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| On the cliffs by the lighthouse at the Cape of Santa Pola last Sunday |
Good morning friends and readers.
How are you all doing?
Before I tell you about my week, I must report on how the virus is behaving around the world. Here in Spain we are now out of lockdown but that's not so in many other countries. Coronavirus is causing devastation everywhere and here in Spain, although, we are out of the thick of it, there are still little outbreaks all over the place. In the UK yesterday, pubs, restaurants, bars and hairdressers opened again on what has been called Super Sunday. The figures in the UK are still alarming and I think they should have waited. In the US, the worst affected country in the world, yesterday, 4th July, was Independence Day. Authorities warned people to celebrate at home, while Donald Trump did the complete opposite and held crowd filled celebrations. Stupid man. For the record, last night there were 11.294.433 cases worldwide and a total death toll of 530.970 and growing. Of these over 11 million cases, nearly 3 million are in the US. The US is not over the hill and if they don't take the virus seriously the numbers will only grow.
This Sunday I am writing from Montrondo, the village where my husband was born and where we built our house from the old family home now nearly 5 years ago. Luckily there is no sign of the virus here with a permanent population of about 11 people. I was upset to hear from one of the villagers how when one man died, Ulpiano, his family were not allowed to attend his funeral. I mean how ridiculous when there are so few people living here. I always say the confinement rules were made for big cities and not tiny rural villages. Poor Ulpiano RIP.
Last Sunday though, we were still in Santa Pola. It was to be our last day there after a heavenly week of disconnecting, especially from cooking for so many people, day after day, after day. That morning we did not go to the beach as we were worried it would be too crowded. It always is on Sundays, mostly because lots of locals come. Instead we went on our lovely walk to the lighthouse cliffs on the Cape of Santa Pola. We left at 9 am in the morning which was already warm. We should have left earlier to avoid the sun. In any case it was very pleasant and we had the place more or less to ourselves. It's something of a tradition to have a photo taken with Pippa on the cliffs where you can see the small island of Tabarca in the distance. I chose that as this week's feature photo. There were hang gliders out and the sky was clear and blue. It must have been the perfect weather for gliding which is very popular round here. You would never catch me doing it though as I am very wary of heights.
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| Eladio on the cliffs - notice the hang glider behind him |
We came back feeling sticky and in need of refreshing so went down to the communal pool which has been recently refurbished and is looking great. We were the only ones there when we arrived and had the pool all to ourselves. We both went in and enjoyed the cool water and also the views of the sea and of the gardens our apartment looks out on. Here is Eladio swimming. That's quite unusual as he is not a one for swimming pools. He doesn't even go into ours at home in Madrid very much. So I had to have him on camera to share the photo with you and the girls.
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| Eladio in the pool in Santa Pola last Sunday morning |
Later we sat and read in the shade enjoying the views of the Bay of Alicante until it was time for our mid morning coffee which we had on our terrace "at home". Later I made a simple lunch of Spanish tortilla and runner beans.
The afternoon was spent quietly reading on the terrace. We went to bed early that night as we would be up early on Monday, the day we left. We were both up early and there was lots to do in order to leave the apartment spick and span and also in a condition potential guests would like to find it. That meant putting away all sorts of personal stuff. All that took a while. Our neighbour, Lucy, who will be taking care of the apartment, came over just before we left for us to explain all the things she would need to do to; the water, the gas, how the washing machine works and a host of other details. We were ready to go by 11.15 or so and hit the road. If it was warm in the Alicante area that day with temperatures around 30ºc it would get warmer and warmer until we reached Madrid with 38ºc which felt literally boiling. We had lunch on the way at the Venta San José in Zafra de Záncara and were home in the mid afternoon.
The flowers in the garden looked wilted, many of them not having survived the heat despite the irrigation system and I couldn't believe the heat. Suzy greeted us first and it was wonderful to hold her in my arms again. My father came next and then the dogs. I had brought my father some chocolates from Quicksave, the British supermarket across the road from our apartment. They arrived completely melted and had to be put in the fridge. Ah but he was happy to get a packet of polos and immediately asked me for a copy of my latest blog. I was happy to oblige.
It took a while to unpack and put everything away and as soon as I was ready I was by the pool. We had asked Lucy and Suzy to look after it. They said it was fine but it wasn't; it was quite dirty and full of leaves. A man from a swimming pool maintenance company was coming the next day to give us an estimate for coming now and again during the summer to clean it when we are away.
