Parella/Torino

Haven't added much in several days, but actually a lot has been going on.

On Thursday Mom went out to lunch with the Women's Club and stayed home. I didn't realize she did not lock the door behind her. (Can you tell where this is going?) I had the window open and was working on my computer and thought I heard the door close but there was no response when I called out. It is not uncommon for people to come up to our floor and think they have arrived at the business above us, so I opened the door and looked out, but no one was there, so I closed and locked the door. Mom arrived home about 45 minutes later and told me my purse and all its contents were scattered along the stairs in the hallway. I immediately knew someone had been in the apartment, and as we looked around we discovered that this person came in and went in to every room and opened the nightstand drawers, taking some cash, two ipods, and Dad's new camera, in addition to my purse. However, no valuables were in my purse, and I had my wallet with me in the living room. Whoever it was must have come to my room last, as from there they would have seen me sitting in the den. (Of course my back was to the doorway). My ipod and camera were both sitting on my nightstand but not touched, only my purse which was near the door. All this and the only sound I heard was the door closing behind. In my defense, the window was open and all the construction noise doesn't help, but it's still weird. I don't think they realized someone was home at first. In any case, passports and credit cards were left behind. The only real bummer was Dad's new camera. What are the odds? Theft is not extremely common in Switzerland. I read that some years there are no cars reported stolen for the entire year-for the whole country. Thank goodness we don't have to worry about getting new passports right before we come to Phoenix.

We went to Northern Italy over the weekend. We stayed in Parella at an apartment belonging to some friends of Dad. We had a very nice time. The weather on Friday was amazing, the village was beautiful, and their relatives who live next door and let us in were beyond friendly and hospitable. They even cooked us lunch and dinner at their home, and walked us up to their garden in the middle of a vineyard. On Saturday we went in to Torino which is a short train ride away. Unfortunately is was rainy and a little cold, but we still enjoyed the town. I went to Italy in 2007 with Mom and Kelly, but of course we went to the big spots: Rome, Venice, Florence. It was a very nice experience to visit a small village in the Northern part of the country. I think we would all highly recommend it to anyone. It continued to rain on Sunday, and as we had to drive through the Alps we got on the road early to avoid any bad snow. The drive to and from was also very beautiful, and part of it was along the route for the Tour de France which they are already preparing for. Pictures are up on the right side under the Italy link. Unfortunately we did not take very many photos because we kept forgetting to bring the camera with us.

Tomorrow Mom and I are going to Zurich with a group of Women Mom has meet through the women's club. We are going to a museum and out to lunch and perhaps a few cathedrals. I have not been to Zurich yet, so I'm interested to see what it's like. We still have to get to Bern sometime in the next two weeks as well.

Gruyeres

Sundays in Switzerland are always a little boring. Everything is closed, even the grocery stores. The movies are open, but I've seen all the English language films currently showing. Mom and I decided to drive to Gruyeres today. We went to the factory where they make Gruyere cheese. There is a tour of the factory and you can watch them making cheese. Of course, today is Sunday, so it was all empty except one cheese maker working on one big vat. At least we saw a little bit of the process, and we saw the aging room where they store and age the cheese. Our entry also came with free cheese samples so you can compare Gruyeres that have been aged different lengths of time. Like I need to taste more Gruyere. (Although it really is the best Swiss cheese in my opinion). We had fondue for lunch of course.

After the cheese factory we walked up the hill into the actual town of Gruyeres. Cars cannot drive in the city itself, so you park at the bottom and walk up a hill. Basically the entire town is within the walls. There is one main road, with a few hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and the Chateau de Gruyeres. (And of course, a big clock. If every self-respecting Irish town has a castle, every self-respecting Swiss town has a big clock. More than a few have castles too, though). They speak French but the town has more of a German feel to it. There was still some snow on the ground but it was sunny and clear today and not too cold at all. We then toured the castle, or Chateau as they are referred to here. The Swiss preserve their castles better than the Irish, most of which are little more than ruins. I suppose they are a bit older in Ireland though. We had a nice tour and many of the rooms are furnished, unlike the Chateau de Chillon in Montreaux. I have added a link for Gruyeres photos on the right. Some time in the next week we want to go to Bern, which is supposed to be a really cool city. Probably next weekend, but we'll see.

