Last few days with Suzy, abuse in the work place, Elliot and his great grandfather hold hands, Franco's remains exhumed, to Montrondo with Phil and Kathy, a day in Oviedo and other stories.

Montrondo, Sunday 27th October 2019

My 100 year old father with his great grandson Elliot aged 1 month. Love this photo.

Good morning everyone from Montrondo, our beloved village where my husband Eladio was born. We got here on Thursday evening just after dropping Suzy off at the airport where she would start her long journey back to Bali, in her newly adopted country. She had been with us since 1st May and we will miss her especially at Christmas. It will be the first Christmas ever that we are not all together. Thankfully though we will have little Elliot who will fill a bit of the gap. Who knows when we shall see her again? I hope it's not a whole year.

Last Sunday saw us at home on a cold and rainy day. We went on our walk but had to go on the street rather than to the fields as hunters were out shooting rabbits and that's a bit scary.

Suzy had been out all night to a goodbye drinks party with friends and didn't emerge until we were having lunch. Good for her! Our day was quiet and calm. Carmen our new physiotherapist guest from Almeria left that morning but will be back in November. We hardly saw our other guests, Noel and Andy. 

It was also a calmer day in Barcelona, thank goodness. There were protests where demonstrators threw bags of rubbish at the police but they reacted pacifically. I have read the Spanish government is in constant contact with the Catalan authorities, bar the independence mad President, Quim Torra, who refuses to acknowledge the violence which last week made Barcelona look like Gaza at times. His team, at least have spoken out against the violence and there seems to be an unspoken pact with the central government, where they are reigning in Torra and they, the government are being careful with how the police manage the violence, not wanting a repeat of what happened two years ago. However, the toll in numbers of injuries and damage is high. 207 police have been injured, some very badly so, and 128 people  detained. In monetary costs the damage in Barcelona only comes to over 2 million euros. 

We didn't see little Elliot that day but got photos. Here is one of him "drunk on milk". Thankfully he is eating better now and seems less fretful. The nights are better too.

Little Elliot "drunk on milk"

We didn't get to see him but Suzy did. After her friends left, off she went to be with her sister. They only had a few days left together and both of them wanted to make the most of it,

Eladio and I had a quiet dinner and then went up to bed to watch the news. The news this week, at least in Europe, would be all about Brexit and what would happen after Johnson's defeat in the so-called Super Saturday Parliamentary session.

Later we watched a programme we always like; "Salvados" which began a new season last Sunday. It also changed presenters from the well known Jordi Evole to a chap called Fernando González otherwise known as "Gonzo". It was about sexual and sexist abuse at work, something I am very familiar with. As I watched I remembered the abuse I was on the receiving end of for many years at perhaps all my work places. I well remember at my first job which was with the arms company, Defex, being the subject of much improper behaviour and quite frequently too. I remember the names of the perpetrators; Sr. Trujillo and Sr. Atienza, and what they did to me. It was difficult to do anything about it at the time. There was nobody to report it too and no way of proving it. I remember even being frightened of telling my husband. At Motorola it was more the sexist attitude but there was also work harassment, so much so that I realised towards the end that the behaviour was aimed at my resigning, something I refused to do but it cost me a lot of pain. At Nokia there was no sexual harassment but plenty of bullying. I have to say it didn't come from the Finnish HQ where that sort of behaviour was not tolerated but from the Spanish subsidiary I worked for. It was unbearable towards the end. At Yoigo, I suppose I was too old for sexual abuse as they hired me when I was aged 49. That didn't stop some of the older men ogling at me. I remember too finally joining the all man management team as the first and only woman. I shall never forget the comments with which I was "welcomed" on board which were something along the sexist lines of "at last we have a pretty face in the team". I smiled stupidly at the time not really taking in the meaning but it was there and as the only woman on the team I was very aware of how I was never ever considered an equal. Today, aged 62 and being self employed nobody can touch me. But I have been there and suffered it just as so many other people do too. They said in the programme that only 8% of women report it. I can understand that as it's very very difficult to prove as there are no witnesses and it's your word against theirs. An EU figure from 2006, quite a while ago, estimates that 50% of women suffer some sort of sexual harassment. I can believe that. I sincerely hope my girls don't go through what I had to go through. If you are not strong it can it can ruin your professional life. 

