Sunday 7th November, 2021
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| Outside the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum on Wednesday morning - my first visit in 29 years |
Good morning again.
How are you all? Life goes on as usual here with not that much to tell this week but let me begin; as always, from where I left off last Sunday.
Last Sunday was my final day of grandparent duty. This week we were free agents and with not much to do. We would have gone away but the weather has been pretty foul in the north of Spain with the first snowfalls making their appearance. Last Sunday it rained here like there was no tomorrow. We hadn't seen rain like it in many months. Thankfully the rest of the week was dry in the Madrid area.
That morning I went on my own to help Oli out with the babies. It's quite a ritual getting them washed and changed and two at the same time is a challenge. Eladio stayed behind because he was feeling the after effects of the flu jab he had the previous week. Mine was this Wednesday and I was worried as last year I got a cold from it which I couldn't shake of for ages. But so far so good.
Elliot did not want to be dressed that day and got into a tantrum. I wasn't having it so tried to distract him and offered him a ride in the apartment lift which he loves. That's when we came across rather frightening Halloween decorations on the 3rd floor and I couldn't get him away from them. Yes, last Sunday was Halloween and although I largely ignored it, it was everywhere.
Juliet needed a bathe I helped Oli with. Then she dressed her. Our new baby granddaughter is spoiled for choice as she has all Elliot's hand me downs which are practically new and other clothes too. That day Oli dressed her in an outfit our dear ex au pair, Pernille, had sent as a gift to Elliot when he was born. Oli later sent our Danish princess a copy of the photo below.
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| Juliet dressed in an outfit Pernille sent |
Finally at about 12.30 we were ready to go out - just for a coffee down the road to our favourite cafe, Alverán. People were queueing up to buy typical All Saints' Day pastries, Olivia included. She bought "buñuelos" - small round fritters with cream inside. She also got my favourite pastries, "vigilantes" - a thin, small and straight croissant that hails from Argentina. I stuck to my diet and just had a coffee. Here are Oli and Elliot enjoying one of them. We both remarked they would be on our breakfast table on Christmas Day. One year Norah, our beagle (RIP), ate half a tray of our Christmas Day pastries and we sadly reflected that we would never have that problem again.
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| Oli and Elliot enjoying the "vigilantes" from Alverán last Sunday. |
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My grandparent duty was over shortly afterwards as Elenita was bringing lunch to have with Oli - lunch from the wonderful Moroccan restaurant, El Tuareg.
Our lunch was leftovers and I was glad to see my Father finish his although his portion was very small as he won't eat much these days (that worries me). At around 3, just when the News was beginning, my latest guest arrived, a Dutchman called Huub. I wondered how to pronounce it and he later showed me - he said it very fast. In his younger days my father would have been able to converse in Dutch with him.
Huub had brought his car from Holland where he lives near Amsterdam but he has been travelling in Europe. Like lots of people from the Netherlands he is a cyclist and had also brought his bike. He arrived in torrential rain which surprised both of us. After settling him in to his room on the ground floor I didn't see him again until Tuesday. But we later connected and it turns out my guest who left on Friday is an expert on art. More than any of our guests, he inspired me most this week to revisit the Thyssen Museum and I'm so glad I did. Thank you Huub.
After his arrival I curled up in bed trying to sleep but it evaded me. Thus I turned to Netflix and continued watching a great series called "Maid". I finished it later that night, rather too late, I'm afraid. Sleep evaded me again and I didn't have the best of nights.
