Christmas came and went and brought a lot of joy.

The five of us on Kings' day

 Hi everyone,

Last time I wrote it was just before Christmas, in fact the day we put up all the decorations.  And today is 7^th January, the end of Christmas and, with a heavy heart, and like most of you, we will have to take them down.  Eladio and I have just done so and I, at least, am left with an empty feeling.  The emptiness, though, will probably go away, when we go out to lunch, the two of us today to Le Pain Quotidien. 

It’s been a good Christmas, as good as it can get and in fact I’ve been so busy enjoying it I kept putting off writing my blog.  But now it can’t wait any longer and I have to record all our activities and there have been many.  

So let me start from the beginning, from where I left off, as always.  It was Monday 19^th December, a very busy day for me, I remember.  But it wasn’t just any Monday in December.  It will be remembered for being the day when the world first heard that one of its worst dictators, Kim Jong-iL had died.  The whole of North Korea went into mourning and wept for the cameras.  I suspect that if they didn’t cry in public, they were in fear of being sent to jail in a country which is best known for its stifling and outdated communist regime.  Unfortunately the dictator’s death will not put an end to the anachronism as the dictator’s son will take his place and his countrymen will continue to suffer at the dictatorship’s hands.

Kim Jong-Il, the dictator of North Korea died in December

 I didn’t give a thought to Kim Jong-iL the next day which turned out to be even busier. I had an important meeting at work and then another one at my PR Agency’s office with two rebellious bloggers, after which I had to rush off, this time to another pleasant Christmas lunch.  It was with my ex PR Agency team from Llorente y Cuenca and it was great to exchange news with Susana, Mauricio and Juan at the Indian restaurant Annapurna in Madrid.  They seemed to have matured so much since we first worked together over five years ago when Yoigo was launched in the Spanish market. 

That night Julio and Fátima came to dinner for the first Christmas celebration of the season.  Every year we go to Julio’s house for a traditional dinner, but this year, logistics dictated that it take place at our house.  And a fine time we had, as always, with our exchange of presents and crackers.  This year, I had ordered “party poppers” on one of my new Christmas online sites, and they were a great success, after we figured out how to use them.  Next year I shall order them in bulk!

Dinner with Julio and Fátima

On the Wednesday before Christmas the last of my seasonal work events took place.  It was the Yoigo children’s party and we were to create an outdoor circus.  The girls were to join me as helpers but first we met in town for a quick bit of Christmas shopping and for an unplanned lovely lunch together.  We were in one of Madrid’s most famous shopping streets, Fuencarral and here we happened upon my proverbial favourite, Le Pain Quotidien.  Afterwards and just before we left for Yoigo, we discovered a great little shop called Tiger whose products reminded me of Ikea.  It is apparently a Danish store which sells cheap and original home accessories and thus the resemblance I suppose. 

Soon we had to curtail the girly outing and make our way to Yoigo where preparations were taking place for the original children’s party which was to take place outdoors.  I was afraid of the cold so we ordered an umpteen number of outdoor heaters which in the end were not necessary as it never went below 10ºc.  The party was a huge success and we had even bigger numbers than the year before, with staff taking along up to 6 nieces and nephews!!  I even saw a woman and her child who turned out to be gatecrashers from the neighbouring company Cisco. Here are the photos to prove how much the children enjoyed themselves.  I am now asking myself what on earth we will create for next year’s party!!

The circus we created for the Yoigo children's Christmas party this year

The circus people were amazing but, even more amazing, was Michal Kahn, the English balloon artist who joined us again for the children’s party.  I couldn’t resist having my photo taken with her and it is one I will cherish for a long time.  You can see the whole album of photos of the wonderful circus we created here.

With Michal Khan, the amazing British balloon artist

Whilst the party was in full swing, Spain’s new and right wing Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, announced the names of the people to be included in his cabinet.  On our way back in the car we avidly looked up the news on our mobile phones, and I was immensely happy to see he had appointed his youngest member of staff, Soraya Sanz de Santamaría, as his Vice President.  She has just turned 40 and given birth to her first child and is very well prepared for the job.  I wish them all luck in what is going to be one of the toughest legislations in many years.  One of their first measures has been to put up our income tax, not a very popular decision I am sure.  

The next day was Thursday 22^nd December and famous in Spain for being the draw of the Christmas lottery, commonly called “El Gordo” (the fat one).  Eladio didn’t win a penny but Suzy was lucky with a win of 120 euros for a ticket she bought in Alicante.  Oli was busy at work covering the stories of the winners in Madrid and although she didn’t warn me in advance I caught her live on the television at a fish market in Madrid interviewing some of them.  You can see the video clip at minute 13.35h  here.

Oli reporting on the Christmas lottery winners live on TV

On Friday we returned to the little English restaurant in Pozuelo for dinner, La Pérfida Albión.  We were joined, this time, by José Antonio and Dolores who, I think, enjoyed the fish and chips as much as us.  The portions are big but I’m afraid the platter is not as authentic as I would like, although it tastes very good.  It’s just a bit too “gourmet” for me, being a “Yorkshire lass” with good memories of fish and chips at the local chippy or even better at the famous Harry Ramsdens in Guiseley.

