Sunday 2nd December 2018
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| A coffee break and half an apple to keep me going when we went Christmas shopping on Friday to Gran Plaza 2. |
December is here now and that's great because it means Christmas is coming and for us it means that Suzy, my beloved older daughter who upped and left Western society on 7th June for a "more simple life" in Bali, will be home in 10 days time and with us for Christmas. I cannot ever envisage Christmas without her or any of my family. Can you? A lot of you are putting up your Christmas trees and decorations today or will have done so already. I would love to also. However, I have promised Suzy, who is coming on the 12th, to wait for her to do it together and I shall keep my promise.
Last Sunday was the International day for the elimination of violence against women. In Madrid, as in many other parts of the world, there were demonstrations to support the day. I wasn't there physically but I was there in spirit as it is a subject that worries me.
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| An image, courtesy of The Guardian, of the demonstration in Madrid last Sunday |
It's terrible to think that one in every 3 women in the world has suffered some sort of violence from men during their life. I am one of them. I bet you are too. It's something that is not going to go away ever but the good thing now is that society is taking a stance. When something is being talked about, something can be done.
Our 3 Airbnb guests had left and Andy our lodger wouldn't be back until Monday evening. That meant that for the first time in a long time, the house was just for us. It was nice for a change.
I spent part of the morning beginning to plan our trip to South East Asia to visit Suzy in Bali most probably towards the end of March after the rainy season. While in that part of the world we want to explore other countries and I am looking at Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I have discarded The Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, far preferring the former. I think it's because these 3 countries are so ingrained in my childhood memory of the Vietnam War. Watch this space. It's so exciting to be planning such an exotic trip.
I then turned my hand to making lunch. Oli and Miguel would be joining us and I made roast chicken on a bed of vegetables. They arrived just as everything was ready to sit down. I do love family meals. Later I had some mother and daughter time with Oli but far too short really as, after our siesta, they were out again to see friends.
Pippa, meanwhile, lay on Oli's bed among her pretty black and white cushions. Pippa always chooses the most luxurious corners of the house and this is one of them. She particularly likes the black velvet cushion. In a way she was posing so Miguel and I just had to take a photo. Here is Miguel's, much better than mine, by the way. After all, he is a professional cameraman.
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| Pippa lying on the plush cushions on Oli's bed ready for a siesta last Sunday |
We, on the other hand, continued our routines. Actually Eladio slept while I took the chance to continue watching The Good Doctor and in English for once. At about 5.15, before it got dark, off we went for our daily walk which is so good for us. We were the only walkers out with our dogs last Sunday.
We came back to a quiet house. I lit the new Ikea led candles in the lounge and Eladio and I sat down to read, joined, of course, by little Pippa. I continued reading Michele Obama's biography. That day I got to the part when she first met Barack Obama. It's a beautiful love story.
We had dinner on our own and then went up to watch the news. The main news on Sunday was rather sad for me as it signified another nail in the coffin of the end of my home country, Great Britain, belonging to the EU. That day the 27 member states voted in favour of the agreement for leaving. However, Teresa May, is not going to have it so easy at Westminster when Parliament will vote for or against it on 11th December. It was sad but I suppose inevitable after the referendum which in my mind was far too close in its results and in which I could not vote although it affects me seriously.
That night we watched an interview with Andrés Iniesta, the man who scored Spain's winning goal in the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. He left Barça, the team of his whole profession, last year to join a team in Japan, aged 34 and deemed in sport to be at the end of his golden career. He is much loved in Spain as a once integral part of the national team and it was interesting to see what his life is like in Japan where he is revered by all football fans. When a political debate started later, I soon fell asleep.
Monday came and it was sunny although cold and blustery but at least it wasn't raining for once. I started work on a media coverage report of the clippings gathered from the Lobster Press release and would finish it in the afternoon. All in all 50 odd clippings. Not bad at all. I had various phone calls with my new customer who wanted me to work on the next press release to go out this month. I hoped it wouldn't take too long to get through the approval process.
At about 11, we went off the Monday market in Villaviciosa. It was freezing and thankfully we were well wrapped up. The queues were endless and tomorrow we shall aim to get there earlier. Here is Eladio standing patiently in what looks like a disorderly queue but isn't.
The system for queueing in Spain may look chaotic but it isn't. There is not usually an actual physical queue so that's why it looks disorderly although it isn't. The Spaniards just have a different system and woe betide you if you don't respect it. The thing to do when you arrive is to ask who is the last person so you know when it's your turn. You can either say "quién es el último?", (who is the last person?) or "quien da la vez" (who gives you your turn?). Then other people arriving will ask the same question and you say it's you and thus order is established. Once you know your turn you can even leave and then come back and your turn is respected. Anyone trying to jump the queue gets into huge trouble. We had quite a few people before us and then a very long order to make which would fill 2 whole fruit and vegetable boxes before we could head off home. On our way back we stopped at Carrefour Market, the local gourmet store I am always raving about. Here we got some fresh fish, among other things, for the week. Unloading and then making the lunch was a bit of a rush but Lucy was there to help.
The news was varied on Monday. First there was Trump threatening to close the Mexican border even permanently after some 500 central american asylum seekers tried to cross the border. They were met with smoke bombs and promptly returned. Then there was the bizarre news about a Chinese scientist who claimed two genetically modified babies had been born - twins - after modifying their embryos to remove the possibility of them getting Aids. This is the first claim to a birth of human beings after genetic engineering and it caused a hoo-ha from scientists all over the world. It's illegal in most countries in the world.
The most spectacular news came from Mars when the robot Insight made a landing -the 8th landing on the red planet. It's there for 2 years to take pictures and to study the planet's interior. It even sent back a picture 8 minutes after landing. The picture, for me at least, is rather grainy and disappointing but I suppose it is a great feat for astronauts and The Nasa.
My life was much more mundane and I continued work on the media report, sending it to my customer in the late afternoon, just before our walk. Thankfully the wind had receded and the afternoon was sunny but with a definite bite in the air. We wrapped up well but at the half way point I unbuttoned my coat and took my gloves off.
