Getting around.

Despite the fact that we were able to go cycling in the sunshine yesterday (and very nice it was too) today began wetly and just got worse and worse. By the time we caught the bus back from the town centre to our house in the outskirts it seemed as though the sky had come down and settled on the rooftops as the visibility was so poor. This didn’t stop hardy Mancunian males from parading around in shorts and summer shirts, however. I suppose it’s a kind of natural reluctance to accept that you have to put away the summer wardrobe that you have hardly had any chance to show off. It’s a good job I had plenty of sunshine before I left Vigo, that’s all I can say.

I also saw the rain falling on the cyclists in the Tour of Britain, a report which I happened upon as I was channel hopping in search of something interesting to watch. (British TV is no better than Spanish!) As I watched them struggling up wet cobbles on a hill in the outskirts of Swansea and then riding through the rain to the finish line I wondered what they were doing there when they could be taking part in the Vuelta a España. Photos in the Spanish papers show riders under blue skies. El Faro de Vigo, by the way, reports that the gallego Mosquera is doing well, currently in second place. It’s reassuring to see that Galicia is maintaining its place as centre of the universe. I do think the cycling organisations should get their acts together though. Fancy having the Vuelta a España and the Tour of Britain overlapping? It’s clearly a ploy to prevent British cyclists like Tony Martin and Bradley Wiggins from grabbing Spanish glory.

Talking of grabbing other people’s glory, here’s another story of wheeling and dealing. Many of my friends in Spain often commented to me on the state of political corruption in their country, prompting them to declare with a rather touching naivety that they could never imagine such thing happening in the UK. This is part of a strange “the grass is always greener” syndrome which many people suffer from. I always assured them that corruption is, of course, an international phenomenon and today I can give them all an example of corruption UK style. Our local MP, the chap who represents US in parliament after all, stands accused of dirty dealing. It seems that he was rather afraid that he might lose his seat and now some say that stirred up a little racial tension in his election pamphlets to persuade people not to vote for the Lib Dem candidate. Apparently it worked and he kept the seat which he is now danger of losing (along with his reputation) if the investigation goes against him. Time for a by-election perhaps.

Meanwhile, my Phil and I are trying to organise some travel plans. I recently commented on the wonders of Oporto as a flight destination from the Northwest of England. Did I perhaps put a hex on it? We are now having difficulty finding flights from Liverpool to Sá Caneiro and back and may be forced to detour via London. Do these budget airlines imagine that only southerners want cheap flights to the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula? A shocking state of affairs!

Before we get around to revisiting Portugal and undoubtedly Galicia, however, we have a trip planned to the Balearics. Having read disturbing reports of a new activity there called “balconing” which involves diving off your hotel balcony into your hotel swimming pool I am very glad we are heading for Mallorca in a few weeks time and not Ibiza. This dangerous and in some cases fatal activity has been taken up mainly by young male British and German tourists.

I have made my Phil promise to remember that he is too mature (not to say old) and too poor a swimmer to think of getting involved in such sports!!!