Visit to Howth, last day in Dublin, home again and too hot for words, a party in Madrid, biography of my father now available on Amazon Kindle and other stories.

Sunday 7th July, 2019

At the summit of the pretty fishing village of Howth

Good morning again everyone.

It's hard to believe this time last Sunday we were still on holiday. We came home on Monday to the heat of Spain and life is back to normal. I think the memory of our trip to England, Wales and Ireland will remain with me always. It was just wonderful.

This time last Sunday we were still in Ireland and decided to visit the small fishing village of Howth and go up to the summit where I heard from an ex pupil of my father's who lives in Dublin that this is where Molly Bloom says "yes" in James Joyce's "Ulysses". It was David who recommended the visit to Howth, just 14km from the city centre. It seemed to us a suburb of the city where no doubt a lot of Dubliners live. It's a beautiful place.

We went by bus, the 31a, which luckily had a stop right outside our hotel. It was enjoyable to see more of the city and the outskirts, some of it beautiful and clean and some of it quite the opposite. The bus took us to near the summit with its sweeping views including Dublin in the distance. We walked the short way up to the top from the bus stop and were overawed when we got there. What a wonderful spot we had come to, supposedly the highest point of the peninsula on the northern edge of Dublin Bay. We learned we could take the cliff walk down to the village - some 4 km which we were keen to do, but first for some photos. The photo illustrating this week's post is of me at the summit. The view was divine and the sunny sky helped as visibility was great. It just summed up lush Ireland for me with its rugged coast and I understood why it is called "the Emerald Island". It made sense.

One of the views from Howth summit

There were various walks along the cliff back down into the village and we took the easiest as we had been warned that the walk closest to the edge was rather dangerous and that sometimes helicopters had to come out to rescue people. We didn't want to chance it. The walk down was lovely too with very few people which was a bit of a respite after the crowded city of Dublin.

Eladio on our walk down from the summit to the village

As we approached the village we took the harbour path and were rewarded with more beautiful views of the coast line. I envied the people who lived in some of the superb houses perched on the top like the white one in the photo below. What a place to live.

The view of the small beach next to the harbour from the cliffs approaching the village of Howth

Some people were swimming but then the Irish are made of hardy stuff, not like us who are used to bathing in far warmer temperatures. It was funny to think that the maximum that day in Howth and Dublin was about 18ºc and more than double that in Madrid our home town. We were not looking forward to the heat I can tell you.

We wandered along the pretty harbour and admired the views and fishing boats and then started seeing a lot of people dressed in kilts. We were in for a surprise as there was a bagpipe championship being celebrated that day. Eladio didn't know the Irish wore kilts like the Scottish. I did, but had never seen any. The pipers looked magnificent. I wondered what the difference in the music and bagpipes was and looked it up. Apparently the Irish bagpipe has three tubes rather than two.

Irish pipers in Howth last Sunday

They were a delight to watch and an unexpected surprise. How lovely to be in Ireland and be rewarded with bagpipe playing.

From the pipers, we wandered down to the end of the harbour for more beautiful views like this one.

View from the harbour of Howth

We could have taken a boat to the Eye of Ireland but we are not ones for boats. In any case we had to go as I had booked a table for lunch at 1 pm. I chose well as the Bloody Stream pub was superb. Here Eladio went for soup and Irish chowder stew again and guess what I went for? Well, fish and chips of course, the last but one I would have on our holiday. I would need to go on a strict diet upon our return as I had eaten far too much on our trip.

As soon as our lunch was finished it was time to take the bus back to Dublin. We caught it by the skin of our teeth but soon we were back in the city and it dropped us off right by our guest house. We both went straight to bed for a well earned siesta. We had walked a lot that morning but we would walk again later in the evening, totaling over 14km again that day.

