Back in Vigo once more.

On Friday morning we waited outside MacDonald’s on Avenida Aliados in Porto for the bus to Vigo. A rather anxious German couple were also waiting. When they asked us whether the bus went to the airport we assured them that in our experience it usually did so, before continuing its journey to Vigo. However, when the bus arrived and the couple checked with the driver he appeared to say no and indicated either a stop further up the street or possibly the metro station Trindade about five minutes walk away. We assumed that the bus route must have changed and hoped it meant we would arrive in Vigo a little earlier than usual. Then the bus set of and went ... to the airport!!! Why had the driver told the German couple it didn’t go there? Did he misunderstand their question? No idea. 

 At the airport a model child got on the bus with his mother. He could have been no more than four years old but he sat and coloured pictures almost all the way to Vigo, keeping up a whispered commentary to himself in Italian all the while. Such concentration! At one point he wanted to watch his portable DVD player and was bemused to find that there was nowhere on the bus to plug it in. This was the only time he pestered his sleeping mother. I spoke to his mother later and she told me that although they had been travelling since three in the morning the model child had been angelic all the way. His only fault was a refusal to speak to her in Spanish – she was Venezuelan. He clearly understood her and could speak Spanish when he chose but he made a game of speaking Italian to her as she spoke very little. A sense of humour as well. 

He was clearly an ideal travelling companion, unlike the lady who sat near them and had a busy mobile-phone social life going on. The phone rang frequently, which was bad enough. To make matters worse she was one of those people who don’t realise that you have no need to speak at top volume in order to be heard at the other end of the phone call. 

Mind you, we are noticing a trend to speak not only loudly, but also extremely fast, especially amongst young Spanish women Goodness me, I can’t even THINK that fast. Anyway, we got back to Vigo and took a taxi to our flat: €5.40, much better value than the £13.50 I paid for a similar journey in Manchester. 

Just time to sort ourselves out and then go and have a late lunch. And for that we found a place just nearby offering a very traditional Gallego meal – main course of fish, potatoes and salad – for €7.50. Very good value indeed. 

After lunch we went on and recharged our dongle/modem so that we have an internet connection. How quickly will we use up €25’s worth? 

Buying odds and ends in the local supermarket I noted that Christmas is well on the way here, as well as in the UK. Shelves of chocolate tree-decorations sit alongside stacks of the more traditional turrón. No advent calendars or mince pies though. I wonder if they’ll import those as well as other Englishness. For it was in the Eroski supermarket that I spotted a strange hybrid-language sign: “I heart-symbol ahorrando”. Now “ahorrar” is Spanish for “to save” so the sign must be intended to mean “I love saving”. But what an odd idea to mix the two languages in that almost totally meaningless way. 

Closer to the town centre, the hole in the ground that might one day be the high-speed AVE train station has made progress, but not a lot. I am concerned at the amount of ground that is being covered with concrete. Where will all the rain go? Maybe this is what taxes the minds of the numerous men who stand and watch the work. 
 

Meanwhile, Vigo treated us on Friday to almost the whole gamut of weather: wind, sun, cloud, rain (but not torrential, so not quite the full range) and even a rainbow. Not to mention a fine sunset. And yesterday the sun shone and the temperature got up to about 16°. Today has been a bit cloudy but still warm enough to go for walk to A Guía. 
 
No complaints then. 

Good to be back.