I went in the water and was joined by Elsa. Suzy came down and we had a long chat under the trees and in the shade. Soon we were making my fresh fruit ice lollies and then Suzy made our dinner which we had in the dining room with the aircon on. There was no other way as it was, oh so hot.
It was great to be home to a guest free house. Our next group wouldn't arrive until Friday; 7 young people. I hate groups and far prefer families but so far we haven't had any this summer owing to Covid of course. Most of our guests in the summer are families from lots of countries in the EU. I won't get many this summer apart of course from the French family who have booked from 14th July to 24th August.
Later I spent time with Suzy on Oli's bedroom terrace where she had installed herself when she works. We spoke about her return to Bali which at the moment is not impossible. That day it was announced the EU had reached agreements with some 15 countries for reciprocal travel; that is countries outside the EU block. It did not include Indonesia where Suzy is waiting to be able to go back to. She reckons that won't be possible until September or October and doesn't want to be kicking her heels here for 4 months. I suggested she go to Thailand and she mused about that. She may well look for jobs there, move to Thailand and work and live there until she can return to Bali.
We were in bed late and neither Eladio nor I could sleep much. It wasn't because of the heat as we had the air con on. I did not get a good night's sleep and finally got up at 6.30 am. Thankfully at that time in the morning it is only 20ºc and lovely to have my breakfast outside reading the headlines on my iPad.
Eladio, the dogs and I managed an early walk, setting off at 9.15 but even then it was already hot. We would be skipping our walks for the rest of the week. On Wednesday mercury reached 38ºc and oh my God was it hot. Oli, Miguel and Elliot had planned to join us by the pool in the afternoon and stay for dinner. Their plans were thwarted as Elliot was ill - the first time since he was born - They took him to the doctor twice and acute gastroenteritis was diagnosed. He was very much under the weather and hadn't eaten anything, apart from breast feeding, for 3 days. However I was happy to hear how big he is when Oli told me the doctor had weighed and measured him. He is a whopping 10 kilos and measures 75.5cm, which is the average for a 15/18 month baby boy whereas he is only 9 months old. So hopefully he would get better soon.
We missed him by the pool. Suzy, Eladio and I spent the whole afternoon there. My daughter has taken to doing yoga since confinement in London and is doing some amazing poses or whatever you call it. I took some photos. Here is just one.
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| Suzy the yoga girl |
We all went in the pool, Eladio included which is highly unusual. Here are Suzy and I inside. She is skinny dipping - good for her - but you can't tell from the photo haha.
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| Suzy and I in the pool on Tuesday afternoon |
On the topic of the swimming pool, a man came that afternoon to give us an estimate for maintaining it when we are away - and also when we are here. The estimate was very reasonable and they will be coming twice a week for the next month or two. That is a huge relief as it means when we go away the pool will be taken care of. They would be coming on Friday to do it for the first time and on time for the arrival of our 7 new guests.
Later Suzy gave us our own private concert when she brought down her ukelele and sang some songs including one of my favourites - Viva la vida by Cold Play. By the way, she later got the results of her Covid anti body test and it came up negative. I think I told you her friends had insisted she did the test which I found a little thoughtless. Basically they made her feel like a pariah when she returned from the UK. It's funny she didn't get the virus though as her flatmate had it. Maybe she is immune to Covid as some people are. In any case it was good news.
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| Suzy singing and playing her ukelele |
At around 8 pm we started making a leisurely dinner which we had in the dining room again as it was too hot outside. We did go outside afterwards though to sit on the benches. It was then I went to inspect the plum tree; a variety of greengage. It's nice to see how the fruit it maturing and it looks like there will be quite a harvest. I took a few pictures including the one below. Spot Suzy and Norah our beagle.
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| The plum tree and the plums coming along nicely |
That night we watched more of Line of Duty. If you follow my blog you will have read that I finished the series in Santa Pola. Ah, but I hadn't really seen all of Season 1, so restarted it and it its riveting too.
I was up at 5.55 on Wednesday morning. I was up earlier than usual as it was to be a busy day and we had arranged to go to a garden centre and get there at 9.30 am. Suzy had been urging us to start a small kitchen garden for quite a while now. We once had one soon after the girls were born, at our old house, but we grew tired of it for many reasons. But now as we no longer have to leave the house to work, maybe it could be a good idea. It was a nice little expedition with Suzy and with masks donned we were at Fronda just after it opened. We wanted to buy seeds for tomatoes, lettuce, etc, but soon learned you can't plant them in the summer, although Eladio had warned us. Thus we went for plants already seeded. We got tomatoes of various types, some peppers and, my friends, strawberries. It has always been my dream to grown strawberries and raspberries in our garden. Here are Eladio and Suzy with the trolley full of plants. They took the masks off for the occasion😀
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| Buying the plants at Fronda on Wednesday |
We also bought special soil and later Eladio fillled quite a few flower pots with it, ready to plant the fruit and veg which he said had to be done when the sun was down.
