Home again and a quiet hot week in August, our 29th wedding anniversary, the stories of Julian Assange and Lance Armstrong, the sentence of Norway’s mass murderer, the naked prince, a ruined fresco in Spain and RIP Neil Armstrong.

Sunday 26th August 2012 

Home again and a quiet hot week in August, our 29^th wedding anniversary, the stories of Julian Assange and Lance Armstrong, the sentence of Norway’s mass murderer, the naked prince,  a ruined fresco in Spain and RIP Neil Armstrong. 

On Friday we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary.  Gosh we are aging.

Hello again.

It is Sunday and time to write my blog and reflect on the week that is coming to an end.  In Spain most people are still on holiday and the streets of the cities are virtually empty.  I am back at work but still had lots of time to relax at home where it has been very quiet.  A lot of the afternoons were spent by the pool as really this week seems to me to have been the hottest week of the year.  We have had to have the air conditioning on all through the night until Thursday when the heat finally began to ease off.  I think it is now the end of the thermometer reaching 40ºc which sometimes makes it impossible even to be by the pool and the only place to be is in our air conditioned bedroom.  Without the air conditioning the room would reach a temperature of 30ºc, the highest I have seen for a long time.

It has been lovely relaxing by the pool this week. 

It was the first week I have been home for the whole week for a long time, the first week I haven’t been somewhere travelling.  And you know what? It’s lovely to be home again.  Ah but not for long my friends, as next Wednesday I will be off to Stockholm for meetings and no sooner am I back, I will be off again, to Santander.  Yes, this time next week I shall be at the hotel we always go to, directly opposite one of my favourite beaches in Spain, the famous “Sardinero” beach.  Then the telecoms conference, the biggest of its kind in Spain, will make a start on Monday and I will be very busy, like every year.  Santander is a marvelous backdrop to a great conference where all the big guns from the Spanish sector meet, in a kind of first week at school for telecommunications in this country. 

So let me start from the beginning.  On Monday I started the Dukan diet, again, to shed the 2 or 3 kilos I had gained after our gastronomic holiday.  I am pleased to say that so far, 1 and a bit have already gone.  

On Monday morning the news was dominated by the story of Julian Assange, or rather by his speech from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, near Harrods, where he has sought asylum. His lawyer is the famous Spanish “ex” judge, Baltasar Garzón, so maybe it is because of the latter’s advice that he is at the Embassy.  His story is famous, the founder of Wikileaks which discovered many secrets of the US government, mainly to do with unorthodox behavior related to dealings in Afghanistan and Irak.  He is also wanted by the Swedish authorities to answer accusations of sexual assault complaints that he denies.  He won’t go to Sweden and is in political asylum, worried that once in Sweden, he will be extradited to the USA and there he fears for his life.  In his speech, he appeals to Barack Obama to stop what he calls a “witch hunt”.  It is difficult to judge this very complicated issue.  I, for one, think what he did in Sweden does not constitute a real crime and that his future would be very dark if he was sent to the USA.  I also applaud Wikileaks disclosing sensitive US military documents as I don’t see why governments we vote for should keep such secrets from their voters.  I cannot foresee either an easy way out of the current situation.  How long I wonder can Julian Assange continue to live in the Embassy?   There have been talks of the British government storming the Embassy, something I hope they would never do as it would go against all the laws of diplomacy.  Meanwhile the British bobbies surround the building, as do protestors who are in favour of the Australian internet icon.

Julian Assange was big news this week

On Tuesday I went into the office.  I had such startling news there, that it was only on Friday that I remembered that Tuesday 21^st October was our 29^th wedding anniversary. For the record, it is the first time in all these years that I have not remembered our wedding anniversary on the day.  When I suddenly remembered on Friday, I called Eladio and told him we had forgotten something important.  Of course he didn’t have a clue, so I told him.  As usual he was quite non plussed and just said, well let’s celebrate it tonight at La Txitxarrería.  Well we did, but I’ll tell you about that when I get to Friday in this post.

This was what we looked like on our wedding day on 21st August 1982, 29 years ago!

On Wednesday I had two important meetings, one with my PR Agency, Ketchum, for the record with Carlos and Isabel who run the Yoigo account, and then with QE, my events agency, represented by Bea and Cris. We had lots to discuss about our up and coming participation in the annual telecoms conference in Santander.  We met at the half way point between our house and Madrid, at the cafeteria outside Zielo, the shopping centre in Pozuelo.  As I remarked to Carlos, it is at the tables here that all the great PR ideas we have for Yoigo’s activities, seem to be born.

