Montrondo, Sunday 3rd August 2025.
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| Enjoying Montrondo this week |
Good morning folks from Montrondo, our village in North West Spain where we have been on holiday now for a week. We have no return date and are enjoying every day. Here with us now are Suzy who came with us and Oli and family who arrived on Wednesday.
It was very quiet before they came and last Sunday
was quiet too, unlike today with all of Eladio’s family here. We counted 42
people yesterday!
That day Suzy and I walked to Murias which little Elliot,
bless him, calls Murcia, a big town just south of Alicante, hahaha. Our prize
was coffee at the local prison, now turned into a hotel and restaurant. I love
having coffee in the garden there with beautiful views of the mountains. It’s
so peaceful. Everything is peaceful around here and this week, I have hardly
followed the news. Here is a photo of Suzy enjoying time with me.
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| Coffee with Suzy in Murias |
I have spent nearly all my time with her this week. She has had her ups and downs but overall, it has done her so much good to be here; better than any professional therapy. I have hardly left her side and we have talked endlessly about her progress. Here she has reconnected with her roots and family. Montrondo is in our souls and the girls have wonderful memories of long summers spent here with their cousins when they were young. It is wonderful to watch Juliet and Elliot creating early memories of Montrondo too. They love it here as much as Suzy and Oli did when they were children.
Later I accompanied her to mass in the village but had to
stay outside with Pippa. Mass here is the big weekly social event and people
dress up in their Sunday best and enjoy greeting the other church goers.
We spent the afternoon together on the sun loungers under
the shade of the ancient apple trees. Eladio joined us for another walk to
Murias in the early evening where we greeted many people from both Murias and
Montrondo. This walk is the meeting point for everyone who lives here too or
comes to stay.
On our way back Suzy and I went to buy eggs from a local
farmer and had fried eggs for dinner. Eggs here taste better than any you can
get from a supermarket as you can imagine. My sister-in-law who has to feed 14
every day, buys dozens and dozens!
Monday was a quiet day again which I spent being with
Suzy. She has made huge progress coming here and I am proud of her. That day I
continued my fight with Movistar, our fibre provider. There was a connection
fault in the fibre box in the street which only affected our house in Madrid. I
was getting nowhere until I tweeted the head of customer service who I happened
to know. Thanks to him, internet was restored by Tuesday afternoon.
Again Suzy and I spent the afternoon under the apple trees
with Pippa by our side, as usual. We also spent time with Eladio’s family; some
of his brothers and sisters and their families were here too. As we did on
Monday, we went for an early evening walk followed by a simple dinner and then
early to bed. Sometimes we were in bed by 9 pm, hahaha.
Tuesday came and we were running out of supplies, as
was Dolores, so the three of us drove to Villablino, the nearest town. The highlight was coffee with Eladio’s
sister, Adela and her husband Primo. Here is a photo to remember the moment.
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| Coffee with Primo and Adela in Villablino |
Coffee in the region of Leon is always served with a little something and the mini type freshly fried donuts we were served were divine
We made more coffee in the afternoon and invited all the
family in the front garden which we call “el corral”. It was quite an effort to
make coffee for so many with just one Nespresso machine but it was worth it as
a good time was had by all. Suzy helped me of course as she has done all week,
preparing meals most days.
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| The day we invited everyone to coffee in the afternoon in El Corral |
A bar was opened this week for the summer and run in the old school house where Eladio used to go. It’s not much of a bar, but a great place to meet people. Suzy made progress again when she went there and reconnected with friends from her childhood. One of the boys brought along a whole album of photos of their youth in Montrondo. I was intrigued with one by God’s rock (la peña de Diós) taken in 2012, thirteen years ago where we all look so much younger. Let me share it with you.
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| Photo from 2012! |
Once again it was the perfect temperature for our evening walk.
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Suzy with her father on one of our walks this week |
It’s beautiful weather here with warm sunny days and cool nights and so great to have escaped the heat of Madrid where, this week, it has reached 40ºc. Montrondo which is 1300m high never gets that kind of heat.
Wednesday dawned and brought with it a booking from
Alaska of all places. I have been running my little business from here and
sometimes it’s a challenge as there is no fibre in the village. And damn it,
yesterday all coverage went at around 4 pm and we didn’t know when it would be
restored. It was funny to be totally isolated from the world and not good for
my business. Suzy and I spent a lot of the morning making lunch for Oli and
family who were arriving that morning but there was also time for coffee in
Senra at the grumpy man’s bar.
The family arrived just in time for lunch and it was great
to be reunited here. They had been on holiday in the French Basque country and
in Cantabria but I knew my grandchildren would be at their happiest here,
reunited with their little cousins. Elliot, although he doesn’t express his
feelings very well, was very excited to be here in what he now considers his
village. What he loves most is the freedom to ride his bike anywhere. I caught
him on camera with a huge smile on his face.
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| Elliot on his bike delighted to be back in Montrondo |
More of the girls’ cousins arrived that afternoon and the reunions, for Suzy, who hasn’t been here for 8 years, were sweet to watch.
