Cosas de Spain/Galiza

Feathers are ruffled in the Spanish dovecot as the self-exiled, corrupt ex-king – despite efforts in Madrid to stop it – has said he’ll attend the big funeral in London next week. But he won’t sit next to his estranged wife and his son might not acknowledge his existence. Seems pretty selfish to me.

A nice article on strange – but practical – houses up in the Galician/Leonese mountains. En passant, O Cebreiro is famous as the place where many British troops froze to death in 1809, during their retreat from Madrid to La Coruña. Britain’s first ‘Dunkirk’. It gets very cold up there.

Well, it seems I wasn’t right about the rain this week. Two days ago, it was more than double the entire quantity for July and August together. Though, TBH, this wouldn’t be very difficult. As for the cyclone which turned into a mere storm, I’ve seen it called both Daniel and Danielle. Perhaps, on topic, it’s confused as to its gender. Or is even now a trans storm.

Some friends have just opened a fine new BnB place in the very centre of Pv city’s old quarter. Checking on prices for other places in the city last night, I saw on Treep that a night’s stay in our 4 star Galicia Palace hotel in October would set you back €3,050. Surely not.

Talking of the city . . . I had difficulty yesterday finding out where the Turismo now is, after its move from Plaza de Verdura. I say ‘the’ Turismo but, in fact, we have three of these. This is down from five when I came here in 2000 and the residual offices handle enquiries for Galicia, the Rías Baixas bit of Galicia, and Pontevedra city, respectively, God knows why. Anyway, the internet gives out wrong info on the location of the PV city office, and the 2 local policemen outside one of the wrong (ex)offices had absolutely no idea where the new one was. In case you’re looking for it, it’s now behind the town hall, opposite the New Bombay Palace Indian restaurant.

For those interested, another video re the Camino. This time on The Things They Don’t Tell  You. Briefly:-

1. It’s going to hurt. Physically and/or emotionally

2. You’ll probably want to go home at some point

3. There are shops so no need to overdo taking stuff

4. It isn’t a ‘Thru-hike'[?]. Ditto.

5. You don’t need a tent, a cooker or a sleeping mat

6. You will feel lonely

7. You should learn some Spanish before you go

8. You’re going to ‘find yourself’, especially if you walk alone. [Not always possible]

9. You’ll want to do another one

10. You might well change your personality.

Life in Spain

Well, my need to go to the IT shop re a new Mac battery will end up being 5 times, not the predicted 4. Not  having had a call, I went yesterday morning to be told that, yes, the battery was in but, if I wanted to get my Mac back the same day, it’d be best for me to go back ‘early’ this morning – 10am in Spain. As I’ve said, this sort of thing is common in Spain/Galicia/Pv city and no one ever apologises for wasting one’s time. It’s the sort of customer service that Vernon Werner railed against in his book.

The UK 

I just don’t get it. Three hours to walk past a corpse. And I’m not an anti-monarchist. I guess selfies won’t be allowed. Otherwise, it’d probably be 10 hours.

Proof that the British are mad . . . Here are some of the measures being taken to show respect for the ex-queen next Monday:-

– Morrisons supermarket will reduce the volume of its checkout beeps.  

– The Met Office – “As a mark of respect” – will only be posting daily forecasts and warnings. 

– Norwich city council will close a bicycle rack near the town hall

– Center Parcs will close for the day and guests will have to find somewhere else to stay Monday night and return Tuesday morning.

– Hammersmith council has postponed its Car Free Day celebration    

So, will he be Charles the Terrible??

Charles the Terrible

The EU

The Greek ex- Finance Minister makes some strong accusations here re the EU’s ‘corrupt’ energy system and its impact on consumers. Not easy to follow.

Spanish

I was confused by El prevé, as it looks like the simple past – 3rd person singular  – of a verb but, in the text, was clearly the present tense. The verb is prever: ‘to foresee, anticipate’. So, it’s pre + ver and ve is the 3rd person singular present tense of ver. The accent of prevé presumably indicates all this . . . 

Finally   . . . . 

To amuse . . . Well, it made me laugh and I needed something quickly:-

It should be ‘advice’, of course . . . .

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.