Gourmet fish and chips at the English restaurant in Pozuelo

The dates for Christmas and New Years Eve fell at the weekend this year and it felt strange.  That doesn’t go to say they weren’t as enjoyable as ever.  I had been preparing for the important Christmas Eve dinner for weeks and had ordered food and crackers online and made and frozen our traditional “perushki” (little Russian pies) weeks before, as well as the croquettes.  I had also made the potato salad the day before.    So all I had to do on Christmas Eve  was prepare the rest: salmon and prawns with avocado pear with chopped egg and onion and 1000 island sauce, bacon rolls, potato salad, egg mayonnaise canapés, tuna fish vol au vent, green salad, fresh thick green asparagus, foie and the best “pata negra” ham you could imagine. Needless to say, it was all far too much and we ate the delicious left over’s for days to come. 

The table looked a treat as we sat down for the most important meal at Christmas in Spain. 

The table on Christmas Eve

Afterwards we sat with the girls in the lounge looking at photos of this year until we all fell asleep and made our way, happy to our beds, in wait for the next day to come, Christmas day, a day that I look forward to year after year and which never ever disappoints me.  As we closed our bedroom doors, I took out the girls’ stocking presents from the cupboard where they were hidden and placed them in a big Christmas sack Anne once sent me, instead of the traditional woolen stockings made by my Mother for the girls when they were small.  This was because Susana was unable to find hers at the last moment!

Christmas day was the same as every Christmas.  It is exactly the same as when I was a child and we used to spend Christmas at my Grandmother’s house in Ickenham near London.  I have continued the tradition and I suspect my girls will too when they form their own families. First we have a wonderful breakfast together.  Unfortunately this year I didn’t take any photos.  But for the occasion, out comes one of our wedding gifts, the Royal Albert china tea set which is always laid on my favourite M+S fruit and flower patterned table cloth both of which were gifts I treasure from my parents.

Next we go to the lounge where all the presents around the tree are waiting to be unwrapped and we spend nearly two hours opening big and small parcels with Christmas carols in the background.  This year we were joined by both our dogs, Norah and Elsa. On the table there will always be wonderful chocolates, either  Roses, Heroes or Quality Street.  This year it was Heroes, bought by Suzy at Quicksave in Gran Alacant.  We all go ooh and ah and love every minute of it.  I was happy to open my new Samsonite cabin suitcase and matching pc case which will make my trips to Stockholm or Barcelona much more comfortable.  I also got a black Tous watch from Eladio and a wooden suit hanger stand from the girls for my bedroom to hang my clothes out for the next day.  I always put them on the sofa and this will be very useful for this tidy practice of mine.

Eladio and I with Elsa just before opening the presents on Christmas Day

Then everyone disappears and it’s up to me to get on with making the lunch, another traditional meal, the only difference being that instead of turkey we have “pularda”, a sort of fattened hen which we prefer.  To accompany the bird, there must always be sage and onion stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy, brussel sprouts and cranberry sauce. The table looked great and here you can see my Father and Susana patiently waiting for us all to appear and begin the feast.

Grandpa and Suzy waiting for us to join them at the Christmas day lunch table.  Looks nice eh?

PHOTO LUNCH

What makes the lunch heavy is the Christmas pudding eaten afterwards with traditional sweet white sauce made with brandy, not to mention the endless supply of chocolates and Spanish turrón (a sort of nougat). 

You can see all the photos of our family Christmas here if you want to see some more.

The afternoon is spent sleeping off the lunch and then a brisk walk with the dogs.  Of course dinner is cold leftovers whilst watching a good film on television.

Boxing Day is not a holiday in Spain and both girls had to go to work.  They were to join us later in the evening though for one of our Christmas highlights.   At Olga’s suggestion I had bought tickets for all of us to go to the Strauss Festival New Year concert taking place at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid (the main music hall). This was to be a huge treat for my Father who is an avid Strauss and Vienna New Year concert fan.  It was also to be his first outing since his operation.  We went in two cars with his wheel chair folded away in ours and as usual, got lost on the way.  We all sat down to listen and watch the concert just as the music started and a bit stressed with the logistics of finding the place and getting the tickets out of the machine which wouldn’t read my credit card.  But soon we were all immersed in the magic of the wonderful music.  Here is a photo of the five of us during the interval.

At the Strauss New Year concert with Grandpa on Boxing Day

It wasn’t until the encore that we were to finally hear the Blue Danube which I had been waiting for throughout, probably Struass’ most famous piece.  Later we were to watch the real concert live on 1st January in León.  That got me thinking that maybe one year we will go. I since looked up how to buy the tickets and you have to register for a draw, so I did.  I will only know in March if we will be lucky enough or not to be able to buy them at the medium level price of over 500 euros each!  Will we go to Vienna for the concert next year?  Watch this space.  Maybe we will.  In any case my Father has now at least seen a smaller version live and I know he thoroughly enjoyed it.  In fact he is now a lot better.  The bedsore on his heel is on the mend and he can now stand up on his own and has even been practicing walking and has been able to do so without being helped.  That is the best news this Christmas for us all.  

