My husband was one lucky duck last week. He traveled to England and Ireland on business. When I heard that he was going to Ireland's County Cork, I asked him to rent a car at the airport and drop in to see the Ballymaloe House and the Ballymaloe Cookery School. Happy to oblige,  Christopher packed our trusty Garmin Nuvi and put the task on his international "honey do" list.

I had stayed at the Ballymaloe House and attended the  Ballymaloe Cookery School in July 2004. It was a fabulous memorable experience that I ultimately wrote about for The New York Times Travel Section. It was a surprise anniversary gift from Christopher that June, and I relished every minute of it. Hence, I really wanted Chris to see the gift that he gave me!

After flying on Aer Lingus from London to Cork, Chris rented a little car and headed through the Irish countryside to find this wonderful treasure. Indeed, even the Garmin got a little confused trying to find Ballymaloe, but ultimately Christopher found the welcome gate and saved the coordinates on the GPS for future reference!

It was getting late in the day and he still had to visit the Cookery School and drive to Kinsale, so Chris quickly toured the massive home, snapped some photos for me,  and visited the Gift Shop. He also had a fabulous lunch of Smoked Haddock Tart and Salad at The Cafe At The End of The Shop.  I really wish I could have returned to Ballymaloe, but I was so thrilled when he brought these photos back yesterday. I am particularly fond of this one because the little brown table in the photo is exactly where I hand wrote that piece for The New York Times.

If you would like additional information on the Ballymaloe House, be sure to check out their extensive website.

Photo by Christopher Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer