Saturday, October 13, 2007

Galicia Is Far

I'm in Spain for a week or so, sleeping in an eight-poster bed in a suite that's bigger than my flat, in an ancient walled fortress overlooking a marina in which Columbus's tiny backup caravel, the Pinta, is casually moored among the yachts*.


Are these battlements, or crenellations?


You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought.


* Just discovered the Pinta is a replica. I have a feeling the fortress may be, too. The lichen, is, however, real.


Lichen: real.

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15 comments:

  1. AnnieOctober 13, 2007 11:04 PM

    I'm so jealous. You're on holiday with a real live screenwriting dude in an eight poster bed.

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  2. celloOctober 13, 2007 11:16 PM

    I think lichen is the coolest thing. Wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out to be a higher life form. How brilliant it must be to be able to take any shape at all(as long as it's no more than 1cm deep. Very much like the acid green variety but the glaucous one is my favourite.

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  3. ValerieOctober 14, 2007 1:38 AM

    I think blogging from Spain — I mean, come on, you are in SPAIN. With WINE. And OCTOPUS IN RED SAUCE. And SANGRIA. Which I guess counts as MORE WINE — earns you some serious geek stars. Make sure Mr. BC gives you credit for your devotion to geekiness under fire.

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  4. AnonymousOctober 14, 2007 2:42 AM

    Apparently battlements are crenellations. Who'd have thought?

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  5. Timorous BeastieOctober 14, 2007 3:22 AM

    Mmm, Cello, I'm impressed.

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  6. patroclusOctober 14, 2007 8:55 AM

    Lichen is brilliant - it's half plant, half fungus, which definitely makes it a higher life form in my book. And it only grows by a millimetre a year. It's not bothered, oh no.

    Things Mr BC And I Have Argued About So Far:

    1) The correct pronunciation of 'lichen'.

    2) The whereabouts and extent of the Spanish Main.

    Neither argument has yet reached a satisfactory conclusion.

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  7. AnonymousOctober 14, 2007 1:46 PM

    you poor thing, i bet you can't WAIT to come home

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  8. patroclusOctober 14, 2007 4:17 PM

    Yes, I'm already suffering terrible Earl Grey withdrawal.

    It turns out I was right about the Spanish Main, but Mr BC had the correct pronunciation of 'lichen', so it's one-all.

    Best mistranslation into English spotted so far: 'Dinning Room of Breakfast'.

    Later: OCTOPUS IN RED SAUCE.

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  9. Tim FOctober 14, 2007 4:40 PM

    As elucidated in 1066 and All That, Francis Drake singed the king of Spain's beard, aka the Spanish Mane.

    Why does a bed need eight posts? Is it octangular? That's almost a round bed, which is like something out of a late 70s Joan/Jackie Collins movie. Will you get James to be Oliver Tobias in the lift?

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  10. rachOctober 14, 2007 11:21 PM

    If you get sick of lichen, you could always consider begonias - there's a very odd Jeff Koons sculpture of a giant puppy at the Guggenheim in Bilbao that does the whole 'looking like lichen' thing perfectly.

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  11. Tim FOctober 15, 2007 1:11 AM

    Sorry, I meant 'octagonal', didn't I?

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  12. AnonymousOctober 15, 2007 1:37 PM

    Oh lucky you! I stayed at the same hotel a few years ago.
    I seem to remember that there is a rather wonderful sculpture in the town, but memory fuzzy, someone on a horse I think?

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  13. AnonymousOctober 15, 2007 3:56 PM

    It's like, "liken", is it not?

    And how does an eight poster bed work? Are there posts in the middle, rather than just at the edges? I have a horrid feeling I'd get stuck...

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  14. AnonymousOctober 16, 2007 11:54 AM

    eight-poster
    cage
    spot the difference?

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  15. James HenryOctober 17, 2007 4:33 PM

    There is indeed a statue of a man on a horse. He also has a pigeon on his head, although it may not be the same pigeon.

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