Cap’s Vacation
London - Valencia, Wednesday, April 16th
No frills but cheap…it’s my middle name, playmates. No, actually I’m referring to EasyJet, the bucket airline who transported me out to sunny sunny Spain this afternoon. Well, there is a smattering of cloud cover if the truth is told but the weather’s certainly a whole stack better than the crap I’ve been putting up with in the UK for the last few months. You know I heard some scientist blathering away on TV the other day suggesting that the future looks increasingly bleak for Britain weather wise over the next few years…something to do with the shifting of the Jet Stream. Something else to look forward to, eh folks?
Valencia, Thursday, April 17th
Spain’s 2nd city (or is that Barcelona?) is a groove…I spent the day zipping around the gaff on the bus after getting hold of one of those fab value local transport day passes. And the route of the No. 95 bus is a lot of fun, meandering along the side of the old river Turia which I have been authoritatively informed was diverted around the city owing to the disastrous floods of 1957. So Valencia, which was previously less than well endowed on the green spaces front has gained a massive new area of public land which has been admirably landscaped with lots of trees and sports facilities ending up in some ways akin to New York´s Central Park. Only being an ex-river this park is a lot longer and thinner!
Valencia, Friday, April 18th
‘Twas a real nice day and I spent most of it down at the beach which had a bunch of enticing cafés running alongside. I was amazed to find one that had vegetarian paella on the menu. Blimey…the world’s changing before my very eyes, as just 5 years ago there was no way you could find anything to eat out here of a non-carnivore persuasion, and now (thanks to happycow.com) I know of several restaurants I can frequent. Going back a few years I can recall an unhappy incident while on tour in Spain when the other guys in the band were heartily tucking into their meat meals and after an additional wait of about half an hour I received my less than impressive dinner–a burger bun containing grated cheese…microwaved. Yuk!
I also remember 30 years ago how bloomin’ difficult it was to get decent beer in the USA with the likes of Schlitz, Coors, Bud, Miller, etc. appearing in the dressing room with a depressing regularity. Thankfully it’s all changed and the only problem is in deciding which fabulous new ale to request. Sam Adams Boston Lager…Sierra Nevada Pale…and Levitation Ale from San Diego. These are the current faves–but what am I doing rabbiting on about beer when I have my holiday diary to write here…
Vilanova, Saturday, April 19th
The route up the Costa Del Sol has got to be one of the great train journeys of our time, taking in some spectacular scenery…rocky coves, sun kissed beaches and the like…some full of the now ubiquitous surfer dudes but I think they´re flogging a dead horse here cos (as someone should’ve told them) there’s no real waves in the Mediterranean to speak of. They looked like a bunch of basking seals or whatever floating out there in the beautiful calmness of the sea…well, it keeps them off the streets, I suppose.
What was the reason I broke my journey to Barcelona in sleepy Vilanova? Well… it might have something to do with the fact that this is where we can find the “Museo Del Ferrocarril,” Spain’s railway museum which boasts 25 or so gorgeous steam locomotives, just the job for a big kid like my good self. The first job I had on leaving school all those years ago was with British Railways…it was my dream position and I still cannot for the life of me work out how I ended up playing guitar in a punk band. I’d probably be running the rail company now if I’d have stayed, but there you go…music lovers would have a gaping hole in their record collections where Machine Gun Ettiquette should be so all’s worked out OK in the end, I suppose.
Barcelona, Sunday, April 20th
For some reason or other when I was attempting to purchase my train ticket to Barcelona, a 50 minute trip or so up the coast from Vilanova, they refused to take my money. The ticket was free…and for someone from Britain–a country where if they could tax the very air you breathe they would have no hesitation in doing so–it came as a very pleasant surprise. I still have no idea what this was all about as I gratefully grabbed the ticket and legged it onto the platform before they changed their minds.
For a self confessed trainspotter, the journey up the coast was a treat…there’s something about trains by the sea don’t you think–or is that just me? Anyways I was in a real good mood as I emerged from Estacio Sants…before I realised that I had been very skillfully pick-pocketed within 5 minutes of arriving.
Bollocks!
Captain Sensible is the guitarist of rabble rousers the Damned who kick started the UK punk scene of 1977 along with the Clash and the Sex Pistols, with whom they shared many a stage. Highly rated examples of the Damned on vinyl are “Damned Damned Damned” and “Machine Gun Etiquette”, the latter of which combined their rifftastic version of punk rock with a generous dollop of pysychedelia–a common theme in Mr. Sensible’s work. Mr. S also had a successful (if unlikely) solo career in the ’80s and toured the USA as a rap artist (I kid you not…) when his single “Wot” found itself high in the Billboard Dance Charts. He recently formed his own political organisation, The Blah! Party, as a direct result of Tony Blair’s warmongering. Captain is still touring with the Damned who are planning some recording soon–so if there’s any labels out there……
www.captainsensible.com
Fifteen years ago if someone had told me that I was talking to Captain Sensible on the computer I would have laughed in their face and then started asking questions.
I must say (I just started a paragraph with a pronoun, a real no-no) that to change the conversation from Phil Collins to Paella and microwaved veggie burgers (actually, no burger in this case) is very interesting.
As I tread life's path I find there is really very little I know. I guess that might be some kind of "socratic stance", from whence I can question any school of thought or intelligencia.
I really don't know what the 'second' city of Spain is. That's a discussion in itself. Is Madrid the 'first'? Barcelona the 'second'? Seville the 'third'? Valencia the 'fourth'? And first and second and third and fourth in what? Physical beauty? High temperature? Cultural activities? Population? Phil Collins CD's? (Just wanted to see if you were listening.)
I also don't know what trainspotting is. I heard of the movie, but I didn't see it. I'm guessing it's when you're outside and you see a train and you exclaim, "Hey, there's a train!" And then you and your friends try to figure out what kind it is and where it's going and all sorts of exciting stuff.
Steve