We were home just when it got dark at 6.30. There was more work to be done before dinner but I wasn't complaining as, no doubt, I had got in as much work in a day as most people do at an office, except that I had been able to go out to the market and on our walk as I am free to do my work when I want without being constrained to office hours. I think I could never go back to office work or being tied to a desk.
We had dinner on our own and the kitchen to ourselves as there were no guests for once, although Andy would return that night. We had our usual salad, with wonderful Ibérico ham again. Then it was upstairs to see the news. Eladio soon fell asleep while I watched more of The Good Doctor. I have to admit I was so hooked on it, I think I was awake watching it until nearly 2 in the morning. Thus I did not get a good night's sleep but this time it was my fault.
Tuesday came. I was up late after a short night's sleep - at 7.30 and thus coincided with Andy at breakfast who had come back full of energy after being with his family in Antibes, France, this weekend.
I had lots of work to do that morning and immediately plunged into drafting the press release my new customer had asked me to do. I had to do it in English and in Spanish and wasn't sure which language to start with. Either way round means the other version is always a translated one and that's never a good thing. In the end I wrote it in English. It took up most of the morning. Being in charge of making lunch everyday means I always have to juggle for time in the morning. I can't remember what we had but I know it was healthy with plenty of vegetables.
The news that day was as usual about Brexit but one piece of news emerged this week which threatens peace in Europe and in the world. Last weekend, Russia seized three Ukrainian ships they claimed were in Russian waters and detained 24 Ukrainian sailors. I mean can you imagine something like that happening between France and England or Germany and France? No you can't. That means Russia under Putin is behaving just like it used to in the Cold War and is as dangerous as ever. This was the week's ongoing story without looking like there would be a happy ending.
There has not been much news from the girls this week and I am missing them. We did, though, at least, get a photo that day from Suzy from far away Bali showing us a scene in the street where she is ordering water with iced ginger. She does have peculiar tastes. I have never liked ginger. But I did like to see the smile on her face which tells me she is happy overall.
She had been on a 3 day fasting diet, literally only drinking liquids but at the end of day 2 had to give up. Well of course. I don't think I could even do one day. She is now doing intermittent fasting. I did that once a few years ago and it sort of worked, except that on the non fasting days I tended to over eat hahaha. Let's hope she doesn't fast when she comes back to Spain for Christmas.
I did speak to Oli on the phone on Tuesday. That shouldn't be news but it is as I am not good on the phone - despite being from the mobile phone industry hahahaha - far preferring texting and we hardly ever call. She told me her next trip with her TV programme, Madrileños por el Mundo - is to Zurich in Switzerland. She has never been there so no doubt will like Switzerland. We also agreed to meet on Friday and for me to go and watch the St. Michael School choir rehearsal at the girls' old school for the Christmas concert on 14th June. I haven't been there since the day Suzy graduated. It would be a wonderful trip down memory lane.
We had a great walk that afternoon with the path all to ourselves. It was sunny but very cold and I kept my gloves on throughout. I came back to enjoy some free time, time for myself. I chose to read. I would have continued with Michele Obama's book but was curious to see whether the memoirs of our journalist friend, Mariano Guindal where I am mentioned, was out yet on kindle. In Spanish it is called "Un hombre con buena suerte" (a man with good luck). It was and I immediately downloaded it. I read the introduction and first chapter before dinner. I must say the book is fascinating. He had very humble beginnings and ended up rubbing shoulders with Spain's political elite. He is a very interesting and charismatic person and journalist and we love him and his family dearly. In one of the chapters entitled "the mobile phone", he describes how it was thanks to me during a press trip to Scotland with Motorola, that he became addicted. There are 12 pages in the chapter and I am often mentioned as our Suzy, Oli and my husband. I chuckled as I read it.
I couldn't put it down and would have carried on reading until late but I had to make dinner -how prosaic. It was more vegetables for dinner - they are coming out of our ears. It's funny but Eladio, who is on the same diet as me, as he eats what I make but also has bread and a slice of turrón after lunch every day, is actually losing more weight than I am. He didn't embark on a diet or doesn't need to lose weight - well a bit of his paunch maybe - yet he's the one of the two of us losing weight faster. Isn't that unfair? If I ate bread and turrón every day I would put on weight. Aagghh.
That night Real Madrid were playing Rome in the Champions League in a match that would determine the head of the group in the next round. I was happy to read the next day that Madrid won 2-0 and that one of the goals was scored by Gareth Bale, especially after the dismal loss against a minor team in La Liga, "Eibar", last week. We didn't watch it of course as most football these days is pay per view. Instead we watched the news and then something on Netflix about Nazi Germany. It was a documentary and documentaries send me to sleep. Maybe I should watch more as for once, that night, I got a good night's kip.
Wednesday came and it was another sunny, cold and crisp autumn day. The leaves continue to fall from the trees and it is Zena, our Ukrainian weekend carer, who sweeps them away each weekend. We don't ask her to do that but she says she can't bear to see our garden covered in leaves and must clear them away. Thank you Zena. You are a treasure. I'm sure Zena has a lot to say about the conflict of Russia with her country. Being in her late 50's, she was brought up to speak Russian at school but, I suppose, like many of her generation, she has her reasons not to trust Russia. I totally understand her.
With work out of the way and nothing urgent to do until Thursday morning, I suggested to Eladio that we spent the morning in Madrid. I wanted to buy some Christmas crackers from the only English shop in the city, a place called "Living in London". It's normally a 20 to 25 minute drive into the centre but on Wednesday took a lot longer. We parked near the Bilbao metro stop and decided to have a coffee in the newly refurbished legendary café, "Café Comercial". I love the place. And here is Eladio in the café.
Bad luck had it that the shop had changed premises and was no longer located in the Santa Engracia street but had moved to Núñez de Balboa 76. We debated over going by metro or taking the car and opted for the latter. It was a wrong move. For some reason there was a lot of traffic which we didn't feel was normal for a Wednesday morning in Madrid.
