Fried pork spareribs in a tangy sweet sauce. £5.80
Jun Ming Xuan Chinese Restaurant, London ENGLAND
Mmm, these were really good! I loved the flavor of the Mandarin sauce and its sticky consistency. I’m a sucker for ribs, noms!
Buckingham Palace during Changing of the Guard. Wow, this place is an absolute madhouse during this ceremony and unless your next to the inner fence you really can’t see much! I would say it’s kinda cool, but I wouldn’t waste my time waiting on future visits.
Salted caramel, pecan and biscuit filling on a chewy biscuit base topped with milk Belgian chocolate and pecan pieces. Contains nuts, vegetarian. 248 calories, 4.1 g sat fat. Buy 3 or more, Eat in £1.20 each
Starbucks, London ENGLAND
We don’t have these petite bars available at U.S. Starbucks which is totally lame! The Starbucks in Europe have such better pastries, desserts, and food in general than those in the States. This was a little sweet for my taste but definitely delicious. I can’t believe they can pack almost 250 calories into this tiny morsel!
Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, London 2012 Olympics Countdown Clock. The fountains in the square are also pretty cool and they have sea-themed statues in the middle like this one with mermen and dolphins.
Battered fillet of sustainable cod, chips, tartare sauce and garden peas. £5.99
The Lord Moon of the Mall, London ENGLAND
Who says British food is gross and flavorless?! I HAD to try their fish and chips and it tasted great! The fish was nicely fried and the batter had a good flavour (hehe). The fries were crisp on the outside and pillowy on the insde and I definitely prefer garden peas to mushy peas.
Perhaps this painting is of the Lord Moon of the Mall? Lol, prolly not but the dining area is quite cozy and busy! So there aren’t any servers that come to your table to take your food order. You have to go to the bar to order and then expeditors bring out your food when it’s ready.
I love the high ceiling and large windows in the dining room. This was our first full day in London and the weather was horrible – it was cold and rainy!
Big Ben, Elizabeth Tower, Palace of Westminster. It was a gloomy day but that didn’t prevent us from walking around London like crazy people trying to fit everything in. It’s pretty amazing how ornately decorated this Clock Tower is.
Chopped tomatoes, red wine creme fraiche, crispy shallot, blonde frisee, oven roasted tomato vinaigrette.
Ad Hoc, Yountville CA
Alan C.
Our pints of Guinness at various stages of pouring. Mine is the second from the right, a beautiful sight! Lol. Sláinte!
Discounted entrance which included a pint of Guinness €14.50
Guinness Storehouse, Dublin IRELAND
The Guinness Storehouse is purported to be Ireland’s number one visitor attraction, and somehow I believe it. To jumpstart our first full day in Dublin and kick off my friend Kryan’s pre-birthday celebration, we took public transit to this brewery/museum/beer haven! It’s housed in an old historic brick building, but the interior is quite clean, beautiful and spacious.
The central atrium is actually the world’s largest pint glass! Well, shaped like one anyway. If it were filled with Guinness, the seven story tall atrium would hold 14.3 million pints! At the bottom of the atrium, displayed beneath glass, is the 9000 year lease that founder Arthur Guinness signed in 1759 on the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin.
The self-guided tour takes you through multimedia displays that explain the brewing process used to make Guinness stout. This projected video shows the harvesting of barley, one of the four natural ingredients used in brewing.
A long sheet of water cascades through the middle of one room. The displays are both interesting and interactive.
Chronology of Guinness. Among the artifacts used in the brewery process are displays like this one which recount the historical events that shaped this global brand.
Copper lid from 1936 which was probably from one of their many brewing tanks.
Old copper brewing tanks/vats. Weave in and out among these large tanks, some of which have been converted to video viewing rooms.
The Guinness Academy pouring station on the 4th floor. We decided to redeem our free pints while learning how to pour the Perfect Pint. This bar/classroom was really cool! They had 4 or 5 of these stations where groups would learn the craft of pouring pints from a Guinness Ambassador (yeah, kinda cheesy but we’re on vacay, ya’ll).
Of course my friend Kryan volunteered to help demonstrate how to pour the Perfect Pint. Well I guess he was the pre-birthday boy! I was a little disappointed that our Ambassador was from Michigan, what!? I would have preferred a native Irishman so I could listen to his cute accent but Michigan-guy was actually really nice and super informative. Some things I learned (which Kryan knew btw): Guinness is a ruby red color, pouring Guinness is a two-step process with waiting involved, aim for the harp when pouring the first round, it matters whether you pull or push the beer tap handle, etc.
My other friend David takes his turn to pour with guidance from our Michigan Ambassador.
After pouring our Perfect Pints, we grabbed a table and happily consumed all 198 calories each, lol! We even got cute certificates declaring us pouring experts.
Gravity Bar sits at the top floor of the Guinness Storehouse and offers 360 degree views of Dublin! It’s a fun relaxed space where seating can become scarce, but everyone seems a little jollier with their pints in front of them.
Kryan recounts his hour of glory as the Guinness Ambassador’s assistant. Sláinte, männliche schlampe! Love you, mean it!
My travel buddies David, Kryan, and Tristen!
Even the rain couldn’t put a damper on our Irish adventure!
