A little whining first:
Over the years I have become a bit of a news critic, especially since becoming involved in aviation – there is a lot of disinformation out there. It was only today, however, that I learned that the news media often goof when it comes to another topic – my beloved Spanish principality of Asturias. You remember Asturias, right? It’s where the DH is from, where I was married, where I spend holidays. It’s also the best place in Spain, in my humble opinion. Because it is far north and not warm and sunny, Asturias is often ignored by tourists, who rush to the southern beaches instead. And that’s fine. Asturias is our little secret. However, it is one thing to keep Asturias’ on the down low, it is quite another thing to deny it exists at all!
The real Asturias
Hurricane strength winds have been battering the northwestern coast of the Iberian Peninsula this weekend, creating some spectacular crashing waves all across the north coast. The DH and I surfed several websites, including the BBC, to read about the storm. Imagine our surprise to find that Asturias isn’t even mentioned!
From the BBC: Storm Lashes Spain, Portugal and France
“Spain’s north-western region of Galicia, the Basque country, Castilla y Leon and Cantabria were also on high alert.”
Hmmm…. west to east: Galicia, Castilla y Leon, Cantabria and the Basque Country… They’re not missing anything are they?? Or is it just possible that Asturias is not on high alert? Knowing the rocky coastline, Asturias is definitely getting hit by some pretty impressive waves at the moment.
How the world media sees Asturias
The DH informs me that it is quite common for Asturias to be ignored like this.
And in other news… Linyi is getting hit with a storm of its own. It’s been thundering, lightning and raining all day. Here’s hoping the rain will wash some of the pollution away and we have clear skies tomorrow.
I really have absolutely nothing to blog about in this weekly round-up. The past week has been decidedly b-o-r-i-n-g.
I flew back to Linyi on Tuesday. As you might have read in one of my mini-asides posts, my flight was delayed. It was one of the most bizarre delayed flights I have ever experienced. Due to depart at 8AM, we were told the flight could not take off because of poor weather in Linyi. This is pretty common on foggy winter mornings. By 10AM, there was still no news about when we could take off. The airport staff passed out bottles of water and bread rolls. Suddenly, a manager-looking person made an announcement and all the Linyi passengers got up and followed him. So I followed him, too. Turns out we were being taken to a hotel “to rest” until the flight could depart. It was pretty surprising. The hotel turned out to be a very nice one, with chicly designed rooms. Once I had settled in though, I realized that no matter how cute the room, I couldn’t ignore the loud “cluck, cluck” and rooster calls coming from the absurdly huge chicken flock in the field just below my window. At 12 we were summoned down to the dining room for some free food, which was mediocrity at its best, but free so I shouldn’t complain. The whole lunch was incredibly awkward because I was surrounded by the other passengers who couldn’t stop staring at my every move and asking me every question they could think of. One guy spoke some English and he translated the questions I could not understand. Talk about the third degree! We were finally returned to the airport at about 5PM and arrived in Linyi around 7PM. I didn’t like being delayed, but I have never seen an airline provide so much for a stranded group of passengers, without anyone demanding or getting angry. Before we boarded the flight to Linyi, they lined us all up and handed out 100RMB notes. Strange! I expected to be left all day sitting and waiting on a cold metal airport seat.
Anyway, I’ve spent the last few days watching movies (a lot of movies) and trying to ignore that nagging feeling that I should go to work… Tomorrow will bring that dreaded return to reality I blogged about before.
Have a great week!
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