Day 5 – To do or not to do
Friday, 23rd June
Hello,
Yesterday on my to-do list was: Visit the island of la Toja. In the past, the cattle of the inhabitants of El Grove were grazed there, which they rowed over on boats beforehand. Wikipedia reveals when the island became a holiday paradise. It is silent about when the bridge to the mainland was built. I assume that the bridge was also built in the 19th century.
Being in a holiday resort out of season is always a bit scary. But I wouldn't want to be here during the season. Anyone who can move around in a dinner jacket in such a way that he doesn't look dressed up is certainly in good hands here. But he should also bring sportswear. Golf and tennis clubs are a must, swimwear nice to have.
We took the opportunity to be alone on the island and found a small, abandoned hobbit village. It is lovingly laid out in a pine forest. According to Mr Tolkien, hobbits are supposed to be about the size of children. That's why you can get into the caves upright up to about eight years old. Older children have to bend down. Adults can choose between crawling and crawling. But what would adults do in a place like that? They would only call out to Bilbo and Frodo and feel terribly funny.
Such a place has to be played with properly. You don't necessarily have to stick to Mr Tolkien's guidelines. You can also experience your own stories here. And if you're going to stick to Mr Tolkien's guidelines, you should know that Bilbo and Frodo sailed west across the sea to the Havens with the Elves a long time ago. That's why Bilbo and Frodo are more likely to be found in Disneyland than here. I was tempted to explain this to Juan Miguel and Soledad, but they stopped shouting before I had to resort to such drastic measures.
For dinner we went across the long bridge to El Grove to a fish restaurant. At the table next to us were eight Swiss people eating a turbot. They had brought the fish with them and had it prepared by the host. We noticed that the fish was already swimming in a lot of wine when ice cubes flew.
Urs sat next to the wine cooler and thought about the possibilities in the bucket. I can remember situations where I would have spread similar cheer with a bucket full of ice cubes. So I suggested asking for the bill and taking the coffee in a neighbouring restaurant.
I am too unfamiliar with Swiss customs to assess what would have happened next. I considered asking George, the waiter, to bring me a wine cooler full of ice cubes as well. You never know with Swiss people. I was curious to see how the story turned out.
Matthias said that if my worst fears turned out to be true, we could certainly read about it in the papers today. The advantage of his suggestion was immediately obvious. Sitting in a cell with 8 drunken Swiss is on my not-to-do list.
Kind regards
Pinky
