Attempt on Trump's life, Alcaraz wins Men's Singles at Wimbledon and Spain beats England to win the Euro Cup, village life in Montrondo, a day trip to Gijón (Asturias), Microsoft worldwide outage, Olivia and family arrived from Galicia and other stories of the week.

Montrondo, Castilla León, Spain.   Sunday, 21st July, 2024

On our favourite walk from Montrondo to Murias and back last Sunday

Good morning again from Montrondo.  

Today is our last full day in my husband's village. We have had   a real holiday. I have slept so well and relaxed and yesterday Oli and family joined us. It was a joy to see our grandchildren, Elliot and Juliet and to see them playing with  their cousins; most of them their age. That reminds me of when our children played here with their cousins for so many summers when they were young. But before I carry on, let me rewind to where I left off, last Sunday.

That day we all woke up to the news of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump's life during a campaign rally in Pennsyvlania on Saturday. 20 year old Thomas Crook shot him from very nearby but the only damage done was a graze on his ear. Here is a photo of him getting up after the attack, a photo which is probably very familiar to you now. He looks so triumphant doesn't he?

Triumphant Trump survives assassination attempt on Saturday

It was taken by Evan Vucci  from the Associated Press. The photographer said he never thought about the danger of the moment as he was too caught up in his job. He could have been a victim. There were other victims though, a man who used his body to shield his family died and two other men  were injured. So, not to be taken lightly. Trump has emerged as the triumphant survivor and this attack on his life has only served to make him even more popular. 

Meanwhile, across the ocean and high up in the mountains of North West Spain in the province of León, we continued our stay at our  house in Montrondo where my husband was born. We went on our favourite walk to the next village, Murias, and back and what a glorious morning it was. I have chosen a photo taken on that walk to illustrate this week's blog because it sums up the relaxing time we have had enjoying village life. We always say that if there is a war or natural disaster of some type, we can escape to Montrondo.  Here is one of Eladio too. It's amazing to think how far he has come in life after such a humble beginning in post Civil War Spain.

Eladio on our walk last Sunday

That day Oli, Miguel, Elliot and Juliet were leaving Madrid for a holiday in Galicia. Here they are arriving at the Novo Miño Hotel near La Guarda on the River Miño estuary opposite Portugal. Just look at how full their car is, hahahha. 

Oli and family arriving in Galicia for a holiday there near Portugal last Sunday

That afternoon, Carlos Alcaraz (21) was to face Novak Djokovic in a repeat final of the Men's Singles at Wimbledon which he won, aged just 20 last year. He already had 3 grand slams, the latest being at Roland Garros but could he beat the 7 time winner of Wimbledon again? I had a siesta after lunch and woke up to watch what I thought would be a long and drawn out five set match. But I was wrong. Carlos had already thrashed Novak 6-2, 6-2 in the first two sets and won the last one 7.6. Three straight sets. What an amazing result for the young Spaniard. No one knew, but the Princess of Wales who is Patron of the All England Club was to be there that day and would hand the trophy to the winner. It was to be her second public appearance after announcing she has cancer. What an honour and what a surprise. Here she is handing him the trophy. It was wonderful to watch.

The moment Kate Middleton hands the trophy to Carlos Alcaraz

I took a video to remember the moment which you can see here and which, by the way, has already garnered more than 10.000 views!). No doubt, Carlitos, was told to make a little bow as he approached here. I would love to know what she said to him and what he said to her. Did this young boy from Murcia ever imagine this moment? I doubt it.

Carlitos with his second Wimbledon trophy last Sunday

He has followed in the footsteps of fellow Spaniard, Rafa Nadal who also achieved the rare feat of winning at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. During the on court interview, he was asked about the football - the final of the Euro Cup to be played that night between Spain and England. He laughed and said he had done his job and now it was the turn of the Spanish team to do theirs. He didn't have much time to watch the football which he is crazy about. However, I read that the annual ball for the winners was put ahead one hour so he could watch it which I think he did from the car due to London traffic.

In Spain everyone was focused on the football that night. Could Spain win its 4th cup or would England bring it home and win a first major national championship since 1966? Spain had had the most difficult path to the final facing Croatia, Italy, Germany and France while England had it easier, facing Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia and Holland but they were very hungry to win.  I was so divided that night and decided I just couldn't watch the match. It actually was difficult to watch as the internet signal kept going and the screen kept freezing. When it was 1-1, I just walked outside. When I came back in, Eladio told me Spain had won. Of course I was pleased but I think I would have been just as pleased had England won. I felt sorry for my friend Kathy's son, Sam and her grandson, Freddy who were in Berlin that night hoping to see England take the cup home. It wasn't to be. In the end, I suppose Spain was just the better team. Here they are celebrating on the pitch in Berlin. 

The Spanish squad celebrating their win in Berlin on Sunday night

While there was no Spanish authority present at Wimbledon for Carlos Alcaraz, both the King of Spain and his daughter, as well as the Spanish PM were there, along with the Prince of Wales and the new PM, Kier Starmer. Not fair in my eyes.

