There it was, gone!!!

They tell me that it snowed yesterday in Vigo but I must have blinked and missed it. I do remember looking out around midday and seeing rather sleety rain but that’s all.

However, our panadera commented on yesterday’s snow when I went to buy bread this morning. ¡Qué bonita la nieve! My friend Dominique mentioned it on Facebook and the newspapers have photographic proof.

There was more on the hills out of town but apparently snow did fall in the centre. Plaza de España, Bouzas and Samil had some. It’s the first time in 23 years according to El Faro de Vigo. Back in 1987 they took pictures of Príncipe covered in snow and the area around the port.

Mind you the weather’s been odd all over the country. You expect snow in the Sierra Nevada but in some places in the South of Spain they’ve had the first snow for about 90 years. And I didn’t see any of it personally. It just goes to show that you have to keep your eyes open and not just as regards the weather.

All you need to do is absent yourself from town for a few weeks and things change. A restaurant which we used to frequent quite a lot when first we came to Vigo, a place called La Cepa just near the municipal library, has given itself a new look and changed its name to Picadillo. Maybe it’s an attempt to keep up with the general refurbishment of the area. The street was in obras for ages and is now semi pedestrianised and very smart. The restaurant is clearly getting in early on the gentrification of the casco vello.

And then there is El Fenicio, a (former) Lebanese restaurant in another part of town, just near the big green general hospital. This place advertised genuine belly dancing and, of more interest to me, was reputed to serve fresh houmous, a delicacy some people are aware that I miss in Galicia. I never managed to find it open at a time to suit me and now I’ve missed the chance. I went past it on Saturday, saw it was more brightly lit than I’d ever seen it before and realised that, like banks that turn into trendy wine bars in London, it has reincarnated as a tapas bar, now called Tentación.

Some things stay reassuringly, and rather annoyingly, the same, however. I have just returned from the library where the Club de Lectura Italiano had its first meeting. I went along, spoke to the coordinator, Angelo, who was happy to add me to his list and at the end of the session went to sign up. No, can’t be done, I was told. As I am already a member of the Club de Lectura Castellano/Gallego I can’t enrol for this one. If it’s all right by Angelo, though, I can still go along and talk but I can’t have a book to read. Neither can I just borrow a copy from the library. After all, they are needed for the Club de Lectura!!!!