Oli and Miguel in Agua Amarga, Marathon man, Suzy on Mount Agung, RIP Celia, time with my best friend Fátima, the sound of discord in Salzburg and other stories.

Sunday 23rd September

Dinner out on Friday night this week

Hi everyone,

Today is Eladio's birthday. It's hard to believe that he has turned 74. We first met in 1980 when I was 23 and he was 35. It's been a long journey and I can tell you one thing, I find him just as attractive now as I did then. He has aged for sure but looks absolutely great. No one, no one at all, would ever think he was 74 but he is. And long may he keep in such good health. He must have his grandmothers' genes, grandmothers who lived until nearly 100!

But let me tell you about the week and backtrack to last Sunday. It was a quiet and lovely sunny day. First Rania left and later, while we were on our walk, Virginie and her son Julien from Aix en Provence. I hope they both come back as they were fabulous guests. Our Italian guests, Lisa and her son Nicolo would stay until Thursday but we hardly ever saw them. They usually got up for breakfast at 11 in the morning and went out to dinner at night.

While we were on our walk, Oli and Miguel were starting their long drive to Almeria for a 3 night holiday in the lovely beach village of Agua Amarga. They would be staying at a hotel  called Las Calas which looks right up my street. Miguel is great at finding the best places to stay and eat. And here they are that afternoon on the beach by their hotel with their sun hats.

Oli and Miguel in Agua Amarga on what looks like a pretty empty beach

While Zena cleaned the recently vacated rooms, I went out to do a bit of shopping at Carrefour Market. The fruit and veg I had bought at the market the Monday before did not last a week. So there I got figs, grapes, mango, raspberries, etc, all my favourite types of fruit.

Lunch was quiet with just Eladio, my Father and I and afterwards, as always, we went up to our own private quarters to watch the news and take a siesta. The news has been dominated here by the subject of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and his much questioned thesis. The sports news was good for the UK with the Tour of Spain win by young Simon Yates but also for Spanish sport.  Down under, in Australia that day, 28 year old Mario Mola from Mallorca, won his 3rd straight World Triathlon Series title. It has to be said that he did so after Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee was disqualified for some technicality I am not familiar with as I don't know much about triathlon. All I know is that it is one of the hardest sports there is and involves marathon swimming, running and cycling.

Mario Mola's big win on Sunday for Spanish sport

I'm sure you didn't read this anywhere as triathlon is not a popular sport. However, the feat of winning the world championship deserves much more attention than it has been given.

However, the biggest news for sport worldwide that day came from the Marathon in Berlin. The Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, broke the world record finishing first and taking only 2 hours and 1-09 seconds! He broke the record by more than a minute I think. In his native country, people took to the streets to celebrate just like people from the rest of the world do when their country wins the world cup. He is absolutely amazing and his win will make him a legend. He will no doubt become the most famous Marathon man in a long time.

By 4 pm I was sitting by the pool with my book, feeling more relaxed than last week, with fewer needy guests in the house, when I was interrupted by the arrival of a new one; Carolina, a Spanish educational psychologist, from Munich. She was bringing her daughter to the UEM too, but to study medicine. Aren't all these kids so privileged? They left soon after to go and buy stuff to kit the girl out for her first year here.

Eladio joined me later and both of us read and relaxed by the pool until it was time for dinner. I made a new favourite: duck and mango salad, followed by fresh figs; a veritable fruit and vegetable feast and very healthy too.

That night, instead of watching The Looming Tower on Amazon Prime, we saw the much publicised interview of Spain's new Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with one of Spain's top journalists, Ana Pastor. He came out quite well actually although the interview was a minefield. As to whether he really plagiarised his thesis, that remains to be seen. Watch this space.

I slept at the end of it, took my pills and then at 2.30 in the morning was woken up by a message from someone on Airbnb saying they were my "case manager"  from the USA. Why would I want a case manager from so far away and not from here locally? After that I slept in fits and starts. Over my cup of coffee on Monday morning I wrote to ask if maybe in the future they could take into consideration the time difference between the USA and Spain!

Monday dawned and it was to be another lovely sunny day although, unusually for here it rained at the end of the day.

While Oli and Miguel continued their relaxing holiday in Agua Amarga, Suzy, more adventurously, went camping with her Indonesian boyfriend (yes she has a boyfriend, Dous!) and a group of friends. I think she was the only non native in the expedition. It was an expedition as they went to the highest point in Bali, Mount Agung at over 3.000 metres which is actually a volcano and I think very recently an erupting one. Here she is with the group of friends. She is easy to spot hahaha.

