Barcelona and home with a bang

Hiya,

Wow, how I do begin to describe this past week? Well this time last Saturday Eladio and I went to see the film Camino. I think it has gone straight to my top ten of films as it has all the ingredients I like, children, love, religion, hospitals and above all emotion. I highly recommend it. The main character, Nerea Camacho is the loveliest young girl I have ever seen. She is 11 and comes from a town in Almeria. After the film we had dinner with our friends Roberto and MariCarmen at, yes, you guessed right, La Alpargatería.
Nerea Camacho in Camino
On Sunday Eladio and I travelled to Barcelona as I had to do a site inspection for locations for events during the big telecoms congress in February, the GSMA. Time was spent working in my room, site inspecting and all the free time was taken up by being pure tourists. Funnily enough I have only really ever visited Barcelona for work purposes so this was a great occasion to enjoy the city too.

We stayed at a great hotel, the 1898 where we made full use of the spa every day of our stay which is a great way to relax.
Me working in the hotel room
The hotel is right in the middle of La Rambla, Barcelona’s famous walk way. It’s a unique street, full of people from all over the world, kiosks selling everything under the sun, flower stalls, human statues out to make money, live animal stalls, endless tapas’ restaurants, artists offering to draw portraits, people selling loose cans of beer, “ladies” selling their bodies and old age pensioners sitting and watching the world go by.
Me on La Rambla
The weather was amazing for the end of October with temperatures of over 25ºc throughout our stay. We visited the Gothic Cathedral, walked into the famous Boquería fresh food market, made our way to the Gaudi unfinished cathedral, “la Sagrada Familia”, strolled past the Puerta de Angel, the Plaza de Cataluña and up the Paseo de Gracia full of wonderful houses such as Batllo and Casa Mila, otherwise known as La Pedrera.
La Pedrera
We had lunch at La Gavina by the sea in Port Vell (old Port) and dinner at La Venta in Tibidabo, very recommendable places I never fail to visit when I am in Barcelona.

You can see a selection of photos of this trip, here on Facebook.

The day we drove back which was Wednesday, the weather turned for the worse and it was rain all the way back. Just as we had started our journey Olivia rang to say Susana had had an accident with the Volvo on the road from Pozuelo to Boadilla. This was certainly bad news to come home to. Poor Suzy, who came away unscathed, thank God, as did the other passengers, drove round a bend in the rain to find a queue of cars standing still because of what she later learned was a fatal accident. A police car had crashed into a bus and the policeman was killed! Susy was unable to control the car and crashed into 2 other cars. The Volvo, unfortunately, is very badly damaged and it was only insured for third parties!!

To top it all, the next day someone punctured the tyre of the Alfa at the Complutense University. It was around lunch time and she had to wait for ages until the AA (equivalent) arrived. All in all she was waiting around for about 5 hours!!

The week got better, or at least back to normal eventually. On Thursday I went in to the office for 2 meetings. I now work from home nearly most of my time and can’t begin to say just how beneficial it is all round. I’ve got so used to it now I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to a sit in the office job ever again.

Whilst in Barcelona, I finally got the internal motivation necessary to go on a diet. And, yes, I started my diet number 1000 odd on Thursday. Let’s see how it goes …….. Wow that was one important decision to make in my life!!

Oli seems very happy with her new job even if it is quite stressful. It must be worse than a traditional newspaper to work for a website, such as RTVE’s as the deadline is permanent because the news has to be 24/7. This week I’m proud to include her article on the demolishing of the Carabanchel prison, that symbol of Fashist repression under Franco.
The famous Carabanchel Prison
The article was posted on the front page when it was published. Her timetable is all up and down. For instance she is working over this weekend and in the short future will be working at night for 2 weeks, from 12 till 7 am.

To top this week’s bad news, we found out today that our dear Ukranian cleaning lady, Zena, has cheek cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy!! That’s a very sad story.

To cheer ourselves up, and after all today is Saturday, Eladio and I will be going to the cinema tonight to see Nights in Rodanthe which promises to be highly romantic and right up our street. Hopefully we will have dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen afterwards.

I look forward to a better week next week.

All the best everyone,
Masha

The rest of the week’s news; Carlos, Fátima and Julio, Santi and the Quixote giants.

Hi again,

Tomorrow, Sunday, I’ll be off to Barcelona on a site inspection tour, so I won’t have time to update my blog which is why I’m doing it today. There isn’t much to report as I’ve already posted the news of Rosy’s visit and the ”X” Motorola girls’ reunion lunch.

Well the lunch yesterday went really well and you can see the photos here. We started at 14h and Marián, Nuria and I were the last to leave at 18h. That was 4 hours of non stop talking as we all had so much to tell each other. I now have the mission, together with Marian to organise the next Ex Motorola Convention. I think that will happen in the New Year. It’s amazing that we are all still so united after so many years. I suppose we can never forget those incredible years we spent together forging and creating the mobile phone market in Spain.
The "X" Motorola girls' reunion lunch
At home we are all still very much under the impression of Rosy’s visit and today my Father tried the Cuban coffee she brought. He thought it was lovely. We haven’t heard from her yet but hope to soon.
My Father with Rosy when she visited our house this week
Rosy and Susy, just before the former left
On Monday I met up with Carlos, another ex Motorolan, for a lovely long lunch. Carlos, now a top executive with The Phone House, started off his professional life in Motorola where we coincided. I have always had a soft spot for him and he knows it, so when he had a terrible life and death car accident a few years ago and most of his body was burnt and no one knew whether he would survive, I became even closer to him in many ways. He survived and I know that the accident not only left physical scars but also an even more positive outlook on life than before.

On Tuesday I had lunch with my favourite “buddies”, Fátima and Julio. As you know, I used to work with them at Nokia and, of course, with Fátima before at Motorola, so I miss them dearly as work colleagues. However we make sure we meet regularly and are completely up to date on each other’s lives.

I also saw Santi from the Mi Querido Watson events agency. Over lunch at La Albufera in Sexta Avenida we caught up on each other’s news. It was good to see him looking so well and happy.

And the weekend is here now. Suzy has gone off to Santa Pola with her boyfriend. Oli will be resting. She works really hard and I thought I ought to include here one of her articles this week for RTVE. The headline is ingenious and the story about wind farms in Valladolid. Of course in Spanish they are known as “wind mill farms”. So Oli called the article: “the Quixote giants (windmills in the book) attack the land of Valladolid”!

Eladio and I will be going to see a rather polemic film tonight called Camino and which has to do with religion, the after life and Opus Dei. Then we will be having dinner with our great friends Roberto and Mari Carmen at, guess where? Yes, La Alpargatería in Majadahonda.

And tomorrow we will be off to Barcelona. Eladio will be accompanying me as my chauffeur and inspector, a job he is very good at.

More about that in my next post.

Cheers till then
Masha

The “X Motorola Girls”

Hiya

Today I am organising a very special lunch. It is for the girls who worked in Motorola in Spain in the 90’s. Motorola is the company where I learned the “trade” I fell in love with and excel in today: PR and events or parties if you want the truth. Yes, I’ve loved them since I was a teenager in Yorkshire and used to fill my parents’ house nearly every weekend. And here I am organising yet another one again today. This time for the girls I worked with at Motorola, Nuria, Marian, Fátima, Vicky, Susana, Anita Oca and Laura.

