IRISHTOWN NATURE PARK and POOLBEG BEACH

It's been a very long year... especially since lockdown. So summer has been most welcomed! Even if it means staycations for most of us, it is still great news to take a break from homeschooling, remote working, online shopping and non-stop Netflix watching (and I loove Netflix! it's been a life saver in the past months).

So if you are staying in Dublin for part of your holiday and the weather is reasonable, here is an idea of a morning out that won't require much: a visit to Irishtown Nature Park.

Relaxing walk from Sandymount strand to Poolbeg lighthouse

So many years in Dublin, and so many times I had heard that this walk was very nice and relaxing, with beautiful views... but only a couple of weeks ago I decided I would do it. And I loved it!

Nice morning walk along Burrow Beach (Sutton)

Burrow Beach is just fantastic.

We had not heard of it until a few weeks ago that we found it... by accident.

Things you can do/see/eat/enjoy along the DART line (part I)

Hello again!

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time now....

I would like to tell you about some of the fantastic things that can be done, seen, eaten... and more! along the DART line because, believe me: you do NOT need a car to enjoy a SPECTACULAR DAY OUT - DART offers you so many things you'll be amazed!

First thing: the tickets - you can get a 1 Day Family Ticket for 2 adults and up to 4 kids for just 20 EUR* and start the fun...

Now, the itinerary:

Nice walk for the whole family... and very close to Dublin - Ticknock Forest

Ticknock Forest is without a doubt one of the best places in Dublin to go for a family walk, specially during this time of the year!

Our favourite spots to have a cup of coffee in and around Dublin

It is true - I can confirm it: the streets of Dublin have become the perfect stage for a wave of fantastic new actors looking to come in first in the ongoing contest "WHO SERVES THE BEST CUP OF COFFEE IN TOWN?"

Looking for a good plan with the kids no matter the weather

Finally weekend is here! Now we have two long days ahead of us to relax enjoy and look for adventure :-)

My Friday evening routine is always the same: check met.ie and any other weather forecast site in order to know if we will have a lovely and sunny weekend to enjoy outdoors or a rainy (and also lovely!) couple of days ahead.

But (thank God there is a but!) there are some weeks that we do not worry so much, because there are excellent weekend plans that can go ahead no matter the weather, and this is the case of Rainforest Adventure Golf at the Dundrum Town Center

Pokemon Go is a good thing after all!

I was not very impressed when my son started playing Pokemon Go on the brand new phone that he got for Christmas... I could imagine him glued to that small screen for hours on end.

National Botanic Gardens (Glasnevin)

I have to agree this time with the popular quote "Best things in life are free", because the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin are at the top of my list of best free attractions in Dublin (actually they are also at the top of my list of best Dublin attractions in general!)

Short but refreshing walk in Dalkey - Killiney Hill

It's New Year! We were all eating, drinking, and partying a lot during Christmas... too much maybe? And then we all made very hard to accomplish new year resolutions, didn't we?

...mmmm, let me see: I am going to eat healthier this year, I'll quit smoking, I'll quit chocolate!, will go running every morning no matter the weather (????), we will not waste our weekends at home watching TV, we will enjoy our family time, we will go for nice Sunday morning walks and enjoy nature together!!!!

Le Petit Breton (Dublin 9) - good crêperie!

What can I say: we love crêpes!

They are a fantastic meal - you can prepare them with everything: savoury for lunch, sweet for dessert or for an afternoon snack (one of my kids would kill for a warm nutella crêpe), they fill you up, but do not make you feel heavy after eating them and can be eaten at home / in a restaurant  or on the go... perfect for all tastes and demands!

Well now there is a new place in Dublin where you can enjoy perfect crêpes the French way: Le Petit Breton in Drumcondra (1A Drumcondra Road Lower).

Union Cafe (Dublin 14) - Perfect for the summer

Dublin weather during the months of May and June is usually really nice (OK, OK.... it is now pouring down with rain and the sky has a really intimidating dark grey colour!) I mean in general... or let's say I'd love to think that in general, Dublin weather can be really nice :-). Rather difficult to talk about the weather in this country eh?

The Mellow Fig Cafe in Blackrock (Co. Dublin)

If I had to describe The Mellow Fig Cafe in Blackrock (5 Georges Avenue)  with just a word, I would choose COZY. It is without any doubt a cozy cafe...