Monday came and thankfully it did not rain although it was cold. In fact it was so cold I wore a puffer jacket for the first time in months on our walk that day. But the sun came out and made it a very pleasant day. The morning was spent working for my customer, Adamo, on two upcoming press releases. That had me busy until lunch time with my father. Lunch is the highlight of his day and I always try to make food he likes and can eat as he hasn't many teeth left hahaha. That's not surprising as he is aged 100 as well you know.

In the afternoon it was Suzy who had to work while I had a short siesta and read a bit in the lounge. At just after 6 pm we set off to see little Elliot. There was a lot of school and work traffic, something, thankfully, I rarely have to face as I work from home. As soon as we got to Oli and Miguel's flat we were greeted by a sleeping baby. He doesn't particularly like being put in a cot, far preferring his relatives' arms or like on Monday, Oli's breast feeding cushion. This is how we found him.

Little Elliot asleep on Oli's breast feeding cushion

He's adorable when he's asleep but we wanted to pick him up and hold him. That's when he started crying as after 3 hours - a long gap for him - he needed feeding again and Oli complied. She says she feels like a cow, although a contented cow hahaha. I remember the feeling.

Once fed and with his nappy changed, he was wide awake and it was time for play with his Auntie Suzy and Grandmother. He is beginning to smile and as I said has discovered his hands which he always puts into his mouth. He moves a lot too, kicking his arms and legs. Funny little boy he is. He played to the camera at that moment and I caught this lovely image of him all content and happy.

Happy little Elliot

Suzy took a video of that moment which I cherish and which of course I had to share on Instagram immediately. This is it.

We left late at around 8.30 as we couldn't drag ourselves away. Suzy was fully conscious she only had a few more days with him until she left for Bali and who knows when she will next see him. I am more fortunate as I see him often. We were home by about 9 pm and made dinner for the three of us. A new guest, Adrian, who had driven from Cádiz to our place, had arrived in my absence but I didn't see him.

After dinner it was news time and the topics were the same as usual: Catalonia and Brexit. I am fed up with both of them.

I slept quite well until I was woken up at 5.30 by little Pippa. Someone must have left the kitchen door open and she came up to find us. I couldn't sleep after that so went downstairs to feed the dogs, have my breakfast and start the day. Little Elliot, Oli and Miguel were coming for lunch on Tuesday. I decided to make "fabada" (Asturian stew) and had it simmering by about 7 a.m. After a rain free walk with the dogs, I spent part of the morning on another press release until it was time for the weekly food shopping trip out - what a bore.

We were home just before Jefferson, my young student from Ecuador who had finally arrived. It was his first time in Spain and he felt lost and I felt sorry for him. He's here to complete a masters' degree in commerce which was supposed to take place at the main campus of the UEM University. However, he had just been informed that all his classes will now take place at their Alcobendas campus which is 30 odd kilometres away and nearly unreachable by public transport. It takes 30 minutes by car but 2 hours on a various combination of buses. I felt very sorry for him but there was not much I could do to help. Later in the week I got to know my new guest a little better. He is just 24 years old and has never been outside Latin America. He explained to me that he lived in a small town in the north of the country on the border of Colombia and that he was an indigenous Ecuadorian and speaks the ancient language of the Incas, Quechua. He told me about the recent disturbances in his country led by the indigenous and said that they were marginalised by society as was their native language, making it difficult to progress in society. He is obviously an exception. Not many people like him can afford to come to Spain to a private university to study a masters' degree. No doubt he will go far in life.

