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| On the walk in Boadilla with our English visitors |
Hello again everyone.
Well what a week it’s been. This time last week I was returning from
Montrondo and today I am writing my blog in the shade by the pool with Norah at
my feet. Eladio has taken our English visitors to the airport, Oli is soon to
be returning from a well-deserved relaxing weekend in Valencia, my Father is
watching the BBC News with a cup of tea and biscuit and here I am, finally with
some time on my hands to write this week’s story.
Much more interestingly today as I write, Rafa Nadal
is playing Novak Djokovic to win or lose his 9th Roland Garros
title. As I write, I keep looking up the
score. They are on their fourth set and
it looks like the match could go either way at this point. Cross
your fingers for the Spaniard please.
On Monday, I had breakfast early with Olivia as I was
to do every day of this week as it would be the only time to see her during the
day. She would leave early and come home
every day after 10pm quite exhausted but very happy with her new job. She is
delighted with her director and team and is learning so much, although she has
no personal life at the moment or time for herself. I have told her that the important thing to do
to avoid any burn out is to sleep well, not skip meals and try to do some
exercise.
Monday was a big day for her, the day her new TV
programme, Aquí en Madrid, was to start and which is scheduled to be broadcast
live every day from Monday to Friday from 18.30 to 20.30. She thought she would be doing a story on the
Madrid football player Koke of the Atlético de Madrid team who at just 22 would
be joining the Spanish squad in the World Cup.
However her world went upside down when it was announced the King of Spain, King Juan Carlos, was to abdicate in favour of his son, Philip (Felipe)
who will become Philip VI. Her programme
would start one hour earlier and she was sent off to the King’s residence in El
Pardo to report on the news. What a start for a budding TV reporter!
The announcement took everyone by surprise, my-self
included. We thought the 75 year old
ailing monarch would never step down.
Later he made a personal announcement but didn’t really explain the
reason why apart from saying he thought the institution should be passed on to
a younger person. Most people think he
did so because of rapidly declining popularity after so many scandals in the
royal household such as his son in law’s embezzlement of money and the much
criticized episode of hunting elephants in Botswana. He had said that unemployment in Spain kept
him awake at night but that didn’t stop him gallivanting off to exotic
destinations. Another possible reason is
the estrangement between him and the Queen, who for many years have lived
separate lives; although they appear together on official occasions. Abdication will give him a free reign to
foster his amorous relations for which he is very famous. I myself am not sorry to see him go as I too
have lost faith both in him and in his institution. He has gone past his sell by date and can no
longer live off his laurels for having successfully brought Spain out of a
dictatorship into a democracy.
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| The King of Spain signing his surprising intention to abdicate last Monday with Spain's prime minister Rajoy |
We were avid to see Olivia reporting on the abdication
from the streets of Madrid near the Palace.
She showed the viewers the special edition newspapers which had been
printed after the news, something which rarely ever happens.
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| Olivia reporting on the King's abdication on Monday |
Her most glorious moment was interviewing the BBC
correspondent in Madrid on how the British public would view the
abdication. Tom Burridge told her that
the main BBC news that night would be about the King. You can see that video clip here. I’m sure
the story in England made people wonder if Queen Elizabeth would ever abdicate
in favour of the ever waiting next monarch in line, the heir to her throne, her
son Prince Charles. I scarcely believe
she will; although I never thought Juan Carlos would either. So maybe there is chance for the Prince of
Wales.
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| Olivia interviewing the BBC and Belgian TV correspondents about the King's abdication |
She also interviewed the Belgian TV correspondent and
a Spanish speaking Belgian woman tourist as of course King Albert of Belgium
had abdicated not so long ago too. All in all she was live about 5 times and
possibly last Monday was her busiest day on television ever. What a great start for her and the programme.
I think my Father enjoyed watching her most. Here is a photo of him watching his
granddaughter’s debut on Telemadrid holding up the newspaper with the news of
the King’s abdication and then interviewing the BBC correspondent. He could not have been more proud of her.
