North Korea explodes an atomic bomb, another plane crash, a lesson in French literature, I went to La Rioja and many other things

The River Oja in Ezcaray which gives its name to the region La Rioja.
Hi again and late again. I’m sorry.

A lot has happened since I last wrote as you will guess from the headline. Barcelona beat Manchester and won the Champions League. They did a hat trick by winning the Spanish cup and league also. Madrid is not too happy, so unhappy, in fact, it now has a new Chairman in one Florentino Pérez. That is big news in Spain.

On the international front, North Korea, one of the last communist bastions in the world together with Cuba, exploded their atomic bomb whilst the whole world looked on with only verbal protests which got nowhere.
The Korean missile the world had to put up with.
Swine flu continues and the world is hastily trying to get a vaccine. Meanwhile that most elite school in England, Eton College was shut down after 32 cases of the illness were detected.
Eton College, England's most famous and prestigious boarding school.
The worst news of all came from Brasil when an Air France aircraft disappeared over the Atlantic with 228 people on board whilst flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris this week. I hate stories of air crashes as they always make me remember our own personal tragedy. In May 1971 when I was 14 my Father’s sister, Gloria, her husband Derek and their children, my cousins, Jacqueline aged 12, Michael aged 9 and Anthony aged 7 perished in a big air tragedy. They were going on holiday to the former Yugoslavia and the plane crashed on landing. Being good English citizens they heeded the air hostess’ instructions to remain seated with their seat belts on. The only person to survive did not obey those instructions. I wonder still today whether they would still be alive if they had not been so obedient. It’s a lesson I have learned as I always take my seat belt off as soon as I land.

On a lighter note or maybe not so light, dear Susan Boyle did not win. She needs no introductions but if you have been away or on a desert island for the last month or so, I’ll explain. She is one of the most visited people on You Tube. This ungainly 47 year old Scottish spinster who sings like an angel was discovered on the programme, Britain’s got talent. In the end she came second but in most people’s opinion, including mine, she should have won and in fact all the bets were on her to win. Follow this link to see if you agree. The whole thing was probably too much for the poor woman who was whisked away after the show and is now recovering in a London clinic with emotional exhaustion. She apparently cried for 24 hours after the show. Not fair, not fair. So who did win? Apparently a modern dance group called Diversity who is absolutely not my style.
Poor Susan Boyle as she leaves the final of Britan's got talent after coming second
On the home front, we had dinner with Pedro and Ludi, Pedro of Spanish cycling fame and former winner of the Tour of France. We went to the Filo restaurant on José Abascal where we enjoyed each other’s company and had a great dinner too.

Maybe you are wondering what the lesson in French literature was all about. It’s quite simple. Oli had to do a piece on the Madrid book fair and this year the highlighted country was France. Eladio and I helped Olivia in her research and we discovered two things: France does not have an equivalent to Shakespeare or Cervantes, in that it does not seem to have one giant who shadows all the others. Names like Moliere, Voltaire, Proust, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Jean-Paul Sartre come to mind, all of them great but in a different league perhaps. I wonder if you agree. And secondly we learned that France is the country with most Nobel prizes for literature. It has 16 and boasts the first and last prize in this category which I thought was very illustrative of this country’s prowess in the field. For the record England and the US have 11 respectively, Germany some 9 and Spain just 5. Remember who they were?
The French author Le Clezio, the Nobel Laureate in Literature for 2008
The Madrid book fair was on this week. It's highly publicised yet Spaniards are not great readers
I’ve been shopping too. You probably imagine me madly spending money on clothes. Alas no I’m afraid. A lot of my shopping these days is on internet. It’s so easy to spend there. So what have I bought? Some more Emma Bridgewater pottery to increase my collection, some books (“Clara’s war” by Clara Kramer, another Holocaust survivor, “I was Winston Churchill’s private secretary” by Phyllis Moir), some music (Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli) and finally a camera, well not just a camera, but the new top of the range Canon Ixus 990. It arrived yesterday and I am delighted with it. But you had a camera didn’t you? You will probably ask. Yes I did but it kept being borrowed by the family and was somewhat worse for ware. They will be “borrowing” it permanently now.
One of my purchases from Amazon.com, the book "Clara's war"
My new Canon Ixus 990
The most interesting thing that I did since I last wrote, however, was going to La Rioja. I imagine the name needs no introductions as Spanish Rioja wine takes its name from this wonderful region in the north of Spain which borders with the Burgos, Navarra provinces as well as the Basque Country.

Did I go to buy wine? Well yes partly, of course but actually I went for work purposes. Lucky wasn’t I? I went on a site inspection trip which sounds very important. It was too as I have to organise the Yoigo summer party for over 130 people there at the end of this month and there’s not much time to go. As a seasoned party and event organiser I’m not too worried. It’s funny to think I’ve been organising them since the age of 15 when I used to invite people to our old house in Heaton Grove to what would probably be known now as alcohol binges or botellones here in Spain.

