Spanish Birdlife:
Apparently 24 million birds have been lost in the last 20 years. I'm
glad I wasn't the poor bugger who had to count them.
Spanish Statistics: The
local newspapers tend to be full of these, recording that some
region, province or town is the 4th best for this and the 2nd worst
for that. In fact, I do wonder whether the statistics are gathered(invented?) just to ensure the rags have something with which to fill their
pages. Alongside the traffic acidents, the local murders and the road closures. Daily.
Driving in Spain: The
most annoying drivers are those who overtake you ever-so slowly as
you approach a slow vehicle 300 metres or more ahead of you. So
unaware are they of your existence that you're eventually forced to
either pull right out in front of them or brake to avoid hitting the
slow car or truck. I don't mean to imply this is deliberate. Rather,
it's a reflection of my oft-quoted comment that the Spanish lack
antennae when it comes to the existence of others on the
pavement/sidewalk or the road. That famous individualismo?
Which reminds me . . .
1840s Spain:
I'm reading something Richard Ford 'wrote back in the day' and finding that some of
his comments remain very apt today. I'll be citing some presently.
Which word means 'later' in British English and 'right now' in
American English. I believe. Separated by a common language, as Shaw
said. I think.
Fun in Oviedo: I was
back in this city yesterday, to catch a bus to Santander, whence
today I will walk (mostly) to the beautiful village of Santillana del
Mar. And hopefully the nearby caves. Sadly, I missed this bovine incident earlier in the day in the
Asturian capital.
My Coastal Camino: My
trip to Santander was to meet the colleagues with whom I'll be
walking much of the coastal route this week. Needless to say, thing
got off to a great start. One of my sandals dropped off my rucksack
somewhere in Oviedo; I walked 15 minutes the wrong way towards our
Santander hotel when the phone battery died on my arrival at the bus
station; and an arm fell off my reading glasses as I checked in. But
it wasn't all bad news; we found a great tapas place and they
neglected to put the desserts on the bill. That said, it's 4am and I
can't sleep. Guilt?
Finally . . . RT TV:
Believe it or believe it not, there are Twitter accounts in Russia
which satirise the pro-Kremlin line and lampoon/spoof individual
officials. Or, rather, there were, as they were suspended last week. RT
News apparently didn't have time to mention this in any of the bulletins I saw.
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