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{Travel}: Weekend Exploring Bray, Co. Wicklow

February 15, 2017 by Meg 8 Comments

So many things to do in Bray, county Wicklow. Just a short train trip from Dublin. Bray to greystones cliff walk, the oldest pizzeria, and a walk up bray's head - plus more!So many things to do in Bray, county Wicklow. Just a short train trip from Dublin. Bray to greystones cliff walk, the oldest pizzeria, and a walk up bray's head - plus more!

bray wicklow

Bray is a quiet little seaside town, it is similar to Dun Laoghaire in it’s set up. I think it relies on passing tourist trade for the most part – although it definitely is a lot bigger than I thought it was! Most people who live in Dublin will tell you to go to Bray and do the Bray to Greystones Cliffwalk (followed by a stop at the Happy Pear in Greystones). But after some further digging about what else Bray has to offer, I realised there is so much more in this town to do! It helped that we stayed the night there, so we got to fit in a lot more than most.

How to get to Bray: We took the DART (train) down to Bray; 34 minutes and you are there! You can also travel on a bus, that would make the trip there a little over an hour (from Dublin City).

Warning: Once we arrived in Bray, we did a HUGE amount of walking! I am sure it would have been quicker in a car but we stuck to walking (plus walking is free).

5 things you HAVE to do in Bray:

  • Promenade and ice cream: I think Bray and Dun Laoghaire might have a secret battle on who has the best ice cream. Bray also has a Teddy’s (not the original I am told!) but a ton of other shops along the promenade offer ice cream – including a Gino’s (which we have yet to try!). Grab a cone and hit the prom for a bit of a walk, I loved that there were pebbles on the beach! I have been dying to see that sort of beach here. Coming from Sunny South Africa beaches and which are filled with hot sand dunes, it is a real treat to see pebbles!

bray promenade

  • Bray’s Head: Google maps will tell you is a 1,2km walk to the Bray’s Head. But dont’t let that fool you – the walk is tough! There are no paved pathways, you are literally hiking up the hill. On the day we did it, it was wet and raining. I don’t think I would recommend to people who are not steady on their feet. It was a challenging walk up the hill, but like everything in Ireland – the view was incredibly sweet. The walk down was a bit tricky to manoeuvre, with loose ground and rock to walk over. But I definitely think the view makes it so worth it.

bray head

  • Bray to Greystones Cliffwalk: The walk is really do-able. It is on an actual path, and not at all strenuous. It is about 6km, and most people walk one direction and then take the train back – which is what we did. I think next time, I would be keen to walk there and back. Rob, ofcourse, is keen to run both ways! A popular pit stop in Greystones is The Happy Pear. It is owned by twin brothers, and it is a vegan restaurant. They even have a recipe book – and are a bit famous here in Ireland. We tried to stop here but the lines out the shop were almost down the road! Like I said, it is very popular. I would be keen to go back and visit, they have a beautiful outside area around the back which I think would be even more congested in summer!

bray cliffwalk

  • Pizza’s n Cream: Following a tip about visiting a vegan, healthy spot, why not suggest to rather stuff a large pizza in your face? (Don’t mind me, I am a fitness blogger who advocates a balanced lifestyle!) But seriously, the pizzas here are well worth a cheat meal or five. They claim that they are the oldest pizzeria in Ireland. (sidenote: I absolutely love that every irish establishment is the oldest or best or highest or longest in Ireland – they are all very good at choosing a highlight and marketing it well!) The menu selection is broad, the wine is good, and I found the prices very affordable.

bray pizza

  • Harbour Bar: or what I like to call “the inside of Rob’s head”. This place is incredible. It is filled to the brim with knick knacks and loads of nooks and crannies; all while playing great music tracks. It has several seating areas: bar; lounge, outdoor area, upstairs area – and all of them offer something different dependent on what you are looking for. We popped in for a pre-drink and chill. We sat upstairs listening to pipe music. It felt like we were at home. Downstairs there was a band playing, and a party just getting started. We will definitely be back.

