A special present and a party, wonderful Copenhagen, home again, a family weekend and a sporting Sunday.

10th June 2012

A special present and a party, wonderful Copenhagen, home again, a family weekend and a sporting Sunday.

Me in the Tivoli Gardens on Thursday this week.

 Hi again everyone, this sunny morning in June.

It is quiet.  I am writing from the kitchen whilst the men read the papers, the dogs are lying in the garden and Olivia is asleep upstairs, as is my niece Alicia who came to stay this weekend.  As to the whereabouts of Susana I can only imagine she is asleep at her new flat.  The house will come alive at midday when I expect everyone for lunch.  Meanwhile I can use this quiet time to write my blog.

The week has been good, with lots to tell, especially my trip to Wonderful Copenhagen.  So let me start from the beginning as always.

Monday saw me at a small village in the mountains of Madrid, to site inspect the main square “plaza mayor” of Hoyo de Manzanares as the location for our splendid summer party to take place at the end of this month.  I commented to Bea and Cris from my events agency, QuintaEsencia, over a cup of coffee across the road from the Plaza afterwards that it was the perfect place.  We are planning to hold a typical Spanish fiesta there for our employees, that promises to be different and a lot of fun.

The Plaza Mayor in Hoyo de Manzanares

On Tuesday I went into the office for the weekly management team meeting but first went past reception to pick up a parcel that had arrived from Motorola.  I was curious to know what they had sent me, Motorola being the company I worked for first in the telecoms sector, from 1990 to 1999 when mobile phones were just taking off.  Lo and behold it was their latest smartphone, sent to me personally by their new General Manager.  In a way I was tickled pink and very pleased to receive this unexpected present, it being the first Motorola phone I had in my hands for many years.  But it came too late.  If they had sent me one just after I left or even later I maybe would have used it.  But I’ve gone past both my Motorola phone phase as I have my Nokia phone phase. Right now my favourite brand is Samsung which probably doesn’t surprise you.  Even so, I felt very appreciative of the gesture. 

The present from Motorola, a lovely gesture

Later I was to receive an invitation to a joint Motorola Yoigo press lunch to be held next week on the announcement of this new terminal which will be part of our portfolio.  That will be one funny occasion for me, having been Motorola’s communications manager and now the communications manager for Yoigo.  I can only imagine it will be curious too for the press, many of whom have known me in both roles and of course in the same role at Nokia.  But, more about that next week.

That same night, Yoigo held a party to celebrate our new tariffs.  The event was my responsibility and thanks to my great agency, everything went really well, the best thing being the atmosphere we created. 

The atmosphere we created at the Yoigo party on Tuesday was electric to say the least

It was held on the roof terrace of a fashionable market, Mercado de San Antón right in the centre of town.  We had invited press and bloggers as well as staff and partners.  The latter included the mobile manufacturers and thus Tuesday night for me felt like a reunion of my Motorola colleagues and my ex Nokia colleagues, especially the latter.  It was great being together for the first time since we left; César from Samsung, Isidro from Sony Mobile, Eduardo from Blackberry and Mikel still at Nokia.  Here is a picture of that happy moment.

Tuesday was a true reunion with my ex Nokia colleagues, Mikel, Isidro, César and Edu

It was also nice to have the girls work with me that night, as they have been doing in many of my events over the years, since they were about 16.  We didn’t get home until very late, nearly 3 in the morning and despite sticking to the Dukan diet and having absolutely no alcohol, I had a splitting headache.  I think they can sometimes be provoked by stress.  A colleague of mine observed that I was not my normal self at the party and I think he is probably right.  It all boils down to being tense and worried that everything is going ok, so I never really enjoy my own parties.  However, this was one was very special.

My beautiful girls at the party on Tuesday night

You can see the photos of the event here on Flickr.  The Photographer, by the way was new and very good.

On Wednesday I was up bright and early as I had to catch the flight to Copenhagen.  I was going for a team meeting on Thursday but had the late afternoon and evening free to meet our dear friends Pernille and Thomas and their delightful daughters Julia and Alberte aged 10 and 7.

I had coverage problems in Denmark throughout my stay as well as visa issues, as taxis only use swipe cards and mine is a chip card.  Also I was only able to use one of my cards at a cash point.  The disadvantage of Denmark of course is that it doesn’t have the euro.  However the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.  I have been to Denmark many times, my first visit there being in 1974 on my famous inter rail trip which you will have read about in my last post and the last one being 7 years ago, just before I left Nokia.  The Danes are considered the “Latins” of Scandinavia and are definitely more outgoing than their Nordic neighbours.  The city is a walking fairy tale city with beautiful buildings although this time the city seemed to be undergoing a very big upheaval, with lots of renovation going on.  

