Dublin - Baile Atha Cliath

  Dublin - Baile Atha Cliath

In the life you can never predict what will happen, which people you will meet, which road you will cross. And of course sometimes you can't predict the place here you will be living. Isn't it great? the excitement o the surprise and of the unknown, the continuous challenge.

It happened to me to move to Ireland, I will spend here some good time (a couple of months? more? less? who knows...) so for the moment I am learning to appreciate the irish culture, and enjoying life in Dublin, meanwhile I can improve my English...

The "harp" is the coat of arms of Ireland (from the Brian Boru harp), the name of an irish lager and the symbol of Guinness.

Dublin is not a large city, but it's not even too small, I 'd say a "medium size city", which is very good, because it's easy to move from one part to the other, and it is not so busy. The public transport is very well organized and precise, on the other hand it is also very expensive and there are not good value subscriptions; in my opinion the best option for medium terms travels is the "Leap card" which allow travelers to save round 10% of every ticket cost  (cost of the card: 5 € at Dublin Bus, in O' Connell street).

I must admit that Ireland's capital city is not one of the most beutyful urban example I ever seen, and at a first glance it seems a grey, rainy city. Which is true but, beyond that, the city has an extraordinary night life, with hundreds of pub, and a strong and fashinating culture that, if the traveler is honest and open enough, can be quite charming.

You will meet a lot of Irish people, mostly very nice, funny and kind, and you will see even more people from other countries: maybe not all of you knows that Dublin is unbelievably young and multicultural...I think that In the city centre there are probably even more foreigners than natives.

You will learn not to fear the rain, because some drops fall everyday, sometimes continuously, but never heavy. I can't say the same thing about the wind, which is impetuous. 

One thing that really was unexpected for me is that there is not a Central Square in the City: from an Italian point of view you'll agree this is quite shocking. However there are some small and nice squares, like the Grand canal square, and some enjoyable parks like Merrion square and St. Stephen's Green, where you can have a break in the amazing green of the lawns.

Dublin is a city that Should be "lived", therefore my brave and valiant Traveler, bring yur coat and sharpen your bottle opener, be lazy and meet people and you'll have a great time!!

Not to miss:

A pint of stout with fries and relish at the Porterhouse, in parliament street, a few drinks at The Church, and the Sunday late breakfast at Avoca. Don't forget also to eat a burger at Joe Burger, if you are brave enough.A day trip to Howth, to see the cliffs and the seals, and eventually try a delicious chowder (I love this fish soup, i think it's really tasty). 

About Museums I would advice to visit the Chester beatty library, near the castle: very nice and free and the Kilmainham jail, chance to learn something about Irish history. Also the Book of Kells in Trinity is interesting, especially for the  library hall, but honestly 8 € ticket is too much.

Pull me up / Tiramisu

Sun is shining again in Dublin! to celebrate we will make a good Tiramisu today!!

What you will need is an electrical whip for the eggs, a bowl and a baking tray to put the cake when ready. And, of course, the

Ingredients: (4 people)

• 3 eggs
• Mascarpone, 250 gr. (no, you can`t do it with different types of cheese, I`m sorry)
• Sugar, 60 gr
• Biscuits, they have to absorb the coffee..We normally use the Sponge fingers, "Savoiardi"
• Coffee, let`s say a cup of it, or something like that. 
• Cocoa powder

What to do now: first of all we open the eggs, paying attention in keeping separate the white parts from the yolks. We always have to be careful with eggs, precise like surgeons and quick like samurai, otherwise pieces of the eggshell will fall in the bowl with the yolks, and you will be wasting the next 40 minutes trying to get them out of it ( this always happen with Carbonara sauce too).

After that we can replace our Katana, put the sugar in the yolk`s bowl and blend. Than add the mascarpone and blend again. If you have a moka for the coffee you can prepare it, if you use Nescafe (which I don`t recommend) you can turn on the kettle. If you have a coffee machine, high five! Then, with the whip, beat the egg whites until stiff, and put them in the bowl with the rest of the stuff. Stir well now, until your arm starts hurting!

Here we are, your cream is ready. Taste it, and if it tastes bad it means that you used salt instead of sugar.. if it is good on the other hand we can finish the recipe.

Time to use biscuits. First of all we have to cover the baking pan with a first layer of sponge fingers, and spread over it a little bit of coffee, not to much because we need the first layer to be solid. Then we cover with cream, and add another layer of biscuits, this time with more coffee (don`t go too far, though) and cover again with more cream. If you still have biscuits and cream you can set up a third layer.

At the end, cover with cocoa powder and put your creature in the fridge for at least a couple of ours before eating!

Breakfast for champions

Hello everybody!

today we will talk about a good and easy receipt to make a simple tortilla for your Team Breakfast.

First of all, the

Ingredients (for two to four people, it depends on how hungry you are!):

• Potatoes, 400 gr
• Eggs, 5
• Onions, 1
• Cheese, as much as you want (Hey, wait, not too much!)

Time of preparation: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Very Easy!!

Preparation

This is a very easy receipt to make when your are hungry, your fridge (as your pockets) is almost empty and you don`t have time to waste. The only negative side: you will have some dishes to wash, more than if you decide to prepare a sandwich, and when you cook eggs, they cannot wait in your sink for ages!

Well, first of all you have to boil the potatoes, be careful, they don`t have to be smashed because you will have to cut them later, so put them in boiling water for let`s say ten to thirteen minutes (put one alarm if you are afraid to forget them).

In the meantime you can watch a youtube video, chat with your friends, drink something, and cut the onion in small pieces: then put it in a small pan, whit olive oil and some salt. You will also prepare the eggs: open and put them in a big bowl and shake well with a fork, with a circular movement. Put the cheese and some salt/pepper inside (don`t worry it only take a minute).

It is cool, you can then use this moment to do other stuff, this is very time/saving.

Suddenly, the alarm will ring and you will drain and peel the potatoes. Ahi! they`re hot! better put them for few seconds in cold water, your hands will thank you... than you can put the onion pan in the fire, and in the meantime cut the potatoes.

When the onion is frying you have to put inside the pan the potatoes and cook for few minutes, be careful not to burn the stuff, if it needs it you can add a little water.

Then you`ll clean the pan putting its content in the eggs bowl, and then, after stirring a little bit and putting some oil on the pan (if you don`t put it the eggs will burn after one minute, and it will be very annoying to clean the pan later...) empty the bowl on the pan. Make sure that the level of the mixture is uniform and that it is not sticking to the pan.

After 3 minutes it`s time to turn your omelette, that`s the most exciting/worse part, I suggest you to put you over the sink, in case that something goes wrong. Use a big plate dish to cover the pan (it must obviously be bigger than the pan!) and grab it strong. When you are ready, with a fast motion flip the pan and then move the tortilla from the dish to the pan and put it on the fire again for three minutes.

That`s all folks! your tortilla is then ready to eat at the moment or the day after, normally cold is even better, you can add anything you want to the receipt, i suggest courgettes or bacon, just make sure that there are enough eggs!

See you!