The week leading up to Christmas 2023, TV series Vigil, Elliot's school show, Julio came for dinner, "Maestro", time with our grandchildren and other stories of the week.

Madrid, Christmas Eve, 24th December 2023

With our darling grandchildren Juliet (2) and Elliot (4) yesterday in Boadilla. 

Well, Happy Christmas everyone. How are you all?  Are you all ready for Christmas? We are finally, after putting together all last minute planning this week leading up to tomorrow. Tonight, Christmas Eve, will just see Olivia and us alone for the most important dinner of the year in Spain. Miguel and the kids will be with his mother and brother but on 25th we shall be all together, that is bar Suzy who  has promised to come for Kings' Day on 6th January. We are not only missing Suzy and the kids but also my father who lived with us from 2005 until his death in October 2021. He loved Christmas as much as I did. Here is a photo of his last Christmas with us in December 2020 and I treasure it.

With my father at his last Christmas - December 2020. Oh how I miss him

Last year, we were a full house so we shall maybe feel a little forlorn tonight. Christmas, as a friend said, is bitter sweet. 

Christmas Eve last year. 

You always remember those missing and I have lost so many; too many. But let's do what my father would have always have done; put one foot forward, carry on and enjoy all that life gives, however, small. Here's to you Daddy; forever in my heart.

This time last Sunday I had most things in place but was missing a few presents and had to plan the meals; dinner with Julio at home on 21st, tonight's dinner and Christmas Eve dinner and lunch. For the record. for our annual dinner with Julio I served: Spanish ham with cherry tomatoes,  tuna fish vol au vent, stuffed salmon rolls, "perushki" (our Russian pasties), thick asparagus and chicken fingers with curry (something new). Dessert was a small cream filled "Roscón de Reyes" (King's cake). The Christmas Eve menu is similar and I will be serving: salmon rolls, potato salad, perushki, bacon rolls and prawn salad. For tomorrow I will not be roasting a turkey but rather a "pularda" (sort of fattened chicken; I think) with all the traditional trimmings including sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce. Dessert will be Christmas pudding. Gosh we are going to eat so much lovely food. Aren't we lucky? Many people will go hungry over Christmas. The world is not a fair place. To think that the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Bethlehem, today is mostly rubble. His parents would have found it difficult to find a place at an inn. 

Last Sunday was quiet and we were alone, apart from our guests. Now we have only one left; Mohammad, as Mileny has gone back to Peru - returning in January - Besides, we close at Christmas and New Year. That morning we did something very different. Encouraged by our neighbour Julio, we attended a neighbourhood board meeting - that looks after the needs of the 1600 households in the "urbanización" (sort of private estate rather unique to Spain) we live in on the outskirts of Madrid. It was to approve the budget from the new board and was to be boycotted by the old board who had been governing for the last 30 years. It took place at a big auditorium in Villaviciosa and was a bit chaotic. We voted for the new boards' budget which got through. Let's hope the administration of the area improves with the new board. By then it was late for coffee but who cares? We found what Oli later told me was the best cafe in town, "Lekker - coffee and cakes - a German inspired cafeteria. It was excellent. What was not excellent is that unknowingly I had exited the loo with a ream of toilet roll hanging from my waist. A lady pointed it out and we both laughed. Later I found more, hahahah. 

I bought a small "roscón" which we shared with Oli who came for lunch. She had brought a home made quiche lorraine, a dish she wanted to enter into her language school food competition this week. It was nice to have her alone for once.

The highlight of Sunday was a long Skype call with my dear friends Sandra - who "doesn't do Christmas" and Adele who adores it. We talked about next year's reunion - maybe a road trip for them from France and Belgium to Asturias and even a weekend in December in London together - exciting. I don't have many friends but I thank God for those I do have. If only some of them lived in Spain. 

Monday came and we went food shopping as our cupboards were extremely bare. I don't particularly like food shopping at Mercadona where we get our staples, but I love my coffee out and doing errands with my husband. Olivia came early in the morning to pick up a Christmas hat for Elliot at school which is when we realised we couldn't find the huge big bag of festive garb including lots of green sparkling hats I bought last year. She was taking the day off and went into Madrid with Miguel to do their Christmas shopping and have lunch in town. Their outing was more exciting than ours. Later, rummaging in the garage I found it and counted 10 hats and 7 costumes which will come in handy this Christmas, once again. 

