This was what we woke up to in the morning just outside of Dingle. What a pretty sight! It was so much fun finding our random campsite. The dirt road was SOO bumpy! Here are some more of the pictures I took while we were getting ready to hit the festival...
After waking up with a morning swim, we made it to Dingle! There were so many vendors dispersed throughout the tiny town. I got a lovely full Irish breakfast with black pudding (a sausage made from dripped blood...) and white pudding (a sausage made with all the random parts of the pig, like elbow and eyebrow), an egg, and bacon. Everything was super good, as long as you didn't think too much about it :). Here are some of the pictures I took while I was there. The food picture is from the vegan stall. The people were super nice! I got a ginger kefir and a vegan, gluten free pupusa. I really had a blast talking with all of the vendors and getting to try samples. Needless to say, I ended up with a pretty big stomach ache for the rest of the day, but all of the new flavors I got to try made it totally worth it!
After meandering through the festival, we drove back at a leisure pace. On the way, we stopped by a beautiful view of the ocean and peninsulas of Kerry. The light hitting the water was breath taking! It's definitely a memory I will never forget.
After passing through Cork, we decided to grab dinner in Midleton at a restaurant called Sage. Wow. I'm speechless. I have never encountered a restaurant like this: they source just about ALL of their ingredients within a 12 mile radius. How cool is that?! I guess it works out that they are close to the coast, as well as many of the farms in the area. Props to them! Their head chef I'm pretty sure forages for some of the ingredients locally too. Also get this- they even source their serving dishes from a potter next door. Unbelievable! The menu was spectacular! I got a starter of pork and chicken terrine with pickled cauliflower, rhubarb, and dehydrated sage. Sadly, the lighting was horrible so I wasn't able to get a whole lot of pictures. This first picture was what Nan got- a 12 mile sampler, with roasted duck, chicken liver paté, fried mackerel, smoked goat's cheese and honey, the same terrine I got, and smoked salmon. My main course was beef shin with celeriac purée, leek ash, some sort of root vegetable, and kale. YuM! For dessert, we all shared "The Midleton Brick," which used chocolate from a bean-to-bar chocolatier next door and had a toasted layer of homemade (marsh)"mallow" on top. It had some ice cream and coffee liqueur cream on the side too. Absolutely delicious.
What a great way to end our adventures. Of course, I think 23 days of thoughtless eating has taken its toll on my body though. I've been feeling pretty awful today actually, and kept feeling carsick last night and today. I need to change my frivolous, dairy-full and glutenous eating habits! D: I can't believe the weekend's already coming to an end. What's in store this week?! I can't wait! I might try and forage a little bit with some students to make yummy preserves before the cold creeps up on us. I hope you all have had a great weekend, despite Joaquin's rainy weather (at least in Virginia!).
Sending lots of love home!!
Love,
Livvy
Sending lots of love home!!
Love,
Livvy