Edo in San Miguel de Allende

[spacecadet]

1 minute ago, Ed Rooney said:

I will be leaving Mexico tomorrow. One night in Dallas, and then 10 days in NYC, where I will sell my landlord my lease, clean out a few things from the closed apartment, and abandoning everything else -- my entire past life. I will then be visiting my stepson in Montreal for a week or two, and try to figure out what to do next.

 

Thank you again, forum folks and Alamy, for your help and support. 

 

Edo

Good luck and God speed, Ed.

[NYCat]

I hope you land in a wonderful place, Ed. I admire your fortitude during this unsettling and upsetting time. Please keep in touch. The blessing of the internet is that we don't have to lose you here.

 

Paulette

[Betty LaRue]

58 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

I will be leaving Mexico tomorrow. One night in Dallas, and then 10 days in NYC, where I will sell my landlord my lease, clean out a few things from the closed apartment, and abandoning everything else -- my entire past life. I will then be visiting my stepson in Montreal for a week or two, and try to figure out what to do next.

 

Thank you again, forum folks and Alamy, for your help and support. 

 

Edo

That’s going to be hard. Saying goodbye to NYC after that being your home for so long.

But then, maybe not. I expected it to be hard leaving Oklahoma City. Strangely enough, what I miss is Oklahoma rather than Oklahoma City. I’m an okie, born and bred.

I think adaptation depends on your new place. If you like it, and the pluses are more numerous compared to the old, adaptation is easier.

Chose carefully, and you’ll be happy. I am.

Betty

[John Mitchell]

Hope the transition goes smoothly, Edo.

 

Keep us posted from your new base in Montréal, a welcoming city that you are familiar with. It looks as if they're in for some sunny (and hot) weather right now.

 

Bon voyage!

[Allan Bell]

 

Good luck Edo. Stay safe and keep cool.

 

As the others say please keep in touch and let us know your movements.

 

Allan

 

 

[vpics]

I stayed in a hotel in Faro once for a couple of days. I don't remember any huge hills, but there were slopes. Good place to stay to get around the Algarve and Isla Canela in Spain. I remember booking a fast train on a day-ticket to Lisbon and it was only about 35 EUR. 

[Ed Rooney]

All seafront villages have hills, Bettina. But Porto is on another level, literally and figuratively speaking.  

 

Edo

[wiskerke]

Rentals in Portugal: Idealista.

I think they have one for Spain and Italy as well. Spotted them when they had nicked an image ;-)

Ads can be outdated though, as the family looking for a place in Malaga said, but it's a good starting point.

Searches tend to be for the greater region. So Porto will also yield Matosinhos (coast; harbor; tram to Porto) and Villa Nova de Gaia, on the south side of the river looking at Porto.

 

Take care!

Is there no way to store your stuff somewhere cheap?

 

wim

[Abiyoyo]

Good luck Edo, and regards from Azores, beautiful islands with not too many tourists.

[Ed Rooney]

39 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

Rentals in Portugal: Idealista.

I think they have one for Spain and Italy as well. Spotted them when they had nicked an image ;-)

Ads can be outdated though, as the family looking for a place in Malaga said, but it's a good starting point.

Searches tend to be for the greater region. So Porto will also yield Matosinhos (coast; harbor; tram to Porto) and Villa Nova de Gaia, on the south side of the river looking at Porto.

 

Take care!

Is there no way to store your stuff somewhere cheap?

 

wim

 

Thanks, Wim. Assuming that the sale of my NYC lease goes as planned, my next giant problem is getting a new Irish passport. Unbelievable complicated, even though I have my citizenship papers.

 

I'm trying get my head around the restrictions of Schengen counties. As you might guess it's very hard to get anything done when you don't have a functioning address. 

 

If I can find the time and energy, neither of which I have right now, I will explain the reasons behind not putting things in storage.

 

Thanks again, and thanks again to all you people and Alamy, and a BIG thank you to Ian for getting people to help me out. 

 

Oh! I had my first sale of an image taken in San Miguel today!

 

Edo

[NYCat]

I know nothing about what you need to do but this is the company in NYC that I use to get Visas.....  https://www.itseasy.com  They are on Lexington Ave. a couple of blocks south of 42nd St. Of course, they charge $$$$ but I have found it a relief to let somebody else deal with things I know nothing about. The money I have spent has been worth it for the peace of mind of knowing I won't suddenly find out I did something wrong. It looks like the passport service is only for USA passports but they may have helpful knowledge.

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney]

That's a common practice in Mexico and South America, Paulette. But I don't need a visa. I need a new Irish passport. 

 

Oh, wait . . . It's Easy! I used them to rush my US passport renewal to come down here in a week. They were very expensive . . . but I could not have done it on my own. I'll see if they can help with my Irish. Yes, I have duel nationality. The way one solves a problem in America? Throw money at it.

 

I combed through It's Easy's site. They deal with US passport and visas, not Irish or other EU passports. I bet there a company like them in Dublin. 

 

If you have an hour to kill, look through this step-by-step from the Irish consulate . . . but not only the headline items, the second lists under each headline. And somewhere they mention an average wait of 8 weeks. Not possible.

 

Edo

[John Mitchell]

6 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Oh! I had my first sale of an image taken in San Miguel today!

 

Edo

 

Good going. Hope you get more of them. I've had a few license during the past year despite the glut.

 

P.S. Just had a peek at your SMA images. You have a nice variety of subjects. I predict some more sales soon...

[Martin P Wilson]

11 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Thanks, Wim. Assuming that the sale of my NYC lease goes as planned, my next giant problem is getting a new Irish passport. Unbelievable complicated, even though I have my citizenship papers.