Not much else happened on Monday, so let me move on to Tuesday. We did a lot that morning; our walk, a visit to my GP and then on to the market in Majadahonda. I had hoped to get more Christmas presents there but didn't find anything.

It was a very cold morning with a lot of frost. For our walk I had to put Pippa in her red jumper which she is not very used to. Here is a pic of her with Eladio where I think I captured the frost. I loved the sparkle on the ground as we walked.

A cold and frosty walk. 

It was a good job she was protected as we heard from a gardener that that morning he had seen it was -5ºc down by the river. No one can imagine Madrid with such a low temperature. 

That afternoon, after a recommendation from Sandie, I started watching Vigil on the BBC iPlayer - thanks to my Express VPN. 

Vigil, one of the best detective series of the year

I got completely addicted. It is a detective series set on a nuclear powered Royal Naval submarine (the crew call it "a boat") off the coast of Scotland. I immediately recognised one of the crew, Chief Petty Officer, Craig Burke as Martin Compston, star of Line of Duty. Later I read Vigil is directed by the same people as Line of Duty. No wonder it is so good. PD, in the UK, the last episode of Season 2 was playing while I was just starting Season 1. 

Wednesday would be busy too. At 10.50 I had an appointment with my dentist, Dr. Garralda, to remove the stitches after the horrible operation the week before. I was there on time and all went well. I had a question for my dentist. Remember I mentioned my taste buds felt strange after my flu and cold, etc?  He took one look and said my tongue looked like it was on fire and so did my gums (didn't he notice that before?. It had got so bad I haven't been able to tolerate any acidic type food; mainly fruit and my mouth felt really strange. He was sure it was oral thrush - fungi in my mouth, most probably caused by the penicillin I had taken recently. Honestly, I thought, this is just one more bloody thing to deal with. Thankfully there is a cure, some anti fungal mouth wash which you have to ingest. But, at least now, I knew what was causing the problem with my taste buds.

I would have gone home straight away but had to do my last minute Christmas shopping which saw me for the next few hours at Centro Oeste shopping centre in Majadahonda. I actually quite enjoyed the outing and managed to get nearly everything. I was home on time for lunch which was ready on the table - thank you Tana.

The afternoon saw me binge watching Vigil. It is set in Scotland and on a Royal Navy submarine which had me remembering my father who was both in the Royal Navy and in Scotland during WW2. To think he only died just over 2 years ago. In his halcyon days, he would have loved Vigil. That had me browsing photos and documents I collated for his passing. I came across a lovely one of my parents in their  60's 's taken at the Norwich Russian Courses they used to teach at in the summers. It must have been taken in the late 70's or even early 80's. Here they are.

My amazing parents in their 60's. Never to be forgotten

I uploaded it to my Whatsapp profile and Olivia commented "You had such amazing parents Mummy, really special and cultured". That is so true and I miss them every day. 

Eladio was out while I binge watched Vigil but back on time for dinner. He went for a routine doctor's appointment and then to Oli's who needed help with the kids while she made the Quiche Lorraine which was her entry for a Christmas cooking competition at the local language school where she is taking French lessons. 

Later that night I carried on watching Vigil until I finished Season 1 at past 1 in the morning - naughty.

I was up at 7.15 on Thursday 21st December, Winter Solstice and of course the shortest day of the year. From now on the days will get longer. One of the things I love about Spain are the long days of sunlight especially in the spring and summer where it can be light until after 10 pm. 

Unaware it was the shortest day of the year, Thursday was a very important day for Elliot. His school function was that morning at 9.40 and,  like the good grandparents we are, we were there to see him. His class had prepared two Christmas songs and they all wore outfits they had made themselves. They were dressed as cooks as the first song was about making a cake for Mary and Joseph. Here they are all ready for the show which they must have been preparing for months.

Elliot's school Christmas show

It took a while to spot Elliot but he is in the back row, 6th from the left. Here is a close up.

A close up of Elliot, 3rd on the left in the back row

In last year's performance he froze on stage but this year he joined in with enthusiasm. Here is a  short video of the song they sang in English, which I have posted on my YouTube channel. After their two songs, the show was over all so quickly. I think the children were supposed to follow their teacher back to the classroom from the stage but Elliot couldn't resist rushing over to give me a hug which was the highlight of the show for me, bless him. I managed to get a photo of him with his equally proud father and grandfather to remember the day. Here it is.