Eladio came along with me for the company, moral support and all those things that come in handy such as his driving. So we mixed work with pleasure and travelled last Saturday to Haro, the centre of some of the very best Rioja wine brands such as Muga, Cune, La Rioja Alta, etc. The girls from the agency joined me on Monday and we spent two days scouring the region for right places and hotels. It took some doing but I think we have come up trumps. All we have to do now is put into practise the programme we have in theory.

Some of the highlights of our trip were staying at a lovely little place called Señorio de Briñas in Briñas, a small and delightful village by the river Ebro, the walk from there to Haro over a Roman bridge, the visit to the Cune winery in Haro, tapas at Atamauri (the best tapas in Haro according to my trusted Michelin guide), the visit to the small family Bodega/winery in Briñas, Heredad Bañas Bezares (what a find!), exploring medieval Casalarreina with its lovely Monastery (Monasterio de la Piedad) as well as lunch at Casa Fuerte in Zarratón.

Me outside the Señorio de Briñas hostal
Eladio enjoying tapas at Atamauri in Haro - great wine and food but very disappointing town
We also learned a lot about wine and how to taste it. The three main things are colour, smell and taste. We soon put this knowledge into practice and were tilting the glass, moving it around, using our nose and finally enjoying the tast in our mouths.
Eladio tasting wine and learning about colour, smell and taste at the Cune winery
Of all the things we did and saw, nothing could beat the last night in the pretty town of Ezcaray by the river Oja (Río Oja = Rioja of course). We stayed at a modest little hotel, The Echaurren which has one of the best restaurants in the region and not at all expensive at 19 euros a head. The place has been given some fame thanks to its illustrious guest, Julio Iglesias who apparently is a frequent visitor.

The village is pretty with lovely squares and well kept houses but what we loved best was the walkway by the River Oja, with splendid grass paths and peaceful lush views.
Me on the walk by the River Oja in Ezcaray.
Ezcaray is not famous for its wine and in fact there are no bodegas there. Rather it is famous for mohair blankets. Loewe, that luxury Spanish firm, sells them probably for a fortune. We bought some lovely colourful ones which the cats will probably sit on but they will always remind us of our visit to Ezcaray, not surprisingly one of the most visited towns in La Rioja.
Eladio and the mohair blankets we bought in Ezcaray.
You can see some more photos of the trip here on Facebook.

And that’s it for this week, or rather for this week and a half or more. Before I finish I must mention it was Miguel’s birthday (happy birthday again dear nephew) and that my niece Laura has started a blog which you can read here.

Cheers
Masha

Lots of things happened, Tiger balm and Chinese tapestry. It was Oli’s birthday and we went to Montrondo again.

José Antonio and Eladio cutting the grass the old fashioned way with a scythe this weekend in Montrondo.
Hi again

It’s Tuesday and I’m late with my blog but I have an excuse as we went to Montrondo this weekend. Everytime I write my blog I do a sort of summary or list of things to include and this week there are lots, more than usual it seems.

The week was very social and was full of birthdays and a communion as well as a memorial funeral. Even a baby was born, no not mine (hahaha). So let me begin.

On Monday I had lunch with Julio and Fátima to celebrate Julio’s birthday. As usual he got something from Lacoste, this time a bathing costume (well that request came with the lunch invitation actually).

On Tuesday I had lunch with Jill who had just returned from India and had brought me some of that marvellous tiger balm. We had a good old gossip over a lovely lunch at De María in Majadahonda.

On Wednesday I had lunch with Lisa, my Chinese friend who used to appear on the TV chat programme with me and Jill until it ended in December. I must say I find it culturally enriching to know Lisa. I could nearly be her Mother but when there is chemistry age does not matter. She later sent me a lovely piece of Chinese tapestry she had bought for me in China. Thanks Lisa.
Lisa and I in one of our TV "appearances"
On Thursday Tomy was born to Ana and Tomy although we didn’t hear about it until the next day. Little Tomy came one month early but all went well. I sent a baby hamper to the hospital on behalf of Jill, Susana, Zenaida, Fátima and myself as we were not able to go and see the baby. I hope to soon though. Congratulations from here to this lovely family.

And Friday was Oli’s 24th birthday which began with a lovely family breakfast where we gave her our presents. We also used our great new Saeco automatic coffee machine which makes superb gourmet cappuccinos, or expressos or whatever you want.
Our new coffee machine.
Suzy and Oli and her friend Ana spent most of the day cooking for a party to be held at home in the evening. Lunch was again a family affair and here is the photo to officially record Oli’s birthday. The cake was her favourite, raspberry mille-feuille from Mallorca cake makers. With the cake I bought a “singing candle”. It’s amazing the things there are these days for parties.

