“Something to look forward to”, summer came and the semantics of Midsummer, football and the difference between a French and Spanish omelette, lunch at Suzy’s and more.

Sunday 24th June, 2012

“Something to look forward to”, summer came and the semantics of Midsummer, football and the difference between a French and Spanish omelette, lunch at Suzy’s and more.

Lunch at Suzy's flat on Saturday was the highlight of the week

Hi everyone

It’s Sunday morning.  This time last week we were travelling back from France, a trip that we were looking forward to for months and that is now over.  You look forward to things for so long and then they are so quickly over.  Someone once said to me, Javier a sports journalist friend, that actually there is more joy in the planning than in the event or activity itself.  There is a famous quote: “focus on the journey not on the destination” but I don’t remember the author. They are probably right and Eladio and I always say how nice it is to have “something to look forward to, however small.   Having something to look forward to gives you a good positive feeling which I suppose is a taste of happiness. So here you have me planning more things, another “something to look forward to”, such as a trip to London in August and savouring the idea.  But more about that later.

The week was quiet, dominated by the Euro Cup quarter final matches, something which my Father especially is enjoying. The matches, for him are just that; “something to look forward to”.  For him watching the football is a change in his routine, adding a bit of spice to his quiet life.

The quarter final matches took place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday interrupting our daily walk but even I didn’t mind.  When I wasn’t interested in the matches, I continued reading the Fifty Shades trilogy, very thrilling.  I finished it on Saturday morning and now look forward to another book by the now famous English woman author, E.L. James who I think will now write the book from Christian Grey’s perspective rather Anastaia Steele’s.  So I hope, “Meet Christian Grey” comes out soon.

EL James, the author of the  Fifty Shades trilogy

The men enjoyed watching the Czech Republic play Portugal on Thursday.  Portugal, with striker Cristiano Ronaldo on a winning streak, won by 1-0 taking Portugal through to the semi finals.  On Friday they watched Germany beat Greece by 4-2, much to the Greek’s chagrin who chanted things like “you may have the euros but we have a heart” to the amazement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who put forward preparatory meetings for the European Union summit, to attend the match taking place in Poland.  

The next quarter final match was yesterday, between France and Spain and was to be held in the Ukraine where no authorities from either country were to attend in protest against the former P.M. Timoshenko being in prison in suspicious circumstances.  This match was by far the most interesting for us of course, as Spain is our home country.  Spain had never beaten France in an official match so the statistics were against us.  However La Roja, played a great game last night with Real Madrid’s, mid fielder, Xavi Alonso, making his 100^th appearance for Spain, garnering 2 goals to take Spain through to the semi finals. It will be against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, a player the Roja know well.

Xavi Alonso celebrating his first goal against France in the Euro Cup Quarter finals last night

There was much emotion behind this match and many jokes on internet, as well as a spirit of Spanish retaliation against French criticism in the recent past about doping in Spanish sport.  One I particularly like is a photo of the difference between a Spanish omelette (made with eggs and potatoes), much bigger than its French equivalent, the plain omelette which in Spanish is always called a “French omelette”.  The caption has a double meaning and says “No nos dopamos, lo echamos más huevos”, a rough translation being: “we don’t dope, but put in more eggs” (eggs also meaning guts).  I personally always prefer a Spanish omelette.

The French and Spanish omelette joke that circulated on internet before the match

So yes, Spain beat France in a great match for Spain by 2-0, making the Gauls leave the Ukraine with their tails between their legs.  It was a great moral victory for Spain against their upbeat neighbours.  We now look forward to Spain doing the same with their other neighbours, Portugal next Wednesday and playing Germany and either England or Italy in the final.  England plays Italy tonight, so that remains to be seen.

England play Italy tonight in the Euro Cup Quarter Finals

I was pleased to read a twit from England’s former striker Michael Owen after the match vs France which said: “Nothing I’ve seen has made me change my mind.  Spain to win it beating either England or Germany in the final”.   If he’s right, I only hope it’s Germany they beat and not my other homeland England.      

