I have just been to the bus station in Vigo to make some enquiries. We are thinking of visiting Cambados, not far from here, where Phil is almost certainly going to play chess. We’ve been there before but it was a few years ago and I wanted to check up on transport possibilities. So I went along and asked at the information desk about buses to Cambados. The answer: there aren’t any. Just that. No follow-up remarks such as that you need to go to Pontevedra and catch a bus from there. So that was my next question. Answer: yes, there are buses from Pontevedra. Next question: could they possibly give me an idea of times from Pontevedra. The answer: NO. Again, just that. Not even a friendly apology for not having the information.
I compare that with the service at the small railway station nearest to our home in England, a VERY small railway station. The clerk in the booking office has won awards for helpfulness. You tell her where you want to go and she tells you all the possibilities. When she realises you have a Greater Manchester bus pass she works out how far you can travel for free on your pass and then sells you a ticket from that station to your destination. If there happens to be just one train that will bring you back to her station without you having to change, she tells you about that and checks if you might want to travel on it. Now that is what I call service. I know who gets my vote for the Blue Peter Badge for customer service.
It may be that it’s the difference between train and bus services or maybe it’s just that I got a really grumpy chap at the bus station here. Whatever the reason, I was seriously not impressed.
The lack of joined-up thinking is cropping up in other areas of my life as well. We have been flat-hunting, with a view to finding ourselves somewhere to rent long term and thus be able to come and go, spend some time here and some time in England and generally be flexible as to where we are. We are, it has to be admitted, just a little picky. We want it to be a place where we will feel comfortable. Modern and nicely furnished would also be good. Ideally we would like a nice view over the ría as well but you can’t have everything.
Anyway, we found a place advertised, not far from where we lived a couple of years ago. Not quite the place with the pool and gardens but almost certainly with a good view. So I phoned the owner, a certain Roberto. “Well”, said he, “the problem is I’m a bit busy at the moment and I can’t actually show you the place until the 15th of the month.” Now, that’s really useful. Today is the 2nd! So I tried another one. This flat-owner, Vicente, was in Madrid and, of course, that made it difficult for him to show us the place!!! However, he did put us in touch with an estate agent’s office so that we could organise a visit. Having said that, I need to point out that we tried to visit Vicente’s flat in April when we first came prospecting for accommodation for the summer and he was just as elusive then. He finally replied to the messages I was leaving for him on the day we were leaving Vigo. No wonder the flat has not been let in the months since then. I have a revolutionary suggestion for Roberto and Vicente: if you want tenants, make it possible for people to visit your flats.
In fairness, we have found most of the people we have dealt with to be most helpful. The various estate agents are working their socks off negotiating with proprietors to get them to bring prices down and offer excellent deals.
We have seen a range of property, both good and bad: modern flats which, even though small, manage to give an impression of space; hot and stuffy attics; light and airy attic flats with air conditioning; older places that smell as though they have been closed up for ages and ages; equally old places that are beautifully maintained. One of the strangest was a sort of “entresuelo”, literally between the “bajo” and the first floor. Most of it was nicely converted from what had been some sort of office space but there was a great empty area where the ceiling was too low to make a proper room. Very strange!! Certainly not for us!!
We are still waiting for one to jump out at us and make us say, “This IS the PLACE. We MUST live HERE.”
Meanwhile, our search has taken us through bits of Vigo we have not visited before, which is always interesting. One of our forays took us past this strange building in the midst umpteen blocks of flats. One of the roads nearby was called Rua dos Pazos, Stately Homes Road, so maybe this was one of the original stately homes. It is now used as some kind of youth centre. How nice that such a building is being out to good use. 
The same cannot be said of the old abandoned hotel/restaurant up at the Castro. It’s a great pity that no-one can find a use for such a lace in such a prime site. At the moment it just appears to attract the graffiti artists, whose tenacity, and climbing powers, must be admired.
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