Into each life, a little rain must fall.

The umbrella sellers were out in force on the shiny, wet streets of Vigo this morning. Carpe diem! Well, their version of it. When it rains, they appear as if by magic. They probably sell more brollies than they do wooden giraffes or leather wrist bands or pirate CDs. At least people have a reason to buy an umbrella. 

Yes, the rain returned in the night, just when we’d adapted to blue skies and sunshine every day. I was woken several times by the unmistakable sound of rain in the patio. By the time I got up and ran round the Castro park it had eased off. This did not prevent me from getting wet, however. Despite the torrential downpour in the hours of darkness, the sprinkler system was at work on the already wet grass of the Castro gardens. Such good water conservation!! I am astounded. Is there not someone in charge who can just turn the main tap to “off” when inches of water have fallen overnight? You would think so! 

Anyway, there it was; I was up and running as usual, with a stop at the bread shop on the way back. I’ve not been there for a week and a half but la panadera still remembered that I want “una barra artesana”. She’s clearly a good shopkeeper. Maybe she’s done her NVQ in customer service. So I bought a little “pan de nueces” as well, the very tasty walnut bread that she sells. We had a good breakfast and the grey clouds appeared to be moving away. 

By the time I went out to the library to return some books and renew others, the rain was back. It was not at all cold but a steady drizzle was falling. I had to be sure to visit the library today. Forget about fines for overdue books; the rottweiler librarian will ban you from borrowing books for a week if you fail to meet the deadline. It is a system that seems to work here. Or maybe not. I don’t have any statistics for numbers of late returnees but none of my friends find it strange. There’s even a special letterbox where you can post books for returning if the library happens to be closed. And in the summertime that might well happen, as the library closes at 2.30 on its summer timetable. Just when you might want to visit more often, they reduce the opening hours. Logical? 

I notice that the victorious Spanish football team members have each received a bonus of €300,000. That should be a good incentive to carry on being invincible. The opinion has been expressed that they should give it to charity. After all, they do all earn good money playing football and really are very fortunate to be able to make a living doing what they enjoy. There have been stories going around that Iniesta was donating his bonus to the fund for the victims of the Valencia forest fires. He has denied that rumour, saying that it’s not so, that he has no idea who put that into circulation and that it’s up to each footballer to make up his own mind about what he is going to do with his bonus. That should increase his popularity no end. 

Meanwhile, we wait to see how Ferrer, the remaining Spanish hope for Wimbledon, gets on against our very own Andy Murray or “Moo – rr – eye” as the Spanish commentators call him. That’s if rain doesn’t stop play. 

Let’s hope the sun comes back tomorrow!