We have all been looking forward to summer too and it finally came on 21^st June.  The Scandinavians look forward to what is called “Midsummer” more than anyone as this festivity is for them nearly equal to Christmas.  Here you can see a great video of how the Swedes celebrate.  Midsummer is the longest day in the year, after which the days get slowly shorter.  It is also called the “solstice”.  I have never understood why it is called “Mid” summer if it actually falls at the beginning of summer.  The semantics here are strange.  But they were unraveled by my linguist friend, Andy who explained that the word “mid” actually comes from the German or old English “mit” meaning “with” and not “middle”, so Mid Summer means “with summer”.  Now I understand.  In the north of Spain and in many other countries it coincides with St. John (San Juan) and is often celebrated with bonfires.  In the Nordic countries, where it is called “midsommar”, the maypole (symbolizing fertility) always makes its presence.

A maypole is always present at Swedish Midsummer festivities

At our home, the summer weather had already come, but you know it’s really here when the hydrangeas are out.  Eladio planted many of them when we first came to live here and they always bloom at this time of year.

When the hydrangeas are out you know summer is here

The week has been full of planning for me, or rather last minute preparations for two big events I have coming up next week.  On Wednesday we have a press conference together with Spotify and fittingly it will take place at the Hard Rock café in Madrid.  It’s something we have been working on for a while and hopefully will bring us some good PR results.  Personally I think that the Yoigo and Spotify brands make a great fit.

Yoigo and Spotify will be holding a joint press conference next week.  I think the brands fit so well.

And then on Thursday we have the annual Yoigo summer party, the origin of which comes from the Swedish roots of the company, something I used to do at Nokia too, what with the Finnish roots.  This project or party is huge, in that I have to gather as many sponsors as I can through my colleagues, to finance the party.  Some 20 odd are on board now.  They get to send representatives, making up more than half the numbers.  Actually this year the list of guests is about 320, the mail address list being a total nightmare.  This year we are doing a typical Spanish “fiesta” in a village outside Madrid in the mountain area called Hoyo de Manzanares.  We will have bumper cars, a village band, a waltzer, churros, you name it, it will be there.  I only wish I could enjoy my own parties.  I tend to enjoy them when they are ending and everything has gone ok. Then I can relax but boy am I tired the next day.  You may think that’s because of the late night or alcohol but actually at my own parties I don’t usually drink.  Besides I am being strictly Dukan these days before our holidays in July.  The reason has more to do with after the event tension I am sure.

It'll be the Yoigo Summer Party next week too

The highlight of this week was Saturday when we were going for lunch to Suzy’s new flat.  That was certainly something my Father was looking forward to, because he hasn’t been out of the house for a long time but also because it would be the first time he was to see Suzy’s cozy little pad.  Oli couldn’t join us as she had end of season lunch with the colleagues from her TV programme.  In the end most of the food was brought by us, but Suzy did make some splendid Russian “pelmeni” with “Smetana” for my Father and herself. The photo illustrating this week's post is of the lovely lunch at Suzy's house.

Her friend and neighbour Eladio had given Suzy some Swiss chocolate for my Father, knowing he has a very sweet tooth.  These were quickly finished off after lunch with coffee as was the pistachio nougat I brought back from France.  My Father was impressed with Suzy’s neat little flat which is perfectly equipped and very modern.  Whilst we were there, Eladio put some finishing touches, fixing things she needed putting on the wall for which he had taken along his handy black and decker.  

Today too has been a day to look forward to as we were expecting guests for lunch. Eladio’s recently operated brother, José Antonio, his wife, Dolores and their little dog Nuba were coming for lunch and to spend the afternoon with us.  Juan, their youngest son joined us too, but unfortunately there were no “girlies”.  Suzy had a very late night and was tired and Olivia left in the morning for Galicia where she will be reporting for Spanish TV all week until her return next Friday evening.  I look forward to seeing her on the television.  That will probably be the last time for a while as her programme will be suspended in the summer until 1^st September, although there is a small question mark as to whether that will happen or not.  In any case, I know she will thoroughly enjoy this last week and then she will have two full months of time off.  She has plans to spend part of it on inter rail with a friend from the programme, Bea, a producer.  That will be exciting. 

The afternoon was spent by the pool and I must say today has probably been the hottest day of the year so far.  I saw someone put up a picture on FB of a thermometer in Madrid that marked 42ºC.  So I was in and out of the pool all afternoon.  We could only sit under the trees in the shade and even then if it was very hot.  In the early evening I prepared an afternoon tea tray for everyone with my favourite Emma Bridgewater pottery.  Here you can see José Antonio and Eladio around the table, just before we poured the welcome cups of tea.