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| My Father watching his granddaughter Olivia live on TV on Monday reporting on the King's abdication |
Meanwhile at home on Monday that morning, being the
clumsy sort of person I am, I trapped my fingers in the legs of a clothes horse
whilst trying to put it in the sun.
Thank goodness Eladio came to the rescue. Luckily none of the bones were trapped so I
didn’t break my fingers, but it hurt an awful lot, so much so that I
cried. Whenever I am in trouble all I
want in the world is for Eladio to rescue me and look after me. Thank you darling. Sorry for being so clumsy.
The news of the King’s abdication has dominated the
news all week and will continue to do so until the proclamation of the new
king, the heir to the throne and his wife, the ex-TV presenter, Letizia. She will become the first commoner Queen ever
in Spanish history.
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| Prince Philip of Spain and his wife Letizia soon to be King and Queen of Spain |
But the news also prompted pro republicans to come out
in their thousands on the streets of Madrid.
Social media on the topic came to the forefront, as it would, with many
jokes and “memes”. This is just one
example.
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| Jokes like this about the King's abdication were soon swarming on internet |
Tuesday was a very interesting and full day for
me. After breakfast with Olivia off I
went to the office. I had to go to
supervise a video case story on Yoigo to be done by the internet division of
our mother company TeliaSonera, TSIC, as we have just given them our
business. The main items of the video
were to be about our 4G network, roaming and the essentials of the Yoigo
success story. I was to be interviewed for
the latter and it was quite fun. When I
had told the story on camera, the young Swede, Lars, who is the producer, asked
me if I wouldn’t mind being filmed for another video their production company
was working on. I think it’s about
people’s use today of mobile and internet and new technology to improve their
work life balance or something like that.
They said I could be a great role model as I use all of these tools
intensively plus I work from home. I
accepted on the spot without thinking about it really and so the two young
Swedes, Lars and Helgers, filmed me the rest of the day. First they filmed me in a meeting with my
boss, then they fixed a microphone to me whilst I drove to the restaurant where
I would be having lunch with my ex Nokia colleagues Fátima and Julio. The Swedes had lunch on a separate table and
enjoyed Spanish ham for the first time.
I then took them home and they filmed me working in my
study and talking on camera in the garden. They even wanted to film the dogs
and made me do “some crazy things” with Elsa our Labrador. The only thing I could think of was throwing
her a stick to catch. One of their
questions was whether I thought other people of my generation were as
technologically savvy as me. I told them
I didn’t think so but that I had had the privilege of working with mobile
phones since they started in 1990 having worked with two high tech companies
but that my generation would catch up soon.
I also told them I thought that my generation today would be fully
connected to the world when we are old, unlike people like my Father today who
at 90 have really missed the internet boat.
That is definitely true. However
we shall have to try to keep up with whatever comes next and that’s what I
intend to do.
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| The Swedish cameraman and producer who filmed me last week |
They then went off to two Yoigo shops to continue
filming. I’m not sure how the two videos
will turn out. We’ll see. Watch this
space then for news of the outcome.
Meanwhile Olivia was also on camera, but live of
course, unlike me. She was on twice,
first with a report on the Madrid transport centre, an institution that
controls all traffic of all vehicles in the city and surrounding areas. You can see her story here.
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| Olivia reporting on the CITRAM, centre for control of Madrid's transport |
That night I made a special dinner for her (my famous
tuna salad) hoping she would be able to join us with her boyfriend Miguel who
had come to spend the week with her; although he was only ever able to see her
late at night or early in the morning like me.
She arrived too late to join us but was able to take it in a packed
lunch the next day. She told me they
were too busy to eat lunch, so from Tuesday on I have insisted on making her a
packed lunch. If she is going to be so
busy, she must eat. It’s not often I
take on the role of a “mother hen” but if I don’t look after her eating habits,
no one else will.
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| Tuna salad for dinner on Tuesday |
Wednesday was my second fasting day this week. I have
never been a good sleeper and recently I have been taking some un-prescribed
sleeping tablets that seem to help.
However they make me wake up at 6 in the morning so Wednesday saw me in
the kitchen making breakfast at 6.20.
