Ok Muttonistas, back to the end of the Vigo trip , and one meal I was particularly looking forward to was a Chuleton, a rib eye chop. Spanish beef is by far the best in Europe , and believe it or not, the best Chuletons actually come from old dairy cattle , dry aged of course. Restaurante La Trastienda del Cuarto turned out to be a great choice.
Not only does Galicia have the best seafood but also the best beef, the Rubia Gallega chuletons are outstanding and I’d strongly recommend you order one if you get the opportunity. The Spanish, will usually eat them medium rare or rare, which suits me down to the ground. A monkish and prawn seafood salad and a pork carpaccio (raw) made for a fantastic meal . Don’t be afraid of eating raw pork in countries with high hygiene standards. We were all taught as children to cook pork through , but that harks from the days of feeding pigs on dead animals particularly sheep with diseases that they could pass on to humans. When fed on vegetation , and particularly dried fruit and acorns as the top Spanish pig breeds are, you not only get a very safe piece of meat but an absolutely delicious one as well, you’re getting a tartare from the top breed and cut of pork (presa iberica) which you’re never getting when you order raw beef
Spain also produces great wine , DO Toro wines being my favourite with beef. San Roman , my choice , was deep and fruity , costing about €40 in most restaurants. Spanish restaurants don’t mark up their wines too much , often only 30-50% , as opposed to the 300-500% you see in the UK most of the time. Of course after such a rich meal I had to confess to the Cardenal (Cardenal Mendoza Brandy)
On to the final day , in Vigo, and I bought new suitcase , this time a cheap one was purchased. I also transported back the old one as Iberia stipulated that I had to either bill them for a repair or obtain certification that the case would be irreparable. before we get on to that I finished the trip off with creative tapas at Sibarita, a wine bar cum tapas restaurant . Another great meal with creative tapas
And on to the journey Itself. While Iberia sometimes sucks on the ground, their in flight service and lounges are really good , especially at the front of the plane.
Finally a quick pint of London Black and a pork pie at The Bear, the pick of the pubs near Paddington Station
The Aftermath
Having transported my damaged case on a train , I set about trying to A) find the correct part , and B) find a repair shop. So I emailed the manufacturer, Travelite , a German firm who seem to sell in the EU. They assessed the damage and said the part was available and told me which arm of their company to contact . I did so and was told it might take a while and indeed 3 weeks later I haven’t heard from them. Also finding a repair shop is extraordinarily difficult, google Luggage or Baggage repair shops and you’ll find you can count the number of positive responses on the fingers of one hand.
My conclusion from all this, either go small or go big. For all the lifetime guarantees you see suitcase manufacturers offering, the only one that excludes airline damage and repairs with no questions asked is Rimowa. They repair either by you sending the case in or walking in to their London store. Otherwise airline damage is almost always excluded as it’s the airline’s responsibility. Samsonite will repair if you give them the case but if the airline damages the case, you have to pay. The wheels are an achilles heel of an other wise solid suitcase , I like aluminium cases and I don’t like zippers as they tend to get broken pretty quickly as well. I tend to go through 3 cases a year and was hoping splashing out a lot of money would get me something long lasting.
I am not sure what ill do next, ill either get a Rimowa, or a Samsonite , or get something very cheap and just accept ill have to keep rebuying £50-70 cases 3 times a year, I travel an awful lot and hammer them. If I can’t see an assurance that I can repair wheels (for free or by my paying and walking into a shop with the damaged case) I won’t buy any more expensive cases, and I’d advise you to do the same, Muttonistas
Off to Lisbon for Sporting v City
As I write I’m waiting in Bristol airport for a massively delayed flight to Lisbon (thankfully the night before the game) , it happens a lot more than you’d think. At least the Guinness is reasonable here! See you on the next one Muttonistas