José Antonio and Eladio by the pool this afternoon

I have come to the end of the week now but before I sign off, I must tell you about the trip I have planned to London in August, another trip to look forward to. It will be another reunion with my friends from Nottingham University, Sandra and Adele whom we were with in France last week.  But this time we will be joined by Sue Chappel, another friend from University who I haven’t seen since our mide 20’s.  Sue is now living in Australia!  It all came about after an exchange on Facebook where I heard that out of coincidence both Sandra and Sue would be in London around 15-18 August. So I proposed that Adele and I go out to London too and hold a proper reunion, just the “girls” that is, without our husbands or partners.  And the idea was accepted immediately and now both Adele and I have booked our tickets and we all have something great to look forward to.

In actual fact, I’m a lucky lady as I have lots of trips to look forward to this summer.  In July Eladio and I will be off to Verin and then Sanxenxo in Galicia.  From there we will go to Montrondo for the annual family gathering.  In Montrondo we also look forward to a visit from our friends Kathryn and Phil from Keighley.  Then of course, after a quick return to Madrid, Eladio and I will spend a few days at the beach in Santa Pola.  London will be straight after Santa Pola.  It promises to be a great summer.

On that happy note, my friends, I leave you until next week and of course, meanwhile wish you all a great summer too.

Cheers

Masha

Olivia reporting from Galicia, The Coupe des Mousquetaires is Spanish, the Motorola press conference, a reunion in Orléans and home again.

Monday June 18th 2012

Olivia reporting from Galicia, The Coupe des Mousquetaires is Spanish, the Motorola press conference, a reunion in Orléans and home again.

Me enjoying our visit to the Cheverny chataeu in the Loire Valley near Orléans this weekend.

Hello everyone

Sorry I didn’t write yesterday, Sunday, but it was the day we got back from our trip to Orléans and I was too tired to write so have left it until today.

Last week was a great week in many ways.  On Sunday Olivia left for Galicia where she would be reporting live most of the week.  

Oli worked from TVE Galicia this week

I actually only saw her on Monday which found her in the province of Lugo reporting on a derelict convent which was endangering the buildings around it.  You can see the report here at minute 12.12h

Olivia reporting live from Lugo on Monday

Monday was when Spain took the Coupe des Mousquetaires, the men’s trophy of the French Open, commonly known as Roland Garros.  On Monday the best Spanish tennis player of all times, the 26 year old Rafa Nadal, garnered his 7^th win in Paris, after the match was delayed by rain twice on Sunday.  His rival was the number one seed, the icy Novak Djokovic and for the records the Spaniard beat him 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. on the famous Court Philippe Chatrier.

This seventh win made tennis history as he beat Bjorn Borg’s record of 6 wins.  Djokovic was hoping to win his first French Open, in order to have the record of winning all four grand slams, but it was not to be.  He will now have to wait until next year. Rafa Nadal’s win was a great antidote on Monday to the news of Spain’s bail out.

Rafa Nadal and his 7th Coupe des Mousquetaires

Monday ended happily too when Phoebe, our cat made an appearance after several week’s absence.  She is, of course, put off, just like Joe, our other cat, by Elsa and Norah.  Joe, unfortunately has been missing for even longer.

It was lovely to see Phoebe again

Needless to say we fed her as we have done now for several days.  She was thin but not scrawny and we suspect she has another home where is probably fed too.

Tuesday was a special day for me.  I was to attend my first Motorola press conference since I left the company as their PR Manager in 1999.  It was to be a joint press lunch with Yoigo on the launch of their latest smartphone, the Motorola Razr Maxx, which boasts the longest battery life of any smartphone on the market and will only be available with Yoigo, for the moment at least.  Some of the press, who were the same as when I worked for Motorola, were there too and the occasion was rather historic.  Lunch was held at a nice little place in town called El Qüenco de Pepa.