The next day, Tuesday 27th December, was another family highlight when we went to dinner to our friends’ house as dictates tradition every Christmas.  We were invited to dinner at Mar and Mariano’s.  When we arrived Mariano had just left to pick up Mar who works for La Vanguardia newspaper in Madrid.  So we were hosted for the first hour, in their absence, by San, their 9 year old adopted Chinese son who has been Suzy’s and is now Oli’s pupil for help with his homework on a nearly daily basis during the school term.   San was the perfect host who, after showing us the album of his adoption and holiday photos to exotic places, suddenly said “don’t you think my parents are taking a bit long?”.  Finally they arrived and we could sit down to dinner served by their delightful non Spanish speaking Filipino maid Cherry.  The dinner was wonderful as usual but our friends had a dilemma.  Mar had just been offered the job as chief communications officer by the newly appointed Spanish Minister of Finance and she was debating whether to take it or not.  The biggest obstacle of course being the sacrifice she would have to make for her family and not being there for San.  Just a few days later they went to Orlando for New Year so I still don’t know whether our friend accepted this must public term of office.  I advised her; to do so as a chance like this was something she could not say no to.  I wonder whether she did.

Dinner at Mar, Mariano and San's

The next day Eladio and I were off to Salamanca to the small village called Peñacaballera near Bejar.  We were going to stay with our friends Javier and Ana and their family for what was supposed to be just a night but they then persuaded us to stay on for another day and we did.  Believe it or not I didn’t take along my pc so only had my mobile phone to rely on.  It was the only time this Christmas I truly disconnected. As soon as we arrived, Javier and his friend Jorge had prepared a table outside with wine and cheese to enjoy before lunch.  It was sunny throughout our stay as it has been all Christmas.  

Drinks in the garden with Javier and Jorge upon arrival in Peñacaballera

After a delicious lunch of homemade cooked stew for which we all needed an hour long siesta, we went off for a walk around the village.  It was a great afternoon for photography and there were plenty of things to catch on my camera, including a magnificent brown cow in one of the fields.

Me captured on camera by Javier, taking a photo of a cow in a field on our walk near the village

We played cards after dinner, where we were joined by Jorge’s wife Maria, and learned a new game, the name of which I only remember begins with “c”.  I love playing cards and Eladio doesn’t so I thoroughly enjoyed the session while he stoically tried to play the best he could.  

The next day, whilst we were having breakfast Jorge came round after a 7 kilometre run to suggest a 10 kilometre walk to a village called Baños de Montemayor which I learned later is famous for its spa. We took up the challenge and had a great morning walking up and down steep slopes and across fields and paths to be rewarded with a cup of coffee in Baños.  By the time we were half way through the walk, it was so sunny our thick coats, scarves and gloves were completely unnecessary.  I took some lovely pictures, but the best of all is the self timer one that Jorge managed to figure out on my camera.  And here we are the five of us posing to capture forever a moment on that marvelous walk.

A moment on our 10 kilometre walk to Baños de Montemayor and back

In the afternoon we lazed around getting to know our friends a bit more with wonderful relaxed conversations.  We are so happy that Javier is now back in Spain from New York and I guess he is too.  Now we will see them much more often.  To celebrate his return Javier and Ana invited us all, and this time Jorge’s candid wife, María joined us, to dinner in the picturesque village of Hervás, famous for its Jewish quarter.  Hervás is actually in the province of Cáceres in the Extramadura region right on the border of Salamanca and some 5 or 10 kilometres away from Peñacaballera, or “Peña” as our friends call it. We went to a charming little place called El Almirez and here we dined like kings.  

The next day we were up early and said our goodbyes. We took Laura and Ignacio, Javier and Ana’s oldest “children” with us as the family were leaving too for Madrid where they would be spending New Year’s Eve.  Thankfully they knew the way better than us and the journey back was made at greater speed than the outbound one. 

You can see all the photos of the New Year concert, dinner at Mar and Mariano’s and our visit to Peñacaballera here.

We were home for lunch and saw our girls later in the afternoon just for a short while before we were to say goodbye again.  They were off to Barcelona by plane that Friday night late, to spend the New Year and a few more days with Laura, their friend from the scouts.  Laura now lives there permanently in a roomy old flat in the Rambla right inside the Boquería Market where I trust they did all their food shopping.  

Suzy took some great pictures of their visit and this is my favourite one.  Here you can see Suzy and Oli jumping on the beach with a rainbow in the background.  It looks like they had a lot of fun.

The girls had a grand time in Barcelona over New Year

The next day was New Year’s Eve and we were off again.  We left my Father at home with Olga.  It was great sacrifice we asked of her to forego her New Year’s Eve but I had offered her to invite a friend along.  I later learned that she had invited three friends and that they had organized a proper party so in the end it didn’t seem too much of a sacrifice. I trust my Father thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

We meanwhile, went off to León, and  took my sister in law, Dolores and our niece and nephew Sara and Juan with us.  As usual we stopped off at Rueda for a glass of delicious white wine and platter of ham and lomo.  Here is a photo of Eladio and I enjoying the moment. 

The obligatory stop at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on our way to León for NYE

By 1 o’clock we were in León and Andrés, my outgoing and fun loving brother in law, was waiting for me to have a drink in one of the nearby bars before lunch.  I could hardly stomach more food or wine after the stop in Rueda, but obliged the best I could.  Pili had a sumptuous lunch ready for us as she does every year on New Year’s Eve.  Afterwards, yet again, a siesta was in order.  I enjoyed mine on the sofa with Trebol, their adorable Dalmatian who slept on the matching blanket you can see in the photo below.