But before I move on to Monday, let me record the latest Covid figures. They are going up in many parts of Europe with UK having the highest numbers. Germany is just behind. In Spain they have plateaued but we are nowhere near the end of the battle. This week my father was given his booster jab along with the flu vaccine and Eladio has an appointment for his shortly. I wonder when I will get mine. For the moment it's just the over 70's and 6 months has to have passed since the second jab. Thus mine should be due in December. One of the main reasons for cases being on the rise is due to anti vaxxers I'm afraid. There are still a lot of people out there who need to be vaccinated. I have read that 90% of new cases are for this group of very irresponsible people. Last Sunday we reached a terrible milestone of over 5 million deaths. This time last year the figure was 1.5 million. The increase is enormous. In Spain this week we passed the 5 million mark. On the world scale of countries with most deaths, the US comes first. Spain is in 16th or 29th place depending on your source, which is no victory. An ex pupil of my father's pointed out this week that the best way to calculate country mortality rankings is by excess deaths. I tend to agree. This is the result which comes from The Financial Times - a reliable source.
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| The excess death chart. |
It gives a rather different picture although equally stark. This time last Sunday the figures for infections and deaths were 247.165.025 and 5.010.984. The figures for today are 250.338.415 and 5.061,941.
Now onto Monday. I was up at 7 am that morning and was glad to read in the papers (The Times subscription) that in Rome the G20 leaders had agreed on capping global warming to 1.5 degrees. The pledge was to keep the average global temperature rise to 1.5 c by the end of the century and zero emissions by 2050. This was ahead of the Climate conference in Glasgow which began after the G20 summit. It ended with a group photo taken by the famous Fontana di Trevi where people traditionally toss a coin into the water standing backwards from the beautiful fountain and using their right had over their left shoulder. That means they will return to Rome. The only representative who didn't throw a coin was the Italian PM, Draghi who of course lives there.
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| Representatives of the G20 countries tossing coins into the Fontana di Trevi fountain last Sunday |
It is also said that if you throw two coins into the fountain you will find love and if you throw in three you will get married soon. When I saw all the coins I wondered how much the Rome local government catches every day - quite a lot I imagine. Further investigation told me that a portion of them are donated to charity and the rest go to maintaining the magnificent fountain. It's a great way to make money. I remember throwing a coin too when we visited Rome many years ago, probably in about 2006, but I haven't been back yet. Maybe I will one day.
From a pony he graduated to an actual horse. Oli told me he was the smallest in a group of children - he is only 2 years and 1 month old - but he was the first to approach the horses. And on he got as you can see in the photo below as well as in this video his parents took.
I was so proud of our little boy. When he is older I look forward to taking him to horse riding lessons.
We loved our coffee in the bar filled with photos from times gone by, including one of Salvador Dali and Josep Pla who met at the hotel.
I found it difficult to come up with a favourite but after a lot of pondering, perhaps it is the one with a woman on a horse called The Blank Signature which the Belgian artist painted towards the end of his life in 1965.
For me what was most noticeable in the photo though was that there were only 2 women standing there and for one of them, Angela Merkel, it will be the last time. We have to fight climate change but we also have to fight for gender equality.
I imagine they all flew to Glasgow later for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the COP26. They would have flown in their executive jets which are not exactly the example for a stop to carbon emissions are they? I read there were around 400 private jets. Missing were the leaders of Russia and China, the biggest culprits in creating global warming. Activists there were not impressed by the objective of capping 1.5 degrees. Even worse, India announced that day that the huge and mostly impoverished country pledged net zero emissions by 2070. By then Elliot will be an old man and climate change will be affecting his life badly. It is up to the leaders of today to tackle the issue so that Elliot and Juliet's generation and those who come after them don't suffer the consequences. COP26 is really the last chance we have to make a difference and stop catastrophe happening. We are already living the consequences of climate change with freak weather and an ever warming globe and it will only get worse. I honestly don't think our politicians are up to it. Why wouldn't they let the young people protesting outside have their word? The biggest figure among the youth outside is the Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, who needs no introduction. Everyone is listening to her outside the walls of the convention centre. Why didn't they let her in? She was very vocal outside though and used rather too strong language, which I'm sorry but I don't approve. One would have hoped too that with a new Democrat President, in the figure of 78 year old Joe Biden, the US could lead the world once again but this time for a good and a very urgent cause. He speaks the good words but his actions come short. What was pathetic was seeing him closing his eyes and falling asleep while some well intentioned person was presenting. . No wonder he gets called "Sleepy Joe".
