The cardinal done it.

Dau.I and Dau.II are now bunking together in Dublin Centraal. They rent a teeny tiny flat in a Late-Tiger apartment complex. Building regulations allow developers to build and sell apartments where neither the kitchen nor the bathroom have a window. But bedrooms must be at least 7.1 sq.m. with the width at least 2.1m AND have a window (or second door) for emergency exit. The floor area for a 2-bed apartment (assumed to sleep four people) must be 73 sq.m. in size. I haven't measured but their home might be a generous 75 sq.m. which is not absurdly smaller than our 'umble tumble farmhouse [95 sq.m.] but we have a kitchen with a view and natural light in the bathroom. And we can spill out into the yard if the weather is nice enough [predicted to be 3 days in July 2025].

The Daus have been playing 20-D orcs and dragons on the reg'lar last year with a couple of chaps. After one of the sessions in November they all imagined that it might be fun to rent a down-country AirBnB for a long weekend in the New Year - y'know fresh air, change of scene, throwing axes etc. The lads thought it might be nice to visit the Sunny SouthEast. After a few more encounters with grim-faced crusaders in taverns, Dau.II said "that's actually a ridiculous idea, when we could boot out my folks and go and stay there instead". It was presented to us as a neat bit of reciprocity: town-mouse and country-mouse seeing how the other half lives. "you could go out to dinner, share a bottle of plonk . . . and walk home" she said, and "think how many films with subtitles you could clock in three days" and "that Jane Clarke meets the weavers exhibition closes on the 19th Jan".

We woz willing and, well before Christmas, we agreed to do the house-swap from Fri 10th to Mon 13th Jan 2025. But a week beforehand the Sunny SouthEast took a moderate dump of snow followed by 5 days and nights of Baltic weather. But, despite anxiety, it was alright on the night! A thaw set in early on Friday and the roads were mostly snow-free when, in the fore-noon, we headed off to the train station with our free-travel passes. It's a little weird doing a free gaff at your offspring's but the flat is a lot more spacious and less vexillologically challenged than a room in the Hotel Generic.

We did make a flying visit to the Jane Clarke show and met the extended family of one of our neighbours . . . because Ireland is a very small place. But we were on our way to spend 2 hours with Men in Frocks [check out (last para) Colm Tóibín's wonderful skewering essay Among the Flutterers] watching Conclave at the IFI. Don't read any reviews! there will be spoilers. It is gorgeous to behold, there are neither car-chases nor helicopter gunships, and nobody dies . . . except the out-going pontiff - played horizontally with 'aplomb' by Bruno Novelli.  "Certainty is the great enemy of Unity" Good fun. Recommended.

As for house-swapping in Winter; good fun, would do again.