My hotel, the Clarion Collection Mayfair, well praised on Trip Advisor, was very central; a stone’s throw from the train station and the world famous Tivoli Gardens.

My hotel in Copenhagen was not in the best area of the town

 It is however in the wrong district, Vesterbro which turned out to be the red light district with a sex show club bang opposite the old hotel.  Frankly that was rather off putting and next time I will be more careful in the choice of my hotel.  On the plus side it was clean and comfortable and the staff was very accommodating. 

This was the club across the road from my hotel!

Thomas picked me up just past 5.30 and drove me to their lovely home some 40km away by the sea near a delightful village called Hellebaekvej.  And there was my Danish princess Pernille now aged 40 but still looking 20, the age she was when she came to Spain to be our au pair, with her arms wide open to embrace me.  Behind her, waiting patiently with smiles on their little faces were her own little princesses Julia and Alberte and I swept them up in my arms and they felt like family.

Pernille, Julia and little Alberte

These wonderful people live in a fairy tale like big wooden house in huge grounds filled with colour because of the blooming rhododendrons.  The house I knew would be wonderful inside because of Pernille and Thomas’ great taste.  The whole ground floor is one big open space including the spotless kitchen and dining room.  After I had given my presents of wine and ham and smarties in a sleeping beauty container and green linen scarf to Pernille, they showed me their home and garden and I took endless pictures.

Thomas and Pernille's lovely house outside Copenhagen

Then we sat down to a simple but delicious Danish dinner made of cooked salmon, salad and boiled potatoes.  Dessert was local strawberries which couldn’t have tasted better.  Julia is learning English so I practiced a bit with her whilst little Alberte looked on, the only word she knew being “yes” and which she used a lot. Then these perfect little girls went upstairs to bed with no trouble whatsoever and we continued round the table catching up on our news. 

Julia and Alberte sitting down to dinner

Soon it was time to go as I had to get back to my hotel and Thomas had to work and of course they had to go to bed early as they start their morning at 6am, every day.  

Thomas stayed behind to catch up with his work, whilst Pernille drove me home.  We said our goodbyes on the terrace of their lawn where we had a quick photo session before leaving.  I just wonder when I will see them again.  I hope it is soon.

With my darling Pernille

On Thursday I was up early again and this time off to the Telia headquarters in Copenhagen for our team meeting.  My colleagues from the other Scandinavian and Baltic countries were all there before me, having arrived that morning as Copenhagen is much nearer their homes than mine.  We had a good day together going over all the PR projects we are working on, only stopping for lunch at the nearby Bizarro café.  We finished at around 5 and all made our ways by taxi to our hotels in the centre.  We were to meet again outside the main gates of the Tivoli Gardens just a while later.  I got there earlier, after walking down the famous Stroget pedestrian thoroughfare, the main tourist street in Copenhagen. 

Stroget in Copenhagen

I was eager to take a picture of myseslf outside the Tivoli gates to compare with the one I have of myself there aged 17 in 1974 on my Inter rail trip.  I actually think I look better today, nearly 40 years on.  Don’t you?

Outside the Tivoli Gardens June7th 2012

Outside the Tivoli Gardens in 1974, what a difference from above.

We had a meal at a typical Danish restaurant called Groeften.  My first course was wonderful fresh Danish shrimps.  Just take a look as they are mouth watering.

The wonderful fresh and pealed Danish shrimps which I had for dinner on Thursday night

After dinner we wandered outside to explore the beautiful gardens which were teeming with people on this cool summer night.  First we stopped to take a group photo outside perhaps one of the Tivoli’s most famous buildings, a sort of splendid white Moorish palace.

With my colleagues in the Tivoli Gardens

I snapped my camera everywhere I looked as there was always something interesting to catch my eye.  I have maybe been to the Tivoli Gardens some 5 or 6 times but each time I go it feels like the first and I enjoy the thrill of the place as if I were a kid.  The picture illustrating this week’s post is of me by one of the lakes against the backdrop of one of the countless numbers of pogoda style buildings.  I would have loved to go on one of the attractions but none of my companions were willing so we parted and went to bed early, always a good idea when travelling.  That night again I had a terrible headache and it could well have been for the two glasses of red Italian wine.  Oh well.

The next day, Friday, my plane wasn’t leaving until 15.45 so I had plenty of time to further explore the city and maybe do some shopping.  But first I had a meeting at 08.30 at my hotel with Maria from the Swedish Thule Group, based in nearby Malmo, a company that makes sports gear and transport equipment.  I had been asked by a colleague of hers, Claes,  to meet her to give her a sort of pep talk on how the company should embark on social media.  I think they thought I was some sort of expert, but really I see social media as just another channel for communication, albeit a new one and one that opens up a dialogue with your target market.  