Traffic and pollution are pretty bad in downtown Madrid but this week the local government announced measures to decrease it. In a project called "Madrid Central", a huge chunk of the city centre will be a no go area for polluting vehicles. Only zero emissions vehicles, of which there are very few, and residents will be allowed to drive there with some exceptions. It was big news in Spain this week. Neither of our cars, my old Nokia diesel Volvo nor my new unleaded petrol Mini will qualify so perhaps from now on we shall just park our car at the local station and take the metro into town.
Later we would hear that that day was particularly bad due to the Chinese Premiere, Xi Jinping's visit to the city and that lots of streets had been cut off. Damn the man I thought. He is here to tighten commercial relations with Spain, the main objective being to import Spanish "bellota" (Ibérico) ham with the bone on. Until now the Chinese could only import vacuum packed sliced ham. It's great that the Chinese love Spain's ham and apparently consume an awful lot of it. A ham with a bone here can cost around 300 euros but in Beijing you can pay up to 4 times that price. Sounds like a good deal right? Well, maybe not, as the Chinese are mad about this iconic Spanish product of which only a certain quantity can be produced. Experts say that if exports increase to China the price for ham in Spain is certain to go up which was why I wasn't too happy with the deal.
We finally got to Núñez de Balboa and of course there was nowhere to park in Madrid's "barrio de Salamanca", so Eladio stayed outside in the car and I went in. There were lots of crackers to choose from and I ended up with 2 boxes made by Robin Reed. I also wanted Christmas pudding, cranberry sauce and sage and onion stuffing, essential ingredients for a traditional English Christmas Day menu but they only had Christmas pudding, 2 miserly little tubs and one enormous and very expensive one. I took the former.
The drive home with so much traffic took a while. However, it was brightened up for me enormously when I received an email from Bradford Grammar School, the school where my Father taught from the early 60's to the early 80's. He was a language teacher there of French, German and Russian, Russian being his passion.
Over the years, many old pupils have reached out to him to tell him how much they appreciated him and what a lasting impression he had made on them. I think you would only reach out to a teacher some 30 or 40 years later if that teacher had been really special. My Father was most obviously special as he lived his lessons with passion and went over and above by taking an interest in his pupils, teaching them another language during lunch times and lending them Russian music from his LP collection. The email came totally out of the blue. You can read it here. The school wants to commemorate his upcoming 100th birthday. That is so amazing and has touched my heart. Here is the email which I printed out for my Father. I'm sure it made his day. It certainly did mine.
Our afternoon was very much a routine one, i.e. walk with the dogs, home to work and read, dinner together in the kitchen, then the news in bed and something on Netflix. Not a bad routine but I would like a change actually. Friday would bring that.
The news that day came from Buenos Aires. First the lesser important news. The final of the "Copa de Libertadores" which is like the American continent's Champions League, between the 2 rival football teams of the capital, Boca Juniors and River Plate, is to be played in Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium belonging to Real Madrid on 9th December. There has been so much violence between the hooligans of the two teams that it was deemed impossible for the final to be played in Argentina. I just do not understand how football provokes so much passion and violence. Thus the Spanish capital will be inundated with rival fans who could spark a lot of violence and I don't want to see that. I really don't know why they want to hold the high risk match here. Maybe one of the reasons is that there are 250.000 Argentinians in Spain, the largest community outside their own country. The latest news on this is that neither team want to play the match outside Argentina. Let's see what happens.
The other news from Buenos Aires was the arrival of the G20 leaders for their annual summit. That means that MBS (Mohammed Bin Salam), the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who is linked to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, would be pretty much central stage, at least in people's thoughts and I read later he was pretty much shunned by the other leaders and so he should be, but not enough, I am afraid, for the majority of the G20 countries to ban arms exports to Riyadh. Putin was there too and he even high fived MBS! He is under fire for the tension with the Ukraine. It's horrible to think that there are murderers and criminals and madmen in this group of leaders from the 20 richest countries in the world. There will be many protests but will things change? Not one iota I am sure.
If you look at the picture you will see that there are only 2 women there. Theresa May is in it of course and probably happy to have had a break from the Brexit issues back in the UK. The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde is there too but Angela Merkel was missing as her plane had problems. That makes for only 2 women leaders of the 20 countries of the G20 - pretty bad statistics. It's also quite disgusting to know that the 20 countries together, out of approximately 190 in the world, represent about 85% of the world's GDP. Wealth is so badly spread in the world.
After the news we started watching Season 2 of Dr. Foster. It was about that time that Javi, a student from Valencia, arrived. Having been here before I was able to leave him the keys outside in a hidden place and didn't have to get up and go outside, in the rain, in my dressing gown to receive him hahaha.
Finally it was Friday which turned out to be the best day of the week. At last my routine changed. I worked in the morning for a while and then took Eladio off Christmas shopping to Gran Plaza 2 to buy his presents - loads of pairs of tight fitting trousers as all of his are too big around the waist now. Of course, I got some things for myself, black trousers at 6 euros, a pair of jeans and a striped hooded jacket I couldn't resist. I now have to wrap them all up to go under the tree for Christmas. However, I couldn't resist trying on the top and trousers when I got home and this is the result.
We deliberately went early to avoid the hoards and it was a good idea. Shopping is tiring and lots of trying on trousers is tiring too so as we left Primark, I made a beeline for the nearest cafe for a cup of coffee to have with the half golden apple I had brought for a mid morning snack. I can't understand why bars and cafes the world over only sell stodgy food and hardly any fruit or more healthy choices. That's the picture I have chosen for this week's feature photo. I just love my new Zara tartan coat. There's no filter in it nor any make up either. I think it was in The New York Times this week that I read that it is not only cool to be 20 and that you can also be cool at 60 despite wrinkles. Just like me, I thought. The article was about "Instagram Grannies" but made me wake up to the fact that women today in their 60's, 70's and even 80's and 90's are far more trendy and healthier than previous generations. For me, it is a case of attitude, the right diet, exercise and keeping up with the times. So, yes, I 'm not 20 now but feel even cooler today at 60 then when I was much younger. Experience helps too.
