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| In Badalona on Wednesday night with Grainne |
Hi everyone,
Here I am
again another Sunday writing my weekly diary.
The week has been busy with lots happening on the home front and in the
news.
Last Sunday we
came home from a great weekend in Montrondo where the weather behaved
perfectly. Just as we left though the
clouds formed and rain began and it poured down on most of the journey
home. There was a lot of traffic because
of All Saint’s Day, as many people, like us, had made the journey to their
villages to place flowers on the graves of their loved ones.
Meanwhile in
Chicago, often called “the windy city”, a tight rope walker called Nik Wallenda
became famous the world over for crossing the city’s sky line with no net to
catch him if he fell. The wire was 454ft
long and went from the Marina Tower West, up a 19 degree incline, to the Leo
Burnett building on the south side. Not
only did he successfully complete the walk with winds up to 30mph, but he did
it again, this time blind fold! 60.000
people watched him live and many more on TV and all through the week his feat
has been international news.
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| Nik Wallenda, crossing the Chicago skyline blindfolded last Sunday!! |
I had never
heard of the 35 year old tight rope walker but later read he comes from an
Austrian family where the “profession” has been in the family for over 100
years. Some of them fell and were
injured, his grandfather died, but Nik Wallenda, who has done other daredevil
crossings over the Grand Canyon, the Niagra Falls and even over shark infested
waters, so far has kept his balance. If you haven't seen the video of his brave feat, here is the link.
Monday was my
fasting day and I had a headache throughout.
In the evening after our walk, instead of reading which is what I
usually do, I decided to cook, the only thing you can do when you have a
headache. I made “perushki” (little
Russian pies), “bitki” (Russian hamburgers), lentil stew Spanish style and a
cream of vegetable soup. It was to keep
the family fed for a few days and part of it I froze for “rainy days”. Part of
it, though, was enjoyed by Eladio, Miguel and Olivia at dinner that night.
On Monday I
managed to see a TV report Olivia did on fraudulent electricity bills. She thought it was a very boring topic but
actually it was very informative.
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| Olivia reporting on customer complaints of electricity bills on TV this weeek |
On Tuesday I
was up early for a 10 o’clock “breakfast” meeting in Madrid at a fashionable
café called “Dray Martina” which I thought was a funny name and should really
be written “Dry Martini”. There must be
a story there. The meeting was very
productive and it was a nice sunny morning and I enjoyed being in town.
Wednesday 5th
November of course was “bonfire night”, really called “Guy Fawkes’ night” but I
was hardly aware of it as since I have l lived in Spain I have never celebrated
it here. But once I realized, memories
of my childhood experiences came to me of my Father letting off fireworks in
our garden or attending the street bonfires and of home-made toffee or baked
potatoes which are, or at least were in my days, some of the traditional food
eaten that night.
It was on
Wednesday that I went to Barcelona. I
was up early to catch the 10.30 high speed train which would arrive in the
Catalonian capital at 13.15 with just one stop in Zaragoza. I was going there to look for locations for
two events I will be organizing at the beginning of March during the Mobile
World Congress; a party and a press conference.
Gloria and Miguel, from my events agency QuintaEsencia, were already
there and had scouted some previously selected locations to show me.
On the way I
began reading an amazing book I had downloaded on my kindle; the story of Shin
Dong-Hyuk who was born inside a terrible prison camp in North Korea and is the
only person ever to escape from Camp 14.
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| What a book! |
My interest in
the fate of North Koreans began with the book I read recently by the BBC
journalist who visited the country pretending to be a teacher. He gave some insight into the terror state run
by the Kim family but he was only able to see what the official tourist guides
would let him see, although he does include information from North Koreans who
have managed to escape, all of them through China as it is impossible to enter
South Korea. Whilst reading Shin’s story
which had me gripped and has had a big impact on me, I read a reference to
another defector’s story called The Aquariums of Pyongyang which tells Kang
Chol-Hwan’ account of imprisonment in the Yodok concentration camp. This book got into the hands of President
George W. Bush (the father) who later invited Kang to the White House and
described the book as “one of the most influential books I read during my
presidency”.
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| The book I am reading now |
What really
upsets me whilst reading these accounts is that the world looks the other way
whilst the Kim absolute dictators (Kim Il-Sung (1948-1994) Kim Jong Il
(1994-2011) Kim Jong Un (2011-) rule over their subjects with much more than an
iron fist. The outside world is only
worried about their nuclear weapons, South Korea would like to reunite the two
countries but is not really keen as it would cost them a lot of money like it
did Germany, but just no one seems to care that these Hitler like monsters
starve most of their population and hundreds and thousands are banished to
concentration camps the Nazis would have been proud of. Society is built on casts of people depending
on how loyal they are to the party and their own family backgrounds. If someone commits the terrible sin such as watching
a South Korean dvd, they will be banished to the camps but also their families.