Trebol, Pili and Andres' adorable dalmatian

Later we all met at Adela’s house, Eladio’s other sister and here we sang happy birthday to her eldest son, Roberto, who had turned 40.  He is the oldest of the cousins who range all the way down to aged 18.  Diana, otherwise known as “pitulines” or “nene”, his two year old daughter, enjoyed blowing out his candles, over and over again as you can see in the  picture below.

"Pitulines" blowing out her Father, Roberto's 40th birthday candles.

Afterwards I joined Pili and Mario, her son, on a last minute shopping expedition.  We were looking for a black bow tie for him to wear with his new suit that night.  The expedition proved fruitless as every shop we visited had run out of them. We did manage, though to get his Kings’ day present, a pair of size 46 (difficult number to find) Panama Jack boots.  That was one pleased Mario I witnessed that evening.  

Soon we were all preparing to get dressed up for the annual family dinner which nearly always takes place at the Amancio Restaurant in the centre of León.  This year we were 20 round the table and it was as good as it gets.  I had taken along party poppers and crackers as well as presents for all and sundry.  I was taken aback when at the end both Eladio and I were presented with gifts from our family and clapped by everyone.  It was a very touching moment. 

New Year's Eve in León was as good as it can get

You can see the rest of the photos I took of the family New Year’s Eve together in this link.

The next day of course was 1^st January 2012.  I always have an empty sort of feeling on that day.  Everything is closed, it’s cold and the streets are empty and it takes a while to get used to it being another new year.   After watching the New Year concert at Pili’s house, where we staying, we made our goodbyes at around midday and set off home.  Sara and Juan joined us as they had to work the next day.  We stopped at the Parador in Benavente for a New Year’s lunch and as always Eladio and I enjoyed a dish of chickpeas (garbanzos) from the village of Fuentesauco, also in the province of Zamora.   There is a local expression which we love which says: “el buen garbanzo y el buen ladrón de Fuentesauco son” and means: “good chickpeas and good thieves are from Fuentesauco”.  In Spanish it sounds much better because it rhymes.  I must look google the expression to find out its origin.

Soon we were home to a very quiet house, just occupied by my Father, Olga and the dogs as the girls didn’t come back until Tuesday night after New Year’s Eve.  There is not much to report about last week.  Eladio and I did routine things like washing the dogs (oh what fun), the weekly shopping at Carrefour and of course went on our walks, read and worked.  

Friday 6^th January was to be a national holiday, Kings’ day in Spain where the main tradition is to exchange presents, even though it is the last day of Christmas.  We celebrate Father Christmas but there is always a little something for everyone on Kings’ day and a lovely family meal.  Funnily enough the food I prepared couldn’t have been more English: roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings.  We are, after all, an Anglo Spanish family.

So on Thursday I dragged Eladio out to Centro Oeste to get presents for us all.  Suzy was in charge of getting mine as when it comes to presents Eladio lives on cloud cuckoo land and thinks I am in charge of all present giving, including my own, hahahaha. There is nothing in all our years of marriage that will ever change that.

Kings’ day came and on this day it is tradition to make or buy the festive “roscón”, a sort of elongated circle made of buttery sponge which is covered in almonds, sugar and crystallized fruit.  Inside there is always a little present which if it lands on your plate means you are supposed to be in charge of buying the following year’s roscón.  Funnily enough it landed on mine.  I suppose that is fitting as it is nearly always me that buys it anyway. We buy two versions, one with thick whipped cream and one without which I like to toast.  We have been having it for breakfast and as dessert ever since.  The cream version is a great hit with my Father.

The Spanish "roscón" which is always eaten on Kings' Day

Lunch was the best part of the day, as after the amazing roast beef, we opened our presents, just one each. 

Our Kings' Day lunch on 6th January

Juli was with us and made a splendid photographer.  The photo illustrating this blog is of the five kings of this house.  Thanks Juli.  You can see the rest of the photos of King’s Day in this album.

We were in such good spirits that day that the girls and I sang carols for my Father, Eladio and Juli.  I have put them here on You Tube.  Our singing is not wonderful but the moment was very special.

Our festivities didn’t end there as after our siesta and walk Eladio and I had a date at the cinema.  We went to see Meryl Streep play Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.  She was magnificent and I loved every minute of the film.  I would have preferred a biography in chronological order rather than flashbacks of her life when she began to have Alzheimer around the death of her husband, her beloved Dennis Thatcher.  I now look forward to seeing the film in English.

I am almost sure Meryl Streep will win an Oscar for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

After the film Eladio and I went out to dinner and chose De Brasa y Puchero in nearby Boadilla where we ate another copious meal.  If you ever go, do please try the “patatas revolconas” (dish of potatoes impossible to translate the name of).  

And so I am now back from where I began writing yesterday, when Christmas ended in all the houses and Eladio and I put away the decorations.  The day was made less sad, as we went out to lunch to Le Pain Quotidien as I mentioned at the beginning.  My overall favourite dish there is the hummus which has a tang of curry; umm delicious.

Hummus at Le Pain Quotidien in Zielo on Saturday

And now it’s Sunday 8^th January and I am waiting for the girls to turn up to the last family lunch for a while.  

Next week will be busy and I have a trip to Stockholm to look forward to on Tuesday.  But more about that in next week’s edition.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you a wonderful 2012.

