My god but Holland is
quiet! So quiet, in fact, I might think this even if I weren't coming
from the aural hell of Spain.
One odd aspect of The
Netherlands is that they aren't in the van when it comes to the use
of credit and debit cards. I had my Spanish Visa card rejected
several times, though not so with my UK card, which I was able to use
to buy train tickets at least. A little research suggests you're
going to have card problems there unless your issuing bank is Dutch.
So, be aware. Get enough cash if you don't want to be embarrassed in
supermarkets and restaurants. It's said that the Dutch abhor debt but
this hardly explains why debit cards – foreign ones, at least –
are not widely accepted.
Ironically, I've also
had the opposite problem in The Netherlands – not being able to pay
in cash. At a café near Haarlem station last year, I was told I
could only pay €2.50 for a coffee via a local debit card. In the
end, I resorted to a Spanish solution; I told the young lady to give me the coffee and keep the money
for herself. In a city attractive to tourists,
this seemed rather odd. As indeed does the general situation.
But now I'm back in the
UK, where things work but – generally speaking – perhaps not
quite as well as in The Netherlands. And where you're regularly aware
you're being ripped off in a country where capitalism is more red in
tooth and claw than in either The Netherlands or Spain. Which is not
a nice feeling. Even if it does make the wheels go round. Train
travel is the obvious example, of course.
To be honest, after a smooth exit
from Holland, I wasn't too impressed with my re-entry into the UK.
Despite paying for roaming, I couldn't send messages at the airport.
And, as I waited for a train at the airport station none of the free wifi networks seemed easy to get on. Finally, I had to find and
press a button for the so-called 'automatic' doors at Heald Green station. And
Heald Green is rather more dowdy that any bit of Holland I've seen in
the last week. But, hey, a big Ferrari drove past as I left the
station. So, someone's doing well.
I haven't mentioned the
Russian propaganda channel – RT News – for a while. The Economist
has fun with its viewership claims here, pointing out that: RT has a
clever way with numbers. Its 'audience' of 550m refers to the number
of people who can access its channel, not those who actually watch
it. And that: The network’s practice is to buy the rights to
sensational footage and repackage it with the company logo. RT hopes
that the authenticity of such raw content will draw viewers to its
political stories too. This sounds like a canny strategy, but it
doesn't work. RT’s most popular videos are of earthquakes and
grisly accidents. Among the top 15, the closest to a political clip
is one of Vladimir Putin singing 'Blueberry Hill'. Couln't happen to
a nicer channel.
Finally . . . Back in
Galicia, the Tax Office's relentless pursuit of new things to hit may
well result in the demolition of many of the region's characteristic
grain stores, the hórreos. These – admittedly valuable - assets are to be treated separately from the homes whose gardens they're in
and given their own municipal tax, the IBI. What next? Statuettes of
gnomes? Swimming pools? Oh, no, they're already levying a tax on the
latter. As everyone says, the low-hanging fruit. Easy to pick off.
Today's foto: My granddaughter on hearing I was coming back today . . .
In truth, she gave me a wonderful welcome of endless smiles.
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