Madrid, Sunday 8th June, 2025
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| Highlight of the week - going out for lunch with Julio |
This time last Sunday we were on our way back from Montrondo and today we are off to Santa Pola. We've had a lovely week at home now that the warm weather is here to stay and the pool has been the main attraction for our grandchildren, Elliot and Juliet. So let me tell you all about it.
Monday was another hot day and was the day I took the plunge myself and had my first bathe of the year. When we are alone I skinny dip. Suzy caught me on camera hahahaha.
I was attracted by the style and the different coloured stems. They are very, very light, they almost feel like plastic. I read the are made of a very resistant glass called borosilicate. Have you heard of it? I hadn't.
And here is one of Eladio at our table while we waited for Julio to arrive.
We enjoyed a glass of wine while we waited and I ate a whole roll of bread with butter. It was great so see Julio again, the last time being 3rd January. He was looking good and happy with life. We had lots to catch up on while we ate some delicious food. The men had fish and I had the hamburger. Dessert was pancakes and lemon pie which we shared. I was so full when we left. Dear Juli treated us as he always does and we promised to see him again in July at ours for lunch. He always wants me to make him "cocido" which I will.
While Eladio looked after the kids, Mohammad and I had a good catch up. Although his visit was short, it was sweet and I hope we see him again soon. It's unfortunate he couldn't stay here but there was no room in the inn I'm afraid this weekend. I took him back to his accommodation and as I returned, new guests were arriving, a Franco Spanish couple from France coming to visit their daughter who is studying here. Shortly afterwards the kids' father picked them up and I felt awful telling they couldn't use the pool as the guests would be using it. That's one of the drawbacks of renting rooms here at times.
I was up at 05.30 in Montrondo which was far too early but it meant we set off early for Madrid. We left the house sparkling clean and I hope it remains so until we go at the end of this month with our friends Amanda and Andy. We aimed to be home for lunch but the journey took longer than anticipated because of roadworks on the A6. We were rerouted many times and I was desperate for a coffee which we didn't find anywhere until 12.30. By then I was famished and had a large piece of toast which meant that once home I was not hungry for lunch which dear Suzy had prepared for us. It was good to see her again but I could tell immediately she was a bit down. I think she was lonely poor soul. This weekend she went to Copi's hen party with Oli; her first proper social engagement in many years and I hoped it would go well.
It was so hot in Madrid compared to Montrondo that we had to put the air conditioning on in our room for the first time this year. We also removed the duvet. At 5 pm, our IT handyman, Luis, came round to change the battery in my 5 year old HP PC. He fixed other things too in both mine and Suzy's PC. He was with us for at least 1.5h and only charged 20 euros. Thank you Luis
Oli and family came after he left to make use of the pool as their community pool doesn't open until the middle of June. They came many times this week and it was a joy to have them. Here are the four of them taking their first bathe together this year.
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| Oli and family in the pool last Sunday |
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| Recorded - my first bathe of the year |
I later washed my hair under the shower by the pool; something I love doing and can only do when there are no guests around. We have had plenty this week; Anne from the Ivory Coast and Lucila from Argentina as well as repeat guests, Elena, Leonardo and Julen as well as Javier and Diana. Thankfully they were mostly out during the day.
Oli joined us for lunch which of course we had outside as we have all our meals now when it is not too hot. When she left I had a surprise video call from my cousin Zuka who I haven't spoken to for far too long. This summer we shall be going to see her in France. How lovely to have plans for the summer.
It was on Monday that the volcano on Mount Etna in Sicily erupted. It was big news but not for locals. My friend Joanne was on holiday in Sicily and saw the plumes of smoke close up. Wow!
On Tuesday Oli and family came again to use the pool and it was during their visit I was alerted to the fact that there was and is a water issue in our neighbourhood where the water comes from wells and not the Madrid Canal de Isabel II. I'm not really sure what happened. I think one of the wells was leaking and needed mending but it meant the water was cut off that night and we were told not to irrigate our gardens. We didn't know for how long. El Bosque where we live seems to suffer from all sorts of power cuts, water issues, telco problems, etc and that's because all the infrastructure is very old and the town hall we belong to doesn't think that El Bosque (a gated community) is their top priority. Anyway, by the end of the week the pipes were all fixed.