All the best/Masha

The end of Christmas, the girls in Amsterdam, awful colds, bad weather and our Christmas Part 2

The girls and their friends Juli, Rocío and Ana on Kings' day in the morning, 6th January

Good morning my friends.

I have had a break from my blog and didn’t write last week so here you have a bumper edition to enjoy, the story of our Christmas part 2. But as I write, Christmas is over which is very sad as it means we all have to wait a whole year until it comes again.

The girls left for a long weekend break in Amsterdam with Rocío on Kings’ Day (6th January) and have left the house feeling very empty. It felt even emptier yesterday when Olga took all the Christmas decorations down, the most terrible sign of the end of Christmas for me. I always put the decorations up but never ever take them down as I find it just too depressing and sad.

I have been following the girl's travels via Rocío's photos on Facebook and can see they have bad weather too.  However I do not doubt that they are having a great time.  They are staying at a great bed ad breakfast in the Jordaan area called Maes which has some fantastic write ups in the guide books. Here is  picture of my girls in a typical street in Amsterdam.

Oli and Suzy well wrapped up in Amsterdam today. 

The view from the girls attic bed and breakfast apartment in the Jordaan neighbourhood in Amsterdam

The 3 of us left here all have bad colds. Eladio got his when we went to León on 23rd December to pick up his Mother. I then caught the same bug and now my 91 year old Father has it too. The cold just doesn’t want to go and gives us sleepless nights with huge coughing bouts. Eladio wears thick fleeces and sits by the fire and hasn’t left the house for days. The big mistake was not having the annual flu jab he and my Father have been having ever since Daddy came to live with us. This is my Father’s first cold since he’s been with us and I sincerely hope the after effects are less unpleasant than ours.

To top the nasty cold which won’t go away we are experiencing bad weather. The sky is dark and the clouds give way to rain most afternoons. I go for our walk on my own each afternoon and yesterday my lovely rainbow coloured umbrella from the Moma Museum in New York was turned inside out twice because of the wind. As I walked yesterday, I remembered the name of the song “Mad dogs and Englishmen” and thought that I was a bit of a mad Englishwoman, braving the weather over the hill at the top of the street and on my own. I did not encounter a single living creature, not even the usual rabbits who were probably huddling in their warrens. I also remembered an equally famous line or rather idiom: “come rain or shine” as I walked in the rain and wind. It sums up my attitude to my daily hour’s walk which I never give up whatever the weather. It’s one of the staple ingredients of my diet and one of the secrets to its success. Believe it or not I have lost 2 kilos over Christmas whilst most people have put on that much or more. That makes me very pleased as I broke it a lot on the 3 main occasions and even ate chocolate, the most forbidden of “fruits” but still I lost weight. I now have just a few grammes to lose to reach my target of 64.2 and soon will be on the much easier “consolidation phase”. However I am considering losing a couple more kilos before that starts.

Meanwhile I can’t stop buying new clothes and seem to want to wear something new every day to show off my new figure. I have yet to shop in the sales but on every trip out of the house in the past 2 or 3 weeks I have bought something. I now have a huge collection of those very fashionable, and even more comfortable short thick woolen pullover cum dresses which I wear over leggings. They remind me a bit of the hundreds of woolen dresses my Mother used to make on her machine but which I never liked to wear because I was overweight. Before the diet I hated buying clothes as nothing used to fit, except clothes from the extra large section at H+M which I always hated. I now buy size S at H+M and size M at Zara when it used to be XL at the latter if there was an XL and if it fitted which mostly it didn’t. I can now wear my daughters’ clothes and they can wear mine! Now my obsession is with clothes and not food, hahaha. On our walk in the evenings I used to think mostly about what we would eat for dinner and now I think about what I will be wearing the next day. By the way my friends, my New Year’s resolution this year is to stay slim and never get fat again. I can only hope and pray that it will turn out to be true. Those of you who know me well will know that I can have huge or no will power and nothing in between. So cross your fingers my will power lasts me through my New Year’s resolution. I have a feeling it will, but watch this space as they say in modern English these days.

I didn’t put on any weight, rather lost some and Christmas sadly is over. When I was a child it was’t over for me until after 7th January as we used to celebrate Russian Christmas too because of my Russian Mother but that is a tradition I haven’t kept up unfortunately. It is strange how the Eastern Christians celebrate Christmas later than the rest. This has to do with their keeping to the Julian Calendar and ourselves using the Gregorian Calendar, as far as I can remember. So how was our Christmas, or rather Christmas Part 2? You will have read about our Christmas Part 1 in my previous blog post published some 2 weeks ago and if you haven’t, here is the link.

I left off last time on Boxing Day. On Tuesday 28th I had lunch with a new found Swedish friend, Mica, who sadly will be leaving Spain to return to her home town in the South of Sweden in the middle of January. We had a great lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in La Moraleja, “Aspen”. Unfortunately it will be our last lunch together in Spain before she leaves and I know that I will miss her a lot at Yoigo. Her leaving, reminds me of my dearest Finnish friend, Anne, leaving Spain in 2005 after working together so happily at Nokia before things turned sour. Mica and I are in a way soul mates, with similar bubbly personalities and an enormous “joie de vivre” so I will miss her dearly. In the old days when you parted from friends, after a few letters, the odd visit or phone call, in the end you lost touch as each one took a different path in life. Thankfully today because of mobile phones, email and Facebook that no longer happens. Mica and I will therefore be able to continue our friendship, albeit virtually. I’m sure too that she will return often to Spain, a country she has fallen in love with, the same as Anne. So I look forward to hosting her here as often as possible. Meanwhile I wish her lots of luck upon her return to her native Sweden, a country, which like my Father, I admire enormously.