Soon afterwards, Oli, Miguel and little Elliot arrived and we had a late lunch, joined by Suzy at the end as her classes that day didn't finish until 3.10. My father is extremely interested in his great grandson, more and more so every day. There was plenty of time for lots of interaction between the two after lunch which pleased my father enormously. We sat Elliot in my father's arms and he said "I have to be very careful" (so sweet). He sat there holding his 1 month old great grandson marveling at his little body. That had to be the photo of the week illustrating today's blog post. It is a photo I shall treasure forever. Notice Elliot's little red converse trainers. Aren't they sweet?

For my father it must have brought back memories of holding George and I as babies I'm sure. For my father's biography I included a photo of my father holding my brother George as a tiny baby in 1955. No doubt my father could never have known that 64 years later, he would be holding little Elliot, his great grandson.

My father holding his own son, his firstborn, my brother George in Cambridge in 1955, 64 years ago!

Elliot was perfectly content in his great grandfather's arms and touched his hands. What a sight to see their hands touching, the hands of a one month old baby and his 100 year old great grandfather. We had to have a picture, another one I shall treasure.

My father and Elliot holding hands

Suzy then took a photo of the 4 generations; my father and his descendants: his daughter, his granddaughter Olivia and his great grandson. 4 generations wow!

4 generations in one photo

Somehow, Elsa, our labrador, got in the photo too hahaha. Well she is part of the family:-)

As we left my father for him to be taken down to his room for his siesta, his parting words were to Elliot. My usually most undemonstrative father looked at his great grandson and said very clearly: "I love you". Oli and I were speechless. I was amazed and remarked that he had said to his grandson what he had never said to me when I was a child. It came from the bottom of his heart. The teacher who wrote his  Clifton College school report dated 1935 reflected : "finds it difficult to express his feelings". That is certainly true. However, I have learned over the years that even though he doesn't usually express his feelings, that doesn't mean he doesn't have them. On the contrary he is a very loving person except that he is too shy to say what he thinks when it comes to emotions. That's why I was stunned but delighted to hear him tell Elliot that he loved him. Thank you Daddy. I love you too.

Oli and her little family had to leave shortly after lunch as they were having visitors. Before leaving, Miguel helped Eladio cover the pool for the winter which is always a sad moment for me. Suzy left too as she had friends to see in Madrid. We would all meet again on Wednesday night for Suzy's goodbye dinner at Oli's place. Oh how sad.

Eladio and I went to have a siesta but ended up watching a film on Netflix called Fracture; a psychological thriller. The rest of the day panned out as normal.

The main news that day was again about Brexit. Johnson got his withdrawal vote through but was thwarted by MPs as to the length legislation would take to be put in place. He had hoped for 3 days but that won't be so now which means the Halloween deadline will not be met.

Wednesday came and it brought more rain.  It was Suzy's last full day at home and I kept thinking about it all day. She spent most of the day packing. Her limit is 30 kilos and she used an old Nike holdall which had once been a present from the Real Madrid basketball team. To get everything she needed in, she looked up methods to pack as much as possible in limited space. So there she was rolling all her clothes. Later we had to weigh her on the scales and then weigh her with the huge and heavy holdall.

That evening we were to hold a goodbye dinner for Suzy at Oli and Miguel's or should I say at Oli, Miguel's and Elliot's? Maybe. These goodbye dinners are always lovely as we are together but also tinged with sadness. It was also to be Suzy's last night with Elliot, her beloved nephew, although she would see him quickly the next morning when Oli and family came by at around 13h from the doctor nearby. Little Elliot (that's what we call him  -or "the little one") was fast asleep when we arrived and looked like a little angel which actually he isn't. He shows signs of having a lot of character but that is good I think. This is how we found him, on Oli's breast feeding cushion which he prefers to his cot.