From Gran Plaza 2, we drove to Mercadona for the weekly shopping, not the sort I like. But with a list and a bit of organisation, I can get it down to about 15 to 20 minutes. We were home at about 1.30 on plenty of time to make lunch. Just before we sat down, our latest guests arrived. They were from Portsmouth in the UK. My Father met them as Eladio pushed his wheel chair up the drive to join us for lunch in the dining room. He greeted them and said "Oh Pompey" when they told him they were from Portsmouth. They laughed and I wondered what it was all about. Apparently that's the nickname for the town and comes from its relations with the Navy. My Father would know as he was in the RN in WW2. I love to see my Father on form. They were a really nice couple, probably retired as they had driven from England and left yesterday morning to drive down to Estepona, near Malaga, where they have rented a flat until January. I wish I had had more time with Angela and Bob. It's always great to have guests from the UK.
It was another sunny day and I was pleased for our English guests. I was pleased for us too as it made for another wonderful walk that afternoon. Once home, I got ready to go out. Yes, you read that right, I was going out and my routine of the last few months was at last to be changed. I was to meet Oli and an ex school friend, Paula, at the Colonia Jardin metro station and drive them to their old school St. Michael's in Boadilla. The girls attended that lovely school just a few hundred yards from our old house, from the age of 3 and 4 to 17 or 18. There was to be a rehearsal there that night for the Christmas concert where former members of the choir will be singing at on 14th December together with the schools choir today. It felt like taking the girls to school, like in the old days, except that Oli drove hahah. I hadn't set a foot in the school since Suzy's graduation about 18 years ago. In a way it was a bit of a trip down memory lane. It was amazing to meet Javier Blanco, their choir master and their ex music teacher. I loved their choir years when the St. Michael's school won many prizes under Javier. Today he is a conductor for various choirs and has his own music school. When the girls were in the choir, he was very young, in his early 20's so today he is only in his mid 40's and looks exactly the same except for a few more white hairs. It was lovely to see the girls, many of whom I knew or recognised, although not all of them could make it to the rehearsal at their old school. Suzy, of course was missing, but will be there for sure at the concert on 14th December at the San Francisco El Grande church in Madrid. I sat and watched and listened mesmerised, recognising many of the songs, although some were new. Miguel, Oli's boyfriend, joined me later and I think he was much impressed. Here is a photo of the group in the school hall where they often used to rehearse because of the good acoustics. I had goose pimples listening to them on those steps. I closed my eyes and could see and hear the girls singing when they were small. Their choir years were happy years and both Suzy and Oli sang a lot at home. Suzy was the soprano and Oli the contralto which made for lovely duets. I can't wait for 14th December. Friday's choir rehearsal was something really special for me.
The rehearsal finished late and we had to rush off as we had a dinner date. Miguel had booked a table at a restaurant in Villaviciosa, Villacazorla, where Eladio was waiting for us. It was a freezing night and we were happy to be sitting down to eat and enjoying a meal out together. We hadn't been out for dinner for about a month I think and that night I broke my diet which maybe I shouldn't have. The restaurant was disappointing and the food ok. The best thing was being together. During our meal, my dearest girlfriends, Adele and Sandra were meeting in Paris and were out to dinner there too. They video called me and it was great to see their faces, although the connection wasn't that good.
We came home to a full house of guests but everyone was sleeping. I counted and that night there would be 10 people sleeping in the house but it's so big you wouldn't know.
I had a bit of quality time with Oli and Pippa before retiring to our "chambers" to snuggle into bed. Probably thanks to the wine, I fell asleep quite soon and was up, late for me, at 7 on Saturday morning.
Saturday dawned and I was up at 7, late for me again but still before anyone else in the house. Of the 10 occupants that night, Javi, our student from Valencia, emerged after me. He was leaving early but will be back in two weeks time. Our English guests Bob and Angela were up at about 9.30 and of course met our other English speaking guest, Andy, a Scot, our long term lodger. It was Andy's birthday; he turned 53 yesterday, and I had a little present for him as well as a card to cheer up his day as of course his family wouldn't be with him. It was great to banter in English and the 4 of us native speakers enjoyed great conversation. Our English guests from Portsmouth left at around 11 and would be driving in the direction of Estepona. I was sorry to see them leave as we had really hit if off. I'm sure if we had more time together, they would soon become friends. They left me a lovely review in our guestbook and a glowing one on the Airbnb platform. I have had many good reviews, more than 95% of which are 5 star, but Bob's is one of the best. It made my day. Reviews like this one make sharing our house all worth it.
Soon all our guests had gone, Oli and Miguel too and we were left "home alone" as I said to Eladio. It didn't feel bad. I took the opportunity to do my French homework on the "comparatif" and the "superlatif" which isn't too difficult but it took at least an hour and a half. Our weekly Saturday French lesson with Helene has been moved to today at 11 am. Thankfully there was hardly any lunch to prepare as it was all leftovers.
One of the main topics on the news that day were the rather violent riots in Paris and demonstrations of the "Gilets Jaunes" movement all around France. I read later the movement spread on social media and actually doesn't have a leader but is composed of people from the whole political spectrum and seems to have a lot of approval from the population. It's their third weekend of protests against rising taxes in fuel costs and increasing poverty. While the centre of Paris was blazing, the French President, Emmanuel Macron who is losing popularity fast, spoke out from the G20 in Argentina blaming extremists for the violence. Of course there were extremists or rather agitators but they were not the majority. Macron, accused of being out of touch with the people, has a huge problem on his hands and let's see how he deals with it; not very well for the moment I should add.
Our quiet life continued here as well as the good weather - it has been sunny all week, and of course we went for our walk with the dogs. What would our day be without our walk? In the hour I had to myself after returning from the walk and before dinner, I watched the last episode of Season 1 of the series The Good Doctor on Amazon Prime.