On Thursday Olivia had good news.  She was called from her TV programme to be told it resumes at the beginning of September and that they wanted her to spend the first week reporting live from Galicia.  That was good news indeed as with all the changes at RTVE we weren’t sure the programme would be resumed.  Later she exchanged locations with a colleague, which means her first week back will be spent reporting from Valencia, where her new beau is from.  This week she has been studying hard from home as she will be taking an official exam at the end of September which if she passes would make her a full time member of the corporation.  It will be tough and probably impossible though as there is only one place and lots of contenders.  But watching her I can only applaud her attitude and fighting spirit.

 It was on Thursday too that we heard of Lance Armstrong’s decision not to take part in the process whereby the USADE wants to see him convicted of using drugs in his cycling life and strip him of his 7 Tours of France.  You can read his personal statement here and also read the interview in Velo Nation with the man from the USADE, Travis Tygart, who is championing the cause.  I’m not sure what will happen next in this complicated case as it seems the deciding body will be the UCI, the main international body for cycling.

The case and story are of great interest to me as I once knew the man himself quite well.  You see he rode for Motorola when I was the PR Manager and latterly in charge of the PR for the Cycling Team’s activities in Europe.  I once wrote a post on my memories of the Texan cyclist which you can read here. 

Me with Lance Armstrong going to the press conference after the Clásica San Sebastian race in August 1994

Meanwhile the Tour of Spain is well into its course which this year will not go further south than Madrid and I was interested to see what the cycling world there would have to say about Armstrong.  But I was disappointed as most of the comments were very neutral.  The cycling world is a very closed circuit and no one talks openly about doping, although it is vox populi that is has been going on since even before the days of the great Eddie Merckx.  I for one would agree with those who comment that it would be impossible to compete in and win a three week tour of the most grueling sport in the world.  I have heard comments from people from the “inside” that this cannot be done on food and drink alone and I tend to agree.  I am no fan of Armstrong but would not like to see him stripped of his 7 Tours; it would be disastrous for this sport so close to my heart. 

On Friday we woke up to the news of the sentence of the mass murderer in the killings in Norway just over a year ago.  I hate to name the monster who did this as I think he already has enough publicity and I will not blot this post with his picture.  The end of the terrible story is that he has finally been convicted withthe maximum prison sentence of 21 years which means he has been found sane, the big question around the court case.  What really gets me is the luxury he will be living in, as Norway’s prisons are probably the most comfortable in the world.  You can see what I mean if you look at these pictures published by El País about the prison where he will spend his sentence.  I just hope the families of the victims and the survivors can close this terrible chapter in their lives and move on.

Friday, as I said above, was the day I remembered our wedding anniversary belatedly.  So we went out to dinner, accompanied by Olivia and we chose La Txitxarrería, one of our favourites, in nearby Pozuelo where we had a lovely meal.  Olivia took some photos of us which you can see here.  I posted my favourite, the one illustrating this blog, and got some very positive reaction from lots of my friends on Facebook.  I was pleasantly surprised by lots of their comments.  To think we have been married for 29 and that we are still in love is rather special and something of a rarity these days.  Apart from having won the marriage lottery, something I always say, I often think the recipe for such a strong marriage come from mutual respect and admiration.  Eladio and I rarely quarrel, hate conflict and most of the time enjoy the same sort of activities.  Also, I still find him very attractive, with his swarthy looks, chunky build, wonderful skin, hair and perfect teeth.  Yes, I married a very good looking guy, but equally wonderful inside and much quieter than me.  He is my rock and I could never imagine life without him. I look forward to as many more anniversaries I have the luck and privilege to have with him by my side.  You can see the rest of the photos that evening here.  Below is a lovely photo of Olivia and I that night, like mother like daughter!

With my beautiful daughter Olivia at our anniversary dinner on Friday

Saturday came and it was the weekend.  The main news this weekend has been about Prince Henry of Wales, more commonly known as Prince Harry, younger son of Lady Diana and Prince Charles.  He is well known for his antics but this time I think he went a little too far.  There has been much reporting on a game of strip pool played in Las Vegas with friends and lots of girls, from one of which the photos must have leaked of his nakedness in a mad sort of romp.  You can see all the uncensored photos on this website.  Buckingham Palace officials did their best to censor the British press, asking them not to publish them. The Sun, though, disobeyed which is a sort of first, even for The Sun. 

The front page of The Sun the only British paper to publish photos of the naked prince.

