Ireland day 0049. Tuesday 16 November 2021- Cars?

Ireland day 0049. Tuesday 16 November 2021- Cars?
Today’s summary Went to the Citizens Information Centre in Malahide to get advice about health insurance and then  made enquiries about a car.  Spanish lesson for me in the evening and Val went on a walking tour of Drogheda
Today’s weather Dry and overcast.   Light breeze.   Cooler than recently.   About 10C
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Today’s overview location
(the red cross in a circle shows where Val and I are at the moment)
Close-up location
(click the link below to download a gpx of this evening’s walk to Spanish class):
Spanish stroll
Commentary

Today Val and I did something that neither of us have ever done before.   We went to a Citizens’ Advice Bureau.   OK – they are called Citizens’ Information Centres here, but it’s more or less the same thing.

We needed to try and get to the bottom of health insurance for people moving to Ireland, and it’s impossible to get clear information from the web.   There is no NHS equivalent here – though if you have an acute emergency, you will be sorted out for free at a public hospital.   But if you have a chronic condition, or something that is important but not life-threatening, you either have to pay (a lot) or wait (potentially years) for public treatment.  So most people get private insurance.

We were able to walk into the CAB with no appointment, and two super-helpful staff members told us in straightforward language exactly what we needed to know, with no messing around.  So now we can add organising health insurance to the list of things we have to do, though now we have PPS numbers, it should be a little easier.   It will unfortunately be expensive – possibly over €1000pa for the two of us.

The rest of the day was spent with the everyday tasks of existence – shopping, cooking, eating and the like, but with one potentially major development..

..We need to get a new car now that the British one has returned from whence it came.   I had been chatting with fellow walkers from the Dublin club last weekend, and one of them mentioned that he had a friend who ran a garage who “might have something suitable”.  He promised to ask his friend then let me know.   And he duly rang me back this afternoon, and gave me his friend’s details.

To cut a long story short, the garage might indeed have a possible solution to our transport difficulties in the shape of a 20-year old Toyota Yaris with “only” 130,000km on the clock.  It’s a snip at €600 but the sting in the tail is that it would cost more to insure it than the purchase cost.   Anyway, we are going to go and have a look at it on Thursday and take it from there.

After a late lunch which morphed into an early dinner, I scooted off to my Spanish class in Portmarnock, and Val took the altogether more interesting option of a train journey up to Drogheda for an evening on-foot “Whiskey Tour”.   Neither of us is entirely sure what this means so I need to dash off to meet her from the train when she gets back in a few minutes and escort her home in case she has sampled too much of the water of life en route.

Oh and by the way, why aren’t we going to see the car tomorrow?  Well there’s a pretty significant reason for that, but you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow’s blog to find out what it is.

 

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

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Everyday traffic jam in Ireland Everyday drinking materials in Ireland
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Late afternoon in Malahide, down by the coast Healthy dinner being lovingly prepared
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Ready-made unhealthy dessert Down at the Community School, ready to hablo español
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This is what happens when a man is left in charge of the dinner.  They melt the cooking implements and then make arty photographs using the remains
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