Flowers for Mothers' Day, retail therapy, the Conclave , Habemus papam, Robert Prevost - Leo XIV - first North American Pope, VE Day, special dinner with my Spanish family and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 11th May, 2025

 

All spruced up and ready to go out for a very special dinner this week.

Good morning all. How have you been? I have to say this week has been a great improvement on last week and there is lots to tell you.

Last Sunday was a year ago since we set off on our last road trip all the way to Turkey which had us talking about it and remembering it fondly on our walk that morning. Unfortunately, there will be no road trip this year. 

 It was also Mothers' Day. Remember when I wrote last week that I didn't think my daughters would remember? Well  Oli did. She came with the kids bearing a beautiful bunch of flowers. Here is little Juliet, in her Flamenco outfit, giving them to me. 

Flowers for me on Mothers' Day

I was very pleasantly surprised. Thanks Oli. At home in England we never celebrated any of these days so I suppose I didn't bring up our girls to do so either. 

The drums of war sounded in Israel that day as Yemen struck Tel Aviv airport. I wonder if it was worth their while given the Israelis' capacity for retaliation?

 Monday came and brought me a little obstacle to overcome.  A window had broken in El Cuetu and it was my job to find a glazier to mend it. We know very few tradespeople in the area so I rang the local ironmonger who gave me the contact of a local man who does general repairs. Héctor went to the house in the afteroon and by Tuesday afternoon all was well. I shall be keeping his contact details.

Suzy was rather down that day, despite her medication which is not really a panacea for her problems but she was cheered up when Oli joined us for lunch. I went to the hairdresser that afternoon for the first time since the beginning of February and I must say I had so much white hair I looked like a witch. Thankully within 1 hour Conchi had me sorted for just 16 euros! Meanwhile my grandchildren were having their hair cut and here is a picture that Oli sent to remember the moment.

 

Elliot and Juliet having their hair cut this week

As I came out of the hairdressers it was pouring heavily with rain. This week we've had what felt like tropicl rain or monsoon weather most afternoons which is very strange.Roll on sunny and rain free days I say.

Tuesday 6th May was the third anniversary of the wonderful funeral I organised for my father at Bradford Cathedral. He was much in my thoughts this week because of that and, of course, VE Day.

My father would have been appalled to hear Trump say to the new Canadian Premiere, Mark Carney, that he wants Canada to become the 51st state. In a similar set up to the meeting with Zelensky, with the two leaders surrounded by press, Carney clearly replied "Canada is not for sale". Honestly!!

I had more house maintenance work to do that day. We need to increase the electricity voltage in our apartment in Santa Pola. With all the new devices we have invested in, if too many of them are in use, the electricity goes off and that is not acceptable for renting. Thus I had to find an authorised electricity company which I did. The good new is they can do it and the bad news is that they wil have to renovate the whole electrical installation. Damn it. On the bright side, that day the Estonian and Ukrainian workers finished the floor in the lounge. They did a good job but we have yet to see it. 

I had a big job myself that day when I started gathering all the invoices for this year's income tax returns. What a job my friends but I was fnished, with the help of my husband, by Friday. 

Wednesday 7th came and it was the date marked for the start of the Conclave. I, meanwhile, had an appointment at the Apple Store in Majadahonda. It was to restore my Apple account and set up my new iPad. The girl called Yuli, was wonderful. When she had everything set up, just as I had it on my old iPad, I gave her a hug in gratitude. I am loving my new 13 inch iPad Air M3 which I use  mostly for watching TV, reading the news and  video calls. The quality and battery life are excellent, not like the battery life of my 4 or 5 year old Samsung S20fe. It hardly lasts a morning and I am thinking very seriously of investing in a new phone, probably the latest Samsung. We'll see.

I left the very smug Apple store and headed for Primark. I wanted new jeans, especially white ones and got both types in a style I had never used before, the so-called Mum style. I also got 2 pairs of jeans for Eladio and some beige chinos and for Suzy white shorts and a pair of black lounge trousers. That was my retail therapy that ended in Zara, which is Spain's biggest brand. This year is the 50th anniversary of the opening of its first shop in Corunna. Who would have known what a success it would become? I remember my first Zara shopping experience was in León in the early 80's. As I walked into their lovely and not smug store, I spied an embroidered long sleeved white tunic dress which I just couldn't resist. I had hoped to wear it for our dinner out on Friday but it was too cold. This is it and by the way it is nowhere near as short on me as on the model.