We woke up and I had to decide what to do. Eladio generally just falls in with my plans hahah. I suggested we go and see the catholic cathedral, St. Patrick's the patron saint of Ireland. It was a 30 minute walk there and a bit far out of the town. Unfortunately it was closed but it was worth seeing.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin

We didn't want to go out to dinner so once again bought some food to have in our room. Naughtily I chose M+S and we later had a scrumptious dinner of crab meat, prawns, avocado and tomatoes followed by raspberries.

Our picnic dinner in our room on our last night in Dublin

We were in bed early and watching some silly series on my iPad which  proved to be good entertainment on our trip, until we fell asleep.

I woke up on Monday morning, the day of our return at about 6.15. We would have plenty of time on our hands on our last day as our flight home wasn't until 5.45.

So what could we do in Dublin that morning I wondered? I looked up the top things to do there and came across The Little Museum of Dublin which had rave reviews and is supposedly the favourite museum of all museums in Ireland. So that's what we did. The museum is located in an old Georgian style house across the way from St. Stephen's Green. We got there just on time for the 11 am guided tour by the delightful Lucy in period dress. I loved every minute of it. It was short, funny and very informative. One thing I shall always remember Lucy telling us was that in Irish there are 33 versions of the Spanish word "mañana" adding that not one of them has the same urgency as if "mañana" has any urgency at all.

Lucy addressing the group at the Little Museum of Dublin

We got a short history of the city and of Ireland and lots of exhibits to illustrate this. This tour was far more entertaining and informative than the Historical Walking Tour.

Once our tour was over, we didn't have much to do so decided to do some last minute shopping at M+S to get gifts for the girls and buy more of their delicious crab meat at 8 euros a tiny tub to take home. We also got some of my father's favourite sweets at a Spar opposite Trinity College. After that we decided to walk back to our guest house, retrieve our luggage and take a taxi to the airport to have lunch and twiddle our thumbs there. All we wanted really was to go home.

And that's what we did. We were there far too early even to check in, so went to the food court where Eladio chose a curry and I chose my last fish and chips of our trip. We had a long wait after checking in so I took the time to continue reading the kindle version of my father's book so as to send the corrections as soon as possible to my publisher. I continued to do that on the airplane too and on Tuesday morning sent them off hoping it wouldn't take too long for the corrected version to be uploaded on Amazon.

The flight was smooth and the plane packed with children. We had a turbulent landing but thankfully arrived safely. We arrived to a warm evening, much warmer than in Ireland but thankfully the extreme heat wave was in remission. Suzy was coming to pick us up and I couldn't wait to see her and Oli when we got home. I was also very impatient to see Pippa, my adored and spoiled miniature dachshund. We had never been parted for so long and the reunion was going to very joyful. Suzy sent me a selfie of her and Pippa taking a siesta. In my absence, our spoiled little dog had latched on to Suzy in lieu of me, following her around everywhere. Pippa always has one reference person and that's me and when I'm away it's usually Eladio. If he isn't there then it's one of the girls. So, no, I couldn't wait to see her.

Pippa and Suzy having a siesta the day we arrived.

We were home by about 10 pm and were greeted warmly by Oli, Lucy and the dogs, especially little Pippa. We spent some time with the girls and then had to do the dreaded task of unpacking. I always unpack straight away when I get home and Monday night wasn't going to be different. Just before we had arrived, our latest guests, a father and his daughter, Bea, from Eladio's family's home town of León, had already arrived and we greeted them. They were to stay 3 nights. We would have lots of guests this week. It's going to be a busy month for Airbnb guests.

I had a cold shower before going to bed as it was so hot - 30ºc in our room. However, there was a breeze outside so we slept with the windows open and the ceiling fan on all night. The following days would be literally boiling although nothing like last week according to our daughters. It was a huge shock to the system coming from the cool British Isles and Ireland to scorching Madrid, however much we are used to the heat here. Climate change is the culprit though of the extreme weather we are having and it is difficult to bear even for someone like me who quite likes the heat.

I woke up at 6. 30 a.m. Spanish time and decided to get up and get on with the day. The heat got the better of me and I had a headache and felt tired all day. In a way I longed to be back in England or Wales but not so much Dublin which I found far too crowded.