Afterwards I was to meet my sweet Lithuanian colleague, Indre, who would be joining me for a walk around Copenhagen.  We walked up Stroget towards Nyhavn, that lovely street with pretty colourful houses by a canal that makes you feel you are in Amsterdam. 

With my Lithuanian colleague Indre in Nyhavn

The sheer number of bicycles gives you that same feeling too.  We stopped in some of the shops but didn’t buy anything and when we reached Nyhavn it began to pour with rain.  I had a rain hood but poor Indre had nothing.  We had no option but to walk back in the rain.  We parted at one of the department stores for Indre to escape the rain and I made my way back. I did stop at a little shop to make my only purchase in Stroget, a typical Danish striped long sleeved t-shirt in pink and black and I love it.

I arrived early at the airport, in order to have time for a nice lunch at the seafood bar (crab meat salad yummy) and to buy some Danish food at the Fine Food store to take home.  Here I indulged in Danish bacon, biscuits and jam for my Father, honey for Eladio and the finest smoked salmon I have ever tasted as well as some smoked mackerel and more shrimps which made a lovely dinner when I got home.

I was home just past 21h and happy to join Eladio and my Father for dinner and give them my impressions of the trip.  It was great also to come back to good weather and a warm temperature after the rain in Copenhagen and made me appreciate even more the climate of the country I live in.  I wasn’t to see the girls until the next day as Olivia and Alicia stayed overnight at Suzy’s flat.

On Saturday I was up early to go the hairdressers and then food shopping with Ivanka. Lunch on Saturday was our first barbecue of the year.  Here you can see Eladio in his bbq outfit grilling the steak, lamb chops and sausages.   Both girls, Alicia and the girls’ friend Juli joined us, so it turned out to be a wonderful lunch together.

Eladio preparing the first bbq of the season yesterday

The afternoon was spent lazily by the pool.  Here is a great photo of Alicia sunbathing with Elsa lying adoringly next to her. 

Alicia and Elsa by the pool yesterday

Later both my daughters had parties to attend, so Alicia stayed with us.  Eladio and I went on our evening walk with the dogs and were joined by Alicia afterwards where we sat relaxing again by the pool, enjoying Nora and Elsa’s company.

And today is Sunday, so I am back where I started.  We woke up to the news that Spain has requested a bailout for its banks with a loan of up to 100 bn euros from the Euro Zone funds.  Apparently this move, which will help the struggling banks has won broad support the world around.  I’m not so sure myself.  From what I read in the papers today, depending on their political stance, this seems to be a face saving option.  But I suppose the outcome remains to be seen.

The news has come on a day when sports will be in the minds of most people. Sporting victories are so often seen as an antidote for the crisis.  Thus there are big hopes for Nadal who will playing Djokovic in the final of the French Open today at 15h.  If he wins it will be his 7^th win, a major feat.  If the Serb wins, he will be one of the first tennis players to win all the grand slams. 

There's a lot at stake in today's final of the French Tennis Open

Spaniards will be hoping too that Fernando Alonso will bring them joy at the Canadian Grand Prix.  He is leading the championship and today is in the 3^rd  pole position, so hopes are high.  However, it is football which is in most people’s minds today as Spain with its “Roja” tema will be making its debut in the Euro Cup in Poland playing against the very challenging Italians.  The other countries in their group are the Republic of Ireland and Croatia, Italy being, by far the more difficult of Spain’s opponents.  And tomorrow England will play France, an equally exciting and challenging match.  Spain is the favourite as it won the last Euro Cup and of course the World Cup in South Africa last year, but of course that doesn’t mean to say they will win.  In fact no team has ever won the Euro Cup two times in a row. Germany, who beat Portugal yesterday are also keen favourites.  By next Sunday most of the countries will be in their places and we will know their chances better for the final.  Meanwhile we have three full weeks of football ahead which my Father and Eladio will be the ones who enjoy most in this house.

Before I leave you, a a special mention goes here to Sandra too, whose birthday it is today.  I very much look forward to a belated celebration when we meet next weekend in France.  Of course this week too would have been my own Mother's birthday, on 7th June while I was in Copenhagen. 

My Mother and I in the 70's, one of the very few if only photos of me with her and my eyes are closed.  However I think I look very happy and comfortable to be with her.

No doubt my Father would have been remembering her too as we do always, everyday of our lives.  How could we ever forget?

Meanwhile, I wish you all a very happy Sunday and a great week ahead. 

Cheers till next time

Masha

 PS You can see the full collection of my photos of the trip to Copenhagen here.

Barcelona again, a Hawaiian Barbecue, a Swedish royal wedding, the girls in Copenhagen and more

The "girls" in Hawaiian dress at yesterday's Barbecue. 