I was the fourth person to work in that company which I joined in 1990 when mobile phones were a sheer luxury. The first “portable phone” was the Micro Tac 9800x which cost 400.000 pesetas and weighed 400 grammes!! There was only coverage in Madrid and in the Balearic Islands where the King of Spain had his Summer residence.
The world's first "portable" phone, the Motorola Micro TAC 9800X
We have all gone our separate ways but that fantastic group of people whom I had the privilege of working with during the 90’s still keep in touch. We were the team who introduced mobile phones into Spain and made them popular. When we joined Motorola no one knew the company and the penetration of mobile phones in Spain was under 0.2% of the population. I remember in my first presentation to the marketing team in the HQ in the UK telling my colleagues that our objective was to make Motorola a “household” name and mobile phones a mass market product. I didn’t believe what I was saying at the time but time has proved us right.

To celebrate today’s occasion, and with the help of my event’s agency, QuintaEsencia, we produced a superb badge, face mask of how we looked 10 and 15 years ago as well as the Comic Poster above to immortalise the “X girls” – that extraordinary group of women who worked in Motorola in the 90’s and are now known as the X Motorola Girls!!!

Of course, to do so I had to get hold of photos of us from the past and photos of us from the present. These you can see on Facebook.

But more news about the X Motorola girls’ lunch next time.

Cheers
Masha

Rosy, the cousin from Cuba. Return to Montrondo.

Rosy outside the gates Constante walked through when he left Montrondo never to come back again.
Hi again

I just have to include a midweek post to report this piece of big news for Eladio’s family.

This week we met Rosy, the granddaughter of Constante who came to find her roots in Spain. It is thanks to Juan, my nephew who visited Cuba last year and to José Antonio, (Eladio’s brother) his father, who has spent the better part of this year getting all the paperwork together for Rosy to come to Spain as it is very difficult for Cubans to go abroad. How can I begin to explain who Rosy is?

Once upon a time, in about the year 1900, in Montrondo, a small and remote village in the north west of Spain where my husband’s family comes from, there was a couple called Clotilde and Alejandro who were the parents of Eladio’s grandmother (Licinia) on the side of his Mother.

Clotilde and Alejandro had 3 children, Elías, Licinia and Constante. Like many Spaniards at the time, Constante, the youngest, emigrated to Cuba in about the year 1920, never to return to his beloved Montrondo.

However he never forgot his village, the city of León and Spain and corresponded regularly. He married a Cuban girl and he himself had 5 children, all boys, including Alejandro. Alejandro is Rosy’s Father. Rosy always remembers her Grandfather with a map in his hand showing her where Montrondo was. Little did he know she would ever visit. But she did; she returned for him.

Rosy is the first relation to return to Spain nearly one century later. She is an attractive modern Cuban woman in her 40’s and journalism is her profession although right now she is writing a book about one of Che Guevara’s co revolutionaries. Genes being genes, she is similar in looks to my sister-in-law Pili. She is also the Mother of 2 youngsters, Fidel and María Clara.

Our meeting the other night at José Antonio and Dolores’ house was quite emotional and a very beautiful experience. Rosy then visited us here at home yesterday and my Father promptly fell in love with her, as we all did.
Rosy flanked by Toño (left) and Eladio (right)
Rosy with Oli (left) and Suzy (right)
But what must have been even more emotional was her visit to Montrondo this last weekend. There waiting for her was the whole family (except us – we had to stay at home to look after my Father after his operation) and the reunion was a huge success. Alejandro played the accordion and they all danced which is just so typical in Eladio’s family.
The family reunion in Montrondo
There too was Eva, now in her 80’s, the daughter of Elías, and her family who also welcomed Rosy “home”.

Rosy explored Montrondo together with the family and walked where she knew her grandfather had one day walked. She posed for a photo at the main gates of the family house which Constante walked through when he left the village to go to America; so Eva told Rosy, In a way Rosy came back for Constante and walked through those gates again to the warmth and love of her grandfather’s family in Montrondo.
Rosy in Montrondo
Rosy pouring over old family photos with Ernestina, Eladio's Mother
Rosy’s 2 week stay in Spain is over today and right now as I write she is on the plane returning to Havana. Now we have met her we shall all keep in touch. That I know. But who knows if Eladio and I, at least, may well go in the not too distant future to visit our new Cuban cousin and all the other sons and grandchildren of Constante.

Rosy. Fue un placer. Un abrazo desde “El Bosque”.

Masha

On the home front, Oli and Eladio are back, Oli starts with RTVE, news from abroad, my role as an employment recruiter and other things

Eladio and Olivia in Istanbul
Hi again,

On the home front the week has been quiet but actually full of activity.

Oli and Eladio came back safely last Sunday from their trip to Istanbul. They were loaded with goodies from the Grand Bazar and Spice market. All in all it seems they had a great time and the break had done Oli a power of good.
Oli at the Spice market
On Monday Oli started her new job with RTVE as a reporter for the website. She had been working there this summer on an unpaid internship and she is one of the only students to have been taken on full time. The contract is just for 6 months but the experience will be fantastic. Her timetable is from 3 pm to 10 pm and she comes back exhausted. She has to write on any subject under the sun so has to be prepared for anything. One moment she is writing about the financial crisis and another about bombs in Pakistan, or else doing a chat with an actress from a famous series in the 80s or updating the new films coming up at the end of the week. Variety is the word but she says the organisation is chaotic as no one specialises in anything.

My father had the operation on his big toe on Tuesday and is slowly recovering. It’s not easy when you are nearly 90, have walked all your life and don’t know what a headache is to bear with a set back like this. However, he is a being a “good soldier” and we hope he will be better soon.

News from abroad refers to news from my cousin Zuka and from Susan Wright, my parents’ neighbours in Heaton Grove. Zuka seems fine and we would love to have her come and stay. Will you Zuka? Susan rang about her mother Margaritte whose 100th birthday is at the end of this month. Unfortunately she has had a small heart attack and although recovering will not be able to have a big party, rather small visits from friends. Daddy was going to go out for it but with the problem of this foot the trip will have to be postponed. Well let’s hope that that trip can take in the not too distant future.

This week has also been one dedicated to keeping up with friends. I had lunch with Ana from the Spanish news agency and with Ramón, the A3TV weekend news presenter and MAM, a well known personality from the Spanish telecoms scene. I also met up with Elena, my friend and neighbour and whom I see for sort of informal coaching sessions. “Virtually” I found Eva and Lauri too thanks to LinkedIn as well as Axel Meyer.

I also seem to have been active trying to find employment for friends. I can think of at least four occasions this has happened this week. Two of the cases seem very promising so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Eladio and I have also been busily planning our Indian adventure in December. One big step was taken in that direction when we bought our tickets on internet last Sunday. With one simple click we sealed our destiny. Now we are near to closing the details of our trip with the Indian travel agency. Our trip will start in Delhi. From Delhi we will drive through Rajasthan and then take the plane to the holy city of Varanasi. From Varanasi we will fly on to Kathamandu and then back to Delhi. It’s going to be one hell of a trip and I so hope it all works out ok.

Yesterday, Eladio and I returned to our weekend routine and went to the cinema and then out to dinner to our old time favourite, “La Alpargatería” and dined at table number 7, the most romantic one in the restaurant. The film we saw was Sangre de Mayo (May Blood) by José Luis Garci. It’s about the famous 2nd May uprising in Madrid by the people of the city against Napoleon’s troops and is based on Benito Pérez Galdós novel “Episodios Nacionales”. The film was good but nothing to write home about. It was certainly not Garci’s best in our opinion.

