Guernica

Rob and Amanda, good luck for a wonderful life together. You deserve it.

Happy 40th birthday, Big D. As for me, I put that one astern a few years ago.

The major event of the past week was a long weekend in Madrid, which got off to a spectacularly bad start. We were mugged.

Travelling on the Metro from the airport to the hotel we must have stood out as tourists, laden as we were with holdalls & rucksacks. It was a busy and rainy Saturday night, and it seemed as though every Madrilèno was on the platform. As we got on to the train, so did a very agitated and pushy guy. He proceeded to grab at me and as I bent forward to work out what he was up to, I felt a hand trying to nick my wallet from my back pocket. The first guy was a decoy. I turned and grabbed the guy behind me and as we tussled he dropped my wallet. He fled, along his accomplices – there must have been five all told in the gang including the decoy. The moment of relief at saving my wallet was short-lived; C’s handbag was opened and her purse stolen during the commotion.

All this happened in the time it takes for the Metro doors to open and close at the station. Not a great start to a holiday.

It improved though, as it had to, and high spots were visits to the Prada and especially to the Reina Sophia museum with its Picassos and Dalis. Guernica is simply stunning.

Travel note of the week

Aggravating – Sorry EasyJet, delays are one thing, but keeping everyone in the dark about them is quite another. The flight back from Madrid was scheduled for 9:25. At 9:15 there’s an announcement of a one hour delay, followed quickly by another setting the delay at “around two hours”. Now, I don’t know much about flying planes, but I do know that if the plane isn’t getting into Madrid until 11:00 or later, then they must know that it didn’t leave Bristol on schedule at 7:30, the same time that we are checking-in. Why isn’t it possible to tell everyone when they check-in that there is going to be a delay? Why the big secret?

Bristol Airport has to cop some grief too. Apparently we "took them by surprise" when we landed. We had to wait 10 minutes for steps so that we could get off, and for another 20 minutes before the bags were unloaded. This when there was not another plane in the place. Still, the roads are nice and quiet and 3am.

Rugby note of the week

9 weeks left of the rugby season, and Ebbw Vale have 10 games left. A couple of rearrangements have been fitted in, with the ill-fated Maesteg home game yet to be re-scheduled. Check the fixtures on the official website - a link is on the right. Its still up to the players and coaches to turn this thing around. Leaving aside all the politics of relegation criteria, just winning a fistful of key games is going to be everything through March and April, starting with Aberavon on Saturday.

How many do we have to win to stay up? Who knows, but Bedwas, Pontypool, Llandovery and Glamorgan Wanderers are all beatable. Graham’s website has all the info. (http://www.ebbw-vale.co.uk/)

Squirrel notes

Quiet in the garden with a soft layer of snow blanketing chez VJ. Our garden looks as nice as everyone else’s when they’re all covered in snow.

English Nature (http://www.english-nature.co.uk/) has stacks of useful advice on nature-friendly gardening. Me though, I just put out the birdseed, shoo the squirrels and follow instructions from C.