 Good morning my friends,

Another week has passed and here I am writing this sunny Sunday morning when thankfully the brightest star in our lives has returned. It wasn’t like this all week but gradually it made its appearance again.

Let me start from last Sunday if I am to be faithful to the chronological spirit of this blog which is actually my diary. We were joined by our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen on our walk in the late evening. Afterwards we went to dinner to a place we all like but don’t go to that often, La Txitxarrería, somewhere we often take our visitors from abroad. It has such great Basque food I don’t know why we don’t go more often. Mari Carmen, who is a pharmacist, brought me the pills I had ordered from her for my headaches and which you can only get under prescription unless you have a pharmacist friend like me. Thanks my dear. Let’s see if the new stuff works!

I haven’t tried them yet but hardly needed them this week as I only had a few light headaches. Luckily I didn’t have one on Tuesday which was my debut in the Management Team at work. I am the only woman in the team which I suppose has its added difficulties. I was a bit daunted but in the end all my fears went away as everyone was so welcoming. Eladio says I belong to the G8 now which is sort of fitting as the team now has 8 members with me.

The meeting went on for hours and I had a train to catch to Barcelona which I was afraid of missing but didn’t want to leave the meeting early on my first occasion. Luckily I caught it by the skin of my teeth. So why was I going to Barcelona mid week? It was to attend what I thought was an international PR conference but turned out to be the annual meeting of the PR measurement industry. Luckily there were other people like me; customers of that industry and I was really interested to see how social media and digital news was impacting all our work. The best thing about the three days was the networking and being at an international conference with people from all over the world. I made great friends with Audrey and Susanne from Germany and Tim from the UK.

With Susanne and Audrey at the Amec summit dinner at the restaurant Miranda del Museu overlooking the yachting club in Pau de la Villa.  Amazing place but the food nothing special.

The conference had its interesting parts but some of it was a somewhat technical and you heard people talking about automated measurement of sentiment, human analysis and machine analysis. I was interested to listen and see a guru of the industry called Katie Paine who everyone was telling me not to miss. She is an American lady, larger than life and extremely full of herself and someone you cannot miss in a crowd. You only have to go to her Twitter page to find out why. Here she says: “I've been called The Queen of measurement, but I prefer Seshat, the Goddess”. She was certainly no goddess to me, more of a pain to excuse the pun. I actually interrupted her presentation to ask her what she meant by “kick butt indicators”, such an Americanism I was sure more than half the audience didn’t understand. I think I might have floored her but maybe she has such an ego that that is impossible.

Katie Paine at the conference, the so called "queen" of PR coverage measurement.

We stayed at the Meliá, a supposed 5 star hotel just off the Diagonal and round the corner from a great shopping centre, La Isla (L’Illa in Catalán). It was fine but nothing special and I am no fan of modern sky scraper hotels with very masculine décor and furniture. The best thing was the bar and the big screen TV which was transmitted all the World Cup matches. Here they made the best mojitos I have ever come across, but then I haven’t been to Brazil.

The great  mojito I had at the Melia Hotel bar after the Amec summit dinner.  Tim called it the alternative to mint tea! 

In Barcelona I also had time to see my great friend Grainne and her son Marcel. One night I was invited to dinner at their place in Badalona and the evening was like something out of a comedy. We were joined by Grainne’s “boyfriend” Dan, a gorgeous looking Rumanian and Pepe a lovely man in his 60’s who has been Grainne’s friend for years. He had been married to a Scottish woman but his English was limited. I asked him what he did in life and when he said he was a “cobbler” I thought I didn’t understand. But yes, he is a traditional shoe maker and what a lovely guy he is. Dear Grainne made us all some very hot goulash at which even Dan complained. However we filled our plates with potato and salad to counteract the paprika and the lovely homemade Florentine tart did the trick in the end. In essence we spent the whole night laughing and I was made to feel part of Grainne’s group of friends even though I was meeting them for the first time. I think it all has to do with our going back so long ago to our school days but then again without the marvelous chemistry between us, the feeling wouldn’t be the same.

Pepe, Grainne and Dan the Rumanian.  We had a great evening at Grainne and Marcel's

Barcelona was as at its best and despite the Catalanism I love the place. I made sure I had time to walk down the Diagonal and got as far as La Rambla de Cataluña where I bought some great espadrilles at a shop called Mar Bessas (apparently a classic shoe shop in Barcelona) and S’carpa (sorry no websites) which I am delighted with. My suitcase was  of course bulging to the limit when I tried to close it on the last day. But my good old green Samsonite always closes in the end, especially if you sit on it. You can see the whole set of my photos from this trip here:

And now I have reached Friday of this week but I have totally forgotten to tell you what happened on Monday and it was important. So here I go. Monday was an historic day for Suzy and for us as she took her very last exam which if she passes will give her a degree from the Madrid Complutense University in Food Science and Technology. She was nervous but the exam went really well. We won’t get the result until the middle of July but we are very confident. She has been working hard for the last month or so, locked up in her room and only coming out for meals. Now she can look forward to a worry free Summer for the first time in many years. Have a great time darling. Soon you will be flying the nest and I will miss our moments together.

