In Honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Here Are 3 Fabulous Pubs in Kilkenny, Ireland!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, my second favorite holiday (after my Birthday), I am sharing three really lovely pubs that I visited in December in Kilkenny, Ireland. This was my second visit to Kilkenny, Ireland, and Kilkenny is home to many great pubs and restaurants. As such, there are certainly other great pubs in Kilkenny, but I enjoyed these three a lot!

Kilkenny Castle.

TYNAN’S BRIDGE HOUSE BAR

Tynan’s Bridge House Bar was, by far, my favorite pub in Kilkenny, and ranks among my favorites of all time. Tynan’s is located right of the River Nore in the heart of Kilkenny. Tynan’s is a quintessential Irish pub that is filled with character and charm. The bartender gave us a very warm welcome despite it being 11 AM on Christmas weekend…. Like any real Irish pub, Tynan’s serves no food and there are no TVs in the bar. I enjoyed several Guinness here during my visit in December. Tynan’s is a must-visit for pub lovers in Kilkenny.

Tynan’s Bridge House Bar.

A great pour.

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A 9 Person Tour of Ireland for Christmas and New Years!

After a big family trip to Italy over Thanksgiving in 2021, we did another group trip trip to Ireland this past Christmas and New Year. This time we had 9 instead of 8 people, including my parents, Dan’s siblings, our friend Pryor and her husband and mother, and stayed for 11 days! We toured a decent bit of Ireland and I think everyone remains on speaking terms, LOL. I’ll be writing about more specific bits of our trip later, but here is a summary for those interested in doing something similar!

Christmas in Ireland!

DAYS 1 – 4: KILKENNY, IRELAND & MOUNT JULIET ESTATE

After an overnight flight from New York, we landed in Dublin early in the morning. A van, with a lovely driver, John, was waiting for us and drove us 1.5 hours to the Mount Juliet Estate, just outside of Kilkenny, where we had booked a four day Christmas package.  We got lucky and blue sky came out just as we arrived at Mount Juliet Estate.

Mount Juliet Estate in Ireland.

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A Tale of Three Distilleries in Dublin

In light of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday (i.e., my favorite holiday after my birthday!), I am writing all about Dan and my vacation to Ireland over Christmas and New Years!  On this trip, since we visited with a number of Ireland first timers and whiskey lovers, we visited three whiskey distilleries in Dublin! This is my comparison of the three, after having visited each multiple times.

Christmas at Irish distilleries.

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Restaurant Review: Checchino dal 1887, Rome, Italy

Late last Spring, Dan and I found ourselves in Rome unexpectedly. This gave us an opportunity to try new restaurants that we otherwise may have missed (i.e., with more time to make reservations). Dan decided that he wanted tripe, which is a Rome delicacy (at least to some), so I set out on the world wide web to find fantastic tripe in Rome. Not surprisingly, a restaurant in Testaccio came up multiple times, which is an area well-known of its offal based cuisine. I called and made a same day reservation.

Rome in the Spring.

We taxied from our hotel, the Cavalieri, and arrived at Checchino dal 1887 about 20 minutes later, where we were greated with our reserved table. I suspected Checchino dal 1887 was old-school due to its location and description online, but I underestimated how old school. Checchino dal 1887’s dining room is a true blast from the past, with a domed ceiling and wood paneled walls lining the restaurant. Old Rome drawings, advertisements, announcements, certificates, books and paintings line the wall, and there is a real fire place in the restaurant. Our friend Jenna, who joined us for dinner, described it as as “so old school, there are even cobwebs on the lamps.” LOL, this was actually true, but in the best way possible.

An adorable table at Checchino dal 1887.

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Eating our Way though Nørreport, Copenhagen!

My husband and I visited Copenhagen last September for a long weekend.  One fun thing we did was take a food tour in Nørreport, Copenhagen. This post discusses the stops that we made and the foods that we tried. All in, the food was really interesting and tour taught us a lot about Danish culture and food. And, we had one of the best hotdogs I’ve had in a very long time!

Our tour started on a sunny morning outside of Torvehallerne Food Hall, one of Copenhagen’s most famous food markets. And even if you don’t take a food tour, a lunch visit to Torvehallerne is a must for all foodies in Copenhagen!

Outside Torvehallerne. A perfect late summer morning.

Torvehallerne Food Hall.

Inside Torvehallerne – worth a visit/lunch even if you do not take a tour.

STOP 1: DANISH CHEESE AT ARLA UNIKA IN THE TORVEHALLERNE FOOD HALL.

The first stop of our food tour was inside Torvehallerne at a famous Danish cheese shop, Arla Unkia. Arla Unkia is apparently quite famous in Denmark and this location had a large the selection of Danish cheese. This tasting was a selection of three cheeses, all from Denmark and of varying ages. We paired the cheeses with a slightly spicy tomato jam and type of dessert apple wine. Everything was great, and I purchased some of the tomato jam to bring home.

Arla Unika at Torvehallerne.

Arla Unika at the Torvehallerne food hall. Very accessible even if you are not on a food tour.

The red apple wine that we tasted.

Our three cheeses, red liquor and the local marmalade.

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