bray harbour bar

  • Random bonus: And if you are a silly tourist, just looking for quirky finds, this is possible the prettiest McDonald’s I have ever eaten at (yes, we had breakfast here!).

bray mcdonalds

Would you believe that we ran out of time, and so we have to head back (and soon) to visit Bray some more, here are things that I know we need to still see:

  • Kilruddery House: We walked out to the see the house (which is owned by the Earl and Countess of Meath) but it was closed for winter and will reopen in March. There is also farm market, 9am – 3pm every Saturday. It was also closed for winter – but I am very intrigued to visit the market soon!

killruddery house

  • Dockyard No. 8: is THE spot in Bray for the best brunch. This restaurant is right next to the Harbour Bar, and is on the other side of town, away from Bray’s head which is where we were going that day. We ran out of time with only one morning to visit, but I will be back!

Have you done the Bray to Greystones Cliff walk?

~ Meg ~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: bray, cliffwalks, ireland, irishlife, travel tips, travelling, travels, vacation ideas, wanderlust, wicklow

{Travel}: Day Trip to Dalkey

February 4, 2017 by Meg 2 Comments

A day trip to Dalkey, county Dublin, Ireland.

A day trip to Dalkey, county Dublin, Ireland.

A day trip to Dalkey, county Dublin, Ireland.

Dalkey

Dalkey is a very small coastal town. It is quaint, and with narrow roads filled with restaurants and shops. Even better, it is home to a few celebs – Bono and Enya to name a few. Since moving to Ireland, I have gotten this obsession with trying to spot a celeb. No such luck yet, but I will happily explore more of Ireland until we do!

Dalkey

How to get there: Catch the DART to Dalkey is probably the easiest way (22minutes from Lansdowne).

We arrived in Dalkey mid morning on a Saturday, but found a lot of places were closed. Regardless, we decided to start our exploration off with a pit stop to fuel our bellies. we found a very trendy spot around a corner, called Wanderlust. I loved the casual dining, and the very hipster vibe of this restaurant. They offer a brunch, lunch and a dinner menu. Just a bit of a warning though, the restaurant seating is small and at times, gets a little cramped.

dalkey burger

I had the Wanderlust burger, which was super tasty!

After a satisfying lunch, we missioned up the street, and followed the signs going to Killiney Hill Park. It is a little over 1.5km walk, and the views are spectacular – and well worth the uphill walk.

killiney hill park

Rob actually suggested that it would be good hill training to run and up – it kind of reminded me of Westcliff stairs back home. So perhaps we will be back to tackle this hill in running gear!? For now, I am just happy we got to experience these great views!

killiney dalkey hill

After we did several pano’s (Rob is slightly obsessed) we walked down the other side of the hill and park and walked towards Killiney, to catch the Dart and head to Bray for the rest of my Birthday trip.

killiney

Along the way, we spotted what looked like a part of a wall/tower – and would you believe, someone actually lives here!? 

Although I know we definitely have not explored all that both Dalkey and Killiney have to offer, it was a great taste for these two little towns and we can’t wait to go back again to explore some more! Who knows, maybe we will even bump into Bono!

Have you bumped into a celeb? Tell me where!

~ Meg ~

 

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Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: dublin, ireland, irishlife, travel, travelling, wanderlust

Take a look at what a home in Dublin looks like

November 22, 2016 by Meg 8 Comments

Take a look at what a home in Dublin looks like - expat life - living abroad - living in Ireland

Take a look at what a home in Dublin looks like - expat life - living abroad - living in Ireland
Dia dhaoibh*, friends from a chilly Dublin, Ireland!

[* This is a gaelic term for hello to more than one person; the direct translation is ‘God be with you’]

It has been one week since I arrived and I am really feeling like I am home. I thought that once I got here it would feel like a bit of a holiday – not permanent, and just for fun. In true Rob and Meg fashion we have jumped in head first and we are loving every minute of it. Last week alone I walked over 67 540 steps; a total of 49,4KM. I am super chuffed I bought a fitbit. It drives everyone around me crazy because I sync and update them regularly but I love seeing how active I am and I am really hoping that once I start running again too, I can finally lose all this weight I have gained over the last few months. Yes, I am in fat mode. Yes, its because I got injured, and I got stressed and moving countries is hard work. But it kills me looking at pictures of how fat I have actually gotten. But I have a plan – watch this space.