Suzy by Mount Agung in Bali on Monday with her Indonesian friends

My life was and is very tame compared to Suzy's hahaha. The morning was quiet. After our walk with the dogs, I worked and later made lunch. Just as our siesta began, a new guest Pedro arrived. As it was his birthday I had put both flowers and fruit in his room and added a birthday card. A repeat guests and video photographer, he had driven from Oviedo and on Tuesday would be off to Murcia. He didn't emerge from his room until the evening when he went out to dinner with a friend.

I had some time reading by the pool but then had to go to the dentist. One of my back teeth had broken a bit and needed "reconstruction". I hate going to the dentist but love ours, Dr. Garralda. He has been my dentist since 1991 when I started working for Motorola. Thankfully the reconstruction was quite easy and was performed without any need of anesthetic. 20 minutes later and 90 euros worse off, I left the clinic, got my car and drove home.

When I got home, Eladio was mowing the lawn which is quite a task as our house is built on 2.500 m2 of ground. Thankfully the sun was down and it wasn't so hot although the temperature that day reached 30ºc. Here he is mowing the lawn. He is a good gardener and a real "jack of all trades".

Eladio mowing the lawn on Tuesday evening

While he worked, I prepared our dinner, a simple one of ham and salad. I laid the table outside only to have to bring it all in when there was a sudden downpour at about 8.30. Eladio was pleased though as he said that rain after mowing a lawn is great for the grass.

Later we watched more of The Looming Tower and by midnight switched off the lights.

Tuesday came and brought with it another Airbnb booking, this time, a student called Pierre from Pau in France. Carolina, my Spanish guest who lives in Germany wanted to stay on for another 3 nights. I was able to accommodate her request but would have to change rooms. Thus Lucy had to prepare two bedrooms that morning something she did with not much good grace. She does have her moods I'm afraid.

Eladio and Lucy took my Father to the doctor that morning, for a routine skin check up and I stayed at home to make lunch. I have to have lunch prepared everyday at 2 pm which limits any trips out of the house in the morning. It was to be chicken casserole again but bacon for my Father who doesn't like chicken.

Oli and Miguel continued their time in Almería on the south western coast of Spain in Andalusia. That day saw them at one of Oli's favourite beaches in the province, "Playa de los muertos" (muertos means dead) Situated in the famous Natural Park, "Cabo de Gata",  it is one of the best beaches in Spain and always appears in lists of top ranked beaches here and in Europe. It is apparently called the beach of the dead, as owing to its currents, that is where bodies turn up from shipwrecks or so they say. It is not because people bathing drown there. Whatever the reason, it is a rather chilling name and fact I think.

Playa de los Muertos in Cabo de Gata, Almería, on Tuesday, photo sent from Olivia

The news that day of the death of a young Spanish woman golfer in the US was chilling indeed. The sports world went into mourning when it was known that 22 year old Celia Barquín had been found dead on a golf course in Iowa where she had been studying Engineering at the University there. Celia Barquín, was the European amateur champion and a rising star in the world of golf and very popular with her fellow students. It's a shocking story of a life interrupted unnecessarily. The man who slayed her is now in custody and yes justice will prevail but it won't bring back her life. Her parents and family from a small village in the province of Santander will be affected forever. There is nothing more dreadful than losing a child. God bless you and RIP Celia.

The young Spanish golfer, Celia Barquín brutally killed on a golf course in Iowa this week

This is not the sort of news I like to write about I can tell you.

Life continued as normal here and I counted my blessings. At about 5.30 we got another downpour of rain just as Pierre from Pau in the French Pyrenees arrived. He is a student in dentistry at the UEM and entering his 3rd year. He has come to find accommodation for the year while staying at our house for a few days. He had driven from France in what looked to me like a military lorry it was so big. Thankfully he managed to park it on our property, but wow what a vehicle. 

Pierre's big military type Land Rover parked on our premises

After settling him into his room, our house was a full house once again, this time representing, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.  What  a September we are having, with not one night without guests.

