Lounging And Limerick

The morning after our spirited jaunt to the Aran Islands was spent in relaxing recuperation. Our sunlit loft was the perfect sanctuary for a morning rest after two full days of running around. Once we finally got ourselves ready for the day, we spent a final few hours in Galway on a much sunnier afternoon than the one before. More than once we were referred to a nearby café that boasted some of the best coffee and breakfast in town and when we finally submitted to the siren call, we were not at all disappointed. The exterior is all stone, reminding me of a medieval shanty in some old castle town. Inside there was a sassy waitress trying to find tables for the many guests who wanted to alleviate their Sunday hunger while also taking orders from those lucky patrons already seated. There was a shelf of amazing homemade baked goods that I unfortunately never tasted because I needed by savory snacks first and was far too full after to keep going. I ordered some sort of healthy hipster dish, but it was exactly what I needed on that sunny morn. After our delicious brunch, we let the sun saturate us by the harbor for a bit before packing up and heading back to Limerick.

After so much craziness the past few days, plane rides, bus trips, ferries, bicycles, music and booze, I offered to cook my friend dinner in her apartment as a thank you for hosting me and so she could work on her thesis for a couple of hours. We picked up some groceries at the local market and embraced our evening at home. I was actually incredibly excited at the thought of using an oven, since I have had only my lonely little hot plate for so long. And while I am quite proud of the dishes I concoct with such limited resources, I was even more proud of the cooking skills I was beginning to develop before leaving NYC last year. I made a simple dish involving chicken, asparagus, tomatoes and rosemary, followed by some Betty Crocker cupcakes for dessert. All in all, just a little bit of heaven on an Irish Sunday eve. The following day would prove to be quite a conglomeration of classic ridiculousness, so we certainly needed the lounging interlude.