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Published: August 28th 2010
Dear all,
Thanks for all your kind comments regarding previous blogs. Sorry I have been a bit slack in posting of late, but we have been on the move quite a bit since Ireland. At the moment we are staying with friends, Roger and Leeane in Zurich. Their apartment is very swish and we have great views of the city from the 6th floor of their apartment block. Weather here is humid, but warm compared to Ireland.
Some bad luck also occurred in Amsterdam where we were prior to Zurich. I lost a bag which contained my Mac laptop, address book, copies of poems, essays I had written in Ireland, books etc. Thankfully our travel documents were in another bag. Some of the work on the laptop was saved, but I lost a long essay on John McGahern, a travel essay and other notes. Oh well just will have to start again. The bag was lost when we arrived in Amsterdam. We had a long day travelling from Manchester and were all tired. We arrived at our apartment in Amsterdam and were unloading our bags from the taxi. There were a few distractions happening: a car behind us waiting to move,
Ireland
Road signs in Ballyferriterpeople greeting us, the driver wanting to be paid. I thought all the bags were out, paid him, but it was only much later that we discovered that the bag was lost. That night Alison and I walked into Amsterdam Centraal station, past many dodgy people, to look for the driver or see if the bag had been handed in. We were directed to a Police station who were initially helpful, but there wasn't any sign of the bag. The next two days I spent going from police station to police station, the lost and found office, and trying to get a police report done as they were reluctant to do one for a bag that was lost. Despite the driver not returning the bag, and effectively stealing it, at the least probably selling the lap top. Eventually I obtained as police report, in Dutch, and it looks like the bag is lost. A slim chance of it being found would mean it would be handed into the Aust. Consulate and sent home.
This experience has made us much more cautious about travelling through train stations and lugging our suitcases around. Its much harder travelling without a car. Our trip out of Amsterdam was a hellish day of train travelling, starting at 6am. Due to the train journeys being booked out between Amsterdam and Paris, we had to take a succession of trains to reach Zurich, 7 trains in all. The changing of trains with big suitcases was a nightmare, as in Paris, everybody just rushes to the train once the platform was announced and it was dog eat dog to get on. Thankfully we have a Eurail pass in ist class and I was able to get us a cabin. We reached Basel near Zurich 14 hours later, and were very happy to see Rogers smiling face. Our trip back to Paris next week has been booked and should involve less train changes, one in fact.
I will post more entries about prior experiences in England, rain sodden Lake District Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth houses etc. Here are a few photos, more to come.
After Zurich, we are staying in Paris for 5 days, Paris Disneyland and then flying into Toronto.
Nice to see the Pies doing so well. If I was a Cats supporter I would be worried, very worried. Who is the Prime Minister?
Cheers
Brendan
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rather you than us
Brendan and family, commiserations at your bad times in Amsterdam, especially losing writing, as well as the pleasures of Amsterdam. From now on we trust all goes well. Give our love to Walden Pond in due course. best from Max and Marilyn off in a few hours to Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin. The Southern Alps, not the real ones.