What an amazing day for Spanish sport. There are no words to describe what it means for the prestige of the country and how it unites the people. Winning football is  the only thing that does in Spain, unfortunately, hahahaha. 

No doubt the Spanish team did not sleep that night. But I did and I had a wonderful morning too. While Eladio went up the mountains as far as Solo Peña with his brother, Toño, Dolores and I drove to Murias. We left the car there and walked to Senra for a coffee at Cumbres de Omaña. Unfortunately being Monday morning, it was closed. So we walked back to Murias. The local bar - El Holandés Errante - was also closed but luckily for us the newly opened hotel which used to be the town prison was open. I love Hotel Rural La Cárcel in Murias de Paredes. 

Here we enjoyed coffee and tea and also the surrounding views of the mountains. One of the two Nurias, took this photo of the two of us. 

Coffee in prison (hahaha) - the Hotel Rural La Cárcel in Murias which used to be the town prison and is now a lovely rural hotel. 

We then went to see the goats that belong to Emilio in Murias. He was happy to show them to us. I first saw the kid goats, these two lovely little black ones. 

Kid goats in Murias

We then went to see the big goats in a field where they spend the day. They are lovely but not well behaved according to Emilio who has just lost some kid goats that were born dead. I was very sorry for him and the mother.

Emilio's goats in Murias

I later took a video of him with the kid goats which you can see here. Before leaving, Emilio gave us two splendid lettuces from his kitchen garden. Muchas gracias. 

Emilio picking us two splendid lettuces from his kitchen garden - if that isn't village life I don't know what is.

My  morning was complete; a wonderful walk, coffee in splendid and rural surroundings, time with Dolores, then an encounter with Emilio and his goats as well as a freshly picked lettuce to take home. That's village life for you. It can be wonderful. 

On Tuesday the four of us decided to do something different for a change and chose Gijón, a large town on the coast in Asturias as our destination.  Eladio and I have been twice but Toño and Dolores hadn't been for a long time. We thought it would take 1.5h but it's actually further away and took nearly 2h. León is the neighbouring province of Asturias so the regions are very similar except that Asturias has the coast and higher mountains. 

We parked near the famous town beach of San Lorenzo and the first thing we did was go and have a coffee before exploring the town. Dolores then took us to a bread shop owned and run by a friend of her daughter's. We don't eat much bread so we didn't get any but it looked marvelous. From the bakery it was a short walk to the beach promenade. Here we took some photos to remember our visit. 

 By the San Lorenzo beach in Gijón

Gijón is  a coastal town in the north of Spain with a beach as good and large as those in San Sebastián, La Coruña and Santander though my favourite is La Concha in San Sebastián. There were plenty of people bathing but we didn't feel like it. In any case it was nearly lunch time so we went in search of somewhere to eat in the old town. We made a beeline for El Restaurante El Centenario in the Plaza Mayor where Eladio and I had had lunch the last time we were there. We ordered fried squid for starters and then fabada stew - typical of Asturias, to be washed down with local cider. I think I have told you many times that the local cider made in this area has to be poured from high above to keep the sparkle. The method even has a special verb: "escanciar" and we had a maestro doing that for us when he served our cider. 

Pouring cider from above to keep the sparkle

I took a video to show you which you can see here. The fabada was amazing but there was so much of it we had to take half of it back to Montrondo. 

Fabada stew in Gijón on Tuesday

Once lunch was finished we walked towards the port but first stopped for an ice cream each which was our dessert. We were all a little tired after so much food and cider, we walked back to the car for the long journey home. What made it special was the amazing scenery once on the country road towards Montrondo. We were home by 6pm and the sun was still shining. 

What a wonderful day trip we had to Gijón. It was nice to leave the village but lovely to be back. I slept very well again that night as I did most nights in Montrondo. 

On Wednesday Dolores and I walked to Senra (about 4km) for my morning coffee and her morning tea. Instead of walking back, one of Eladio's sister who was passing by picked us up and drove us home.

Lunch was some of the fabada we brought back from Gijón - delicious. Dolores joined me again at around 5 pm and we played a very close game of Ludo, my favourite game. I made an effort that night and served a wonderful prawn salad - a light but delicious meal . We did not watch the news mostly because there is not much new to know these days that we don't already see on our mobiles. Entertainment that night was a Spanish series called Second Murder set in rural Santander. 

Again I slept well that night and got out of bed on Thursday morning at 7.30. I woke up to the news that Biden has Covid so will have to withdraw from the US Presidential campaign. The 81 year old should really resign and retire and give way to someone more fit mentally. Hopefully now he will. In any case the whole thing is nearly done and dusted and we are going to have that clown and dangerous man, Donald Trump, as US President again. That's not good for the world as half of us know. 

Anyway back to my mundane but happy life in the village. We are not the only ones to have had a good and restful time. Pippa loves it here too. I captured her on camera that morning and used the photo to say Good morning from Montrondo on social media.

