Dawn

Dawn

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Downtown, the preparations for the weekend’s Feira Franca (medieval fair) are well advanced, as these pictures show. I’ve said a couple of times, one can’t fail to be impressed by the ingenuity,time and effort which goes into making events like this a success. If the Spanish approached the challenge of exporting in the same way, there’d be no question of the country being able to do a Germany.





As I had my camera with me, I thought I'd show you the entrance to the yet-to-be-opened new museum which harbours the big defensive ditch that was accidentally discovered a year or two ago.


I say 'museum' but it's actually called El Centro de Interpretación de las Torres Arzobispales. As you can see from the picture. Or not, because of the modern, artistic way this is represented.

I also thought I’d show you one of the 10 to 15 flat blocks which are still going up in Pontevedra, notwithstanding the end of the construction boom. I'll post more, if the demand is there . . .


 As with the houses that have been going up for more than five years behind mine, God knows when these will be occupied.

The same question applies to the house next door to mine, which was sold a couple of months ago. During August this has been completely gutted and internally rebuilt. Which delighted my summer guests by adding to the noise and dust we’re well accustomed to from the perpetual building site across the road. But, hey, the new owners will surely be in quite soon and doubtless the first thing they’ll do is to come round and apologise for the nuisance. And for the fact they’ve had not one but two skips taking up four precious car-parking spaces for the last month. But possibly not. The Spanish are among the most affable and polite people on earth but my impression is that neighbourliness is not their bag. Or maybe I’ve just been unlucky.

The Spanish phone company Telefónica (now Movistar, I think), operates the highest internet prices in the EU but this is not enough for them, it seems. They say it’s not right that heavy users should get the same price as everyone else and plan to find some way to charge these even more. I can’t help wondering whether this is a reflection of the fact that the Spanish are the worst (best?) in Europe at illegally downloading films and songs, thus hogging broadband space. Maybe so, but I suspect it's also another good profit opportunity for Telefonica. Bound to make them even more unpopular. As if they care.

Finally . . . I recently bought a humane trap to catch the (increasingly) fat rat which finishes off the dog’s dinner outside my front door. On each of the last three nights I’ve succeeded in catching a brace of mice but no rat. I release the creatures in the forest but I’m beginning to harbour a suspicion that . . . yes, I have a race of homing mice in my garden. A whole new sport beckons. For those who can’t afford to keep racing pigeons. Apply here for your starter pair. You could have a vast team of them within a few weeks.


Tailnote for new readers: My elder daughter has now e-published the second chapter of a novel she describes as “A fast-paced political thriller but, above all, a personal tale of pride and paranoia.” Set in a fictionalized Cuba, it’s being posted one chapter per week. Click here, if thise entices you. I guess the easiest way to automatically get new chapters is to become a Follower of her blog. Or use Google Reader or the like. Why wait?

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