Also on Monday Oli returned from her fascinating trip to Brazil. We hardly had time to hear from her but at least managed a family lunch on Monday after which I wasn’t going to see her again till today. She brought us a beautiful Brazilian hammock which is proudly hanging between two trees in the garden by the swimming pool. Thanks darling!

Eladio having a siesta right now in the hammock Oli brought back from Brazil.

Oli had to go to work the same day she arrived which must have been challenging. She will have found her colleagues immersed in news about the World Cup and I was happy to read this piece she did on the atmosphere in Brazil related to the event.

Oli on a boat in Brazil recently.

But back to chronological order. I was home on Friday afternoon and as soon as I had unpacked Eladio dragged me off to Media Markt to buy a big flat screen TV for our room. Why would we want another television you may ask and be right of course? We have many TVs in this house but mainly watch it from our bed at night and the one in our room is probably 20 years old and failing. It is a typical 26” Sony TV from the late 80's but my eyesight is just not good enough to see it from the bed. So of course the alternative is a big flat screen. We didn’t want to spend much money and in the end chose an LCD 47” LG set which hopefully they will be installing next Wednesday. Eladio is very excited but I am less so. When I buy something I like very much  I need to use it straightaway to feel excited and this wasn’t the case on Friday. Yeah we paid for it but won’t see it till Wednesday. For you to understand: when I was a kid and my Mother bought me new shoes, I would put them on in the shop and when I went to bed I would put them on a chair at eye view in order to see them as soon as I woke up.

From Media Markt we went food shopping for the barbecue we were having on Saturday. Part of the stuff was bought at Sánchez Romero and part of it at Supercor. Sánchez Romero is Spain’s best supermarket and I just wish I could do all my shopping there but it is prohibitively expensive. Then we went out to dinner, to celebrate the TV Eladio said. Actually we don’t need an excuse to go out to dinner so off we went to De Brasa y Puchero in Boadilla and savoured a superb Salmorejo (thick gazpacho from the Córdoba region) amongst other things.

On Saturday we were up early to prepare for the first barbecue of the season. Our friends, the González-Gálvez family, were coming and we were to be 16, 6 children and 10 adults. So a lot of organisation and preparation were in order. Tables had to be laid, fresh flowers had to be arranged in vases, the barbecue fire had to be ready to light and of course food had to be made. So what did we offer our guests? You could probably guess I made salmorejo for the first course. Then of course we had a variety of sausages and meat served with jacket potatoes and salad. The dessert I was especially happy with as it was new creation and is actually very easy to make. I served mixed fresh berries and stoned black cherries in small glasses and covered the fruit with whipped double cream which I then topped with either meringue or biscuit. and another cherry. Here you can see what it looks like.

The new Summer dessert I made for yesterday's barbecue.  Nice eh?

At 2h our dear friends arrived and we greeted them with Hawaiian party fare. We all dressed up, even my Father and Gerardo managed to take a self timer photo of all us which was no mean feat as it was difficult to place the camera. I also did a video at the beginning of the party which you can watch here on You Tube.

Group photo at yesterday's barbecue.

We all had a grand time, the kids with Norah and Norah with the kids (she must have stuffed so much that she hasn’t wanted to eat since). I feel so at home with this family, the family I lived with in Madrid when I was a student and love them all dearly. I love their kids too who all have the same bubbly personalities as their parents Gerardo and Irene and Viky and Tomas. It was great to have you guys. We will do this again next year. You can see the full set of photos here on Facebook.

The very much needed siesta yesterday at the barbecue: Norah with little Irene.

As I am writing we are waiting for a call from the girls from the airport. I haven’t seen them all week as I went to Barcelona and on Friday when I returned they had already gone to Copenhagen for the weekend to stay with Pernille and Thomas and their daughters Julia and Alberte. I will have told you many times before who they are. To recap Pernille was our Danish Princess au pair when the girls were small whom we all fell in love with and have kept up with ever since. They will be back later this morning and I am dying to hear all about their weekend.  By the way here are some of the photos from their visit.