Ireland Summary and Photos

We are finally back after two weeks in Ireland. We got home Thursday evening, a few hours late, which seems to be the case for nearly every flight in Europe on any given day. First we boarded the plane late, then sat on the jetway for at least an hour in a long line of planes as the fog slowed the traffic down. Once in the air we were informed there was an air traffic control strike in France so we weren't allowed to fly over France and had to go around instead. Other than that it was a smooth flight. We landed and had to take a 50 minute train from Geneva to Lausanne then walk to our apartment. Maybe it was all that fried Irish food, maybe the suitcases or maybe we were just tird, but I swear that hill from the station got steeper while we were gone.

I have uploaded all the photos in several sub-albums under the Ireland link. There are a few humdred and it took quite a while but I think they are organized fairly well. I have them sorted into 8 albums chronologically according to the places we were staying or visiting. You may notice that there are a lot more pictures from the beginning of the trip than the end. Partially because we got a little tired, partially because Dad left on the 15th so we had one less photographer, but mostly because all the castles and ruins are very cool at the beginning until you realize there are more about every fifty feet, until finally you get to the point where the sight of another castle makes you want to scream. There were some cool ones though.

Achill Island and Ashford Castle were definitely highlights of the trip, and St. Patrick's Day in Dublin was a fun experience as well. I think Mom has decided she wants to return and have a whole vacation at Ashford. We spend two nights there and you really never have to leave the grounds. We enjoyed a boat ride and the falconry school, but they also have plenty more to do, including fishing or horseback riding as well as a spa. We also wandered around Cong Village which is just outside of the castle grounds and like every self respecting Irish town has ruins of an Abbey from a few hundred years ago as well as at least three or four pubs to choose from if not more.

From Ashford we went to Galway city and spent one night there. We wandered the shops and stopped in a pub. Dad bought Mom her Claddagh ring for their anniversary and we went out for a nice dinner. Driving from each place to the next was always beautiful and there were plenty of stops along the way. By this point in time we had seen Kylemore Abbey, Croagh Patrick, Granuaille Museum and a Famine Museum, Westport House, and more than a few pubs, castles or other old ruins, and cemetaries. Driving in itself is an adventure. For starters you have to get used to driving on the opposite. Not only that, but everything in the car itself is opposite. Any automatic reaction is incorrect. Try to look in the rear view and then you realize it's on the other side. Try to turn on the turn indicator and you turn on the windshield wipers. It gets a little confusing. Add to that the roads are very narrow, there is no shoulder, and usually an old stone wall to the left. Sometimes the road is not wide enough for two cars to drive through, and usually the roads are very windy. The best part is that even on these narrow winding roads the speed limit is 100kph! This is the speed limit on motorways in most of Europe and it is faster than you can drive on any freeways in Phoenix. It translates in mph to about 65. However, we got through without dinging the left side mirror, which is quite an accomplishment. Mom did most of the driving (she is a horrible passenger in the US, she was totally freaking out in Ireland).

From Galway we went to Dromoland Castle. On the way we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher and drove through the Burren. We wanted to see the Doolin Caves but were unable as it was not yet open. Tourist season officially begins they day after Paddy's Day, so on more than one occasion we were unable to do what we had wanted. On the upside, it was not very crowded anywhere (except Dublin on Paddy's Day and the day after, of course). At Dromoland Castle we also stayed on the grounds and rented bikes. We also ate dinner on the castle grounds.