 

From Zara

I was having a wonderful time. The retail therapy was doing me the world of good, not to mention that everything fitted me, for once. Before heading home, I had a coffee and pop cake at Starbucks feeling happy. Yeah, that's how I felt and I haven't felt it for a while. I came home to give Eladio and Suzy their new clothes which they did not expect. Both were delighted and so was I.

Once home, I concentrated on the Conclave which fascinated me so much. The Vatican is so good at pomp and mystique as the process is hundreds of years old and hasn't changed much over the years. Olivia did a small piece on the history of the Conclave that morning which you can see here. Clever girl.

 I watched the BBC coverage in the late afternoon and got a good close up of the 133 Cardinal electers while they swore an oath of secrecy in Latin before the Conclave began. They come from 70 countries. This is where they come from.

 

Where the cardinals are from

The oldest was 79 and the youngest just 45. They came up to swear in order of seniority, the first being the Vatican's Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin who was at the top of the polls. Everyone expected him to enter cardinal and come out as Pope. They were wrong and the old adage saying cardinals who go in to be pope, come out as a cardinal. I also watched as the doors of the Sistine Chapel were closed, after the words "Extra Omnes" (everyone out in Latin). 

 

The doors of the Sistine chapel closed after the words "Exra Omnes"

During the whole process, the Conclave was held in complete secrecy with no contact with the outside world. The Vatican even shut down the mobile signal in the tiny country which I am sure was rather a hindrance to the press, of which there were 7000. It was a world event, waiting for the election of a new Pope, who would become the world's moral leader. Would we get someone like Francis or like Ratzinger? I hoped and prayed it would be a forward thinking man who would follow in Bergoglio's footsteps. It took more than 3 hours for black smoke to come from the chimney which, of course, was to be expected. Most people thought the Conclave would take days to decide as there were so many cardinals who hardly knew each other. We were wrong.

Thursday 8th May was the 80th anniversary of VE day and events were going on all round Europe, even in Germany. However, Russa did its own thing the next day.  And there was Trump wanting to rename it and call it Victory Day for WW2. Doesn't he know that WW2 did not end until the US bombed Japan?

 My father and Aunty Gloria were both in WW2, my father as a Lietenant with the Royal Navy and his younger sister a corporal in the Army who drove the big wigs. I have a wonderful piece of memorabilia, his letter dated 13th May to her about VE Day in Lyness, Orkney where the RN had its base in the Atlantic and probably still does. For the sake of history, let me reproduce what he writes of his experience which makes interesting reading.

 "Your remarks about VE day celebrations and the way it affected various people correspond very much to the incidents that took place up here. There were hundreds and hundreds of drunkards reeling about the place from lunchtime to well on into the next morning. Service cars were swiped and taken for joy rides and then trashed and left in a damaged state. We were all privileged to "splice the main brace" whereby all and sundry including officers were allowed to have an extra tot of rum on the navy. All the ships in the harbour sounded their sirens at midnight and really the noise was tremendous for a place which is normally so quiet".

 In the UK, King Charles and the official members of the Royal family (no Andrew or Harry) celebrated VE Day with a handful of WW2 veterans whose numbers have dwindled so much. God bless them. For the record here are photos of my father and aunt in the War, bless them too.

 

Aunty Gloria, a corporal in the Army, probably aged 18 or 19 with a colleague. Gloria is the dark haired lady.

I couldn't follow events much as I had 2 appointments at the Quirón hospital in Pozuelo in the morning. They were a mammogram and a breast scan which I do every year. The mammogram is always most unpleasant but vital to prevent breast cancer. 

I came home to the news of black smoke again after rounds 2 and 3 of voting in the Conclave which confirmed my thoughts it would take a few days. So I couldn't believe it when I casually consulted the BBC at just after 6 pm for news to see that White Smoke was being emited. To think the Vatican still uses this ancient system of communication. What a moment. 

White smoke

White smoke appeared after 24 hours and after the 4th session which is much faster than predicted. After the white smoke, we had to wait for just over an hour for his appointment to be announced with the famous words "Habemus Papam". Whoever he was, was getting ready in the Room of Tears - I mean what a responsibility. It was so dramatic for us, imagine for the person in question who was to become a major global leader not only of 1.4 billion Roman catholics but a moral voice for the world. I think I was stunned when Robert Francis Prevost appeared on the famous balcony in front of 100.000 people for his first Urbi et Orbi. No one expected a North American because tradition has it the cardinals want to avoid giving more power to a super power. However, I think they voted for the man rather than his nationality. When I learned more about him, I realised he seems very un American, having lived for decades in Peru and holding Peruvian nationality too. This was his moment on the world stage.

