Two boys and a camera

Having been doing far to many other important things lately, rather than writing in this blog. I have once again been neglecting my writing duties and I see that it has been months since my last entry.

A month or so back little W came up to me and said.

"Daddy, here is your camera"

"Where did you find it?" I asked.

"On the table" he replied.

"Where I left it?" I inferred.

"Yes!" he said with pride.

Upon the conclusion of the conversation he holds the camera with outstretched arms and as I reach out to take it from him, he lets go and before I have a firm hold, the camera falls to the parquet floor lens first ("oopps" he said.) with a cringing crack.

Now, this is not the first time the camera has been dropped, it has been dropped on numerous occasions but never while it was on and never with the lens out.

I quickly retrieved the camera from the floor, as if this very action might actually prevent the damage that has already been caused but alas the lens has an angle that could be best described as not exactly true.

Surprisingly the camera was still working and the lens would retract, even though it was a bit more of a struggle for the little machine.

I then had the brilliant idea that a little gentle persuasion would encourage the lens to find its true position again and all would then be righted. Unfortunately, this was not to be, as my so called gentle persuasion became rather less gentle as the lens proved more difficult to straighten than anticipated and my gentle persuasion had descended down the evolutionary ladder to brute force.

This extra applied pressure resulted in a best to be described as "SNAPPING" sound, which resulted in the lens taking on a mind of its own, depending on the angle at which you held the camera.

Our conversation resumes...

"Camera broken Daddy?" he implied.

"Yes W, camera broken" I replied.

"Daddy broke it?" he asked.

"Yes W, Daddy broke it" I replied.

"Daddy naughty...." he said with conviction.

Visitors other than my parents!

My aunty and uncle were over staying with us last week. They visited us at the end of a 5 week holiday where they had been travelling through Sweden as part of a Rotary International group. They then spent 10 days travelling the Danube to Budapest before catching a plane and winging their way to little old Vigo, thus becoming our second visitors from New Zealand other than my parents. The other being an old friend who came to see us after completing the pilgrimage to Santiago from London by bicycle.

We enjoyed 7 short days of catchup, after nearly 7 years of virtualy nil contact,it was great to see them. It was interesting to watch R & W's reaction to these strangers. R's observation "Daddy they speak English!" or to William, who at first thought they were Grandma & Grandpa and then couldn't fathom out why they hadn't brought Xmas presents like Grandma & Grandpa and was most pertubed after extensive searching of the room, that there were none.

Here's a photo of the boys new summer look...the number 2...

Mother's Day in Spain

What better way to spend Mother's Day than to go and have a lovely lunch at a lovely restaurant in lovely surroundings, on a lovely day and then top the day off with a climb to the top of a mountain (large hill). Well that's what we did this year for Mum's special day! The boys thought it was a great adventure and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, Mum (understandably) on the hand didn't agree entirely with our expedition.

We had lunch at a wonderful winery/restaurant in the O Rosal wine region...

...Along with our climb to see the Muiños (water mills) do Folon y Picon the largest collection of its kind in Europe (so I'm told).

R was a little champion. He walked all the way to the top and all the way back down again, very proud we were of that feat! W's little legs just couldn't keep up and was soon asking for Daddy's arms. Daddy's arms and back took a few days to recover but we all had a great day out and that night we had two very tired boys, who slept right through till morning! Mind you so did Mummy and Daddy!!!

New directions...

It has been nearly a year since I last wrote my humble thoughts on this here tablet. I feel that a change is in order. I am going to be focusing on our life here and especially focusing on our two beautiful boys, so that family and friends on the far the far side of the world don't lose touch.

Cricket in Vigo

This is a quick post to add a video clip from Televison de Galicia about our recent cricket match played here in Vigo!

You can see me at the end of the clip, in the group shot, standing on the far left! My five seconds of fame!

Walking the Lagares River Vigo

A few weeks ago we decided to finally take the plunge and go and traverse a portion of the over 8 km long path which follows the river Lagares that meanders along the fringes of the city, from Avenida Madrid until Playa Samil. I’ve seen the river before but only in Castrelos where, I firmly believed it begun and ended, for I had never seen it beyond the sanctuary of the park.

We joined the river close to the site of the PSA Peugeot Citroën car plant. The river lies lower than street level, so traffic noise and unsightly edifices are mostly hidden from view.

Upon joining the river trail, we were immediately transported to another world of peace and serenity, in the otherwise hustle and bustle that is Vigo.

We continued to follow the river towards Castrelos and even though we found ourselves amidst towering apartment block, the river and its tree lined banks provided the perfect cover to forget where you were. We passed through Castrelos and into a truly natural environment far removed from the city.

The paths are well maintained and the water is clean, supporting abundant wildlife, namely fish and birds, of which ducks were plentiful. We were told that even the odd heron could be spotted. There is ample flora, offering welcomed shade on hot summer days.
Overall we were quite pleased with our river walk and glad that we had finally taken the time to get to know it, a truly pleasant place to escape the cacophony of Vigo.

Un Bocadillo Vegetal Please...the not so vegetarian roll.

I imagine being a vegetarian can be difficult at the best of times, especially when eating out. Here in Spain that challenge takes on a whole new twist. The vegetable sandwich/roll can include some decidedly non vegetarian content.

A typical vege sandwich will contain; ham, tuna, cheese, egg, maybe some lettuce, tomato and a corn mayonnaise.

Another classic is the humble salad, when in its vegetarian form will include tuna.

The sandwich/roll or 'bocadillo' in the picture is one I regularly buy from our local panaderia (bakery). I myself quite like them, but if you are a vegetarian, you may not feel the same.

(Normally the bocadillo from the bakery contains a little more lettuce and tomato than the one in the photo, they obviously are cutting back. Perhaps due to this crisis/recession thing...?)