With my journalist friend Ana at the Motorola press conference on Tuesday

Wednesday was a quiet day. I worked from home most of the day, only stopping to read by the pool with Eladio in the early evening and going for a walk after dinner, which seems to be our routine this month.  You may be wondering what I was reading and here I hesitate to tell you.  Recently I read an article about the English woman write E.L. James and her very popular trilogy called Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.  I was astonished to learn that millions of women around the world were enjoying or rather devouring this new genre, which in short is erotic literature but with a wonderful romantic story as the backdrop. I must say   I devoured the first book in less than two days and am now on the last book riveted with the story of ex student Anastasia Steele and the man who fascinates her, CEO Christian Grey with his mysterious and disturbing past.  It’s not my usual genre, but I must say I am smitten with the story.  When my friend Sandra told me she was reading it and asked whether our friend Adele in France would like it, my answer was “any woman would”.  So if you are a woman and my friend, I highly recommend it.  Please men steer away as it’s not your scene.

Women all over the world are reading the Fifty Shades trilogy and I wasn't to be left out. It's steam stuff.

Finally Thursday 14^th came, the day we had been looking forward to for months, the day we were going to France for another reunion with Sandra and Adele and their partners Jeffer and Bernard.  The last time we had all been together was in June 2011 when we stayed with Sandie in Brussels.  This time we were going to Orléans, the home town of Joan of Arc, some 1.5h south west of Paris, to stay with Adele and Bernard.  We flew to Paris Orly where Adele met us and where Sandie was arriving by train from Brussles via Paris.  We were all together at about midday and excited to see each other again.  Adele and Sandra, as you may remember, were my great friends from Nottingham University and I lived with them both before we left in 1980. 

With my two great friends Adele (left) and Sandie (right) in Orléans this weekend

The great thing about our renewed friendship is that our husbands and partners get along just as well.  So there you have English Adele who is now very French, Italian and Hungarian but Indian born and English bred Sandra (a real mixture), myself, with my Russian and English blood and Spanish habits and our husbands, each from a different corner of the world.  Eladio my husband is a Spanish philosopher, Bernard, Adele’s husband is a French psychiatrist and Jeffer, Sandra’s partner, is an American marketer, amongst many other things.

Our three men, the Spaniard, the American and the Frenchman

Adele drove us to her delightful home in the centre of Orléans, an old town house with three floors, wooden stairs and beams and lots of nooks and crannies.  The house is full of all sorts of objets d’art, some modern, some old and oozes character. 

Adele and Bernard's house in Orléans

The nicest part of the whole house is the little patio they call “le jardin”, full of flowers and plants.

Adele and Bernard's delightful little garden

We commented the house looked like something out of a house and garden glossy magazine and I’m sure you will agree from the picture below.

The front room of Adele and Bernard's house

As soon as we had settled in, Adele took us out on a walking tour of the pretty town on the Loire and here we were to see lots of medieval tudor style houses, cobbled streets, and pretty squares, as well as take a walk by the majestic river Loire of chateau fame. 

By the statue of Joan of Arc in Orléans

We must have walked for over two hours and were rewarded at the end of the afternoon with a nice glass of local white wine at a typical French bar in the centre of the town.

At a lovely little bar in Orléans

On our way home, we bumped into Bernard who was returning from work.  I might add that the lucky man’s consultancy is 1.5 minutes walk from his home.  So we were now only missing Jeffer who was not joining us until Friday evening when he would drive from a project he was doing in Luxembourg to join us.  Once home, we sat down to a lovely meal prepared by Adele at their beautiful dining room table.  

Adele is a great cook and always has been.  I well remember her preparing dinner parties when we were students at Nottingham.  In those days her most famous meals mainly consisted of homemade pizza and cheese cake. 

Adele cooking in her little kitchen

The whole weekend was to be about food, laughter and some culture and shopping.  Thus Friday morning started off with a great breakfast before we set off for a day in the Loire Valley.  It was to be just the three “girls”· and Eladio again as Bernard had to work in the morning and wouldn’t be free until the late afternoon.  Adele was to take us to two lovely chateaux in the Loire Valley, on a drive through the impeccable and pretty French countryside.

Our first stop was the magnificent Chambord Chateau, a feast for our eyes.  I’m sure Adele has seen it many times but we were bowled over.

The four of us at Chambord Chateau

Here apart from strolling round the chateau and enjoying the parkland, we stopped for a wonderful café au lait and of course for a bit of tourist shopping of local biscuits and other fare.

Café au lait with Adele at Chambord

From Chambord we drove to nearby Cheverny, another beautiful castle and apparently the most beautifully furnished of all the Loire castles as we were to find out when we visited it.  The photo illustrating this week’s blog is of me outside the Cheverny Castle.

