Winning and losing.

Here we are back in Vigo after a pleasant weekend in Pontevedra, courtesy of our friend Colin. We watched Chris Froome win the Tour de France. Well, we watched to the end of the penultimate stage and then missed the parade around Paris as no-one challenges the leader on that day – why not? Surely it must happen if two riders are really close? What an exciting race across the cobbles that could be! – and besides it was going to finish rather later than we wanted for our travel back to Vigo. 

 So there it is, an Englishman, well,sort of, if you count those who were born in Kenya, has won the Tour, for the second year running. Last year Wiggins, who became Sir Wiggo, and now Froome. Will he become a Sir as well? Watch this space. 

 And I understand that Kate has had her baby, a boy or so I am told. I haven’t actually read any news reports about it yet; I am assuming that all went well. No reason for it not to go well. She is, after all, a healthy young woman and had the best medical care possible. All the speculation about whether a girl child would be accepted as monarch of the British Colonies – apparently some would not accept the new ruling that the first born royal child inherits, whether male or female – is unnecessary now and we can get down to the important business of “guess the name”. 

But seriously, what will the chat shows, on both sides of the Atlantic, go on about now? 

Here speculation, and moans, about the weather continue. My bread lady’s mum – on duty again this morning – has just told me that today will be better. Yesterday began well and went off. Today began “oscuro” but has improved and will continue to do so. I missed the “oscuro” bit. I must have slept through it. Surely all days begin dark, however, until the sun comes up! 

Anyway, that is the bread lady’s mum’s opinion. I wonder why she is on duty again. You hardly see her and suddenly she is there all the time. Maybe the panadera has gone on holiday. Even bakers have the right to holidays, I suppose. They are, however, like nurses, policemen and teachers, expected to have a vocation and be on duty all the time. 

Outside the baker’s shop someone pointed out to me a car with the keys in the door. Waiting for a thief to come along and drive it away? Anyway, we decided to leave the keys in the shop so that they could keep an eye open for someone in a panic, going through pockets or handbag in a desperate search for missing keys. How do you leave the keys in a car door? I wonder. Was it the consequence of one of those sudden Spanish conversations where someone stops to say something and then it goes on and on? Did the driver have a car full of unruly children and got distracted by them? Another of life’s little mysteries. And besides, how rare to see a car these days that doesn’t have central locking all done by a beep from the remote control on the key ring. 

While I was out a small cruise liner has sneaked into Vigo harbour. I say small but, of course, it’s all relative. I mean that it doesn’t tower over everything the way the great big ones do. 

Let’s hope the day stays bright and sunny for them. And for me, I want to go back to using my newly acquired pool card and get back into my daily swim routine.