Those who commit the crime are “irredeemables” and get the worst treatment
whilst their families are considered “redeemables” and their treatment is only slightly
better. Here they are programmed to
become “squealers” and live on a diet of just three types of root vegetable
where rice is considered a luxury. Most of them are in the camps for life which
is why Shin’s story is utterly amazing. The
world looked the other way during the Second World War whilst the holocaust
happened and is again looking the other way whilst innocent people live and
eventually die in the gulags of North Korea.
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| Grandfather, Father and Son, the frightening Kims of North Korea |
Reading Escape
from Camp 14 kept me occupied throughout the train journey. It was sunny when I arrived at the Sants
train station. From there I took a taxi to
my hotel and then walked to the restaurant called Windsor where Miguel and
Gloria were waiting for me. We had a lovely lunch there on the terrace. It was sunny and a bit warmer than in
Madrid. In the afternoon we saw many
locations and must have walked over 12km but unfortunately none of them seemed
suitable. Thankfully we would have the
next morning to look at more. So,
exhausted with all the walking and visiting, I made my way back to my hotel. I
passed Mango and decided to have a little look as I had recently been to Mango
when I went shopping with Anne my Finnish friend and had seen lots of things I
liked. I never used to like this shop or find anything suitable and wondered if
something had changed. One of the shop assistants confirmed my suspicions by
telling me that the designers were a completely new team. There and then I indulged in two dresses and
a cardigan. You will not be surprised to
see that one of them is a striped jersey dress!
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| My new dress from Mango |
That evening I
had a dinner date with Grainne my friend from our Bradford days who lives in
Badalona. She has just moved house and
now lives on the sea front with her son Marcel and “baby”, Tommy, her little
dog. It was great to see her as
always. The photo illustrating this post
was taken by her whilst we had dinner at “La Bota de Aragón”. We were the only diners. Every time I visit Barcelona I try and see
Grainne and this time would be no exception.
It is great to catch up on our news and being with her feels like being
with the sister I do not have.
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| Grainne and the love of her life "Tommy" |
I took a taxi
back to the city. I was wondering what the locals thought about the so-called
illegal referendum and asked my taxi driver whether he was going to vote. I had
seen many Catalonian flags in favour of voting which is happening today, 9th
November. As it was declared unconstitutional it has been turned into a botched
sort of consultation. My taxi driver
said he would as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I then asked him where he would be voting
(something not very clear) and he said in different places from usual
elections; like schools. I didn’t dare
reply that actually schools were the usual location for elections. After that I kept my mouth shut only to
congratulate him on Barcelona’s win against Ajax in the Champions League!
On Thursday
morning I enjoyed my breakfast in a very quiet dining room but then suddenly a
young couple came to sit at the table next to me. The woman was dressed in a complete cover up
burka and I wondered how she was going to go about having her breakfast whilst
her uncovered husband tucked in to a plate piled high with food. In the end she didn’t eat as I suppose she
would have been embarrassed trying to lift up the flap over her mouth. In places like London I’m sure she wouldn’t
but you must know that, for now at least, in Spain there are very few women
dressed like her. I was furious at the
scene and felt like telling the husband off but of course didn’t dare. To add to my frustration I couldn’t take a
photo either. No doubt she later had
breakfast in her room but that was no consolation for me I’m afraid.
I had a good
two hours on Thursday morning to get up to speed on my work, pack and check out
on time to meet Gloria and Miguel who had more locations to show me. This time I liked every one of them and by
13h, we had chosen the two we liked best.
Our train wasn’t until 16.25 so we walked to the Port Vell (old Port) to
have lunch at Cal Pinxo which is a favourite of mine in Barcelona. Here we had lunch outside; amazing for
November.
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| Lunch at Cal Pinxo with Miguel and Gloria |
We enjoyed our
lunch so much, chatting away that we left a bit late to pick up our luggage
from the hotel and be at the station on time.
We caught the 16.25 high speed train (AVE) literally by the skin of our
teeth but we caught it; two minutes before it pulled out of the station! It was a bit of a lesson, so it won’t happen
again I promise myself.
On the journey
back I finished reading Escape from Camp 14 and started on The Aquariums of
Pyongyang and in no time we were at the Atocha train station in Madrid. It was 18.55 when we pulled in. The trip back was 2.5h only as the train was
direct. I really do love the Spanish “AVE”.
