Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Flights to Galicia
I have posted very little on this blog over the last 2 to 3 months, mainly because time has not permitted. But in addition to that I have had little in the way of useful or interesting information to post.
At present I am waiting to see how things pan out with the new Ryanair hub at Leeds Bradford airport.
At present there is no sign of a flight schedule to anywhere in Galicia, but with the termination of the Liverpool flight last October, and the rapid demise of the east midlands route a year earlier, it would seem a possibility that Ryanair might be looking at Leeds Bradford to either Santiago de Compostela or la Coruna airport at some time in the future.
In any event there is no news as yet, however more new flights are promised. My guess would be that any route taking in Galicia from this airport would be announced this side of 2010 to give ticket sales a chance. That said, it looks unlikely for the foreseeable future.
If any "flight" news appears I will post it here.
At present I am waiting to see how things pan out with the new Ryanair hub at Leeds Bradford airport.
At present there is no sign of a flight schedule to anywhere in Galicia, but with the termination of the Liverpool flight last October, and the rapid demise of the east midlands route a year earlier, it would seem a possibility that Ryanair might be looking at Leeds Bradford to either Santiago de Compostela or la Coruna airport at some time in the future.
In any event there is no news as yet, however more new flights are promised. My guess would be that any route taking in Galicia from this airport would be announced this side of 2010 to give ticket sales a chance. That said, it looks unlikely for the foreseeable future.
If any "flight" news appears I will post it here.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Our rental car in Galicia
I think that this will be my last blog about our July/August trip to Noia and this one relates to our hire car.
Usually we get something along the lines of a Peugeot 207, but prices were so high this year that we went for the most basic car that was on offer and the result was a Fiat Panda.
Frankly I do not know what to say about this car. On the one hand it was without doubt the worst car that I have driven since my first ever car – a 1980’s something Morris Marina. But on the other hand I discovered on our return to the UK that these things only cost about £6K.
The big issue that I had with the Panda was that it was very narrow, but also very high, and every time that we went around any kind of bend or corner at more than 20mph it felt like it was going to roll over. This in turn meant that we simply did not do any of the driving and exploring in Galicia that we usually do.
In short we did less miles in this car in 23 days than we usually do in one of our one week long visits to the region. The impact of this on our vacation was quite significant as it pretty much tied us down to Noia and the surrounding area. Ultimately it went some way towards spoiling the holiday.
On the upside I do have to admit that, as a “town car”, the Panda is pretty good. Because it is short and narrow, but with a high driving position, it makes parking, tight manoeuvring and general city driving easy. It also has massive head space for someone over 6ft. That said it is not the car for anyone who wants to venture into the country or, God forbid, drive on a motorway. I would also hate to drive this car in high wind. Maybe it would blow over, or maybe it would just blow to pieces, either way, I hope that I do not have to drive one again.
So the moral of this entry is, if you want to do plenty of driving whilst on holiday do not go for the most basic and price conscious hire car!
I just hope that I take my own advice next time.
Usually we get something along the lines of a Peugeot 207, but prices were so high this year that we went for the most basic car that was on offer and the result was a Fiat Panda.
Frankly I do not know what to say about this car. On the one hand it was without doubt the worst car that I have driven since my first ever car – a 1980’s something Morris Marina. But on the other hand I discovered on our return to the UK that these things only cost about £6K.
The big issue that I had with the Panda was that it was very narrow, but also very high, and every time that we went around any kind of bend or corner at more than 20mph it felt like it was going to roll over. This in turn meant that we simply did not do any of the driving and exploring in Galicia that we usually do.
In short we did less miles in this car in 23 days than we usually do in one of our one week long visits to the region. The impact of this on our vacation was quite significant as it pretty much tied us down to Noia and the surrounding area. Ultimately it went some way towards spoiling the holiday.
On the upside I do have to admit that, as a “town car”, the Panda is pretty good. Because it is short and narrow, but with a high driving position, it makes parking, tight manoeuvring and general city driving easy. It also has massive head space for someone over 6ft. That said it is not the car for anyone who wants to venture into the country or, God forbid, drive on a motorway. I would also hate to drive this car in high wind. Maybe it would blow over, or maybe it would just blow to pieces, either way, I hope that I do not have to drive one again.
So the moral of this entry is, if you want to do plenty of driving whilst on holiday do not go for the most basic and price conscious hire car!