We then went on to Kinsale. We stopped at Bunratty Castle but decided not to go in as it cost 15 Euro per person and by this point we had already seen more than a few castles. We did stop at the Blarney Castle, and even though it is a bit touristy, we kissed the Blarney Stone. We were lucky it was not crowded there, as apparently there are long lines in the summertime. I don't think we would have waited around. So now we are all blessed with "the gift of the gab." Like the McGowan's need any help talking. Ha. Kinsale was rainy and cold, but by this time we were getting used to it I guess. Kinsale claims to be the gourmet capital of Ireland, and we went to one of the restaurants listed as one of the gourmet places to go, but it was certainly not the best food we had there. It was decent, but Ashford castle had better food, as did some of the later restaurants Mom and I went to in Kilkenny and Dublin. We went to a pub and heard some more live music which was fun. The next day we did a walking tour of Kinsale and then went to the Old Head of Kinsale and had lunch at The Speckled Door. Dad and Kelly had met a couple in New Zealand who were from Poland and worked at The Specked Door and recommended it. We inquired after them, the girl was at school in Dublin and will be returning to work there in the summer.

We then drove to Cork, but got there a bit late in the day so there was not much open when we had arrived. Watched the Scotland Ireland rugby game (Ireland won) and then went out to dinner in Cork. Dad returned home the following morning. Mom and I went to the old Gaol (that's jail) in Cork and then debated whether we should do more in Cork or head on to Kilkenny. While the Butter Museum was talked up as the big thing to do in Cork, we decided we could do without it. We had lunch in Cork and then drove on to Kilkenny. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast there, which neither of us have ever done before. Mom thought it was the cutest thing! We walked around and went to dinner, as much of the sights were already closed for the day. We were disappointed that much of what we wanted to do in Kilkenny was not open until the day after St. Patrick's day, we arrived just a few days to soon. We toured the castle and then went on to Dublin.

We arrived in Dublin on March 16th. In the US St. Patricks is a Day. In Ireland it is a weeklong celebration. We went to Temple Bar because we figured it would be totally out of control on the day itself. It was oretty crazy already. We were going to hit several oubs but when we got a decent seat at one we didn't want to give it up so we stayed there quite a while. We probably celebrated a little more on the 16th than the 17th, but it worked out better that way since we only had the 18th to really see Dublin and didn't want to be hung over. In addition to the pints of Guinness, I tried a drink at the hotel called a Guinness Mojito. Sounds gross, but it was good. I thought a Black Velvet would be gross before I had tried it as well. (That's Guinness and champagne. Who knew it was such a versatile drink?)

When we started on the trip Mom would not drink the Guinness because she said she didn't like it. She stuck to the Smithwick's instead. She then complained about how bubbly it was. I told her Guinness was nicer because it had different bubbles, and that it was creamy and tasted like coffee. Once I said that she wanted to try it. Apparently she decided she didn't like it without haveing ever tasted it. Well, she loved it and that is what she drank the rest of the trip (and wine of course). I also got her to try oysters for the first time which she also had claimed not to like without trying.

We started St. Patrick's Day at the parade, along with about 600,000 other people. People were everywhere. We were lucky that the weather was sunny and beautiful. Everyone was out on the streets. We went to lunch at a restaurant that was recommended in Mom's tour book that had since closed and been replaced with a new restaurant. We were lucky that the food was awesome, better than Kinsale by far. We went to Trinity College and as part of the Paddy's Day celebartion they opened admission to the Book of Kells for free. That was a pleasant surprise, normally it costs 9 Euro per person. Trinity College also has the oldest Irish Harp in it's library.

We then went to St. Stephen's Green. The place was absolutley packed. They had closed all entrances but one so it could be monitored by the Gardai, but I still saw plenty of kids drinking beer and causing trouble. Ha ha. In the evening of course we had to go to a pub. O'Donohue's was recommended by quite a few people. It was so crowded that the people had spilled out onto the sidewalk. You had to go on the street just to walk past the place. Mom stepped in and came right back out. It was ridiculous. Instead we found a place across the street that had live music. Still crowded, but not nearly as bad. The crowds were still out fairly late, but they did seem to start dwindling fairly early. We saw more than a few people looking sick at a fairly early hour.

