Wolves!

Back in Galicia, I have resumed my Vigo running route: down the road to the roundabout with the lighthouse (which Phil insists is a pawn, strayed off some gigantic chess board), lest up the steep road that leads eventually to San Juan do Monte, round the back of the cultivated area and pest the goat field, until I come at last to Carrefour and then it's a straight run to the bread shop and home. 

This morning, as I turned up the road to San Juan do Monte, a dog was howling, sounding for all the world like some mournful wolf. Fortunately it was behind a wall so there was no danger. I suppose the howling beast could have been any size but it sounded large and fierce. A small poodle was answering it in kind. Just as well the howling-wolf dog was not loose to eat it up. The owner of the poodle also had a chihuahua, a singularly useless sort of dog in my opinion, in her arms. He must have felt protected as he took no notice of all the barking and howling. The dogs' owner smiled at me approvingly and commented, "¡Muy bien!", as I pounded up the hill. It is nice to get encouragement. 

Of course, there is every possibility that the howler was in fact a wolf after all. I say this, not just because Laurie Lee had problems with wolves when he set off walking from Vigo into the hills but also because I read yesterday about a place called Castro which has had five attacks by wolves in one week. One wolf even managed to get into a cow shed and kill a calf. Hunters in the area say that they are aware of a number of wolf packs. The scarcity of food in the hills has driven them down into small villages and made them very daring. It's a good job we don't live in a small village then! 

Occasionally I hear about proposals to reintroduce wolves into the hills of Scotland. Maybe they're better just leaving any wolves in the UK in zoos. Just a bit less chance of them attacking livestock! 

Meanwhile, the commercial wolf (sorry, airline) that sent some passengers astray has denied responsibility for those three Galician ladies who ended up almost in Scotland. They blame the airport staff at Palma de Mallorca. That would, naturally, explain why the air hostesses didn't spot that the boarding cards were for a different plane! Anyway, They are demanding an investigation and assurances that it won't happen again. They probably want to claim back from someone or other the cost of repatriating the lost Gallegas. 

I went to the bus station here in Vigo this morning to say goodbye to my young friend Sarah who is returning to the UK after two years here in Galicia, leaving behind a boyfriend in Cangas, across the bay from Vigo. She is going to train as a teacher of modern Foreign languages, Spanish and German, but feels the need to go on a refresher course for her German after two years of total immersion in Castellano and Gallego. 

She is traveling with that airline that loses people. I do hope she gets home OK.