And, Lo, has caught the Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable
– Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’
Cosas de España/Galiza
Another very positive experience . . . I have an unexpected house-guest, a friend of my daughter who’s been forced her to give up the camino by an angle injury. She’s a professional cellist and wanted to give a concert in my house next week but, of course, needed a cello. So, I went to the Conservatory of Music in Pv city and begged a loan of one. And they couldn’t have been more pleasant and cooperative.
It is – or was – the cultural norm in Spain for shops – free of charge – to wrap purchases as gifts, if you want them to. This is taken to extremes in pharmacies, where your little box of pills will be wrapped in tissue paper, sellotaped and then – unless you stop it – put into a small plastic bag. But perhaps energy-related sanity is just around the corner. I say this because last night this didn’t happen. But it was a new pharmacy for me, so now I must see what happens at my normal place, and elsewhere.
BTW . . . The same thing happen in hardware stores too – ferreterías – even if you’re buying just one screw. I kid you not.
The UK
AEP is uncharacteristically positive here – about the UK economy. His bottom line: The UK faces difficult times but it is not an economic crisis and it is not in worse shape than Europe. Nor does it have higher inflation, contrary to what we are led to believe. The August tally was 9.9% in the UK and 10.1% in the EU. What we do face is a cultural crisis: a ‘trahison des clercs’. The pathological catastrophism of the pro-Brussels commentariat is becoming a national cancer.
Russia
The use of nuclear weapons seems to have taken a step closer. Which is more than a tad depressing. See here and here.
Spanish
Violoncello: Cello
Finally . . . .
Well, I recalled that I do have fotos of the galleons painted on the walls of my bedroom. I leave it to you to decide whether or not I sold mine short:-
En passant . . . This was done in a rented council house. I was later told that the subsequent tenants were none too happy about our ‘desecration’ of the wall.
To amuse . . .
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.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 
At my pharmacy they simply ask if I want a bag. But I like that habit for a single screw. Otherwise, I place the screw in my purse or pocket, and forget about it for the ages. At least, when my fingers touch a small package when rummaging, I’ll remember to take it out.
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When I go to my local chemist for my monthly top-up of pills and the like, I take along the same bag that he gave some three years ago which inside I keep the prescription (since updated).
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