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| Joe Biden asleep during the Glasgow climate change conference |
He should have stayed in his pathetically luxurious car "the beast" with his 1000 strong team and instead let Greta Thunberg take his place. So no, I am not very hopeful about the outcome of this last chance to beat climate change. We don't need words; we need action. However, some words do stick out and the sentence I have come away with comes from the head of the UN, António Guterres, when he said "enough of treating nature like a toilet". That is exactly what we do. There is though a glimmer of hope for the world to reach zero emissions by 2050 and one sign was the pledge by 103 countries to reduce methane remissions by 30% at the end of this decade. Sadly this did not include China, Russia or India, three of the top five methane emitters, nor Australia would you believe it. I did not know it but apparently methane is the second largest contributor after carbon dioxide to global warming.
Meanwhile Elliot, oblivious of this all important summit that will affect his life more than mine, was with his parents visiting an animal farm for children in the village of Brunete. We had wanted to go there last weekend but because of the rain we couldn't. Monday was a holiday (All Saints' Day) and when the sun came out, Oli made arrangements to take the family there. Elliot loves cars but he also loves animals. I do not feed his passion for cars but I do encourage his love of animals as they are my passion too, especially farm animals, dogs and horses. When I was a child I wanted horse riding lessons like my fellow class mates at a rather expensive private junior school called Rossefield. My mother told me it was a sport for the rich and the nearest I would get to a horse was with my pony tail. That hurt. I never learned to ride - I suppose I could have later in life - but have maintained my love for this most gracious, noble animal and man's best friend together with the dog. That day Elliot got to ride a horse for the first time and I was ecstatic to see the videos and photos.
At the farm school Elliot got to ride, first on a pony. He looked pretty determined and Oli said he loved it. I'm sure he did. You can see him riding here.
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| Elliot on a pony |
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| Elliot riding a horse for the first time |
I suppose that is living my childhood dream through him. But if he loves it, who I am not to encourage him?
Our day paled in comparison. We did nothing exciting unless you count some emergency food shopping at Carrefour. Lunch was good as I made a winter dish "cocido" which my father enjoyed as broth. He is eating slightly more now thankfully.
Tuesday came and my expectations were low but it turned out to be a good day for me at least. However, it was not a good day for my dear friends Phil and Kathy from Yorkshire. That day Phil was admitted to hospital for an infection on his replacement shoulder of over a year ago. The hope was to reduce the infection and save the shoulder but hopes were dashed and it was removed. He is now in hospital on intravenous antibiotics for 2 weeks or so to fight the infection. With Covid, Kathy cannot be by his side although she is allowed to visit but only for one hour a day. I feel for them both and wish Phil a speedy recovery and a successful new replacement. I read that although rare, infections can occur with replacement shoulders in about 5 to 8% of patients. He is one of the unlucky. So unfair.
I was texting a lot of the day with Kathy but also busy on other stuff. I was happy when the nurse who came to attend to the wound on my father's leg brought with her vaccines for his Covid booster and anti flu jabs. A great moment. I also spent a few hours on my upcoming swearing the oath to the judge for Spanish nationality. I had to retrieve all the original documents from a year ago for this little ceremony called "la jura" I thought my lawyer had them but she assured me I had them. Urekea, after about 30 minutes of searching I found them. I will not actually be swearing the oath to a judge but to a notary. It turns out that even though the Ministry that approves requests for nationality is doing it's job, the Ministry of Justice is not doing its job when it comes to the act of swearing the oath to a judge. There is a backlog of 1.5 years. Thus notaries have been called in to replace judges; but very few. My not very friendly or helpful lawyer, Azucena, actually found one and was in contact with him this week. That is an extra cost I had not counted on. But if I don't pay and swear the oath before a notary, and time passes, my request may expire and my papers filed away and I would have to start all over again. It is so Kafkian I can't begin to explain it to you. So far it has taken nearly 2 years.