The following morning we got on the bus tour. They are of course the typical tourist thing to do, but they stop at all the major points and the driver gives commentary along the drive, usually entertaining. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness storehouse, Ireland writer's Museum, and toured the Kilmainham Gaol. I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the Guinness tour. I thought the tour would be of where the Guinness is actualy made. Instead it is the former building, which is right next door. You do learn about how Guinness is made, but it was mostly videos and photos. The best part is that you get a free pint at the end of the tour. mom and I made it through the first three levels and then got bored with the tour and went straight to the top. It was interesting to learn a little about the beer, but I expected a lot more. The Gaol tour was very nice and we learned a great deal of history about the various uprisings in Irish history, especially the Easter rising of 1916. That night we had another very nice meal at a restaurant called Chapter One. Good service, good wine, great food, great dessert, and some awesome house made caramels. It was a good way to finish the trip.

Ireland: Ashford Castle to Dromoland Castle

We left Achill for a night at Ashford Castle. We went McGowan style. That is, we snuck me in since the cost for three persons was significantly higher. Mom and Dad were taken on a tour of the hotel while I waited in the bar. They returned and had already decided to stay an extra night. We relaxed the first evening and ate dinner at the fancier restaurant in the hotel. It was a very nice dinner, although I think even Mom and Dad were quite young compared to most of the crowd. The next day we went on a ferry ride in the lake in front of the castle and then went to the Ireland school of Falconry, also on the castle grounds. We got to fly Harris Hawks, which are actually native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. It was quite an experience landing a hawk on your hand, we all enjoyed it very much. We also explored Cong Village, near the castle. It was a tiny village whose main claim to fame is that the film "The Quiet Man" was filmed there.

We successfully snuck me in and out of the castle and then went on to a Marriott in Galway City. The drive from place to place in generally quite an adventure. We make a lot of stops along the way as there are lots of old castles and ruins and the occassional museum. However, with the narrow roads and infrequent street signs, we wind up making a lot of u-turns. It's an adventure, but Mom gets sick of it since she is the one driving.

In Galway City we wandered around the shops and Dad bought Mom a Claddagh Ring from the original makers for an annivesary present. Too bad she didn't know what they were! She likes it a lot though. We stopped in at a pub and enjoyed a nice dinner at another restaurant.

On Thursday we drove to Dromoland Castle, which is apparently the sister castle to Ashford. It is a bit smaller but still nice. We rented bikes and rode all over the grounds and golf course, then had a drink and dinner at the country club restaurant. The beds here are much more confortable than we have had. They seemed to be the hardest at Achill Island and have gotten progressively softer as we have continued on. Hopefully be the time we reach Dublin they will be quite luxurious. I wouldn't count on it, though. Today we leave Dromoland and head to Kinsale, from here on we have one night at each place until we reach Dublin where we spend three nights. Dad will be leaving us on Sunday and returning to Phoenix, so Mom and I will be on our own the last four days.

Ireland: Achill Island

We are still in Ireland for another week. I am unable to upload pictures until we return home but we have been very busy. We flew into Dublin on Friday the 6th of March. We awoke in the morning to discover it was snowing outside. Anyone who has experienced traveling with Mom knows this is a major crisis. She was hoping our flight was canceled so she wouldn't have to take off in the snow. I tried to remind her that even though it snows in Lausanne it usually doesn't snow in Geneva. This did little to alleviate her state of panic. Dad went to work for the morning so the phone was ringing back and forth between the two of them. I had the lovely job of trying to keep Mom under control. Of course Dad was going to get home from work early enough to meet us, and we were all going to go to the train station together. Of couse he was running late and decided we should finish packing his bag for him and meet him at the station instead. You can imagine what that did for Mom's mood. We had to haul our asses down the snowy streets carrying way too many suitcases to find Dad waiting at the station wondering what had taken us so long. Then we had to run to the platform to make the train on time. Of course it had not snowed in Geneva, but I took Mom to the bar to calm her down while Dad insisted on making work calls from the airport. He was almost the last person to board the plane. (Mom and I didn't wait for him). Just as we landed he got an email from work that put him into an even worse mood, and by the time we had rented the car the both of them were in equally nasty moods. The fours hour drive to Achill Island was spent with me in the back seat of the car, Dad driving, and Mom absolutely freaking out that Dad was about to run off the road. (The roles were reversed when Mom started driving and it was Dad's turn to freak out). Now that each of us has had a turn driving on the opposite side we are a bit more sympathetic.