If that was the main news of the weekend, the main news in Spain not only at the weekend but all through last week was about the botched restoration of an “ecce homo” fresco of Jesus Christ in a small village in the province of Zaragoza. The story hit the world’s biggest media, including the New York Times and The BBC and the humble and once anonymous lady who wanted to restore her favourite painting in her parish church, is now world famous and suffering from an anxiety attack at her home in the small village of Borja where people are flocking to take photos of the fresco.

I was so surprised that this small piece of news about the restoration of a not particularly valuable work of art should make such an impact the world round.  I suppose it is the monkey like effect that the painting now has, although Cecila Gómez, aged 80, tries to defend herself by saying she hadn’t finished the job and that she had done so openly for all  the village, including the parish priest, to see.  You will have seen the pictures, but take another look and judge for yourself.  I feel rather sorry for the poor woman, who will never live this story down.

The story of the botched job of repairing a fresco by an old lady in Borja, a small village in Spain, hit the world news this week.

Saturday for us was quiet.  Susana, of whom I haven’t seen much lately, because she now lives independently and because we have been away, went to Santiago with her friend Elena to spend the weekend.  Olivia took her to the airport and they left yesterday at 06.30 in the morning.  They woke us up when the realised they didn’t have the remote control to open the gate and somehow the alarm went off.  It was not a good awakening I must say.

Last night after our walk, we came home to go bed early. I had one last look at my Facebook and was shocked to read that the space legend, Neil Armstrong had died aged 82 after complications from heart surgery.  This week which promised to be quiet was certainly a week of shocking news but the news of the death of the first man to walk on the moon, for me and many other people will have made the most impact.

On the 40^th anniversary of the first landing on the moon, I wrote about my memories of that occasion which you can read here.  Neil Armstrong, the captain of Apollo 11, who always shunned publicity, when asked what he felt like after having landed on the moon, replied: “small, very small”.  And now the man who will always be remembered for saying: “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (he meant to say in this much rehearsed phrase, “a man” but forgot the “a”) is no longer with us.  A part of living history has died but of course, like all great men, he will live on in our memories and then in history books. 

Neil Armstrong when he was the Captain of Apolo 11, died this weekend aged 82. RIP

I will never forget watching him on 20^th July 1969, on our black and white television at home, aged 12, along with an audience of 500 million people across the world, walk on the moon and pronounce those words.  RIP Neil Armstrong is all I can write as a shiver goes down my spine.

And today is Sunday, a quiet day at home for us.  Ivanka is having her day off and I made a very healthy lunch for the rest of us, including a wonderful home-made gazpacho made for us by dear Ivanka.

Oli will be off to Almería tomorrow for a few days holiday with Miguel until she starts work again next Friday.  Suzy will be back later tomorrow after her long weekend in Santiago.  So we won’t be all together again for quite a while which seems to be the norm these days.

I look forward to my travels to Stockholm on Wednesday where it will be much cooler and of course to Santander next weekend.  Next week’s post will, of course cover both visits.

Meanwhile I wish you all a great week.  Enjoy the last week of August and hopefully the sun will be shining for you wherever you are.

Cheers 

Masha

Cooling off by the pool, a family barbecue, our 28th wedding anniversary, Grandpa went to hospital, Oli’s debut on television, Elsa was run over, much ado about nothing and other stories.

Oli with Elsa, both feature in this week's blogpost.

Hello again

It is Sunday 28th August, nearly the end of the month and I haven’t written since Tuesday 16th.   So sorry for the delay which in part is due to laziness but also to so much happening that I never found the right moment.  So I have lots to tell you in this new edition.

The weather has changed for the cooler since I last wrote.  We went through a dreadful heat wave and all we could do was cool off by the pool every afternoon.  That was when Eladio’s Mother was here and even she, who is very sensitive to the cold, complained, although I suspect she didn’t suffer as much as us.  I had to persuade her to take her thick stockings off when it was 40ºc.  However she refused to remove her vest and underskirt.

The abuela and Eladio by the pool which is where we spent most of our time during the heat wave

The week before last was very quiet, the highlights being a trip with Olivia to the Tres Aguas shopping centre where I bought t-shirts I didn’t really need, and dinner out with our friends Juana and Oscar.  We went to an Italian place called Viancco in Zielo, yet another shopping centre, this time in nearby Pozuelo.  It is called “zielo” which sort of means “cielo” (sky or heaven in Spanish) as you can see the skyline of Madrid from where it is located.  The skyline at night from the rooftop dining area of Viancco was spectacular.  The heat had remitted a little but was replaced with heavy winds of warm air which kept blowing our napkins and bread basket away.  Juana who used to work in Nokia and now works in Microsoft and Oscar who works for Siemens Nokia Networks were colleagues of mine when I worked for Nokia.  Apart from talking about our holidays and families, the conversation naturally turned to the events in the industry, such as Google buying Motorola.  We discussed too whether one day Microsoft may buy Nokia which at the moment is a just a rumour.  One thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment in the telecommunications sector and changes and takeovers are the rule of thumb we all live by. 

