I see your point, geographical distance can be a problem in this lockdown situation but I think there's something more in all these breakups. As difficult as it must be to share soooo much with a skating partner, in a normal training routine it's easier to follow the same path, everything is scheduled, there's a coaching team taking care of them and there's no time to "think". But, when they stop and spend a lot of time apart from each other, the thinking part and the overthinking appears and the only support for their training is their individual willpower… And the differences appear and the crisis is there, in front of them, individually, to solve or to let go.
I agree, there probably is more to it than just geographic distance. But, it certainly wouldn't have helped to keep the partnership going if they were so far away from each other for the duration fo the lockdown. And you guys had a VERY strict lockdown.
On a different topic, "Castile" sounds very funny in this context, especially next to "Catalunya", it’s like going back to a couple of years ago when Catalonia Independence was, apparently, Spanish biggest problem… I'm sure the topic will come back, but no one cares about it today, not even nationalist parties…
I'm not sure if this is of any interest, but "Castile" it's a weird expression nowadays, "Castilla Kingdom" existed in the Middle Ages, Castilian plateau is, in geology, the center of Iberian Peninsula, "Castilian language" it's what we internationally know today as Spanish language, spoken not only in "Castilla" but in lots of countries, there are two autonomous regions in Spain that use the term in their names (Castilla-León and Castilla-La Mancha) but Laura is not from any of them, she is from the autonomous region of Madrid.
I don´t know (nor care) what Ton thinks about Catalonian Independence, but he's from Val d'Aran, a Catalonian Region where the majority of the population said clearly that they will never belong to an independent Catalonia…
Coming back to the topic, IMO, this is a more accurate way to express the different geographical areas they are from:
Barquero (Madrid) / Cónsul (city of Vielha or area of Val d'Aran or Region of Catalonia, as you prefer)
Oh boys, but I have inadvertantly opened up a can of worms.
I am a person who is very interested in history. So, when it comes to subdivisions of Spain, I tend to think in terms of the historic kingdoms rather than the current regions that re-use the names. And Madrid was historically right in the middle of Castile. I was actually going to use the more specific term of "New Castile" (which, for those unfamiliar with Spain, is the southern half of Castile), but I felt that might confuse people, who might think it was somewhere in the Americas (à la New Jersey, New York, etc.).
To be honest, I feel sorry that the 2 parts of Castile each got merged with a different historic region. Because whenever mergers occur, it means that the people who are from each part of the new entities lose part of their distinctive identity. And they find it hard to relate to the new entities. I am talking from personal experience here. A few years ago, the number of councils in Northern Ireland was drastically cut. Groups of neighbouring councils were merged into what was termed "Supercouncils". During the COVID-19 pandemic, whenever the figures were being announced, they were broken down according to the new Supercouncil areas. And it caused more confusion than clarity, because people can't relate to the Supercouncils. The Supercouncils are so large that people were left wondering if the cases were near them or not.
Anyway, moving onto the language, and here is an interesting fact. When I was watching MotoGP back in the late 1990's / early 2000's, at the end of the race the podium finishers were interviewed by this guy who must have spoke about a dozen languages (I don't know his name). And for those riders who spoke English (which, back in those days, wasn't all of them), he would interview them in English, and then ask them to speak in their own language. As a result of listening to him say it so often, the first Spanish phrase I learnt that I knew the meaning of was "Castellano por favor". (Although, whatever way he said it, the final 2 words sounded like they had 2 syllables rather than 3).
Sometime in the mid-noughties, he was replaced by Matt Roberts (who now presents the superbike coverage on British Eurosport). And ever since, I have been wondering who this super-multi-linguial guy was; what nationality he was (and, by extention, which language was his first language); and just how many languages he did speak!
As for Catalunya, the first time I heard of the name was through watching motorbike races from the Circuit de Catalunya at Montmeló. That was the first spelling I saw, and that is the spelling I have
always used ever since. It was actually only in the past few years that I found out that there were alternative spellings depending on which language was being used.
It was definitely not intended to be a political statement.
So, I hope this clears everything up.
CaroLiza_fan
- the drop from 165 to 163 can be probably too big). Bazin is, at least in my view, not exactly a bonanza, he is 24 and his highest success is a silver from Universiade, so I don't expect some sudden progress. But, good luck, of course.
Oh no, don´t blame yourself, that can is being open for a long time and, by now, the worms look more like anacondas, there's no way to put them back in the can 