Next week will bring a lunch I’m organising for the ex Motorola “girls” and it will also bring a family reunion with a Cuban motif. But more about both these subjects next time.

Cheers
Masha

Oh Fuck!, Alonso makes a double win in Japan, Martti Ahtisaari and Le Clézio win the Nobel peace and literature prizes and Rajoy puts his foot in it.

Hi again

I just had to include a quick post on the happenings above which for me have been some of the most important things to take place this week.

The Economist, that financial media institution of world wide prestige, this week used the forbidden four letter word to describe how we are all feeling about the financial crisis. I have never seen that word used before in headline news but actually thought it was great. I cannot somehow imagine a Spanish magazine ever doing anything like it. My Father who is nearly 90 and is a bit of a stick in the mud conservative is a subscriber of The Economist. It hasn’t arrived yet but I look forward to seeing his face when it comes through our letter box!

I’m no Formula One fanatic but I don’t like to see Alonso, the winner in 2005 and 2006 so low down in the standings. His win last week in Singapore seemed a bit of a fluke. So when he won again today in Japan
it looked like he had made a comeback. It’s a bit late though as he has 48 points and with only 2 races to go, there is no way he is going to get anywhere near his ex team mate and rival, Lewis Hamilton.

From Formula One to the Nobel Prizes announced this week. Well, I always loved competitions. I was delighted for Finland and my many Finnish friends to see Martti Ahtisaari , the former Finnish president and United Nations envoy, be awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in international conflicts. Who is probably not too pleased, or so I heard, is Ingrid Betancourt, the famous ex FARC hostage in Colombia. She was one of the candidates and word has it that she was preparing an event to celebrate winning the Nobel Prize herself. She must have got a big shock.

And a big shock it was to hear the name of an unknown writer, to me at least and possibly many more people, as this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It went to French writer and traveller Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio . He will now surely become quite famous which, I think is one of the objectives of this prize. In any case, both he and Martti Ahtisaari (how awful is the spelling of Finnish names and surnames, you never know how many consonants or vowels!) will pocket 1 million euros each which will surely come in handy.

And finally here comes the local story of the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy’s unfortunate incident with a microphone. Today is Spain’s national holiday when they celebrate the discovery of America. It is also the day of the Armed Forces and military processions go on all over Spain. The King, Juan Carlos, presides over the events in Madrid and all the Government and opposition members have to attend.
Mariano Rajoy and his faux pas
Rajoy was talking to a colleague and without realising a microphone was switched on complained that at the weekend he had to attend the Fiesta Nacional which he said was a complete bore. The vocabulary he chose was much more descriptive in Spanish as he said it was “¡un coñazo!” You can actually only feel sorry for the chap because at the end of the day he is completely right, it is a bore and I’m sure he would prefer to spend the Sunday morning with his family. It goes without saying, of course, that the press and Government members have had a field day with the whole episode.

That’s all for the moment folks.

Cheers
Masha

A long, lonely and significant week in many ways

Hi again for the last time this week,

Wow this week has been long and full and rather lonely. Lonely because Eladio and Oli have been away which I’m not used to at all. The weekend was the worst and now I am here on Sunday morning writing whilst making their welcome home lunch of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Suzy has gone to get them. I'm so looking forward to their return.

It has also been full of events and outings, starting with a press conference and employee do on Monday which were the culmination of an intense week of preparations. Luckily it all went off really well. I must say, the location, “la casa del duque” or rather Rock and Loft was a great choice. Oli was my hostess and that was lovely.

This week was also significant in that it was the anniversary of my Mother’s passing away 9 years ago. It was also my 2nd anniversary at Yoigo. But you know that already if you have read my other posts this week.

On Thursday, my PR agency, Ketchum, invited me to have lunch with the Yoigo team and we went to a superb place called Sua, just off the Gran Via. Wow was the food good.

On Friday I took the day off. Suzy was free too so we took Grandpa to Ikea and then to Vips in Xanadu for lunch. I think it did him a world of good to get out and take his mind off the pain in his foot. Suzy and I also did a bit of quick shopping whilst Grandpa enjoyed a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

On Friday I also finally got down to writing to “Raju” in India, at Incredible Real India Tours & Travels Pvt.Ltd., recommended to us by Julián and Merche. The idea is to fly out on Boxing day and spend just over two weeks visiting Delhi, Rajastan, Varanesi and end up in Nepal. This trip is to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and is also intended to make up for the honeymoon we never had when we got married.

Even though Eladio was away I still went on our daily walk everyday and made it more enjoyable by listening to part of my great repertoire of music in my phone. Our walk has become an integral part of every day, and is now a physical need in a way.

Yesterday, Suzy had planned a sit down dinner for 12 friends so of course I ended up helping. I was invited to stay but in the end took advantage of being “single” to go out for dinner with Fátima. We went to my latest favourite, De María in Majadahonda and had a great meal and a lovely time chatting and catching up with each other. Fati is doing fine at Nokia Siemens Networks and thoroughly enjoying her marketing job.

And that’s about it for this week, apart from recording Eladio and Oli’s much awaited arrival back today.

Oli will be starting her new job tomorrow and I wish her all the luck in the world. I know she will do well and go far.

Also Grandpa will have the first of two operations on his big toes and I just hope it goes well and he recovers quickly. I don't like him being in pain and having sleepless nights. Poor Daddy!

Cheers till next time

Masha

Working from the kitchen table, an emptier house, while the cats are away ….. planning the weekend

Hi

Here I am again writing midweek for the second time this week. I’m at my “new desk” and Suzy is opposite me with her wonderful Mac probably sending multiple invitations via Twenti or Facebook to her friends to come to dinner tomorrow night!!!

This house is huge and I have my own space for working but since the summer I’ve been using the kitchen table. I think I do it to be more integrated in the household or nearer the family. This way I can perfectly combine my work life balance or am I completely addicted to my computer, outlook, internet, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc?

Oli and Eladio went off fine to Istanbul but were very unlucky with the hotel which was supposed to be 4 star. It turned out to be one of those nightmare places with bugs on the stairs, a nasty smell in the air, a titchy little bedroom and very unfriendly staff. So, yesterday had me fighting with the agency, Viajes Marsans here in Spain and Oli fighting in Istanbul. Oli has always been very good at arguing even the most difficult of cases and has a bit of a lawyer in her makeup. So I can imagine she must have put the fear of God into the local tour operator representative as within
hours the problem was solved and they were settled into a very comfortable clean centrally located brand new hotel.

Today they will be visiting the Grand Bazar and I am looking forward to their bringing back all sorts of Turkish “delights” such as pashminas, tea, baklava, etc.

Meanwhile Suzy, Grandpa and I have been a little lonely at home but are making the best of it but the house does feel empty, especially at night. I am so unused to being without Eladio at home that I feel a bit at a loose end. However, my attitude has been “whilst the cats' away the mice will play” so Suzy and I have been shopping and have watched a couple of series on the TV in the evenings. We are also taking Grandpa (well that’s the excuse) to Ikea this morning and then on to Vips (his choice!) for lunch.

He has been suffering badly from pain in his feet because of acute arthritis and is waiting desperately for the operation which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday. Hopefully this little outing will cheer him up and take his mind off the problem.