I got the news on Thursday that the Spanish equivalent of my citizenship ceremony (that's what it's called in the UK) will take place next Wednesday 10th November at 12.30. I looked up the oath used in the UK and it is this: "I xxxx swear by Almighty God that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her heirs and successors according to law.". No doubt those were the words my dear mother used when she became a British citizen in the late 40's or early 50's. She told me just how proud she felt afterwards. I think she would be very saddened to know that part of my ceremony will be to give up my British nationality - that is a requisite to obtain Spanish nationality and all because of Brexit. She would have hated Brexit. It won't be a ceremony really, just a face to face with a Spanish notary who will ask me to promise allegiance and obedience to the King, the Spanish constitution and to the laws of the country. But I won't become a Spaniard there and then. There is still more to come. After the oath, the notary will send the information to the Civil Registry nearest to where I live. They then have to send me, guess what? a birth certificate. With the new birth certificate I will have to get an appointment with the Spanish police to request a DNI (National Identity Number) and Spanish passport. Only then will I be really Spanish but proudly British born and to a Russian mother - what a cocktail. Then will begin the hard work for me updating all the institutions and accounts where I figure with my Spanish residence card number to be replaced with the DNI. But that is another story, an end hopefully to my Kafkian experience.
I told my friend Elena all about it when we had coffee together that morning - coffee out with another girlfriend; what a treat. Spaniards have no idea how hard it is to obtain nationality nor could many of them pass the exams to get it - there are ridiculous questions such as how many MPs are there for the enclave of Mellila!!!! Elena is the ex Communications Director for Ericsson when I had the same job with the mobile phone operator Yoigo. We are actually neighbours and have become friends and meet for coffee every now and again. It was one of the highlights of the day.
The other highlight was the visit of Oli and her family. Oh what joy to hug Elliot who rushed to me crying out "Mazha". Equally lovely was holding little Juliet who is such a saint. I immediately took her to my father for him to see and marvel at having a great granddaughter. I think it must have lifted his spirits. It did mine.
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| Little Juliet who came to visit on Tuesday |
I made an early dinner. It was dark and cold outside and I knew the babies had to be bathed and washed that night before going to bed. It wasn't supposed to be so early - 7.15 pm but when the table was laid, Elliot spied his high chair and made a beeline for it. Thus we ate early. They left early too and we were in our bedroom by 8 pm. I watched some of my new hospital series; "Chicago Med" and then Eladio joined me for the 9 o'clock news.
The main news in Spain continues to be the volcano eruption on the small island of La Palma in the Canaries. It has now being going on erupting since 19th September and there are no signs of it coming to an end. The Spanish Pulitzer prize winning photo journalist, Emilio Morenatti has not left the scene since it started and his photos have been published the world round. My favourite section of The Times today included this stunning one where yet again a house looks like it has been untouched but not for long.
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| Emilio Morenatti's photo of lava flowing from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma |
Wednesday came and we had a warning the water would be cut off again, from 9 am to 3 pm. It seems the supply pipes or whatever needed urgent repairs. I do hope the issue if finally solved.
Wednesday was to be exciting for us as we had booked tickets to see the much talked about Magritte exhibition at the Thyssen Museum. Wow! We haven't been to an art exhibition for such a long time that this was going to be something special. There is something special too about Magritte's surrealist art. René François Ghislain Magritte (21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) hails from Belgium and must be the most famous Belgian modern artist. He died in the 60's would you believe it? I was first acquainted with him at University. Our Modern languages literature lecturer, Dr. Cardwell, at Nottingham University, didn't only lecture on Spanish literature, he often gave us the whole spectrum of what was going on in art and literature in other countries surrounding Spain. I immediately fell in love with Magritte's mysterious paintings - you will know him for the apple on the face type works from the series called The Son of Man, the many doves, clouds, vaginas and of course his bowler hats. This is what he said about them: "The bowler .... poses no surprise. It is a headdress that is not original. The man with the bowler is just a middle class man in his anonymity. And I wear it. I am not eager to singularise myself". Well, today they are actually quite singular I think.
