Pedro Sánchez to say on as Spain's PM, preparing for this year's road trip, time with our grandchildren, remembering my father on 1st May and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Saturday 4th May 2024

With Pippa this week - isn't she lovely? (looks like I'm wearing makeup - something I hardly ever do. I'm not.  It's a tan from just one walk on the beach in Santa Pola last week). She is going to miss us while we are away. 

Top of the morning to you all. 

Today is the day, the day of the beginning of this year's road trip. That is why I am publishing this week's blog post on a Saturday, the day we set off as when I write next week from Italy I want to do so  on a clean slate.

I don't have anything exciting to tell this week, but let me share my week with you. Last Sunday was Suzy's 40th birthday which we celebrated with her the Friday before in Santa Pola. I do hope she had some company that day; such a significant date.

Eladio and I were pretty much alone that day when a lot of our guests left. One group caused a bit of trouble with their set of keys. For some unknown reason they joined the garage door keys to their key ring and left the garage locked. When we came back from shopping we couldn't fathom what had happened to the keys and couldn't get into the garage.   It was only the next day that we realised where they were and thankfully that was before the locksmith came to change the lock! 

We had an outdoor barbecue but cheated by using an electric grill for our lamb chops - my favourite. I then spent the afternoon binge watching The Asunta Case on Netflix. I mentioned that last week I think, so won't go into details. But what a good series it is. 

Monday came, the day, Spain's PM, Pedro Sánchez was to announce whether he was staying on as President or quitting, after his wife is to be investigated over corruption claims. If you remember, last week he published a letter on Twitter saying he needed to time to mull over whether to quit or stay on. He then promptly quit his duties for 5 days until his reappearance this week.  He claimed it was because he was being bullied by the right wing. He had the whole of the country on tenterhooks: would he, wouldn't he? He even went to see the King to give him his decision and then appeared on TV with graphic media only and no questions allowed - not very democratic.

Spain's theatrical PM who can't stand the pressure from the opposition. 

He did so at 11 am after saying it would be at 12. I genuinely had hoped he would quit but deep down knew he wouldn't. If you are  a PM you have to be able to put up with pressure and it's not as if he hasn't made similar claims about other party members. So after about 10 minutes of waffling, he finally said " I will continue". He claimed it was thanks to street support in demonstrations last weekend ´- of about 15.000 people, only. Oh come on Pedro, enough of your political ploys to show you are a victim. In my opinion his real problem is not the claims about his wife, but his near inability to govern without the support of the extreme independent groups in Catalonia and the Basque Country. As my daughter,Olivia, commented this week, "the real President is Puigdemont" who needs no introduction. is the de facto PM. His party only rules because of a week coalition with the worst sort of allies. The right wing party, the PP, may have won the election on votes but will never muster enough support to govern. Thus it looks like Pedro (the handsome - some call him) will be around for a long time. Honestly, he could have spared us the theatrics. 

I was glad when the whole farce was over and got on with domestic tasks such as dead heading the roses - my main contribution to the garden which is looking splendid at this time of year. Eladio caught me on camera and I don't look too good as I am wearing an apron as I was also cooking. But at least it is authentic.

Dead heading the roses this week

We then went out to have coffee with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen but I'm afraid we were far too engrossed catching up on our lives to think about taking photos. We met at Alveran in Boadilla. My dear friend Mari Carmen brought me some sleeping pills to last our trip - so handy to have a friend who is a chemist at times. Thank you my friend. We chatted for well over an hour, until the cafe nearly shut. Hopefully we can meet up after our road trip and catch up again. Was good to see them both.

We came home to find our Green Card had arrived - handy for Albania and Turkey. We also got out insurance for the trip. This week was all about preparations. I made loads of lists: food to take, utensils, shopping to do, packing list, etc. I cannot organise anything without writing lists. I learned to do them when I worked for Motorola back in the 90's. My boss there once told me I was very disorganised. Wow, that was one big wake up call and, to prove him wrong,  I soon became one of the most organised people in the company. 

On Tuesday we went to pick up the Mini, without which there would be no road trip. It had a few scratches removed and the parking camera mended. The car was looking lovely. It felt like driving a new one as I left the garage. From there we went to Ikea to buy some soup plates. Once at Ikea you always buy things which were not on your mind. I love that store. But I was a bit disappointed with their food shop as they were out of smoked salmon and the delicious sauce for their famed meat balls, the ones they once found fecal traces in (uggh). 