This was the terrace where we had dinner at Viancco with Juana and Oscar with the view of the Madrid skyline.

If the week was quiet, the weekend was busy.  On Saturday Olivia invited the girls’ friends Ana and Juli for lunch and to spend time with us cooling off by the pool again.

Ana, Rocío and Juli came to be with Oli and cool off by our pool and Juli brought Oddy.

Juli brought with him his lovely Westie dog, Oddy.  We were worried that Norah and Elsa wouldn’t be too happy but after some initial suspicion and sniffing, they couldn’t have been happier with their canine visitor.

Norah and Elsa were delighted with Oddy's company

On Sunday we were expecting Eladio’s sister, Pili, her husband Andrés and their daughter Paula and her boyfriend Pedro as well as Eladio’s brother Isidro, his wife Yoli and their daughter Alicia who is our god daughter.  They had been staying in Madrid in Eladio’s brother’s, José Antonio, house in Madrid where they had come from León to prepare the flat that Paula and Alicia will be living in from September onwards.  For the records it belongs to Pedro Delgado, my cycling friend, and his wife Ludy.  They were also coming to pick up the abuela to take her back to cooler León where she lives with Eladio’s sister Adela.

I was up early that morning as there was a lot to do to make lunch for 13 people.  I also wanted to take an early morning walk as I wouldn’t be able to later as we had a dinner engagement that night.  The walk turned out to be a bit of an adventure.  I couldn’t go on the normal walk as it is the shooting season and I could hear shots being fired at what I imagined were poor scurrying rabbits on our usual path.  So I walked all the way up our steep street and made a left turn at the top.  The walk would have been too short that way so I decided to prolong it by taking a different route back through the nature paths behind some of the houses and that was my pitfall.  I was not sure of my way and there were many paths to choose from.  At one stage I hit upon thick bramble and had to turn back and I still have the marks on my legs to prove it.  From there onwards, totally disoriented, I tried to find my way back to a street and to the top of the hill.  I did finally but the whole adventure took nearly two hours.  Amazingly, when I got home, no one had noticed my absence.  I then had a quick swim to cool off before heading to the local supermarket to get provisions for the big lunch.

Whilst Eladio was preparing the fire for the barbecue and I was laying the table, making the salad, getting the meat out and all the other etceteras, the family arrived early and unannounced.  Luckily my sisters-in-law gave an immediate hand and we were then all able to enjoy being together around the pool for a while before lunch because that was the only place we could be in the prolonged heat wave.

We were to have a barbecue but we couldn’t eat it outside unfortunately because of the heat so we retreated to our air conditioned dining room, just fitting 13 people round our big table. 

The family barbecue we had to have inside because of the heat.

We spent more time by the pool after lunch and it was so hot even the abuela put her feet in the water, despite Pili’s hesitance. You can see from the smile on her face in this group picture just how much she loved it.

Cooling off by the pool with Eladio's family.  Even the abuela put her feet in the water!

You can see more photos of their visit and the time the abuela was with us too, here on Facebook.

All too soon they left us, eager to be back in their beloved hometown León and we were left alone again, to clear up and spend more time by the pool with our books.  I was re-reading an old favourite, A Townlike Alice by Nevil Shute, an English author who wrote in the 50’s.  I cannot recommend the book highly enough.  Set in England, Malaysia and Australia, it tells the story of a young English girl who is caught prisoner in the war in Malaysia and how she and a group of women and children walk aimlessly guarded by Japanese soldiers for years.  It is here that she meets Joe, an Australian.  They seek each other after the war and the reference to a town like Alice refers to how she builds a town like Alice Springs in the settling in the Queensland outback where he is a ringer.  It is a book I have read and reread over the years and was also a favourite of my Mothers which makes it even more special for me.

Often when I read by the pool, I am joined by our dogs. I particularly like this picture Suzy captured on her camera some time last week.

The dogs often like to join me when I am reading by the pool!

Sunday was important for the family barbecue of course but it was more important in my heart for it being our wedding anniversary.  It was actually rather fitting to be with Eladio’s family on that very day as they had all been with us on our wedding day on 21^st August 1983. We were celebrating 28 years of happy marriage, something of a rarity these days.  We actually met in the summer of 1980, so have been together for 31 years.

