Craic in Cork: A Saturday in Saint Stephen's

Saturday would be a day of exploring Dublin for the Spalluto family. We woke up, had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and got ready for the day. Dad had a lot of great things planned for us!

Our first stop was the Little Museum of Dublin. This was an great museum right next to our hotel. The Little Museum was in an old family home on Saint Stephen's Green in Dublin, filled with items of the 20th-21st centuries, donated by the people of Dublin. It was almost like a pop-culture museum of Dublin, and the entire top floor was dedicated to U2. It was a really neat place, and a lot more interesting, in my opinion, than old historical museums. After the tour of the museum, you were given a tour of Saint Stephen's Green. It was a beautiful day out, we were very lucky! We had an adorable tour guide who knew so much about the Green, and loved sharing his knowledge with the crowd. After the tour, we were in dire need of a caffeine fix. Dad and Care looked up some local coffee shops that were supposed to be good, so we set out for Kaph. The lattes were very good, and it was a neat, modern place. I have to say, I have been pretty impressed with the coffee in Dublin! Once we rejuvenated, we set out for our next mission, finding the Temple Bar Food Market, a great outdoor market with different vendors and food stands from the area, but we had a little pit stop. As we were walking around, we found a massive sale going on in a Patagonia outlet. The prices were crazy cheap, and there was a lot go nice quality stuff! We shopped around a little, stocking up on various Christmas and birthday gifts for people. Shockingly, when we were in the store, who do I run into, but, Grace! It is such a small world that I run into her in the biggest city in Ireland! it was a nice treat seeing her. After our shopping break, we headed for the market. When we got there, Care and I both said that it reminded us of Smorgasburg, in Brooklyn. This was a very good sign to us! Care and I ate at Karuna's Kitchen, a vegetarian tent, and Mom and Dad ate at Crepes in the City. There were so many options it was hard to choose just one place! Carolyn and I shared a kofta wrap, which was a wrap filled with a falafel-like food, and also a curry and rice dish. I could have eaten so much of this, it was incredible! I then got some hot apple cider and an apple, making me feel a little at home with the Fall favorite.

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at a store Mom was looking for, Kilkenny. This store has a lot of beautiful gifts and trinkets unique to Ireland. Mom needed to pick up a few things, and Care and I wanted to explore the store. We were in here for a while, and then headed back to our hotel, we had a dinner to make! I could not believe we were going out to another meal....

Our dinner reservation was at a place Care found in the New York Times, called, L. Lulligan Grocer. This restaurant is known as a "gastro pub," something Irish venues are starting to adapt to. Pub owners are taking their quaint pubs and making restaurants with gourmet menus. They keep the atmosphere of the pub, but enhance the food. I had a wild boar burger with pumpkin pesto (another Fall-like food), and celeriac fries. It was a spin off of a normal burger, and it was the best one I have had yet in Ireland. To end the great meal, we had Irish coffees, my first one so far in Ireland, actually, my first one ever! I had one of their famous ones that had a carmel taste to it.

Once again, my family has set me into a food coma! I was ready to sleep and prep for the next meal ;) But, Dad wanted to bring us to a pub with some of the best trad music in Ireland, Cobblestones. You know the music must be great at the pub when it is hard to get in the door. It was a very good find by Joe!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

The Park-Keeper's house on Saint Stephen's Green.