The sun is out today, but with cooler temperatures in the 40s F. As if on cue, my friend CJ texts to ask if I want to join him on a walk and shop this afternoon.We do a short loop up through the Grangegorman and Stoneybatter neighborhoods then down to Smithfield where there is a larger “Fresh” grocery shop (same chain as the one we stopped in last week). The selection is impressive, the produce section isn’t huge but well stocked with generous packages of herbs and a few items I haven’t seen elsewhere (e.g., fennel), a small bakery section with fresh breads and desserts, and there are stacks of the pre-made 2 for €10 meals. They also have various pre-packaged meats such as pork chops, chicken breasts, pre-marinated meats, etc. The frozen food section is small, like in other shops, with only pizzas, some potatoes and other vegetables, and ice cream. This makes sense given that most people have small refrigerator/freezers here, so there’s not aisles of frozen dinners and other foodstuffs like in most U.S. grocery markets. Although some stores like Lidl have larger frozen sections, perhaps catering to larger families who live in houses with larger capacity. I’d say the Fresh markets seem the closest thing to a Trader Joe’s, but with an in-house deli and meat department, so a little more upscale but definitely not as posh as a Whole Foods. I didn’t by much since I already am well stocked although I couldn’t resist when I saw some Jiff peanut butter in what looked like a small American foods section. A 16 oz / 454g container set me back €7.25, or almost $9.00, so it was a whimsical extravagance. The local brand of peanut butter available at SuperValu costs €3.79 for a 350g container, so roughly half the price and probably just as good or better ingredients.
View from Millenium Bridge looking eastward towards Ha’Penny Bridge:
One of Dublin’s electrical boxes turned art (for more visit https://www.dublincanvas.com/insight):
Crossing back over the Millenium Bridge looking westward as the daylight starts to fade:
Yesterday evening when it was still afternoon in the U.S., I straightened out the issue with my COBRA health insurance coverage. Thankfully the new administrator company for the University of California had me in their system now, and the person I spoke with was able to give me a registration code to create an online account. I’ve set up automatic payments so I should be set. Their system shows my COBRA coverage period ending after April, but I should be able to extend that out another 18 months under Cal-COBRA. I think it’s a good idea to keep my US insurance for the time being, just in case something major were to come up (fingers crossed).
In COVID-19 news, the third wave here in Ireland may be bottoming out. The current lockdown restrictions have been extended until at least March 5th. There’s also been discussion of imposing a mandatory travel quarantine, which would be more restrictive than the current 14 day self-quarantine requirement that is a very light, hands-off approach (the two times I’ve self-quarantined, the Irish government has sent me a few polite text messages but that’s it). Proponents argue that requiring travelers to quarantine in hotels has worked in other countries and could stave off the spread of new variants of the virus. To date, 2.5% of the Irish population (-120,000 people) have received at least the first dose of vaccination, with the projection that everyone would be vaccinated by September. Acceptance of the vaccine in Ireland is the 2nd highest in the EU after Malta, with 37% of Irish adults declaring they would wish to get the vaccine as soon as possible against the EU average of 23%. Only 8% of respondents were opposed to ever receiving the vaccine, which is less than half of the EU average of 17% (as reported by the Irish Times). Meanwhile, restaurants and bars may be required to stay closed until May (!).
Until next time….