Bubbly Mica with her happy family at the Yoigo children's Christmas party this year.  I will miss my new friend

The week after Christmas was full of social engagements and continuing celebrations. They had all been pre arranged and I was damned that our colds would halt any of them. On Tuesday 28th December we had Mar, Mariano and their Chinese adopted son, San, aged 8 for dinner. Dinner with Mar and Mariano, both of whom are journalists, has been a tradition we broke for no particular reason a few years ago. So it was great to renew the tradition and to welcome them back to our house. For San the dinner was even more special because Suzy is his coach and private teacher and he did not remember coming to our house. For us he was the star of the show, and you will understand why when you look at this charming picture of him with my beautiful girls.

Oli and Suzy with beaming San when he came to dinner with his parents, our friends Mar and Mariano.

They were very late and didn’t get here until nearly 11 in the evening, owing to La Vanguardia’s late closing hour. I made vegetable soup with perushki followed by filet steak, potato salad and grilled mushrooms. Dessert for them, not for me (haha) was fresh red berry fruit with Häagen Dazs ice cream. By the way did you know that the name is completely made up and does not come from the original Polish immigrant creators of the company and brand who are actually called Ruebben and Rose Mattus and set up the company in the Bronx (New York) in the early 60’s? I always thought it was a nice family Scandinavian name but apparently it was completely made up. This sort of practice is called “foreign branding” and is done to make brands more desirable. In any case, their ice cream is probably the best mass produced ice cream in the world. I’m sure San agrees as his disappeared from his plate in seconds. Suzy went to bed early leaving our guests as she had to get up at the crack of dawn  for work the next day. It was funny to see how San’s behaviour worsened as soon as she left and to understand the respect he has for her. He is not an easy child to teach and Mar and Mariano say she has done wonders. When she first took him on, he always failed at English. Now over one year later, he gets high marks in this subject. His other subjects are improving too and Mariano thinks Suzy should become a teacher. She has obviously inherited her teaching skills from Eladio but prefers to concentrate on her own field which is not teaching. In the meantime Suzy only teaches to make some extra money but she’s obviously very good at it.

Mar, Mariano and San who came to dinner with us this Christmas

On Thursday we had more guests and were to be 12 for dinner when Javier, Ana and their lovely grown-up children, Ignacio, Laura, Cristina and María visited us. They had never been to our house or met Suzy and Oli so the latter had strict instructions to be with us that night. They protested strongly, arguing that Javier and family were our friends and not theirs, but did as they were told. In the end they enjoyed the evening thoroughly and fell in love with this great family, so close to our heart, as I knew they would. I have written about this family before on our visit to New York where they are living now and where they were great hosts and on our trips to Peñacaballera in Salamanca where they have a house and spend their summers. They have always hosted us so finally on Thursday it was our time to host them and for them to meet our daughters. Unfortunately they did not meet my Father, “Grandpa” or my Mother-in-law, Ernestina, who, being elderly, go to bed very early. For this occasion I made a prawn, salmon and avocado salad, followed by my famous meat loaf and potato pure, finished off with one of the best desserts in the world, home-made apple crumble with vanilla ice cream.

Javier and family who came to dinner to our house this Christmas too.

After dinner we drank one of the two wonderful bottles of Moët Chandon champagne our guests brought us. Ana collects the corks from special occasions, so of course we gave her ours and look forward to seeing her collection one day, including the cork from the lovely dinner last week. I have to add we drank the after dinner champagne in the sitting room with the fire place. Eladio had put so many logs in that the room was near boiling temperature, a lesson we have learned for the future. I hope it didn’t send our guests off earlier than they had planned.

The next day we were heading off to León to spend New Year’s Eve, as always, with Eladio’s family. My Father and the girls stayed at home, so there were just 3 of us in the car, Eladio, myself and his Mother. That day I was to break my diet for the second time this Christmas which meant we could stop off at the Palacio de Bornos winery in Rueda, the area where the best white wine in the world comes from. Here we enjoyed a glass of wine with a plate of ham and half a plate of chorizo with delicious freshly made bread sprinkled with olive oil.

Eladio and his Mother when we stopped at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on our way to León for New Year's Eve

That was at midday which meant that when we arrived in León I was not really hungry for the lunch my sister-in-law, Pili, had prepared. Nor was I able to drink the wine or eat the tapas my brother-in-law, Andrés invited me to at the bar near their flat. In any case it was lovely to be with them and their grown up kids, Paula and Mario and of course their very special dalmation, Trébol.

Andrés, Pili and Trébol on New Year's Eve in the afternoon at their flat in León.

