A Christmassy morning in Boadilla, trip to England, quality time with Amanda and Andy, escape from Venezuela, M&S here I come, Memories of St. Joseph's College Bradford, Babbacombe, fish and chips and other stories of the week.

 Maidencombe, Devon, UK Sunday 14th December 2025

Together again - having lunch at Riverford Field Kitchen on Friday was a special treat.

Good morning from my friends Andy and Amanda's lovely house overlooking the sea in Devon, UK. I can hardly believe this trip  that I so looked forward to, is coming to an end. It has been a tonic for us all as you will read.

First let me rewind to last Sunday. There is not much to tell but for the record we enjoyed our morning walk in the sunshine while our 8 guests from Valencia were out. Oli and family were out too. They went to the newly installed outdoor skating rink in Boadilla. We came to live in this small town outside the city in 1988 looking for  a countryside life and where Oli and Miguel have now set up their home so close to us. I love ice rinks, especially outdoor ones. The pictures of Elliot and Miguel taking their first steps on the ice brought back memories of the Ice Rink in Bradford where my brother George and I learned to skate. It was also where Suzy and Oli did too when they were quite small. An outdoor skating rink is such a Christmassy thing, we went to see it the next day. I didn't dare compete with the kids on ice and wondered if I would remember how to skate but thought it better not to try. 

Sunday night saw us watching a film called The Mission which has always been one of my favourites. Filmed in 1986 it stars Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons. It's a historical drama about Jesuit missionaries in 18th century Latin America who try to protect the Guarani tribe from being made slaves by the Portuguese colonisers while ownership of the territories changes hands. It is up to the Pope's representative to solve the conflict and preserve the Jesuits in Europe. He reluctantly decides the Guarani's fate by closing the missions and handing over the people to the Portuguese.  It's a tragic, tragic end and the film's only saving grace is Ennio Morricone's sound track considered his finest work. 

Monday, the day of the Immaculate Conception, came and was the end of the bank holiday in Spain. I rather like to see that Spain still respects the Christian calendar and makes no shame of it,  despite being governed by a far left party. I think if they did away with it there would be rather an uproar. Our group of 8 from Valencia left and Tana spent all morning cleaning and preparing all 4 rooms. 

We went for a different walk that day, to the park by the palace in Boadilla where we got to see the ice rink and took photos.

A Christmassy morning in Boadilla

The rink was lovely, not on a par with the Rockerfeller Centre, but very Christmassy. I had a coffee on the terrace and later we went for a walk in the huge park that surrounds the palace.

Our walk by the palace last Monday

The girls were having a Christmas party at home for their crowd and when Suzy told me they would be 12 we made our great escape, hahaha. We decided on a curry at India Gate which was quite good. It was amazing to see so many people having lunch and many of them outside in the sunshine; not like here in Devon in November which, luckily is quite sunny but not warm enough for eating alfresco.  I love the sun in Spain. Did you know that the average amount of sun hours is 3000 a year? That's possibly one of the reasons Spain is the second most visited country in the world and it is predicted it will beat France to the number one spot by 2040.  It was sunny that morning and we loved our walk and our curry out.

Our Indian meal last Monday

We came home to greet the 12 diners and quickly escaped to our bedroom. While my husband managed to sleep I heard my grandmother's piano being banged on as well as many doors slammed by the kids and their friends. I'm afraid I did not venture from our room until everyone had gone. My behaviour was anti social but I felt overwhelmed and just had to make my escape.

Suzy was off to Castellón that night and instead of driving her in the dark to the train station I just ordered her an Uber to save us having to take her. In the meantime, I did my packing for England and found myself a little jittery and somewhat flustered. It was a bad case of "reisefieber" - a wonderful German term meaning "travel fever", often known as butterflies in your tummy. I wondered if it was age related. 

Tuesday came, the big day, the day I travelled to Bristol, UK, to be reunited with my great friends, Amanda and her husband Andy. Amanda and I met at school, St. Joseph's Catholic College, in Bradford, aged 11 and we both met Andy who was in my father's form at Bradford Grammar School when he played in a band with Amanda's brother, Simon. It would be our 4th reunion this year and I was looking forward to time off with them.