It was on
Thursday that Whatsapp (instant messaging service) that so many of us use,
myself included, introduced the blue double tick (or check) which now means
your message has been read. Before that
there were two types of ticks; one grey one which meant the message had been
sent and two grey ones which meant it had been delivered although many people
thought the latter meant it had been read. There has been a lot of fuss and
criticism about this but I don’t really mind.
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| Whatsapp introduced the double blue tick on Thursday which is proving unpopular |
On Friday I had
lots to do, workwise. I was delighted to
hear from Suzy that she was going to Cambridge for the day with her friend
David and new friend Riley, a Canadian dietitian she had met when working for
Apple.
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| Suzy with her friends in Cambridge on Saturday |
I reminded her
she had once been there when she was a baby with my parents. You see Cambridge is where it all started. My
Father studied German and Scandinavian languages at Selwyn College (a Church of
England college – after all he was the son of a clergyman) and it was in
Cambridge that he met my Mother, a Russian refugee, at the secret Russian
courses for the Armed Forces and possible future spies where they both
taught. They married in Cambridge and
bought a house at 291 Milton Road (I didn’t remember the number but my 95 year
old Father did!) which is where I was born in 1957. So I encouraged Suzy to visit the colleges,
go punting and see the bikes which are everywhere and to see the town with the
eyes of someone whose whole family started there in Cambridge. I think she did and loved the city although
it rained all day.
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| Suzy in Cambridge |
I had a quick
lunch that day with my Father and Eladio but had to rush off quickly as I had a
3.30pm meeting in Madrid to visit a spectacular location for a launch event in
December. Then I went to see a new venue
called Casa Carolo which is part owned by Bea from my events agency and which
will be opening shortly. I loved it Bea,
specially the décor.
On Friday
night Eladio and I went out to dinner as we usually do. This time our choice was La Vaca Argentina in
Las Rozas where we were greeted by the staff like old friends. It was a super dinner to wind off a very busy
week.
On Saturday
morning at breakfast I was very moved to read a story about a dying woman who was reunited with her horse for the last time at a hospital in Wigan in the
north of England. The whole thing was organized
by the hospital’s “bereavement liaison specialist”. Just to know that hospitals have someone specialized
in bereavement is amazing. I wish they
had them here in Spain. No way would
anyone at a hospital here bring you your horse to say goodbye. There is a lot less respect for a animals. Not so long ago, the dog “Excalibur” belonging
to the Spanish nurse with Ebola, Teresa Romero, was put down without her
consent. So I loved this picture and
story which I want to share with you here.
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| The most touching story of the week |
Sheila Marsh,
a terminal cancer patient at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, was
granted her last wish by arranging a visit from two of her horses. The 77 year old woman, hardly able to speak,
gently called her favourite horse, Bronwen who came up to her and nuzzled her
cheek, his way of giving her a kiss to say goodbye. Sheila has worked with horses all her life
and her last wish was beautifully respected by the hospital staff in
Wigan. That’s a lovely story isn’t it?
And today is
Sunday 9th November, not just any Sunday, it is Poppy Day or
Remembrance Sunday. The poppy is a very
English thing but I still have one I bought a few years ago sitting on my
desk. My feelings and wishes go out too
to all those who fought and fell for the United Kingdom.
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| The English poppy to celebrate Remembrance Sunday |
Today is also
the date of the Catalonian pseudo referendum. So far I don’t know what is
happening there; whether the central government has done anything to impede the
illegal voting. We shall know more by the end of the day.
Much more interestingly
today is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was on 9th November 1989 that
the wall was broken and finally the East Berliners and East Germans, could walk
across to freedom. On that night Angela
Merkel, aged 35, left the GDR for West Berlin and said her life changed forever
afterwards. Of course it did in many ways,
but I bet she never thought that night that one day she would be the German
Chancellor.
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| A scene from 25 years ago today when the Berlin Wall finally fell |
I have a piece
of the 150km wall my parents brought me from Berlin. It came with a piece of paper authenticating
which I have lost. However I know it
comes from that wall of shame and it graces our lounge and reminds me of what
communism did to the world every time I look at it.
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| The piece of the Berlin Wall that my parents brought me just after it fell and which graces our lounge |
Today will be
quiet as most Sundays are at home. Soon
we will be having a family lunch with my Father, Eladio, Oli and Miguel
prepared in advance by Fátima who has now gone home for her days off. Later I shall join Eladio and the dogs for
another walk. We have a third dog with
us at the moment, Nuba who belongs to José Antonio and Dolores who are now in
Argentina on holiday. Here is a great
photo of Eladio who I baptized “the dog walker” on one our walks yesterday.
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| Eladio the dog walker! |
More from me next week, cheers till then
Masha
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