I just hope that I take my own advice next time.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Good neighbours
When we stay in Noia we are either based in an apartment next to the alameda, or a house that looks down on the town from the district of el Couto.
The latter is my favourite and, over the last couple of years, we have confined all of our visits there.
There are a number of reasons why I like this location and one of the main ones is the people who live in the houses opposite and close by. All have known my wife since she was a baby and all make us feel welcome during our visits. So much so that it is hard to leave the house and walk down to the town without being engaged in conversation by someone. That being a good thing of course.
Another big bonus of staying in this area is the amazing hospitality that you get to enjoy and here are two examples, both from the same lady.
Within a day of arriving we were being offered a home made empanada of any filling to be made just for us at any time that we wanted it.
What we actually suggested was that, rather than taking an empanada away with us, we eat it with the family at a time to suit them. So the following day was arranged and pork was the filling.
When we arrived the following day the empanada was ready, but we were ultimately unable to eat more than a thin slice as courses of fried and grilled squid, pimientos de pardon and king prawns preceded it. A massive Tiramisu was the dessert.
About 3 or 4 days later and, after expressing an interest in a traditional Galician stew, we got back to the house from the beach to find a note on the kitchen table.
It basically said, I have made you the stew that you wanted to try, it is on the stove and, if it has cooled down by the time that you get back, just heat it up.
Naturally it was delicious and we came home with the recipe.
Regrettably that kind of thing no longer happens here, or at least in my bit of here, so it is great to turn the clock back and experience proper neighbourhood spirit.
Giving a plug to a wholly unconnected topic, here is a site called http://www.rollergaragedoor.net/door-types.html which will tell you all about the different types of aforementioned doors.
The latter is my favourite and, over the last couple of years, we have confined all of our visits there.
There are a number of reasons why I like this location and one of the main ones is the people who live in the houses opposite and close by. All have known my wife since she was a baby and all make us feel welcome during our visits. So much so that it is hard to leave the house and walk down to the town without being engaged in conversation by someone. That being a good thing of course.
Another big bonus of staying in this area is the amazing hospitality that you get to enjoy and here are two examples, both from the same lady.
Within a day of arriving we were being offered a home made empanada of any filling to be made just for us at any time that we wanted it.
What we actually suggested was that, rather than taking an empanada away with us, we eat it with the family at a time to suit them. So the following day was arranged and pork was the filling.
When we arrived the following day the empanada was ready, but we were ultimately unable to eat more than a thin slice as courses of fried and grilled squid, pimientos de pardon and king prawns preceded it. A massive Tiramisu was the dessert.
About 3 or 4 days later and, after expressing an interest in a traditional Galician stew, we got back to the house from the beach to find a note on the kitchen table.
It basically said, I have made you the stew that you wanted to try, it is on the stove and, if it has cooled down by the time that you get back, just heat it up.
Naturally it was delicious and we came home with the recipe.
Regrettably that kind of thing no longer happens here, or at least in my bit of here, so it is great to turn the clock back and experience proper neighbourhood spirit.
Giving a plug to a wholly unconnected topic, here is a site called http://www.rollergaragedoor.net/door-types.html which will tell you all about the different types of aforementioned doors.
Friday, September 04, 2009
No water!
Going back to my rough list of things to write about, I am reminded that during our July and August break in Galicia we had some big problems with the water supply.
It started a couple of days after we arrived. We had already spotted that the main road into the town was being dug up and that the drains and main water supply were clearly visible. That, you would think, would make it difficult to break them, but then again when is a road ever dug up without some kind of catastrophe.
The next thing that we knew was that the taps were dry, the toilet would not flush and, having spoken to some neighbours, we quickly discovered that the whole central area of the town was in the same state, i.e. no water.
Water did arrive about 24 to 30 hours later, but for the following 2 to 3 days it was a dirty brown and suitable for nothing but the toilet.
Here however is where Galicia comes into its own with springs (fountains) everywhere that have fresh natural water pouring out of them.
For us it was a case of walking 20 metres to the nearest spring and filling up bottles, buckets and anything else that we could lay our hands on.
Having a shower was unfortunately out of bounds for about 3 days, so washing with cold water was something of an awakening.
The day after a full clean water supply resumed we woke up to know electricity and initially thought, “here we go gain”, however it was just one of the fuses that had tripped, so we were back in action in minutes.
