The first consequence of this was that my usual bread shop was closed. Not only that but my fall-back bread shop had not received its delivery at the usual time and had only empty shelves when I went there. As I was a little hot and sweaty from running, I really did not want to go around the whole of Vigo looking for another bread shop and so I ended up at my least favourite local supplier. They must put extra yeast in their dough or leave it to rise for too long or something but their bread is always too full of air, more holes than bread. These things are sent to try us.
Later in the day we set off to walk to Samil beach, following the river Lagares. The walk in that direction is not quite so picturesque as the one going back towards the source from Castrelos Park but is still very pleasant. We were at times in severe danger of being mown down by cyclists; everyone appeared to be taking advantage of the day off to get some exercise – some very fast exercise.
After a very welcome drink in Samil, sitting in the early evening sunshine, we set off to find a bus to take us home. This was the second consequence of the “día festivo”: buses ran on Sunday service, in other words, one every hour. We even tried texting from a bus stop to the service which lets you know how soon the next bus will come. I received the reply that there was no service expected at that bus stop!! Brilliant!! So we walked a little further and eventually got onto a bus which was packed like a can of sardines. I know that bus drivers also need to benefit from public holidays but one would think that a service running from the centre of town to one of the main beaches would be a little more frequent in the summertime, even on Sunday service. Clearly you have to be a car owner to benefit from the beach.Also yesterday, I heard that there were 4,873 lightning strikes in the Lugo and Orense area – well “raios” which covers everything from flashes of lightning to great crashing bolts that strike trees. I wonder who counts them!! I would recommend that the folk in that area should wear wellies to give them insulation as they are on yellow alert for electrical storms today. In general, storms are predicted pretty well all over for today. What it said was “chuvascos acompañados de aparato eléctrico”: showers with thunder and lightning. I find the Gallego expression quite delightful and imagine rain showers dragging their electrical equipment behind them.
The heat is forecast to continue with 37° predicted for Orense. Vigo was forecast a more reasonable 23°. There will also continue to be “os bancos de néboa nas rías”; I can vouch for the banks of fog in the estuaries. Most of Vigo’s waterfront was under such a cloud this morning. The cruise-liner making its way in was hooting mournfully at around 9 o’clock.
A Galician participant in the Olympic Games has been posting on Twitter photos of the bike he will be riding in his event. It is such a relief to hear that he is now able to do this in Gallego as members of the Xunta have been requesting a Gallego version of Twitter. I read the other day that the ability to do tweets in Gallego (chías en galego) will improve the Gallego presence on the social networks and thus contribute to the prestige of the language.
My fear, however, is that Gallego will disappear under the weight of the English words present in the language. Here are a few more shops with English names, although I am unsure about what kind of English gives rise to “Shoespiel”; that shop sells, predictably, shoes and leather goods. “Picnic” sells packaged sandwiches of the kind you can buy in Boots on any UK high street but because this is Spain you can also sit outside and eat your “Picnic”.
I have so far resisted the temptation to include the weirdly named “Smöoy”, a place selling frozen yoghurt (yolado – the latest food fashion-item) which I first spotted in Sanxenxo but which I have since seen here in Vigo and in Pontevedra. All of them are decorated in nursery pink and white and should probably be avoided by grown-up people.
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