That day I decided to go and see the national health service doctor
hoping to get them prescribed. It was
the first time in years that I was using the system, usually preferring to rely
on my private health insurance. He
explained to me that they would work at the beginning but I would become
addicted to them and they would gradually not work and I would have to up the
dosage and then they wouldn’t work either.
He told me I was lucky in that I don’t feel tired during the day like most
people who have trouble sleeping and he is right as I am very awake and
productive during the day. In the end he
prescribed some anti-depressants which of course I don’t need but may help
induce sleep and won’t be addictive. I
have been taking them and I’m not really sure they are doing the trick. One good thing though is that I now seem to
be awake at 7 rather than 6. Anyway he
told me to come back in a month’s time to tell him my experience and to have
another chat.
As I get up so early I have time for everything; my
work, my two walks, even a swim in the pool and on Wednesday there was even
time for the weekly food shopping with Fátima before sitting down to watch
Olivia on the television.
The day before, Suzy’s birthday parcel for Olivia’s 29th
birthday finally arrived. It was a beautiful summer dress. She wore it for work that day and looked
stunning in the lovely dress her sister had bought for her. That day she was to have yet another TV
experience. She was sent to the Madrid
Las Ventas Bull ring to report on the annual charity bullfight which was to be
presided over by the still King of Spain for the last time in history. As a TV live reporter Olivia has to be
prepared to talk about any topic and on Wednesday it was to be bull
fighting. The first thing she did was to
meet the famous matador “El Juli” with whom she took this great selfie wearing
Suzy’s pretty dress.
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| Oli's selfie wearing Suzy's dress with the famous Spanish bullfighter El Juli |
The bull ring was packed and the atmosphere must have
been electric. Not knowing the
terminology or the rules of the barbaric sport, Olivia quickly found an expert
from the public who she interviewed on the television to help her. I think she had great fun reporting on the
historic occasion on Wednesday and learned a new journalistic lesson, this time
in “tauramachia”.
On Thursday I was busy as we were having guests,
English visitors, and the house had to be completely ready. Again I was up early so I had plenty of time. I managed
two walks in the morning and then joined my Father for lunch. Eladio had a lunch date with his friends
Roberto and Juanjo. There was also time
for a quick chat with Suzy who is still completing her dietitian registration
in the UK where she hopes to work officially in a health centre. I wish her lots of luck.
There was also time to watch Olivia on the television
again. This time she was reporting on research into new energy in a centre in
Móstoles on the outskirts of Madrid.
That was complicated reporting. She had to talk about olive stones being
transformed into fuel for cars and seaweed being turned into gas believe it or
not. You can see the full report here.
She even had to dress up in a white coat together with the scientists
and researchers. Here is a photo of her
with them.
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| Olivia with the scientists at the research centre in Móstoles for new energy |
Soon it was time to pick up Keith and Lorraine from
the metro station in Boadilla. After
showing them round the house, we sat by the pool sipping wine and eating crisps
where we caught up on our lives since we had last seen each other in London
last August. Keith used to be my boss
when I worked in Motorola so of course we have much in common. Dinner that night was the proverbial Spanish
potato omelet which we make for all “foreign” guests when they come to stay. Keith jokingly objected to the term. I mean how could I call them foreign when I
am English myself? Well the word must
have just slipped out after so many years of living in my adopted country,
Spain. Olivia and Miguel joined us for dinner, a rare occasion these days but I
was happy that my daughter had the opportunity to meet my friends during their
visit, albeit only for one evening as she would be going off to Valencia the
following night after work to spend the weekend there.
Just before dinner that evening Eladio and I looked
closely at a tree we have in the patio by the kitchen. It was a tree Eladio had
been threatening to cut down as it didn’t seem to bear any fruit and was
intruding on the windows of the lounge.
However that afternoon Fátima, our home help, had excitedly discovered
that it did actually have some fruit and showed the berries to me. I had never seen anything like them. They looked like a cross between a raspberry
and a blackberry but a lighter colour. I
thought they might be poisonous but she said they were sweet. So I tried them and they were. When Eladio saw them he immediately told me they
were called “moreras” in Spanish. I didn’t know what they were so l looked the
name up and now I know we have a mulberry tree which we won’t be cutting down.
