Today’s objective was to navigate from Ballygally to the Ballyknocken House in Ashford. Most of the trip was easy enough: we wanted to avoid Belfast, so we went southwest before heading back southeast. The challenges began as we entered Dublin. Suffice it to say that a slightly out-of-date map and new traffic patterns since my last visit resulted in a few circular routes on both sides of the Liffy. We eventually made our way to the N11 and out of town.
Our next challenge was to find a late lunch. Lonely Planet touted a restaurant in Kilpderry that only served lunch and that also featured an organic/local foods shop. Improvements to the N11 have made it impossible to get to the venue, though, and after navigating roundabouts on both sides of the N11 multiple times, we finally reached the restaurant and discovered that it’s now only open on Saturday afternoons.
Sometimes things are meant to be though. After checking into the Ballyknocken House, we drove to Wicklow Town, where we enjoyed a scrumptious early bird menu at Bernie’s Bistro. For starters, we tried fried Brie and a trio of soups. For mains, I had salmon on mashed potatoes with asparagus, my mom tried sweet potato croquettes, and my dad enjoyed roasted duck. Our mains were served with a mix of steamed vegetables and roasted fingerling potatoes. We wrapped up the meal with two desserts – strawberries with a balsamic, rosemary reduction and vanilla ice cream, as well as a lemon and key lime cheesecake. Overall, a delicious feast!
Tonight we walked around the Ballyknocken gardens, and we hope to enjoy a longer walk before breakfast in the morning. Tomorrow, we’re off to Glendalough and Powerscourt before returning to Dublin for the rest of our trip.