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 Pontevedra

There are 4 empty ex-convents in Pv city, the biggest of which is this one, adjoining the 14th century Romanesque church of San Francisco. When I came here, this was the Tax Office (La Hacienda), where I used to have to go to buy (Yes) the forms on which to make my annual returns of income and assets. But this moved almost 15 years ago and the building has lain empty since then. There’s long been a rumour of conversion into luxury flats but this has been superseded by reports of plans for a 5-star hotel, which the city is said to need. The conversion would include the removal of the entrance seen in this foto, which is said to be one of the gates of the medieval walls. Maybe it’ll be set up in our museum.

I just did an AI check and it seems that it’s the entrance to the church itself – to the right in this foto – which incorporates the gate:-

I’m not convinced of that and will check further. Either way, it’s the only extant gate.

BTW . . . The church is said, of course, to have been founded by St Francis de Assisi when he was passing through the city on the Camino Portugués, which is almost certainly yet another myth.

I’ve said rather more than once that, here on the coast, we’re at the mercy of 2 things – Colombian drug barons and the Atlantic Ocean. Summers are pretty dry, as is September. Usually. But, from then on, our weather can take any form, depending on which way the wind is blowing. Right now we’re enshrouded in the Atlantic Blanket and it hasn’t stopped raining since I got back from Madrid 2 days ago. Worse, it’s predicted to stay this way for another 10 to 14 days. This makes it hard to believe the headline in a local paper yesterday that AEMET again forecasts a dry October.

Which reminds me . . . One of the pluses of such endless rain is that the granite buildings and pavements glisten, thanks to minerals in the granite they’re all made of. Another plus is that the temperature is higher than if the North wind were blowing, bringing us clear days and nights.

I confess to feeling a tad sorry for the numerous camino ‘pilgrims’ I see wending their way through our Old Quarter enveloped in their ponchos. These range from thin, light plastic versions to those which look like gabardine – certainly superior but probably weighing a lot more in their backpacks, even when dry. That said, I fear no version keeps the wearer completely dry. Mine never has.

Incidentally, the last 2 days and nights there’ve been far fewer pilgrims in my favourite watering holes and eating places. Either they’re lying on their beds during this lluvioso weather or they’ve learnt that, weatherwise, October is a lottery and they could spend a considerable time drenched, and miserable. We will see when the deluge eventually stops.

Just for the record, today’s forecast was 100% chance of rain, humidity of 97% and a temperature peaking at 18. Could be worse. The last figure might have been 17 . . . [It was accurate]

I was going to say the local police had again been officious in fining someone for carrying a mattress on the roof of their car. But I read on and realised they’d been keeping it there only by the extended arms of the driver and the passenger.

The UK

John Grace takes a turn at taking pot shots at the Conservative leadership hopefuls . . . and the party.

The USA

Bad news . . .

The Way of the World/Social Media/Quote of the Day

To a very great extent, the media are actually writing out their own suicide note. More and more it is becoming apparent that the place for news is social media, despite its faults and weaknesses. Certainly, if you need continuity of information, then social media is the place to be and, after a while, much of what the legacy media has to say seems redundant. Richard North.

Spanish

All from reading an account of a football match in the UK involving my friends Os Porcos Bravos:–

• De cara a: In relation to
• Caché: The French word cachet, not ‘cache’ as given by Google translate . . .
• Resuelto: Demasiado determinado, audaz, arrojado y libre.
• Rajatabla: 1. De manera estricta, precisa o rigurosa. 2. A toda costa y resueltamente pese a los riesgos o dificultades. Google: ‘to the letter’.
• Extrarradio: Outskirts
• Al quite: On the lookout
• Adláteres y advenedizos: Cronies and upstarts
• Desfallecido: weak

Did you know?

• The colours of the French tricolour flag are blue, red and white. The first 2 are those of Paris’s patron saints. The white represents the monarchy. Which is a tad ironic, as it was added just before the king and queen – the last in France – were killed.
• The Jacobins were so called because they first met, as a club, in a building in Rue Saint- Jacques that had once belonged to the Dominicans, who’d come to be popularly known as Les Jacobins.

Finally . . .

MY YEAR IN THE SEYCHELLES

• Episode 1: 12 September 2024: Why VSO?
• Episode 2: 13 September 2024: The Leaving of Liverpool
• Episode 3: 14 September 2024: An interlude: The Seychelles back then
• Episode 4: 14 September 2024: Departure, Nairobi and Arrival
• Episode 5: 15 September 2024: Arriving in MombasE
• Episode 6: 16 September 2024: The YCWA in Mombasa
• Episode 7: 17 September 2024: The flight to Mahé
• Episode 8: 18 September 2024: Our Arrival
• Episode 9: 19 September 2024: Early Days
• Episode 10: 20 September 2024: My Colleagues and Some Early Adventures
• Episode 11: 21 September 2024: Mr Warren and Me
• Episode 12: 22 September 2024: Chris Green
• Episode 13: 23 September 2024 The Hotel des Seychelles
• Episode 14: 24 September 2024: A Night to Remember
• Episode 15: 25 September 2024: Visitors
• Episode 16: 26 September 2024: Dr McGregor and Me
• Episode 17: 27 September 2024: Dr McGregor and Me 2
• Episode 18: 28 September 2024: Teaching Duties
• Episode 19: 29 September 2024: The Watch
• Episode 20: 30 September 2024: The Sea and Me
• Episode 21: 1 October 2024: Fishy Tales

Episode 22: Photos

I thought I’d give you a break from reading text today. And me from writing. So, here’s a selection of photos from various sources. You’ll recall that all except one of my photos – the first one here – were burned in a warehouse fire – possibly genuine – when my wife and I were in Tehran. The internet has proved useful in compensating a bit.

One or two of these you’ll have already seen, but no matter . . .

Me, aged 18. Sitting with fellow teachers before the school term starts, in a little bit of the bar of the Seychelles Hotel right on Beau Vallon beach. I’m second from the left, if you are uncertain. Phil Hunt is on my right and the other 2 are a married couple. I think they were called McCarthy but am not sure. I must have sent this photo home to my parents:-

My Kodak box camera:-

The type of sea-plane that took us to the islands, crashing on landing:-

The shop in Victoria where I saw the Omega watch, on the corner after the Toyota sign:-

The clock tower nearby, some time before we arrived:-

The same thing some years after we left. The 4-storey cream building has replaced the watch shop:-

Seychelles College. As the library was uphill from the main buildings, I think you can see its roof above the trees, on the right:-

My girlfriend, Maryse. I clearly sent this one home too:-

A modern map of the hotels on Beau Vallon beach, where there just used to be one:-

The Beau Vallon Beach Hotel, very possibly the first successor to the Hotel des Seychelles:-

My beach, where I chatted to the fisherman:-

Another view of the beach:-

What the sea was like:-

One of the less colourful fish:-

A menu from the Hotel de Seychelles:-

The scar on my left shin, nicknamed Mac, in honour of the good doctor:-

Tenrecs, about which more anon:-

A coco-de-mer. Likewise:-