I had new guests arriving that day, Tracy and her son Finn from Australia and Sylvie from France, here to see her son at the local Uni. I loved both women and hope they will be back. Again this week our house seemed like the United Nations. 

I had  more house related issues to deal with that day. As if the garage key issue wasn't enough, suddenly the video intercom stopped working. That was at about 2pm. To find a technician I resorted to our neighbourhood whatsapp chat. It's very useful to find all sorts of workmen. One of of neighbours on the chat wrote telling me he had a company specialisiing in video intercoms (and other stuff).By 3 pm, 2 men arrived who fixed it in a matter of minutes and then charged me a paltry fee. Thank you so much Gonzalo (the neighbour). Life in our big house is full of little obstacles; like stones on a path you have to circumnavigate. In short, there is always something to deal with. 

Only then could I continue preparations for our trip. I had booked our first night in Huesca and then two nights in Carcassonne. From there we travel to Italy via Aix-en-Provence. That afternoon I found a suitable place in Aix.  I have now booked the first 7 nights. After that, we shall see. Up till now I have mostly used Booking, rather than Airbnb, or have booked directly with the establishment. 

Wednesday was 1st May. It's Labour Day for most people and a holiday here. But for me, 1st May is my father's birthday.  He loved birthdays and I got that from him. You all know my devotion to and reverence for my father, Charles Courtenay Lloyd b. Amington Staffordshire 1st May 1919, d. in my house in Madrid on 8th November 2021, aged 102. He lived his last 16 years with us and never a cross word was exchanged. You have  probably  read many times how well that was celebrated, with a card from the Queen and a card from the King of Norway. You will know, also, that I wrote a book about his life. Never have I been so proud as on his 100th birthday when I gave him the book which he read countless times.  Here is a link to a video of some of the photos of that fabulous day. 

With my father on his 100th birthday. What a wonderful day

God bless you Daddy. I will always miss you but even more so on this week. 

I didn't have much time to mull over his birthday as Olivia was bringing the children for us to look after for a few hours as they didn't have school that day. They were in high spirits as we left in the car for Alverán for coffee for me and mini croissants for them. But we had to turn back as Tracy's son had got stuck in their bathroom. Eladio came to the rescue which was not difficult as all Finn had to do was turn the lock off the inside door. That reminded me of when as a child in Sutton-on-Sea, I got locked in the bathroom. My father had to call the firemen who put up a ladder to get me down. I must have been about 5. I mentioned my adventure to Elliot as we driving home to help the boy and he thought it was a grand idea to call the firemen. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary, hahahaha.

Only then could we enjoy the children who made friends at the cafe, having fun feeding the awful sparrows. Oh, how I hate birds at cafés. But Juliet and Elliot love them. On the way home we stopped at a park at their insistence. And here they are on a giant swing being pushed by Eladio.

With the children in the park on Wednesday, 1st May

Olivia was home before us and then it was all hands on deck to serve lunch. Thankfully I had made a chickpea stew (cocido) early in the morning; ever popular with the family.

We eventually went up for our quite time - siesta for Eladio and more trip preparations for me. That afternoon I booked three nights at an Agroturismo farm near La Spezia and not far from Cinque Terre. That is one of my prime destinations on the Italian part of our road trip.

Entertainment that night was a wonderful Ukrainian  film called Carol of the Bells on Prime Video. Set in Poland during WW2 it tells the life of 3 families, one Orthodox Ukrainian, one Polish catholic and one Jewish. It was just up our street. First they had to endure an invasion by the Russians, then the Nazis and finally the communist take over. It is a tale of three families united by war. 

Thursday 2nd was a holiday in Madrid. My guests asked me why. It commemorates an uprising by the people of Madrid against Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808; part of the Peninsula War.  It was made famous forever after by Francisco Goya in his famous painting of the same name and which can be seen at the Prado museum.

We were to do our big shop before leaving so I wasn't happy to find Mercadona closed. Thus I had to resort to being fed by the French at Carrefour - that is just a joke. We managed a walk though that day, my only one this week. 

At around 2 pm, Oli left us with the kids again until 5 pm. 3 whole hours alone can be a challenge but they behaved quite well. They even let me have a cup of tea with Sylvie - a delightful and very cosmopolitan Parisian. Eladio and I took it in turns to keep them occupied and while they were on the swings I sat outside on the kitchen terrace smoking with Mohammad, my guest from Iraq who is like a son to me. He even calls me Mummy. Pippa was with me as always and he took some delightful photos of her and me, including the one I have chosen for this week's feature photo. He took a lovely close up of Pippa too which I must share here. She is the apple of my, as I'm sure you already know.