Elliot asleep when we arrived on Wednesday evening

We wanted to pick him up but Oli said, no as she wanted some peace to be able to make dinner hahaha. There would be plenty of time to hold him during or after dinner. It's as if he smells the food as  soon as his mother is about to sit down to eat, wakes up, cries and wants feeding too haha. We had a lovely meal including a delicious mushroom soup which Oli's personal chef had made. We spoke about the Catalán issue, aka as "El Procés" but knowing Spanish politics bore Suzy we quickly changed topics. There was a a hilarious moment during dinner. Suzy was describing how she plans to settle down in Bali again when she returns. She will be staying with an Indonesian girlfriend who is the manager of the band her boyfriend plays in .We asked a bit about her and when Suzy said, "whatshername's boyfriend is in prison" you just had to see Eladio's face. He said it with a lump going up and down his throat. You see the band we are talking about is a band that was forged in a Bali prison where Suzy's boyfriend was once an inmate too. I don't like the fact that Suzy's friends have anything to do with prisons but there you are. I have been told to commiserate as the inmates from the band are in jail because of possessing a little bit of cannabis. Just for smoking it you can be imprisoned which is why I worry so much about the circle Suzy moves in. No doubt you understand me.

We had another hilarious moment when I asked for permission to recount the story in this week's blog post. On the topic of my blog, Eladio asked me if in the future I could refrain from mentioning his siestas! He says that in every post I write I always include his siestas. He protested saying everyone reading it would think he spends his time asleep hahaha. Oh how we laughed. Oli asked me whether I felt a little censored. Well, I did I suppose. But then again I often have to censor myself my friends. I cannot recount the more negative or intimate parts of our family life which thus makes our life look perfect in writing which it isn't. So, there are worries on my mind and we have our ups and downs but often I can't reveal them. Sorry.

All good things come to an end so at about 11 pm, we left although I found it difficult to tear my eyes away from little Elliot who is the joy of our lives,

We were home late of course, too late to watch the news. The most dreadful news had come out of England that day when a refrigerator lorry was found in Essex carrying 39 illegal immigrants. All of them were frozen to death.  Later we would read they were all Vietnamese and had boarded the container of the lorry in Belgium. This is human trafficking at its worst.

Thursday came. It was a very big day for Spain, the day the country would see the remains of the dictator, Francisco Franco, who died age 82 in 1975, be moved from the Valley of the Fallen to a cemetery nearby in El Pardo where the "Caudillo" had lived at the palace there during the dictatorship. It was such big news, 58 journalists from 17 countries covered the story alongside a multitude of Spanish media. The dictator who rubbed shoulders with Hitler and Mussolini and who ruled Spain with an iron fist, was buried in the Valley of the Fallen, a huge fascist monument and mausoleum built under his orders in the 50's. It is a shrine to fascism and it is also where over 30.000 victims of the Spanish civil war from both sides are buried in unmarked graves. When Pedro Sánchez, the caretaker socialist PM came to power over a year ago, he vowed to move the dictator against the family's wishes. It has been a long and drawn out story with many obstacles but finally on Thursday 24th October, Franco's remains would  be exhumed and moved to the Mingorrubios cemetery in El Pardo where he would lie next to his wife, Doña Carmen. It happened in strict privacy with very few people allowed inside the Basilica which is built inside a mountain. We would only see photos from the outside, including this one of his descendants carrying the coffin to the helicopter which would fly it to El Pardo.

Franco's coffin carried out of the Basilica by his descendants

There was nothing else on the news that day in Spain. The Prime Minister said in a televised speech that "Spain was fulfilling its duty to itself". That may be so but on the other hand in a way he has resuscitated Franco and opened old wounds. Nobody thought about the ex dictator much in recent times and only a few diehard fascists would visit his tomb. Now he is in everyone's thoughts and no doubt there will be lots of pilgrimages to his new grave which is in a public and place of significance. I, really think he should have been left where he was and forgotten about. The government has been praised for its actions but also accused of getting political leverage from it for the upcoming general election.

On the topic of general elections, Boris Johnson, said to the BBC that day that he would give MPs more time to debate his Brexit deal if they backed a 12th December general election. Thus the Brexit saga is not going away for a while my friends.