Soon after we got home, we were off again, this time to do the weekly shop. Suzy had to work of course, so it was just Eladio and I. That took up the rest of the morning.
It was while watching the news after lunch that I heard about various websites where people can advertise their pools for hire for the morning, the afternoon or the whole day. I had heard of it before and one of them, Swimmy, has been nicknamed "the Airbnb of swimming pools". I thought it would be a good idea to advertise ours just for the days that are free on my Airbnb calendar. I created this advert which you can check out here. This was the main feature photo, one I took recently I think.
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| Feature photo for my Swimmy ad. |
Apparently there is a lot of demand as people are hesitant to go to public pools mostly because of the strict post Covid conditions. I did get a few enquiries and even one reservation but that was later cancelled. I have yet to see how this goes. I wasn't sure what price to put per person and went for the higher range to put off the "riff raff" (haha). I don't want a whole load of people coming here for next to nothing. It has to be worth my while. Anyway, watch this space.
I spent much of the afternoon by the pool creating the ad but didn't actually go in myself. We don't much unless it is over 35ºc and not always. It was that afternoon that Oli and Miguel, exhausted from looking after a cranky and sick baby who was crying all the time, decided to come for dinner and spend the night. We were delighted. I started on the dinner preparations while Eladio started mowing the lawn. Soon they were home. It was the first time we saw their new car a blue Volkswagen Touareg. But we were far more interested in seeing Elliot who we had last seen the day we left for Santa Pola. It took him a while to recognise me, although the he had no problem remembering his adored grandfather, Eladio into whose arms he first went. We could see he was a little better, if rather white and thinner. He hadn't eaten anything solid since Sunday poor mite. But he was soon cheerful and smiling and happy to be back with all the distractions there are here for him. Soon Suzy was back from some errand and we were all together, just as I like it. We made a splendid dinner and then it was time for planting the fruit and veg. Eladio wanted Suzy to put the plants into the earth into the pots as it was her idea. I looked on as we all did and had to have some photos of course. We have no idea whether this little initiative might make the beginnings of a small kitchen garden or whether the plants will prosper. Only time will tell. Here is Suzy at work. I love to see her looking happy.
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| Suzy's first planting experience |
As we all looked on I had to have a group photo also to remember the moment. I took a few but this is my favourite:
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| The family planting moment - notice Elsa in the picture too:-) |
We went upstairs quite late. Suzy was turfed out of Oli's room and moved to the Green room, usually reserved for guests. I went up with her and we had a heart to heart talk for nearly 2 hours all about her life and her future. At the moment, I think I might have said it above, she is planning on finding a job in Thailand. Watch this space too!
I was in bed late and managed an episode or more Line of Duty on which I am totally hooked. On Thursday morning I was up at 6.30, a bit later than the day before. I was busy that morning and felt I was multitasking all the time. I was responding to enquiries to book the pool and, more excitedly, to book our apartment in Santa Pola. I also spent time trying to get through to my father's GP as one of his ankles is swollen. That took ages and the doctor couldn't come. I sorted it by suggesting I sent her a photo which I did. She didn't think it was very important, prescribed some medicine and said she would ring back in 4 or 5 days to see how he was. I also had to make lunch for everyone, in between looking after Elliot with Eladio, for a while. The poor mite was not well. He still wouldn't eat and then he developed a strange rash which worried me a bit. His parents took him to A&E in the afternoon and we later heard it was quite normal; a way of expelling the virus from his body.
Lunch was possibly our last family lunch for a while. In the afternoon Oli and her family left for the doctor after which they returned to their flat. At just after 6 pm while Eladio was mowing the lawn to leave it looking good for guests, I went with Suzy in my car to Majadahonda where she would be meeting her bosom friend, Elenita, and both of them would be off to Santa Pola for the weekend. When I left them I had more errands to do; go to the chemist to get my father's medicines and then a quick entry to a nearby supermarket to get more bathroom toiletries for our guest rooms - 7 were coming on Friday. I came home at around 7 and couldn't really believe it was just Eladio, my father, Lucy and I at home for a change. That meant I had to make dinner for only the two of us. What a relief. I even had some free time before dinner so I took a dip in the pool and then read in the shade.