Suzy has been planning a macro dinner here tomorrow night and she says I’m invited! However as the guest list gets bigger and bigger and there are no other “grown ups” I have decided to go out to dinner with Fátima – another symptom of the “mice will play” strategy. I think we will be going to, yes, you guessed, our latest favourite: De María.

Then on Sunday Eladio and Oli will be back and very soon the weekend will be over.

But more about that in my next post.

Cheers till then

Masha

The tables have turned, remembering my Mother and 2 years with my new company.

Hi again, midweek for a change. I don’t usually write midweek, but I sort of had the urge today for 3 big reasons:

In the first place today, 1st October, is the 9th anniversary of my dear Mother’s passing away and the day couldn’t go by without me remembering her. My Mother was unique; a fun loving intellectual Bohemian aristocrat of Russian origin and not at all like me. I imagine today must be difficult for my Father.

Secondly, the tables have turned as today Eladio and Oli are going on holiday to Istanbul. Usually in this house it is me who goes away and they are left behind. That’s why today is a bit memorable. Oli hasn’t really had a holiday this summer as she started working with Spanish Television (RTVE) as soon as she graduated and so she is taking a short break before she starts her new job. Eladio will be her guide and a good one too as he has been before of course.

Thirdly, tomorrow will mark my 2nd anniversary with Yoigo, Spain’s 4th mobile phone network operator and subsidiary of the Swedo Finnish incumbent operator TeliaSonera. In the telecoms sector I had always worked in the manufacturing side of mobile phones, with Motorola and then Nokia. So starting with Yoigo, a new entrant into the Spanish market 2 years ago was quite a challenge, not least because no one knew it and the market was highly penetrated. The 2 years have been hard work but fun. Let’s see what the next 2 years will bring.

To add a recap of what has happened since I wrote on Saturday I ought to mention that on Sunday we went to see Julián and Merche, the parents of Suzy’s friend, Carolina. The reason was to hear from them firsthand of their experiences of their trip to India this summer and where we are planning to go just after Christmas.

After some great recommendations, we met up with the girls to go and see the much awaited film, The boy in the striped pyjamas. The book, of course, I loved but I had mixed feelings at the end of the film. Yes, it was good and not that sentimental but perhaps what I didn’t really like too much was the cast.

After the film the 4 of us went for dinner to Ginos; something memorable too as I cannot remember the last time we went out to dinner on our own. We must repeat the experience. Communication of this sort in a family is so important.

What I must mention here too is Oli’s contribution to Informe Semanal (weekly documentary programme on TVE) this last Saturday again. The documentary she worked on this time was called Justicia para la Memoria – Minute 13.23 to 26.46 (or Justice for the Memory) and was about the killings in Spain during and after the Spanish Civil War and which is a huge conflict currently in Spain.

She also did a voice over in a report on the Financial Crisis (Minute 3.20).

And that’s all for the folks right now as I have to go and drive Oli and Eladio to the airport which is such a funny feeling for me.

Cheers till the weekend.
Masha

Autumn is here, a family celebration, “The house of the Duke” (La casa del Duque), a surreal photo shoot and enterprising friends.

Eladio flanked by his 2 girls Oli (left) and Suzy (right) on his birthday this week.
Hello again

This week was my dear husband’s birthday, 2 days after Autumn began. It has brought with it cooler weather and we can no longer have dinner outside on the terrace. How sad because I so love the long Spanish Summers.

Eladio doesn’t particularly like the number of this year’s birthday so I won’t include it. Suffice it to say he is aging gracefully and to quote his best friend Roberto, “está en perfecto estado” (he is in a perfect state)! I can vouch for that and I suppose you can see that too from the photos of his birthday.
Eladio and the home made birthday cake (actually you can see the unpopular number)
I have been preparing frantically for a big press and employee event this Monday coming and only had one week to do it in. Of course experience helps but even if you delegate for nearly all of it, it’s still a big job. I have done so many events over the years but they are still stressful and you only relax when they are over. I must add here that the location is just great and has the added ingredient of being the “House of the Duke” (La Casa del Duque) from the most popular TV series of the moment in Spain, “Sin tetas no hay paraíso” which is a dreadful name for a superb series. It’s actually a very modern style American loft type flat with practically no walls; not my style but perfect for the event.

The surreal photo shoot refers to a fun moment at work this week. We were taking some photos of my boss on a motorbike for the event on Monday and El Mundo was coming also to take photos for an interview to be published this Sunday. So there we were a load of people and equipment, traipsing up and down the office. When we reached the reception area on our way to the car park to take photos of they bike, there was a fully dressed bride there! Everyone thought I had hired her for the photos and the photographer wanted her on the bike with my boss for the photo on Sunday!!! I hadn’t hired her. She turned out to be an advertising agency stunt but the whole office still thinks I did it. What can you do when you have that sort of reputation!! Actually it was a great stunt!.

So what else happened this week? Well, I had lunch with Pieter at Fast Good on Monday which was great for catching up on the office gossip I so miss as I work at home.

On Thursday I had lunch with the girls at De María in Majadahonda. It’s full of amazing Lamborginis and Ferraris outside which I later learned is because of the Atlético de Madrid Football club players' patronage as their practice ground is across the road from the restaurant.

I also went out last night with Eladio to further celebrate his birthday and we chose the very smart and posh restaurant Pedro Larumbe. I think Eladio was suitably impressed. Highly recommendable but not cheap I must say.

This week, I got news of 2 very enterprising friends. The first was one Isabel Aracil who I read about in the newspaper in an article about the difficulty she has had to educate her children in the Alicante area of Spain in Spanish. That’s another surreal story actually.

Isabel's story in the paper
I know Isabel because she was my account executive with the famous Burson Marsteller PR agency when I worked for Motorola. I briefly spoke to her some years ago when she told me she had inherited a big old run down house in inland Alicante which she and her husband were going to turn into a rural hotel. So I when I read her story in the paper this week I googled her and came up with this lovely place called Hotel Masfontanelles. It looks absolutely great. Fortunately I will have a chance of trying out the place, well at least the restaurant, as it turns out that Masfontanelles is very near our pad in Santa Pola. I can only add “well done Isabel”.

The other enterprising friend is Anita Oca, who I found through Facebook this morning. Ana was an internee who worked with me at Motorola nearly 10 years ago. She went on to work in marketing in companies like Kelloggs and L’Oreal and now owns a company called La Reina Oca which organises great weddings and events to judge by the website. Well done too Ana. I love the name (Queen Duck) which must have been a doddle to think up as her surname is Oca (Duck) and her partner’s surname is Reina (Queen). I shall certainly keep them in mind when it comes to organising my daughters' weddings.

But they won’t be getting married soon I can assure you. Suzy is starting what we all hope will be her last year at University this Monday. Oli is finishing her stint with the documentary programme, “Informe Semanal” and before she starts work on 6th October will go for a short but well deserved holiday to Istanbul with Eladio on Wednesday. Hopefully they will bring me back lots of pashminas, some tea and Turkish delight for my Father. I can imagine Oli having a field day in the Bazar!!! Have a great time you two.

And that’s all for the moment folks.

Cheers
Masha

Dinner "with" Guti, social engagements and a visit to Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum

Eladio and I all dressed up in our finery to go to the Dircom Anniversary function. This photo should probably be entitled "Growing old gracefully"!
Hi again,

This week has been full of social engagements which of course always include eating, so all my good intentions to diet went out of the wind.