I thought today I would share a few pictures of our new home, and what I love/don’t love about it.

For starters, this is our little house:

dublin house

We live on a small but busy street, within walking distance of two parks, and even the beach! We are also walking distance from the Lansdown stadium (where all the rugby happens); this also means we have some pretty great pubs close by (but that’s a given for any true Irish town).

We live in a suburb called Irishtown. It is right on all the main bus routes, so travelling into the city and out is pretty easy. Rob works in the city, he leaves for work at 8:20am (starts at 9am!) which means we get to get up early and walk Jack together, have breakfast together. I am the good wife who packs his bag for him and sends him on his way before I settle down to work myself.

Here is a pic of my little home office:

dublin home office

I work in the lounge/dining room area of our house. The house has two fireplaces: one in the lounge and one in our bedroom. It is an old house, like very old. Rob has termed it the rusty bucket. I like to think of it as a quaint elf cottage. It is not suited for tall people.

dublin lounge

Our house has the lounge area, kitchen and courtyard on the ground floor, then a staircase as you come into the front door that takes you up to the bathroom and two bedrooms.

dublin kitchen

The kitchen has a low ceiling, and its small. The appliances are very old – atleast 50 years old but they work, so we can’t complain.

dublin bathroomThe bathroom has a gas shower in the bathtub. Thankfully the water is always hot and the pressure is pretty good. But we have to bend our heads while showering, as the skylight and ceiling are pretty low (hence my thinking it’s better suited for elves).

The bedrooms are full of natural light, which is actually beautiful. Here is a pic of our bedroom (Jack’s fave place is on the bed with the sun coming in):

dublin bedroom

The house also comes with a lot of storage space and plenty of cupboards – this is unlike most places here, so we are pretty thankful for the extra space. Our bedroom is my fave place, it is so airy and light.

The house came with all the furniture, it is not the best stuff, but it has saved us a lot of money not having to buy anything just yet. It even came with cutlery and plates etc – so we have all the basics and can get by while we wait for our 3 boxes to arrive. I am told the boxes could be anytime in December… but I am not holding my breath. We decided against buying a TV. We are currently watched series off the computer, because the one thing I love about our house is the uncapped wifi – how we did life before high speed internet is beyond me.

Most people in Ireland don’t really have that homely vibe like people in SA. Here, you generally try to get out of the house and visit people at pubs or parks – not like in SA where you are always going over to a friend’s place for a braai. I think Rob and I will be the same in that the house is small, and we will go crazy if we don’t get out when we can.

Another great plus to having a small house is that this is less of it to clean! So you would think it wouldn’t take too long to clean – you would be wrong. We learnt quite quickly that our view on cleanliness is VERY different to here. I am not sure if it is how Rob and I were raised, but our mother’s would have heart failure at the thick layer of grime and dirt that has just built up all over this house over lack of cleaning. We got stuck in and literally cleaned the house all of Sunday, and I still feel as though its not clean enough. It will take a lot of days of deep cleaning to get it looking and feeling the way I want it to look. I feel like I may be classified as an extreme cleaner – but I would rather be called that then live in filth.

So that is our little Irish house, and the start of many great adventures to come.

What do you love about your house? Are you a neat freak or a secret slob at home?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Irishlife Tagged With: discover dublin, discover ireland, dublin, ireland, irish travel, irishlife, journey, life, travelling, travels

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Hey! My name is Meg. I blog about the life I share with my hubby, Rob; our furbaby, Jack and the newest family member, our daughter Riley. In 2016, we moved to a new country, cut down on clutter, and started focusing on unlocking a simple life, filled with travel and adventure. Read my story here

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