I now can't wait for Season 2 to be shown. I love the story but above all I love the character of Shaun Murphy, the autistic but brilliant surgeon, played by the English actor Freddie Highmore who I had never heard of. He's great at the role.
We had a quiet and small dinner before going up to our quarters to watch the news and then settle into bed to continue watching another Doctor series, this time the British made Doctor Foster. We finished it last night. I don't know what we shall be watching next. It's amazing how television has changed only in the last few years. When I was a very small girl, aged about 5, my parents bought our first TV - black and white of course - and there were only 2 channels. Even then I thought that was amazing. Today you can lie back and choose more or less a la carte, stop and start a film or series and don't have to put up with adverts in between. And not only that, we now have huge colour screens to see them on and can watch TV via video streaming on any of our devices, including our mobile phones. What a difference; it's like having your own cinema at home.
Today is Sunday and I have got to the end of my tales. All that remains is to wish you all the very best for the coming week. Until Sunday next week my friends and I do hope you have enjoyed this week's read.
Masha
At about 11, we went off the Monday market in Villaviciosa. It was freezing and thankfully we were well wrapped up. The queues were endless and tomorrow we shall aim to get there earlier. Here is Eladio standing patiently in what looks like a disorderly queue but isn't.
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| At the market on Monday morning |
The news was varied on Monday. First there was Trump threatening to close the Mexican border even permanently after some 500 central american asylum seekers tried to cross the border. They were met with smoke bombs and promptly returned. Then there was the bizarre news about a Chinese scientist who claimed two genetically modified babies had been born - twins - after modifying their embryos to remove the possibility of them getting Aids. This is the first claim to a birth of human beings after genetic engineering and it caused a hoo-ha from scientists all over the world. It's illegal in most countries in the world.
The most spectacular news came from Mars when the robot Insight made a landing -the 8th landing on the red planet. It's there for 2 years to take pictures and to study the planet's interior. It even sent back a picture 8 minutes after landing. The picture, for me at least, is rather grainy and disappointing but I suppose it is a great feat for astronauts and The Nasa.
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| The grainy picture from Mars beamed down to earth from the Insight robot that landed on the red planet on Monday. |
We were home just when it got dark at 6.30. There was more work to be done before dinner but I wasn't complaining as, no doubt, I had got in as much work in a day as most people do at an office, except that I had been able to go out to the market and on our walk as I am free to do my work when I want without being constrained to office hours. I think I could never go back to office work or being tied to a desk.
We had dinner on our own and the kitchen to ourselves as there were no guests for once, although Andy would return that night. We had our usual salad, with wonderful Ibérico ham again. Then it was upstairs to see the news. Eladio soon fell asleep while I watched more of The Good Doctor. I have to admit I was so hooked on it, I think I was awake watching it until nearly 2 in the morning. Thus I did not get a good night's sleep but this time it was my fault.
Tuesday came. I was up late after a short night's sleep - at 7.30 and thus coincided with Andy at breakfast who had come back full of energy after being with his family in Antibes, France, this weekend.
I had lots of work to do that morning and immediately plunged into drafting the press release my new customer had asked me to do. I had to do it in English and in Spanish and wasn't sure which language to start with. Either way round means the other version is always a translated one and that's never a good thing. In the end I wrote it in English. It took up most of the morning. Being in charge of making lunch everyday means I always have to juggle for time in the morning. I can't remember what we had but I know it was healthy with plenty of vegetables.
The news that day was as usual about Brexit but one piece of news emerged this week which threatens peace in Europe and in the world. Last weekend, Russia seized three Ukrainian ships they claimed were in Russian waters and detained 24 Ukrainian sailors. I mean can you imagine something like that happening between France and England or Germany and France? No you can't. That means Russia under Putin is behaving just like it used to in the Cold War and is as dangerous as ever. This was the week's ongoing story without looking like there would be a happy ending.
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| Tension in the Black Sea |
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| Suzy sent us this photo of her ordering iced water with ginger in the street |
I did speak to Oli on the phone on Tuesday. That shouldn't be news but it is as I am not good on the phone - despite being from the mobile phone industry hahahaha - far preferring texting and we hardly ever call. She told me her next trip with her TV programme, Madrileños por el Mundo - is to Zurich in Switzerland. She has never been there so no doubt will like Switzerland. We also agreed to meet on Friday and for me to go and watch the St. Michael School choir rehearsal at the girls' old school for the Christmas concert on 14th June. I haven't been there since the day Suzy graduated. It would be a wonderful trip down memory lane.
We had a great walk that afternoon with the path all to ourselves. It was sunny but very cold and I kept my gloves on throughout. I came back to enjoy some free time, time for myself. I chose to read. I would have continued with Michele Obama's book but was curious to see whether the memoirs of our journalist friend, Mariano Guindal where I am mentioned, was out yet on kindle. In Spanish it is called "Un hombre con buena suerte" (a man with good luck). It was and I immediately downloaded it. I read the introduction and first chapter before dinner. I must say the book is fascinating. He had very humble beginnings and ended up rubbing shoulders with Spain's political elite. He is a very interesting and charismatic person and journalist and we love him and his family dearly. In one of the chapters entitled "the mobile phone", he describes how it was thanks to me during a press trip to Scotland with Motorola, that he became addicted. There are 12 pages in the chapter and I am often mentioned as our Suzy, Oli and my husband. I chuckled as I read it.
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| "A man with good luck" the memoirs of our friend and journalist, Mariano Guindal |
That night Real Madrid were playing Rome in the Champions League in a match that would determine the head of the group in the next round. I was happy to read the next day that Madrid won 2-0 and that one of the goals was scored by Gareth Bale, especially after the dismal loss against a minor team in La Liga, "Eibar", last week. We didn't watch it of course as most football these days is pay per view. Instead we watched the news and then something on Netflix about Nazi Germany. It was a documentary and documentaries send me to sleep. Maybe I should watch more as for once, that night, I got a good night's kip.
