Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain.
If you've arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, see my web page here. Garish but informative.
Matters German/Cologne-ish
- The wifi in our hotel went last night (and this morning) from not very good to virtually non-existent. A German friend attributes this to the ability of the the refugees across the road to fool the hotel's log-in process. If true, I don't suppose the management will want to admit this and then see it cited on Tripadvisor.
- The story is told of a Brit who, in Tokyo, memorised the name of his local metro station in Japanese characters so he could be sure get off at the right stop. Then later – very confused by its constant appearance – learnt that he'd memorised the characters for Exit. I thought of him yesterday when looking for Einbahnstrasse on the my of map of central Cologne. It means - it eventually dawned on me - 'One-way street'. In that odd way the Germans have for combining words.
- As you do, I boned up on the practice of tipping in Germany and learnt that I should tip waiters 5-10%. So, imagine my surprise when the waiter in the first place I ate in declined my tip as 'unnecessary'. This, incidentally, was in a currywurst place called, inevitably, Curry & Wurst. To my surprise – being a curry aficionado – I very much enjoyed the sauce. Perhaps I'm more of a curry whore than a curry aficionado.
- Taking what I think was my first walk along the Rhine, I noted a TV crew filming some fishermen. I say 'fishermen' but they were actually hauling on a rope and I wondered if it was a dead body they were pulling out of the river. But it turned out to be a bike. One of several they'd heaved out of the water and piled up on the embankment. I don't know if this is a daily, weekly, monthly or annual task but there were certainly quite a lot of bedraggled bikes, none of which looked as if it was really unfit for purpose. Perhaps bike-chucking is a Cologne sport. For the not-so-sober.
- Travelling in both Germany and Holland can be a trial for those used to paying for everything by credit card. Even where cards are accepted, you're likely to find this only applies to national cards, not those from other countries. As I discovered in a café in Belgium too. The reason is said to be a decades-old cultural dislike of credit. At least in Germany and Holland. Don't know about Belgium.
Matters Spanish
- I'm not clear how they judge this but Spain now boasts 'the best GP in the world'. She practices in Valladolid. What she says about healthcare in these austerity-hit days doesn't exactly endorse the recent comment that Spain has the best system in the world.
- Generally speaking, Spanish drivers don't seem terribly aware what their indicators are for. Specifically in respect of overtaking, the majority admit to not signalling when they do this, nor when they return to the previous lane. Both of these are obligatory in Spain. I signal 100% of the time when overtaking but 0% of the time thereafter, as it seems totally unnecessary. But now the government says it's going to crack down on these offences. So, yet for fining opportunities to worry about. Or not.
- The Local has a go here at debunking, partly debunking and confirming the stereotypical views of Spaniards. Reasonably accurately.
- Less controversial is their gallery here of 'exciting' autumn fotos around Spain.
- Politics . . . This article makes the point that Spain has finally joined the list of countries with a growing far-right movement. Ironically at a time when both right-of-centre parties – the PP and Ciudadanos – are moving in that direction,
Spanish
- Word of the Day: Bullicio.
Matters Galician.
- I've reported occasionally on the region's kamikaze drivers - those who drive the wrong way down the autovias - but I confess to believing this was very rare in the UK. Yesterday, though, there was a report of a car and caravan (with foreign number plates) being driven on the wrong side of the M40 in Oxfordshire. This ended tragically with the death of the two (80 year old) occupants of the car and the 30 year old driver of one of the vehicles it hit. But my real point is that the article said there were 24 kamikaze incidents in the UK in 2015, which rather surprised me.
- My thanks to those readers who commented on petrol station practices in both Galicia and France. There clearly are quite a few 'low cost' self-service stations in the region, where you might be able to use your credit card both at the pump and at the cashier's desk. With a similar pre-payment and annulmnent in the former case.
© [David] Colin Davies: 18.10.18
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