So we finally arrived in Achill, late at night. The next day was very nice. We drive all over the Island, saw ruins of a village from the 13th century, the remains of a castle belonging to Grace O'Malley the famous pirate queen, and hiked to the top of a huge cliff where an od lighthouse once stood. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel and went to the Annexe for a few pints and enjoyed some traditional Irish music.

The following day we drove into Westport and saw the Westport House, built on the foundation of another Grace O'Malley castle by her descendants. That evening we apparently waited too late for dinner and almost found ourselves out of luck. We went to one spot for dinner but the chef had just left. They recommended we try the Cliff House (our hotel) so we returned there to find they too had just stopped serving. Most of the Island is closed as it is not tourist season so we were apparently running out of options. It was just after 8pm. In Barcelona no restaurants open for dinner before 9pm, here we couldn't find anything open after 8. We finally found a Chinese restaurant called Graceland with a note on the door handwritten "Due to Recession, Take Away Only." In true Irish fashion, the Chinese food came with a free order of chips (that's fries to you).

Dad and I went to the pub that night and Mom stayed at home. All the same faces were there as the previous nights. All the locals were impressed that I was drinking the Guinness and asked me how I liked it. They were convinced you can't get it in Arizona and even when I assured them you could they insisted it was not the same. We also met an man who informed us he was the president of the Geoge W Bush fan club on Achill Island and went into a tirade of jokes about the "idiot son." Everyone was very friendly, wanted to know what we though of Barack Obama, and especially whaqt we thought of Ireland. They all insisted Paddy's Day on Achill was better than anywhere else.

So far it has been rainy off and on, with bits of sun here and there. It is very muddy everywhere we go, and I am fairly certain there are more sheep than people here. We continued to Ashford Castle at the edge of County Mayo. I'll add more of that later, we very much enjoyed it.

The Wonders of Technology

Every time Dad has a trip to the States we send him with an empty suitcase to bring back those things we realize we should have brought with us in the first place. He also throws in a few things he misses as well. This trip brought a lot of those horrible American foods you can't get here. Yellow mustard (that was for me), a box of cheez-its (Dad's contribution), and Velveeta cheese (ridiculous, but Mom already made macaroni). The velveeta is shameful considering the great cheeses out here, but sometimes I guess you just want some comfort food. He also brought a few kitchen utensils, including an ice tray, which apparently doesn't exist out here. I notice his bag was searched by the TSA, they were probably wondering who this crazy person was and what he was doing with all this food and weird crap in his suitcase.

The more important things in his suitcase were some larger transformers (the stereo is working yet again) and a Sling Catcher. For anyone not familiar with this, Sling technology is pretty cool. At the house in Arizona, we have cable hooked up and a TiVo box. The reason TiVo is better than the cable company DVR is that you can access it from online and choose the shows you would like to record, etc. The Sling Box is hooked up to the TiVo and streams whatever is on there so you can access it online from anywhere in the world. You can watch either live television or any of the programs you have recorded. Here in Switzerland we have a cable box that gets all the BBC channels. They are English language, but with the exception of the news, most of the shows are pretty stupid. One day we watched a marathon of movies all about different British monarchs. We have been able to access the TiVo on the computer, but the quality was not the greatest and its not as nice as sitting on the couchand watching TV. This is where the sling catcher comes in. This streams the sling box from home via your internet connection and hooks up to the TV here in Switzerland. Better quality than the computer, and on a nice big screen you can watch from the couch. Now we have access to all the regular cable channels available at the house at home. Mom has been watching the Food Network nonstop for two and a half days. She has also been lamenting that no one has emailed her for days, so drop her a note to say hi when you get the chance, it will make her day.