Just after that I had to help my Italian guests with my secretarial skills - I was once a secretary about 35 years ago and can touch type still. Nicolo, the boy had started his course in dentistry here at the UEM but was waiting for his exam results in Italy to know if he had a place at a local University. Well, on Tuesday he found out he did which meant he had to cancel all his plans here. His parents had spent money on their flights, their stay here, a month's tuition fees, as well as a month's rent for his accommodation which he wasn't going to use  and all on the off chance he wouldn't get a place in dentistry in Palermo. He was happy though as I suspect he prefers to be in Italy because of his girlfriend although he told me the reason was that there is no place like home. His mother Lisa, I think was a little stunned as she had fallen in love with the UEM. I had to help them with a letter of resignation to be presented to the University which was easy for me but not for them as they had no PC or printer. You see, as an Airbnb host, my duties extend far beyond just renting out rooms hahaha.

While they went off to present it at the University, Eladio and I had some quiet time by the pool. We read and Pippa, as always, was at our feet. Here is a lovely photo of the two of them. I'm not sure who is the browner of the two,  Pippa or Eladio hahaha.

Reading in the garden on Tuesday afternoon

All our guests were out when we had dinner which again was  a simple affair, omelet and ham with my home made bread.  You can guess the rest of Tuesday: bed, watching the news and then a series on video streaming, another episode of Looming Towers. I have nothing to complain about in my life have I?

Well actually the night itself was not a good one with me tossing and turning. First I had a nasty episode of apnea and Eladio had trouble shaking me strongly enough for me to recover my breathing and wake up. Yes I did do  a sleep test last year and they did not detect apnea but I swear I have it. I added an extra pillow after that to avoid another attack which would make me wake up with a contracted muscle on my back that would have me in pain for most of Wednesday. Shortly after falling asleep again I had a nightmare. Yes, I have them occasionally. This one was very emotional. It concerned my Mother, who, in my dreams, was alive and telling me she had never died. Then suddenly I was hugging her in amazement and then joined by, oh my God, my dear brother George who died in 2001 and even my Father. In the dream my Father was a a younger version of today and we were all hugging, crying and talking. No wonder I woke up from my nightmare crying my eyes out. Once again Eladio came to the rescue, holding me and loving me.  My tears were for my missing family, the joy of the 4 of us being together again, except that it was only in my dreams. What a night. 

Thus, on Wednesday I woke up with a damned contracted muscle on my shoulder blade which would have me in pain for much of the day. I stuffed myself with pain killers and sprayed some athlete anti pain spray on my back called "reflex" which actually works for a while although it smells vile. Even so, I managed to go on my walk that day, make lunch (cocido madrileño) and even more bread but I wasn't myself.

So, stuffed with pain killers and smothered with "reflex" I took a siesta after Eladio had given me a vigorous massage. He is my very own physiotherapist and I don't know what I would do without him. At about 6 pm I woke up drowsy and fragile but in less pain thank goodness.

I then joined Eladio by the pool and finished reading Frederick Forsyth's autobiography, "The outsider".  He really has had an interesting life. Peppered in his book are the reasons behind his major novels, some of which I have read but many years ago. I wanted to read some of them again, such as the 4th Protocol and definitely The Odessa File after which I shall read some of the more recent ones I have not read before. 

While starting on The Odessa File, I was interrupted by the Airbnb notitication ring on my phone. A new reservation had come in and it was for two Norwegian ladies in their early 60's. They will be my first Norwegian guests of all time. The other day I counted the number of groups/guests we have hosted since I started this adventure in February 2017 and there have been a total of 132. Of these 33% are Spanish. The rest are from all over the world with France, the UK and Italy coming 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Lise and her friend are coming to visit her son who is studying his masters degree in Psychology. I shall give them the green room which I'm sure they will love when they come at the end of October. 

"The Green Room" with its en suite bathroom and private terrace. 

It's one of my favourite rooms in the house and has proved very popular with our guests. If you are interested you can see the link here. It used to be Oli's study but when she moved to her flat in Madrid, she retained her own bedroom here but had to give up the study as I needed it for my Airbnb project. I changed the room completely turning it into a beautiful twin bedroom in green tones, my favourite colour. Soon my Norwegian ladies will be occupying it. On Airbnb it has 5 stars (the maximum) and some great reviews. The sudden reservation perked me up that afternoon as slowly the days in October are filling up. 

