Oat Slime and other delicacies. ..

Marc experiences the joy of porridge for breakfast, after an early couple of coffees along the street. .. hostel has many good points and breakfast included in the price (rising to €14 today) is one of them ... quite substantial and fine if you like cereals, white bread, processed cheese and ham, butter, jam, plus a poor relation of coffee, which is the best in the world in the bars ... however, porridge is the healthier option and oats easily found in the shops. .. Marc's command of English is excellent, philosophy easily discussed ... porridge, however, requires translation and it turns out to be a very descriptive, literal combination of main ingredient and its texture when cooked .... oat slime ... mmmm yummy, though unlikely to catch on as an alternative in English ...

A trip to the market secures more fresh fruit and veg ... including some small purple sweet potatoes, perfect boiled in their skins and eaten with a little oil and salt ... learned from Aljesur, where they have an annual festival of sweet potatoes ...

And so to the dentist ... and another tv set with American cultural crap on ... with sub-titles, though nobody seems to be watching, harder to screen out the almost known spoken language, weirdly familiar voice, laying out the particular crime being explored in today's edition ... with perfect irony, this channel is CBS "Reality" ... which is the hell realm such rubbish creates ...

More comings and goings at the hostel, Nick, Ukrainian working as computer programmer and able to work remotely more or less anywhere ... another facet of the new economy ... Ophelia and boys return from trip along the coast ... one boy on tech as expected, but the other has found "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night Time" in book form and seems engrossed ... Daniel, from Leeds, sometime pilgrim, lands in room 101 for a night, before returning to snowy England tomorrow ...

Heavy rain this morning has turned river red and very full ... windy enough, too, for the walk out to the Island, where the ferry is not working due to weather ... which changes rapidly as the wind picks up .... Nautical Club perfect spot to watch it  .... not at all as you may picture a Nautical Club dear reader ... no formal dress required, coffee just €0.70 and a slightly eccentric woman running the place ....