Turning things around!

In the spirit of the #MeToo times the organisers at Pamplona have taken steps to prevent female harassment during the bull running. I suppose it’s almost inevitable that such a very macho event would attract some male chauvinist pigs but it seems that in the last few years the male chauvinist pigs have been more daring than usual. Or else the women have felt less willing to put up with it and more willing to complain.

One of the organisers said, “We’ve got a series of measures and barriers that mean people won’t be able to get through. We’ve also come up with a very simple app. If someone’s suffered an assault, they press a button on their phone, their location comes up on the screen at police headquarters, and a patrol is dispatched.” A second button on the app allows anyone to report an assault, whether as victim or witness, while a third lets the user choose someone from their address book to track their journey home on a map to ensure they arrive safely.”

Such are the wonders of modern technology. As the spokesman said, “Women should be able to have fun, to laugh, to drink, to dance and to walk wherever we want – whether alone or with others – so that we can exercise our right to enjoy the festival however we want and without fear of being attacked because of it.”

I would not choose to get my fun by watching a load of bulls run down a street, much less by running with them, but that’s just my personal point of view. Each to their own!

Yesterday we spent the morning running around deciding what to take with us on a quick trip back to the UK. Hopefully the summer which has finally got going will still be around when we come back in about ten days time. I overheard someone at the pool commenting that summer had kept us waiting this year - “Nos hizo esperar”. It must have gone off on its holidays to the UK, where it is forecast to continue for a while yet. We have brought our waterproof in our suitcases as an insurance policy however. Failing to take them is a sure way to make it rain.

The weather was odd yesterday, in a very Vigo manner. Up on the heights of Calle Aragón the sun was shining and the heat was building up throughout the morning. Looking down from our flat though the estuary was shrouded in the mist that rolled in from the sea overnight. It’s more like very low cloud that mist. At midday it has still not shifted. You could hear the boats hooting mournfully. Down at port level they must not have been able to see anything much at all.

Bits of localised strangeness! Maybe!

We walked to the bus station and caught the bus to Porto airport. All the way we saw accumulations of low cloud in the valleys.

By the time we reached the airport the mist was fairly solid.

By the time we got on our plane, at about 7.30 pm there were mutterings about fog. People were getting extra layers of clothing out of their suitcases. And we sat on the plane, and sat and sat. They went through the safety procedure stuff - seat belt, life jacket, emergency oxygen - and still we sat.

Eventually the pilot told us that because of the deteriorating weather conditions the flight controllers were only allowing one plane to taxi down the runway at a time. So finally we set off about twenty minutes late.

We arrived in Porto in early June to damp and gloomy conditions and we left it in a similar state. 

Today, after a cool and cloudy start, the summer continues in Saddleworth - blue sky and sunshine! We blame the jet stream!