Dawn

Dawn

Monday, November 05, 2012

A final word on Ferrol, from George Borrow, writing in the last 1830s:- There is much to admire. Notwithstanding its present state of desolation, it contains some good streets, and abounds with handsome houses. The Alameda is planted with nearly a thousand elms, of which almost all are magnificent trees, and the Ferrolese, with the genuine spirit of localism so prevalent in Spain, boast that their town contains a better public walk than Madrid, of whose Prado, when they compare the two, they speak in terms of unmitigated contempt.

That old Spanish timetable again . . . It was coming up for 12.30 last night when we sat down to dinner in a restaurant which specialised in excellent crab. The trio of diners across the room appeared to have finished their dinner and were chatting over liqueurs. As they were still doing when we left at 2. God knows when they allowed the staff to get to bed.

Talking of God, he seems to have been busy. The winner of India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, informed us “I never wanted to be a millionaire. God made me one.” And the Egyptian Coptics tell us it was God who guided the hand of the blindfolded kid who picked out the piece of paper with the name of one of the Pope shortlist on it. I'd have been more convinced about divine intervention if, say, a red spot had suddenly appeared on the forehead of one of the candidates. Or if the other two had suddenly dropped dead.

God doesn't, however, look like He's giving much help to Spain. Here's The Economist with their (rather jaundiced) view of the current situation.

The latest edition of The Economist also has an article on the Jimmy Savile scandal, with particular reference to the role of the BBC. Which the article describes as “Like the Vatican, just with more cardinals.”

Richard and I were talking yesterday about the QR facility which allows you to get information on your smartphone very quickly. I suggested it wouldn't be long before we saw them in brothel ads at the back of Spanish newspapers. Flicking through the Voz de Galicia the this morning, I realised I was (again) behind the times. Two places had a QR block in their ads.

I've been meaning to say that I did take my old microwave oven out to the communal bins last week. And yes, it was gone by the next morning. I'm now wondering whether to put my old bike out. After all, I've hardly used it since I came to Spain.

Finally . . . Interesting to see that one of the floats at the Samaín procession in Ferrol last week was Mrs Merkel in a coffin. Is there a message in there somewhere, I wonder?

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