Talking about guests, I got another interruption while reading Frederick Forsyth  that afternoon. My Italian guests, Lisa and her son Nicolo from Palermo came to look for me. It was to tell me that they would be leaving the next day, Thursday, instead of Saturday. With their business finished here and Nicolo abandoning his dentistry studies at the UEM to start them in Italy, they had decided to book a hotel room and spend their last two days in the centre of Madrid to do some tourism. Here they are  together, the "mama" and her "figlio" who are so united. I took a photo of them both for me and for them. They are lovely people and it was just a pity I couldn't communicate better with Lisa whose English is probably worse than my Italian which is not saying much hahaha. I am thinking of learning Italian next year after a year's lessons in French. Let's see if I do.

Lisa and her son Nicolo from Palermo on their last day with us this week

We would miss them and I wished Nicolo all the luck in the world for his future which I know will be bright. After all, his father is a dentist and no doubt he will join the practice when he graduates. 

All our guests were out that evening when we had dinner together on the terrace, a light tuna fish salad followed by a slice of mango and a handful of raspberries.

We were in bed early and I slept through the TV series, only waking up to see snippets of it. Thankfully that night I slept better and on Thursday morning woke up feeling fragile but with the pain nearly gone. 

On Thursday after a better night's sleep my contracted muscle felt better if a bit fragile but definitely better. The morning was rather routine with our walk of course and then the horrible task of the weekly food shopping at Mercadona where we shop for basics. It's probably the most popular supermarket in Spain but I have never liked it. Yes, it's cheaper in general than the others but is limited when it comes to brands and there is no gourmet section. Plus, their fruit is generally unripe, the fishmongers don't know their jobs and their is no real butcher service as everything comes in plastic. Anyway, we got the job done and were home to unpack it soon - I hate that part of shopping too - and were soon having lunch with my Father. He remarked that day that there were two politicians he would do away with if he could and they were Maduro and Puigdemont. I told him I would add Putin to the list hahaha.

My siesta was very short, I was up again before 4 and soon sitting by the pool reading with the dogs. I was waiting from my dear friend Fátima to pick me up at 5. We had scheduled lunch together that day but very inconveniently, her 95 year old aunt died. Thus we rescheduled our time together later in the day. Fátima is not known for her punctuality and sometimes, without warning, she doesn't turn up but she did that day at 5.30. Off we went to have tea together at a new cake shop specialising in gluten free cakes, pastries and bread. Fátima has an intolerance to gluten and I had spied the new place so that is where we went in nearby Boadilla. I hadn't seen her since before the summer and she gave me an update on her cancer treatment. I was so pleased to hear that the latest experimental ground breaking chemotherapy which attacks only the bad cells seems to be working. She is such a fighter and has the right mindset, I congratulated her. I so admire her. I'm not sure I would have been as positive as her, especially as a single mother with a student daughter and ailing and ageing mother to look after. Poor her. But she was in good spirits. Me too and we had a grand time chatting and catching up till it was nearly 8 pm. We shall meet again next week for lunch with Julio, our other great friend. This is a  not a very good photo of us that afternoon taken by a rather surly waiter.

Quality time with my dear friend Fátima this week

We have been friends since our time working together with Motorola in the early 90's. She was in sales and marketing and I was in communication and marketing too. Thus we worked a lot together. At the time, the American telco giant sponsored the Motorola Cycling team and we often went together to races we also sponsored. Here below we are the famous Paris Roubaix classic race, invited by the Spanish magazine Bicisport. It is a lovely photo of the two of us in our 30's. What a difference in how we look today. I like to think we are ageing gracefully but have to admit we looked a lot better in this old photo. And this is it:

At the Paris Roubaix classic cycling race with Fátima in the early 90's when we worked for Motorola

While driving home, we remarked just how attractive we thought we looked in those days and how many of the people in the cycling world, "the peloton" must have found us attractive  but that neither of us was aware of the fact. I suppose that's true. I was never very sure of my looks as I always thought I was fat.

I was home on time to make our dinner which we had on the table outside as the weather is still amazing. Later we watched the news on TV before settling down to continue The Looming Tower, The main news that night was the bad outcome for Theresa May's Checker's plan for Brexit which seems to have been rejected by the rest of the member states. Time is looming too for Brexit and the outcome is so uncertain. I just wish there could be another referendum with the real facts on the table and that people like me who live outside the UK but in the EU should be allowed to vote this time. I sometimes worry about my status here in Spain on 29th March next year, the due date for leaving.

