Switching on the TV this morning, I caught the seafood guru, Rick Stein, praising the Galician speciality, goose barnacles. Or percebes. Regular readers will know I don't share his view and see them as bits of rubber dipped in seawater. Similarly, we differ on the appeal of tripe. But I was rather more impressed with his praise for the Boqueria in Barcelona, where (according to Stein) you can experience the best of Catalan food. Click here for its web page. Incidentally, I liked Stein's comment that one tapas dish displayed the quintessential “ruggedness” of Spanish food.

I've mentioned more than once over the years that many young (and not-so-young) women in Liverpool are a strange shade of orange. This was picked up by The Times today but, of course, I can't give you the article because of the paywall. So here's the final paragraph:- “They don’t mind you staring. That’s the idea. Some girls in Liverpool now go out with their hair rollers still in, the message being: “Look at me, getting ready for a big night out.” They are used to the 'You’ve been Tangoed' gibes. It’s water off a duck’s back. Just as the teenage fan of heavy-metal music rolls his eyes as his mother begs him to get a haircut, you to them are the off-trend square. With your Factor 50, you look wan. They feel fabulous. From where they’re standing, the joke is on you.”

Incidentally, I've often felt that the comment about staring not causing offence because that's what's expected applies just as much to the young women of Pontevedra. Not that you would ever catch me staring. I'm more of sly glancer.

Talking of home . . . I live across the river in the parish of Poio. This would be Poyo anywhere else in Spain but, as there's no Y in the Galego alphabet, it has to be Poio for us. The reason I mention this is because there seems to be another Poio in the world. In the region of East New Britain in Papua New Guinea. Who'd have thought it?

We seem to be reaching the point where both supporters and critics of the EU and the euro are in agreement that their prospects of survival are reducing by the day. Here's an article by a one of the former. And here is a comment from someone I take to be one of the latter:-"What the eurozone needs now is sustained, strong economic growth. Yet this is a realistic prospect only for Germany and its immediate satellites. By contrast, the peripheral countries face years of depression. Predictably, the remedy offered by the politicians is an alphabet soup of support mechanisms, all beginning with the magical letter E, and more of the balm that supposedly overcomes all ills, namely political will. In other words: don't panic; it will be all right on the night. It won't. The eurozone is heading for the rocks."

Finally . . . If you have a business in Galicia, you might want to consider advertising on this site.