Whilst the party was beginning, Eladio and I made a quick and quiet exit and drove to Majadahondo to have dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen at Mood. Just as we were going for a stroll after dinner it began to rain and the heat wave we had been experiencing came to its end. By the time we got home there was a full storm and Oli’s party, I’m afraid, came to an abrupt end.

On Saturday morning, Eladio, my Father and I left for Montrondo for the annual memorial mass to commemorate the passing away of Eladio’s father Antonio who died on 20th May 2005. Every year we meet in Montrondo on a weekend around that date and it is Antonio who, from wherever he is, continues to unite us all. (This was my entry last year).

The girls couldn’t come. Oli had another big birthday party at home again but this time for her work colleagues. Suzy had to go to a wedding of her boyfriend Gaby’s cousin, in Cádiz as you can see from one of the photos she gave me.
Suzy and Gaby at the wedding this weekend.
The trip to Montrondo was much like all trips there. We stopped off at the Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on the way which has become obligatory on all trips to León. It’s obligatory as it’s too good not to stop at. It is a “bodega” which apart from selling the best white wine in the world also sells lovely local products and serves fantastic ham and cold cuts.

On the Saturday not everyone was there but on Sunday we were 24 at Mass and at home for lunch afterwards. It’s a pity the girls weren’t there.

Time was spent making meals mostly but there were also moments for catching up with each other’s news, congratulating Ana and Roberto on her recent pregnancy, visiting the little house Primo and family are building, mending the lawn mower (Eladio and his brothers of course), cutting the grass with a scythe like old times or going for a quick walk to nearby Murias like I did here with my sisters-in law.

(L to R) Dolores, Adela and Yoli by the "Peña de Diós" rock on the old road to Murias.
Mario took the time to practise for his driving test which was on Monday. I took a snapshot here and whilst I did I told him he would pass. He said no way but the good news came yesterday when I heard he did. First time too. Congratulations Mario

Very soon it was Sunday and after a splendid barbecue, including a birthday celebration for Primo (there you see, another birthday) we said our goodbyes and drove off. We then had to return twice, the first time to get Eladio’s glasses and the second to get our toilet bag. Then when we arrived home I realised we had also left my brush and Eladio’s mobile phone charger. Are we just scatter brained or are these the first signs of old age I ask myself?
(Here is the link to the small selection of photos I took this weekend in Montrondo).

On Saturday in Madrid it was also Fátima’s daughter, Fátima’s First Communion which we were very sorry to miss. First Communions are still important in Catholic Spain despite increasing secularism. In most cases these days they are done more out of tradition than for any religious meaning I think.

Oli was waiting for us when we got home and thank God Zena, our cleaning lady, had been there in the morning to help diminish the signs of two parties. I don’t think any of us want any more barbecues or parties for quite a while now.

Meanwhile my friend Amanda had a nasty little operation which she has come out of fine, thank goodness. And talking of friends, I have found Amanda’s old neighbour, Gill, née Eastwood on Facebook. Jacky and Gill lived in a house which bordered the end of Amanda’s garden and they were my friends once removed so to speak. We have been corresponding these last few days catching up on 30 odd years in just a few lines. Facebook is great!

And so is Spotify. I mentioned that in my previous post. Well now I know it is available (the free version at least) in Spain, UK, France, Norway, Finland and Sweden. And for those of you who live in those countries and haven’t yet got an invitation, you can register without one here. This link is not at all publicised and was quite a find, so join up if you haven’t and spread the word. It is quite amazing – free music, nearly any type on your computer whenever you want.

Amazing too was the Spanish blogger granny, María Amelia who died this week. If you haven’t heard of her, here is her blog. She was until very recently the oldest blogger on internet and quite a personality I gather.

Another amazing woman is Susan Boyle (who needs no introductions). The news about her this week is that she has got through to the Finals of Britain’s Got Talent with this performance. I really hope she wins.
Susan Boyle, a singing phenomenon from Scotland
The week has been so full of events I have hardly had time to follow the news. Soon, though, it will be the European Parliament elections, next week in fact. Yesterday there was a big debate on Spanish TVE with the top candidates from the Socialist and Right Wing (Partido Popular) party. And my little daughter Oli was there at the studios covering the event for the RTVE website. Her task was to write about the behind the scenes and how the candidates looked and behaved. And this is what she wrote.

And now I must stop writing because I still have to publish this, add the photos, edit the content and add the links and Eladio keeps coming in and out giving me signals that he wants to go for our daily walk.

Till next week, enjoy this one.

Cheers 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