I doubt anyone knows
what's going to happen in respect of Greece, nor the consequences of
whatever it is. To say the least, opinions differ. But the view seems
to be growing that the German sabre-rattling has been misplaced and
counter-productive. "Petulant, even bordering on idiocy",
quotes Our Ambrose, going on to say - "The creation of the
euro was a terrible mistake but breaking it up would be an even
bigger mistake." One thing's for sure, resentment against
Germany won't just be growing in Greece. As I say, all rather ironic
- creating an EU which puts Germany in charge, as a way of preventing
a third-time-lucky German domination of Europe.
I recently listened to
a podcast on lying. Needless to say, politicians featured large in
this, one nice comment being that, like Tony Blair, they convince
themselves of the veracity of their own lies. I thought of this when
hearing this morning that Britain's Education Secretary wants Brit
kids to be 'top of the class' in English and Maths by 2020. Given how
low they now rank in the world tables, there can't be the remotest
chance that she believes this is feasible. But she can always say she
hoped rather than believed. Let alone promised.
The latest
revenue-raising trick here in Galicia is to ban trucks from the
national roads and force them to use the toll-bearing autopistas.
Funnily enough, the transport companies don't seem too impressed by
the offer of discounts.
It's lamprey time again
here in Galicia. I've never tasted this (ugly) fish and hear it has a
pretty strong flavour. But I must get round to it sometime, down by
the Miño river, in Tui. Maybe this year. When I get over revulsion at their feeding method.
It's also billarda season. This is a sport which consists of flicking one stick up
with another and then hitting it as far as you can. As here. This is the National Open
competition but I suspect that National here means Regional. If you
speak Spanish or Portuguese, enjoy the commentary in Galego. And
remember that, as my friend Fran repeatedly reminds me, Galicia is
not Spain. This paragraph has been brought to you by the
Anglo-Galician Society.
The Santiago council is
going to give us the chance to see their city in virtual reality,
using special glasses which portray info about the buildings we're
walking past. This facility is called Past View, which I think
probably falls into Trevor's category of Fucked Translation.
Personally, if I had to use these words, I'd call it Passing View.
But there has to be something better than both of these.
The Pontevedra council
normally deals with our local gypsy encampments rather gingerly.
There are 3 settlements, 1 illegal and 2 legal. That said, on one of
the latter there are illegal buildings. In the last week or so, the
council has decided to clear the illegal settlement - by the railway
station - and to knock down the illegal houses. Last time they did
this, the various court proceedings lasted an eternity. So, it'll
be interesting to see what happens on the scheduled date of Feb 3. I suspect the site by
the station will be cleared quite quickly as it's in the way of road-widening plans.
Finally . . . Taking a
midday coffee yesterday, I looked out from my eyrie in Café Savoy
and clocked this scene:
After half an hour or
more - a tow truck arrived and pulled it backwards up the steps. I
thought one of the 2 police cars could have done this. Or even me.
But then I recalled it's illegal to tow a car in Spain. Which is why
my tow rope is in my garage and not in my boot/trunk. As the car was
moved, I noticed the number plate was Portuguese. Maybe the driver
couldn't read the road signs exclusively in Gallego.
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