Suzy and Oli at Pernille and Thomas' house.  In the photo with Pernille, her Mother and the 2 little girls: Julia and Alberte

Meanwhile a real Princess got married yesterday in Stockholm. Crown Princess Viktoria aged 32 was to marry her commoner fitness trainer boyfriend Daniel Westling agedc 36. All of Sweden and Scandinavia were immersed in the wedding which of course was transmitted live. Here you can watch the most romantic speech ever from Prince Daniel who is now called HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Vastergotland. He called Viktoria “Princess of Sweden, the Princess of my heart” and told how he was not a frog like in the fairy tales but that the first kiss did not transform him into a prince. He also told the story of how Princess Viktoria wrote him 30 letters in one night, one for each of the days she was going to be away in China and separate from him. He said that said a lot about her. The speech and video transmitted pure love and I just hope that this Royal Marriage is lasting and that Viktoria and Daniel are happy for ever after as in all fairy tales.

The Crown Princess Viktoria  and commoner Daniel Westling yesterday at their fairy tale wedding in Stockholm

Who is definitely living a fairy tale is a young man called Pau Gasol. He went down in the history of Spanish sport as being the first Spaniard to win the American Basket Ball championship commonly called The NBA. Well this last week he did it again, this time with the Los Angeles Lakers team. Well done Pau, another first for Spanish sport.

The Spaniard Pau Gasol winning his 2nd NBA, this time with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Who are not living a fairy tale, but rather a nightmare are the English and Spanish teams at the Football World Cup in South Africa. England has not been able to score and on Friday drew with Algeria. Imagine! Even worse was Spain’s fate against Switzerland in their opening match on Wednesday. Switzerland is supposedly the weakest in the G Group (Spain, Chile, Honduras and Switzerland) but beat Spain on Wednesday. The next match is on Monday against Honduras but the Spanish team, as usual, will probably not make it through to the quarter finals. There were high hopes as always in this competitions which are now somewhat dashed, disappointing a nation who needed a respite from the current depression, something success at the World Cup would have given them.  I hope these are my famous last words and that Spain does indeed actually get through.

And on that note, I leave you hoping you will all have a great week. Me too I hope.

Cheers till then

Masha

Coughs and colds, a visit from Pernille and Thomas and broken glasses

Dinner last night at De Brasa y Puchero in Boadilla with Pernille and Thomas, a great reunion.
Hi again,

I am writing today Monday 9th November which is a holiday in Madrid, la Almudena, the patron saint of this city. Eladio is at his University tutorial class which is outside Madrid so he doesn’t get a day off. Oli is working as she has been all weekend and Suzy is off to Carolina’s house for a girly evening and Oli will join them later. My father is emptying the washing up machine in the kitchen and will not be taking his walk this evening as he has been having problems with his knee. Thankfully it is getting better.

So this is the perfect time to write my blog except that there isn’t a lot to report apart from Pernille and Thomas’ visit. But I’ll come to that later.

We have all had coughs and colds recently except for my Father, thank goodness. Eladio had bronchitis and is on his second dose of antiobiotics. I have a terrible cough which only appears at night but keeps me awake for hours. I feel ok during the day but dread the nights. Luckily though, we have not been affected by swine flu which has spread a lot since it started this summer in Mexico. It has not muted into a more dangerous kind but is still a lot in the news. We have had our first case at work too.

This last week I was busy as I will be this week preparing some events for this month and Christmas. On Tuesday I went into town to look at possible locations. Amazingly in just one day we found the perfect places. As I was in town I took the girls for lunch and we had a great time together. The place we went to has a terrific terrace with great views of Madrid as you can see in this photo of Suzy and I.

This week was also my monthly meeting with Elena a colleague and neighbour who is looking for a job. As I know what that’s like I’m trying to help her find one. We’ve become good friends and I enjoy talking and having coffee with her once a month.

This was the week I finally got a Pandora bracelet which I have been wanting for a while. Thanks girls for the present it was lovely. It’s silver and came with 2 charms, a ghost and a doll. I have now been twice to the Corte Inglés and now have 7 charms. I just love it. Hopefully I will get more for Christmas. I will won’t I Suzy?
A typical Pandora bracelet which you make up yourself with different charms.
But most of all this was the week Pernille and Thomas came to see us. Pernille, my princess, was our Danish au pair from 1991 to 1992. She was about 18 at the time and the girls were 6 and 7. A friendship was forged forever. We even went to her wedding to her childhood sweetheart Thomas which I must say was the most beautiful wedding we have ever been to. That was in 2001.
Here are Pernille and Thomas on their magical wedding day with the girls who actually sang at the ceremony as a surprise.
I saw them again briefly when I went to Copenhagen in 2004 and Suzy saw them when she went to visit her friend Estefanía in May. However neither Oli nor Eladio had seen them since their wedding. They are now the proud parents of 8 year old Julia and 5 year old Alberte. Thomas works for Microsoft in a global position and darling Pernille is a nurse. In fact she was voted the nurse of the year in the hospital she works for in Helsingor outside Copenhagen. But that doesn’t surprise me as she is as beautiful inside as she is outside.