We enjoyed a quiet dinner on the kitchen terrace which included a much needed glass of Rioja. Once in bed we watched the final episode of Season 1 of Line of Duty. Oh what a great series it is and oh how I miss it now.
Friday came, the day we were leaving for Montrondo. I had breakfast in peace and quiet and was delighted to see two emails from Airbnb. One was to inform me I was a superhost again. I have now been a super host for the 12th time in a row, practically since starting this new adventure just over 3 years ago. Hosts get evaluated every quarter so that's 12 quarters now which is pretty wow I think.
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| Super host for the 12th time. |
These were my statistics which I think I can use the word "awesome" to describe. I mean I have ticked every one of the boxes and over fulfilled the objectives. That is not easy to do as guests are unpredictable. Hosts are evaluated by guests and any little thing may cause them to underscore you.
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| My super host stats |
There was another email from Airbnb which surprised me. A guest from the past had sent me a card with a best host award. It's my first time and I was happy to get some recognition for all my hard work. Thank you Lise.
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| My best host award card |
I have to say that all this recognition meant the world to me. I started this journey when I lost my job with Yoigo back in January 2017. I had to reinvent myself and start all over again aged nearly 60. It has not been easy but I made it. I got up and did it again. I am happy to have a customer, Adamo, which keeps me busy and active still in the telecoms market, doing press releases, etc but it is Airbnb that has surprised me. After over 35 years as a corporate executive I started out as a host not knowing how it would turn out. I cannot believe my success after such humble beginnings and that I am now a 12 time super host and all that that means. In a way I only wish I had started earlier but it's never too late to reinvent the wheel. I love what I call "my new job" and also meeting the wonderful guests from all over the world. All this was on my mind that day. And then, suddenly, out of the blue, I got my first booking for our apartment in Santa Pola. When I advertised it on the platform I knew it wouldn't be as successful as our house as there is much more competition in the Alicante area. So, when I got my first booking, I was over the moon.
I couldn't spend too much time musing on my success with Airbnb or reading the news that morning as there was lots to do before we left. I had to make sure we had everything we needed for a week in Montrondo and a week in Asturias. We also had to leave everything ready and prepared for the next group of guests.
By 11.30 or so we were ready and left with little Pippa in the back of the car. We stopped for an early lunch at 13h at our usual pit stop, the Palacio de Bornos winery in Rueda. Here is Eladio enjoying the moment.
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| Lunch at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on our way to Montrondo |
It was a good feeling to be back and we were warmly welcomed by the staff in a somewhat different environment of course, in this post Covid world.
We reached Montrondo in the middle of the afternoon. The weather was pleasant; about 24ºc, at least 10ºc less than in Madrid (thank God). We set upon settling in, unloading stuff and unpacking clothes and foods. For some reason there was no electricity which was unusual, although it happens every now and again here. As it can happen, and so as not to ruin any provisions in the deep freezers, we have a system in place for the electricity to go on again when it comes back. Well, on Friday, for some reason we realised the system had failed and the worst consequence was the stinking, rotting food in the freezer which smelled like a dead body; not that I have ever smelled one. That was a horrible reception. We cleaned and cleaned but the deep freeze still stank.
On a brighter note, Eladio installed a barbecue we had bought on Amazon for our house here. He found the perfect place, perched on a stone just outside the kitchen. This is it. We decided to try it out the next day. Eladio chose a wood barbecue as opposed to a coal one for a good reason; the meat tastes so much nicer.
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| The new barbecue for our house in Montrondo |
You may notice the sun loungers in the background. Well, I spent most of the rest of the afternoon lying on one of them with my cup of tea and my kindle while Eladio watered the front garden. It was bliss to be back and also to have the whole area to ourselves with no one else here. In between reading I rang Olivia to find out how Elliot was and I am happy to report it looks like he is finally on the mend. He fell ill last Sunday and since then has eaten no real food apart from his mother's milk. No doubt he now weighs under 10 kilos but no doubt he will fill up again when is well again.
After his various gardening tasks, Eladio joined me on the sun loungers. Knowing my husband loves eggs and chips, especially here in Montrondo, I offered him them for that night's dinner menu. He was delighted. I shouldn't be eating chips as I have put on so much weight from lockdown, but oh to hell, I am on holiday, so who cares? I do deep down and feel cross with myself. I shall be doing something about it after the summer I keep promising.
