ITALIAN FOODIES

We haven't had any holiday this year so we decided to pack up ourselves and the princess and head off to the Sheraton hotel in Cork. I mentioned in a recent post about her travelling issues so we just timed it around her morning sleep and she slept the whole way, we couldn't believe it, she woke as we drove up the driveway of the hotel - 2 hours after leaving Limerick. This was her first "holiday" so we were looking forward to doing the whole family weekend away. I was a little worried that the Sheraton would be more suited to golfers and couples rather than crazy Italian princesses but I have to say we were welcomed with open arms. 

I have to say this is one of the best hotels we have stayed in, the service was excellent, the rooms were spacious with huge bathrooms, the restaurant was child friendly, the food was very good and the staff did everything they could to make your stay more enjoyable. The location of the hotel is great as there is a fabulous golf course on the grounds of the hotel, Fota Wildlife Park is a 5 min drive away, Cork city is about 20-30 mins and Cobh is about 10 mins drive. We visited Fota the day we arrived and it is such a wonderful place for families, there is loads to see and there is a great picnic area in the centre of the park with a cafe where you can eat surrounded by the ducks and penguins. The princess loved it as a lot of the animals roam free so it is much better than the zoo as all the animals are in a natural environment.

We ate at the hotel the first day for lunch and dinner, we had 2 excellent fillet steak sandwiches for lunch with really tender and perfectly cooked (medium rare) meat served in crunchy ciabatta bread served with portobello mushroom, red onion relish and a blue cheese dressing and washed down with one of the best pints of Heineken we've had in a while - bring back the pint the way it used to be in Ireland!! We decided to have room service that night as the princess was tired from all the excitement even though she probably got more excited by the birds on the patio of the hotel more than the giraffes etc at the park:) Room service was very good, my expectation is always quite low so we were pleasantly surprised, we had a parma ham and fig salad and a tuna nicoise salad to start followed by a t-bone steak and a grilled swordfish with a chocolate fondant and 2 spoons for dessert and a couple of bevies from the mini-bar!!

The breakfast buffet at the hotel was excellent with a great selection of hot foods, cold buffet of salami, cheeses etc, cakes, fruit, cereals and they even had waffles and maple syrup. We headed over to Cobh for lunch and a stroll, it's a really nice town but not a "foodie haven" by an means, the food offering seemed quite limited to be honest.

We ate in a bar called the Quays which had great views and beer garden and good bar food if you are just looking for a sandwich - have the open smoked mackerel sandwich. The hotel also recommends the Watergate Lodge hotel which looked really nice but was more suited to "ladies who lunch" than the "italian foodie famiglia":)

We ate in the hotel restaurant that night, well we ate one at a time as the princess decided she wanted to walk around the restaurant pushing her little car about 100 times. The staff were great especially when her new game is throwing everything off her highchair - spoons, wine menu, napkins, my mobile phone, my keys, yes we will give her anything just to keep her entertained while we eat. The dinner was excellent, we both had the lamb chop which was really tender and succulent and was accompanied by "fat chips", the presentation was really impressive!! There is a fine dining restaurant also which had a very impressive menu - Lobster anyone???

We had a great couple of days but of course nothing ever goes smoothly with the italian foodies, we were bringing the princess to the pool for her first time so we got her ready in her little mini mouse swimsuit, took all the photos and then she goes and falls off the bed which was much higher than your average bed. She banged her mouth on the way down and was pumping blood so we had to call the doctor- the poor thing, there she was in her little swimsuit with her face covered in blood, even the doctor felt sorry for her:( Anyway she was fine just a little bruised but she did not enjoy the pool one bit!! She did enjoy being transported around in her little car and being told by everyone how cute she was in it - today this little car, tomorrow a Ferrari:)