Silver shoes, cats, Wimbledon and other things

Dear Phoebe found somewhere cool to sleep in the sweltering July heat.
Hi again

The title to this week’s post sounds quite fun and well it is except that there were more mundane activities such as visiting the gynaecologist – yes I passed the annual MOT with flying colours but I could hardly include that in the title could I?

I had coffee with Elena again and she is doing fine. Friday last found me at the TV studios once again with Jill and Lisa, my American and Chinese co participants. It was very much Jill’s day as Friday was Independence Day. We are going back for more on 18th July so if you are in Spain watch out for us on Intereconomía TV – it also gets repeated during the weekend.
Representatives from 3 major countries!
After the programme I felt on a bit of a high and as the Corte Inglés was nearby I thought I ought to visit the Sales. And what did I get? Yes a lovely pair of silver shoes from a shoe shop in Serrano and a silver bag from that attractive shop Musgo. I am in lovely with my silver purchases and have been wearing them ever since. In fact they deserve a photo.
My new silver treasures, a handbag and matching shoes, just the fashion this Summer!
I suppose there should be a reference to food too as Eladio and I pigged ourselves by going out for dinner 3 nights on a row last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday was our weekly treat to La Alpargatería. Saturday was a mistake at a ghastly place called La Gitana here in Boadilla (they don’t accept luncheon vouchers, are very expensive, very unfriendly and have only acceptable quality food) and Sunday was a lovely tapas outing with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen to a great little place whose name I can’t remember, very near home.

There is not much reference to the girls these days. Well they have been away. Oli came back very brown and happy from Mallorca and just as she came back Suzy went off to Santa Pola with her cousins, Laura and Ali (my Goddaughter) and her friend Elena. Then Suzy came back from Santa Pola - we managed one family lunch in between – and was off again, last Sunday with Elena to a course in El Escorial on Health in pregnant women organised by the Complutense University. She seems to be having a great time as the course hours are quite short and she is meeting loads of new people from here and abroad.
The 3 cousins, Laura, Suzy and Alicia brown as berries after Santa Pola
Meanwhile Oli started her placement with RTVE and we don’t see much of her. Thankfully her timetable will now be from 3 pm to 10 pm which at least will allow her to have lunch with us.

You probably want to know about the cats or maybe not. The cats for us are an important part of family life and right now we are in the midst of Joe and Phoebe getting to know each other and become friends and for Joe to become acclimatized. It’s amazing to watch how each day they become less and less estranged and how they both now eat from the same bowl! Joe gave us a fright the other night by completely disappearing for some 12 hours. We really thought he had gone forever, possibly raptured by a bird of prey. But no, he suddenly appeared the next day eating at Phoebe’s bowl as if he had never been away. He seems to be a bit of an adventurer so his future could be somewhat uncertain. Here are some photos of them for you to enjoy:
Phoebe and Joe eating from Phoebe's bowl. Phoebe prefers aldult cat food and Phoebe prefers kitten food!
Phoebe and Joe beginning to play
Joe, still very small and frightened and taking time to get acclimatised.
The most important thing that happened since I last wrote was that Rafael Nadal,that 22 year old Spanish tennis player from Mallorca, better know in the tennis circles as “muscleman” and number 2 in the world ranking won Wimbledon.

If you are a tennis fan you will know why that was so important; because it was Spain’s second Wimbledon win in 42 years since Manuel Santana won in the 60’s. Wimbledon is the most important tennis tournament in the world. Life sort of stops in England for the 2 weeks it lasts. Funnily enough the English don’t watch any other tennis tournament. That’s the one that matters and it is steeped in very British tennis tradition such as strawberries and cream and well behaved tennis crowds.

Nadal didn’t just win Wimbledon in his 3rd attempt. He beat Federer, that Swiss cardigan clad gentleman who has now won it 5 times in a row and is possibly the best tennis player in the history of the game. And the game they played was arguably the most dramatic and incredible match ever televised; not just in my humble opinion but in the opinion of the likes of the very people who played the most famous match ever, Borg and McEnroe in the early 80’s. I could not watch past the 3rd set, so equal were the 2 it felt the match would never end. But it did and Nadal won 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7. It was also the longest match in the history of Wimbledon, nearly 5 hours.

I am very proud of Spain as it is becoming a country to contend with sports wise; winning Wimbledon just one week after winning the European Football championship is really something. Spain is very good at tennis, motorcycling, Formula 1 (well not so good this year), cycling (this year’s Giro and last year’s Tour with Contador), basketball, etc, but I wonder how well it will do in this year’s Olympics. Athletics are not top sports for the Spaniards but we will see.

This week brings dinner in Madrid tomorrow night with a friend from school I met at the recent St. Joseph’s College reunion, Jane McEvoy, now Jane Evans. Jane and her husband are in Pamplona for the bull running (San Fermines) and will be stopping off in town on their way to the coast. I am really looking forward to that Anglo Spanish evening.

And Friday will bring a girly lunch with Ana, Jill, Zenaida and hopefully Fátima and Susana. But more about that in next week’s post. On Friday Suzy will be back but off again camping for the weekend. She is having a very busy July.

Next week will be busy in a pleasurable way for me as I have to do a sight trip to Santander, that majestic northern coastal city with arguably one of the most beautiful beaches in Spain, "El Sardinero". June has been very hard but July, fortunately is more of a planning month.

Cheers till next week
Masha