Sunday, January 31, 2010
A Walking Community
Galway City, like German Village, is a walking community. There were hundreds of people out on the streets and strolling along the bay. At noon, many of the pubs and coffee shops were already crowded with people listening to the live music or leisurely reading the Sunday Independent (newspaper). The weather here is fairly consistent from day to day with highs in the mid 40's and lows around freezing. This morning on our walk to church the walks were a bit icy from an early shower.
Latitudinally, all of Ireland is north of the Canadian border. The only thing that saves it from sub-zero polar air is the gulf stream which moderates the temperatures. There are palm trees within a block of our apartment! Still it is cool and often foggy (they call it murky).
But the cool, damp weather doesn't keep people inside. It is interesting to see folks sitting at outside tables in 40 degree weather drinking coffee and tea. Most of them are well bundled though I see a few young men now and again in shirt sleeves. My blood circulation is not quite that generous.
In the homes there are significant efforts to conserve energy. The temperature is kept low. In our apartment, there are three wall units filled with lava rocks. These are heated by electric resistance heat during the night when the unit cost of electricity drops in half. You then live on the discharge of the heat from those units into the living space during the day. By evening, they are basically spent and it can become quite cool.
The same is true for heating water. There is a large hot water tank that is thoroughly insulated. The water is heated only during the night which makes for a nice warm morning shower and a chilly evening one. The Irish seem to be to have a physical make-up that is much more tolerant of the cold. As I look out my window at 5:00 pm the older folks have jackets, hats, and gloves but the youth light jackets only. On the promenade, the walk that runs along the bay, there are scores of parents with babes in strollers.
Latitudinally, all of Ireland is north of the Canadian border. The only thing that saves it from sub-zero polar air is the gulf stream which moderates the temperatures. There are palm trees within a block of our apartment! Still it is cool and often foggy (they call it murky).
But the cool, damp weather doesn't keep people inside. It is interesting to see folks sitting at outside tables in 40 degree weather drinking coffee and tea. Most of them are well bundled though I see a few young men now and again in shirt sleeves. My blood circulation is not quite that generous.
In the homes there are significant efforts to conserve energy. The temperature is kept low. In our apartment, there are three wall units filled with lava rocks. These are heated by electric resistance heat during the night when the unit cost of electricity drops in half. You then live on the discharge of the heat from those units into the living space during the day. By evening, they are basically spent and it can become quite cool.
The same is true for heating water. There is a large hot water tank that is thoroughly insulated. The water is heated only during the night which makes for a nice warm morning shower and a chilly evening one. The Irish seem to be to have a physical make-up that is much more tolerant of the cold. As I look out my window at 5:00 pm the older folks have jackets, hats, and gloves but the youth light jackets only. On the promenade, the walk that runs along the bay, there are scores of parents with babes in strollers.
We attended the Anglican church, the oldest functioning church in Ireland. There are only about 100 persons in attendance but the music from the volunteer choir is amazing as it bounces around that 13th century stone structure. I have to say that it is difficult to describe the feeling of worshipping in a building that has had 700 years of Christian worhip within its walls.
The Priest prayed for reconiliation talks in Northern Ireland. He is from Belfast and told us after the service that the situation in Northern Ireland is more polarized than it was 20 years ago. We talked about what appears to be a global trend--the electorate is more polarized and more polarizable on a wide range of issues.
More later...
Saturday, January 30, 2010
We arrived in Ireland nearly one week ago, about 6:00 am Saturday morning. We were immediately struck by the atmosphere in the Shannon airport: no blaring announcements over the loudspeakers, no reminders about the level orange threat level, no warnings about unwatched luggage being confisgated. We decided to have breakfast even though it was only 1:00 am Eastern time as a first step in dealing with the jet lag. We soon rediscovered what is meant by a full Irish breakast...fried egg, toast, ham, bangers (sausage), mushrooms, black pudding, baked beans, and half a tomato. We probably could have eased into it a bit but decided on the full gastro-intestinal assault. No sissies on this side of the Atlantic.
We took a bus from Shannon to Galway, about a 90 minute ride passing through Ennis one of the most memorable cities of our previous trip. The bus station in Galway is just south of the Eyre Square and it wasn't difficult to get a taxi to our Bed and Breakfast just to the northwest of City Centre. (There is a difference between a "taxi" and a "cab" in Ireland which we have not yet been able to divine, except that one costs more and offers more reliable service. We can't remember which.)
We were welcomed at the B&B even though we were a couple hours early. In contrast to the B&B's in the US, the accomodations were quite compact: a room with a bed, a chair, an end table on one side of the bed, a two small closets, and a bathroom. There was free WIFI, but not much of a place to work on your computer except sitting in bed. But the owner, a young man named Ray, and the woman who greated us, Migla, were very helpful in orienting us to the city and finding an apartment.
So we have an apartment in Salthill, a small community about a mile from City Centre. We are about half a block from Galway Bay. More later.
We took a bus from Shannon to Galway, about a 90 minute ride passing through Ennis one of the most memorable cities of our previous trip. The bus station in Galway is just south of the Eyre Square and it wasn't difficult to get a taxi to our Bed and Breakfast just to the northwest of City Centre. (There is a difference between a "taxi" and a "cab" in Ireland which we have not yet been able to divine, except that one costs more and offers more reliable service. We can't remember which.)
We were welcomed at the B&B even though we were a couple hours early. In contrast to the B&B's in the US, the accomodations were quite compact: a room with a bed, a chair, an end table on one side of the bed, a two small closets, and a bathroom. There was free WIFI, but not much of a place to work on your computer except sitting in bed. But the owner, a young man named Ray, and the woman who greated us, Migla, were very helpful in orienting us to the city and finding an apartment.
So we have an apartment in Salthill, a small community about a mile from City Centre. We are about half a block from Galway Bay. More later.
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