I have to admit here that I actually prefer animals to babies. It’s something I’ve always known but only really realised on this visit. I had plenty of opportunities to take photos of the newest offsprings in the family, Diana, Roberto and Ana’s one year old daughter or Bea and Alvaro’s toddlers, Liam and Noa. I admired them at a distance but never once offered to hold them and of course took no photos, whereas the rest of the family was queuing up to do both. On the other hand I must have taken a dozen of Trebol. Does that mean that I’m not maternal? Well maybe not as much as other mothers. Of course I adored my own babies but for some reason other people’s babies don’t do much for me. It’s not that I don’t like children, I do, but they have to be at an age I can engage with them and have normal conversations. I’m sure of one thing though, that I will adore my grandchildren from day one. Meanwhile whilst they are nowhere near on the horizon, I continue to enjoy Trébol and of course dear Norah.

Trébol, Andrés, Pili, Paula and Mario's lovely dalmatian dog who I am completely in love with.

In the afternoon, whilst Eladio tried to sleep off his ever worsening cold, I went for a very long walk with Andrés and Trébol on the banks of the Bernesga river. I soon learned that Trébol is a much better behaved dog than Norah. He enjoyed most of the walk off the lead, something which would be impossible with Norah who would run off to chase rabbits and probably never come back. The walk was to work off the food intake at the Bodega in Rueda as well as Pili’s lunch but also to work up a new appetite for the New Year’s Eve dinner which was to take place at Yoli and Isidro’s house, Isidro being Eladio’s youngest brother. Yoli and Isidro live in a big house on the outskirts of León with their daughters Laura and Alicia (our god daughter) and have recently converted their garage into a party room which was perfect for the 24 of us celebrating the New Year.

Eladio and I on New Year's Eve in León.

Eladio’s family is a family who love to dance and at most family events they dance to the accompaniment of another brother, Alejandro, who learned to play the accordion as a child. He is probably pitch perfect but never ever had music lessons.

Alejandro, Eladio's brother, always provides live music for dancing at the family events, as he did on NYE this year.

 Unfortunately neither Eladio nor I are any good at dancing, although we did try one slow dance so as not to let the side down, but soon returned to our seats. We were the first to leave, at about 1.30. We seem to go to bed earlier and earlier these days and of course I get up very early, often at the crack of dawn, so at 1.30h we were yawning for our sleep. Never a good sleeper, especially in a bed which isn’t mine, I was surprised to actually get a reasonable night’s sleep. On New Year’s Day I was also to break my diet, so breakfast was a luxury and I enjoyed toast and butter for the first time in months.

Before leaving we had a date for a coffee with a couple in the centre of León, José and Mari José. They had been Eladio’s pupils when he was a priest in the village of Valderas many years ago. Marí José recently found Eladio on internet and they have been corresponding and now was the time to meet. I had met them once at their wedding nearly 30 years ago, so of course did not recognize them. It was funny to witness and be part of the reencounter after such a long time. For them it was very special, probably more than for us, as they had been the pupils and not the teacher which is normally the case. Here is a picture of Eladio with his old pupils who I think in part married thanks to the fostering of their relationship with events put on by Eladio for his young pupils at the time and for which they seemed forever grateful.

The reunion in León with Eladio's ex pupils, Mari José and José, a happily married couple.

After the amazing encounter, we hit the road again to drive home. Lunch was to be on the way at the Parador in Benavente where we nearly always stop on our way back. Here I was able to enjoy the superb chickpeas (garbanzos) from nearby Fuentesauco, where the best chickpeas in Spain are supposed to come from. If you know Spanish you may well have heard this famous saying: “el buen garbanzo y el buen ladrón de Fuentesaúco son” (roughly meaning the best chickpeas and the best thieves come from Fuentesauco!). I must say they were amazing, not only because of that but also because I hadn’t tasted chickpeas since I started my diet in September. Just look at this plate. Talk about home cooking at its best.

Chick peas with spinach at the Parador de Benavente, wonderful.

The next day, still being the weekend, was spent celebrating the New Year with the girls. As I had decided to break my diet for the whole weekend, we celebrated by going to the cinema and then to dinner to one of our all time local favourites, La Alpargetería where we were joined by Suzy’s boyfriend Gaby. The film we saw was “Sarah’s Key” a remarkable story about the round up of Jews in Paris by the French and not the Nazis during the second-world war but then handed over to the latter of course.  I have since ordered the book as well as another by the same author. As I read a resume of Tatiana de Rosnay’s own biography I realised just how similar it is to my Mother’s or even my own background which made me immediately interested in this author who was new for me. . For those of you, who like my Father, won’t be able to read the link, this is her background: “Tatiana de Rosnay was born on September 28th 1961 in the suburbs of Paris. She is of English, French and Russian descent. Her Father is French scientist Joël de Rosnay, her grandfather was painter Gaëtan de Rosna. Tatiana’s paternal great-grandmother was Russian actress Natalia Rachewskia, Director of the Leningrad Pushkin theatre from 1925 to 1949. Tatiana’s mother is English, Stella Jebb, daughter of diplomat, Gladwyn Jebb and great great granddaughter of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the British engineer. Tatiana is also the niece of historian Hugh Thomas”. Tatiana, curiously for me, obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English literature at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich in the 80’s, a place I spent many a summer and where my parents and Aunt taught. Who knows, we may have crossed each other on Norfolk Terrace or in the quadrangle on our way to the refectory. I think I would like to meet this lady with whom I would have much in common. Meanwhile I shall be enjoying her books and I may even drop her a note one day.

Tatiana de Rosnay, the author of Sarah's Key and with whom I have so much in common.

