Out and about.

Today we had sunshine. Well, this morning we had sunshine. How long it would last was a different matter. This is very much a stop-start summer. Those who believe summer cannot be declared until the temperatures reach 30+ must be having a hard time of it.

We took advantage of the sunshine to go for a walk around the coastal path at A Guía. It’s a very pleasant promenade, with views out over the bay and a little lighthouse at one end. I am not sure what actual purpose the lighthouse serves these days but presumably it was useful in the past. I suspect that all expensive boats that are moored at the marine round there are all equipped with fancy GPS systems. And besides, they probably don’t go to the far end of the estuary.

We never see many people on the coastal path, no matter what time of day we decide to walk there. This is a pity. It should be used more, a perfect escape from the fumes of the city. And if anyone ever asks what the EU has ever done for Vigo, then there is the answer: they funded the coastal path, opened in 2010. Well, there’s also the European fisheries thing; we shouldn’t forget that.

By the time we got back the cloud was moving in but on the whole it has been a better day than yesterday.

Now that I have got myself back into the routine of an early morning run up the hill towards San Joan do Monte (but not all the way up, I hasten to add - there are limits!) I am noticing the traffic jam by the school half way along my running route. Masses of people bring their offspring to school by car and clog up the narrow approach roads and the far too small parking area. I suppose this is a consequence of more families with two working parents but it will no doubt contribute to the child obesity problem. So it goes!

Pretty soon this traffic jam will disappear. The school year ends before the feast of San Juan, which is around the 24th of June, if my memory serves me well. So why, with the academic year finishing earlier here than in the UK am I finding it so hard to buy an academic-year diary? I have seen them in the UK but here they tell me that they are not out until probably next week. Mind you, I did go only to the Chinese shops, so maybe they are not the best indicators. 2018 diaries, the normal all-year diaries are available, but there is no reduction, which is often the case at this time of year in places like W.H. Smith in the UK.

Also selling at full price, which admittedly in the Chinese shops is never extortionate, are piles of 2017 diaries! Who is buying those?