I had the most beautiful time this week with my mother and Mozart! It was my mom’s 73rd birthday last week and rather than buying her a gift, I invited her out for a surprise evening.

We met in town and we went to a restaurant called “The Rustic Stone” on Georges Street. Owned by Dylan McGrath it is an exquisite sensory extravaganza! It is an experience more than a meal and both myself and my mother really enjoyed the food and conversation we had while we were there. It was great to experience the talent of a master craftsman of food.

I had booked for the two of us to go to the National Concert Hall to see a performance of the RTE National Concert Orchestra. Neither of us would be overly knowledgeable (if at all!) about classical music but we were open minded and were looking forward to spending our evening together doing something slightly different.

Well we had the most magnificent evening. We were bombasted with Mendelssohn to Mozart. The symphony of music, the orchestra playing their hearts out. It was outstanding to watch people who were clearly highly skilled and talented perform and exist “in their element” as Ken Robinson would say. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have spent and all for €22 (for the two of us). I will definitely be going back to the NCH.ie for more events and was delighted to have my mind opened up to a new and exciting form of creative expression in the arts!