For me Thursday was important as it was the day Suzy was leaving. Oh gosh I had such a heavy heart that day. She won't be here for Christmas - the first time ever that we won't be together - and we may not see her for another year, God forbid. I sent her off with my blessing though to leave for Bali and to the country she now considers home. I only wish her happiness but that day my heart was broken as it is every time I think of her on the other side of the world, so far away from us. All I can say is God bless you my beloved daughter. Be happy and remember we are your real family and will always be there for you.

Suzy's last photo with her beloved nephew Elliot

She wouldn't leave until after an early lunch and we all had lots to do to be ready to go. We were to take her to the airport from where we would drive to Montrondo as our friends Kathy and Phil were coming on Friday. Suzy was doing the last of her packing and I had to do food shopping as well as our own packing. I drove my daughter to the hairdresser then went to get petrol, some cash out of the hole in the wall from a bank nearby and then to Mercadona for more food to take to Montrondo. Lunch was on the table at 1ish and by 1.15 or so Oli, Miguel and Elliot were home from the appointment with the doctor and here to wish Suzy a safe trip and say their final goodbyes. It was all so rushed really. There was no time for a family photo but I got one of my two beautiful daughters standing together after a long hug. Oli misses her sister too and would love to have her by her side as Elliot grows but she too knows that Suzy is happier in Bali and respects that although it hurts. Here are my two beautiful daughters about to be separated for a long period of time. Thank God I have Oli here and little Elliot.

Oli and Suzy just before Suzy left on Thursday

We left home at 1.30 to drive Suzy to the airport. We were there 30 minutes later with not much traffic and then it was time to really say goodbye. I hugged Suzy with a great big lump in my throat wondering when we would next see her. She was excited and happy to leave but also sad to say goodbye to us. Then that was it, she was off with her huge luggage and we waved goodbye until we could no longer see her.

From the airport we set off on our 4 hour journey to Montrondo. We wanted to stop in León to see a nephew who is in ill in hospital but were told he couldn't receive visits so we continued to Montrondo only stopping to get some water and to let Pippa out - she came with us of course. We arrived to quite good weather at around 5.30 and spent an hour or so unpacking and settling in. Thankfully the house was warm as Eladio had put the heating on remotely from his phone - great technology. By 8 pm we were sitting down to dinner and watching the news which was all about the exhumation and removal of Franco's remains. We continued watching more news about the same story until we began to feel sleepy. It had been a long day and I think we went to bed just after 10 pm which is pretty early.

I was up early on Friday as I had lots to do, preparing for a press release to be sent out the next day. Our friends, Kathy and Phil, from Yorkshire were coming at around lunchtime after a few days spent in the region of Santander - they came on the ferry from Portsmouth. We spent the morning getting the house ready; i.e. making it look as clean as possible although I later saw we missed the odd cobweb hahaha.

Meanwhile we got news from the girls. Suzy had just arrived in Bali after 17 hours or in the sky - what a long journey. She was as pleased as punch to be back as you can gather from the big smile on her face in the photo she sent us.

Suzy back in Bali on Saturday morning

Oli rang too to tell us she and her partner and their baby were off to Valencia to the good weather. She has felt very cooped up in their flat since Elliot was born and needed to get away. We heard later that "the little one" behaved well on his first long journey in a car.

I spent more of the time on making lunch. I made a three course meal of broccoli and mushroom soup, marinated ribs with potatoes (delicious) and fruit salad. They arrived at about 2.45 after getting slightly lost on the way to sunshine. They were wearing t-shirts and we were wearing jumpers and fleeces hahaha. It was sunny but cold for me but for them if the sun is out they consider it warm hahaha. They had been to Montrondo before but quite a few years ago and before our new house was built. This is it by the way if you haven't seen it before. We call it our house in the mountains.

