Things to see.

Towards the end of yesterday morning I walked into Vigo to get my hair sorted. After doing the colour, washing and rinsing and so on, they must have wanted to close early for lunch or something as they got round to drying my hair. Or maybe it's just that the place was pretty empty. Whatever the reason, I found myself with two stylists drying my hair at the same time, one each side. I felt rather like a prize poodle being prepared for a show. Maybe this is what stars feel like when they are being fussed around by stylists and make-up artists. Very odd! 

Earlier, as an essential part of the morning’s hairdressing experience, I had worked my way through a number of gossip magazines, the pink press as they call it here. There were masses of pictures of the royal couple of the moment, William and Kate. They've been showing off their offspring to the New Zealanders. Much was made of the fact that Kate wore red, as did Lady Diana when she made a similar visit with Prince Charles when William was a baby. Was it coincidence? Or is Kate truly a big Lady Di fan? 

I also read that Kate travels accompanied by a nanny, a personal secretary and a hairdresser. A hairdresser, eh? So that's how the royal (by marriage) tresses are kept looking permanently glossy and lovely. How many times have I thought how nice it might be to have my own personal hairdresser at my beck and call? I wonder if Kate takes all these people with her if she pops off to let wee George spend a weekend with his non-royal grandparents. It must be a bit of a pain really. When Kate met her prince, did she ever imagine that she would move into a world where she is followed by security men wherever she goes and has her own staff? A bit different from what she might have expected when she applied to university! 

There were also pictures of the Spanish royal heirs, leading an apparently normal life: Felipe and Letizia in a queue to buy tickets to go to the cinema. (They were going to see the latest big Spanish hit "Ocho Nombres Vascos", which I have been told is very funny.) Surely they must also be followed by security men, perhaps discreetly well hidden, but I always get the impression that the Spanish royal family move around with a lot less fuss. You even see King Juan Carlos arriving to watch football matches and so on. Maybe I just don't notice the fuss and bother aspect. I rather get the impression that there is something of a campaign to portray Felipe and Letizia as A GOOD THING. Ten years married now, out and about looking happy, Letizia getting on well with the queen, and other such things. Mind you, the Borbón family needs a bit of good press. 

Anyway, onto other things. 

Here is a photo of the roundabout down the road from our flat in Vigo. Last year it was a pile of mess in the middle of the street. Now there is this object. When he first saw it Phil decided that it is a dalek – unlikely, as I don't think Doctor Who has made it big in Galicia yet. Then the other evening he stopped and said, "But of course, it's a pawn. I can see that now." Only a chess player would see that and say that. Clearly, it's meant to be a lighthouse. It’s in the middle of a heap of rocks, for goodness sake. And it even has a light at the top that spins round slowly in the dark, telling drivers not to crash into it. 

 And here is a series of pictures of bikes in Pontevedra. They look at little like Boris's bikes, the ones you can hire to ride around London. Obviously, someone has been riding them up trees and up the wall. 


And I have grown used to seeing bikes on balconies, but it's not usual to see one stored on the balcony of the town hall. 

I presume it's some kind of art installation. I've seen cows in Manchester and Florence, elephants in Liverpool and doves in Bilbao. They were the best, the doves, as local schools had been involved in painting them to give a message of peace. 

So, bikes in Pontevedra? OK. I can accept that! 

Anyway, that’s it for Galicia for the time being. Tomorrow we’re off back to the UK for a few weeks, hoping for some sunshine when we come back here in June.