Another Saturday.

Saturday. I looked out first thing and there was a big cruise boat down at the harbour. When I looked again towards the end of the morning there were two. The second one was enormous. Perhaps it is one of the promised "Queens" that a friend of mine has been saying are due to arrive in Vigo over the next few weeks. They are coming here separately, unlike their visit en masse, three queens together, to Liverpool. I know somebody who made a special trip to Liverpool to see them arrive. I suppose it could seem quite spectacular in its way but, really, I suspect my friend should get out more! 

Saturday. and the sun was shining again and the sky and sea were both beautifully blue. The weather witch bread shop lady told me this would continue on Sunday as well. In fact it was her mother who told me this. Perhaps they are a family of weather witches. Apparently rain is forecast for Monday though. We agreed that it has to rain sometime but would prefer for it to be just one day and have done with it. 

Saturday. Our son and his little family were due to arrive later so I did a bit of a runaround making sure we had everything necessary. One result of our rather gipsy-like life, going to and fro between the UK and Galicia, is that we have the minimum requirements in our kitchen here. Planning to serve gazpacho at some point, I remembered that we have only three soup bowls, having broken one some time ago, and there would be four of us. (It wasn't likely that the tiny girl would be eating gazpacho.) So, it was off to the Chinese bazaar to look for bowls, a couple of light bulbs and other odds and ends. A quick visit to the ATM to take advantage of the favourable exchange rate (not quite as favourable as last week but there you go) and then I came home via the Mercadona supermarket next door to the flats. 

Saturday. So "I'm only a poor little beggar girl" was back, with her usual litany of "soy muy pobre, señora". I have been looking out for her since we arrived on Tuesday but I have not seen hide nor hair of her until yesterday. Does she in fact have a job during the week? Is the "soy muy pobre" incantation just an act? Or does she do a kind of begging circuit: a different venue for each day of the week? Anyway, she was very pleased to see me. I should think so too as I usually give quite generously and ask after her little boy. She gave me the Spanish kiss on the cheek; that's where the relationship stands! Should I immediately shower and check for nasties, I wondered? But she looks clean and tidy, if a bit shabby. As well as spinning me the usual line about the bills for water and electricity that she has outstanding, she moaned that people are not giving. In fact, she suspects that everyone is now going to the new Mercadona that has opened at the other end of the street. An old bodega that stood empty and derelict for years has been taken down and carefully rebuilt (we saw all the stones being numbered when the work began) as a shopping centre, mostly supermarket, with a gym on top. The building looks better than expected, although I am not enamoured of the top story where the gym is situated. I can't say that I have noticed our Mercadone being any emptier as a result of it but then I am not sitting outside begging. 

Maybe all the generous folk have gone away and left only the meanies! 

That's Saturday for you!