And our Guinness Storehouse Experience was topped off with a Susan Boyle sighting, OMG! This lady is tiny! We saw her walk by our table and we had just decided to follow her and ask for a quick photo when a group of feral students mobbed her, ruuude! That’s ok because the following day good ‘ole Suze followed us onto our Dublin Bus Tour. What a stalker, right!?
With another slice of “bacon”. Complimentary
The Abbott Lodge, Dublin IRELAND
Again, a little different from the breakfast foods I’m used to. The eggs were scrambled really fine, if that makes sense. And the sausage has such an odd texture, it’s very soft like Vienna sausages. I’m glad that there was a slight sear on the outside otherwise I don’t think I would have eaten much of it. Ketchup was definitely my fried, lol!
Dairy Land Cuisine pure butter. I think the clean, simple packaging is cute!
A Spoonful of Irish sugar packets. These sachets have cute Irish sayings on the back like “Beauty does not boil the pot” and “The man with boots does not have to worry about where he puts his feet”. Some are funny, but some are just confusing, lol!
William Smith O’Brien statue, by Thomas Farrell, O’Connell Street. This street has many statues of political figures. O’Brien was an Irish Nationalist and Member of Parliament and leader of the Young Ireland movement. I snapped this quick pic from the Dublin “Green” Bus Tour.
“Fusciardi’s have been cooking fish and chips for over 70 years in our homemade batter. And freshly cut chips!” Medium €6.50
Fusciardi’s Cafe, Dublin IRELAND
I feel bad for saying this because the worker (owner?) was SUPER nice, but this was horrible! The fish was limp and super oily and so were the French fries. And oddly enough, they both lacked flavor. I’m sorry nice worker, forgive me!
Ha’penny Bridge, Bachelors Walk. This is a beautiful pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey that leads to Merchants Hall on the southern side.
Homemade potato pancakes baked with chicken, pork vegetables, mushrooms, and melted mozzarella. Domaci bramboracky s masovou smesi, zapecene s mozzarellou. €12.50
Pifko Bar and Grill, Dublin IRELAND
Another odd dish with some interesting flavors. The potato pancakes were plenty cooked and the melted mozzarella was a surprising addition. Perhaps I just need to immerse myself in Czech food so I can understand the flavors better.
Bedford Tower, Dublin Castle, Upper Yard. This is a cute cobblestone Georgian courtyard surrounded by beautifully old buildings. In 1907, the Irish crown jewels were stolen from this building.
Czech national dish! Slow roasted pork served with cabbage and dumplings. €10.50
Pifko Bar and Grill, Dublin IRELAND
“Pifko” means “pint” in Czech. This is a random restaurant along the River Liffey but we were looking for a change. This was the first time I’ve had traditional Czech food and I don’t think I was made into a fan. The pork was really good, but I didn’t really like the cabbage or dumplings. They were on the sour side for me and the dumplings were soggy and unappetizing. I guess I’m just not used to these flavors and textures.
The Spire of Dublin, Monument of Light, O’Connell Street. This 121.2 meter (398 feet) tall stainless steel monument is the tallest sculpture in the world! It was designed by Ian Ritchie Architects and finished on January 21, 2003. Some nicknames include The Spike, The Stiletto in the Ghetto, The Nail in the Pale, The Stiffy at the Liffey, The Erection at the Intersection, and The Pin in the Bin.
Fried eggs and “bacon”. Complimentary
The Abbott Lodge, Dublin IRELAND
It always tickles me how food varies depending on where you eat it. For instance, I would never call this “bacon”. For me, I’d call them fried, fatty ham slices. The pepper is also WAY too powdery for my taste.
Toasted batch bread with strawberry jam. Mmm, I do love the bread they have in Ireland. It’s super airy and flavorful.
Assorted Hartley’s jams and marmalades. These are cute!
Wellington Monument obelisk, Phoenix Park. This is the tallest obelisk in Europe and the second tallest in the world, second only to the Washington Monument. Phoenix Park is quite large and makes for a great quick getaway from downtown Dublin.
A traditional Irish dish of pork sausage, bacon, potato, onion, and parsley served with batch bread. €8.95
The Bachelor Inn, Dublin IRELAND
Mmm, this was a simple stew-like dish and VERY flavorful. I actually really liked the batch bread! It’s super light and airy and they lather it with plenty of butter. The Bachelor Inn is a cute place along the River Liffey walkway and the service was excellent (and good looking too)! We all recognized that out waiter was a diamond among the not-so attractive local population, lol! Would definitely recommend dropping in for a pint or some vittles!
“The Prick with a Stick” James Joyce statue, North Earl Street. This statue is along the shopping corridor in north Dublin, not too far from where we were staying. There’s plenty of shops and excellent people watching, lol!
Tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on an organic flour crust. 12 inch pizza €8.50
Ristorante Romano, Dublin IRELAND
This pizza wasn’t very good – I guess I couldn’t expect much from an Asian/Italian restaurant in Dublin. The crust was thin, dense and it these weird stratified layers of dough. Very odd. It wasn’t very crisp either considering its thickness.
River Liffey at night. The river cuts through the center of Dublin and has many cute shops, pubs, and restaurants along it. Apparently, it’s one of the few rivers in Ireland with a feminine name.
Vittle Monster 