For everything, there is a first. The first job, the first car, the first home, first child
There is one more first that very few of us remember but it truly is the most significant. The first birthday. There are two ways to go about it. The kid is not going to remember the first birthday celebration anyway so why to bother. It quickly dawned on us it is not for the child but for yourself. A child getting through the first yea
r of life is a significant achievement in biological terms.
We were far from family and relatives so the celebration had to be just between us and friends.
In Dublin or outside was the next question. But the answer to that was easy since my wife and I always wanted to visit an island resort since the last couple fo years. Leverage this opportunity to hit two birds, one stone.
Fota Island Resort in Cork is a place many of our friends have been and had only good things to say about it.It was one of the top destination places to be at in Ireland as well. We booked a self-catering lodge at the resort for three night four days right away.
The countdown to the day had begun, train tickets booked lodge booked for the weekend of April the twenty-fourth 2016. With the remaining few weekends were spent in shopping for dresses and shoes for the birthday girl and ourselves.
The lodge was a three bedroom accommodation and we were thinking we might feel lonely just the three of us there. We decided to invite a friend of mine and his good wife to join us for the celebration. A very simple celebration that is.
Packed our bags and took off on Friday morning at the morning train to Kent train station, Cork.
The journey was extremely comfortable. At cork, we went to the nearest M&S and shopped for some food, snacks, cakes and sweets enough to keep us happy over the weekend.
A short taxi to the Island was all it took for us to be wowed by this amazing island. I still can't figure out how this is an island since we did not cross any bridges. I am not complaining. as we entered the gates where were plenty of wooded areas and pristine green golf courses spread all over. We drove up to the main hotel and picked up the keys to the lodge. There were two such blocks of lodges space by half a kilometer. We were put up in a corner lodge with the children's play area right behind it.
The lodge was a duplex in mint condition. Everything we could think of was available and the bedrooms looked so cozy. We unpacked quickly had some quick lunch and stepped out for a walk.
We were given maps of the four different routes within the resort. we decided to explore the short one. It lead us to a beautiful meandering path within the woods. Everything looked so lush and green. The sound of water, the breeze flowing through the leaves of very tall trees, the birds chirping and squirrels scampering across the foliage felt like we had reached a magical place. Almost forgot that we still are in the middle of civilization. Just beyond the woods, we could see the golf course.
The routes were a bit confusing but we were not completely lost. We care around to the back of the Main hotel. There was beautiful gazebo placed down the hill. A small bridge to get to it. To our complete surprise as we walked up the bridge water fountains sprouted all over. There even was an orchestrated water jet going over and above us while on the bridge. Impressive display. Spend few minutes there while we let Gayathri try out her walking skills. She had just barely learned to walk a couple of weeks ago and was honing in on her skills.
Back at the lodge , watched some telly and cooked food. Our friends from Dublin arrived the next day morning (Saturday). It was great having them over and share our joy. Gayathri got her birthday gift which she loves.
We all decided to walk around the island to the Fota wildlife sanctuary on the other end. On the map, there was a yellow route that was supposed to take us there. We tried to follow the route to the best of our abilities but we ended up getting lost. SO big was the island that we had to ask someone to get back. Exploration was fun and the cloudy weather did not help us with GPS being useless.
We somehow followed the edge of the golf course and got back to the main hotel. To our surprise , the staff forgot to mention that the yellow path no longer exists though it's clearly marked on the map. We were offered a free shuttle to the sanctuary which was nice. So we decided to head over on Sunday. Back at the lodge, we spent time chatting away, cooking dinner together and having a good time.
Sunday morning , I started decorating the living room with the little supplies we had brought over. The cake and the sweets laid out, the little princess dressed in her fancy new dress and it was time. George and Teena joined us in singing Gayathri's first birthday song. She looked clueless and amused that all of them were singing the same song. We enjoyed the cake and sweets.
It was time for the free shuttle and we got to the Fota wildlife sanctuary. it was a massive place now compared to what it was seven years ago. That is when I visited last. There was a new jungle section with Tigers. The spider monkeys were the most entertaining. The dexterity of these creatures and how flawlessly the navigate through the tree tops jumping and swinging away from one branch to the next. They even use their tails as hooks to hang upside down to grab on to the next tree. All of this at a striking pace that totally took me by surprise. The other top entertainment of the park were the peacocks. These birds had to show off and it was absolutely worth it. the pictures speak better than I can describe.
We had five hours for the return shuttle to arrive and we could not reach few of the exhibits. It was time well spent. Back at the lodge, we had some time to walk around in the garden and let the little one play in the play area. George and Teena had the return train that evening . We stayed over that night had a photo shoot of our own. finished up the food that we had brought for the weekend.
