main floor bath was adjoining and so we planned that when D and I return with our family one day, this could be a fourth bedroom.  In the mean time, I dubbed it “the morning room”, influenced by the fact that we were staying on a Manor estate.  The sun shone for half of our trip and when we did have it in the morning, it was more than welcome.  The sunshine absolutely flooded into this cozy space.

The master bedroom, even though it faced west, was a beautiful buttery yellow and felt like sunshine even in the gloom.  It is especially large with an extra reading chair and has the only bathtub of the four bathrooms.

The sun-room on the west of the house, became our gathering place when we got home from our day’s adventure and enjoyed our official “happy hour”.  I say “official”, because pints were often enjoyed at a far earlier time-we were in Guinness country after all.  I could only imagine what this room would be like in balmier weather with an evening breeze coming in through the two walls of windows.

The day that D and I spent on our own, we also were able to enjoy the back patio.  This was on one of our sunny days and even though it was only 12 Celsius, the patio is sheltered and we swung our seats around to lift our faces to the sun.

Snatches of time in the sun must be precious to Irelanders too because when we were in Galway, a helpful lady instructed us to her favourite pub because it had the best sun exposure with its patio seats on two sides, not mentioning a thing about the ale selection or food quality.  We took her up on her suggestion, but that is another story.

The kitchen as fully equipped and with the provisions that were conveniently available in the village, we had some lovely tastes around our dining room table.

I loved the red cheddar on toasted raisin scones.  We also found homemade strawberry jam to sweeten up breakfasts.

On Good Friday, we stayed very close to the village and tucked into a homemade breakfast of bangers (sausages) and the most amazing smoky bacon from Adare’s local butcher shop.  This was accompanied by black and white pudding, when we all declared that we liked the taste of the white pudding best.

Later that evening, D made a stuffed pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes, carrots, asparagus and an pistachio and almond trout for PK which she was over the moon for.

She shared tastes with us and we laughingly said “Fish so good, it would almost make you wanna be Catholic!”  Dessert that evening was apple pie topped with custard; a concoction we had not tried before but will likely become part of our repertoire.

But enough of home base, there is so much to see in the Irish countryside.

Kath’s quotes: “From Black pudding to pickled jellyfish, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. What we see and taste as beautiful depends largely on what our family and friends approve of — with just a little room for personal preference.”-Laurence Mound

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