Thomas had a business meeting in Madrid so Pernille decided to come too. They stayed with us yesterday and are now in Madrid having a small holiday together. Eladio went to pick them up yesterday whilst I was preparing the food. It was a great day catching up on each other’s news, talking about the time when Pernille lived with us and just being together. We showed them the house, had a lovely meal then a siesta and a walk and in the evening Oli joined us and we took them out to dinner to De Brasa y Puchero in Boadilla.

This morning we all had a lovely leisurely breakfast together, although I had to try and stop Pernille working in the kitchen and remind her she was a guest! Oli had to leave for work and so I went outside to take a photo. As they were saying goodbye, Pernille cried with emotion and I caught this delightful photograph of them hugging each other. It’s amazing how much this lovely golden Danish girl means to us.

After taking a few more photos (you can see the rest here) Suzy and I drove them to Madrid to their hotel close to the Puerta del Sol.
Pernille, me and Thomas in our garden this morning.

They will have had a great time today as it has been sunny all day. We said our goodbyes but this time we know we are going to see each other sooner. For starters the girls have been invited to stay with them in May and we shall probably see them at their parents’ place in La Herradura near Málaga the next time they go.

The rest of the day was fine except that I lost my varifocal glasses and then found them at the car park in the Corte Inglés crushed by a car. It’s terrible to think that a new pair will cost me at least 700 euros but I immediately decided not to be upset. I told Suzy that life was generally so good to me I had no reason to complain. Eladio took the loss well and saw it as an opportunity to buy me a pair that suited me better. He’s right they didn’t suit me very well. This time, though, Suzy will come with me to help me choose.

And on that note, I’ll leave you to go upstairs and make Eladio and my Father’s soup for their dinner.

Till next week
Masha

Sarkozy’s boots, Afghan women protest, Indian elections, Imagine never having been kissed at 48? Internet and me, my Danish princess and other stories

A star was born in England last week. Susan Boyle the new world media phenomenon.
Hi again

There has been lots of news this week that caught my attention. This was the week Sakorzy, the modern day Napoleon, put his foot in it and was caught off the air criticising both Barack Obama and the Spanish President Zapatero; the latter as weak and the former as dim. The only leader who came away unscathed was Berlusconi! More than his foot, it seems he is getting too big for his boots and it could take some time to live down this faux pas.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, a bit too big for his boots
This was also the week Afghan women demonstrated for possibly the first time ever. They may not be able to revoke the unacceptable new Shia family law which gives Shia husbands wide-ranging powers over their wives, who are not allowed to leave the house without their husband's permission or to refuse him sex without a medical excuse. But at least they got their voice heard, which is quite a miracle in this country where life for women is worse than in the dark ages.

Afghan Shia women protesting in Kabul, a very unusual scene.
In a country close to my heart, the sub continent of India, elections started this week and nearly 800 million people will be voting. Not surprisingly the whole process will take as long as a month. Will yet another Gandhi family member and descendent of Jawaharlal Nerhu win for the Congress party again? And if Indira Gandhi’s grandson Rahul gets elected, will he also be assassinated like his grand mother Indira and his Father Rajiv or like the Father of the nation itself, Mahatma Gandhi? Is the price of power worth paying for certain death one day at the hands of his own countrymen?

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Party candidate in the Indian elections.
But above all it was the week a star was born and a dream came true for an unknown frumpy looking and astoundingly charismatic 48 year old Scottish lady called Susan Boyle. She took part in ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent programme last week and literally rocked the audience off its feet despite initial jeering at this plump and unattractive looking middle aged lady who admitted on stage that she was unemployed, unmarried and that no one had ever kissed her. The song she sang, I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables, has now been viewed over 20 million times on You Tube and Susan Boyle has become a world star. I, for one, am truly amazed by this dream come true and hope it all works out for the lovely and very authentic Susan Boyle. Her voice is fantastic, that is true but I wonder whether there would have been so much noise about this participant if she had been young and beautiful. Certainly not. What we all seem to like, to quote one of the judges, is the underdog story she portrays. There is also an element of the Cinderalla fable without the beauty which goes to prove that appearances can be misleading. As my dear Aunty Gloria used to say: never trust a man by his umbrella, it may not be his. Good luck Susan, you more than deserve it.

Another bit of news I have to report this week, is a video news piece that Oli did for RTVE.es with another colleague. It is about young and successful professionals who have to return home because of the credit crunch. I am pleased for her that this turned out to be the most seen video of the week on their website. I am not, however, pleased for those young people. Times are difficult for them.