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| Eladio examining the newly discovered mulberry tree whilst Fátima, our home help, looks on smiling. |
Friday was 6th june, the 70th anniversary of the D Day Normandy Landings and the British press was full of
stories. I was interested of course
because of the influence of the experiences of my parents in the second world war which
have left a lasting impression on me.
What saddens me is that are so few veterans left now. Those who are alive and remember D Day are now in their late 80’s and soon
there will be no more veterans who can give a first-hand account of what happened
in Normandy, in the same way as the veterans of the First World War like Harry
Patch are no longer with us. My
knowledge of the D Day landings is rather limited. For me it was the beginning of the end of the
war which led to victory over the Nazis. So I looked up the correct description
and this is it: “The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation
Neptune, were the landing
operations on 6 June 1944
(termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World
War II. The largest
seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the invasion of
German-occupied Western Europe, led to the restoration of
the French Republic, and
contributed to an Allied victory in the war” (quoted from Wikipedia).
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| Friday 6th June was the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings in Normandy |
Of course we commented about it to my Father at
breakfast that morning when Lorraine and Keith greeted him. It seemed to me
that the whole of the front page of The Daily Telegraph was devoted to the
anniversary.
That morning we took our English visitors for our special
walk. We also took the dogs and I hope
Keith and Lorraine enjoyed the sunny walk in the woods of Boadilla. Afterwards we had a drink with some tapas at
a bar just in front of the palace. The photo illustrating this week's post is of me with our English friends at the end of that walk.
We came home to have lunch with my Father, baked cod
with garlic and paprika and later spent the afternoon by the pool. Our friends were subjected to another walk as
they would be the next day too. I’m
afraid we might have over walked them.
We had hoped to watch Olivia again on the television but I’m afraid we
missed her live report, this time about the Armed Forces day to take place this weekend in Madrid. You can watch it here as I did just now if you fast forward to nearly the very end.
Saturday was 7th june, a date ingrained in
my memory and also my Father’s. It would
have been my beloved Mother’s 94th birthday and we couldn’t help
thinking about her more than usual because it was her birthday. There are so many things I wish my Mother had
lived to see; our new house, Olivia on television or Suzy living her life in
London but above all we miss her charisma and her love. She was a fantastic woman, original, a bit
bohemian, very intellectual reading all the classics but also capable of enjoying
Agatha Christy and unique in many ways.
Of Russian aristocratic background she was as polyglot having learned
the languages she spoke perfectly because of her refugee torn life. Latterly she learned Spanish, “the language to
speak to God” she always told me, quoting Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor, and
I’m sure she would have enjoyed living her later years here in Spain with
us.
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| My Mother born Princess Helene Lieven, watering the plants in the porch at home in Bradford in 1975, Saturday 7th June would have been her 94th birthday. We miss you so much Mummy! |
On Saturday morning I got an early phone call from
Olivia from the beach in Valencia. I
wondered she was there so early. It
turned out she was accompanying Miguel who was taking part in an open sea
swimming race. She was very proud to
tell us later that he came first in his category and 12th overall of
the 600 or so participants. Well done
Miguel.
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| Miguel, Olivia's boyfriend coming 1st in his category at an open swimming race in Valencia on Saturday |
Later we took our friends to visit the Valley of the
Fallen (El Valle de los Caídos), the cathedral that the Spanish dictator Franco
had built after the Civil War as a monument to the fallen, those who had died
fighting on his side. The fascist
dictator got the republican (communist) prisoners to build the Basílica inside a rock which
also bears a gigantic cross which can be seen from far away on the A6 motorway
when you leave Madrid for the north west. Many of them died doing so. It is built high up in the mountains and
commands an amazing view. A mass was
going on which we had to join if we were to see Franco’s simple tombstone. A bishop was officiating and there must have
been at least 10 priests with him. We
saw some old fascist diehards saluting his grave and I thought they may well
have fought on his side in the bloody civil war.