This was the dish, a very simple and humble meal but a favourite with anyone from this village.
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| Egg and chips for dinner on Friday night |
I love this time of year in Montrondo because of the long hours of sunlight. As we are further north it gets dark about half an hour later than in Madrid. I took a photo at 10 pm to prove my point. I then looked up at what time the sun sets in Helsinki as Finland is famous for its long hours of light in the summer, and saw it was at 10.30 pm, just half an hour later than in our village.
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| Still light in Montrondo at 10 o'clock at night |
We watched the news of course where coronavirus still dominates everything and afterwards for light entertainment started watching Wasp Network, a spy story set in Cuba and Miami. It seems to be very popular but we were not that impressed and soon fell asleep on the sofa.
Suzy meanwhile was in Santa Pola and had had a great day with her friend Elenita. I gather so from photos of her she posted on Instagram like this one. I'm always happy to see her happy.
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| Suzy enjoying life in Santa Pola on Friday |
I had a good night's sleep and was up at 6.30 on Saturday morning. It was to be another glorious and sunny day. I went for a walk with Pippa to Senra and back, mostly lured by the possibility of a coffee at the only bar in the vicinity. Eladio preferred to potter around by the house on little maintenance jobs he always finds. The village looked lovely, so peaceful and still green as you can see in the photo.
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| The village as seen on my walk yesterday |
It's about 4km to Senra and 4km back and I love the stop there at the only bar, Cumbres de Omaña. I'm not too keen on the owner though who is rather surly and unfriendly. I sat outside with Pippa. Sitting there too was a girl from the village and her partner, both of them teachers who live in Valladolid. We had lots to talk about and I must have stayed an hour. It was getting hot by then and time to walk home. I always take the old path where there is more shade and I have a favourite stretch of the path which is tree lined and probably never gets any sun. Here is Pippa walking along it.
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| Pippa on the shady old path yesterday |
I was back on time to make lunch. We were to have a barbecue, our first here and as it was so warm we had lunch on the terrace at the back of the house which is nearly always in the shade and usually too cold, but not yesterday. The bbq takes a while to be ready as the wood has to burn first. Meanwhile, I made the salad, laid the table outside and also made a special dessert; stoned cherries with a pineapple sauce made from pure pineapple and a dash of kefir (delicious). Here is Eladio with the hamburgers and sausaages (butifarra and chorizo) on the go.
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| Eladio making our lunch on the barbecue |
And here he is sitting down about to enjoy our lovely and peaceful meal which was delicious. There is something about the mountain air here that makes food taste better than anywhere else.
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| Our bbq lunch yesterday |
Meanwhile, Suzy and Elena, following in our footsteps, continued their long weekend in Santa Pola and that day went to have lunch at our favourite place in the area, Maria Picola. They had been to the beach in the early morning where Suzy practiced yoga and then to the weekly market. In the afternoon they spent time on the lawn by the pool overlooking the bay of Alicante; one of my favourite spots. Here is Suzy by the pool and from what I can tell, enjoying a home made fruit lolly, the ones we have been making recently.
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| Suzy enjoying a home made fruit ice lolly on the lawn by the pool overlooking the sea yesterday in Santa Pola. |
I spent the afternoon on the grass too, once again hogging one of the sun loungers and reading my kindle. It was a long and lazy afternoon and I enjoyed my peace. We weren't really hungry for dinner so I decided to make something quite light; a dish of prawns with garlic and steamed asparagus. We had that on the other terrace and enjoyed the views.
Eladio went to see his sister afterwards while I finished watching the documentary about Jeffrey Epstein on Netflix. What a monster of a man, a disgusting pedophile and worst of all is how many young girls' lives he destroyed. He then went and killed himself in jail and they never got the satisfaction of seeing him sentenced to life imprisonment. One of the items of news that most interested me this week was the arrest of his former girlfriend and pimp (there is no other word for her), Ghislaine Maxwell. I do hope she gets a heavy sentence for her role in this whole sordid business. Later, when Eladio came back, we started watching Season 2 of The Sinner. It's quite good.
Today is Sunday and Eladio has suggested we go for a walk up the mountains. I'm sure that's what we'll do but of course you will hear all about today and the week coming in next Sunday's post which will find us at the wonderful Casona de la Paca hotel in Cudillero, Asturias on the north coast of Spain.
Till then my friends I wish you all a great week. Keep safe,
Cheers Masha
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