The Home Exchanger

Home Swapping Hindsight is 20/20

What could have been done better on our home swap?

1. I would have arranged better the transfer of keys upon return (I just focused on the key-exchanging in the beginning). 

2. I would have cooked more. More money could have been saved. But we really enjoyed the food and eating out.

3.  I would have bought my plane tickets earlier.  They were expensive.

4. I would have pre-booked our hotel in Cork for our mini-break. It was expensive.

Coming Home

After a long trip, we were excited to get home. Until I remembered that I did not tell our home swap partner what to do with our keys ! That was a silly mistake...remember to do that on your home exchange.

We had left our home swap partner's keys with their next-door neighbor, who gave us a ride to the airport bus.  But I didn't tell our partners that we only have one house key - and they had it.  So when we got home, my husband was able to force a door open. We had to tell the alarm service that everything was OK.  Whoops!! Our keys were on the kitchen counter.

Our home looked like a professional cleaning service had cleaned it - everything was sparkling and pretty. It looked better than when we left it. Fresh sheets, flowers and a nice card were all provided.  Lovely!

Irish Food is Surprisingly Good

As we prepare to leave, I am sort of disappointed that we did not cook more. I was counting on cooking at our home exchange partner's home as a way to save money. What we didn't realize was how delicious the restaurants are here. And I'm not talking about the splurges - the two expensive restaurants we ate in that we had budgeted for - I am talking about inexpensive restaurants (under 20 Euros for lunch or dinner). Every restaurant we have been to (except for the one in Drogheda) has been of good quality. So why cook when such good food is readily available?

Some highlights: the farmer's market in Dun Loughrie for wonderful Irish cheeses and some of the best sausages I have ever had, Table 8 and Cibo in Cork for modern Irish food (think cabbage and corn beef pizza - no really, it was yummy!), T & H Doolans in Waterford for a tasty pub meal, and the Quay in Cobh for fresh seafood. Some restaurants were recommended by guidebooks and locals, some not.

I think the high quality of the produce and meat are partially to be credited, but there is some innovative and delicious cooking being done here. So Irish chefs - kudos! You have made my pocketbook lighter (and my waistband tighter) but it was all worth it.

Next week: diet and exercise begin. Click here for a video extolling the virtues of Irish Soda Bread.

Cleaning Up

One thing about doing a home swap is you need to clean up your home before you leave - the rule of thumb is to leave it better than you found it. Our home was super clean and tidy to begin with - and I am kind of anal when it comes to cleaning, so this home was a good match for me. We have cleaned as we go, so there's not too much work to be done at the end.

Here's what I did: I vacuumed the whole house, cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen and did laundry so our home exchange partners would have fresh sheets and towels when they arrive home. Other than that, not too much to do. Total time: about 2 hours.

Driving Across Ireland...

...is exhausting! The combination of being on the wrong side of the road and the narrow two-lanes roads led to driving fatigue for Josh, our designated driver. Luckily our home swap partner's car, a VW Passat, is a comfortable ride.

We started to head out of Cork this morning with the plan to get back to Dublin tonight.  However, fun sidetrips to Blarney Castle (yes, the tourist trap that everyone tells you to avoid - but I loved it), the port of Cobh - where many Irish emigrants departed from by ships (including the doomed Titanic and Lusitiana)  and Fota House, a beautiful grounds and house with an exhibit by Daniel Liebskind, the famed architect.

By the time we really started driving, too much traffic and slow trucks took their toll. So we decided to stay in Waterford, which is two hours away from Dublin. We will finish our journey tomorrow morning.

Click here to see video of our sidetrip to Bray.

Tourist Ireland vs. Real Ireland

Last night in Cork we did a pub crawl through Ireland, with the purpose of seeing traditional Irish music.  We went to three different pubs and saw an Irish balladeer who was quite good, a band in a pub that was apparently just for Americans (the band leader yelled out at one point "Is anyone here from Kansas?" and a girl shouted back  "Kansas City is in the house!") and best of all a group of Irish musicians jamming and singing in Gaelic.

The experience was a reminder that although we have been to a number of tourist sights, we haven't really felt like tourists because we are living in the midst of an Irish neighborhood and have dealt mainly with locals. We have had lively conversations with the people we have encountered. Everyone has been so warm and hospitable.

Mini-break: Cork

We had always planned on visiting Cork, which is the European City of Culture for 2005. Cork is about a four hour drive from Dublin so we decided to pack overnight bags and leave most of our things at our home exchange property.

After cool sidetrips to the Irish National Stud and the fairy-tale ruins of Cashel, we made it to Cork at about 4 PM. We went to the tourist office, which referred a number of budget hotels. Wow - even budget accomodations are expensive in Cork - probably because we are in the high-season and Cork is such an attraction this year. Anyway, the cheapest en-suite room (at the Killarney House, at left) we could find was 130 Euros a night. We should have booked ahead.

The accomodations were good, if small. But I have become used to our kitchen and spacious accomodations at our home swap property, so I am a bit spoiled.  One thing I forgot about hotels is that you are subject to a lot of noise  - the people above us woke up at 5 AM and it sounded like they were doing construction up there! I could not get back to sleep. 

Home Improvements

I had a funny conversation with one of our "neighbors", the people who live next door to our home exchange partners. I hope I have expressed how nice our  home is - every room is  sparkling clean and beautifully decorated and well cared for.  It is a wonderful place to stay.

According to our neighbor, our home swap partners  have taken great pride and care into getting their home into "showplace" shape, but that was not enough. They have been encouraging their neighbors to shape up their yards and plant flowers so "the Americans" would enjoy their stay. One neighbor was even given a gallon of paint and told to paint their garden shed!!

In retrospect, we sort of went overboard getting our home into shape. I hired a cleaning service and had a number of home improvement projects that needed to be completed by the time our family arrived. I was panicked because I had not been able to paint our guest bathroom. On the plus side, I think both we and our home exchange partners have improved the value of our properties!!

Above: the painted garden shed

Splurges

We decided that we wanted a couple of really good meals on our trip, since we were saving so much money on accomodations and a rental car and doing so much cooking at our home swap partner's house.  The best way, I think, to eat in a great restaurant is to have lunch there.  The menu is usually the same, or very similar to the dinner menu, but the prices are  lower.

We have had two "splurge" lunches: the first was at Jacob's Ladder, which overlooks Trinity College. The food was Modern Irish and yummy - particularly the lamb.  The price for the food was very reasonable for the high quality of the food, about 75 Euros for a three-course meal for two.

The second was really something to write home about: L'ecrivain, by St. Stephen's Green. L'ecrivain has at least one Michelin star, and combines fresh Irish ingredients  with French preparation. The food was exquisite.  Our meal was expensive, about the cost of one night in an average Dublin hotel (125 Euros).  But it was worth every penny.

Car Exchange - How it Works

We have gotten some emails and comments asking us about out car exchange - and wondering if it is risky.

Once we set up the home swap, we discussed doing a car exchange with our home exchange partners. We agreed we would both speak with our insurance agents to see what kind of coverage we could get. The Irish family was able to insure Josh (my husband) as a driver on their car for a small extra fee (which they paid - about 10 Euros a week). I was able to grant permission to the Irish wife and husband to drive my car through my insurance agent, which means they get the same coverage we do (which covers everything) for no extra charge. So both partners are insured if there are any problems - also, the insurance is more extensive than the car insurance you get with a rental car.

I would personally not do a car exchange if the insurance was not possible, but it is up to the individuals involved. There is a big cost savings associated with not having to rent a car, so we are very glad we were able to sort out the insurance.

Click here for a video on what it's like to drive on the wrong side of the road.