Wednesday came and it was another sunny, cold and crisp autumn day. The leaves continue to fall from the trees and it is Zena, our Ukrainian weekend carer, who sweeps them away each weekend. We don't ask her to do that but she says she can't bear to see our garden covered in leaves and must clear them away. Thank you Zena. You are a treasure. I'm sure Zena has a lot to say about the conflict of Russia with her country. Being in her late 50's, she was brought up to speak Russian at school but, I suppose, like many of her generation, she has her reasons not to trust Russia. I totally understand her.
With work out of the way and nothing urgent to do until Thursday morning, I suggested to Eladio that we spent the morning in Madrid. I wanted to buy some Christmas crackers from the only English shop in the city, a place called "Living in London". It's normally a 20 to 25 minute drive into the centre but on Wednesday took a lot longer. We parked near the Bilbao metro stop and decided to have a coffee in the newly refurbished legendary café, "Café Comercial". I love the place. And here is Eladio in the café.
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| Eladio in Café Comercial on Wednesday morning. |
Traffic and pollution are pretty bad in downtown Madrid but this week the local government announced measures to decrease it. In a project called "Madrid Central", a huge chunk of the city centre will be a no go area for polluting vehicles. Only zero emissions vehicles, of which there are very few, and residents will be allowed to drive there with some exceptions. It was big news in Spain this week. Neither of our cars, my old Nokia diesel Volvo nor my new unleaded petrol Mini will qualify so perhaps from now on we shall just park our car at the local station and take the metro into town.
Later we would hear that that day was particularly bad due to the Chinese Premiere, Xi Jinping's visit to the city and that lots of streets had been cut off. Damn the man I thought. He is here to tighten commercial relations with Spain, the main objective being to import Spanish "bellota" (Ibérico) ham with the bone on. Until now the Chinese could only import vacuum packed sliced ham. It's great that the Chinese love Spain's ham and apparently consume an awful lot of it. A ham with a bone here can cost around 300 euros but in Beijing you can pay up to 4 times that price. Sounds like a good deal right? Well, maybe not, as the Chinese are mad about this iconic Spanish product of which only a certain quantity can be produced. Experts say that if exports increase to China the price for ham in Spain is certain to go up which was why I wasn't too happy with the deal.
We finally got to Núñez de Balboa and of course there was nowhere to park in Madrid's "barrio de Salamanca", so Eladio stayed outside in the car and I went in. There were lots of crackers to choose from and I ended up with 2 boxes made by Robin Reed. I also wanted Christmas pudding, cranberry sauce and sage and onion stuffing, essential ingredients for a traditional English Christmas Day menu but they only had Christmas pudding, 2 miserly little tubs and one enormous and very expensive one. I took the former.
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| Inside the shop Living in London where I got my crackers |
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| Bradford Grammar School where my Father taught Modern Languages from the early 60's to the early 80's |
"Please allow me to introduce myself as Bradford Grammar School’s new Development Director.
Since being offered the role, I’ve been learning lots about the school’s incredible history and inspiring former teachers, and a number of Old Bradfordians have mentioned your father, Mr Charles Courtenay Lloyd. He clearly made a tremendous impression on the boys he taught French and Russian, and the likes of John xxx have asked to be remembered to him (John is working on a Hungarian classical music project based around a cantata which sets to music a Hungarian poem, and has recently conducted at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, so remains very much the linguist your father inspired!).
I hope that your father is keeping well. I write today as we are keen to send your father birthday tidings next year – I gather it is a very big birthday! Not only would it be fantastic to write to him and keep him in touch with school activities, it would also be lovely to profile him and celebrate his 100th Birthday in a forthcoming Old Bradfordian publication, with his permission of course. I wondered if you might discuss this with him? I’d be happy to call you and chat further if that would be useful. We really do want to stay connected to all members of the BGS family, and it is clear that as a teacher, your father’s influence continues to enrich lives, so very much hope we are able to stay in touch".
I replied immediately and look forward to talking to the school. Bradford Grammar School is one of the UK's best schools and in my Father's day all his Russian A level pupils got a place at either Cambridge or Oxford. I don't think any of us thought that was special at the time but of course it was. For me, BGS, was where I got most of my boyfriends, haha. Our school, St. Joseph's College was right next door and my friend Amanda's brother Simon went to BGS. Through him our social life was very much connected to my Father's old school in my teenage years. I remember once, bringing a new boyfriend home, Kevin xxxxx and when my Father opened the door, Kevin nearly had a heart attack, saying "you never told me your Father was my teacher". When I used to hold parties at our house, my Father would hide from his pupils. It must have been very embarrassing for him but I never thought about that as I was selfish and young. Today I am proud of my Father's career at the school and his influence in the careers of many of his pupils.
We watched the news after lunch and promptly fell asleep. I woke some 20 minutes later to see a new Airbnb reservation for next week. There has been a lull in booking recently as it's the low season so I was happy to see a new one. It's a family of 4 from China. The bad news is they have bad reviews on cleanliness from other hosts, including mentions that their children drew on their walls. So I'm a bit wary about this booking. Watch this space hahaha.
Later we went on our sunny walk again and came back for free time for me before dinner. I continued reading Mariano Guindal's biography. I am thoroughly enjoying his tale. Earlier that day his wife, Mar, invited us to the official presentation of the book on 21st December. It will be presented by the former Spanish Minister for Finance, Luis de Guindos as well as a famous journalist, Victoria Prego. I really look forward to that.
We had dinner together and alone as nearly always. Eladio told me on our walk that day that he loves our dinners together. So do I. That night we had grilled mushrooms with sliced thin cooked ham which is called "York ham" (jamón de York) in Spain for some reason.
This week the famous Italian Director, Bertolucci died, only in his 70's, so that night his most celebrated film, 1900, was on TVE. I had always wanted to watch it. It's full of famous stars from the times, Burt Lancaster and Robert de Niro to mention two but unfortunately we didn't find it interesting enough to stay awake and we both nodded off quite early.
