One
of the odder - and more disturbing - sights of the pilgrimage
destination of Santiago is two young and one old women kneeling with
heads bent and arms out holding a placard detailing their plight. For
no reason I could easily defend, I suspect all these beggars are Romanian.
Possibly of the same family. Anyway, my impression is they
remain motionless in one of the busy thoroughfares for the entire
day. Incredible. And and almost medieval.
Which
reminds me . . . As you enter Santiago at the end of the French
Way, you walk between the cathedral and the magnificent
university buildings and then through a short tunnel into the huge
Obradoiro square in front of the cathedral's main entrance. As
you pass through this, your ears are inescapably assailed by a deafening combo of loud drums and Galician gaita. Which is why I call
the place The Valley of Death by Bagpipes.
And
talking of things religious . . . I see Pope Francis has been called
on to perform a few exorcisms early in his career. Well, I guess it's
logical; if you believe in the supreme Good, you've also got to
believe in the supreme Evil. Who'll want to crop up from time to
time, to remind people he's still there, unvanquished.
I
also see that the Catholic Church is considering canonising a young
girl who was cured of an 'incurable' condition after her father had
gone to a convent and prayed for her recovery with the nuns therein.
So, what are we to think? That all the numerous prayed-for kids that
didn't recover after copious prayers went to Hell?
I
wish I could tell you where we are with the issue of whether Princess
Cristina will be in the dock alongside her husband, accused of one
financial crime or another. But the problem is every few days one
judge reverses the opinion of another on the matter. Or sometimes
his/her own previous decision. As of now, I think she's heading for
the dock but who knows about next week? While we wait on events, see
here and here.
A
new bit of Spanglish? Reports on the events in Woolwich have thrown up
the word cúter, which turns out to mean both a Stanley knife
and a 'cutter/sloop'.
Finally
. . . For those who want to see more of Galicia from their armchair,
here's a site which offers virtual tours of various cities (including
Pontevedra) and of the several Caminos de Santiago which enter
Galicia from all points of the compass. HT to my Ferrol friend
Richard for this.
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