It was good to greet my father and give him all my presents - mostly sweet tooth related, including Joanne's milk chocolate aero bars which he much appreciated. He was looking good and told me that Lucy had taken very good care of him. I was pleased to hear that.

I spent most of the day settling in and getting used to being home again and that was difficult with the heat. The best moments of the day were lunch with my father in the air conditioned dining room and dinner with the girls on the terrace.  There wasn't much "food in the cupboard" so Suzy and I went out briefly to stock up a bit. We also had  a coffee together at El Kiosko. She was busy for the rest of the day with her lessons and had to give her online ones in our air conditioned room poor girl. I also spent time by the pool - the only place to be during the afternoon - but even that was too hot and I just kept going into the water to cool off, sometimes taking little Pippa in with me but making sure not to wet her head which she hates. Elsa went in off her own bat which again is usual but it was just so hot. Norah, despite suffering the heat won't go near the water, silly dog hahaha. All three dogs were in dire need of a walk but with this heat it was impossible even late at night. The only time we could contemplate our walk this week was very early in the morning.

I slept slightly better on Tuesday night but battled with Eladio in the early hours as to whether to switch off the aircon and open the windows instead or  not. He won the battle but he was right, at least some cool air came in and with the ceiling fan we slept better after that.

Tuesday was another day wrestling with the heat. It's funny, I've lived here so many years and should be used to it but this heat wave is really getting me down. I think it's because of the contrast of the weather on our holiday in the UK and Ireland. I was seriously thinking this morning that maybe we might want to think about living there when I retire or at least spend long periods there. Where would we choose to go you may wonder? Easy peasy, it would just have to be my beloved Dales in Yorkshire. All because of the heat, Tuesday was another day without a walk and another day without mowing the lawn which had grown so much in our absence. I urged Eladio to get a gardener to come and do it as I don't want another fainting episode.

I spent part of the morning, following my friend Joanne's advice to send the manuscript of my father's book to various publishers. She particularly wanted me to send it to an author and producer called Alison Rosie at United Agents but as I don't know anyone there I doubt anything will come of it. Alison Rosie produced the film from the book Testament of Youth. I had never heard of her so looked her up and saw she was from Yorkshire. I even bought one of her books; "The very thought of you", set in WW2 and I enjoyed reading it under the shade of our horse chestnut trees by the pool in the afternoon. Suzy joined me later and I was happy to see she was reading my father's book. About time I thought hahaha. I went in and out of the pool taking Pippa in too occasionally. Eladio joined us later with his kindle so we were a sort of reading family that day hahaha.

Reading in the shade in the garden

Suzy posted the photo above later of the two of us in the shade.

In our absence a strong gust of wind had blown one of the tables into the pool. Last time, like Humpty Dumpty, Eladio had put it all together again. This time it was proving much more difficult. In a way I was happy as the table was old and ugly and I wanted a new one. So I searched the web to buy a new one. There weren't many to choose from but I finally found one I wanted which would replace the old of more than 30 years and would look a lot better. This is it. I hoped it would be strong enough though to resist the wind.

A new table had to be ordered to replace the one that got destroyed when it was blown into the pool for the second time. 

However, my amazing husband decided to try to put it back together despite the rotting wood and guess what? He did it. I still wanted it to be replaced by the new one but then I received an email from the supplier to say it wasn't in stock and they would reimburse me. Now I have to continue living with that horrible old table which we have had for far too long. Eladio did the Humpty Dumpty thing again hahha.

Our time by the pool was brightened up by watching Oli on the TV or rather watching her on our mobile phones. She did a complicated story about gas emissions from making wine after 3 men had died in a winery in Zaragoza. She was word perfect and no doubt the subject had been thrown at her with little time to prepare. She did the report at a winery in a town outside Madrid called Colmenar de Oreja and they very kindly gave her a box of three bottles of wine. She, of course, being 7 months pregnant could not drink it. Neither did I because of my lingering headache.