Eladio and I the summer we met in 1980 (camping in Portugal)

 I was a snippet of a girl at the time, just 23 years old and when I met Eladio I could hardly have known that I would be spending the rest of our lives together.  But that was life’s gift to me for which I am forever grateful.

Eladio and I 31 years later, still looking good I hope

 That night we had a dinner engagement with our friends Javier and Ana, who have been our hosts many times in their adopted village of Peñacaballera in Salamanca and, of course, in New York where they are have been living for the last three or four years.  We couldn’t make it to “Peña” this summer, so arranged to have dinner in our around Madrid last Sunday.  Knowing our taste, Javier suggested La Vaca Argentina in Las Rozas where they live when they are in Spain.  We immediately agreed as it is probably our all time favourite.  We hadn’t seen them since Christmas and they were looking as radiant and happy as ever and it was good to catch up.  This year they will be apart as a family, the women staying in Spain and the men in New York, except that Ana will be coming and going and it will be tough for them. Thus we celebrated our wedding anniversary with them, just as we did last year in Peña, when they ordered cakes especially for the occasion.

As we were out to dinner with Javier and Ana, we missed Suzy returning from her holiday in the south of Spain with Gaby, her boyfriend.  I wasn’t to see her until breakfast the next day.  She had been away for two weeks, first with her friends in Almería and then camping with Gaby in Huelva and in the Algarve in Portugal.  She was looking as brown as a berry and radiant as ever.

Suzy and Gaby on holiday, camping in Portugal

Monday was back to normal, with all of us for lunch for a change but little were we to know that it wasn’t to last very long.  We had booked an appointment with my Father’s G.P that afternoon because his chiropodist had noticed his ankles were swollen.  Eladio, being the “doctor” in our family accompanied him.  The appointment was at 16h and it seemed they were taking a long time.  I texted Eladio to find out what was happening only to get an alarming text back saying they were at the emergency ward of the Puerta de Hierro hospital in  Majadahonda.  My Father’s GP had detected arrhythmia which could cause blood clots and had obviously caused the oedema in his ankles; an abnormal retention of liquid.  Only one person could accompany my Father so it was no use going to the hospital which felt very frustrating.  The next news was that he would be staying the night for observation.  By then it was nearly 11 o’clock at night and neither of the men had eaten.  I knew it had to be me who would accompany my Father and I wanted to be with him.  So I made some sandwiches and packed a small bag of my Father’s things and a pillow and cardigan for myself and Suzy drove me to the hospital. I took over from Eladio just before midnight and prepared to spend the night with my Father at the Emergency ward.  And, what a night that was.  My image of a hospital being glamorous from the hospital television series I so love, went out with the wind as I witnessed the reality; the smells, the coughs, the noise in an atmosphere of near chaos.  My Father was not given a bed until 2 in the morning.  Luckily he was given a bed in a corner by a window, not like other people who lay on stretchers in the corridors.  They had run out of pillows but thankfully I was able to offer mine to my very uncomfortable Father that ghastly night we shall both remember for a long time. I had a stiff plastic chair with a low back to sit next to him.  Needless to say neither of us slept a wink and I still have a sore rib cage as I write today from sitting on that uncomfortable chair most of the night.  Things got worse for me as at about 6 in the morning after coming back from getting a bottle of water, I found my chair was missing and had to stand for the next couple of hours.  When I complained to the orderlies, they told me they themselves had needed my chair!  What was I to say?  OK I wasn’t the patient but at the hospital they need the patients to have an escort to look after the patients as there is not enough staff to administer their needs especially during the night.   If that is the case, there could at least be a reclining chair for the escorts.  I was not to find any sympathy in the Emergency ward and would never ever want to spend a night there again and I know I speak for my Father too.  I cannot forgive them for leaving him aged 92 in a wheel chair from 5 in the afternoon until 2 in the morning without giving him even a stretcher to lie on or a morsel of food.  Unbelievable!