 

What a moment

As I learned more about him and watched him speak both in Italian and Spanish, I was relieved to understand that he will follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis who apppointed him Cardinal. I also think though that he will be his own man. This 69 year old Augustine, an austere order with values of truth, love and charity, chose the Papal name of Leo meaning Lion which Eladio thought was quite daring. A Pope's new name is a signal of his papacy. In his case I have read he chose it after Leo XIII the champion of workers rights at the beginning of the last century. As the new Pope addressed the world he was visibly emotional which probably has something to do with his Italian, French and Spanish roots. He spoke of peace and of building bridges and helping those who suffer. He also gave thanks to Pope Francis with whom I think he was very close. At the end of his speech I was convinced we had the right man for the job. But I was a little cross when all the English spoken media referred to  him as the "First American Pope". Correction, the first American pope was Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina. Robert Prevost is the first Pope from the USA. 

Eladio and I continued watching more coverage of the outcome of the Conclave until late at night. I think Pope Francis has contribued to such interest beyond the Catholic world, because of how he reached out to those marginalised in society and because of his untradional way of being a Pope, his simple way of living and his charisma. Let's see how Pope Leo carries his torch while being his own man. He has a huge responsibility. I give him my first vote of confidence and can only hope he deals well with the sexual abuse scandals, the Vatican finances and that he can really make a difference when it comes to the role of women and treatment of homosexuals in the church. Pope Francis opened these doors; someone needs to make proper changes.  

Friday came and I'm not sure how the new Pope slept. I saw clips of an interview with his 2 brothers in Chicago, his home town. I was happy to know the new Pope plays Wordle like me, hahahah. 

We had errands to do that morning and something to look forward to that night. We were going out to dinner with Gerardo and Irene and their spouses Vicky and Tomas. I have written countless times in this blog about my "Spanish family". I lived with Gerardo and Irene and their family as their live in English teacher when I was just 21 in my 3rd year at Nottingham University where I studied Spanish and Portuguese. Gerardo and Irene were just 13 and 11 and I loved them immediately as they loved me. It was mutual with all their family, their parents, Pili and Gerardo and younger siblings Julieta and Toti. We hadn't seen them since September 2022 when Amanda, who they know well, was here. So the dinner was going to be something special. 

We went out that morning on various errands and at 12 met at Manacor for a coffee with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen. Mari Carmen who is a pharmacist had brought my last Mounjaro pen that contains 4 doses. I took the last dose of pen three just before we left for dinner. Before we left Suzy took photos of the two of us spruced up on a Friday night, something rather unusual these days. We live in such a bubble that Friday was quite the exception. 

 

Ready to leave on Friday night

Dinner was at La Colina on the road from Mirasierra to El Pardo, so quite a way from our home. It's a great place, serving excellent food the only drawback being the dirt track leading to it from the main road that is full of potholes which reminded us of the roads in Armenia or Georgia! But we made it and it was worth it. It was so good to see our friends; my Spanish family waiting for us. We talked and ate all night as we had so much to catch up on and when I looked at my watch it was well past midnight. Gosh we had to go and hadn't taken any photos so we asked a passerby to take some, even though the night light wouldn't make for good photos. This is one of them.

 

With our lovely friends, Gerardo, Vicky, Tomas and Irene

We parted with lots of hugs and the next day agreed to have dinner again when Amanda and Andy come at the end of June. Irene suggested we go Quënco, the restaurant where we had our wedding dinner; a wedding they were very much part of. Irene and her sister were my bridesmaids and Gerardo was my chauffer. What lovely memories. 

We didn't get home till around 1am so I didn't get much sleep that night. But a good time had been had by all. It was so good to do something different and to be with people we love. 

Saturday came and we had another dinner to look forward to. Oli and family were coming for dinner. So off we went to do the weekly shop and Suzy came with us.  It was a quiet day while we waited for them to come. We had guests all weekend but I only ever saw Raúl from Valencia who comes once a month. Suzy helped me prepare the dinner and when we were all seated I had to have a photo. This is it.

 

Dinner with the family last night.

They didn't stay very long but the dinner and their visit were short but sweet. Later I had a long heart to heart with Suzy who was very down yesterday. If only I knew how to make her better. 

And today is Sunday which will be a very quiet day with no visits or dinners out but that's ok. I have come to the end of the tales of this week, so shall leave you now to publish this post and get on with the day.

Wishing you all a good Sunday and week ahead, cheers

Masha

 

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