A weekend in Irene

The best way to describe the Irene Country Lodge is as an escape from the city, in the city -  a breakaway from your home. Irene has long held a special place in my heart, it is one of the suburbs I covet, and would love to live in. It reminds me of the English countryside, with its diary farm, stretching green lawns and rock walls.

We were greeted by the friendly receptionist and lead out onto a veranda, where we were not only treated the most beautiful sunset, but also some delicious cocktails. It was hard to believe that, while sipping on our cocktails and listening to the birds settle for the night, we were only an hour's drive from our house, and not even nearly out of the city. In fact, we were almost smackbang in the middle of Centurion.

After cocktails, we were invited to a buffet dinner, served by a culinary school's students. Although the food was not the greatest I've ever had, owing to my prawns being undercooked and Flip's calamari having the same sad affliction, the pudding more than made up for it. Honestly, it did not disappoint.

I love, but love meringue and the mine meringue bites were just perfect and the right amount of crunchy and sweet. I wished that I could eat all of them! I would definitely recommend the Irene Country Lodge for a high-tea, bridal shower or baby shower as the desserts were out of this world. We both had a caramel mousse tart and I had a bite of Flip's chocolate mousse tart. Listen, I'm not saying it was similar to a very loud scene from When Harry met Sally, but it was clearly audible how much we enjoyed these puddings. Eye-closing moments.

They are also relaunching their menu on the 25th of October, with something foodies like to call a molecular gastronomic menu. I am excited to see what that is all about.

The lodge recently refurbished their rooms and we had this huge bed waiting for us after dinner. While we missed out on our complimentary spa treatment because of time constraints from our side, just thinking about plunging into the bed after a looong hot bath was therapy enough for me. I had also just returned from Berlin {I will still post about that, promise} and had a little bit of jet lag, so I just wanted to have a relaxing night in. But, for the more hyped-up ones, there are several clubs, bars and trendy restaurants in the area to enjoy a night out. Having a night cap at the lodge was the better option for me though.

What I liked: the room was big and oh so beautiful! I also loved the big bath. The property is stunning, I love the out-of-city feel it provided, perfect for a little weekend getaway.

What I didn't like: the fact that the food was a let down; we were also invited to enjoy a picnic for lunch and was told to arrive at the hotel at 12:00 to pick it up. We arrived, was kept waiting for 45 min and then told that the picnic basket was taken to the dairy farm and that we had to collect it there. When we arrived at the dairy farm, the managers had no knowledge of the picnic baskets and said that we must pick it up from the hotel. This confusion just really let me down and I threw in the towel, not even worrying about the picnic and the delicious food it might have contained.

The next morning, after a lofty breakfast, we visited the Irene Dairy Farm, which is only about 500 m down the road from the lodge. I love cows and wish I could have a dairy farm. While other people might think it is gross to have a cow lick you up and down, I loved it! Their tongues are actually quite raspy, like a cat's tongue, did you know?

We also spent the rest of the day snooping around at the Irene Village Market, which is about 1 km from the lodge and said hi to my grandma, who lives in GEM Village close to the market.

For a weekend spent in the city, this was quite the treat!

You can find the Irene Country Lodge on Nelmapius Road, Irene, Centurion. Make a booking by phoning them on 012 667 6464 or visit their website // Our stay was sponsored by African Pride Hotels.