Luckily the atmosphere, care and treatment were much better in the room he was moved to the next day.  Eladio took over in the morning and I was able to come home and have a shower and rest before returning after lunch.  My Father had rested too by then and was more comfortable and well looked after.  All my fears about the Spanish public health system became history as I saw how kindly and professionally he was treated by the nurse called Elena and the pregnant doctor Esther as well as by the cheerful orderlies and auxiliary nursing staff.  He was given a big, impeccably clean, single room with his own bathroom and luxury of luxuries, a sofa bed for his escort who was to be Eladio on the second night. Happily that night both slept all the way through. Grandpa underwent all sorts of sophisticated tests including a scan and electrocardiogram before the treatment began.  The doctor told me that he was in very good health for his age and that he was responding well to the treatment, pills to keep the water retention and blood clots away.  In fact he responded so well he was discharged after only 2 nights and we were able to bring him home on Wednesday morning.  It was a huge relief.  He has been a bit unsteady on his feet since the stay in hospital but is quickly getting better.  Furthermore with the new medication, he is now sleeping better than he did before, hardly getting up in the night anymore. The episode was a shock for us all and only served for me to try and look after him even better than before by anticipating his needs rather than waiting for us to tell us if he has a problem; something he never does.  We are so happy he is on the mend and home again with us.  Life can now go back to normal.

Grandpa tucking in at the hospital with The Daily Telegraph at his feet. He recovered very quickly thank goodness.

On Wednesday, whilst Grandpa was in hospital, Olivia made her debut as a presenter on television on the main state channel, TVE1 in the programme she is working for called “La Mañana de la 1”. My Father and I were able to watch it proudly together from his hospital room.  She had prepared a report which she herself presented on screen about modern day hippies; not the most scintillating of subjects, but I didn’t care as I was so proud to see her on TV.  You can see it for yourselves in this link.  Until now she has done voiceovers for many reports but hardly ever actually appeared on the screen which was why this was such an important moment for us all. If you are a mother and are reading this, I am sure you will relate to how proud I feel.

So life was back to normal but not for long.  On Friday morning I had a meeting with Cris (an avid reader of my blogJ) at Zielo to go over our activities in Santander next week.  This time I will be going alone as Eladio will be invigilating the UNED (Open University) exams whilst I’m there.  I will miss him.  

The next shock came in the afternoon. Eladio and I were by the pool when we heard a car coming up the drive.  We then heard a terrible shriek which I knew came from Elsa and it was immediately evident she had been run over.  We rushed to the drive, me without my glasses to find Olivia distraught and Elsa nowhere to be seen.  I wasn’t wearing my glasses so mistook a big stone for Elsa lying on the ground.  I’m ashamed to admit I went a bit hysterical, thinking she was dead or dying.  I quickly found my glasses and then found her sitting frightened between two chairs by the swimming pool.  We picked her up, not sure what had happened to her and Olivia drove us to the vet.  After an initial examination and exhaustive x-rays, it turned out that Elsa had been very lucky.  She had hurt her left paw but nothing was broken.  Valeria, the Argentinian vet, gave her a painkiller and told us to observe her for the next 48 hours to look out for any possible internal damage, such as her bladder.  I can happily tell you now, that, all she has is a bruised limb which will surely heal very soon.  Again, luck was on our side.  

That evening we had another dinner date, this time with our friends and neighbours, Elena and José Luis.  They picked us just after the Elsa incident, when all was calm, and we went to an Italian place in Boadilla, Il Portone, which was new for us.  Apart from telling them about Grandpa and Elsa, most of the evening, we spoke about where we would like to retire, which is Marbella.  This was done, over wonderful Italian dishes such as ham and mango carpaccio and warm prawn salad. As they are lovers and connoisseurs of the area, it was great to get some inside information from them.  As to whether we will ever actually retire there, who knows?  At the moment it is only a dream.  In my dream I want to live in a luxury dwelling, big enough to accommodate the girls and their families for holidays, probably in a secluded set of apartments with a lovely communal garden, right by a nice quiet and clean beach.  I want to have a sea view, but above all, I want to be able to walk outside the gate and cross the road or path straight on to the beach and be able to take morning walks daily before breakfast and at sunset.  I hope that’s not too much to ask.  Meanwhile back to reality.

It was only yesterday, Saturday, when things really returned to normal; i.e. no more nasty surprises like Grandpa’s stay in hospital or Elsa being run over.  It was also one of those Saturdays when we all had lunch together and Gaby, Suzy’s boyfriend, joined us. I cooked, of course, as Olga is still on holiday.  I am dying for her to come back as the house needs a thorough clean, although I am sure she is not.   

Today Sunday, has been another normal lazy Sunday, if not a bit cooler, although as I write from the table by the swimming pool, Suzy and Rocío are bathing in the company of Oli and Juli who came for lunch again today.