On the subject of Oli's pregnancy, I am delighted to tell you that the baby finally has a name. Her little boy who is due at the beginning of September is to be called Elliot. I'm so glad he is going to get an English name. Oli will talk to him in English too as will we all, so as to give him a second language in a natural way, just as the girls learned it. I can't wait to meet little Elliot.

It was only Eladio who had some of the wine for dinner which we enjoyed together around the kitchen patio table. I conjured up a tuna fish salad and it was wonderful for the 4 of us to be having a meal together as it has been nearly every night since Suzy got back. What a change from having dinner alone with Eladio. It's lovely of course but I do miss our girls.

Just as we were finishing, our guest,  a young girl called Bea from Eladio's Leon, arrived with her mother Cristina who had come to replace her father who had driven her here. They are a lovely mother and daughter. Later the two of them had a swim in the pool and would have dinner on the terrace as we went to bed. They would be staying an extra night. There would be another guest arriving on Thursday and four more on Friday. It would be a full house this weekend.

Thursday came and I had a party to look forward to. Tony and Teresa, ex heads and previous owners of the PR agency I used at Yoigo, were holding a do to celebrate the ending of their chapter with Ketchum and the opening of a new one called, fittingly, T and T Consultants. It was something I would look forward to all day and a chance to dress up and go out to town.

Invitation to the party we went to on Thursday night

On Thursday I was busy with Airbnb guests. Bea and her mother Cristina were changing rooms as a new guest was coming, Bouchra from France. I did some more quick shopping with Suzy that morning and once lunch was organised had some time to myself and sat by the pool chatting to Cristina while her daughter was swotting for her exams at the local University. We sat with her in the afternoon too by the trees and it felt like being with a friend. That's one of the upsides of being a host on Airbnb. You get to meet people from all over the world and some of them become your friends. Bouchra, a beautiful young girl who lives in France but of Moroccan origin, arrived in the early evening and I had to welcome her and show her around. She loved the house and was soon in the pool cooling off.

It was getting late and Eladio and I had to get ready to go to the party. For the occasion I wore a little black dress with a transparent embroidered ultra thin long jacket type garment which I had picked up at a market in Santa Pola a few years ago. We drove to Madrid and arrived at our hosts' house in about 25 minutes and amazingly found somewhere to park in their street. The party was in full swing when we got there. It was great to see Teresa and Tony the hosts but disappointing that none of their ex employees such as Isabel, Carlos or Gustavo were there. Really only ex clients of the PR Agency Ketchum were invited but of course clients don't know clients, they know the employees and therefore I only knew a few people. But the food and drink was of excellent quality and it was a beautiful night. Teresa and Tony live in a top floor flat which has a huge terrace and their own swimming pool, something unheard of in the country's capital.  Eladio took a photo of me by the pool with a glass of Rioja in my hand.

At the party in Madrid on Thursday night

Eladio spent most of the night talking to a Scottish guest who is married to a Spanish girl from Jaen and who, surprisingly for me, is pro Brexit. I later spied a few guests I did know such as Sebastian, ex head of the Association of Communications Directors, as well as Jose Ramón Caso, a well known politician under Adolfo Suárez' government when democracy was restored in Spain. Today he works as a Public Affairs expert for Ketchum which is now part of the Omnicon media group. I also encountered an ex Nokia colleague, Reyes. All in all we had a nice evening and at about 11.30 made a quiet exit as we are not late nighters.

It was on our way home that I found out my father's book is now live on Amazon Kindle. My publisher, Habemus Estudio, had uploaded the corrected version of the manuscript and I was so thrilled to see it live on Kindle and not just in Spain but worldwide. This is the link to the UK site but you can find it on most country's sites too.

My father's book on Amazon Kindle

Later I created my author page which you can see here.  I am so new to this. Let's see if there is any interest out there. Who knows?

My author page on Amazon Kindle

We were in bed by nearly 1 in the morning, very late for me and I didn't sleep that well. I had a nightmare my Taiwanese guests arriving at midday on Friday had arrived at 6 in the morning and had taken over the house while their rooms weren't ready. Who said being an Airbn host doesn't have its stresses hahaha?