Thursday came, almost the end of the week, and I was busy working again, a good sign of our times. I was working on an the release and the corresponding questions and answers a document all PR people should do when issuing a release. It took up most of the morning. I had to juggle work and cooking and that day made bean stew (fabada) followed by baked apples for lunch; neither of which I would eat. Sticking to my diet, I had fish and artichokes. I love artichokes don't you?
There's not much else to tell about Thursday but you might be interested to know I got an invitation that day from a modelling agency to take part in an audition to appear in a British TV ad for a cleaning product called Cilli Bang. I'm still debating on whether to go. They want women from 45-65 with a British accent and I can't imagine there are many of us in Madrid and who are also on the modelling agency's records. Shall I go or shan't I? The audition is on Monday afternoon in Madrid but the shooting, if they choose me, would be in Barcelona any day between the 17th and 21st December which is just when Suzy is here. On the other hand, the pay is good. For one day's work and my rights, I would get 1500 euros. For the audition I have to learn the script off by heart. This is it and it's not particularly inspiring.
"Always struggled to get rid of LIMESCALE. Makes my bathroom look so ugly .... Then I discovered Cillit Bang literally blasts through LIMESCALE! I love it! Amazing results and a lovely fresh smell".
I looked up some of Cillet Bang's TV spots on You Tube to see the sort of tone of voice needed and practiced the script, learning it off by heart in the bathroom. I am still debating whether to go. Should I? Shouldn't I? For the record, Eladio and I once bought this product to get rid of the scale from our shower and it never worked. I hate cleaning ads, hahahah. Watch this space. I bet that made you laugh.
Thursday came, almost the end of the week, and I was busy working again, a good sign of our times. I was working on an the release and the corresponding questions and answers a document all PR people should do when issuing a release. It took up most of the morning. I had to juggle work and cooking and that day made bean stew (fabada) followed by baked apples for lunch; neither of which I would eat. Sticking to my diet, I had fish and artichokes. I love artichokes don't you?
There's not much else to tell about Thursday but you might be interested to know I got an invitation that day from a modelling agency to take part in an audition to appear in a British TV ad for a cleaning product called Cilli Bang. I'm still debating on whether to go. They want women from 45-65 with a British accent and I can't imagine there are many of us in Madrid and who are also on the modelling agency's records. Shall I go or shan't I? The audition is on Monday afternoon in Madrid but the shooting, if they choose me, would be in Barcelona any day between the 17th and 21st December which is just when Suzy is here. On the other hand, the pay is good. For one day's work and my rights, I would get 1500 euros. For the audition I have to learn the script off by heart. This is it and it's not particularly inspiring.
"Always struggled to get rid of LIMESCALE. Makes my bathroom look so ugly .... Then I discovered Cillit Bang literally blasts through LIMESCALE! I love it! Amazing results and a lovely fresh smell".
I looked up some of Cillet Bang's TV spots on You Tube to see the sort of tone of voice needed and practiced the script, learning it off by heart in the bathroom. I am still debating whether to go. Should I? Shouldn't I? For the record, Eladio and I once bought this product to get rid of the scale from our shower and it never worked. I hate cleaning ads, hahahah. Watch this space. I bet that made you laugh.
Our afternoon was very much a routine one, i.e. walk with the dogs, home to work and read, dinner together in the kitchen, then the news in bed and something on Netflix. Not a bad routine but I would like a change actually. Friday would bring that.
The news that day came from Buenos Aires. First the lesser important news. The final of the "Copa de Libertadores" which is like the American continent's Champions League, between the 2 rival football teams of the capital, Boca Juniors and River Plate, is to be played in Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium belonging to Real Madrid on 9th December. There has been so much violence between the hooligans of the two teams that it was deemed impossible for the final to be played in Argentina. I just do not understand how football provokes so much passion and violence. Thus the Spanish capital will be inundated with rival fans who could spark a lot of violence and I don't want to see that. I really don't know why they want to hold the high risk match here. Maybe one of the reasons is that there are 250.000 Argentinians in Spain, the largest community outside their own country. The latest news on this is that neither team want to play the match outside Argentina. Let's see what happens.
The other news from Buenos Aires was the arrival of the G20 leaders for their annual summit. That means that MBS (Mohammed Bin Salam), the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who is linked to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, would be pretty much central stage, at least in people's thoughts and I read later he was pretty much shunned by the other leaders and so he should be, but not enough, I am afraid, for the majority of the G20 countries to ban arms exports to Riyadh. Putin was there too and he even high fived MBS! He is under fire for the tension with the Ukraine. It's horrible to think that there are murderers and criminals and madmen in this group of leaders from the 20 richest countries in the world. There will be many protests but will things change? Not one iota I am sure.
If you look at the picture you will see that there are only 2 women there. Theresa May is in it of course and probably happy to have had a break from the Brexit issues back in the UK. The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde is there too but Angela Merkel was missing as her plane had problems. That makes for only 2 women leaders of the 20 countries of the G20 - pretty bad statistics. It's also quite disgusting to know that the 20 countries together, out of approximately 190 in the world, represent about 85% of the world's GDP. Wealth is so badly spread in the world.
After the news we started watching Season 2 of Dr. Foster. It was about that time that Javi, a student from Valencia, arrived. Having been here before I was able to leave him the keys outside in a hidden place and didn't have to get up and go outside, in the rain, in my dressing gown to receive him hahaha.
Finally it was Friday which turned out to be the best day of the week. At last my routine changed. I worked in the morning for a while and then took Eladio off Christmas shopping to Gran Plaza 2 to buy his presents - loads of pairs of tight fitting trousers as all of his are too big around the waist now. Of course, I got some things for myself, black trousers at 6 euros, a pair of jeans and a striped hooded jacket I couldn't resist. I now have to wrap them all up to go under the tree for Christmas. However, I couldn't resist trying on the top and trousers when I got home and this is the result.