Our house in Montrondo

Our friends loved our house - or at least that is what they told us. They got to sleep in the ensuite upstairs room which is compact but nice and warm and of course still very new.

Later in the afternoon before it got dark we took them on our "new" walk; the one we discovered quite recently on a path called "el camino valle". Here I am with my friends taking that path up into the woods.

With Phil and Kathy on our walk

The walk took us up into the mountains above the river and towards the next village, Murias de Paredes. On our way we saw lots of red mushrooms. Phil told me they are called fly agaric. I think they are pretty poisonous but some people eat them as drugs. They are really hallucinogenic mushrooms but we were not tempted. Neither was Pippa. It's funny how dogs know not to go near them.

The red poisonous mushrooms

The view of Murias at sunset was spectacular.

View of Murias from our walk

Apart from mushrooms we saw a few cows but also an apple tree with what looked like very tasty apples. Both Phil and Eladio picked some which we later planned to bake or maybe make apple crumble. Here is Eladio showing me his pickings which we later carried in Phil's puffer jacket bag -quite handy.

Eladio picking apples

We walked back home in the dusk and came home to a lovely warm house. I set about making dinner which was to be a prawn, mango and avocado salad, only to find that the prawns I had left outside cooling had been eaten with the bits of prawn shells strewed all over the ground. Pippa had a field day and I had to marshal her back into the house. Eladio asked me what I had been thinking when I left them outside and felt rather stupid. Thankfully the dog or dogs had only eaten half of them so I was still able to make the salad.

We had  a lovely drawn out dinner with lots of wine. I shouldn't drink wine as it gives me a headache but I blew caution to the wind and enjoyed two glasses of delicious Rueda wine. I went to bed quite late for me at just past midnight. Eladio talked for quite a while and I think it was at about 1 when I fell asleep.

I was up at 6.45  yesterday and had my quiet time, writing my blog. I also had some work to do for my main customer. I didn't have to cook on Saturday as we were going on a day trip to Oviedo, the capital city of the beautiful province or principality of Asturias to show the city to our friends, Phil and Kathy. We set off at about 10.30, with Pippa I should add - no way was I leaving her here locked up in the house all day. We took the mountain motorway and were there by about midday. We got amazing weather with temperatures reaching 23ºc, the same as down south which is pretty unusual for Asturias where it probably rains the most in Spain. Oviedo is a beautiful old city with its own unique architecture which is very well kept and where the people are known for being the best dressed in Spain. It has a population of about 200.000 but it didn't feel at all crowded. We headed for the old centre and decided on a cup of coffee - wine in the case of our English friends - in the sunny square by the cathedral. Here we are enjoying our outing and the sun.

Coffee time in Oviedo

From there we walked back up into the old streets but before heading for our next destination - the outdoor and indoor market - we had to have a photo with perhaps the best known statute in the city of which there are many. It is of the character, "La Regenta" from the book of the same name by the Asturian author, Leopoldo Arias Clarin, so well known in Spain. It's a fascinating and impossible love story which in a way put Oviedo (called Vetusta in the book) when it was written in 1885. Like most tourists to the city, Kathy and I also had to have a photo with the book's most famous heroine; La Regenta.

Kathy and I next to La Regenta with the cathedral in the background

From the cathedral square we walked to the outdoor market which I well remembered from our last visit to the city which was with Miguel and Oli in the summer of 2018. It was in full swing and there was lots going on. There were the usual clothes' stalls but also local farmers selling there produce, like this old lady selling chestnuts. Chestnuts are called "castañas" in Spanish but in the region of Asturias often words end in "in" a bit like "ita" in Spanish. This "in" ending turns the word into a diminutive. Thus the old lady was offering us "castañines" which I thought was very sweet. I had to have a photo of her but I'm afraid I didn't buy any of her little chestnuts as I'm not really a fan.

