The
Corner cafe seems to be having another refit. Could this be
because the sporting motif doesn't go down well with the civil
servants who used to be its main clients? Leaving me as its only
customer at the important time of 10.30 to 12.30. And that only because I'm friendly with the barman.
I
took my satnav(GPS) for another trial run yesterday. Not encouraging.
The English voice offered unrecognisable pronunciation of simple
words such as Avenida. And it took me several minutes to
realise that Berio was, in fact, Barrio. So I switched
to the Spanish voice, only to find it was one of those mujeres whose harsh diction sets your teeth on edge. As so often, a choice of
evils.
Still on driving . . . I don't think I've mentioned roundabouts for a
while but I'm stimulated to do so now by a new one on the edge of
Pontevedra, on the 'old' road to Vigo, the N550. This has only two
entries/exits and the smarter among you will have realised these must
mean you can only go straight ahead. Now, there are a number of these
around Pontevedra but they usually have token exits left and right,
creating the impression that, one day, there'll be new roads going
off the roundabout. But not this one. So, one is left wondering why
on earth it was built. Surely not just to increase expenditure and,
thus, commissions. I fear we will never know.
The
latest Spanish politician on the conveyor belt of thieves is an ex
Presidenta of the Balearic islands – a position she achieved
despite having only two seats. El Mundo fingered her in 2001
but the wheels of Spanish justice grind slow and she was only brought
to trial this year. After committing more offences in the interim.
Her father is a politician in Andalucia who's had his collar felt
several times over the years. Fortunately for him, so far he's been
able to convince the judge that his great wealth stems from an
astonishing run of luck on the humungous Christmas lotteries. And
then there's the head of the PP party in Ourense who has two
warehouses full of over one hundred vintage cars. But I'll leave him
until tomorrow.
On
Sunday, I read about the Batalla de Las Navas de Tolosa –
between the Moors and the Christians in 1212 - and today I read that
yesterday was the 800th anniversary of this important event. A coincidence? I
think not. Incidentally, the map of the battle in today's El Mundo
had mug shots of the three Spanish kings and of their Moorish
opponent but not of the Portuguese king, Afonso. But there was a
little note at the bottom of the page, saying that “Portuguese
troops also helped”. It reminded me of the maps of Iberian weather
on which Portugal is a featureless white blob.
It
was a particularly frustrating and irritating midday today with
Ponte-WiFi. In fact, if I'd known where the aerials were, I probably
would have ripped them from their housings. But, hey, this is Spain.
Tomorrow is another day. We were born to suffer.
Reader
Victor admits he's a big fan of Sálvame - the program I
mentioned last night – for the same reason I used to watch Jeremy
Kyle on British TV; it's so bad it's good. But then I thought of
what somebody wrote about this year's Eurovision Contest - A point is
eventually reached beyond which the program is no longer funny. And
is just plain atrocious.
The
Spanish economy . . . Here's the Economist's view of the
challenge, using Wellington's phrase 'Hard pounding'.
Finally
. . . I watched Frank Capra's Meet John Doe tonight,
starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyk. A great performance from
her and a welcome lack of a soundtrack to an impressive 1941 film.
No comments:
Post a Comment