Talking of websites, that leads me to my next subject which has to be Internet or rather Internet and me. I have to acknowledge I am addicted to quite a degree. It fascinates me and I spend my time on email primarily of course and on news items and the weather for example. My blog is my passion and this week I surpassed 20.000 visitors. That’s a lot of people following someone neither famous nor extraordinary like me. What is news about the visitors is the variety of countries they come from. You just have to click on the cluster map on the right hand side of the blog to see the list. The top 5 countries are Spain, USA, Finland, Mexico and India but boy are there some obscure countries after them.

Of course I am on Facebook and have been for some time and more recently I am on Twitter. I couldn’t believe that I was ranked 458 in the Twitter holic ranking for Madrid – possibly that proves Twitter has not yet taken off in Spain properly. If you don’t know what Twitter is read here. Actually when you update your status in Twitter it updates automatically in Facebook so you don’t waste time.

In Facebook you belong to a circle of friends. In Twitter, however, you can find anyone (unless you block them or they block you) and there are many high profile people out there using it like Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Britney Spears or Demi Moore (she tweeted that Susan Boyle had moved her to tears)to name a few. I was happy to find a whole load of old cronies from my Motorola Cycling Team days such as Lance Armstrong himself, Paul Sherwen, Kevin Levingstone, Graham Watson, Jim Ochowich, Rupert Guinness or Johan Bruyneel. Following their tweets brings me right back to the Tour of the Basque Country drinking pacharán with some of them. It’s great to have found them.

To quote the NYT’s article on Twitter above, it unleashes the diarist in you. I have to admit I have been a diarist on and off since the age of 6 so the diarist in me was already unleashed. More than that, these internet tools have made diary writing a joy and easier to be consistent about.

Finally I have my own channel on You Tube where I have some domestic videos of our trip to India and mainly of Norah, our new Beagle puppy I am besotted with. And this week I joined Digg which seems to be the next best thing after sliced bread in the online news world. Try it, it’s great. By the way you can find my You Tube and Twitter profiles added to my blog now (right hand side and quite low down).

On the offline front, yes I mean, here at home, the week began with Anne leaving after a great Easter weekend. On Monday night we went out with Graciela and Eduardo to a nice little tapas place in Boadilla called Vinoteca. Congratulations go to them as they are expecting a baby boy. I wonder who will get their way: Eduardo with Eduardo or Graciela with Mateo? I expect the latter. The four of us are now all ex Nokians so had a great time gossiping about old times as well as new events. I must say the Nokia slogan “connecting people” and the internal one “reuniting colleagues” are both true. The best thing about my nearly 6 year stint as the PR Manager for Nokia Spain was the people I met.

Anne went back to Finland and as we are quite a globe trotting family, I suppose it is no surprise that Suzy went to Denmark on Thursday. She went with Rocío to visit Estefania who is there on an Erasmus University scholarship and they were joined on Friday by two other school friends, Erika and Carolina. Suzy is having a great time. They are riding bikes to go everywhere and are very pleased with the modern Scandinavian style residence they are staying at. Of course Suzy went with her friends to see the Little Mermaid, a fairy tale character she has always equated with ever since she saw the Disney film as a child. Suzy and Ariel and Ariel and Suzy have a strong relationship.
That unique and lovely statue of the Little Mermaid, inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's tale rests by the sea in Copenhagen.
In Copenhagen there lives a real princess, at least for us. I refer here to Pernille, the lovely golden girl who came to live with us in 1991. She was 19 and as she reminded me last night on the phone, I was just 35. The girls were about 6 and 7 and she was to be their au pair. That was the beginning of a life time relationship and of a person who has a permanent place in our hearts. Pernille married her childhood sweetheart, Thomas and they have two little girls called Julia and Alberte. Suzy met them yesterday for the first time and also saw Pernille and Thomas for the first time since their wedding. We all went to that fairy tale wedding in 2000 as you can see here in the photo. Pernille, we miss you. Please come with your family and see us this Summer as you said you would last night.

The girls at Pernille and Thomas' wedding in Copenhagen in 2000.
Suzy will be back tonight and I’m dying to see photos of that encounter. Meanwhile here are some of her in Copenhagen.

Suzy and the Little Mermaid
Suzy on her bike in Copenhagen.
Next week she will be celebrating her 25th birthday and there will be a big party here on Saturday. Andy and Amanda will be her for that as they are coming to Spain to visit Salamanca to look for accommodation for a course in Spanish they will be doing in August. Also Marta and Paula will be here, passing through, on their way to Liverpool (tourism is big there these days. Who would have believed that a few years ago?). So next week we are going to have a full house. What fun. What Suzy doesn’t know about (and she won’t read this so I’m not worried) are the amount of surprises in store for her that day.

We’re going to have fun.

More, next week. Cheers till then,

Masha