Free-D

You know you’re in trouble once you Start writing about writing. This column is usually composed,between coffees, in the seclusion of a local bar; but this week an interruption arrived in the form of a semi drunken diatribe, delivered by “Juan” (a gent of Castilian heritage). My eyes had barely swept the morning papers, lingering upon a wonderfully revealing double portrait of Berlusconi and Putin, in the same way one catches sight of a threatening pile of something unmentionable on the pavement. Juan sat beside me and introduced himself, prefacing his monologue with the promising words, “I noticed you were French”. Read the rest of this entry »

As the region alternates somewhere between drought and flood, it’s a good reminder that extremes of any sort are bad for a healthy culture (which includes floods of tourists).

Whilst driving home during last week’s extreme rainfall, I encountered the most dangerous phenomenon one can meet upon the road at rush hour – a rainbow. Drivers whose heads had been turned by the spectacle suddenly realised that they were about to “rear-end” the car in front and slammed on the brakes. Well, it was the kind of rainbow which would have twisted the neck of the most jaded and world weary commuter: at one end (miraculously it seemed) it alighted upon the very roof of the old cathedral, whilst at the other it settled (rather more mundanely) in the car park of the Tormes shopping mall. So, they’re mixed blessings rainbows; but then what isn’t? Well, actually, if you believe the news, there is only ever the negative side; hence the popular refrain I suppose. It seems that away from the shock, horror headlines, even the little snippets of information one can gleam from the papers are of a generally gloomy nature, whether it’s the startling revelation that over 200,000 Salmantinos are overweight or that, as usual, the topillos are nibbling away at things they shouldn’t. Presumably these little chaps are going to have to learn to live the life aquatic given the recent weather. Read the rest of this entry »