After two days at sea, we had no problems at Dublin on what was Day 5 of the tour. We dropped anchor just off the Dun Loaghaire Marina and tendered to the dock. The tenders looked rather tiny from the outside, but had loads of room inside. The pilot sat up above. There were plenty of people to help us on and off. But the sea was quite calm, so I didn’t have any issues. However, when a gentleman offers his arm, I take it.
I had visited Dublin before, including during a trip around all of Ireland, so a good share of the shore excursions were things I had already done. There were two that especially intrigued me, but they overlapped so I needed to choose. Ballyknocken Farmhouse Baking won out. TV chef and food writer, Catherine Fulvio, has a cookery school at her farm in County Wicklow.
I tend to watch many of the cooking shows on Saturday mornings on PBS here in the states. I figured it was a good chance to experience a live cooking lesson and spend some time on an Irish farm all in one excursion. I also have some Irish ancestry on my maternal side although I have not yet been able to find out from which part of Ireland they came. The census records and the ship records merely say “Ireland”. This was my maternal grandmother’s father’s mother (a great great grandmother).
In addition to the culture, people and history of a place, I also enjoy learning something new such as how to cook or bake something that epitomizes the location. We were scheduled to learn about baking scones. But, since we were a tad early and she had loads of time with us, she also chose to teach us how to make Irish Soda Bread. Afterwards, we ate both. We had some homemade Rhubarb and Ginger Jam with the scones and some tea. It was all delicious. The scones were much lighter than what I had on the ship. They were more like the recipe I use from my grandmother’s cookbook. I intend to make both of the new recipes myself.
After our lesson and tasting were over, we were invited to explore the farm. There were some sheep out in one area. They didn’t seem to have any interest in us. But they were probably quite used to constant visitors and thought to themselves, “Oh no. Not another bunch of city folks.” There were about 30 of us in the group, mostly from the US.
We had a lovely drive back to the port. Taking the tender back to the ship, I was on the side where I could get a photo of a docked three-masted schooner. I actually sailed on one when I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and have toured many others in various countries.
I shot some photos of our ship as the tender returned to it. Too bad the Guinness tour was at the same time as this one. It would have been nice to follow up with a pint there. I just needed to order one with my very light lunch (a small salad with some fruit on the side) on board the ship.
I met up with Sherry and Christine for the evening lecture on the Bayeux Tapestry, by Dr Caroline Malloy. She had some tidbits of information that I hadn’t ever heard or read before. The ship also had representations of the tapestry all over it.
I had visited the tapestry on my Grand France River Cruise in 2021. They didn’t allow photos, but they did allow me to film it. My video camera is a direct to DVD recorder. Whatever I film goes straight onto a little disc that I can just pop into a DVD player to watch. I filmed pretty much the whole thing, only pausing when someone decided to walk or stand in front of me.
At dinner, they were serving lobster tails. I had two with some grilled vegetables and a delicious Chenin Blanc. Sherry was a definite carnivore, usually getting a steak and a baked potato. Christine favored pizza although she did often peruse everything first and then make a decision. She frequently ended up with a pretty eclectic mixture of foods. I mostly went for any fish or seafood they were serving, although I did occasionally go for some meat. Then I usually got some veggies with whatever I got and maybe some fruit salad. The variety at the World Café worked the best for all of us.
Next time – A private tour of a Welsh castle being restored near Holyhead.
