Yesterday, since the sun was shining, I donned my sunhat and sunglasses and set off to meet a friend up at the top of Gran Vía. We were going to visit another friend who lives out in Alcabre, a district of Vigo near to Samil and its beach. I have often envied this friend for the views from her garden: views over the ría which she puts on Facebook. Well, when we got there we found that the “bancos de néboa” had preceded us. No need for sunglasses and hats. No chance of sitting out in the garden; it was altogether too “fresco”.
Our friend had a fair old moan about the weather, saying that this summer has been dreadful; apart from a week some time ago, all she has seen have been clouds of fog, like those floating past her window at that moment. Clearly she needs to get out more because down in central Vigo we have had plenty of sunny days. It’s rather like being back at home in Saddleworth. The sun can be shining in central Manchester, or even in central Oldham, which is closer, but it will be dull and cloudy in Delph where we live. In our case it’s being close to the Pennines, in my friend Dominique’s, proximity to the ría.
Still, we had a good chat and a glass of vino, even if we didn’t get to sit by the pool and bask in the sunshine. How frustrating, though, to have a pool and not be able to use it, even in July!!!
Today, I feel sure, is bright and sunny enough even for Dominique. There were no banks of cloud blocking out views of the ría from the top of the Castro this morning.
Driving to Dominique’s was quite an experience in itself. My friend Isabel had already confessed to being poor at finding her way around so Phil and I had looked up the route on the computer and I was pretty confident of getting to Alcabre easily. What Isabel had not told me was that she is a rather erratic driver, almost dangerous, getting hooted at for drifting from one lane to another. It was quite difficult keeping up sociable chat when I felt she really needed to concentrate on the job in hand. But we got there safely in the end.
(Incidentally, the other day I saw the first incident of road-rage I have witnessed in Spain. Normally there is a lot of hooting and gesticulating, but that’s all. Some people even say that the hooting releases drivers’ tension and so prevents road-rage proper. However, we were at a junction waiting to cross when we saw a car screech to an abrupt halt, as did the one behind it. Both drivers got out and yelled at each other at some length. I have no idea what had upset them but they had a good shout and then got back in their cars and drove off. At least they did not come to blows.)
I got back to central Vigo last night in time to join Phil at the Nuevo Derby, our wifi cafe of choice, to watch the end of the Olympic Games opening ceremony: a big song and dance spectacle. We were not at all sure what it all had to do with sport. It rather reminded me of the period when our children were small and there was an element of competition to see who could put on the best birthday parties. In the same way, each Olympic Games host-country feels the need to outdo the previous incumbent.
And yet, I still felt that the best part was when the actual athletes got to parade round the stadium with their countries’ flags, many of them busy filming the proceedings on their mobile phones. Now we just need to see who gets the medals.
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