Last Sunday we went to dinner with Roberto and MariCarmen and tried out De María in Majadahonda. It’s part of a great Argentinian chain and is very popular with the so called beautiful people. So it wasn’t a surprise to see Guti, the famous Real Madrid football player, walk in flanked by at least 5 good looking women. We learned later that he had just scored Real Madrid’s goal number 5.000 so maybe dinner at De María was part of the celebration. The food was great as was the décor and location so we shall be going back.

Monday, apart from a quick visit to the office for a press interview amongst other things, brought with it an appointment and lunch with Jorge López. Jorge who used to be my account executive in Motorola and in Nokia when he was with the PR Agency, Perception and Image – my all time agency – has gone up the ladder professionally speaking and is now a Vice President of Lewis PR, a British PR agency specializing in technology accounts. I visited his new offices and was amazed to see how Lewis PR Madrid had grown so quickly since I last met them. I talked Jorge into inviting me to lunch, of course and we went to a lovely little French place called El Comité round the corner from his office.

Jorge was a Father for the third time last Wednesday, just two days after our encounter. The baby is a little girl called Livia, who is now the youngest sister of Leonor (named so before the Spanish Crown Prince had his little girl Leonor!) and Hugo. Congratulations Jorge and Vanessa from these pages!

On Tuesday I had lunch with another Jorge, this time from a magazine called Telefonía y Comunicaciones. Pilar, his partner joined us and we had a good old chat around a table at one of my favourite places, Aspen in La Moraleja.

On Wednesday I was invited to attend the 15th anniversary dinner of Dircom, the Spanish Association of Communications Directors, and I took Eladio along.
It was to be a very smart occasion so we had to go in our best finery which meant of course taking out Eladio’s “wedding and funeral suit” from his wardrobe!

My expectations for this association have always been quite low but recently they have gone up in my estimation due mainly to the outing organised to La Rioja, the letter sent to the Financial Times on the “PIGs” issue and actually also by the event on Wednesday evening. To demonstrate their pull they were able to garner the presence of people like Emilio Botín, the President of Banco Santander, as well as the Mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barbera; event if the speeches were a little too long.
The Dircom party Invitation
It was held at the gardens of the Canal de Isabel II Water Company Foundation just off Plaza Castilla. The night was starlit and the temperature perfect so the event gained strength of course. Everybody and anybody from the media world was there and it was great to say hello to old friends like Rose de la Pascua. It was organised by my PR Agency, Ketchum who are not that well known for doing great events but they made quite a good job of Wednesday. I recognised 2 of my own trademarks there which were the Mojitos cocktail bar and also the photo call with printed photos to take home.

And on Thursday we took off to Bilbao by car. I had to be there for the opening of our first shop in Bilbao which actually coincided with our announcement of 100 Yoigo shops all over Spain in less than 3 months. We actually took the wrong road after Burgos and managed somehow to go over a mountain pass over the N640 in fog and only just get to our hotel on time for my event. We booked in to the Hotel López de Haro and were given, what turned out to be, a rather disappointing room and the only one that hadn’t been renovated.

At our event I was to be reunited with Carlos Zahumenszky, a journalist friend from my Nokia days. He works for El Correo Español, for their blog and for the radio station, Punto Radio.
The shop opening in Bilbao.
I took Friday off to explore Bilbao. We hadn’t actually planned to visit Bilbao’s main attraction, the Guggenheim Museum as we are not very much into modern art and I am no Frank Gehry fan. However as it rained that was really the only option. As it turned out I was very pleasantly surprised.
Me outside the Guggenheim Museum
"Puppy" the giant flower statue outside the Guggenheim museum which has become a symbol of Bilbao.
I actually thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, laughed at the solid white or black paintings with nothing else on them, walked in between Juan Muñoz’s statues in his “Many Times” exhibit and walked out smiling thoroughly infected by all the same smiling men in it.
Many Times by Juan Muñoz
Chased away by the rain, we left Bilbao and stopped for lunch at a place we found in the Campsa Guide called Bideko which is sort of near Llodio. It was great place but full of people and we ended up finishing lunch at about 16.30!! How Spanish that is!
The Bideko restaurant, a typical Basque country house.
You can see all the photos of that visit on the album I have posted in Facebook

As usual coming home feels like returning to the best place on earth. The weekend has been quiet. My Father is having trouble with his feet and can hardly walk which of course worries us. Suzy who is in post re-sit exam mode has been missing most of the weekend thanks to heavy socialising. I woke her up today at 14.45 for lunch and she is sleeping again now as I write at 18.30!!

Oli has been busy at work. Yesterday Spanish TV broadcast the documentary on the infamous Spanish prison Carabanchel she had been working on and Eladio, my Father and I had big smiles on our faces as we saw her name up with the credits at the end. She was at work all day yesterday, Saturday, editing the documentary and stayed on with her team to witness its broadcasting during the Informe Semanal programme.

It is poor Aunty Masha's birthday today and as I cannot forget her last words of "don't forget me" when we saw her in August, I sent her a lovely bunch of flowers through Interflora. She was very very grateful and called me a "good girl" which actually made me feel even more guilty.

Next week will be Eladio’s birthday too which we will be celebrating at home in our usual manner. He and Oli are preparing a trip abroad the following week. Oli has some time off at the end of September and needs a break. It looks like the destination maybe Istanbul.

What else will next week bring I wonder? Well we will all have to wait and see in next week’s post.

Cheers till then,

Masha

“Pigs”, a battle with a castle, a visit from Alberto, goodbye Julian, another TV chat show and other things.

Pigs in muck!
Hi again

You may wonder why I have the word “Pigs” in my headline. It’s all because the Financial Times published an article last week in the prestigious Lex column called “Pigs in Muck”. Pigs is apparently Portugal, Italy Greece and Spain and the article refers to the financial crisis these countries are facing. I call this a chauvinist British attitude to the Mediterranean countries in Europe and this attitude really gets me as a Brit living "on the continent". It was good to see the Spanish Association of Communications Directors (Dircom) send a letter in protest which amongst other things pointed out that the Brits who come to Spain on holiday hardly feel they are stuck in muck! The FT published it but never made an apology, of course. You can read more about the issue here.

The “battle with a castle” refers to a fight I’ve had with a hotel in Salamanca called Castillo de Buen Amor (Castle of good love!). Upon recommendation from a friend, I made a booking in June for the night of our 25th wedding anniversary. Later I decided we’d be going to Amsterdam instead so called the hotel to cancel. Obviously the message didn’t get through as the hotel later charged my visa card. The battle turned out to be their word against mine as there was nothing in writing. On the phone, in phone call number 4 or 5 they accused me of never having rung to cancel but of course I rang as I am not the sort of person to cancel and not warn in advance. After writing a scathing e-mail and conversation number 5 or 6, it seems I will be reimbursed. I for one will not ever be going to stay at the Castle of Good Love! If you do, learn my lesson, do everything in writing!

