Running. Buying bread. A bit of history. Peace making. Sumo wrestlers. Accordion players.

 Another blue sky day in Ponte de Lima. I successfully found my way to the bread-shop to buy fresh bread for breakfast. Speaking Portuguese, I was taken for Spanish. Obviously I am not slurring my speech sufficiently but making my letter sounds clear and open, Spanish style.,

Running along the treelined avenue I am greeted with a cheery “bom dia” from almost everyone whose path I cross, pilgrims and locals alike. This is  quite different from Galicia, Spain, where it took the better part of a year for people I saw regularly on my morning run to acknowledge my presence with as much as a nod. As for greeting people whose path crossed ours during a walk in the  park, for example, well, we were looked at as if we were a strange species. Maybe the Portuguese are more like the Northern English (those who live in the South of England are a different kettle of fish); in our neck of the woods it is quite normal, indeed expected, to greet those you meet when out and about. Okay, town centres are a different matter, but you can’t have everything!

By the way, the tree lined avenue, I discovered this morning, is the “Avenida 5 Outubro”, no doubt remembering the 5 October 1910 revolution, when the centuries old Portuguese monarchy was overthrown and the first Portuguese Republic was established.

Today Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is going to Dublin to discuss with the Irish Taoiseach a joint plan to recognise Palestine as a nation state. Spain and Ireland, two countries which have known upheaval within their own countries, have apparently been the most pro-Palestine of the EU countries. Mind you, most of the rest have known the upheaval of World Wars and could well expected to be in favour of a ceasefire as soon as possible 

In the meantime, the killing in Gaza continues, despite moves to get people talking.

An odd piece of news attracted my attention yesterday. A Hawaiian-born sumo champion has died at the age of 54. The wrestler, who was born Chad Rowan in Hawaii, is regarded as a pioneer after he broke down cultural barriers in the centuries-old sport to become the first non-Japanese yokozuna grand champion in 1993. He changed his name to Akebono and was famous in the world of sumo wrestling. “When Akebono became the first-ever foreign-born grand champion … he opened the door for other foreign wrestlers to find success in the sport.” 

He was 6ft 8in tall and weighed 514 lb, (36, almost 37 stone) at his heaviest, so even if he lost some weight I cannot say I am surprised at his heart giving way.

In a Springsteen fan post on Facebook I found this, along with with a photo of the pope shaking hands with an accordion player:

“In breaking news, Pope Francis absolves all accordion players.  In a statement to the press, Pope Francis said, "It's time to forgive them for all the past suffering they have inflicted - as long as they play something cool, like Zydeco or Tex-Mex."  An official ceremony will be held at "Our Lady of Spain Catholic Church."”

Well! Well! I can think of large numbers of accordion players who have inflicted suffering on people sotting in cafes and restaurants, or even just strolling down the street. In particular, in San Sebastián we gave such an accordion player, a “mariachi”, a small contribution in the hope that he would move on. He did. So did we. It seemed he followed us to,the next place we stopped at. So it goes.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!