Elliot after the function with "Booboo" (his grandfather) and Miguel (his father). 

Elliot's sister, Juliet's class didn't do a Christmas show; perhaps because they are very small. However they did do Christmas portraits of the class and I just have to show you sweet Juliet. 

Juliet's school Christmas photo 2023

We had an early start that morning but plenty of errands kept us busy. We stopped at 11 for chocolate and churros. I took a photo of Eladio and sent it to Oli who was on her way to Oviedo to cover Friday's "El Gordo" Christmas lottery. 

The joys of retirement: chocolate with churros on Thursday morning

She wrote back saying "lucky you" to which I replied "the joys of retirement" and should have added one we well deserve haha. I love our free mornings together when time is ours and ours alone.

Thursday was the highlight of the week, not only because of Elliot's Christmas function. That night Julio my ex Nokia colleague and firm friend, was coming for our annual dinner at home. Ever since I met him in 2000, we have met ever Christmas, for dinner at our place and dinner at his. Of course Fátima was an essential part of that tradition, our dear, dear friend who sadly died on 5th December 2019. But I think she would be happy we have carried on the tradition.

I started preparations at around 6 and everything was ready by 8, half an hour before our friend arrived. The house was full of Christmas spirit with all my decorations lit and music on. The lounges and dining room looked very festive. When Julio arrived, he commented that Christmas for him always begins with dinner at ours; bless him. 

Before we attacked the food we had a small photo shoot, courtesy of our Iraqi guest, Mohammad - thank you. Here is one to remember yet another Christmas dinner at home with my dear friend Julio.

Annual Christmas dinner with Julio on Thursday night

Dinner at home with dear Julio marked the beginning of our 2023 Christmas celebrations too and a good time was had by all.

Despite the glass and a half of wine I drank that night I slept quite well but was up at 6.30 on Friday morning. I woke up to the possibility of becoming rich that day, the day of the Spanish Christmas lottery called "El Gordo" (the fat one) but once again we didn't win a penny (boohoo). It's a big big thing in Spain with people queuing up outside the Teatro Nacional to get a seat and journalists from all the media being sent around the country to, hopefully, cover the stories of those who win part of the first prize. For a 20 euro (partial) ticket you can win 400.000 euros, some of which goes to the nasty tax people. If you have the whole ticket (10 décimos) you get the biggest prize, 4 million euros. There are many more prizes and the lottery draw takes a whole morning. Olivia had been sent to Oviedo. Later she told me only one partial ticket (décimo) of the winning numbers (88008) was sold there, thus she wasn't asked to do a report. 

Oli with TVE from Oviedo

In a way she had gone for nothing newsworthy but for her it was an important break and one of the very few occasions she hasn't slept at home since Elliot and Juliet were born in 2019 and 2021. She enjoyed the break enormously by having lunch at the best restaurant in town, exploring Oviedo and then binge watching a series on Netflix (Vigil, btw) while eating chocolate. Good for her. 

Meanwhile, we had another engagement that morning - being very social this week hahahaha. We went to have coffee with our Chinese friends, "Amanda" and "George" who were our Airbnb guests last January. They sold their home in Shanghai and upped and moved to Spain where they enrolled their 11 year old daughter "Lucy" in a nearby private school. They stayed with us until they found a flat to rent; not far from here. I have nothing but respect for them for their life changing decision to move to Spain is nothing short of   sheer bravery. Why did they move? Simply because they could no longer tolerate the Chinese regime. We all complain about our countries and governments, but for people living in 
"the west", a move to the other side of the world is never in anyone's mind when they complain about the standard of living or their governments. We met at Manolo Bakes cafe to celebrate that George had passed his Spanish driving test (in English). It took him 4 tries to pass the theory test but of course he passed the road test in just one go. We spent a good hour and a half together catching up. They are now fully immersed in Spanish life and even go to free language lessons offered by the local town hall. I asked them what they missed most about their countries. For Amanda it was her family. For George it was food. I quizzed him on that saying there are thousands of Chinese restaurants in this country to which Amanda replied that very few are actually run by her countrymen who know how to cook, hahahha. I took a photo of this lovely young couple whom I have grown to admire before we parted. Here are George (so enthusiastic and always laughing) and Amanda (an ex teacher of English in China and equally enthusiastic) for this week's blog post.