Dear Pippa - a lovely photo of her taken by Mohammad.

 I always love my chats with Mohammad. They are so enriching.

At 5.15, Miguel was here to pick up the children. By half past I was out again and on my way to Boadilla for my nail appointment. I was having a manicure and my eyebrows and eyelashes dyed dark brown as they are so blonde. I quite enjoyed the session and want to thank Natalia for a job well done.

I was home just on time to make our dinner, a simple meal of prawns in garlic with avocado as well as a yoghurt and delicious giant blueberries. Love them.

I didn't sleep too well that night and was woken up at around 6.20 on Friday morning by my Australian guest. She needed to take her son's girlfriend home by car and another guest's car was blocking hers. What on earth could I do without waking up the other guest. Both of them should have parked in parallel instead of one behind the other. I could only suggest she got a Uber which she did. We then sat down outside on the kitchen patio having a good long chat over a coffee and got to know each other. Lovely woman if only she hadn't woken me up so damn early. 

Friday was to be very busy. I had to do more shopping - at Mercadona and then had a hairdresser appointment. I hadn't been for 2 months and was looking a bit like a witch. It did mean though that I now had lots of time to complete all my last minute tasks  with enough time for a coffee in between. Eladio was starving when I got home so we had lunch early at around 1.30. Spanish lunch times are a lot later as you probably know. 

I then spent a good hour and a half packing our one medium sized suitcase - one side for each. Last year we took two and packed far too many clothes. This year I have been strict. Of course, my side is a lot fuller hahahahaha.

By then I had "reisefieber", that wonderful German word for butterflies in your stomach when you are about to travel. It's a word I learned from my mother as a child. We were very much the traveling family but always did it on the cheap, taking trains all round Europe, even the coach or  in my Aunty Masha's battered cars. One day I shall have to write a book called "Travels with my Aunt". My dear mother, who was born in Rome, when their family escaped Russia in 1920, would be delighted to know we will be visiting Italy, the country of her dreams. My father always preferred the German and Nordic countries and took her on honeymoon to Holland in December. She was not impressed. She got her revenge, though, when she bought a ramshackle house in an obscure village in the mountains in South East Spain (Callosa de Ensarría) in 1972. Then they both grew to love the country and language and they are the reason I ended up studying Spanish and, in the long run, marrying a native, my dear husband Eladio. 

I had a little rest afterwards and settled down to the last episode of Season 13 of Call the Midwife. Eladio went off to his appointment with the traumatologist because of his sciatica, which, by the way, thanks to the miracle injection and some strong medicine, is a lot better.  He came back with a proper diagnosis after the doctor interpreted his MRI. He has a slightly slipped disk on the last vertebra; the tail bone. He was prescribed anti inflammatory tablets and told to try not to sit for over an hour or go for walks longer than an hour. The not sitting for longer than an hour isn't very compatible with driving all round Europe. That means we shall be stopping every now again. No worries, as we shall travel at a leisurely pace.

At around 7, I started laying the table for dinner on the terrace. Olivia and family were coming for a last family dinner before we set off today. They came bearing roses as tomorrow is Mothers' Day in Spain. They are from Olivia my dear daughter but were given to me by sweet Elliot. Thank you darling. 

Olivia's Mothers' Day roses to me on the table last night

I laid the table and made the salad, etc but they came bringing the dinner ingredients; gourmet hamburgers which I made on the electric grill outside. We had a great meal and it was lovely of them to come and  see us off and bring all the food, including a vintage bottle of wine, the remains of which are coming with us today to Huesca.

We will miss them while we are away but no doubt we shall recharge our batteries and disconnect and come back eager to be home and to see our grandchildren again. Meanwhile, they wished us boy voyage.

Last night we were in bed late and saw part of Pearl Harbour which was on the TV - love that film and the music - but my mind wasn't on it. It was on our journey beginning this Saturday morning.  Thus, once again, I slept far too little. But who cares? I'm still full of beans with lots of energy and raring to go.

If all goes well, next week I shall be writing from La Spezia in Liguria. Wow!

All that remains now is to sign off and wish you all a great weekend. 

So ciao for now and arrivederci,

Masha