Enjoying a glass of wine and listening to some music while I wait for
Chris to make us some dinner. Ah! To have a home again! We are finally
getting settled in our tiny apartment in the tiny town of Kinsale.
First though, I have to write a little something about how much I enjoyed Galway. I don’t know whether it’s because much of the city was rebuilt after a massive fire in the 15th century or due to all the young students milling about, but Galway seemed a much more modern town than many of the other Irish cities we visited. The youth are everywhere -- loitering on the William O’Brien Bridge, lying on the grassy banks of the River Corrib enjoying the Fall weather, hanging out on Shop Street, and riding their skateboards in front of the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas of Myra. Galway is an easy city to navigate on foot. It features three bridges that connect the city center to the other environs: The Salmon Weir Bridge, where fisherman still take advantage of the salmon runs before the water filters into the Galway Bay; the William O’Brien Bridge, the main pedestrian route leading to Shop Street (what it sounds like) and Quay Street (a restaurant row); and Wolfe Tone Bridge, which runs parallel to the original city walls and leads into Salthill, the nearby beach resort.
We had the great fortune of booking a B&B just off the William O’Brien Bridge. Staying at the St. Martin B&B was a highlight of our trip, not only because it was great to wake up to the sound of the waterfall and the smell of the family garden, but cause every morning, Mary, the proprietor, would greet us with a smile, hand us each a newspaper (something gossipy for me, and more newsy for Chris), pour us a big pot of coffee, ask us what we felt like eating and then just hang out chatting as we ate. When she realized I was sick, she went out, bought some vitamin C tea and (yawning) brought it up for me on a tray to have before I went to bed. But that is what the Irish are like.
As for the rest of our visit, by the time we reached Galway, we were a little anxious to get settled and somewhat exhausted with sightseeing so we stayed close to the town and took full advantage of the benefits of a big city (i.e., we went shopping and got Chris a jacket). We did however, get to witness history in the making: we watched Armagh Co. beat out Co. Kerry, upsetting a 32 season winning streak of the Gaelic Football league. This is the weirdest sport -- a combination of American soccer, rugby, volleyball, basketball and American football. You have to bounce, kick, pass or punch the soccer-like ball every four steps. There is no protective equipment, but it is expected that you to try to kill each other. The object of the game is to get the ball over the goal post for one point or underneath the goal post and in to the net for three points. The whole game lasts 70 minutes with a short half time in the middle. If you are confused, don’t feel bad. I watched the whole game and still didn’t get it, despite the efforts of Belfast locals David, Lynn, Claire and Jerod who tried diligently to explain it to us (I think we were a little distracted by the strange bit of spittle that kept appearing and disappearing on David’s lower lip. Here, oh, it’s gone, no it’s back, no it’s gone).
After a very unpleasant trip back to Kinsale (imagine being stuck on a bus reeking of dirty hair and unwashed bodies for five hours) we were overjoyed to find our way to our flat. It’s hard to describe why we like Kinsale so much; it’s tiny, quiet, heavily touristed and a lot like Mendocino, California (but without the hippies and the New Age crap). In some ways it’s the least “Irish” town in Ireland because there are so few locals. Most of the population is made up of foreigners on holiday or foreigners who came on holiday and stayed. There are also quite a few Irish visiting from other cities with vacation homes in town. This means that the population is more varied, older, more sophisticated and affluent than in other small towns. It also means that when the tourism season ends this month, the town pretty much goes into hibernation, with some of the B&Bs and restaurants closing up shop. This should be interesting.
The center of town itself is compact with narrow cobble stoned streets, shops and homes painted a fistful of colors, flowers everywhere, quaint boutiques, and lots o’ restaurants. One side of the town is bordered by the harbor, the other side by steep hills topped with homes and schools. A typical day here might be to wake up and take your coffee at one of the outdoor cafes while reading your paper. During the afternoon you can knick-knack in the numerous boutiques, go to the record shop, visit the very good Kinsale bookstore, rent bikes and ride around the harbor, get snacks at one of the various gourmet shops and then spend many hours going from restaurant to restaurant, peering at the menus and contemplating the evening’s meal. Kinsale is Ireland’s gourmet capital and the restaurants (though they aren’t as diverse as in the big cities) are excellent and a tad expensive. After dinner, there are pubs where you can enjoy a Kinsale Lager and listen to some live music. There is, of course, great fishing here, an exclusive golf course built on the peninsula and beaches nearby. The movie club meets weekly to see some arty flick at the Town Hall. There is a Kinsale library in case the bookshop doesn’t stock your title. You can take photography classes at the Continuing Ed Center. That’s about it.
We’re living in a row of modernly equipped town homes at the top of the hill. Walk up Main Street, take a left a Desmond Castle and go up the hill a ways. We are across the street from the Children’s Park and the old stone friary. It’s great to wake up each morning and look down into the town and see the boats coming into the harbor and the flowers hanging from the eaves of all the buildings. Remember all those times you look at postcards and think “Man, I want to live there”? Well, we figured, why not? Why can’t we live in the picture postcard?
Back to our place -- it’s sunny, furnished and wholly adequate for our needs (although a little small). Now if only we could figure out how to use all of the appliances. One thing that is really cool about Ireland is that they are big on conservation – heat, water, plastic, paper, etc., that is until you realize that you are always cold, there is no hot water and you have to bring your own bags to the store (this we learned the hard way trying to juggle all of our groceries up the hill). Everything is on an energy saver system and we still can’t figure out how to work the heat and hot water. The washer/dryer combo is the biggest mystery of all. Irene, our realtor did try to explain it to us, but all I remember are her final words: “Be careful, because it’s easy to break!”
As for work, we are trying to make a go of building websites. About half of the restaurants and B&Bs are online so we are going to target the other half. We will see how that turns out, but the rent here is cheap enough so that we will be able to subsist on even a modest income. We were hoping to walk around a flyer until we found out there is no place in town to print! What I wouldn’t do for a Kinko’s! Thank heaven Cork is only a half hour bus ride away. Anyhow, keep your fingers crossed that we make it out here without dying of boredom or killing each other in our constant battle for control of the laptop. Otherwise, we really are happy as clams and eager to make friends, which I imagine will take a bit longer out here since so much of the population is transient. In the meanwhile, now that we are settled, we’d love visitors!
P.S. The Kinsale and Galway Galleries are up, so don’t forget to check out the pictures.