Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight.
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
A couple of Times articles on one of my favourite artists, whose home in Madrid is a joy to visit:-
Europe’s only desert. Possibly familiar from the movies filmed there,
Bomba rice is essential for a good paella, they say. But its days might be numbered.
A massive blight on Madrid and on Spain.
The UK
Yesterday I visited a sports centre/club which is quite expensive to join. It was ‘rammed’ with relatively young folk on their laptops. I guess you can WFH from a place like this when your employer is contributing to your household expenses and you can save money on commuting 5 times a week.
Travellers are folk who used to be called ‘gypsies'[from ‘Egypt’]. They can be quite flamboyant, as this article shows. A gold-plated coffin?? Unbeknown to the occupant, I’m sure. I guess he had to be known as ‘Big’ Willy Collins, not ‘Big Willy’ Collins. Possibly just a Brit-only joke. Just.
The Netherlands
The Dutch have a ‘quirky’ tradition of placing pancakes on one’s head on November 29th, known as “Sint Pannekoek” or “Saint Pancake Day” While not an official holiday, this playful custom has gained traction since its creation in a 1986 comic strip by Dutch cartoonist Jan Kruis. The comic humorously depicts a family wearing pancakes on their heads, sparking the lighthearted tradition. While the exact origin of the pancake-on-head custom is unclear, some believe it stems from Kruis’s fictional story about 12th-century monks. In the tale, a young monk selflessly shares his pancake with the cold abbot, prompting an angel to reward him with another pancake from a golden frying pan. This act of kindness supposedly gave birth to the tradition of “Saint Pancake Day.
The USA
Biden and Trump. Articles from the British Right and Left:-
- The world can see that Biden is finished. Why can’t the Democrats? Prosecutions are bad. Being deemed unfit to stand trial – that’s worse.
- Trump is too old and incited a coup. Biden is too old and mixes up names. America, how to choose?
The Way of the World
Evolving capitalism? The uprising of Europe’s farmers is a final nail for globalisation. Rationale here.
Did you know? . . .
There’s ”clear web’, the ‘deep web’ and the ‘dark web’. Here’s how the last-mentioned works. Depressing.
Finally . . .
I’ve moaned about bloody selfie-takers in places such as the Alhambra but it seems they commit even bigger sins that just irritating me.
The Usual Links . . .
You can get my posts by email as soon as they’re published. With the added bonus that they’ll contain the typos I’ll discover later. I believe there’s a box for this at the bottom of each post. I guess it’s logical that this doesn’t appear on the version given to me . . .
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 – updated a bit in early July 2023.
For those thinking of moving to Spain:- This is an extremely comprehensive and accurate guide to the challenge, written by a Brit who lives in both the North and the South and who’s very involved in helping Camino walkers.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 