After dinner for which Suzy had made watermelon gazpacho, we
all went for a shorter walk and later I spent time with Oli. Since they came, I
have been going to bed later.
The girls and I went to have coffee in Murias. Juliet joined
us and had a bit of a tantrum but soon calmed down when we came back to the
village. Apart from enjoying the bicycles – Juliet learned how to ride one this
week - the smaller kids love the
trampoline where they spend hours jumping up and down.
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| With Suzy, Oli and Juliet - morning coffee in Murias |
Oli had lots of washing to do after so many days on the road and Suzy helped her with it. I caught them both on camera folding some of the clothes.
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| The girls doing the laundry |
That day I had booked a table for lunch for all of us at the grumpy man’s bar whose wife makes great food. It was the highlight of the day. Later, of course, I, at least felt too full for dinner.
In the afternoon, while I lay under the apple trees the
girls made apple crumble but with apples bought at Gadis in Villablino. They
were following a tradition I had started when they were young as I always used
to make it and we all love it.
Lots of people went to the newly opened bar which is nothing
special but it’s a place where all the young people can meet. More and more
people were arriving for the annual Santa Marta fiestas this Saturday and the
village came to life. I actually prefer it when there are fewer people.
Our day ended with a short walk after a very small dinner;
in my case.
Friday was 1ST August. We had to do more
food shopping and it took a while to collect my fellow shoppers. Dolores was
coming and we had to wait until at least 11 until Oli was free of her kids. I
came home to make yet another 3 course lunch for 7 which has been a bit of a
challenge this week but it’s lovely for us all to be around the table together.
It was on Friday that Eladio and I finally visited the bar
and saw the kids and people gathering under the huge marquee built for the
fiestas. Suzy was with some of her cousins and their childhood friends and I
had to have a photo.
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| Suzy and Oli with a cousin and their friends |
We later wandered around the common which is called the field (El Campo) here and took some photos; one of which I have chosen to illustrate this week’s blog post. Here is one of Eladio by the village well where everyone used to get water in the old days before pipes were laid. What hard times they endured.
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| Eladio by the well |
The day ended with nearly all the family going for the walk to Murias and back but only Suzy and I made it to the next village together with Pippa.
Yesterday, Saturday was the fiesta of Santa Marta,
the patron saint of Montrondo and the whole family was together. I was up at
6.30, as usual and by 7.30 was preparing the lunch. I had chosen to make a
Portuguese dish called “Bacalhua a bras” which is basically scrambled eggs with
cod and onion and takes hours to make. I made time though to go with Eladio to
the village church for mass at 12.30.
I have never seen the 18th century village church so full of people. The mass was good because the priest did a good job. At one point he wanted a photo with all the children by the altar and one of everyone in the church. I obliged as I think I was probably the best person to do the job.
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| The church was full yesterday |
Later we all convened in the marquee where drinks and some pie was served and people danced to music. Here is a lovely photo of Oli and Miguel enjoying the moment.
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| Oli and Miguel yesterday at the drinks and dance party after church |
Oh and here is a lovely one of the girls with some of their cousins and spouses.
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A lovely photo from yesterday |
My bacalhau was ready for serving later than usual and we all enjoyed it except for my grandchildren who had never eaten it and suspected they wouldn’t like it. Next year I shall make spaghetti Bolognese, hahahaha.
The afternoon was lovely. We all spent it in the Corral to
the sound of Eladio’s brother, Alejandro, playing the accordion. As we were all
there it was the perfect moment to take the annual photo of the six brothers
and sisters in order of age. Here is this year’s.
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| The 6 brothers and sister in order of age, from Eladio to his youngest brother who is 17 years younger than him! |
It was more difficult to gather all 11 cousins but we managed it. This is just one and it was great to see Suzy in this year’s cousin photo, taken always in descending order of age.
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The 11 cousins all together from the oldest on the left to the youngest on the right. |
It really was a wonderful afternoon in the corral with Alejandro’s music and everyone there doing their own thing. Many were playing table tennis, the kids were on the trampoline, dogs were everywhere and it was fun and chaotic. Above all it was great to be all together.
The girls made our dinner – bless them. Here is a photo of
them on the balcony with Eladio below entering the house.
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| The girls on the balcony and Eladio by the front door of our house in Montrondo |
We had a lovely dinner which included a puré soup made of my stew which I served on the first day and which my husband loves. Internet was not back and Juliet didn’t understand how she couldn’t watch Peppa Pig. The dance in the marquee wasn’t starting until 11.30 pm which is far too late for me. Thus Eladio and I went to bed. There was no internet on our phones to entertain us but more worryingly I couldn’t check in my new guests in El Cuetu nor could I be in touch with them to see whether they had arrived ok.
Today is Sunday and internet is not back. Thus I’m
not sure when I will be able to publish today’s blog post. I shall have to
drive a few kilometres away to another village where I have heard there is some
coverage.
Today will be another family day in Montrondo all together
just as I like it.
I shall leave you now to have breakfast, get changed and
drive down the road to see whether I can publish this. I do hope internet comes
back soon. We can’t live without it can
we?
That’s it from me this week. Cheers all and all the best
until next Sunday.
Masha