I have nothing to complain about when you think of the starving population in Gaza or the war in Ukraine. There is no sign of peace between Russia and Ukraine but this week they at least exchanged prisoners. This came after a daring military operation planned by the Ukrainian secret service when hundreds of drones attacked Russian military sites, bombing at least 40 planes. It was 18 months in the planning and must have made Putin furious.
In the afternoon I had an appointment with my GP, a young doctor called Elena, the one who prescribed me the weight loss drug first patented for diabetics. I have been on Mounjaro for 3.5 months now, since 21st February and so far have lost 8 kilos. I persuaded her to prescribe it to me for 2 more months and then taper off with the lowest dose; 2.5mg. It's expensive but really worth it as it takes the suffering out of trying to lose weight. Basically you can eat what you want within reason but you tend not to eat much because appetite is suppressed as Mounjaro slows down digestion leaving you feeling full for longer. Elena had initially agreed to prescribe it not so much for weight loss but to reduce my level of cholesterol. Worried about any side affects on my pancreas, she arranged for me to have a blood test the next day and she will be ringing me on 12th with the results. Many more people would benefit from Mounjaro if it was covered by the health service which it isn't for weight loss; only for diabetics. Honestly it could resolve obesity in the world. The only thing we don't know is what happens when you come off it. Time will tell. Meanwhile, I am delighted to have lost so much weight and to be under 10 stone again.
It was prawn night that evening for dinner, as we call it and Suzy joined us as she loves them as much as me. I make them in a salad with lettuce and avocado which is divine.
I was happy that night to see Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning champion get through to the Semi Finals at Roland Garros. He then played Musetti and won after the Italian sadly had to quit. But the semi final to watch was Djokovich vs Sinner; the match of the tournament, until then, I suppose. Sinner was on fire and beat him in 3 difficult sets. And now Sinner (23) and Alcaraz (22) meet in the final today. Alcaraz has played amazingly but I think Sinner is playing better at the moment. The final is at 14.30 and I shall miss the match. May the best man win which I hope is the Spaniard. In any case, if it's not this time it will be another. They are the future of the Big 3 and will excite tennis fans for years to come. If Sinner wins it will he his 4th grand slam and if "Carlitos" beats him, it will be his 5th. Exciting tennis is being played at Roland Garros despite the end of the Big 3.
Wednesday saw me at the local health centre for my blood test. One is supposed to go on an empty stomach but I never do as I just have to have a cup of coffee after waking up. Otherwise I would probably faint. In any case I don't really think a cup of coffee (with milk) will affect the results much or at least I hope not.
Wednesday was the best day of the week, the highlight being lunch out with Julio at El Filandón, one of our favourite restaurants. It was to celebrate our friend becoming a University Professor ("catedrático"). He's so clever and I'm so happy for him. We got dressed up for the occasion, something we don't get to do often so I got Suzy to take a couple of photos of us. Note we are both wearing our white denim jeans. Eladio said he looked like a painter or plumber, hahaha. He didn't. I chose one of them for this week's feature photo and here is the other.
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| Dressed up and ready to go out for lunch midweek |
It's not often we go out during the week which made Wednesday's outing quite special.
We left early to stop and buy him a belated birthday present. We chose a blue polo shirt from Massimo Duti. While at Centro Oeste I got two lovely short sleeved polo shirts for Eladio as well as a set of gorgeous wine glasses from Zara Home. I don't really need wine glasses but they are so beautiful. These are them.
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| Our new wine glasses from Zara Home |
We got to El Filandón half an hour early so enjoyed the surroundings before we went in and we took some more photos like this one of me.
