My
daughters rang me at 6.30 last night to say they were on their way
from Madrid. Good call, as I was expecting them a day later. They
arrived at 1.40, when my lovely neighbours were still sitting in
their garden chatting. As I helped Faye get her luggage out of the
car, Hannah went straight upstairs and surprised poor Ian, who was
sleeping in her bedroom. Good start.
I'm
no longer surprised that both kids and adults ride their bikes on the
pavement here. And around the pedestrianised areas of town. What
still gets me is the speed with which they do this, especially down
the slopes. Sometimes it's little short of crazy and, for those of us
who read magazines as we walk and have our eyes on things other than
approaching traffic, pretty dangerous. But no one else seems to care.
Live and let ride.
By
the way, instead of 'pedestrianised', the Spanish use the word
'humanised'. Which is more appealing, I think. Until you get an
inhuman bike wheel between your shoulder blades. Or, worse, between
your legs.
Down
in Andalucia they're even more worried than elsewhere in Spain that
their hundreds of thousands of new properties aren't shifting. So
they're going to mount a marketing campaign overseas. But the budget
is going to have to be in the hundreds of millions if it is to stand
any chance of counteracting the negative publicity around the
land-grab practices of the Valencian government, the illegalisation
of properly acquired properties and the demolition of the Priors'
house. Frankly, I think they're up against it.
To
be more positive . . . An organisation called Eixo-Atlântico
do Noreoeste Peninsular
has brought out a guide to the Etno-Gastronomic
delights
of the (euro)region in question. Which is Galicia and North Portugal.
84 colour pages, all in English. Which will have cost a bit. Shame
they couldn't chuck some of their budget in the direction of a native
speaker, to check the Foreword by the President. “I sincerely
expect it helps you to enjoy it and to know us better, because if
there is something we have learnt these years is that who knows us
learns to love us and always repeats.” Oddly, they do seem to have
got someone to do the text proper.
Here's
one of the several articles I've seen this summer on Galician wines.
I'm citing it as the writer endorses my regular comment that Mencía
is a terrific grape that deserves a bigger following. And because
Terras
Gauda
is one of the best Albariños on the market.
And
also because I'm reminded of the point someone made a while ago –
viz. that the reason
wine experts use the terminology they do is not only because they're
pretentious sods but also because they have better taste buds than
you and me and really can differentiate all the flavours they ascribe
to the wine.
Having
mentioned Albariño, I might point out there's been a revolution in
pricing of this 'premium' wine. Not so long ago, you couldn't get a
bottle for less than 8 euros. Now the floor price is around 3.50. I
guess this is what the economists mean by 'internal devaluation'.
As
more and more friends get a Kindle, I increasingly fear I won't be
able to hold out against the purchase of one. Meanwhile, though,
here's my daughter's second novel – The
Second Death of Juan La Roca -
available for all you existing Kindle readers at only 77p. Less than the price of a newspaper.
Well, that link went smoothly, don't you think?
Finally
. . . Here's a sobering thought. From Fay Weldon: - You end up as
you deserve. In old age you must put up with the face, the friends,
the health, and the children you have earned. With my daughters
here for a while, I'm learning (again) what this means.
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