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| Trying on my new clothes, even though I can't wear them till Christmas |
From Gran Plaza 2, we drove to Mercadona for the weekly shopping, not the sort I like. But with a list and a bit of organisation, I can get it down to about 15 to 20 minutes. We were home at about 1.30 on plenty of time to make lunch. Just before we sat down, our latest guests arrived. They were from Portsmouth in the UK. My Father met them as Eladio pushed his wheel chair up the drive to join us for lunch in the dining room. He greeted them and said "Oh Pompey" when they told him they were from Portsmouth. They laughed and I wondered what it was all about. Apparently that's the nickname for the town and comes from its relations with the Navy. My Father would know as he was in the RN in WW2. I love to see my Father on form. They were a really nice couple, probably retired as they had driven from England and left yesterday morning to drive down to Estepona, near Malaga, where they have rented a flat until January. I wish I had had more time with Angela and Bob. It's always great to have guests from the UK.
It was another sunny day and I was pleased for our English guests. I was pleased for us too as it made for another wonderful walk that afternoon. Once home, I got ready to go out. Yes, you read that right, I was going out and my routine of the last few months was at last to be changed. I was to meet Oli and an ex school friend, Paula, at the Colonia Jardin metro station and drive them to their old school St. Michael's in Boadilla. The girls attended that lovely school just a few hundred yards from our old house, from the age of 3 and 4 to 17 or 18. There was to be a rehearsal there that night for the Christmas concert where former members of the choir will be singing at on 14th December together with the schools choir today. It felt like taking the girls to school, like in the old days, except that Oli drove hahah. I hadn't set a foot in the school since Suzy's graduation about 18 years ago. In a way it was a bit of a trip down memory lane. It was amazing to meet Javier Blanco, their choir master and their ex music teacher. I loved their choir years when the St. Michael's school won many prizes under Javier. Today he is a conductor for various choirs and has his own music school. When the girls were in the choir, he was very young, in his early 20's so today he is only in his mid 40's and looks exactly the same except for a few more white hairs. It was lovely to see the girls, many of whom I knew or recognised, although not all of them could make it to the rehearsal at their old school. Suzy, of course was missing, but will be there for sure at the concert on 14th December at the San Francisco El Grande church in Madrid. I sat and watched and listened mesmerised, recognising many of the songs, although some were new. Miguel, Oli's boyfriend, joined me later and I think he was much impressed. Here is a photo of the group in the school hall where they often used to rehearse because of the good acoustics. I had goose pimples listening to them on those steps. I closed my eyes and could see and hear the girls singing when they were small. Their choir years were happy years and both Suzy and Oli sang a lot at home. Suzy was the soprano and Oli the contralto which made for lovely duets. I can't wait for 14th December. Friday's choir rehearsal was something really special for me.
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| Photo at the trip down memory lane choir rehearsal at St. Michael's School on Friday evening |
We came home to a full house of guests but everyone was sleeping. I counted and that night there would be 10 people sleeping in the house but it's so big you wouldn't know.
I had a bit of quality time with Oli and Pippa before retiring to our "chambers" to snuggle into bed. Probably thanks to the wine, I fell asleep quite soon and was up, late for me, at 7 on Saturday morning.
Saturday dawned and I was up at 7, late for me again but still before anyone else in the house. Of the 10 occupants that night, Javi, our student from Valencia, emerged after me. He was leaving early but will be back in two weeks time. Our English guests Bob and Angela were up at about 9.30 and of course met our other English speaking guest, Andy, a Scot, our long term lodger. It was Andy's birthday; he turned 53 yesterday, and I had a little present for him as well as a card to cheer up his day as of course his family wouldn't be with him. It was great to banter in English and the 4 of us native speakers enjoyed great conversation. Our English guests from Portsmouth left at around 11 and would be driving in the direction of Estepona. I was sorry to see them leave as we had really hit if off. I'm sure if we had more time together, they would soon become friends. They left me a lovely review in our guestbook and a glowing one on the Airbnb platform. I have had many good reviews, more than 95% of which are 5 star, but Bob's is one of the best. It made my day. Reviews like this one make sharing our house all worth it.
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| A lovely review on Airbnb from my English guests this week |
One of the main topics on the news that day were the rather violent riots in Paris and demonstrations of the "Gilets Jaunes" movement all around France. I read later the movement spread on social media and actually doesn't have a leader but is composed of people from the whole political spectrum and seems to have a lot of approval from the population. It's their third weekend of protests against rising taxes in fuel costs and increasing poverty. While the centre of Paris was blazing, the French President, Emmanuel Macron who is losing popularity fast, spoke out from the G20 in Argentina blaming extremists for the violence. Of course there were extremists or rather agitators but they were not the majority. Macron, accused of being out of touch with the people, has a huge problem on his hands and let's see how he deals with it; not very well for the moment I should add.
Our quiet life continued here as well as the good weather - it has been sunny all week, and of course we went for our walk with the dogs. What would our day be without our walk? In the hour I had to myself after returning from the walk and before dinner, I watched the last episode of Season 1 of the series The Good Doctor on Amazon Prime.
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| Love this TV series and can't wait for Season 2. |
I now can't wait for Season 2 to be shown. I love the story but above all I love the character of Shaun Murphy, the autistic but brilliant surgeon, played by the English actor Freddie Highmore who I had never heard of. He's great at the role.
We had a quiet and small dinner before going up to our quarters to watch the news and then settle into bed to continue watching another Doctor series, this time the British made Doctor Foster. We finished it last night. I don't know what we shall be watching next. It's amazing how television has changed only in the last few years. When I was a very small girl, aged about 5, my parents bought our first TV - black and white of course - and there were only 2 channels. Even then I thought that was amazing. Today you can lie back and choose more or less a la carte, stop and start a film or series and don't have to put up with adverts in between. And not only that, we now have huge colour screens to see them on and can watch TV via video streaming on any of our devices, including our mobile phones. What a difference; it's like having your own cinema at home.
Today is Sunday and I have got to the end of my tales. All that remains is to wish you all the very best for the coming week. Until Sunday next week my friends and I do hope you have enjoyed this week's read.
Masha
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