Monday 17 September 2012

Horse racing....

Who doesn't like a bit of horse racing, the thrill of the betting, the power of the horses, and the getting dressed up for the day in posh frocks, sipping champagne. However, in true Gran Canaria style, why bother with the race track when you can gallop down the main road. Whenever I think that living in Casa Chaos cannot surprise me any more, something jumps up and makes me stop in my tracks, and the horse racing did that on Saturday.

There has been a local fiesta in the next village for the last two weeks, and when these events are in full flow they have some odd traditions. Now, I don't mind strange traditions as long as I don't have to be involved. Don't get me wrong I have followed Sardines, jumped over fires, thrown tomatoes and danced in the foam. However, things have been busy around here lately so we didn't attend the local fiesta, and I had no idea what was planned.

Maybe if I had taken the time to go and read the poster, I might have known about the galloping horses! Saturday started as usual, chaos, shouting and general stress, however, it was annoyed further by a Spanish guy going up and down the road screaming into his megaphone. At points I listened, but just presumed it was the typical village idiot declaring his unhappiness about something.

I was wrong, it now appears that he was in fact indicating the start of the race! Eventually he shut up, and i went back to my desk, however, that was short lived as a policia bike went down the road at full speed, followed by two galloping horses, the man with the megaphone on the back of a pick up, and another policia bike.

If this had only happened once, I might have thought I imagined it, but no it happened several times, and we begun to watch. Road racing in Ireland is incredibly popular, however, they have banned it for safety reasons. As the Spanish and safety never quite understand each other, I presume why these riders are allowed to gallop full speed along a main road. Oh well it kept us amused for a while, and increases my belief that nothing amazes me any more...




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