As I write too, the dreaded IreneHurricane has hit New York City.  Luckily the hurricane which swept the east coast, causing at least eight deaths and massive power cuts, lost its power as it hit Manhattan and had turned from a hurricane into a tropical storm.  Amazingly in its anticipation all the shops had been closed, public transport was cancelled, 300.000 people were evacuated, provisions for food were scarce and people were ordered to stay at home.  It sounded incredibly alarming so I was a bit worried for Javier and Ignacio.  Therefore it was music to my ears to read a message from them on Facebook to say that nothing drastic had happened and that they were perfectly alright.  So, to quote Javier, Hurricane Irene in NYC was “much ado about nothing”.  Well that is my best effort at translating “mucho ruido y pocas nueces”.  It might well have been much ado about nothing, but I can only imagine the US authorities went to such strict measures after the lessons learned from the terrible devastation caused by the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans just few years ago that they weren’t taking any chances with New York City, one of the most populated areas in the world.

NYC empty and  much in the news because of Hurricane Irene.

And on that good piece of news, I have come to the end of my tales for this blog post.  

I do hope you all have a great week.  I can only hope that ours is incident free and would just ask for “normality” with no more nasty surprises.

Cheers till next week,

Masha

Picking your own fruit, visitors from Yorkshire, a trip to Salamanca, our 27th wedding anniversary and all together again.

Eladio and I on our 27th wedding anniversary in Peñacaballera

Hi again this last week in August,

I hope you are all fine. This week has been hectic but thoroughly enjoyable and I have lots to tell you.

Oli was back from Aranda de Duero on Monday where she had been sent to cover a music festival by www.rtve.es. You can see some of her videos here. I think she did a great job but you must judge for yourselves.

The highlight of the beginning of the week was the picking of a basket full of delicious greengages from a tree in the back garden. It was the biggest crop in all our time at this house and I enjoyed the activity immensely.

This year's greengage crop. Not many but they were delicious.

There is something enriching, romantic and bucolic about picking your own fruit. Just because you know it is yours enhances the taste.

Eladio picking the greengages.  A lovely moment.

On Tuesday we were expecting visitors from Yorkshire. Kathryn Lindley (now Cobrey) from my Kappa class at St. Joseph’s school in Bradford had found me some time ago on Facebook and we have been corresponding. She is a teacher, lives in Keighley, has 4 grown up boys and is now married to Phil, a teacher of Spanish we were to discover. So when she told me she and Phil were travelling in France and Spain this month, I immediately invited them to come and stay. They said they would arrive on Tuesday at “five-ish”. Most people get totally lost when they come to our house even with a sat nav. However Phil and Kathryn who are seasoned travellers but use a map instead were here on the dot and did not have to ring us to find out how to get here. I still don’t know how they did it.

Kathryn and I had probably last seen each other in the mid 70’s, nearly 40 years ago. She is looking good and we had lots to talk about to catch up on so much time, which meant we nattered for the 3 day duration of their stay which we thoroughly enjoyed. My father was “tickled pink” to have visitors from Yorkshire where he lived from the mid sixties until 5 years ago. He of course was a teacher as was Eladio so we all had a lot in common.

We had endless cups of tea together, went on walks, had lovely meals (thanks Olga), swam and sunbathed, read and drank pacharán in the evenings accompanied always by dear Norah who was a complete hit with our guests, especially Phil. We also laughed nonstop together especially when Norah was playing with her new noisy toy; a boxing kangaroo!

Norah and the noisy boxing kangaroo which she loves so much.

One of the meals was fish and chips, very fitting for the occasion you would probably say but actually they were made by Olga who is Argentinian so there is some extra merit there. The household for those 3 days was a little like the United Nations. We were joined at times by Oli and her friend Juli, or should I say our friend Juli, who is Colombian. This delighted Phil who had learned his Spanish there when he taught at the Anglo Colombian school in Bogotá some years ago.

Oli and our Colombian friend Juli.

On the Wednesday Phil and Kathryn went into town to discover the delights of Madrid and that same evening we took them out to dinner to a Basque place which is very popular with our foreign guests; La Txitxarrería. There was also time for some girly shopping and I took Kathy to a little boutique I frequent nearby and we both came home armed with bags of summer fashion garments and big smiles on our faces.

Dinner with Phil and Kathryn at La Txitxarrería in Pozuelo.

Their visit was short but intense and unfortunately soon over. On Friday they were moving on to La Rioja at our suggestion and we said our goodbyes that morning now firm friends. You can see the full album of photos of their visit here. Eladio and I were going to visit friends at a village in Salamanca called Peñacaballera. Our friends are Javier and Ana and their family who we visited in New York in March. This was our second visit to Peñacaballera and you can read about our first one last year in this post.

