You'd hardly know that there was a major golf tournament underway. The beach is pretty much deserted apart from Californian couples running along the tide line in matching jogging gear. One man greets us with the line ' Best way to deal with jet lag'. His wife smiles. They are both dressed head to toe in what I would call beige but 'The Font' informs me is taupe. I'm assuming they are Californian because taupe seems to be a very West Coast colour. We once stayed in a hotel in La Jolla which was big on taupe. Taupe bed covers, taupe carpets, taupe wall paper , taupe covered chairs ..... You get the idea. It was like living in a bank of sea fog. For some reason the hotel considered itself to be very grand although we were unable to discover why they should believe this. The gentleman at reception had the unwelcoming air of a dyspeptic Church of Scotland minister at a funeral. We've often observed this reception desk 'ennui' in American hotels. Perhaps we look like country bumpkins who tip badly ?
Discovery of the day. All the shops and bars in town have signs that jut out at right angles from the walls. This is presumably the requirement of some ancient ordnance that has never been repealed. The bar has a very fancy gilt sign sporting a crucified St.Andrew and a wild boar under a tree. How could I have missed it ?
There is a refugee lady in a head scarf sitting on a blanket on the pavement outside the supermarket. She has a hat in front of her with a smattering of small change in it. Three years ago I would have had a pocket full of coins. These days we've ( surprisingly ) gone completely cashless. My lack of charity makes me ever so slightly embarrassed. When the lady isn't there her husband, a thin but cheerful man, takes her place. I wonder if the move to a cashless society has impacted their cash flows ?
The golf course has a sign on it that embodies hope over experience. The weather forecast for Saturday night is for heavy rain and gale force winds.
We used to go here a lot but I'm not sure I'd enjoy this. It looks a little intense :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEOvYxc_heE
8 comments:
Hmmm. Good luck with the fireworks.
I'm afraid the cashless society will have reduced the refugees' takings (although listening to Suella Braverman this week might prompt some of us to be more generous...) I did see a busker with a card reader in Aberdeen recently.
The Berlin Aida looks to be quite an experience!
In Sweden you can give to street beggars via Swish on your phone - they are set up with the app on their phones. We are just back from 2 weeks in Sweden and didn't use cash once for any transaction. Come to think of it, I don't know when I last used cash here.
Sadly some of the women begging in Edinburgh (who seem to be East European) are "organised" by a gent who deposits them at their stations each day from a Range Rover.
Hari Om
COVID did much to hasten the cashless days we now mostly live. Given the absolute downpour here today, I wouldn't hold my breath about attending that fireworks event, as it's sure to be heading east. I quite enjoy time-shifted film and opera, but agree that this Aida looks rather stark. YAM xx
I do hope that the rain keeps off and the firework display is worthy of plenty of oohs and aahs!
Linda's comments about the begging ladies reminds me of something I witnessed a few years ago. I was walking across the supermarket carpark to the store when a large, brand new Mercedes people carrier drove slowly across in front of me. It was full of ladies of a "certain" age, and the vehicle deposited two very well dressed, bejewelled passengers near to me, who promptly disappeared up to the first floor of the car park. When I came out of the store a short time later, I walked out past a very poorly dressed woman sitting on a stool with her begging bowl. She was one of the two who had been dropped off earlier. This apparently is now big business and well organised in many places where you find tourists. When I was walking round Bergen, I also noticed that the signs the beggars used were identical in style to the ones they used here - in English and the local language.
The joy of spying a shiny penny or other coin on the sidewalk is going by the wayside. As a child, it was so exciting to pick up a lost coin and put it in my pocket. It still is as an adult. Makes me wonder if my little grandson will experience the surprise of picking up street coins.
Tracy Kidder's recently published "Rough Sleepers" is an excellent book about homeless people and a doctor's mission to bring health care to them.
Cashless has changed a lot of things,
I offer to buy beggars food when I have no money. It usually differentiates the professionals from the genuinely needy.
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