I haven’t read either yet as I have embarked on the enormously fat new book by Ken Follet, Fall of Giants set in the First World War in England, France, Germany and Russia. I am enjoying it thoroughly except for the battle scenes. That’s a bit like saying you like War and Peace apart from the war scenes, which is actually my case, hahaha.

Monday after the New Year’s celebration, was back to reality. One good thing that happened that day was that I got my hair style and colour back to how I like them after last month’s disaster. Tuesday was another shopping day as I went to our nearby shopping centre, Centro Oeste, to get some small presents for the Spanish Kings’ day on 6th January. We were to be doing the “invisible friend gift” with the girls and their friends, Juli and Rocío who would be joining us for “Reyes” as it is called here. Most Spaniards give their gifts that day so Reyes is really important for them. As neither my Father nor Eladio would be involved in buying the invisible friend presents, I, of course, did it for them. Actually it turned out to be a very good excuse to buy even more clothes at Zara, this time a red sleeveless knitted dress, a long white pullover and a short red cardigan. Of note too on Tuesday we had Oli’s friends Laura and Ana for lunch. Olivia had suggested them eating separately after us but I insisted on us all eating together as a family, pointing out that our house was a home and not a hotel.

Wednesday, the day before Kings’ day, I was up early to go and do a tac scan to make sure my mouth is in the right condition for 2 implants I need. I was very impressed with the Quirón hospital in Pozuelo, which seemed more like a hotel than a hospital. My test took place as soon as I arrived with no hanging around and if I had wanted I could have picked up the results the same day. As I also needed a gyno check up, for me and for Suzy, I went to make an appointment eagerly awaiting more efficiency and was rather disappointed to see that the earliest they could fit us in was the 1st April. So, yes efficient, but overcrowded like most hospitals here. Tuesday was a very medical day as I also had an appointment with my wonderful chiropodist in the afternoon at the Cemesur clinic in nearby Villaviciosa de Odón.  I cannot understand why people have pedicures when you can get this amazing treatment included in your health insurance. So once again, my feet are in great condition for my one hour daily walk.

In the evening, known as “Noche de Reyes” (Kings’ night) Suzy had decided to make the traditional roscón (Kings’ cake or bread, a bit like brioche but in the shape of a ring) which is eaten on Kings’ day for breakfast She got the recipe from internet and the difficulty degree was “difficult”. This recipe, like bread, needed fresh yeast and the dough had to rise several times before going in the oven. The recipe said for 8 people but turned out to be for many more. The outcome was extremely successful, 2 huge “roscones” which Suzy was extremely proud of. I witnessed each and every stage as I was taken on as her kitchen help for the occasion. We had also bought one in case the home made effort didn’t work out so ended up with 3. Luckily we were having guests the next day. Apart from Rocío and Juli, Eladio’s brother, José Antonio and his wife, Dolores and their grown up kids, Miguel, Sara and Juan would also be coming as they do most years on Kings’ Day.

Suzy and the giant Kings' "roscones" (cakes) - delicious

We toasted the roscón for breakfast and ate it with butter and jam (and some of us with Nutella!) and it was delicious. And I know that as I also broke my diet yesterday for the last and final time this Christmas. Breakfast was a lovely affair as we were joined not only by Juli and Rocío but also by Ana. The invisible present arrangement worked out fine too. My Father especially the enjoyed the last and final celebration of Christmas yesterday which he was not expecting.

Soon José Antonio and Dolores arrived and caught me in the middle of making their lunch, a truly British one too. I was making, as I had done on previous years, roast beef from the finest cut, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, peas and home-made gravy. You can guess what the dessert was. Yes, you’re right it was “roscón” but this time filled with thick whipped cream. And this is what the table looked like yesterday.

Lunch at home for 12 on Spanish Kings' Day was truly British, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings

We were 12 happy people for lunch enjoying Reyes (Kings’ Day) together, 2 united families and friends, as you can see on this photo below. The day was made easier for me as Olga was at home and so I didn’t have to do the clearing away or washing up. A home help is surely one of the best domestic investments available.

Lunch for 12 on Kings' Day

We all enjoyed coffee together but soon the party was broken up as the girls and Rocío had to leave for the airport. Also José Antonio and family were in a hurry to leave too which left the house suddenly very empty after the big lunch party. Christmas ended really when they left although it wasn’t until the next day that the decorations were taken down.

As I come to the end of my blog post on the second half of our wonderful Christmas, I can see how bad the weather is through the French windows in our study. It is raining hard and although I said at the beginning of my blog that I go for my walk “come rain or shine”, I think only a really mad person would venture out today and I’m not that mad an “Englishwoman” to brave the torrential rain coming down this early Saturday evening.

Let’s hope the weather gets better next week and that our bad colds abate too. Also now that Christmas is over, I am raring to get out for some action and a bit of a change of scene. I have worked through Christmas but haven’t once been to the office. We have spent most of our time nursing our colds and spending the afternoons in the lounge with the open fire reading or watching films when we haven’t been entertaining and now it’s time for some action, or I will go mad. If I didn’t say it last week, I wish you a great year, and if I did say it, then I wish you a great year once again. 2010 was a good year for me, so all I ask is that 2011 be just as good, if that’s not asking too much.

All the best my friends, till next week.

Masha

PD the full set of my Christmas photos can be found here on Facebook