Life in Spain 

Sunday’s final concert of our Jazz & Blues week was given by Samantha Fish. It was loud. Very loud. Leaving me wondering about the integrity of the eardrums of those nearest the speakers. As she favoured hi-decibel rock over blues, I left early. But not before I’d noted that these concerts attract a lot of men with long white beards and white hair tied at the nape. Well, at least 2 or 3.

Maybe it’s because I’m ageing but today’s star turns don’t seem as good – or as famous – as those of 10 years ago. Solomon Burke, for example. I’ve sent the organisers a couple of recommendations for next year but, this being Spain, I don’t expect the courtesy of any sort of reply.

I see from my eyrie that the 2 public parking lots at the Lérez end of O Burgo bridge are finally in use again today. But yesterday they were still roped off. More relevantly, they were were being guarded by an armed security chap who must have been pretty pissed off sitting in his car all day – a public holiday – and occasionally having to get very aggressive with pedestrians like me trying to take a short cut across the lots. The excuse for the 2-day closure was pruebas. This can mean ‘tests’ but also ‘competitions’. So, as there was no sign of any of the former taking place, I still assume it was related to the triathlon events that had finished on Sunday. Why the lots were still closed and guarded on Monday is anyone’s guess.

Those guided tours in Pv city . . . I see that the Xunta puts out a leaflet about free walking tours in the Galician cities of Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, A Coruña and Pv. But only in the first of these can you, as yet, get one in English. And the Pv council has a brochure about guided tours of the old quarter but costing €7 for those over 12. Then there’s me, who’ll give you a tour in English for nowt. And tell you all about the numerous coats-of-arms I’ve been researching this week. BTW . . . The Visit Pontevedra site has the tag line ¡No todo va ser sufrir! Which I believe means Not everything/one is going to be suffering. IGIMSTS. Maria? Paideleo?

Cosas de España/Galiza 

Here’s Lenox Napier on the recent even-hotter-than-usual weather down South

Imminent good news from RENFE, the national rail carrier . . .  They’re going to allow ‘pet-parents’ to take their dogs on long-distance and express trains. Secondly, long-distance ALVIA routes to and within the region of Extremadura will be half price for the foreseeable future. So, double delight for some folk.

The UK 

It’s feared Boris Johnson might well return as a member of Ms Truss’s cabinet. Possibly as Minister at Large.

Richard North admits to having watched the ‘BBC shout-up’ between the wannabe Tory leaders last night. He adds the he was ‘distinctly underwhelmed’, his lasting impression being ‘one of incoherent noise’ – ‘Politics as entertainment, designed primarily to massage the egos of the media luvvies who do so relish the opportunities to parade their self-importance under the guise of informing the public’ .So, no great surprise there.

It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, at a time when the very troubled UK needs political giants, the only people willing to go into politics there are seriously over-ambitious pygmies. For all parties. Except, of course, this one.

Should you want to, you can see several of the UK’s troubles cited in RN’s post today.

Politics: the pygmies prattle

English

Semptress: Another term for seamstress. Used by Orwell in 1945.

Speaking of the devil . . . Here’s what someone wrote of Orwell back in 1946:- His style is a common-sense style, unadorned by tricks and graces. It represents the man himself – a man, one cannot help feeling, who assumed the garb of simplicity after some practice. He sees no no nobility in poverty and no advantage in lack of education, no point in bad taste, no virtue in humility. What he does see, what he is continually rediscovering, is the inconsistencies of man – evidences of good in the bad and of the worst in the good, confirmation of the ancient dualism of body and soul. That’ll do for now. More on the man tomorrow.

Finally  . . .

To amuse . . . From Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas:–

For new readers: 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.