I booked an Uber to the airport rather than impose a long drive there and back on Eladio. Meanwhile, Andy had to drive 2h to Bristol to pick me up. My plane was delayed due to bad weather in Bristol.We disembarked onto the tarmac and the wind nearly blew me over. Before I could leave the terminal I was stopped by the police in what felt like a very US experience. He was to search me and my luggage and ask all sorts of security questions such as whether I was carrying firearms! It is the first time I have ever been stopped like that in the UK and it was not the arrival I had been looking forward to and I told the policeman my thoughts. I felt nervous, intimidated and a bit violated. I suppose he was doing his job but I still don't know why he chose me. It felt like being on the bad end of an interview in Line of Duty. Finally I got out of his clutches and found Andy. We quickly set off in the rain and wind and actually had a pleasant drive talking all the way back. It was great to see Amanda upon arrival at their lovely house in Maidencombe overlooking the sea.

I settled into my room and soon we were in their fabulous kitchen eating M&S food which I can never get tired of. We played the card game, Sevens until late, laughing throughout. What fun it was and has been

Both Amanda and I sleep badly. My friend offered me a new sleeping pill, "zolpidem" but it did nothing for me and I just tossed and turned all night. Pain from my neck probably owing to arthritis made my night even worse and I got up feeling like something the cat had brought it. But I was not going to let that spoil my first full day back in England, my home country which I always miss and love to come back to.

On Wednesday I was up at 7ish UK time, made my coffee - in the dark as I can't stand electric light in the mornings and went outside to enjoy my first coffee and my first fag. 2 minutes later the heavens opened and rain poured down on me and ruined the moment. I have to say I do love England but I do not love the weather here. Sunny days are few and far between, especially at this time of year. But then the rain stopped and the sun came out and it has hardly rained since. I took advantage of the "good weather" to take a picture of the view from the house to show you.

The view from Andy and Amanda's house

We were a bit stuck that morning when Andy found their new state of the art hybrid Volvo had a puncture. Meanwhile, we had our breakfasts and played ludo. We actually play the Spanish version "parchis" which I taught them and which is far more strategic and I got them hooked just as I got them hooked on Sevens. The tyres  were  dealt with efficiently and by late morning Amanda drove me to nearby Shaldon for a walk. This is the view of Teignmouth (pronounced Tinmuth)  from The Ness in Shaldon. 

Teignmouth as seen from Shaldon

They call it the English Riviera which is a bit of a stretch in my opinion, hahaha. Then again I have never seen this area in sunny and good weather. 

We walked round the village of Shaldon and I admired the cottages which Amanda said are almost all holiday rentals. We had our long walk and came back to have lunch at 4.30 pm which is neither  British nor Spanish time for a meal. I love the fact that I have had a break from our routine at home and eat when we are hungry and when we feel like it. Again we had marvelous M&S food such as their thinly sliced roast beef, duck parfait, smoked salmon pate and other delicacies. If I lived here all my food would come from Marks and Sparks. 

We played ludo again after our meal when I got a lovely message from my husband which, with his permission, I shall reproduce here in Spanish: "Sobrevivo bien. No he salido de casa. Pero estoy contento, siempre pendiente de las noticias .... Claro que te hecho de menos pero es algo pasajero .. y sé que estás haciendo algo hermoso. Qué disfrutes mucho. Un gran abrazo para Andy y Amanda, con mis mejores deseos". I thought that was lovely. I find that even after 44 years of marriage our love does not fade. If anything it matures with time. Bless you Eladio. 

He was of course following all the news  of  yet more corruption and sex scandals emerging from the PSOE party in government. Surely they have to call elections? It cannot carry on this way. I was following the headlines of what happened in Spain but what interested me most that day was the story of  the Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader of the Venezuela, María Corina Machado who has lived in hiding for more than a year. No one thought she would make it to Oslo to collect her prize which her daughter received on her behalf. But, blow me, she got out of Venezuela in disguise and was taken to a Dutch island by boat and from there all the way to Oslo. Machado got to the Norwegian capital a few hours after the ceremony. What a story. If she goes back and is caught Maduro will put her in prison. Meanwhile, Trump is threatening Maduro and Venezuela and it's anyone's guess how this may end. I don't like Trump's tactics but I don't like Maduro either who rules with an iron rod in a so-called socialist government. 

