Everyone Knows It's Windy

Eli was on the hunt for some tennis shoes so we headed to Dundrum Town Centre this morning.  Or rather, we blew all the way to Dundrum Town Centre this morning.  It's extremely windy here at times - today being one of those times.  I had to hold my headband to the top of my head for fear the wind would snatch it away.  I'm going to have to pull my hair back into a ponytail or something because looking like Cousin Itt isn't great when you're trying to navigate stairs.

We journeyed to three or four different stores inside the mall but had no success.  For whatever reason, it's very difficult to find wide-width shoes in stores here.  Eli and I both got some winter gloves, and I found a raincoat.  It may shock you to learn that it rains here in Ireland.  A lot.  And I didn't have a medium-weight, waterproof coat so it was nice to remedy that today.

Holiday shopping is in full swing so the mall was full of people and noise and lights.  Not my idea of a swell time, by any stretch of the imagination.  I managed to pass by the bookstore without being drawn in by its siren song.  Please clap for me.

We tried a new restaurant for lunch - one I had suggested.  I know - shocking!  I tend to stick with the tried-and-true places so for me to both be willing to try something new and to have been the one to suggest it was a pretty big deal.

The bells of the church down the street had just rung 12, so I was afraid that the place might be full.  Happily, we walked in and there were only a couple people there.  It probably helped that the restaurant is in a little alley a block or two from the mall entrance so they probably don't have a lot of foot traffic.  Or at least they didn't today.  Business did pick up a few minutes after we arrived.

Nando's is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specializes in Portuguese flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken (description from their Wikipedia page).  If you know me, you know that about the only word I'm comfortable/familiar with in that sentence - culinarily speaking - is chicken.

Not knowing if we should wait or seat ourselves, we stood by the door and the hostess approached with a smile.  She asked if we'd been there before and, when we said we hadn't, explained how to order (either using a QR code or going up to the counter), pointed out where the drink station was, and also asked if we had any food allergies.

Eli ordered a mushroom and halloumi pitta with sides of broccoli and chips (aka fries) along with a hard cider; he also had an appetizer of spiced olives.  I got chicken butterfly (grilled chicken breast) with sides of mac/cheese and garlic bread along with a bottomless glass of Coke.  And it was soooooo good!  The garlic bread was soft on the bottom/middle but crispy on top and had a great garlic flavor.  The mac/cheese was very thick and creamy.  The chicken was tender and coated with peri-peri sauce, which tasted to me like a sweet BBQ sauce.

We didn't save room for dessert but if we had, I was eyeing the bottomless tub of soft-serve vanilla ice cream.  Doesn't that sound wonderful??

The staff came over multiple times to ask if we needed anything else, always with a smile and always so pleasant.  There was music playing but it wasn't so loud and obnoxious that we couldn't hold a conversation.

All in all, it was a really good meal and good experience.

I will leave you with a few more bits and bobs of random stuff:

- Rather than stocking stuffers, these items are called stocking fillers.

- You do your grocery shop or Christmas shop - not shopping.

- Underwear is called knickers.

- A basket is a hamper - so a gift basket would be a gift hamper.

- Sweaters are jumpers - e.g. I'm wearing my ugly Christmas jumper.

Pod People

Eli's birthday fell mid-week, so we celebrated yesterday by going to a restaurant at the Carrickmines mall called The Vanilla Pod.

It was a very grey day, and the sky was quite close to the ground.  There was a constant drizzle - enough to make you damp but not really make you wet.  I felt a little like produce in the grocery store when the mister jets engage.

We got to the mall a few minutes past noon.  The restaurant opened at noon, and there was already a line out the door.  We stood for a few minutes before deciding to do our shopping, hoping that when we returned, the place would've cleared out.

Our shopping quest was for salt and pepper shakers.  I had ordered some from Ikea but for whatever reason, those couldn't be shipped to us.  Don't ask me to explain it because I can't.  One of the home stores we went to had a Pier 1 mood - lots of cute holiday paraphernalia with fabric reindeer and fluffy seasonal blankets, with a pleasant scent of spices in the air.  You wouldn't think salt and pepper shakers would be hard to find, but you'd be wrong.  We eventually found some and went on our way.

Since we had time to kill, we went into a store called Woodie's.  It's basically Menards with housewares, tools, gardening stuff, paint, etc.  I had seen online that they carry rubbing alcohol (it's like a unicorn - you can't find it here very easily and when you do, it's mega expensive) but we didn't find it after wandering around.  Eli did get a tea ball though so it wasn't a complete waste.  Plus, as I told him, it was nice to see what types of items they have, in case we need something in the future.

Stopped at a pharmacy called Boots which is much like Ulta. They didn't have the products I was looking for but again, it was nice to make a reconnaissance ramble to see what they have on offer.

Back to The Vanilla Pod we went.  There was still a line, but it was shorter and moved along very quickly.  The three parties ahead of us were seated in short order and then it was our turn.

Eli had a pasta dish with an elderberry lemonade; I had a pepperoni pizza with a Coke.  Everything was very good - and very expensive, but that's the way things are everywhere, not just here.   My only complaint was that it was quite loud, making it hard to have a conversation.  In psychology, "the cocktail party effect" happens when you're surrounded by external stimuli but can still focus on something - e.g. you're in a loud restaurant but are able to focus on the conversation you're having with one person.  I have the opposite issue - if I'm surrounded by voices, I can focus on none of them.

Eli wanted to visit a mall in Dun Laoghaire which is accessible by bus.  The bus stop is right across from the tram stop, so he went to stand by the bus stop sign while I went to wait for the tram.  Even though I wasn't planning to ride the bus, I was apparently close enough to have an effect since it was late.  🙄  But eventually it arrived and eventually the tram arrived, and we both got to where we wanted to be.