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| At the Valley of the Fallen near El Escorial with Keith and Lorraine on Saturday |
From the Valley of the Fallen we drove some 9km to the
pretty little town of El Escorial to see the monastery built by Philip II of
Spain and which was begun in 1563. To
refresh my memory I had to look this up.
All I knew was that the regent was an austere one having built the
monastery and royal palace to bury the monarchs of Spain from Charles V of
Germany (more known as the Holy Roman Emperor) also Charles I of Spain (his
Father) onwards. The real reason for
this austere building was to build a monument to Spain’s role at the centre of
the Christian world.
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| The Monastery and Royal Palace built by Philip II of Spain in El Escorial and where we took our English friends on Saturday |
This very religious King who died in his bed at El
Escorial was not only King of Spain and latterly Portugal but also King of
Naples and Sicily. Unbelievably too he
became King of England and Ireland when he married Queen Mary (Mary Tudor) in
1554.
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| Philip II of Spain who became King of England too when he married Mary Tudor in 1558. |
The Monastery and Palace is enormous but we managed to
see the main parts in about an hour. The
highlights of the building are the bed where King Philip died, the royal
mausoleum, the Basílica and perhaps for me the foremost thing to see here is
the fabulous library which rivals with the best in the world.
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| The wonderful library at the El Escorial monastery |
After so much culture it was time for food so we took our
friends to the best restaurant in town, the excellent El Charolés, where they
treated us to lunch. Lunch was great but
I was most impressed with the wine list.
We ordered house red and I could
hardly believe it when they brought us a Gran Reserva from the Cune
winery. It tasted like liquid velvet in
my mouth.
We came home afterwards for a rest and guess what we did
afterwards? Of course, we went on
another walk. However this time towards
the end of our usual path, we were thwarted by the flock of sheep and had to
turn back. When Sandra and Adele were
here, Sandra told me she thought the sheep made our walk look almost biblical
and I do agree. Then a swim was in order to cool off, followed by yet another
tray of drinks and then Fátima’s wonderful dinner. She made Moroccan stuffed
bread. After dinner we invited Keith and
Lorraine to taste one of Spain’s most well-known liquors, “pacharán”. I had to consult mobile internet to tell them
that the berry the drink is made from is “sloe” and that it comes from Navarra
in the North of Spain.
And then it was Sunday, the last day of this story and
the last day of enjoying the stay of our English visitors. We took it easy that day and decided to chill
out at home. For breakfast we treated
them to “chocolate con churros”.
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| Keith and Lorraine enjoying "chocolate con churros" for breakfast on Sunday morning. |
At about mid-morning we took our friends to have an “aperitivo”
at the local café and here we sat drinking Rueda white wine and “tinto de
verano” in the sun. Soon it was back
home for lunch to enjoy Fátima’s chicken tagine with couscous. Our friends were not leaving till about 6pm
so there was time for a siesta by the pool.
Sunday was certainly the warmest day of the week. Eladio took them to
the airport whilst I stayed behind to make my Father’s afternoon cup of
tea. It also gave me some time on my own
to write this post. When he came back we
went for a walk with the dogs. Then he
was off again, this time to pick Olivia up from the Atocha train station. It was lovely to have dinner together with
Olivia, a nice end to the week.
The good news last night of course was Rafa Nadal’s 9th win at the French Open. The King of Clay
beat Novac Djokovic 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4 which allowed him to lift the Coupe des
Mousquetaires once again. No other
tennis player in the world has won one single grand slam title so many
times. So Rafa did it again helping to
improve the brand of Spain worldwide. It
was his 14th grand slam win (9 Roland Garros titles; 2008 & 2010
Wimbledon; 2009 Australian Open; 2010 & 2013 US Open) and he is now on a
par in history with the great Pat Sampras.
Just three titles away from Roger Federer who is now considered the best
player in history, Rafa, aged only 28 can still beat the Swiss record. Great Rafa, so happy for you.
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| Rafa Nadal did it again - celebrating his 9th victory at Roland Garros yesterday |
It is now Monday and another week is starting, so I will
leave off here to join a conference call with my communications colleagues in
Europe. Meanwhile I wish you all a great week,
Cheers till next time
Masha
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