Our lovely Chinese friends, Amanda and George with whom we had coffee on Friday morning

The rest of the day was quiet with not much to report. It was busy for Eladio though who spent the afternoon mowing the lawn probably for the last time until spring. 

That night we watched Maestro on Netflix about the life of the famous composer and director Leonard Bernstein and his wife, the actress Felicia Montealegre. I knew little about this eccentric, incredibly talented and passionate musician who, although in love with his wife, had affairs with men on the side which Felicia, stoically, learned to live with.  Not only that, she converted to Judaism to marry him and gave up her own talented career on Broadway to have children and run the home. I learned he was the son of Russian Jewish parents who immigrated to the United States and is perhaps most famous for writing the score of West Side Story. The film is made by Martin Scorcese and is a little eccentric itself. However, the actor Bradley Cooper who plays Bernstein is sublime. Equally sublime is Carey Mulligan as Felicia. One critic wrote "the climax of Maestro sees Bernstein conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony at Ely Cathedral". That was for a sure a marvelous part of the film but I love the end where the real Leonard Bernstein conducts his own piece composed for Chichester Cathedral, the Chichester Psalm 23. Oh wow is all I could say as I saw the man himself and also realised that Bradley Cooper recreated this musical genius to perfection. No doubt the real Leonard Bernstein would have been pleased with his performance, or not?  It's not your typical biopic and it's not for everyone but I put up with its eccentricities to enjoy the brilliance of the acting and the amazing love story.  In a way it is a masterpiece  and I was left wanting to know more. 

Bradley Cooper, left, who plays Leonard Bernstein, right.

PS. Reading more critics, I heard that to look more like the real Bernstein, Cooper had a prosthetic nose made for which there has been a lot of criticism. Honestly does that matter? Not to me. 

Saturday came and we had no plans. I wanted to see Elliot and Juliet so rang Oli who agreed to come for lunch. Thus I rustled up "spag bol" which never fails to please children, and adults; I should add. We were about to go on our walk when Oli rang to say Miguel wasn't well, they were going to A&E and could they drop off the kids? Well, of course. Our plans changed and we went to pick them up, took them to Alverán for coffee for us and mini croissants for them. There was a slight crisis when Elliot grabbed part of Juliet's. He got a bit boisterous so out we went into the street for a walk in the sun.

Walking (slowly) with our grandchildren in the sun yesterday in Boadilla

I offered to take them to a  cheap Chinese run shop, the equivalent of a  Poundland to buy them a balloon each. But they have minds of their own and wanted to choose what to buy. Elliot came out with a set of fake Power Ranger dolls whose arms came off as soon as he touched them; hahahha. Juliet came out with an umbrella shaped chocolate - that's my girl hahahaha.

From there we walked to a small local park which we had practically to ourselves. There was a little fighting over the Power Rangers but I managed to thwart any potential tantrums. Meanwhile Miguel was being seen by a doctor and undergoing tests. The diagnosis was "A" type flu and he came home with a mask on. I have to say I was a bit worried I might catch flu yet again. We all got our coughs and colds from the children who are the super spreaders. It is they who should be given flu vaccines; not only the elderly.

By the time they were home, Juliet was sleeping, Elliot was on the floor playing and lunch was on the table. We had a quiet and civilised lunch for once, hahahha. They left later so we could have our siesta; a very important item in our daily agenda. We had had a lovely morning with our grandchildren and I can't wait to see them tomorrow when they come for Christmas Day. Elliot must be so excited about Father Christmas coming tonight, bless him.

I woke up today, Sunday 24th, at the unearthly hour of 5.30 am. That maybe because I fell asleep early last night. I just couldn't sleep again thinking of all the things I had to do before laying the perfect Christmas Eve dinner table, even if it's only for 3, so got up shortly afterwards.

I have lots to do so shall leave you now but not before wishing you all a very merry Christmas. 

Thank you for reading my blog and following our lives. I really appreciate that. Cheers then my friends until next Sunday which will be New Year's Eve, another memorable night of the year which is also a little bittersweet.

Cheers Masha