I have not added any links for a while, so here is one about different types of garage door (http://rollergaragedoor.net) which “may” be of interest – but only if you are about to replace the said item.
Next post will be about one of the other items relating to our Galicia/Noia trip.
It started a couple of days after we arrived. We had already spotted that the main road into the town was being dug up and that the drains and main water supply were clearly visible. That, you would think, would make it difficult to break them, but then again when is a road ever dug up without some kind of catastrophe.
The next thing that we knew was that the taps were dry, the toilet would not flush and, having spoken to some neighbours, we quickly discovered that the whole central area of the town was in the same state, i.e. no water.
Water did arrive about 24 to 30 hours later, but for the following 2 to 3 days it was a dirty brown and suitable for nothing but the toilet.
Here however is where Galicia comes into its own with springs (fountains) everywhere that have fresh natural water pouring out of them.
For us it was a case of walking 20 metres to the nearest spring and filling up bottles, buckets and anything else that we could lay our hands on.
Having a shower was unfortunately out of bounds for about 3 days, so washing with cold water was something of an awakening.
The day after a full clean water supply resumed we woke up to know electricity and initially thought, “here we go gain”, however it was just one of the fuses that had tripped, so we were back in action in minutes.
I have not added any links for a while, so here is one about different types of garage door (http://rollergaragedoor.net) which “may” be of interest – but only if you are about to replace the said item.
Next post will be about one of the other items relating to our Galicia/Noia trip.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
The taste of food!
Each time that I visit Galicia I never fail to be amazed at the taste of fresh food, be it meat or vegetables.
As you get older you start to think that perhaps your senses are less acute and that the reason why chicken has no taste and peaches taste of water is because your senses are dulled.
This is not however the case and, in Galicia, eating anything from a peach to some chicken served as tapas with some drinks literally makes my mouth water. It really makes you realise that in the UK everything is sterile, treated with chemicals and probably fed with them too.
The biggest example that I can give is that having eaten the aforementioned chicken (wings) I could not stop licking my fingers. This is something that I never do and not only because the food never warrants it, but because I consider it a disgusting practice. Even so I could not stop myself from doing so.
Prawns (or shrimp if you are from the USA/Canada) are really tasty and they do not feel like water-filled lumps of cardboard. They are meaty, chewy and full of flavour. In fact when we eat them, which we do a lot, we never use a dip or a sauce, we simply sauté them in oil with garlic and that is it.
Pork, beef, and every kind of shellfish also have tastes that I remember from being a kid. It seems that food still has a taste and a texture and it also has colour too. Chicken is a yellow colour and egg yokes are orange. Peaches are large and juicy, but not watery and onions are sweet rather than acrid the way that they are in the UK.
The big question therefore has to be – what are we doing or not doing with our produce and livestock in Britain? Lamb always seems to taste pretty good and pork is generally OK, but that is about it.
As you get older you start to think that perhaps your senses are less acute and that the reason why chicken has no taste and peaches taste of water is because your senses are dulled.
This is not however the case and, in Galicia, eating anything from a peach to some chicken served as tapas with some drinks literally makes my mouth water. It really makes you realise that in the UK everything is sterile, treated with chemicals and probably fed with them too.
The biggest example that I can give is that having eaten the aforementioned chicken (wings) I could not stop licking my fingers. This is something that I never do and not only because the food never warrants it, but because I consider it a disgusting practice. Even so I could not stop myself from doing so.
Prawns (or shrimp if you are from the USA/Canada) are really tasty and they do not feel like water-filled lumps of cardboard. They are meaty, chewy and full of flavour. In fact when we eat them, which we do a lot, we never use a dip or a sauce, we simply sauté them in oil with garlic and that is it.
Pork, beef, and every kind of shellfish also have tastes that I remember from being a kid. It seems that food still has a taste and a texture and it also has colour too. Chicken is a yellow colour and egg yokes are orange. Peaches are large and juicy, but not watery and onions are sweet rather than acrid the way that they are in the UK.
The big question therefore has to be – what are we doing or not doing with our produce and livestock in Britain? Lamb always seems to taste pretty good and pork is generally OK, but that is about it.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
One of Noia's oldest citizens
I said that I would mention an elderly lady in Noia and so I will do so right now.
