Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*
Living La Vida Loca in Galicia/Spain
More on the overdue eviction of the Franco’s from their Galician mansion. Or one of them at least.
A nice blog post on winter weather in the south of Spain.
And another on traditional Spanish Xmas sweets. I’d hazard a guess that several of these originated in Arabia or Persia. Certainly the peanut nougat, hard and soft.
Driving in Spain: These are the 2 signs at the ends if the bridge I recently wrote about.
Being confused by them, I went on line and found that the first one means you have the right of way and the second means you don't. So, I was right that the police officer forced the wrong driver to back up last week. Who'd have thought it?
Here's Marìa's Riding the Wave: Day 27
The UK
In the Independent newspaper, a columnist compares Trump and Johnson. Trump, he says, is a liar but also a fantasist - an unknowing liar who's long stopped being able to tell the difference between the truth and his own version of it. But Johnson is no such thing. 'All his lies, and they are many, are full-throated and real', avers the columnist. Quite possibly true. But in a quest for what? Popularity? Love? Don't laugh, this has been suggested as his primary motivation, stemming from life under a crap father.
The UK & The EU
Dear dog . . . In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Royal Navy Police will be given the power to arrest French and other EU fishermen who illegally enter Britain’s waters. What could possibly go wrong?
The Way of the World
I talked to my daughter yesterday on WhatsApp - owned by Facebook - about buying a guitar for her son. Shortly thereafter, Youtube - owned by Google - was offering me videos from guitar makers.
John Wesley - the founder of Methodism - wrote, when single, a book which extolled marriage as the perfect state. After he'd married and been 'dragged round the parlour by his hair' he changed his mind somewhat and wrote a second book, highlighting the virtues of the single life. Pretty understandable. But he retained his belief in a deity who'd put Charles II the throne after the end of the Cromwell experiment. Which must have pleased his god.
Spanish
This melody is called ‘Forbidden Games’ in French but ‘Spanish Romance’ in English. Wonder why.
Finally . . .
Amusing aphorisms No. 13. I run like the winded.
* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.
3 comments:
Dear dog . . .
Royal Navy frigates came off second best against Icelandic armed trawlers & gunboats during the Cod Wars of the 70s.
Britain deployed a total of 22 frigates and ordered the reactivation from reserve of the Type 41 frigate HMS Jaguar and Type 61 HMS Lincoln, refitting them as specialist ramming craft with reinforced wooden bows. In addition to the frigates, the British also deployed a total of seven supply ships, nine tugboats and three support ships to protect its fishing trawlers, but only six to nine of the vessels were on deployment at any one time.[97] The Royal Navy was prepared to accept serious damage to its Cold War frigate fleet, costing millions and disabling part of its North Atlantic capacity for more than a year. HMS Yarmouth had its bow torn off, HMS Diomede had a 40 ft gash ripped through its hull and HMS Eastbourne suffered such structural damage from ramming by Icelandic gunboats that it had to be reduced to a moored operational training frigate. Iceland deployed four patrol vessels (V/s Óðinn, V/s Þór, V/s Týr, and V/s Ægir) and two armed trawlers (V/s Baldur and V/s Ver).[97][98] The Icelandic government tried to acquire US Asheville-class gunboats and when it was denied by Henry Kissinger, it tried to acquire Soviet Mirka-class frigates instead.
A more serious turn of events came when Iceland threatened closure of the NATO base at Keflavík, which would have severely impaired NATO's ability to deny access to the Atlantic Ocean to the Soviet Union. As a result, the British government agreed to have its fishermen stay outside Iceland's 200 nmi (370 km) exclusion zone without a specific agreement.
On the evening of 6 May 1976, after the outcome of the Third Cod War had already been decided, V/s Týr was trying to cut the nets of the trawler Carlisle when Captain Gerald Plumer of HMS Falmouth ordered it rammed. Falmouth at the speed of more than 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) rammed Týr, almost capsizing her. Týr did not sink and managed to cut the nets of Carlisle, and Falmouth rammed it again. Týr was heavily damaged and found herself propelled by only a single screw and pursued by the tugboat Statesman. In the dire situation, Captain Guðmundur Kjærnested gave orders to man the guns, in spite of the overwhelming superiority of firepower HMS Falmouth enjoyed, to deter any further ramming.[99] In return, Falmouth suffered heavy bow damage.[100][101] The Third Cod War saw 55 ramming incidents altogether.[102]
In NATO-mediated sessions,[52] an agreement was reached between Iceland and the UK on 1 June 1976. The British were allowed to keep 24 trawlers within the 200 nmi and fish a total of 30,000 tons.
What could possibly go wrong, indeed?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars
The sign at top, being in blue, means it's a recommendation. The one below, being a circle with a red border, means it's an obligation. It probably has to do with visibility, being less for those on the side of the blue sign, and more for those at the round sign.
Yes, and maybe with the alleged rule that people going up must give way - in narrow places - to people coming down. Which is the case here, as drivers approaching the red circle sign are coming down a hill, as well as round a corner which affects visibility. Not to mention the trees which obscure their view.
But I don't often see drivers obeying this possible rule. Drivers approaching the blue sign nearly always race to get on the bridge first, despite the fact they can see cars coming round the corner and above them.
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