Acclimating to Spain
Magnetic Attraction
Roger and Margaret Pratt
Sat 18 Jul 2009 19:55
|
Still in Combarro...
Woke late this morning - the consequence no doubt
of having my latest night yet in Spain. To bed after 10pm BST! An
early sign of acclimatioon (as Geo W Bush would say) that has been reinforced as
the day has gone on.
It definitely fely a bit parky this morning
as I went "early" (about 9am BST - half an hour after the shops open
here) to the Frioz supermarket and managed to make myself understood to the
butcher - chicken breasts, hamburger and gammon steaks. This sets us up
for another few days at anchor if required. I also manged to establish
that the bread shop will be open tomorrow morning - an issue when almost all
shops close on Saturday lunchtime until Monday morning.
Later than planned, at about 11am BST we set off to
cycle to Pontevedra. It's at the head of a river that is accessible
by boat, but is cut off by bridges with clearance that is too low. It
would have been possible to go by dinghy - the downside is the headwind as you
come back against the sea breeze, which is usually hefty in the afternoon.
But, my pucture mended, the bikes were the chosen method. The temperature
was just comfortable (as it seemed to me.) But as we passed a pharmacy in San
Joan de Poio, a helpful sign indicated that the temperature was 22C! And I
felt it was just comfortably warm! At this point I realised that I am
acclimatising fast to Spain - aka becoming extremely nesh. We have
been amused by one of the marineros who clearly feels the cold - he is dressed
in very long shorts, a long sleeved red sweatshirt and a gilet on top.
Pontevedra is one of the six old towns in Galicia,
like Betanzos. It's delightful, and well worth a visit. We stopped for
tapas at about 2pm (further signs of acclimatisation!) and ate pimentos de
padron; calamari a plancha and tortilla in a shady square in the
pedestrianised town centre. With beer, and served by a waitress wearing
very short shorts and a large T shirt with Kiss Me on the front, 17 euros,
Combarro has a fiesta tomorrow, and it will be
noisy. All the fishing boats have been tarting themselves up today, and
are dressed overall. Rowing gigs are arriving from neighbouring villages
for the racing. Because we haven't go wifi, we'll need to download a
weather forecast by satphone tomorrow, and maybe anchor off in the evening,
prior to going to Ria Arosa on Monday.
|