Perhaps the main activity to note this week was the visit of Alberto, Olga and Alberto’s kids, Clara, Alvaro and Nes (Inés) for lunch last Sunday. Alberto was Eladio’s boss when he worked for the Ministry of Education. He and Olga are expecting a baby in March and you can practically see the happiness on their faces. It was lovely to have them and finally to meet the children.
Alberto, Olga and the kids, L-R, Clara, Alvaro and Inés (Nes)
Alberto, Alvaro and Inés (Nes)taking a bathe which may well be the last bathe of the summer in our pool.
There was also a fiesta (bank holiday) this week as Tuesday was a non working day. It was good to get some quality family time together and I made a typical Spanish “cocido”. In the evening Eladio and I went out to dinner to Mood and Oli accidentally joined us. Time with her is specially important as she is usually so busy.

Eladio and Joe relaxing in the afternon sun on Tuesday which was a "fiesta"
We went to the cinema last night to see a Spanish film called La Conjura de El Escorial, a thriller where power and death meet in the court of Phillip II. It was very well made and worth going to see if you like historical films and can stand some gorey scenes. Afterwards we went for dinner to La Alpargatería. There have been far too many lunches and dinners this summer and my diet will just have to start soon otherwise I will not fit into my winter clothes. Oh how I hate this subject and all it entails!. And oh dear, we have a dinner engagement with Roberto and Mari Carmen at De María in Majadahonda tonight.

This week I also met up with Elena again. She’s doing fine and now that the summer is over we will continue to meet once a month. Morale support it a great curer of all sorts of ails so I hope I am doing some good.

I am still on my crusade to gain more connections on LinkedIn. I now have over 225. I have found some people I had really lost touch with, such as Beth Sharples. I had also hoped to find someone called Julian Long, head of PR for the Motorola Infrastructure division in Europe in the 90’s and whom I had last seen in Cannes 3 or 4 years ago. It was Beth who told me this week that Julian was no longer with us. I don’t know what happened to him as Beth hasn’t told me yet but I was very shocked. Julian was one of these Carpe Diem people like me who enjoyed life and put in as much as he go out of it. I am sure he must be sorely missed by all around him. So I lost a person on LinkedIn too!

Last week I got a call from a journalist I don’t know from the Intereconomía radio and TV channel with whom I already collaborate by taking part in the chat show called Ventana al Exterior. This one, called “El balance” is for people from the media world to discuss the week’s news and issues. They want me to take part twice a month on Thursdays, live at 8 pm. I said “yes” but now I’ve got cold feet. Judging by the names of the possible other candidates the level of participation seems pretty senior and I’m not sure that the subject material is close enough to my heart to really want to go. So I’m debating ringing and chickening out.

Next week will bring with it a party organised by Dircom to celebrate their 15th anniversary. It’s going to be quite a gala event judging by the dress code on the invitation and the attendance of people of the level of Emilio Botin (owner of the Bank of Santander) and Margarita Salas amongst others

It will also bring with it a short trip to Bilbao. I have a small event taking place there on Thursday which I have to oversee. Luckily Eladio will be joining me for both.

Just before I end I must send birthday greetings to Paloma and to Amanda whose birthdays it was on Saturday. I mustn't forget Grainne either whose birthday it was on Thursday or Kike whose birthday it is today. Happy birthday to you all from these pages.

Cheers till next week
Masha

Lance Armstrong to return to cycling - "the same old son of a bitch" - my memories of Lance.

Lance Armstrong and I going to the press conference after coming 2nd in the Clásica San Sebastián in 1994
Hi

You are probably wondering why I am writing a post on Lance Armstrong. Those of you who know me from way back will know of my great interest in cycling from my days in Motorola when I was heavily involved in the Motorola Cycling Team. These days my interest has declined, as has the sport, but a spot in my heart is still there for the sport which took up so much of my time for nearly a decade.

Lance Armstrong was part of that team which he joined in 1992. Lance was an aggressive sort of guy, very Texan and with a very brash and arrogant American manner. His team mates either loved him or hated him. I was in the middle. What I couldn’t stand was his attitude to Hennie Kuiper, the team coach. Hennie, a wonderful gentle Dutchman was an Olympic gold medallist and a great cyclist of his times, having come 2nd in the Tour of France on various occasions and a real hero in his country. Lance just didn’t respect Hennie and often put the team against him and I couldn’t forgive him for that. Of course he was only 21 at the time.

I remember organising a telephone interview with him for El País at around the time he had won the world championship. I had to translate and it ended up being in the massage room whilst he was receiving a massage. There he was naked with just a towel to cover him! I was so embarrassed.

I actually witnessed one of his first races with the team which was the Clásica de San Sebastián, a one day race which was part of the UCI World Road Cup a the time. From what I can remember Lance never finished that race and because of the humiliation I remember him saying he would go on to win it one day. The next year, 1993, he became the youngest road racing world champion ever, beating Miguel Induráin to the finish line. In 1994 he came 2nd in the Clásica and I was there again to witness it. In fact I have a photo of me with him in the Hotel María Cristina when we had to go the press conference for the first 3 riders (see above). I have a story to tell about that too.

On the way from the finish line to the hotel, at one stage he asked me to carry his bike, which of course I refused. I was not an adoring fan. Two of them though, stopped us and asked to have a photograph taken with him. I was to take the photo and just as I was about to press the capture button, Lance said to me in English: “Masha just pretend you are taking it, don't actually press the button”. I was incensed by his unkindness and negative attitude and of course took the photo.

He actually went on win the Clásica in 1995 but I wasn't there to see him but on holiday in Scotland!

Then the team disbanded, Lance got cancer and I lost touch. I saw him briefly when he took part in the Tour of Spain just after his recovery. Having heard that the experience had softened his character I asked his team mate and “buddy”, Frankie Andreu if this was so. I will never forget his friend replying: “no, he’s just the same old son of a bitch”.

And it’s this “same old son of a bitch” who then went on to win the Tour of France 7 times in a row from 1999 to 2005 until the whole world of cycling was sick and tired of his victories. He came after the "reign" of Miguel Induráin, so well loved and also so gentle and humble. Lance just wasn’t liked and did nothing to make people like him either.

And now he has threatened to come back after 3 years away from the professional circuit.

Do you think he will win the Tour of France in 2009? I asked my friend Pedro Delgado, the well known and beloved Spanish cyclist, TV commentator and winner of the 1988 edition. He believes he can’t. I believe he can.

So, place your bets, ladies and gentleman.

Masha

Home again, August is over, back to routine

Going to the cinema is back to routine.
Hi

Right now I’m in post Santander mode – with one big project over – and back home to a more normal routine.

August is over and the heat has lessened. We no longer have to cool off by the pool in the afternoon or have the air conditioning on all night as has been the case for a lot of this summer.

Back to routine it certainly was for Eladio and I last night when we went to the cinema and then out to dinner to our all time favourite, La Alpargateria. We went to see the highly acclaimed Los Girasoles Ciegos by the rather left wing José Luis Cuerda based on the novel by Alberto Méndez and set during the post civil war period in Spain. It describes very vividly the persecution of the losers of the war, the republicans, often called “the reds”. What didn’t convince us was the story of the rather sinister young priest who becomes obsessed with Elena, the wife of Ricardo, a red who has been hidden away at home for 4 years and lives in constant fear of being found out.
As to the girls, Suzy is taking a couple of re-sits so is sort of busy but with time enough, of course, to go to the fiestas that seem to be taking place all over the small towns around Madrid. Soon she will be starting the term for what probably will be her last year at University.

Oli’s internship with RTVE (Spanish television) has been extended for another month after a very successful stint with RTVE.es. She is now working as an assistant producer for Informe Semanal which is a highly prestigious documentary programme and this week has been involved in a documentary on the famous Carabanchel Prison in Spain. We are all very proud and happy for her.