Soon my thoughts were back to where I was and Amanda and I continued our heart to hearts. We were interrupted by little audios from Juliet wishing us all Merry Christmas in English. Sweet Juliet. They were very amusing. 

Dinner was more M&S food - divine - and after dinner there was more laughter, reminiscing and hilarity over words or terms such as "skidmark", "winnet" and "dingleberry" which is a not a berry. Sorry if you feel this is not appropriate but then again I am not a politically correct person, hahahaha. I just like a bit of a laugh.  All this was while playing Sevens and that night Andy beat us both much to his delight as he used to lose hahaha. I don't care who wins or loses, I just like playing cards with my friends.

I had a relatively good  night and woke up feeling a whole lot better on Thursday morning. The days were passing too fast for my liking but every day was a good day and a tonic  for us all. We played ludo in the morning which we both are so addicted to. It was around then that I got a 10 out of 10 review on Booking from the guests who had been to El Cuetu (our house in Asturias) last week.  Their stay was not very lucrative but oh boy that 10 really made my day. Thank you Alejandro.

We all needed exercise so that morning my friends took me on a very, very blustery walk by the seafront at Teignmouth. Parallel to it is the railway line which is the London to Penzance train and oh boy did they come fast and surprise us on our walk.

The London to Penzance train which runs parallel to the coast in Teignmouth

Andy took some pictures which are rather funny as our hair is much affected by the very strong wind haha. Here is one of them.

A blustery walk on the seafront in Teignmouth

We came home for lunch which was bits and bobs and Amanda and I then had a very long chat about our childhood and motherhood too. We are so in sync and what I love most is we share so mant memories of our childhood and teenage years, the most formative. 

The highlight of the day was our afternoon spree at M&S. I love that store, especially the food, and I had a long list. The place is enormous so I was glad to have my friend guiding me around it. And here I am at checkout with lots of goodies and I would go back for more. I did a lot of my Christmas shopping there and hope everyone will love what I bought. 

M&S here I come hahaha.

Every time I visit England I have to go to the store and stock up and only wish we had an M&S in Madrid. We did once but it shut down. That was the first of our visits here. We went back on Friday and we will be going again today when I shall be getting more delicacies, more presents and lots of chocolate for Christmas at home. Andy loves M&S too and always stocks up at the Food store as he did on Friday. 

Andy who is now the house chef later made us a delicious dinner of hake with potatoes and veg after which of course we played Sevens yet again

Friday came and the sun continued to shine. I had a relatively good night again and was raring to go that morning. My friend took me on a walk in her neighbourhood. The highlight was seeing what was to be the house of Isambard Kingdom Brunel; Brunel Manor. Yet sadly he died before he could move in. If you are English you will have heard of Brunel but for those of you who haven't, let me introduce him briefly. He was born to an English mother, Sophia Kingdom, and a French father, Sir Marc Isambard Brunel  who was a prominent civil engineer  who fled the French revolution. He obviously influenced his son who also became a prominent civil and mechanical engineer and is one of the most important figures of the Industrial Revolution. He is best known for designing the Great Western Railway a part of which I saw on our walk the day before. Perhaps his most famous work is the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol but he also designed what were state of the art steamships at the time such as the SS. Great Britain. There you go, a little history about Brunel who is so important round here. Ah and this is what I could see of his house which I think should be turned into a museum of his life and works because it seems to be running to seed at the moment.

Brunel Manor 

Talking of houses, here is a photo of my friend's beautiful house  where I have had the privilege to stay. I got Amanda to pose next to it.

My friend's beautiful house

That day Amanda had booked us a table at the Riverford Field Kitchen, the restaurant part of Riverford Organic Farm where she gets lots of her groceries. It's called a field kitchen because of the way it is run; almost like a canteen. It's quite laid back and the food is divine; all sourced by the farm and cooked on site by two very creative chefs who make vegetables as tasty and attractive as any comfort food. This week's feature photo was taken there.I took one too of my friends at our table at Riverford to show you. Here it is.