So Friday came and I had 4 new guests coming and everything had to be ready for them. In the meantime, the window cleaners arrived to clean windows we can't access and they created a huge upheaval and all this with my guests about to arrive and their rooms not ready as other guests were vacating them and leaving late. It was a nightmare of a morning and both Lucy and I had to rush until everything was ready. It finally was and it was  a relief they arrived late. Typically they arrived while I was in the middle of lunch but out I went to greet them. They are a Taiwanese couple and their son who live in Michigan US and the mother of the wife, an old lady who had flown from Taipee to join them. I say old as she looks and moves like an old lady but later I found out she is only 68. I had a bad feeling about these guests and wasn't really looking forward to their stay but I was completely wrong as they turned out to be lovely people.   Their son, aged 24, got on with our French Moroccan 21 year old which I thought was great.

Oli was at work and Suzy was busy - later they would leave to spend three days in Montrondo - and Eladio and I made ourselves scarce and sat in deck chairs at the back of the garden to leave our guests the pool to themselves. . We will have new guests next week from Norway and the UK and I look forward to meeting them. Airbnb is obviously about making money to help upkeep this house but it's also about meeting people from all over the world and getting to know different cultures.

We needed our quiet time in the garden on our own that afternoon while I finished my book by Rosie Alison - nothing special I'm afraid - and talked together. Later we had a nice quiet dinner while our Taiwanese guests went out to Boadilla in search of tapas. I wondered how they would get on as hardly any English is spoken in this neighbourhood.

We went to bed early and finished another episode of "La Otra Mirada".

Saturday came and it was another hot day. Our guests, Jason, Sarah, Peter and the grandmother were going into Madrid for the day and I showed them how to get there. It was Gay Pride day in Spain and I knew the city would be crowded for them, just as Dublin was for us.

The girls were in far fresher Montrondo and sent us some photos from La Palloza bar where they would have lunch.

The girls in Montrondo this weekend

Our day was quiet and started early. Eladio couldn't find a gardener to come and mow the lawn so yesterday got up earlier than usual and set about the task. I, meanwhile, went on our walk with Pippa. I left at around 8 am and by 9 it was already hot. It was to be my first walk since I got home and I really needed it. Hopefully after publishing this post, both Eladio and I will take all three dogs out for their walk.

Our Moroccan guest, Bouchra, had the pool to herself that day and spent most the time at home as the wedding she was going to didn't start until the early evening. It was to be a full blown Moroccan wedding. I was stunned when she later sent me a photo of the bride. Just look.

The bride at the Moroccan wedding Bouchra went to last night

Meanwhile, we spent time by the pool and Andy, our Scottish guest joined us in the early evening. He remarked to Eladio what a paradise the place is. He's right. I swam to cool off and when the heat receded, brought out a bottle of cider and some pistachios for Eladio and I to enjoy by the pool. We never really do that so it was rather special. Later as we were making dinner, our Taiwanese guests arrived back from their long day in Madrid. They had brought lots of fruit to eat and sat with us as we had our dinner. We then got into a long conversation, mostly about the history of Taiwan which was extremely interesting for us. Jason is a teacher of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and his wife Sarah a cognitive psychology researcher. We spent at least an hour or two around the table getting to know our Asian guests who have lived in the US since 1980 but still have rather strong Chinese accents. Today they are leaving for Toledo and Córdoba. From there they will go to Seville, then to Lisbon, Sintra and Porto. This is a family who has traveled a lot and a family who, despite our cultural differences, we found it easy to relate to.  We will be sorry to see them go.

Today we shall be saying goodbye to them and to Bouchra and then will have to prepare the rooms for our next guests and so it goes on.

Now my friends, I have come to the end of the tales of this week and now it's time to publish this post and give my father a hard copy.

Hoping you have enjoyed the read, cheers till next Sunday.

All the best/Masha
 c