 

I'm trying get my head around the restrictions of Schengen counties. As you might guess it's very hard to get anything done when you don't have a functioning address. 

 

If I can find the time and energy, neither of which I have right now, I will explain the reasons behind not putting things in storage.

 

Thanks again, and thanks again to all you people and Alamy, and a BIG thank you to Ian for getting people to help me out. 

 

Oh! I had my first sale of an image taken in San Miguel today!

 

Edo

 

Hi Edo,

 

Some thoughts on the Irish passport.

 

If Irish passport service is anything like the UK they will have an express service, even same day with an appointment, althought it might require visiting an office, perhaps in Ireland. So you could head to Portugal via Dublin. It is what my son does, he travels extensively and fills up a 48page UK passport every three years! He lives in Singapore (at the moment) so when he is coming to trhe end of his passport and he is in Paris (the company HQ) or London takes a day out at the London passport office to get a new passport. Costs extra of course.

 

The Irish do have a rapid 3 day service for renewals only: https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/top-passport-questions/can-i-get-my-passport-today.

For first time passports they suggest: First-time passport applications cannot be expedited.  It is recommended you submit your application through our Passport Express service which takes 10 working days to process.

 

The other alternative is to travel to Portugal on your US passport which I guess will give you visa free travel for at least 90 days and apply for your Irish passport from Portugal. Eight weeks should be well within your visa free time. Or you could even apply for a Portugese visa on your USA passport (a couple of days at NYC consulate or even in Lisbon) and then you will have as long as you want to get your Irish passport.

 

Can't help with the storage or otherwise question

 

Congrats on the SM sale.

 

All the best

Martin

[NYCat]

It might be worth asking It's Easy if they have any advice.

 

Paulette

[Martin P Wilson]

Edo

 

Forgot to mention. Once you are legally in the Schengen area, the continental EU countries plus a handful of others like Iceland (so not UK, Ireland - they have opt-outs, and four other, eastern european, countries have not yet met the criteria), you can travel freely and with no restrictions.

 

As a US citizen no visa needed for 90 days in Portugal, as a citizen of an EU country you may not need a visa at all, perhaps with or without your Irish passport as you have the citizenship papers. The Irish passport might make it easier though!

 

http://www.embassyportugal-us.org/visa-information/

 

I think I would check out getting to Portugal and sorting things out once there. Your Irish papers may be enough to get the necessary Portugese documents, identity card or whatever to show you are registered in their bureaucracy.

 

Martin

[Ed Rooney]

Martin, all that sounds like the best advise on my situation I've had so far -- thank you so much. 

 

I have to first get through NY and all that jazz, and then get to Montreal. Then I can focus on the Irish P and where to go next. 

 

Edo

[spacecadet]

According to the Schengen advice, if you enter on a non-EU passport they want to see a return ticket and enough funds to support yourself. The Irish route sounds better.

There are a lot of Brits finding out they can get one nowadays. My OH is half-Irish but the Irish half was born in England, so no dice. Her brother can do better- he married an Irishwoman.

[John Mitchell]

Since Canada is a Commonwealth country, I wonder if applying for an Irish passport in Montreal might not be somewhat easier than in the US.

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, funkyworm said:

 

 

According to wikipedia (and probably Ireland and others) Ireland isn't a member of the Commonwealth.

 

You're correct. Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1949 after it became a republic. So much for that theory...

 

Canada is a constitutional monarchy, so we're still in the club FBFW.

[gvallee]

I love your SMA pix Edo. You seem to have sampled all the dishes! Makes my mouth water. 

 

Hope you find a landing pad soon. All the best.

 

Gen

[Ed Rooney]

On 6/30/2018 at 12:12, spacecadet said:

According to the Schengen advice, if you enter on a non-EU passport they want to see a return ticket and enough funds to support yourself. The Irish route sounds better.

There are a lot of Brits finding out they can get one nowadays. My OH is half-Irish but the Irish half was born in England, so no dice. Her brother can do better- he married an Irishwoman.

 

I was born in Brooklyn. So were my mother and father, but all 4 of my grand parents were born in Ireland. That makes me an Irish citizen as well as a US citizen. I lived in Oxfordshire, and worked, on an Irish passport. Brexit has made things very uncertain in matters like this now.

 

We have The Donald. You have Brexit. Good luck to both of us. 

 

Edo, from NYC, where it might hit 38C today

[Martin P Wilson]

My maternal grandmother was  born to an Irish father but in England, unfortunately I don't think her birth was registered in Ireland(on the Foreign Births register) - because at that time Ireland was still part of the UK. Unless it is I cannot establish my Irish citizenship Also I haven't found her father's (my great grandfather) birth registration in Ireland, I don't even know which county.

[NYCat]

I have one grandmother born in Ireland, one grandfather in Canada (from Swiss/German descent), a grandfather born in Sweden and a grandmother from a family that has been in the USA since before the Declaration of Independence. So I am a "typical" American. My father immigrated here from Canada.

 

Paulette

[Dyn Llun]

1 hour ago, geogphotos said:

 

My Irish passport has arrived! I won't queuing at immigration with a load of moaning Brexiteers.

 

I feel so proud of all my Irish ancestors.

The trouble is that we will all have to queue along with the Brexiteers. They have well and truly dumped on all of us and should have a special stamp in their passports and have to endure a long queue to themselves and let the rest of us go fast pass. Or, they could have their beloved blue passport and we keep the current colour so they know who's who! Good luck to all of you with Irish, and other European passports. Because of my ancestry no other passport for me. However, I'm content to be Welsh and British and was more than happy to feel part of Europe too. My personal feelings won't change but the practicalities, customs, passport control etc. will change things I'm afraid.