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| One of Magritte's most famous paintings - man in a bowler hat with an apple on his face. |
I wondered too why Magritte used apples in his paintings - the ones with the apples on the face, especially. This is what he said about them: "At least it hides the face partly well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see". Makes sense right? Apparently the apple is there on a man's face to hide his true self from the eyes of society. I did not however have any success in finding out why he used the green apple. By the way, did you know that the Beatles logo was inspired by Magritte as was the Apple, the telephone company, logo itself? So his legend lived on. There are tons of interpretations about this series of paintings which are called The son of man. We saw a lot of his art when we visited Brussels a few years ago so I couldn't wait to be reacquainted with his works again, this time in my home city, Madrid.
I tried to read up more on Magritte to understand what his paintings meant but it turns out even he said they meant nothing, just mystery. So we were in for a mysterious art exhibition through the paintings of Magritte, an artist I never tire of even if I don't understand him.
We were in for a treat in many ways. Our idea was to spend the day in the city and not only visit the Magritte exhibition but also visit the Museum that has it on display; the Thyssen-Bornemizsa National Museum which is just across the road from The Prado. We visited it the year it was opened, 1992 - so this was 29 years later. We were inspired to go by our recent Danish, Belgium and Dutch guests. So many of our guests visit the main Madrid Museums (The Pardo, The Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofia) but we never do; at least not on a regular basis. So off we went.
We drove to the centre of the city in my Mini instead of the Volvo which is a diesel car and is no longer allowed in many parts of the city. We parked opposite the Spanish parliament (Consejo de los Diputados) located in the famous square called "Plaza de las Cortes". I well remember pictures of Spanish MP's coming out after the Coup in 1981, the year I came to live in this country. We had 20 minutes to spare before going to the museum and Eladio suggested coffee at the Palace Hotel, another iconic building in Madrid with lots of history. I did not hesitate when I answered I'd love to. I have been many times for work reasons, but this time it was just for coffee and for pleasure.
We sat in the "bar" which felt more like a gentleman's club in London or up market pub, next to the dining room under the famous glass dome where it looked like mostly executives and rich tourists were having breakfast. I commented to Eladio we could do that too another day.
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| The famous glass dome at the Palace hotel in Madrid |
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| Coffee at the Palace, what a wonderful start to the day |
We didn't care that two coffees came to 15 euros. It was worth every penny being there and a wonderful start to the day.
By 10.45 we were at the gates of the Thyssen Museum. This museum is pretty unique in that it houses one of the world's biggest private collections. The collection of more than 1000 paintings belonged to Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza ("Heini"), a very interesting man and the museum also includes his last wife' Carmen Cervera's own collection, which she started when she met him. His family owned the famous arms and lifts company Thyssen Kruup and his grandfather started the art collection. Heini was a Dutch born Swiss resident with an Hungarian title and heir to a German fortune. When his father died he bought the artworks all his siblings had inherited and became the sole owner of the family's paintings. He went on to double the collection. The original collection was mostly classical art to which he added a spectacular range of modern and contemporary works. He married 5 times and his last wife was Spanish, Carmen "Tita" Cervera, ex Miss Spain. Thanks to her his whole collection stayed put in Spain when he came to Madrid to live and marry Tita. He was afraid his collection would be lost in inheritance fights and with her help it is now safe in Spain. I read that Christies valued the collection at over 2 billion dollars or euros - a lot of money - but that he or Tita sold it to the Spanish government for just 350 million euros. Many countries tried to woo the collection to outside of Spain but Carmen or Tita was instrumental in it staying here. I am glad it did. The Thyssen collection is enormous and includes paintings and art from most periods of history and has some of the biggest names in art. It is mind boggling and mind blowing and there are just too many paintings to see in one day.