A wonderful lunch at Riverford Field Kitchen

The sun was shining all day and as we left we fancied a walk but hadn't brought our walking shoes. So what did we do instead? Drive to Marks and Spencer of course, hahaha. 

In the afternoon I got my friends to finish the Christmas decorations and by the evening we could all feel the spirit of Christmas. In the background we listened to Christmas carols which we have always loved. We were treated to carols sung by the choirs of King's College Cambridge and Westminster Abbey. As Amanda said, it made our hair stand on end. My friend went as far as to say that carols and hymns meant her childhood. Mine too and then we reminisced about the choir at our school, St. Joseph's College, run by the legendary A. J. O'Rourke who was an awful teacher but a marvelous choir conductor. It was then that Amanda reminded me of the school handbook we were given as first formers and a poem she and I had written for the school magazine, all about the teachers. Let me reproduce it here, lest I lose this treasure. It was written when we were in 4 Kappa so must have been 14 years old.

A poem Amanda and I (then Sharon and then Maria and with the surname spelled wrong - it is Lloyd) wrote for the St.Josoph's Colllege magazine in about 1972 when we would have been about 13 or 14. 

The handbook is a treasure too which I actually remember. It is full of do's and don'ts, mostly don'ts and sounds very strict but schools were in those days and we respected our teachers and generally behaved ok - well, not always. It's a piece of the school's history so I shall include it all just for posterity.

What a find, the St. Joseph's College handbook which was given to us as first formers in 1968

While I am at it, let me share a video I compiled for a 2012 school reunion which includes lots of photos taken with my first instamatic camera during the 6th form. It is quite a treasure too. This is it. 

Back to the decorations again. Here are some pictures of what it looked after putting up the tree and decorations.

We put up the Christmas decorations while I was here

That's a job Eladio and I have to do when I return home this week. 

It was on Friday that the democrats released a selection of photos from Epstein's estate. This is prior to the government releasing his case files. Among them can be seen Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew as well as Woody Allen and Bill Gates, some of the most famous men in the country and well known figures worldwide. The photos don't suggest they did anything untoward but just being with Epstein suggests they most probably shared his weird attraction for young girls. Other photos showed sex toys and there is a photo of Trump and Epstein surrounded by girls. Hopefully the files yet to be released will give more direct evidence and all these men will get their comeuppance. It's a very sick story and the perpetrators have to be punished. I'm sure you agree.

Meanwhile, at home that evening, Oli and the kids were having dinner with Eladio and Suzy was fetching her friends at the airport. 3 of her London friends came for the weekend but unfortunately I would miss them. I'm sure they had a great time and  was a tonic for Suzy

Saturday dawned and brought more sunshine. I suggested fish and chips for lunch that day as no trip to England is complete without them. My friends obliged but first for a walk. They took me to Babbacombe (pronounced Babacom) where you can take the funicular down to the Oddicombe beach but we preferred to walk. It's a local beauty spot and I was astonished to see people really bathing in the sea. At this time of year, it's a bit bonkers. Here are some pics to remember the walk and visit.

Oddicombe beach with the Babbacombe Cliff railway which we didn't take.

Walking down was ok but climbing up was challenging although I'm sure it did us good. Once in Babbacombe again, we admired the views and took photos. Here is a lovely one of the two of us taken by Andy which I shall treasure.

In Babbacombe yesterday overlooking the red cliffs

From there it was just a stroll to a very good fish and chip shop called Hanburys. I got Amanda to take a photo for me to include here.

Fish and chips from Hanburys, one of the highlights of this visit. 

We took them home to eat and the portions were so large, it was enough to fill me up for the rest of the day. The rest of the day, my friends, was spent playing at least another 3 games of ludo with Amanda as well as a few rounds of Sevens with Andy. I was exhausted in the evening, having only slept 4.5h the night before so went to bed at around 11 am.

Today is Sunday, my last full day before leaving tomorrow. We shall be going yet again to Marks and Spencer for me to take some fresh delicacies to take home. Lunch will be a Sunday roast - another must when visiting England - at The Linny in Coffinswell. Of course you will read all about it in next week's blog post

Wishing you all a good Sunday and week ahead, that's it from me for this now.

Cheers Masha