Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: 2.2.21

 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'

Covid

According to the Worldometer stats:-

UK cases seem to be falling more rapidly than Spain's.

Germany's cases also seem to be well on the way down 

Italy's cases are levelling off.

But in France they're still rising.

I've no idea, of course, what this really signifies. Except trouble for M Macron. Who deserves it.

Living La Vida Loca in Galicia/Spain .

Maria and I have both mentioned cases of vaccine queue-jumping here. And I've cited the case of the head of the Red Cross in Hamburg. Who was fired yesterday. So, will any heads roll in Spain, where ethics are somewhat lower? Stay tuned. While not holding your breath.

Yesterday I returned to the mud of the forest, to take a closer view at the chozo/chouzo featured yesterday. 

And, once again, I plunged into mud above my knees when nearing it. Possibly here:-

And here's my reward:-

1. A sight of said chozo/chouzo. Small and in granite. I can't believe it was a refuge for anyone, especially on top of a peak. The path is brand new and wasn't there on Saturday:-

2. Two views of the valley far below:- 

I made a video but no point in showing it here . . 

Yesterday I studied local maps to see where the border actually is between my municipality of Poio and that of Pontevedra. In the process I discovered that all the paths I've been walking for the past week are mostly in Pontevedra, and so barred to me. In theory. Fortunately, they aren't policed.

Another month, another change of name for María's blog. Here's Day 1 of Tsunami. 

 

The EU

Hmm. Ursula von der Leyen has attempted to pin the blame on her deputy for the embarrassing U-turn in the vaccine export row: The European Commission's chief spokesman said 'only the Pope is infallible' and Ursula vdL blamed her trade commissioner for the vaccine fiasco, throwing her under the bus amid rising anger from EU capitals at her “go it alone” tactics during last week’s battle with AstraZeneca. Key figures including Michel Barnier were kept out of the loop by the European Commission president:

Nutters Corner/The USA

Just when you thought things couldn't get any more insane in the Republican Party world . . . A QAnon-supporting congresswoman who promoted numerous baseless conspiracies was last night blasted as a “cancer for the party” by the top Republican in the Senate. Mitch McConnell criticised Marjorie Taylor Greene’s embrace of “loony lies and conspiracy theories” and for endorsing social media posts that called for the assassination of top Democrats. “Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr’s airplane is not living in reality,” Mr McConnell said.  

Guess who really likes her.

The Way of the World

A lawyer faces being disbarred for life after he was seen having sex during a court hearing that was being held on Zoom. Héctor Cipriano Paredes Robles had been supposed to take part in the hearing in the central Peruvian region of Junin. The case involved a local criminal gang. In the middle of the proceedings, the lawyer - apparently unaware that his camera was on - could be seen stripping off and then having sex with an unidentified woman, believed to have been his client, who was allegedly connected to the gang.

 

Finally . . .

I tried to order some wine this morning on line and came up against a new security measure: Put the first and third numbers of your PIN and the code sent to your phone in this box. I tried it 3 times, without success, and so told the bodega to send me the wine and a bill with their IBAN on it. I wonder if anyone else has faced this challenge and succeeded.