It opened in 1992 and that was the year we first visited. This week was the second. We had come to see the Magritte exhibition called Magritte the Machine, after some machine he invented for making art. I was more interested in the paintings. I loved them all. Some were familiar and some were not such as this one called "Personal values".
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| Personal Values by René Magritte |
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| An intriguing painting by Magritte. |
At first glance it seems to be a normal painting which surprises you as you don't expect that from Magritte. But the more you look, the more it doesn't make sense. If one of his intentions when painting was to puzzle the mind, The Blank Signature certainly does that. Basically it is illogical and a kind of optical illusion. Zoom in and you will realise why.
After seeing the exhibition we decided we wanted to visit the classical art collection as last time we had seen the more modern collection including the Impressionists. But we took the wrong floor and were soon immersed in Dali, Picasso and Miro which we didn't mind. I think the Harlequin Boy with a mirror was my favourite. I wondered how much it was worth - millions and millions I suppose.
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| Picasso's Harlequin boy with a mirror |
I marveled at the paintings but I also marveled that one man could have so much money to buy them all. It is true he continued his grandfather's collection but when both the latter and his father died, he bought his siblings' share of the collection which became only his and then he enlarged upon it, mostly with more modern art. His wife has her own amazing collection too.
Realising our mistake, we took the lift to the 2nd floor to see the classical collection which was perhaps for us more interesting. I marveled at the Rubens, the Rafaels, the Zurbarans, the Murillos, the El Grecos, not to mention Caravaggio and Canaletto. There were many more, too many to mention. I was very interested to see the portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein the Younger (1537). He is England's most famous king and as there were no photos then, the only way to remember him is through paintings. It's a small but exquisite portrait don't you think?
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| Holbein the younger's portrait of Henry VIII |
Curious I wanted to know which were the most valuable or famous masterpieces in the museum. Henry VIII is one but I came across two from artists I had never heard of - excuse my ignorance. As I walked through the museum I kept thinking about my mother who was an amateur art historian and would have known the names I didn't.
The most important masterpiece from the classical part of the collection is a portrait by Domenico Ghirlandaio of a young woman called Giovanna degli Albizzi Torabuoni. It is dated 1489-1490. I had seen the image before but now I was seeing it for real. Magnificent is the only word I can find to describe it.
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| Domenico Ghirlandaio - portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi, one of the most important works in the Thyssen collection |
I could have stared at it for hours but we were tired - there are too many paintings to see in one day. Besides, my knee was hurting from walking around the museum for such a long time. We sat outside for a while and marveled too at how many people were there at this time of year. Madrid was full of tourists! Unbelievable.
Our next stop was to Tiffany in one of Madrid's most expensive streets; José Ortega y Gasset. I wasn't going to buy anything, or I was I suppose. I was going to replace an ear ring as I had lost one and it goes with a pendant which my former boss at Yoigo had bought me for Christmas one year. Only one little earring, perhaps their most modest, costs 125 euros and I ordered it. Just being at Tiffany felt so luxurious. No wonder there is a film called "Breakfast at Tiffany". I got Eladio to take a photo of the moment to remember the moment.
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| At Tiffany's in Madrid on Wednesday |
Out of curiosity I asked them how much the pendant is worth. I was told 850 euros and Eladio remarked I shouldn't be wearing it around my neck and offered to sell it second hand (hahahahahahahaha) which I didn't actually find funny.
On our way to Tiffany's we walked through the very heart of Madrid and across one of the most iconic plazas, "Cibeles" and I had to have a photo there of Eladio. This is it.