With these thoughts in mind I went to sleep. I wonder how Theresa May slept in Salzburg, that beautiful city where the Sound of Music was filmed.  Many news articles used that angle in their reporting. Thus The Times titled one of theirs; "The hills are alive with the sound of Brexit". I particularly like this picture of Julie Andrews and the British premiere in similar postures. Holding the summit in Salzburg made it a field day for the media hahaha.

The Hills were not alive for Brexit in Salzburg on Thursday

In actual fact the summit took place at the Salzburg theatre from where the Von Trapp family made their dramatic escape in the film. If Theresa May had hoped for harmony, she only got discord. So, not doubt, she did not sleep well that night.

Friday came and our nice guest Carolina who is Spanish but lives in Munich was leaving. She had come to settle her daughter into her first year of Medicine at the UEM and with the job finished it was time to go. It was a pleasure to have her. 

When she left and before our walk, we had a date with Suzy  or rather  a whatsapp video call with her. It's not often we speak, although we are in touch on a daily basis. But its always lovely to see her even if it is virtually. We shall now be going out to  Bali to see her at the end of March as apparently February is the middle of the rainy season. That day I nearly booked our flights and apartment but didn't yet dare press the buttons to reserve as it's 6 months away. She was a in  bubbly mood which I think reflects just how happy she is with her new rather hippy and nomad type of life. Her Father would far prefer her to be settled with a proper job but for the moment that is not in her thoughts. She was talking from her new shared flat in the heart of Bali and where the locals live. Here she is during our call.

A shot from our video call with Suzy on Friday morning

We can't wait to see her when she comes for Christmas.

When the connection broke which it often does, we got ready for our walk with the dogs. When I got home, a new guest had arrived which was very early as our check in time is 13h, which leaves us just one hour to prepare a room if another guest has just checked out. So there was 32 year old Giovanni from Salerno near Naples waiting for my by the pool with a cup of coffee. He had got up at 3 in the morning to reach Madrid and came by taxi. It is far preferable to come here by car so most people hire one but he can't drive. He has come to do a weekend course at the UEM in dental hygiene! He will be coming once a month at the weekends for the next 6 months or a year. That is going to cost his parents a lot I imagine. People do come for so many different reasons. He would not leave the house all day and once he got his room he slept until about 8 in the evening. He had no food on him and would have had to take a taxi to a supermarket or walk there which can take 20 minutes, so feeling sorry for him and being the surrogate Mother I am,  I made him a simple dinner before we went out to have our own dinner.

Just after he arrived, my French teacher, Helene came for our lesson at midday on Friday when, for some reason, I thought we had agreed on Saturday. I had to have it alone as Olivia was travelling back from Valencia that day. Instead of continuing with the exercises and leaving my daughter behind, I suggested we spend the whole hour having a conversation class. It was wonderful! I need more of them. My French was becoming more fluent by the end although peppered with the odd Spanish phrase or word which I didn't know or didn't remember and Helene helped me. It's funny but I understand everything she says. I loved the lesson and shall suggest having conversation lessons on other occasions when Oli is not here. For sure she will miss the odd lesson because of her travels for the TV programme she works for. 

After Helene left, Lucy and I quickly rustled up lunch for my Father and Eladio and just at the end of it Olivia arrived, having driven back from Valencia that morning. 

We spent time together and went out shopping in the afternoon. Just as we were leaving my new found friend on Airbnb, Rania from Belgium but who is Lebanese called. She said she just wanted to hear my voice. How sweet. I wanted to hear her voice too. What a lovely new friend I have. Thanks Rania. 

Oli and I went out to do errands for her and also for her to buy Eladio's birthday present. It was nice girly time together. Oh if only Suzy could have been with us. Oh, how we miss her. 

Later we had quality family time together too when the three of us went out to dinner. For some reason, both Oli and I fancied an Italian place and I found one on The Fork which looks like it now belongs to Trip Advisor. We went for the top ranked one in the area called Trattoria Mio Piccolo in Boadilla del Monte. The feature photo this week is of Eladio and I there that night, courtesy of our very own photographer, Oli. It's a very authentic place as its run by 2 Italians. We liked it but not enough for it to join our list of favourite restaurants. The menu is a little lacking and for me the dessert menu was not enticing; just tiramisu, panna cotta, neither of which I like and no ice cream, my overall favourite "pudding". For me, a restaurant which doesn't serve ice cream gets black points hahaha. But we had a lovely meal together, enjoying the "lambrusco" wine on the terrace in the main street of the old part of the town, now called "Adolfo Suárez". It was once called "Generalisimo" after Franco but all vestiges of Spain's fascist past are being removed and there are very few left. And here are Eladio and Oli together at dinner on Friday; Father and daughter:-)

Eladio and Olivia at dinner on Friday night

It was a warm night, nearly 30ºc, unbelievable if you think the next day, 21st September, nearly the beginning of Autumn. 

