Cosas de España/Galiza   

Come the start of April, ‘pilgrim’ numbers have markedly increased. I guess they’re not aware of the local saying – En abril, aguas mil. Here in Galicia, they’re certainly going to get wet for the next several days, after the arrival of The Atlantic Blanket this morning. Which tends to wrap itself around us for at least 4 or 5 days. Sometimes 14 .

My favourite white wine grape – Godello – is finally making it big time. Per The Telegraph, it’s one of 5 options for drinking with your ‘relatively simple, unadorned, steamed British’ asparagus’, : Capricho Val de Paxariñas, costing £12.95 in the UK and €11.00 in Spain. Here’s the inevitable guff – A real treat, with a light floral note, lemon sherbet and lime flavour with a hint of grass.  

It’s reported there’s been a decline in greenfinches in the UK. That’s partly because most of the greedy buggers have come to my garden and driven out the lovely sparrows that used to nest in and around my house. Only the marauding magpies frighten them off. And the occasionaal sparrow hawk, of course.

Another set of Galician granite blocks non-visible from my seat as I manoeuvred into this tight parking space . . . .

And another scratch along my car’s sill.

The UK 

By Jove, AEP in optimistic mood! The UK can become Europe’s energy powerhouse, he says. If it really wants to. Mostly to do with the wind, not the sun, of course. And, above all, with ‘green/clean hydrogen’. Not the nasty ‘blue hydrogen’ of today.  

Ukraine/Russia

I don’t know how ‘Nazi’ is defined these days but I suspect this article makes a valid point: Whitewashing Nazis Doesn’t Help Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s aggression. The complicating factor is: Members of far-right groups played a greater role on the pro-Russian side of the Donbas conflict than on the Ukrainian side, especially at the beginning. Leaders of the Donetsk People’s Republic are closely linked to the neo-Nazi party Russian National Unity (RNU). A member of RNU was the first “governor” of the Donetsk People’s Republic. In particular, RNU is linked to the Russian Orthodox Army, a separatist group in Donbas. Volunteers from several other Russian far-right groups have joined the separatist militias.

Putin, of course, head’s Russia’s largest nationalist party. So, it’s rather hypocritical of him to say his ‘special operation’ is to counter Ukrainian nationalism. But hardly his biggest crime, of course.

Amazing . . . Done with empty bullet shells . . .

The Way of the World/The USA

Life imitating ‘art’ . . . The writer of a blog post entitled ‘How to Murder Your Husband’ is now on trial for the murder of her husband.

Finally . . .

My neighbour’s young cat appears to recognise the sounds not only of my car arriving but also of my fridge door opening. My fault, of course. And I’m not even fond of cats . . .

For new reader(s): If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.