At 17.40 I was at our local private clinic for the flu jab. I also had one called "pneumococcal" which I had been told I had to have as I am over 60. It's a once in a life time jab apparently and is known as the pneumonia vaccine. It apparently protects against serious and fatal pneumococcal infections such as sepsis and meningitis too caused by the streptococcus bacterium. That night one of my arms hurt but I didn't know which of the vaccines had caused it. Thankfully that was the only side effect and I am feeling fine now.
One of the things I love best about living in my adopted country is the sunlight. There are so many more hours of sun than in my home country and that's something I will always appreciate.
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| Eladio in the Cibeles square - the white building was once the main post office - think some of it still is but today its the City Town Hall where the Mayor resides. |
All around the city were giant "Meninas" and I snapped at every one I saw. The "menina" is a figure from the famous Velazquez painting called Las Meninas which can be found at The Prado museum. It has become a symbol of Spain too in many ways. I loved the ones I saw and had to have a photo with one of them. I later read that after the outdoor exhibition they will be auctioned and all proceeds will go to people in La Palma - the island in the Canaries suffering the ongoing volcano. Good idea.
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| By one of the Meninas on Madrid's plush Serrano street |
We were divided as to where to have lunch and decided finally on tapas at the Mercado San Miguel just off the Plaza Mayor. We took a taxi and the driver told us we had to go the long way round as taxis are no longer allowed through Madrid's main square, "Puerta del Sol". We could hardly believe his words. I wondered how physically handicapped people can get there. What an inconvenience.
The taxi driver dropped us off just outside the famous gourmet market which was once a fruit and veg market but is now full of stalls with enticing food - mostly tapas and much frequented by tourists. It was so full we walked outside again, disappointed. We then headed to Botin, a favourite of mine and considered the oldest restaurant in the world according to the Guinness Book of records. I first ate there as a student in 1978 when I was living in Madrid as part of my degree course. Today it is full of tourists. The speciality dishes are suckling lamb and suckling pig and we ordered both to share. We were a little disappointed with the quality - it is not as good as it used to be. However the restaurant itself is like a museum and is beautiful.
Full, happy and tired, we walked back to the Plaza de las Cortes to retrieve our car and to drive home. There we bumped into an MP, the controversial Gabriel Rufián, who is a very vocal Catalan separatist. People were asking for photos with him - not us. We were back by about 4.30 pm but an hour later I had to go out again for my anti flu jab. Just before I left the house I went to look at the pool. That day, Javier, our swimming pool maintenance man, had covered it for the winter. I always hate it being covered. It means the season is over and winter is coming. It sure was colder this week but at least it was sunny. We won't see it open again until April next year.
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| Our pool was closed on Wednesday - sad. |
I came back to find myself busy corresponding with my lawyer for next week's all important meeting with the notary. Our Dutch guest was home from his day out in Toledo and we discussed the paintings he and I had seen at the Thyssen museum. He had brought me a box of marzipan - he made the right choice as I do have a sweet tooth. As I am on a diet I shall save them for Christmas.
We weren't very hungry at dinner time and had just a bowl of vegetable soup and some baked apple. Soon we were in bed and watching the news.
I slept well that night and woke up on Thursday morning feeling good. We did the weekly shopping and there was time for coffee at Alveran. Instead of having one of their enticing pastries I took along a golden delicious apple. Here I am in the sun with my apple. No doubt Magritte would have approved, although it wasn't green.
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| Coffee in the sun with an apple |
Friday came and I was up before sunrise which is so late in the winter. The first thing I saw on my phone once I had my cup of coffee were messages from people to say they had seen me on "telly" that night. I immediately knew what they were referring to. In 2015 I appeared as the boss in the Spanish version of Undercover Boss. I was representing the company I was working for, Yoigo where I was the communications director for 11 years. Even though it was shot and first broadcast in 2015 it has been rebroadcast countless times afterwards. Someone sent me a shot from the programme that was on on Thursday night.
