Last weekend I flew home from Germany to spend a long weekend at home catching up with friends and family. I can't tell you how good it was to catch up with everyone face to face and have lots of cuddles! I have made some amazing friends here in Germany, some of whom I consider family! but you just can't beat that feeling of being home. I am a proud Cork lady and really miss the fresh, healthy produce of home. Sometimes it takes moving away to appreciate how lucky we are in Ireland to have so much good quality and local food.
While at home I attended two Yoga Workshops with my friend and teacher Lalit Kumar of Himalaya Yoga Valley Cork in their new and spacious centre on Penrose Warf. As a yoga teacher it is so important to remain practising regular yoga yourself and to constantly improve both your own practise and teaching skills. It's almost one year on from my graduation as a yoga teacher with Himalaya Yoga Valley in Goa and I can honestly say it's been an amazing and interesting year. Watch out for my post next week recapping on my 6 weeks spent in India and how my life has changed since.
I didn't take any pictures I'm afraid as that's not a very yogic thing to do! I was genuinely so caught up in the present moment in class that I wasn't even thinking about the blog! I also gave a Yoga for CrossFit workshop at CrossFit Cork where I used to teach and train. It was great to see everyone again and to teach some of my old students.
I ate some lovely meals, while catching up with friends and family and made a massive effort to eat as much local produce as possible. I met some work mates in The River Lee Hotel which is spacious and has good parking facilities which is perfect for people with children. I got the Taste of Cork tasting board with a glass of house red and it was delicious! All Cork meats and cheeses with some fig chutney and grapes. My only complaint was the red wine was served in a very small glass. I'm happy with the amount of wine (I just wanted a taste!) but I do like my red wine in a glass the size of my head! It just feels nicer.
I also went and got my hair cut in my favourite salon Sobe Brown, I can highly reccommend Pam and KT the Owner and head stylist in there. Not only are they lovely to deal with they are really talented. As are all their staff. You will leave with wonderful hair and a smile on your face as there is such a friendly atmosphere in there. As they say in their marketing "Sobe Brown...it's a feeling" and this is very true. On top of all that they give you a drinks list when you go in which includes two of my favourite drinks (on my favourites list for 2 very different reasons!). How is a girl supposed to chose between Prosecco and Green Tea!? On this occasion I chose the later as it was early in the day and I was anticipating that glass of red as big as my head!
I then went home to share a lovely "healthy" take away with my sister and share a bottle of red before bed. We went to Ramen for the Thai street food take away and I usually try and order something packed with veggies and coconut milk as it's so good for you. No take away is ever healthy but if you have to chose then Thai food is typically the best. We finished off with a tub of NoBó Icecream which is so delicious! Made in Ireland using Coconut milk, avocado, sweetened with honey and then flavours such as Chocolate and toasted Almond, Coconut Vanilla and my favourite, Fresh Lemon. This is a tasty and healthy diary free ice-cream.
Some other establishments that I visited were one of my all time favourites The Rocket Man. If you live in Cork and have never been here you are missing out! I've heard people give out that it's expensive, well there is a reason for that! All the foods are fresh, produced locally and packed with nutrition and flavour. I felt a cold coming on so I went in here to get a green juice and asked for extra Ginger to help fight it off. €5 for a large, fresh juice (it is made right in front of you and you can see the amount of food that goes into it!). Not only that it comes in a completely compost-able, take away container so you can sip on your lovely juice guilt free. They also do amazing salad pots with the most delicious toppings as well as selling locally made cordials, healthy bars and snacks and healthy, tasty slushies!
Right across the street (Prince's Street) from Rocket Man is one of my other all time favourite shops in Cork. Iago is the most amazing Italian inspired Deli selling stunning local and continental cheeses, preserves, fresh pasta and some deli meats. You can find top quality cheeses here from 10 miles away from the shop right up to Italy's classics. They have a massive range or organic cheeses from cow, sheep and goat. I brought home as much as I could fit and apologies to anyone sitting near me on the plane that smell wasn't me...it was the cheese!
On my walk around the city I also came across another Salad Bar called Loving Salads. This Salad Bar had a range of fresh, home-made salads as well as home made treats and snacks. Similar enough to Rocket Man in it's operation. Their menu was varied and lengthy with clear markings of what is Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Vegan and Diary Free. It makes me so happy that establishments like this are opening up as clearly there is a demand for fresh, healthy and tasty food. Be gone Fast Food Chains!
On my way from Germany to Ireland and back again, I have a 4 hour wait in Stanstead Airport. I could think of other places to spend 4 hours but alas this is the easiest and cheapest way for me to get back. I've done it so many times now I'm a pro and know all the good places to eat and drink. It's easy to stay healthy when travelling you just have to make the effort. I usually eat in a restaurant called Giraffe which is sandwiched between Burger King and Witherspoons (two of my most loathed eateries!). So this is my healthy mecca. On the way out it was evening and so I grabbed my dinner here. They do a range of healthy options including what I got which was a Green Smoothie packed with greens and goodness. Along with sweet potato fries, a bunless Mexican burger (they have a whole range of bunless burgers on the menu, just ask) which was a fillet of chicken with chrizo, guacamole, and cheese on top which came with a side salad. Delicious and really filled me up for the rest of the journey home.
On the way back to Germany I had to get a very early flight to Stanstead and so I decided to get breakfast here. They have a really nice brekkie menu including lots of side so you can esentially build your own breakfast which was just what I did! I had another green smoothie, 2 eggs, some avocado, wheat free granola with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. It was delicious and not too expensive (by airport standards!)
As I said it was just lovely being home and getting to catch up wit all my friends. It's good for the soul to be surrounded by those you know, love and grew up with. I got to breath the fresh Irish air and really appreciate all Cork has to offer.
Of course I got the best welcome home from Eamon who was so happy to have me back and gave me extra cuddles to compensate!
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