The Swiss

Yesterday Mom met one of our neighbors while she was downstairs doing laundry. She was very nice and told Mom she would invite her over for coffee. She also informed her she was using the laundry machine incorrectly. The dispenser where the soap goes is to be removed and rinsed out at the end of each use, and put back in place but left slightly open. Also there is a rubber lining surrounding the door that should be pulled back and dried with a cloth after every use. The door should also be left slightly ajar, as well as the door of the dryer. Since she and her husband are the only other neighbors who use the machine, they will certainly know if we violate the procedure. Now I always check back, just to make sure the door is ajar!
We also got a lesson on recycling. The Swiss recycle a lot, but you certainly do not throw it all into a bin. We knew we were doing something wrong because the caretaker of the building tried to tell us about it, however he spoke no English so all we really got out of it was that we were doing something wrong. This we can partially blame dad for. He told us to put all the recycling downstairs and the caretaker would sort through it all. No. There is a recycle bin but it is for glass only. You break down and bundle all cardboard and place that on the ground next to the recycle bin. All recycle plastics have a PET logo, but milk cartons and other plastics have to go back to the grocery store. This was very helpful. We are gradually figuring all these little things out.
The Swiss are funny people. This was the second neighbor we have met. All the first said was "You don't speak French?" Great. There are only four apartments in the building, although there are 6 floors. Two are businesses. The nice thing is we have a business above us and a business below us. This is helpful because there are strict laws about noise after 9pm and it is not uncommon for your neighbors to call the police on you if you are having a party or making too much noise. This was we can avoid pissing anybody off too easily.
Our apartment is located on the second floor. For an American, this means you are one floor above the ground. In Europe the ground floor is zero, so the second floor here is the third in the US. Our building confuses even Europeans. When you walk in the door of the building you are actually in between floors. So you walk up a half a flight of stairs just to get to zero. Most presume this is the first floor, and get to our apartment thinking they are on the third floor. Fortunately the first time this happened the people spoke English, so I understood they were looking for the notary on the third floor, and directed them up. Now when random people come to the door babbling in French I just point for them to go up.
I haven't really noticed excessive sexism here, but women were not granted voting rights in Switzerland until the 1970's, not in all cantons until 1990. They were not given equal marriage rights until 1988. Gender roles here are very traditional. One British woman told us she was not permitted to hook up the cable without her husband's signature.
People here do not talk on their cell phones in public, if they must they are very quiet. This is a breath of fresh air. I hate hearing the argument of a stranger next to me while I'm trying to eat lunch. In general everyone here is obsessed with being polite and following the rules. If you break them, someone will tell you about it.
Today we had "cultural training," which is one of those things Honeywell provides for expats and their families. Mom might have benefitted a little more from it a few weeks ago, but I think it was still helpful. She just needs to learn a little French so she can relax a bit and enjoy it here. Fortunately Honeywell pays for private lessons, however I don't think she will be starting it until May. Oh, well, better late than never.

Day after tomorrow we leave for Ireland! We will be gone for two weeks, starting in Dublin, driving to Achill Island then down and around the island and back to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. It's going to be gray and rainy of course, but I can't wait. We are also planning a driving trip around Tuscany before we come to Phoenix in April.

Driving

The car has arrived. It came while Mom and I were in Spain. Since we have returned Dad has been in Phoenix but we decided to get out and go for a drive to get a feel for it. Mom drove, I navigated, and even so we missed the entrance to the motorway. Good thing for GPS, it will simply guide you to the next entrance rather than trying to turn around and get back where you came from. Overall, driving is not too difficult, just a little confusing as any new city is, and lanes tend to turn into turning only lanes with no warning so you really have to pay attention. The other funny difference is that most intersections have two lights side by side, one for each lane. Again, you just have to pay a little extra attention. We actually went out two days in a row. The car is an X3, which is not incredibly large, but for all the narrow streets around here it feels huge. Our parking space is so narrow and drops off on one side, and Mom had to climb over to get out on the passenger side because there was no room on the driver side.

We had two days of amazing weather. It was the warmest it has been since we arrived. Actually it was in the 50's, about the same as it was in Spain, and very sunny. We were able to go out without coats on one day, which was quite a treat. It's cooled down a bit today and gotten cloudy, by the end of the week there is snow on the forecast again. fortunately, we will be in Ireland. Not that the weather will be great there, but about 10 degrees warmer, which will still be nice. I added photos of our drive in the "Around Lausanne" section. We drove up near Vevey, amongst the vineyards (just don't drink the wine it sucks!) on tiny and steep roads but it was very beautiful with a wonderful view of the Alps and Lac Leman.