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| Me on TV for the umpteenth time this week |
Every time the shown is on TV I get more followers on Twitter and Instagram and messages too. That day I got two lovely ones I want to share with you (sorry they are in Spanish). They are a eulogy to me but that's not the real point. The real point is that women make more compassionate corporate managers and maybe I should have reached higher echelons to make a difference at work. But that was not to be in the man's world I worked in.
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| Messages from anonymous people after they saw me on TV on Thursday night. |
That set the tone for the day. It was sad though to say goodbye to Huub. He is our last guest here for the moment. It has been a great year for reservations but the season has come to an end. Felipe, though, continues his stay and has now been here for 10 months. Eladio says I will get a new reservation any time soon. Let's see if he is right.
That morning saw us at LM (Leroy Merlin), the DIY store Eladio loves so much and I don't. We are in the process of getting a new bath for Huub's room which we usually call "Andy's room" - our Scottish guest who lived there for 1.5 years. It has chips in the enamel and badly needs changing. We are debating getting a new bath or a shower. That's an expense we could do without but is important for the quality of the accommodation we offer.
It was sunny that day but the sun probably didn't shine in England. It was 5th November, Guy Fawkes night or Bonfire night as it is called colloquially in my birth country. That had me remembering my childhood when my father would light fire works in our garden - how I loved the Roman Candle - or going to a community bonfire on our street, Heaton Grove and seeing the effigy of Guy Fawkes being burned and eating the typical food for that night - jacket potatoes, sausages, toffee, parkin, ..... I miss Guy Fawkes night.
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| Friday 5th November was bonfire night in England. It's a tradition I miss. |
When I was a child in England in the 60's and 70's we didn't celebrate Halloween rather Bonfire night. We talked about it at lunchtime and I'm afraid I had to google the background to refresh my memory. In 1605 Guy Fawkes, one of the leaders of a plot to assassinate James 1st and restore a catholic on the throne, was found with a store of explosives. They were to burn down the House of Lords but someone from the Gun Powder Plot group must have snitched. Thus Guy Fawkes was taken to the stake to be hung drawn and quartered (ghastly). In order for that not to happen he somehow broke his neck before the nastiest part of his execution. Ever since 1605, each night on 5th November, public bonfires have been lit and his effigy burned as a celebration of the saving of the king of England. That's the story in short. Thus as children we learned this rhyme: "remember, remember the 5th November, gun powder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gun powder treason should ever be forgot". I recited this to my father and his eyes twinkled.
During the mid afternoon I had a quick Facetime call with my dear friend Kathy to get an update on Phil - all ok for the moment - Kathy and her family would be celebrating bonfire night of course as most English people do and she had 3 of her sons round for dinner as well as her grandchildren. I would have loved to be there. I really can't remember the last time I celebrated Guy Fawkes night, a night to be remembered from my childhood.
However we did go out that night. Being Friday we had dinner out and chose the nearest place, a restaurant we like, El Tinglado. It was a good end to the day. We love our dinners out, a tradition we always try to stick to.
Saturday came and the house was quiet. We went on our walk - well, I did 20 minutes - and later had coffee at Alverán again. We were out on a couple of errands. I love going on errands just for the coffee out together.
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| Eladio in the sun at Alverán yesterday |
I bought a joint of roast beef for lunch to be had with vegetables - no gravy, Yorkshire pudding or roast potatoes I am afraid. As I love cold roast beef too, I bought a large enough joint for leftovers. Felipe saw me making it and remarked that roast beef was a very British dish. It is and is possibly my favourite, on a par with fish and chips. What is your favourite British dish?
No doubt that will be on the menu for tonight's dinner. Today is Sunday and the sun is shining. We shall go on our walk with just Pippa - oh how we miss Elsa and Norah - and spend a quiet day at home.
I will sign off now as I have to do my ablutions and make the lunch before our walk. Cheers till next Sunday my friends.
I wish you all the best until then,
Masha.
2 comments:
Probably fish pie :)
Fish pie?
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