Well,
I'm in Irún tonight. That wasn't the plan. But only because I didn't
really have a plan, thinking I might drive a couple of hours into
France, rather than stop here on the border.
But
it was a good decision as I was pretty whacked, having added an hour
to my trip from Pontevedra by taking a short cut I'd never used
before. And won't be using again. I've passed Irún many times,
normally at around 120kph, and had never seen anything of this Basque
border town.
Anyway,
I drove towards the centre of town but was forced down a side street
by the cop putting up a Road Closed sign and, miraculously, found a
parking space almost immediately. What I didn't notice – there
being none of these in Pontevedra - was that
it
was a Pay Zone. So, blissfully unaware, I sauntered off to do a bit
of shopping and to take a glass of wine in a nearby bar. This wasn't
the smartest bar I've ever been in and the beaker of (allegedly)
Rioja wine I was given was surely the roughest I've ever experienced.
Almost two hours later, my throat is still sore. It cost 90 cents –
less than half of what it normally is – and my guess is that the
bottle it came from cost less than this.
Walking
back to the car, it struck me, firstly, that there was Residents Only
parking in the streets I was passing through and, secondly, that I'd
earlier asked for directions from a traffic warden. So, it was quite
a surprise – and a huge relief – that there was no ticket on my
windscreen.
Then
it was off to a Pensión just along from my parked car. Having rung the bell of a flat on the floor below the pension – I
thought it was a light – I made my way into the place and got
myself a room for the night. Foolishly, I asked mein
host – dressed in a vest and shorts – if he could
recommend a restaurant and he spent the next fifteen minutes doing
exactly that. For about ten places. Which I pretended to mark on the
street map he'd given me.
Someone
told me years ago that Basques have a different physical appearance
from other Iberians. In particular a square head. As a result, I'm
unable to stop myself staring at everyone who comes into my purview,
to check this out. Thank God it's getting dark.
Well,
it's getting on for 9 and so the restaurants will be opening soon.
You never know, I might stumble upon one of those recommended by the
Pensión owner.
I'll
sign off with the news that a police chief has been arrested in
connection with the Vendex case and that someone has pointed
the investigating magistrate in the direction of regular payments to
politicians in the provincial government.
Oh,
and there appears to have been a riot in Madrid Monday night. Or,
putting this another way, the riot police fired rubber bullets at
people protesting about the budgetary cuts. Have the Spanish finally
decided to revolt? One could hardly blame them, given what they're
reading in their papers every day about politicians and businessmen
lining their pockets. Something which they've traditionally shrugged
their shoulders at. But which may now be rather less acceptable. I guess it's even possible that an entire political class may end up in gaol. Depending on how corrupt - if at all - the judiciary is.
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