Her name is Sra Carmen de Cruz and I believe that she is 94. She was a friend of my wife’s grandmother who passed away just 2 weeks ago at age 96 and may well be the oldest living person in the town. Despite this she has all of her faculties and we have got to know her over a number of years as we walk past her house on route to the centre of town.
Initially she used to say hello to us, and then one day she asked my wife a question about her connection with the town and from that day to this we have had conversations with her every day.
One thing that is very perceptive of her is that she only ever talks to us for 5 or 6 minutes. At that stage in the conversation she wishes us a good day and says that she hopes to see us again soon.
This is a lesson that many could learn from because it means that we, for our part, always look forward to seeing her. Firstly because she is a nice lady, and secondly, because she is not one of those people who grabs hold of you and will not let you go. You always know that you can have a conversation with her without getting caught up.
I do have a photo of my wife with Sra Carmen, but I would not wish to post it without her consent.
Her name is Sra Carmen de Cruz and I believe that she is 94. She was a friend of my wife’s grandmother who passed away just 2 weeks ago at age 96 and may well be the oldest living person in the town. Despite this she has all of her faculties and we have got to know her over a number of years as we walk past her house on route to the centre of town.
Initially she used to say hello to us, and then one day she asked my wife a question about her connection with the town and from that day to this we have had conversations with her every day.
One thing that is very perceptive of her is that she only ever talks to us for 5 or 6 minutes. At that stage in the conversation she wishes us a good day and says that she hopes to see us again soon.
This is a lesson that many could learn from because it means that we, for our part, always look forward to seeing her. Firstly because she is a nice lady, and secondly, because she is not one of those people who grabs hold of you and will not let you go. You always know that you can have a conversation with her without getting caught up.
I do have a photo of my wife with Sra Carmen, but I would not wish to post it without her consent.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Banesto Bank, Noia, Spain
A number of problems have arisen since our return to the UK starting with my wife having to go back to Noia within the week for a funeral, and my computer being temporarily trashed by, would you believe it, an automatic microsoft update. It took me almost a day to find a way of getting into safe mode and running a system restore. God help any novice with the same problem.
Anyway, I set out a number of topics that I would deal with following our July/August trip and this is the first one - Banesto bank.
I opened an account with these people around 9 or 10 months ago and I was impresses with the meticulous approach to detail that they had and their apparent professionalism during the process.
10 months on they have convinced me that my initial impressions were totally wrong.
I started the account with a 100 euro deposit with the intention of making bank transfers as and when it suited me to boast the balance.
The first problem arose when it turned out that the online login details that I had been given were incomplete and this continued as it proved totally impossible to pay any money into the account.
Banesto were not however detoured by my lack of depositing action and they managed to make 4 separate charges against my totally unused account in less than 8 months.
One charge, the initial annual fee I had been informed about, however I was told quite categorically that there were no other charges. Put simply, an outright lie.
So in August I closed the account. No question was asked by the bank as to why, however both of the employees who dealt with me were decidedly rude. And, you guessed it, there was also a fee of about 18 euros to close the account.
Consequently the result was that, about 10 months after opening an account that had not been set up properly, that I was unable to access and that I could not deposit into, my initial deposit of 100 euros became around 14 euros.
Needless to say this is not a bank that I would recommend.
Anyway, I set out a number of topics that I would deal with following our July/August trip and this is the first one - Banesto bank.
I opened an account with these people around 9 or 10 months ago and I was impresses with the meticulous approach to detail that they had and their apparent professionalism during the process.
10 months on they have convinced me that my initial impressions were totally wrong.
I started the account with a 100 euro deposit with the intention of making bank transfers as and when it suited me to boast the balance.
The first problem arose when it turned out that the online login details that I had been given were incomplete and this continued as it proved totally impossible to pay any money into the account.
Banesto were not however detoured by my lack of depositing action and they managed to make 4 separate charges against my totally unused account in less than 8 months.
One charge, the initial annual fee I had been informed about, however I was told quite categorically that there were no other charges. Put simply, an outright lie.
So in August I closed the account. No question was asked by the bank as to why, however both of the employees who dealt with me were decidedly rude. And, you guessed it, there was also a fee of about 18 euros to close the account.
Consequently the result was that, about 10 months after opening an account that had not been set up properly, that I was unable to access and that I could not deposit into, my initial deposit of 100 euros became around 14 euros.
Needless to say this is not a bank that I would recommend.