Peñacaballera is a small village near Béjar and the Sierra de Francia mountain range and about a 2 hour drive from home through the province of Avila. We were there in time for lunch and were welcomed by Javier, Ana and their beautiful younger daughters Cristina and María. Ignacio was away in Murcia and Laura would be back later that night from a short holiday in nearby Portugal.

Javier with his delightful daughters Cristina (in white) and María.  No wonder he looks so proud.

It was good to be back in peaceful and rural Peñacaballera, to see Javier and Ana and of course their friends, Jorge, María and their family as well as many visitors and friends some of whom we had met last year and some of whom were new to us. There were so many people it was difficult to remember names and to know who was related to whom. I gave up in the end.

In the evening we went to the nearby picturesque village of Hervas (in the province of Cáceres in Extremadura) to visit the old Jewish quarter and to have dinner at a wonderful little place called Nardi. The meat there was out of this world we’ll have to go back one day.

A pretty street in the Jewish quarter of the picturesque village of Hervás in Cáceres Extremadura.

On Saturday we explored the village which that day was to witness a wedding, quite a coincidence as it was our own wedding anniversary.

A wedding in Peñacaballera on the day of our own anniversary.  I hope they will be as happy.

Fancy, 27 years together and life couldn’t be better. A happy marriage is something of a lottery in life but you also have to work at it. However the secret behind its success comes from mutual respect and admiration which cannot exist if there is no love. Yes, these are our ingredients and they are still going strong after so many years. We have yet to celebrate but Javier bought some nice cakes for us to have after the superb paella prepared by Nacho for lunch by the swimming pool that day for no less than 24 people!

Big paella lunch in Peñacaballera, lovely.

We enjoyed our time with our hosts, going for walks, having nice meals, long siestas and even longer conversations. We had differences of opinion on how to bring up children. You can guess who was the liberal one of course and I naturally sided with the younger generation on the time to come home in the evening (or should I say early morning). Javier and I vied for points on Foursquare and we all laughed when I became the Foursquare mayor of the village. Not for long I imagine!

Javier and Ana's house in Peñacaballera

Very soon it was Sunday morning and Eladio and I decided not to overstay our welcome and take the opportunity to visit the nearby Peña de Francia, the highest point in the Sierra de Francia mountain range as well as the medieval cathedral town, Ciudad Rodrigo on the border of Portugal and also in the province of Salamanca.

We had a great day, despite the intense heat. Last year we had visited some places in Salamanca with our friends Andy and Amanda but didn’t get to Peña de Francia. It is just beneath 1.800 metres high and has awesome views. The road leading up is some feat of engineering and at times I couldn’t look out it was so scary. The mountain top is also a sanctuary and there is a statue of a virgin which is much venerated there by pilgrims. In fact there is even a monastery there but we saw very few monks.

At the Peña de Francia with its spectacular views.

From the Peña de Francia we made our way down the steep and winding road and on to Ciudad Rodrigo some 50km away. We had both last been there some 30 years ago when we went camping in Spain, Portugal and Morocco just after we met in the summer of 1980. It was a trip we have always both considered our honeymoon as we were so in love. In fact when we married we were as poor as church mice and could never afford one so we have always thought of it as our honeymoon.

And yesterday we were once again in Ciudad Rodrigo, a superb cathedral town next to Portugal with many medieval monuments and churches and with a city wall which you can still walk around. We made a beeline for the Parador for lunch, something we could not have done 30 years ago of course. Later in the intense heat we explored the nearly empty town. It is never advisable to visit any town in Spain in August in the early afternoon and we should have known better. Even in the heat though Ciudad Rodrigo is a jewel of a town to visit and we will be back but this time will probably not wait another 30 years!

In the gardens of the Parador at Ciudad Rodrigo.

We drove home through Salamanca and Avila remembering the time spent last year with Andy and Amanda and were home in the early evening. Norah and my Father were there to greet us but so was Suzy whom we hadn’t seen since she went to Ibiza. Dinner together, albeit cereal and milk, was a treat. Just as we went to bed Olivia came in to say hello after her weekend trip back from Malaga. Thus we were all together again for the first time in two weeks. Today, Monday, was the first time we were together too for a family lunch. It was prepared by Olga who is proving to be such a great cook she is upsetting my down days. This week we will be all together until of course we get on the road again and that will be to Santander on Saturday.

Oli at the Feria de Málaga this weekend.  Isn't she beautiful?

Before that happens though, I have a few preparations to make for our participation in the annual telecoms conference there where everyone who is anyone in the Spanish telecoms sector goes. But more about that in my next post.

Cheers till then

PS you can see the full set of photos of our trip to Peñacaballera, Peña de Francia and Ciudad Rodrigo here.