Moving Day

 

This weekend I moved into Emilie’s apartment, which required a full two-day effort given the need to both transfer all of my stuff to her place (Saturday) and clean my old apartment for the formal exit inspection with the property manager (Sunday).

Despite the proximity of her apartment to mine (~10 minute walk) and the fact that I was able to sell some of my furniture to the new tenant, we still needed to rent a van to manage the move. While Emilie’s Mini Cooper is great for parking, it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of storage space.

Fortunately, the van that we rented was large enough to transport all the large items in one run. Nonetheless, the move was far from easy given that the two of us had to carry all the big items (including a mattress and bed frame) up four flights of stairs. While the building has an elevator, two people hardly fit in it comfortably and the transport of anything sizable is definitely out of the question.

After a full day of moving on Saturday, the last thing we wanted to do was clean all day Sunday. Given the strict rules the Swiss have regarding the move-out inspection (and the related impact on one’s rental deposit), though, it was unfortunately a necessity. But the investment paid off, as the apartment passed the inspection without any issues beyond normal wear and tear.

Maison de Poupée

 

Last night Emilie and I went to see Maison de Poupée (Doll’s House), a re-make of a 19th century Norwegian play by Henrik Ibsen. The play is apparently a criticism of the traditional roles of men and women in 19th century marriages, and thus was a bit beyond my cultural sophistication level.

This version stars Audrey Toutou (Amelie, The DaVinci Code and Coco avant Chanel) and opened in Paris before embarking on a broader tour that includes Switzerland. And while it was interesting to watch (particularly Ms. Tautou, since I’ve enjoyed her previous work), it was definitely hard for me to follow at times given the rapid dialogue.

As you can see, the poster for the play is a bit weird. The polar bear rug is on the floor of the main set during the play as well, but I didn't pick up on its significance.

Irish Road Trip - Part I

On Sunday we joined a tour to the west coast of Ireland, which included Limerick, the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren Coastline and Galway Bay. While Ireland is a relatively small country (roughly the same size as Maine if that means anything), the cross-country trek from Dublin to the west coast nonetheless required an early start and late return.

Our bus departed at 6am and we were joined by about 10 other tourists as well as a guide who also served as the driver. Given the early start and couple-hour drive ahead, the guide allowed us to sleep following a brief introduction outline of the itinerary.

Over the next couple of hours we drove west through the Irish countryside in near darkness. The one constant was the fog, which varied from a murky haze to the pea soup variety. And as the sun came up, the fog remained, though at times it cleared enough to see the rolling countryside and tons of sheep. Everywhere.

Our first stop was the town of Limerick along the river Shannon. While we didn’t have much time to explore, we were still able to see some of the main sights.

The Thomond Bridge

King John’s Castle (named after the John of Robbin Hood lore) 

 King's Island

A church along the river Shannon

We then headed to the Cliffs of Moher and during this stretch of the drive our guide took on a much more active role by providing some background on Ireland’s history (highlighting the Viking and Anglo Norman invasions) and landscape (seemingly endless hedgerows and pastures as a result of deforestation in favor of farming).

As we approached the Cliffs of Moher, the brief promise of clear skies that appeared when we reached the coast quickly gave way to the reality of heavy fog once we began the climb in elevation. You know it’s a bad sign when your tour guide starts apologizing.

And after finally arriving and exiting the van, the fog was actually kind of comical. It was literally so thick that you could hardly even tell that you were next to a cliff that rises roughly 600 feet above the sea at its highest point. The faint sound of crashing waves was the only reminder that the ocean was indeed a stone’s throw away (albeit a long way down).



We tried our best to be optimistic, knowing that we had an hour and a half for the skies to clear, but in the end we simply had to accept the cards that we were dealt. The Cliffs of Moher would not be making an appearance. Fortunately, there was an on-site museum (built into the nearby hillside so as to not infringe on the natural beauty of the area) that provided history on the cliffs and had some interesting visual exhibits.

That said, it also reminded us about how impressive a sight we were missing out on. Here are some pictures that I took of pictures of the cliffs...

Irish Road Trip - Part II

 

After our failed visit to the cliffs, the guide took us to a pub in Doolin for lunch. The food was good – basic pub fare – and seemed to lift everyone’s spirits a bit. We may have “missed” one of the most beautiful sights in Ireland, but at least we weren’t hungry anymore.

Our next stop was the nearby Burren, which is a rocky landscape along Galway Bay not far from the cliffs. Fortunately, the fog dissipated at lower elevations, so we had nice views of the surrounding landscape and were able to enjoy the scenery as we walked around.

 

 

Shortly after leaving the Burren, the traffic on the two-lane road heading north along Galway Bay came to a halt as a result of something you don’t come across everyday: a fox hunt. There was a huge group on horseback with countless dogs going nuts as they followed the fox’s scent. It was interesting to see, but I couldn’t help feeling bad for the fox.

Once the traffic cleared we made our way to the Corcomroe Abbey, a 13th century Cistercian monastery. The structure was definitely showing its age, but all things considered it was in pretty good shape after roughly 800 years. Supposedly there’s an annual concert performed in the abbey, which would definitely serve as a unique venue.

Before making the cross-country trek back to Dublin we stopped in Kinvara, a seaside village along Galway Bay. Unfortunately, the fog had returned at this point, so there wasn’t much of a view. In particular, we missed out on seeing Dunguaire Castle, which supposedly dates back to the 16th century.

We were able to walk around the town a bit, though, which was nice.

 

The ride to Dublin was fairly uneventful, and by the time we arrived, food and sleep were our major focus. We decided to eat at Davy Byrnes again, which conveniently happened to be located along the walk back to the hotel. And given our long day and early flight on Monday, we decided against a final pub stop after and proceeded to call it a night.

Exploring Dublin - Part I

We spent Saturday exploring as much of Dublin as possible since we had arranged a day-trip to the west coast for Sunday. Our first stop was Bewley’s on Grafton street to get a quick breakfast before heading out. It was a bit crowded and touristy, but the food was good.

We then walked to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, which dates back to 1191 and is the largest church in Ireland. The adjacent park was very nice and allowed for good views of the cathedral as well.

 

 

 

The inside of the cathedral was very nice as well, and I particularly liked all the flags that were hanging up. They looked like they could have easily been from the medieval period.

Our next stop was Dublin’s other cathedral – Christ Church (a.k.a. the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity). It is older than Saint Patrick’s – dating back to the 11th century – and reportedly has the largest crypt in Britain and Ireland.

The inside of the cathedral was very nice and the floor design in particular stood out.

Perhaps it was due to the shine that this guy was putting on it…

The crypt was indeed impressive, with a number of carvings. It was actually a bit hard to believe that it was able to support the floor of the cathedral above.