Tomorrow we will have guests which is very normal for us on a Sunday - nice sort of routine though! Alberto and Olga and Alberto's three children will be here for a barbecue and we look forward to seeing them and celebrating their happy news as they are expecting a baby. But more about that in next week's post.

Have a good week
Masha

LinkedIn

Hi again,

I’m writing a lot this Saturday afternoon aren’t I?

I want to mention something that is occupying a lot of my time recently and which I am thoroughly enjoying. And it’s .
Networking is second nature to me so when Facebook came my way a year ago I soon became addicted and now use it to tell my community of friends what I am doing the whole time, to upload photos and to send birthday greetings to my friends, etc.

LinkedIn is different. It is also a social network but geared to connecting people professionally. I must have signed up at least 3 years ago but really hadn’t used it or seen its advantages until very recently. From what I can see there is fierce competition between people as to how many connections you have and also how many references. Thus I went through my whole data base and within less than 10 days now have over 200 connections and 9 recommendations and am on a crusade to reach 300 to compete with my colleague Maria!!
I don’t really know whether being part of LinkedIn will ever help me professionally but it is great fun competing for connections and finding people you haven’t been in contact for years and years and to know where they are now.

Have you tried it out?

Thoughtfully
Masha

Interview

Hi again

I did an interview not so long ago with the Hispano Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Cataluña for their website which I thought I ought to include in my blog. You can read the full interview here but the following is the personal part. It’s in Spanish of course.
Entrevista con Masha Lloyd, Directora de Comunicación de Yoigo, filial española de TeliaSonera
Yoigo cuenta con 78 empleados propios y con más de 1.100 que trabajan para la compañía de manera indirecta. Es el cuarto operador con red propia de España, y comenzó su actividad comercial el 1 de diciembre de 2006. En este periodo, ya han captado casi 600.000 clientes gracias a una propuesta basada en la sencillez, la transparencia y en acercar el concepto de low cost a la telefonía móvil.
¿Quién es Masha Lloyd?
Masha Lloyd, de origen anglo ruso llegó a España hace muchos años por amor para formar junto a su esposo, español y filósofo, una familia.

Desde pequeña se decantó por las relaciones públicas; organizaba las fiestas de sus padres y de sus amigos y escribía asiduamente un diario, y hoy es una profesional de la comunicación con muchos años de experiencia en el sector de las telecomunicaciones. Tras bregar en las empresas de telefonía móvil Motorola y Nokia, decidió empezar de cero en la aventura Yoigo, el cuarto operador móvil en España y de origen sueco. Su trabajo le apasiona y se siente totalmente implicada en el proyecto por los valores de la compañía, valores con los que ella misma se siente identificada: justicia, eficiencia, honestidad, ocurrencia (siempre con un “guiño” y “chispa”) y sencillez..
¿Qué haces cuando no trabajas?
Me gusta tanto mi trabajo que no distingo entre la vida personal y el trabajo. Además mi forma de trabajar, más de un 80% desde casa, me lo permite. El tele trabajo te permite organizar tu tiempo, personal y profesional, a tu gusto. Es un auténtico gustazo y debería imponerse más en España.

Pero cuando no estoy contestando mails, que es una auténtica adicción – no soy capaz de tener un e-mail sin leer y organizar, me gusta escribir mi blog que es mi pasión, conectarme a Facebook que es otra adicción, leer, si me queda tiempo y pasear con la familia. Y por supuesto mis grandes aficiones son viajar, conocer otras culturas y la gastronomía, tanto ir a restaurantes como cocinar en casa
¿Cuáles son tus tres lugares favoritos en Barcelona?
Luz de Gas para tomar copas, que es un sitiazo y si puedo voy al Hotel Arts. Si el presupuesto lo permite duermo ahí y si no, organizo un evento o simplemente tomo unas copas. Es un sitio mágico, maravilloso. Me chifla La Rambla y no hay cosa mejor que pasear por ella por la mañana, comprar un periódico y leerlo en una de las cafeterías para ver pasar el mundo; porque por ella pasean representantes del mundo entero.
Podría seguir y seguir y no puedo dejar pasar esta oportunidad para mencionar sus maravillosos restaurantes como Neichel, Agua en el Paseo Marítimo y Bestial al lado, La Venta arriba en la Plaza de Doctor Andreu, La Gavina en el Palau de Mar y Cal Pinxo al lado e incluso lugares menos conocidos pero no menos maravillosos como Las Carmelitas en Doctor Dou o el secreto gastronómico mejor guardado de la ciudad condal, L’Escola restaurante en Pº del Taulat 243 que es la Escuela de Restauración y Hostelería de Barcelona.

Las Campanas 30 years on

Panoramic view of El Mesón Las Campanas taken last Wednesday
Hi again

El Mesón de las Campanas deserves a mention from me in this week’s posts. Mesón Las Campanas is a small hotel, cum restaurant, cum bar on the Madrid Burgos road (Km 135) actually in the province of Segovia.

So why does it deserve a mention you might ask. Well, it’s a place I stayed at with my parents and a girl friend called Sophie Tarassenko whilst touring Spain in Sophie’s VW beetle in August 1978,that is 30 years ago.

There is absolutely nothing special about it, except that it’s a cosy little roadside place that at least my Father and I have always remembered. I have always wanted to revisit it but never managed to do so until last Wednesday whilst driving back from Santander.

Eladio took a photo of me and then I discovered one of me with my parents at the very same spot. I scanned it and here you have the two of them.
Me at Las Campanas last Wednesday, some 30 years later.
Me and my parents at the same spot 30 years ago!
Quite something isn’t it?

Cheers again
Masha

Networking in Santander, Lerma and round and round in circles.

A drink out and rather blurred photo of (left to right) Nuria, Gustavo, Masha, Fátima, Eladio, Julio (González - not "Juli") and Carlos with Gonzalo at the front - how I love networking!!
Hi again,

You haven't heard from me for a while because I have been busy and away and have had no time to write until now.

Last week was the Spanish Telecomms Annual conference in Santander. I have been going for years (see my post from last year) and love it because of the place itself and of course meeting people from the sector and networking.

Work wise I was up to my eyes in it as I had to organise the Board Programme for my company and a huge party for all the participants. Luckily Eladio went with me to keep me sane.

We got some time on our own to enjoy the Sardinero Beach and also had a great dinner out with my agencies one night and even went out for drinks afterwards as you can see from the photo that illustrates this post.
Eladio reading the paper by the Sardinero beach on Sunday morning.
The Agency dinner at the Flor de Tetuan restaurant in Santander: from left to right: Eladio, Masha, Gustavo, Carlos, Gloria and Nuria.
Julio, one of my closest friends was there of course and we managed lunch together on Sunday at the Rio Sardinero beach. Fátima also came along this year for the first time which made a great foursome for evening walks and bathes.

Juli (Julio) smiling over the clam shells at the Rio Sardinero restaurant.
The party went fine and if you don’t believe me, read this journalist's report. It’s going to be difficult to beat next year.

On our way home Eladio and I stopped for lunch at Lerma, that majestic historical town just outside Burgos and of course went to the Parador in Lerma. What a beautiful place it is. Unfortunately I was pretty exhausted after Santander so perhaps didn’t enjoy the place as much as it deserved.

