A new day. Hallowe’en leftovers. Eating out. Fishy problems. UK immigration problems

 Today the sun has returned. 

 

 

Yesterday morning’s drizzle eventually came to a stop in time for us to go out to lunch. 

 

As we went past a little cake shop I had to stop for a photo opportunity as they still had Hallowe’en pastries on display. Maybe they sell mini-ghost cakes and marzipan saints’ bones at a bargain price in early November. It would be a shame to simply throw them away. 

We made our way to Buzio, a restaurant off the beaten track that we discovered a few years ago. It’s very popular with the locals, which is always a good sign. And the owner/waiter seemed to recognise us. 

For starters we had Sopa de ervilhas - a thick pea soup with added pasta - ignoring the olives that appeared on our table.. We know the system: if you taste the apparently free bits and pieces, olives, butter for your bread, you will be charged for it. It may not be much but somehow it’s the principle of the thing. Galicians must be tricked by it all the time as it is a regular thing for a few free tapas to land on your table while you decide what you are ordering. Well, that’s what happens in Vigo anyway. 

For our main course we had grilled robalo, sea bass, served traditionally with boiled potatoes, green beans and carrots. But we asked for chips! Years of eating out in Vigo and other places in Galicia has wearied us of boiled potatoes, even if they are the best in the world. The fish was delicious. And the white wine was very good too. 

The whole lot came to €38.85. That’s for two of us, remember, not €38.85 each! Phil protested that the wine was more expensive than usual at €6 for a small carafe but I reminded him that you can pay that much for one large glass in an English pub. Personally I think it’s the price of fish that has increased - €14 a portion! 

However, I think fish has become more expensive in the UK too. A friend of mine posted a picture of fish and chips, possible served in a restaurant in the UK, with the comment, “I like it,but I don’t ‘28 quid’ like it”. Twice what we paid here. 

According to this article, with the interesting headline “Did you know King Charles officially owns all the cod? So overfishing is squandering royal assets.”, there are problems with the supply of cod because of overfishing. And cod is what we like for our fish ‘n’ chips. 

After we had lunched, we decided not to have coffee at the Buzio, knowing of old that their coffee is not the best. We strolled around looking for a likely place For a postprandial coffee. Most of the places we are familiar with seemed to be closed. Eventually we decided to try a place which has intrigued me for a few years now but which we had never got around to visiting. 

 

It is called A Pharmácia and by all accounts it was once an old-fashioned pharmacy. Now it has been remodelled as very cool place to go and have coffee or a range of teas, and possible work on your laptop, but please, a notice says, not encumbering the place with lots of leads and cables. All bright white plastered walls and nicely spaced tables and easy chairs, it is decorated with old tea and coffee serving implements, a book case full of reading matter for people of all ages, and even an old dolls’ house. The latter was on a high shelf, presumably to stop small hands damaging a possible valuable antique. The coffee was fine. Maybe we’ll go back for a cup of fancy tea at some point. 

Back in the UK scandal is erupting about the handling of immigrants at the Manston holding centre in Kent - overcrowded, terrible conditions, people held there for far too long - the list of complaints goes on and on. One report demonstrates how uncaring some politicians are about such things:-

“A Home Office minister has said it is “a bit of a cheek” for people who he said had “entered the UK illegally” to complain about conditions, amid growing pressure on the government to fix the situation at a centre for asylum seekers in Kent.

On Times Radio on Friday, Chris Philp, a former immigration minister who was handed the policing brief in the most recent cabinet reshuffle, said: “If people choose to enter a country illegally, and unnecessarily, it is a bit, you know, it’s a bit of a cheek to then start complaining about the conditions when you’ve illegally entered a country without necessity”.”

Oh boy! But Suella Braverman has visited the centre, albeit by an unusually dramatic means of transport. Journalist Ben Kentish tweeted:

“Home Office refusing to provide any comment on why Suella Barverman appears to have used a Chinook helicopter to travel 20 miles  Between Dover and Manston this afternoon. It’s a 30 minute journey by car.”

Quite! 

Busloads of people have now been moved out of the centre but where to put them is still a problem. It’s not fair that Kent should have to deal with it just because that’s where the immigrants arrive but, despite murmurings of sympathy, nowhere else really wants to take on the problem. I have no idea what the solution is!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!