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Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Random thoughts from a Brit in the North West. Sometimes serious, sometimes not. Quite often curmudgeonly.

Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: 8 August 2020
Sunday, August 9, 2020 @ 11:32 AM

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*  

Living La Vida Loca in Spain     

•    A midnight firework display surprised me into remembering that our annual 2-week fiesta began yesterday. But it’s a pallid version the usual extravaganza, of course. No bullfights, for example. And no fairground occupying the Alameda and all the streets around it. So, a lot quieter . . . Except when the the bagpipe players (gaiteros) parade through the streets. And we’re still having the (very) loud concerts which begin (notionally) at 10pm. But with socially-distanced seating these days. Though I suspect they won’t be able to stop the kids congregating cheek-to-cheek right in front of the stage.

  • At a more national level . . .Thank god for a new foto of Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein:-

Like me, you're probably sick to death of seeing this one:-

The lady has been described today as : A Danish adventuress who had reinvented herself as a German princess and then as mistress to the king of Spain. Which sounds about right to me. Now a very, very rich woman, of course. Able to afford a lot more plastic surgery, I'm sure.    

•    María's Day 55.   

Quote of the Week

  • Effie Deans: Identity trumps economics. It always has. It always will. . . Viewing everything through the lens of identity is more powerful than the facts themselves. . . . All forms of nationalism eventually become violent. 

Social Media

  1. Rod Liddle: As a keen and experienced observer of current affairs, it has occurred to me that Donald Trump can be a little crass from time to time. . . I have further observed that he is not always wholly truthful; seems to possess antediluvian attitudes towards women; and on occasion makes statements that suggest, to a neutral observer, that his ignorance is a fathomless abyss. . . . In short, Trump appears as the very embodiment of what the rest of the world has always reckoned Americans, in general, to be: loud, dumb, money-obsessed, boastful, badly dressed and arrogant. But especially dumb. Despite this, it is impossible not to be on his side in his battle with Twitter and Facebook. . . . The boundary of what you can say narrows seemingly by the week. It is becoming a noose.
  2. Camilla Long: Social media is the Caliban offspring of the internet.

English 

  1. I bring you beyotch: “A friendly use of the word bitch. Usually used in greeting one's friend (Hey, beyotch!) or when one has succeeded over someone (You got owned, beyotch!)”. I imagine it comes from the USA but wonder why it's necessary.
  2. Architect: Apparently now one of those nouns which have become verbs.  Same origin, I strongly suspect.

English/Spanish

  • Three more refranes:-

. The pot calling the kettle black: El que tiene tajado de vidrio no tira piedras al de su vecino. [?] 

- The proof of the pudding is in the eating: No se sabe si algo es bueno hasta que se lo pone a prueba.

- The sap rises in the spring: La primavera la sangre altera.

Finally . . . 

  • The other day I ground some cloves in my coffee grinder, which made for an interesting brew the next day. Yesterday, I ground some dried cayenne peppers (guindillas) in it (for a curry, of course). So . . . an even more interesting brew this morning. And not exactly a huge success. Made worse by the fact I buggered up my (UK-bought) kettle when boiling water for second go at my morning filter-coffee. Using just the cone of a Philips machine which went kaput a few weeks ago. But worse things happen at sea, I guess. Más se perdió en Cuba . . .         
  • But my spirits were raised by all the fog outside my window. For it always reminds me of a hotel owner on the camino who warned all ‘pilgrims’ against taking the mountainous option to the next town, as there was always mooch mood and mooch fuck up that way. 

 

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.



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