Eladio in the Plaza Mayor in Lerma in front of the Parador.
And so Santander is over and so is the enormous amount of work I put into the company activities throughout this summer. Now I have to go on to new projects which are already on my horizon.

And so my professional life goes on, round and round in circles.

Cheers till later
Masha

Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration trip to Amsterdam

Wonderful Amsterdam
Hi again,

Thursday 21st August was our 25th wedding anniversary. We had decided some time ago that we would celebrate it with a trip to India in December. However, I just couldn’t let the date go by with a simple dinner. After all it’s not every year you celebrate 25 years of happy marriage. I decided at the beginning of July and on the spur of the moment to book a trip to Amsterdam. It had to be a city that was romantic and that what was new to both us. I had been before on quite a few business trips but had only actually ever seen Anna Frank’s house and not much else.

Keeping the secret for over a month was not easy and the few days before the big day I was on tenterhooks, not lest because we were supposed to be in a saving mode.

The worst thing about the whole idea and trip was the coincidence of the terrible air crash at Madrid airport the night before. As we were following the events on TV, Eladio kept saying how he wouldn’t want to travel by airplane for a long time!

I hardly slept the night before. When the alarm finally went off I started telling Eladio gently that that night he would not be having dinner in Madrid. It took some telling and not until after his shower did he react. Frankly he is not the right target audience to prepare such a surprise. Surprising your partner with a trip has always been a dream I would like to happen to me and as it has never happened and it probably never will, I have done it to my partner. Eventually Eladio was very happy with the trip of course, but after this experience I don’t think I will ever prepare a surprise like this again.

After an uneventful trip, unless you count the slight apprehension about flying, we arrived late afternoon in Amsterdam and took the train to the famous Central Station. The sun was shining and we couldn’t have felt happier.

We booked into the Amrath Hotel nearby and settled in for our 3 day stay. The hotel was good but not our style; all a bit dark and gloomy. The building had been the Dutch maritime offices and the whole place is built like a ship. Each room is different and I’m not exaggerating if I say the ceilings were at least 5 metres high. On the plus side our room looked out on a canal and the “wellness centre” (how I hate that word) was excellent with its Jacuzzi, Turkish bath, swimming pool with power jets and a choice of 3 saunas. We spent some time there every day!
Eladio by our hotel, map in hand ready to explore the terrain
The first day we just had time to do a bit of exploring and ended up walking for nearly 2 hours!. What is most memorable about Amsterdam are the canals and the bicycles. We learned later that there are 165 of the former and more bicycles than people. There are also apparently 1919 small boats and 1200 bridges. There are also many boat houses, some of which we could see from our room. We read in the guide book that it is the dream of the inhabitants of Amsterdam to live in a boat house on a canal. It looked romantic but perhaps lacking in the main home comforts to spend your life there or so I thought.
Me by one of the many many canals
Bicycles as transport are a way of life in Amsterdam. There are hardly any cars so the streets are really quiet. They also seem to have preference to pedestrians and you have to keep you eyes open the whole time not to get in their way. On top of the locals using bikes, so do a lot of the tourists which makes getting around Amsterdam a bit dangerous some times. I can safely say there must be as many bikes here as in Shanghai and I have been to both places!
Bicycles and bicycles galore
Thousands are also lifted out of the canals on a weekly basis, as are cars and even dead bodies; at least one a week! Actually we found Amsterdam rather a dirty city which is quite inexplicable for such a rich country as Holland. The canals are literally filthy. We witnessed a barge lifting out bikes and also saw the amazing debris in them.
What is also memorable about Amsterdam, unfortunately, is the Red light district. It is also Amsterdam’s number one attraction! I had seen it before and it was actually the first thing we saw this time as it was so near our hotel and we almost had to go past it to go anywhere. Later I realised just how grotesque it is. There are 2 main canals and side streets dedicated to it and many of the buildings house the windows where the prostitutes show their wares and entice passers by in. The last thing you should do in Amsterdam is take photos of them. I was stupid enough to try and later heard you could get stabbed for doing it.
Forbidden picture of a window (work going on inside) in the Red light district
I had planned the trip but hadn’t really done much research on the restaurants. Soon we were to learn that Holland doesn’t have much to offer in gastronomy unless you like rather bland cheese. Having said that I must admit that their bread and butter is actually also very good.

Believe it our not our anniversary dinner took place at an Indian restaurant called Kamasutra in the red light district itself, but it was actually very good.

The weather took the turn for the worse and on Friday it rained the greater part of the day. But as we are walking people come rain or shine, we put on our best smile and weathered the rain with our anoraks.

On Friday we visited the fascinating little courtyard and houses which had belonged to the Begin RC religious order called Begijnohf. It is like a little town inside the city and is very peaceful. Even today it is inhabited by women only. It is a very special place.
Begijnhof
From here we made our way to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam’s top attraction according to Trip Advisor. Luckily I had bought the tickets online so we didn’t have to queue up. And the queues were long! As we are not great museum or gallery people we did the round of the 200 paintings quite quickly. I think if there had been fewer people we would have looked at them for longer but this wasn’t possible. The museum is impressive but there are just too many people.

The forbidden photo, the famous sun flower painting.
From the Van Gogh Museum we made our way to the St. Nicholas Canal Cruise organisation which was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. It turned out to be a “free” (tip only) canal tour on an old open boat for about 10 people. People were encouraged to smoke dope and eat on board. Our fellow passengers who were all in the early 20’s were not at all interested in hearing about Amsterdam or seeing the sights from the boat. The German boys in front of us were obviously quite high on whatever they were smoking and seemed almost asleep!

The only photo of the two of us, on the St. Nicholas canal cruise
Our “captain” Diego was Argentinian and it was from him we got all the interesting statistics about bicycles etc. On the canal tour we were able to see many of Amsterdam’s sights including the Westertoren (tower visible from everywhere), the Weight House (I think that’s what it’s called – where they used to weigh prisoners and witches who were to be burned at the stake during the Inquisition!), Anna Frank’s house on Prinsengracht (Amsterdam’s longest canal), the building that had housed the Gestapo HQ in the war, the famous House of the heads, the amazing floating Cat’s house on one of the canals as well as the smallest and second smallest houses in the city.

Typical Dutch houses
We found a great little place for dinner that day called Hemelse Modder on Oude Waal near our hotel.

Unfortunately on Friday I was tortured by a terrible headache. So I wasn’t really able to enjoy the visit to the Resistance Museum or to Rembrandt’s House and when we saw the enormous queue for Anna Frank’s house, we decided not to go in. Neither did I appreciate the Waterloo and Noordermarkt flea markets that day. Amazingly I didn’t buy anything at all.

Luckily a long session in the sauna at the “wellness centre” in the afternoon helped my headache and we were able to go out to dinner. This time it was to the slightly disappointing Look Restaurant round the corner from our hotel.

And all so soon the surprise trip was over. Our flight was at midday so there was plenty of time for shopping at Schipol airport. Here we filled up with cheese, biscuits, chocolates and wooden tulips!

It was lovely to be home again. The house was full of people as, apart from the girls’ friends, Anne and Timo had arrived and would be staying with us for 3 or 4 days. Their arrival was a great excuse for a big family dinner for all.

Timo and Anne with me, relaxing by the pool.
And you can see more photos of our trip on Facebook

Cheers till next time.

Masha