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| At El Filandón on Wednesday |
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| Eladio at El Filandón |
We were home late and hit the sack immediately and would you believe I slept from 5.30 to 7pm? Neither of us were hungry for dinner as you can imagine.
Thursday started with a video call to New Zealand to talk to my dear cousin Katty, Zuka's daughter. It was good to catch up with her news but sad not to see her this summer. The time difference couldn't be greater. While I was having breakfast she was about to make their dinner, hahahaha.
We went out mid morning that day for coffee with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen who had brought me my Mounjaro as she is a pharmacist, bless her. It's always good to catch up with them. I hope they can join us in July for a few days in Montrondo.
In the afternoon I continued watching the excellent series about the Lockerbie plane crash which happened in 1988 and which I remember well. It's called The Bombing of Pan Am 103 and is on the BBC iPlayer. What a tragedy all round. Later Oli and family joined us again and swam in the pool. Wanting to use our lovely new glasses I brought them out on a tray with wine and pistachios and orange juice for the kids. I drank too much of the lovely Marqués de Riscal verdejo wine from Rueda which gave me a huge headache that night. Thus I couldn't continue watching the Pan Am Bombing series.
Eladio was watching Spain play France in the semi final of the League of Nations. Would you believe Spain was leading 4-0 and the final result was 5-4? My God it was close. Now Spain plays Portugal in the final today in Munich. May the best team win and may it be Spain. 2 of the 5 goals were scored by 17 year old wonder kid, Lamine Yamal for whom the sky is the limit when it comes to his future. He may even win this year's "Ballon D'or and if it's not this year it will be another one. Even I found the match exciting although football is not really my thing.
Suddenly it was Friday, the end of the week and it was another lovely sunny day. We went for a walk, our first in a long time after which I skinny dipped and showered by the pool. Thankfully no guests were around.
The main news on my iPad seemed to be the all out war on social media between the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, and the most powerful man in the world, Donald Trump. The Tesla guru helped him win the elections and then worked for him cutting costs everywhere until their relationship went sour which I predicted from the very beginning. Musk is furious with Trump's latest internal budget but I'm sure there is more to it than that. Two such big egos could never work side by side smoothly could they?
We were on our own for lunch as Suzy went to the hen party. Later we heard she had felt a bit overwhelmed but it was good for her to socialise. I spent the afternoon by the pool with my lovely new iPad. I had a Facetime call with my dear friend Amanda who is coming soon and I can't wait. Later we watched Alcaraz beat Museti but the most thrilling match was between the Serb Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, the past and future of tennis. I think it was the only time I wanted the Serb to win but it wasn't to be.
Saturday was 7th June, my dear mother's birthday. To think she died so long ago, in 1999 but I still miss her dearly. She went far too early in life. She would have loved to have met Elliot and Juliet. Oli brought them in the morning so she could to day 2 of the hen party but this Suzy didn't join her. Who brightened up my day was Mohammad who came for lunch. Remember my Iraqi guest who lived with us all of last year? He has come back to Spain and will be working in Murcia and wanted to see us while in Madrid. That was a lovely reunion. I had made "spag bol" for lunch and here is the picture I took and which I am not in, I'm afraid.
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| Lunch with the kids and Mohammad |
Our day had been pretty hectic so it was good to rest afterwards but for me there is no rest for the wicked. I spent part of the late afternoon on guest related activity. I have a lovely English family coming to stay in Santa Pola next month. Bless them, it is their first time abroad and they would end up in our house. Of course I am helping them with everything they need. Their latest request was whether there would be any milk in the apartment when they arrived. What can I say?
And today is Sunday and we are off again this time joined by Suzy and Pippa. But of course you will hear all about it if you read my blog next week. They will return on Wednesday and from Thursday I am going to spend 8 whole days with my Nottingham Uni besties, Sandra and Adele in Santa Pola and we are going to have wonderful girly time, that's for sure.
I shall leave you now and get on with all that's needed for our trip and journey. Wishing you a happy Sunday, cheers from Masha
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