Bunsen (Wexford Street-Dublin 2) - Best burgers in Dublin? The kids said so...

Saturday, 2:00pm... we're in the city centre (near St Stephen's Green) and we're very very very hungry!

Different places come to mind and we're discussing which would be the best place that would please us all - highly difficult task for us to reach an agreement :-(

Another great discovery: Peacock Green Cafe (different locations in Dublin)

Some months ago, someone -who knows us well- told us about a new cafe in the city center, more specifically on Lord Edward Street, opposite Christchurch cathedral (Dublin 2). The name of the new cafe: Peacock Green. We were told it was small, but very tastefully decorated and that it was perfect for a coffee and a pastry. 

In Donnybrook - With the new year, we've discovered new places to have a lovely meal with the kids (I)

Happy New Year!!!

Still trying to recover from the excess that the holidays brought: too much to eat, too little to sleep and no exercise at all! But totally worth it, wasn't it? :-)

But we cannot just stay home during weekends...we have to try new places! It's in our blood!!! So the other day, we went for a walk to Donnybrook with some relatives who were visiting and we found BAKERS:

Bakers is a charming place right in the heart of Donnybrook (Unit D 3, The Crescent, Dublin 4).

Irish National War Memorial Gardens (Islandbridge): not to miss!!!!

As you may have noticed, I normally only write about places we've been and we've liked: places we would visit again.

Amongst all the places we like and write about (restaurants, parks, towns...) we of course have our favourites.

Deer Park , Mount Merrion - Dublin 14. Nice area to visit with the kids

Back from holidays... what can I say? Coming back is not being easy (it never is!). So now what are we going to do????

First of all, let's put on a cardigan :-), then take a map, a ball, some water bottles and go out to discover Dublin. We do not want to waste time. Some post-summer amazing places in and around Dublin are waiting out there!

Our first one:

Last weekend we visited Deer Park in Mount Merrion, Dublin 14. A very nice medium sized park located right here:

We had seen the park many times (every time we go to Dundrum town center) and we always used to say: "we have to visit this park one day; it looks very nice, and the views must be amazing". Well... we were right.

We arrived and parked beside the Mt Anville Road entrance.

First thing we liked: paved broad paths (perfect for pushing a buggy) with great views of the city. 

What the kids saw and looooved: a football pitch! Let me explain that for the last year every time we go out -anywhere- we have to take the ball with us, because playing soccer at least once or twice a day has become the first item in our to-do list no matter the place we're visiting. This park looked super promising now!

For the joggers, there is fitness equipment to work out beside the path - definitely for adults! One of the kids wanted to use one and Dad had to lift him to be able to reach the parallel bars.

We took a walk along the path for approx 10 minutes (kids playing with the ball beside us).... 

and found the lovely playground: really worth exploring!:

Seesaws, swings, slides webs... it has all of that. 

And then it has some others, not easy to identify (am I getting too old???) but you know kids: the weirder the artifact gets, the more interesting

is that a cage? tied to the ground? what is it supposed to do? never mind- the kid liked it!

After a good half an hour playing around in the playground we continued our walk up to see the whole park. Came accross ther Deer Park Tennis Club and a lot of happy kids playing Federer and Nadal and then our more than mandatory stop to play soccer in the pitch.

Believe me, if we had let the kids do what they wanted we would still be there, playing soccer, but thank God (really really: thank you God!) after 20 or 30 minutes it started raining and we had to rush back to the car.

It was already lunch time, so instead of going home, we decided to go down Mt Anville Road and try The Goat, literally 5 mins away from the park. Perfect end of a perfect morning: good lunch while we watched... yes soccer! for a good price

Quick visit to Skerries - We'll be back!

I like sports... I love sports! But the thought of spending my whole weekend watching tennis, football or F1 annoys me just a little bit, specially if the weather is nice.

But at home we believe in democracy (not sure if this is good or not, really), so everybody gets to do what we want at some point during the two days a week we spend together: Saturdays and Sundays (wouldn't it be easier to do just what mum says??? Mum is always right, right?)

"Breakfasting" @ Press Café, National Print Museum, Dublin 4

Got up late this morning: last night's Champion's league final match requested our attention, support, cheers, tears... (one team had to lose and unfortunately not all of us were happy with the result).