Monday morning we had the first train out of Cork back to Dublin . A weekend to remember for few of the "firsts". The first visit to Fota resort and the First birthday celebrated there. The history book of Gayathri now will always have Fota, Cork as the place where she celebrated her First year of arriving into our life, arriving into this world.
There is one more first that very few of us remember but it truly is the most significant. The first birthday. There are two ways to go about it. The kid is not going to remember the first birthday celebration anyway so why to bother. It quickly dawned on us it is not for the child but for yourself. A child getting through the first yea
We were far from family and relatives so the celebration had to be just between us and friends.
In Dublin or outside was the next question. But the answer to that was easy since my wife and I always wanted to visit an island resort since the last couple fo years. Leverage this opportunity to hit two birds, one stone.
Fota Island Resort in Cork is a place many of our friends have been and had only good things to say about it.It was one of the top destination places to be at in Ireland as well. We booked a self-catering lodge at the resort for three night four days right away.
The countdown to the day had begun, train tickets booked lodge booked for the weekend of April the twenty-fourth 2016. With the remaining few weekends were spent in shopping for dresses and shoes for the birthday girl and ourselves.
The lodge was a three bedroom accommodation and we were thinking we might feel lonely just the three of us there. We decided to invite a friend of mine and his good wife to join us for the celebration. A very simple celebration that is.
Packed our bags and took off on Friday morning at the morning train to Kent train station, Cork.
The journey was extremely comfortable. At cork, we went to the nearest M&S and shopped for some food, snacks, cakes and sweets enough to keep us happy over the weekend.
A short taxi to the Island was all it took for us to be wowed by this amazing island. I still can't figure out how this is an island since we did not cross any bridges. I am not complaining. as we entered the gates where were plenty of wooded areas and pristine green golf courses spread all over. We drove up to the main hotel and picked up the keys to the lodge. There were two such blocks of lodges space by half a kilometer. We were put up in a corner lodge with the children's play area right behind it.
The lodge was a duplex in mint condition. Everything we could think of was available and the bedrooms looked so cozy. We unpacked quickly had some quick lunch and stepped out for a walk.We were given maps of the four different routes within the resort. we decided to explore the short one. It lead us to a beautiful meandering path within the woods. Everything looked so lush and green. The sound of water, the breeze flowing through the leaves of very tall trees, the birds chirping and squirrels scampering across the foliage felt like we had reached a magical place. Almost forgot that we still are in the middle of civilization. Just beyond the woods, we could see the golf course.
The routes were a bit confusing but we were not completely lost. We care around to the back of the Main hotel. There was beautiful gazebo placed down the hill. A small bridge to get to it. To our complete surprise as we walked up the bridge water fountains sprouted all over. There even was an orchestrated water jet going over and above us while on the bridge. Impressive display. Spend few minutes there while we let Gayathri try out her walking skills. She had just barely learned to walk a couple of weeks ago and was honing in on her skills.
Back at the lodge , watched some telly and cooked food. Our friends from Dublin arrived the next day morning (Saturday). It was great having them over and share our joy. Gayathri got her birthday gift which she loves.
We somehow followed the edge of the golf course and got back to the main hotel. To our surprise , the staff forgot to mention that the yellow path no longer exists though it's clearly marked on the map. We were offered a free shuttle to the sanctuary which was nice. So we decided to head over on Sunday. Back at the lodge, we spent time chatting away, cooking dinner together and having a good time.
Sunday morning , I started decorating the living room with the little supplies we had brought over. The cake and the sweets laid out, the little princess dressed in her fancy new dress and it was time. George and Teena joined us in singing Gayathri's first birthday song. She looked clueless and amused that all of them were singing the same song. We enjoyed the cake and sweets.It was time for the free shuttle and we got to the Fota wildlife sanctuary. it was a massive place now compared to what it was seven years ago. That is when I visited last. There was a new jungle section with Tigers. The spider monkeys were the most entertaining. The dexterity of these creatures and how flawlessly the navigate through the tree tops jumping and swinging away from one branch to the next. They even use their tails as hooks to hang upside down to grab on to the next tree. All of this at a striking pace that totally took me by surprise. The other top entertainment of the park were the peacocks. These birds had to show off and it was absolutely worth it. the pictures speak better than I can describe.
We had five hours for the return shuttle to arrive and we could not reach few of the exhibits. It was time well spent. Back at the lodge, we had some time to walk around in the garden and let the little one play in the play area. George and Teena had the return train that evening . We stayed over that night had a photo shoot of our own. finished up the food that we had brought for the weekend.Monday morning we had the first train out of Cork back to Dublin . A weekend to remember for few of the "firsts". The first visit to Fota resort and the First birthday celebrated there. The history book of Gayathri now will always have Fota, Cork as the place where she celebrated her First year of arriving into our life, arriving into this world.