The old lady selling her "castañines"

I was more interested in visiting a shoe shop where Oli and I had bought some lovely coloured "espadrille". Called Las Zapatillas de Fontán" I found it easily by the market. I bought the same yellow suede rope shoes I had bought last time as well as some lovely blue ones which Oli had bought. I then got her some similar red ones as she had reminded me to go the shoe shop again. I bought more things at the outdoor market; two lovely jumpers with miniature bobbled hats sewn on. Oli will be delighted when I give her one of them.

From the open market we went to the closed market which has great local produce on sale. If I hadn't got so much food at home here I would have had a fresh fruit and vegetable spree. In the end I just got a mango and some lettuce.

The Fontán closed market in Oviedo

It was nearly 2 o'clock by then and we had to take poor Pippa back to the car before we went to the restaurant (El Gato Negro) where I had booked a table. We left the window slightly open and would be back for her as soon as we finished our lunch.

Not knowing other restaurants in the city and without a recommendation, I booked a table at the same place we went to last time and were not disappointed. It is also a cider bar, cider being very typical in the area. The cider in the region has to be poured from high and in small amounts so as not to lose its fizz. The usual thing is a for a waiter to perform the feat manually but these days there are little machines that can do the same job. You can see the device in the picture below of my handsome husband sitting down for lunch yesterday.

Eladio at El Gato Negro yesterday - notice the cider fizz machine 

Lunch was amazing. Kathy, Phil and I all went for the roast spring lamb and Eladio went for the monk fish. We also had a dessert - I naughtily had a big plate of ice cream. I would not be hungry for dinner that night I can tell you. As we left the restaurant I remembered that in the square nearby there was a lovely statue of a milk maid and a donkey so persuaded Kathy to have a photo taken there. She didn't need much persuasion as both of us have a lot the child inside still (hahaha). Here we are by that lovely statue. If course I had to be the one who sat on the donkey haha. I do have a thing about donkeys as I commented to Kathy, remembering riding them at the seaside in England as a child.

Kathy and I by the milk maid and donkey statue

By about 4 pm we picked Pippa up who was happy to see us again. Our intention then was to show our friends another part of the city, near the famous "Campoamor theatre" and also near the city park which I later found out is called Parque de San Francisco. We couldn't resist a walk in the lovely park. Nor could we resist another photo by another statue, the one below. None of us could work out what it was of. The plaque just the words  "la torera" written which means a female bullfighter but meant no sense. 

In the San Franciso Park in Oviedo by yet another statue with my friends

From the park we walked back to the old town to return to our car. I couldn't resist yet another photo of yet another statue, this time one of a traveller. Oviedo really is the city of statues but I'm not sure it's known for that. Here is Eladio next to it with Pippa of course.

Eladio and Pippa by the traveller statue yesterday in Oviedo

You can see just how sunny it was in the pictures I have posted. Our English friends were in their short sleeves but both Eladio and I were not. Well, 23ºc is not particularly warm for us but it is for them (hahaha). But even I was hot as I was wearing a thermal vest under my sweat shirt!

We drove home in the sunshine and Eladio took us on the scenic route which is a bit longer but wonderful for the views of the mountains clad in their autumn colours.

We were home before dusk. Yesterday it got dark here at 7.30 but today it will be dark at 6.30 as the damned clocks went back an hour last night. I hate it when the clocks change as it takes a lot of adjusting to.  So there was time for Eladio to finish mowing the grass in the area by our houses. Phil, Kathy and I were all dying for a "cuppa" and that's what we had. No one was hungry for dinner so I just served some of my broccoli and mushroom soup and a plate of cut and peeled fruit. The news was on the TV and the scenes of more violent demonstrations coming out of Barcelona sickened us all. When will it stop? Possibly never. I had hoped they would die down but not yet I am afraid.

We all went to bed early a bit tired after our long day out but feeling happy.

Today is Sunday and it will be another sunny day. We have no plans yet, apart from going for a walk in the area and enjoying a hearty lunch together. I shall be making "cocido" (a chickpea based dish).

So that's it for this week my friends. Cheers till next time,

Masha.