Well, That Didn't Last Long!

Sadly the Canada trip is off. AS you know I've had a couple of health issues recently, so when I went to top up my travel insurance to cover my pre-existing conditions, the best quote was frightening. Firstly the amount of the extra premium and then the shortfall between the maximum cover for cancellation and the total cost of the holiday would have left us with an exposure of several thousand pounds. Booking now for a holiday in June next year meant that there was just too much time for either another TIA or worse, or a recurrence of the cancer that could prevent travel. So the only sensible thing to do was pull the plug and think again. We didthink again, and so now we have booked a new holiday, still by train but shorter and a lot cheaper. We travel with Eurostar, then other smart trains first to Berlin, then to Dresden and finally to Prague, with side trips to Potsdam, Nuremberg and Colditz. Not only does that fulfill my wife's long held dream of visiting Prague, but it also leaves money to do a couple of other trips at some stage, as well as a de luxe celebration locally (Spain or the UK) with our daughters and granddaughters.

Something To Look Forward To

We are in England at the moment. Part of the time we are doing some child minding while Mum is away on a business trip to Mauritius. Then we shall be going north for a few days to the area where we lived before moving to Spain, some more time with the family and then a few days on the Isle of Wight before heading back to Frigiliana. We always enjoy these trips, but we've taken the opportunity to set up a big holiday while we're here. Another "trip of a lifetime", which makes three in all. Next year we celebrate fifty years of marriage and so we knew we had to do something special. Two sessions with Trailfinders, whom I cannot recommend highly enough, and we can now look forward to flying to Montreal in late spring and then making our way via Quebec City and Ottawa to Toronto by train. A few days in Toronto, and then we fly across to Calgary where we spend a couple of nights before picking up a hire car and driving to Banff, then Lake Louise - though we will actually stay at Lake Moraine - and to Jasper where we check in the car and board the Rocky Mountain Explorer train for a two day train journey with an overnight in Kamloops, through the Rockies and on down to Vancouver where we will spend a few more days before flying back. The cost of all that is unnerving, but as the northern saying has it, "There's no pockets in shrouds."

Peace And Quiet Return

Well, the Festival of Three Cultures is over for another year. This was the tenth, so somethingspecial was required - and delivered. Here's a flavour of it.

https://www.facebook.com/FestivalFrigiliana3Culturas/posts/893354540745153

If It's Saturday, It's Time To Head For A Restaurant

Recently the euro has been much weaker against the pound, and since our state pensions are converted at the interbank rate before being paid into our Spanish bank, we have been enjoying a welcome bonus. So we have got into the habit of eating somewhere special most Saturday evenings. Last night we chose Oshun, a Japanese/Asian fusion restaurant (although the owner is from no farther east than Barcelona). Like our other much cherished Saturday destinations, it is a most unlikely restaurant for a village this size. But it's here, it is fantastic, and we love it. By village standards it's also pricey, so we don't love it too often. Last night, including cocktails while we read the menu and enjoyed the sunset, a bottle of good local red wine and a tip, set us back the princely sum of £82.

That bought us each a salad of warm scallops on a bed of mixed leaves, dried seaweed and a spicy Thai dressing as a starter. My wife then had the breast of chicken with a mild Thai curry sauce, beautifully presented in a tower of crisp, diced mango, courgette and pineapple, a layer of soft, sauteed potato and topped by sprouted seeds. My main course, assembled in a very similar manner was seared duck breast, sliced and served with red and black currants, and a reduction of a local dessert wine.

This is my duck. Doesn't it make your mouth water?

On This Day...

Sometime during the night of 11th August 1936, at km4 on the road from Sevilla to Carmona, Francoist forces summarily executed Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas. This is a name unknown to most non-Spaniards, and I suspect to the majority of Spaniards not from Andalucía. Within Andalucía, on the other hand his name is so widely known that he is referred to simply as Blas Infante. A politician, writer and notary, he is considered to be the father of Andalucían nationalism (La Patria Andaluza). He designed the flag and coat of arms still used today by the autonomous community of Andalucía, and inspired the Andalucían anthem. His vision was not independence for the region, but recognition on an equal footing with other , more favoured regions. Today Spain is divided for regional government purposes into seventeen autonomous communities, of which Andalucía is the largest. It covers an area greater than that of Wales and Scotland combined, and even today feels as do those countries that it is remote from the central government and of little interest to the politicians in Madrid. To give an example or two of the disadvantage under which the region still struggles, unemployment in general and among young people in particular is the highest in Spain and on a par with levels in Greece. Also, figures show that health care professionals at all levels in Spain are paid less than in any of the other major EU countries; health care professionals in Andalucía are the lowest paid in Spain. The new democratic constitution which followed the death of Franco offered the opportunity for historic regions to be granted the status of ‘communidad autónoma’, with many powers devolved from Madrid. Andalucía was among the first to apply for autonomous status and is proud to have been the first to receive it. Even now, though, nearly forty years later the region continues to battle for an equitable treatment by the Madrid government. From abroad dissatisfaction is most often associated with Basque and more recently Catalan nationalism; the nationalism in our communidad is no less genuine but unlike the other two it is a nationalism which seeks expression within the Spanish nation, not as an independence movement. The dream continues and so at ten o’clock this evening, Andalucistas in Frigiliana will gather at the flag in the Parque de Andalucía to remember and respect the memory of Blas Infante. Andalucistas in cities, towns and villages across Andalucía will be doing likewise.