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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Till next week
Masha