We were home early to be greeted by our 3 dogs and before going upstairs to bed, helped ourselves to fruit from the kitchen as our dessert. Figs and grapes are in season at the moment and the three of us are great fig fans.

Saturday came and while reading the news over my coffee I came across a section from The Local in France. The Local has news outlets in nearly every country. What captured my attention was its section called "The French expression of the day". They publish one each day and yesterday's was "Avoir la patate". It has nothing to do with potatoes either but more or less means "full of beans", also being in a good mood or up for something.

The Local France, expression of the day on Saturday

I decided there and then to follow this section, thus learning a new expression every day which I would write down in my new French vocab exercise book. For interest's sake, I looked up a couple of others from previous days and particularly like this one too:  "avoir le cul entre deux chaises" (literally to have your bum on two chairs) which means to be undecided or to sit on the fence. These are the sort of expressions you won't see in the grammar books. Another one was "du coup" which means "so" or "therefore" and which apparently French people pepper lots of their sentences with. I tried it out on my teacher on Friday during our conversation lesson and she didn't bat an eyelid, so it must have sounded fine. 

Oli joined us on our morning walk yesterday. It was to be a warm day. She was going out later to spend the day with ex colleagues from a previous TV reporter job. With enough leftovers for lunch and with time on my hands, I suggested to Eladio we go to Boadilla where we had seen advertised when we went there to dinner on Friday, that a special market would be open on Saturday. Called "la despensa de Madrid" (literally the pantry of Madrid) it was to be held in the Palace gardens. The market offers locally sourced produce. The location was stunning as you can see in the photo below.

The market in the palace gardens yesterday

I had expected a big market with lots of produce on sale but it was rather small with not much on offer. There were a lot of people and it was so hot we didn't want to stay long. We did buy some products though. Here I am paying for some locally produced chick peas. They come from a nearby village called Sevilla la Nueva. 

Shopping at the market yesterday in Boadilla

We also bought some free range eggs from apparently happy and free hens who roam free somewhere in nearby El Escorial. Eladio bought honey and a great dispensing gadget to use on any honey jar to avoid spills. Here he is with his hat on paying for the honey, his favourite sweet food. 

Eladio buying honey yesterday

We took a look at other stalls which offered home made embroidered products. There was also a flamenco group but it was just too hot - around 34ºc - we decided to make it a day and come home in time for a dip in the pool before lunch.

And that is what we did. Eladio hardly ever goes in, only when he feels very hot so yesterday he did go in and I had to have it on camera as the occasion is so rare. Plus it is the end of September and there won't be many more opportunities for swimming in our pool.

Eladio in the pool yesterday

We had lunch with our father, Zena came at around 3 pm to replace Lucy who went off for the weekend and after that we all took a siesta. I was the first one up and soon down by the pool again but in the shady area under the trees. I would swim again later a couple of times to cool off. 

Soon Eladio joined me as did the dogs. Pierre came to confirm he was staying on another 13 nights as the room he had found in a shared flat wouldn't be available until 6th October. He's a pleasure to host. Funnily, he never met Giovanni, our Italian guest. The latter who came home early from his course, joined me later in the afternoon and we talked for a long time. His Spanish is quite good. He too will be back again I know. Later I ordered him a pizza for dinner from a dubious pizza takeaway, probably not up to his standard hahaha. 

Eladio and I had a lovely meal alfresco before we went to bed. Last night we started watching a new film on Netflix, The Eagle. It's about Egypt and Israel after the  6 day war and is right up our street.  We shall be watching more of it tonight. 

Today I woke up at 5.50!! But I don't feel tired. In fact, "j'ai la patate" hahaha. I wanted to be up early to finish writing this post so as to prepare Eladio's birthday breakfast before everyone wakes up. So I will leave you now on this important day for us. It is also officially the first day of Autumn although it still feels like summer and today the temperature will reach 34ºc! 

Cheers my friends. I hope you have enjoyed the tales of this week. Until next Sunday,

Masha