The Chateau at Cheverny

It is apparently famous for being the castle that inspired the Tintin story, Le Moulinsart, but I was much more interested in the huge pack of fox hounds kept there for hunting purposes.  Feeding time was quite disgusting though as was the smell.  But I forgave these beautiful animals as they are the just like big beagles, like Norah at home.

The fox hounds at Cheverny

I also loved the kitchen garden where vegetables like Jerusalem artichokes grew next to the finest roses which were used to decorate the chateau.

The kitchen garden at Cheverny

Lunch at the beautiful Orangery was a disappointment but the surroundings made up for that, as did the visit to the chateau afterwards.

The nursery at the Chateau de Cheverny

After so much beauty, we were quite tired out and ready to go home and we were looking forward to being joined by Bernard and Jeffer so that our sixsome would be complete.  That night we were happy too to see both France and England win their respective matches of the opening rounds of the Euro Cup. I should add that Spain beat Ireland 4-0 the previous night and we are now all waiting to see the outcome of the final match which will be against Croatia tonight. If they do well, then Spain may well meet England in the Quarter finals. 

Dinner, once again prepared by Adele, was cooked to perfection. The piece de resistance was her Delia Smith pavlova, which I know I will try and make at the next opportunity I get. 

Adele's amazing pavlova

Saturday was the most important day of our visit and the one when we would be all together.  The day started off with this splendid breakfast.  Just feast your eyes on these delicious French croissants.

A true French breakfast

On Saturday it rained most of the day, but it didn’t dampen our spirits.  In any case we stayed at home, as there was to be a family party for lunch. We were to be joined by Bernard’s 86 year old mother, Michelle, by his 25 year old daughter Diane and her friend Sara, as well as by Adele’s second son Ben who lives in Orléans and her third son Nicholas and his beautiful policewoman girlfriend Carole who live in Paris.  That day was Adele’s granddaughter Emma’s first birthday and we all joined in on the skype session with her Father Johathan, Adele’s oldest son and his Moroccan wife to be Salma.  I think the whole session lasted more than an hour.  Here is a group photo all everyone around the computer wishing Emma a happy birthday.

Skyping with the family

We had a great buffet lunch together where three languages were spoken in the loud and delightful party.  Both Eladio and I had to “take our French out of the cupboard” so to speak and I was quite happy to see how my French was coming back, talking to Madame Louette and Bernard’s daughter.

The buffet lunch on Saturday

The party didn’t end until past five, after which the six of us hit the town for a bit of shopping and sightseeing.

Shopping in Orléans

Exhausted from so much excitement we went back home for a quick cup of tea before going out again. We were to have dinner out but first visit Ben’s lovely flat near the cathedral.  Dinner was at Orléans’ finest restaurant, La Parenthese. The meal was delicious, specially the crab meat salad.

La Parenthese restaurant in Orléans

Afterwards we walked down to the river to digest the dinner a bit, as we were all so full from so many wonderful meals.  And then we went home and it was time to pack and say goodbye, at least to Sandra and Jeffer.  They were staying on another day but we had to be up at the crack of dawn to take the shuttle taxi which was coming for us at 07.45.  It got us to Paris Orly at about 10 and our plane wasn’t leaving until midday.  So we twiddled our thumbs for a while and I continued to enjoy Fifty Shades Darker.

We landed just after 13.30 and were home at about 15h, when everyone had had lunch.  We unpacked and Eladio had a well deserved siesta, whilst I read by the pool, devouring my book.  Later we went out for dinner to De Brasa y Puchero and were joined by Olivia.  It was my last food foray before returning to the Dukan diet today Monday.  Suzy was on her way back from Montrondo and was too late to join us for the dinner unfortunately.  She had gone for the Corpus Christi fiestas and had a great time with the family and of course with her childhood friends from the village, such as JM.

Suzy with her friends and cousins in Montrondo this weekend.

And today is Monday and it’s back to work and back to the Dukan diet and back to routine and everyday life at home.  The reunion trip to Orléans was great and I look forward to our next meeting.  We are not sure yet whether it will be in Brittany in the north of France or it may even be here in Madrid when it will be my turn to host the reunion with my dear long lost friends.  

And now it is Monday night and nearly time to watch Spain play Croatia.  So fingers crossed my friends.

All the best till next week

Masha

PS You can see the full set of photos of our trip to Orléans here.