Pippa enjoying Montrondo

That morning Dolores and I spent time together again when we drove to the nearest town, Villablino, to do some shopping. We had run out of fruit and I had to do a shop for Olivia and family who will be staying on when we leave. I did nearly all my shopping at Gadis - a wonderful supermarket that hails from Galicia. I had coffee on my own while Dolores explored other shops. We also went to a shoe shop where we didn't buy any and to an ironmonger to get mice traps as mice are quite abundant here. Thankfully, we didn't find any here when we came this time.

The rest of the day was spent lazily, like most days in Montrondo. We had coffee with some of Eladio's siblings and then a superb dinner which included Gadis' extraordinary meat pie. Entertainment that night was another Spanish detective series which wasn't very good. 

Friday came and it was busy. I did lots of cooking and Eladio cleaned the main terrace which is the year round objective of birds leaving their awful mess. He and his brother Toño had put up some planks on the roof to ward them off and that day he cleaned the mess using sand and Fairy. He did a good job.

At mid morning I went to have coffee on my own at the Hotel Rural La Cárcel. "La cárcel" means "the prison" and indeed it was a prison in years gone by. Eladio certainly remembers it. Today it is a lovingly restored and well run rural hotel where we have often had a meal. Nuria, the person in charge served me a coffee which I had in the beautiful garden with views of the mountains. If you look closely you can see that they are covered in birch trees. This whole area is famous for its birch trees. My father used to love walking in this area as this is his favourite tree,

Coffee with a view

With no one there to take a photo, I took a selfie. This is it.

Coffee at the prison on Friday

Most of Spain was sweltering that day but not in Montrondo or in the north of Spain. In some places of the country it reached 44ºc. When we return to Madrid on Monday it is going to be boiling too and I am not looking forward to that. 

I came home to serve our lunch; home made vegetable pure followed by "patatas revolconas" - peppery potatoes with pork scratching, the most difficult part to get right. The afternoon was spent lazily with reading time followed by coffee (decaf actually) with Eladio's family.

We did watch the news that night as something really important had happened. There was a global Microsoft outage that day caused by some glitch in their anti virus system update. For quite a few hours, that took the world back to analogue times. Imagine what something like that can do to flights, banks, hospitals, etc. I tried out my computer and did notice something small I was able to correct. Eladio certainly noticed it as he couldn't access his bank account and still can't.  That was indeed the news of the day.

Saturday came, the day Oli and family were travelling from Galicia to Montrondo which would take them at least 4.5h so they didn't get here until the afternoon. 

I was very proud of my TV  reporter/MC daughter when I saw a video  (from minute 5.24) she sent me of her presenting at an event held by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture.  

Olivia presenting last month at the Ministry of Agriculture

The Minister, Luis Planas,  himself was there and what a great job Olivia did. It took place when we were on our road trip and she hadn't even told us about it. Like her grandfather, she never blows her own trumpet so I have to do that for her. Well done darling. 

Eladio continued cleaning the mess made by the birds on the front of the house. He had to go up a ladder to do so, helped by his brother. I didn't like seeing him in such a risky position but had to take a photo to show you. He did a very good job but I was glad when he came down the ladder.

Eladio up the ladder cleaning the façade of the house messed by the birds

I spent time cleaning cupboards and shelves full of dust which was a job well done too. We then got Oli's rooms ready for their arrival and in general the house was very clean and tidy for their arrival. However, that wouldn't last very long in the presence of toddlers, hahahaha.

Just as they were arriving in the early afternoon, the water was cut off in the village; something that has never ever happened. There is plenty of water in Montrondo which comes from the mountains and there is so much of it we only pay a paltry 8 euros a year. But there is a problem in some of the pipes and water is being leaked and we were told there isn't enough to go round so they would be cutting off the water every evening until the mid morning.    How on earth would we survive? Not well. But we did, at least yesterday.  Thankfully it came on again around dinner time but is off again now as I write. I hope they sort the problem out soon with all the people coming for the Santa Marta fiestas next week.

It was a joy to see Oli and family and to hold both Elliot and Juliet in our arms. But soon they ran off to play with their cousins. Between them we had a 2 year old, a 3 year old, two  4 year old's and a 5 year old. They played on the trampoline and then went off on their bikes to the village common. It was being set up for an event where people would be playing the accordion and pie and tortilla would be served. But we had dinner at home with every seat around the table taken. I had bought home made pie which I served with a salad which included Emilio's wonderful lettuce. 

While the children went out till about midnight, we went to bed at 9 pm to get some rest, although I couldn't rest at all. I was awake till about 1 but then I did manage to sleep. Today is our last day here and we shall be having a barbecue, weather permitting. Would you believe the highest temperature today will be 22ºc, compared to 40ºc in Madrid ? I am not looking forward to that. 

I shall miss Montrondo but we will be back in two weeks or so. We will be going home to the heat of Madrid and then to Santa Pola to see Suzy where it will be equally hot. With hotter and hotter summers, the only place to be in Spain is in the north of the country. Thank God we have this little paradise in the mountains to escape to.

I shall leave you now to get on with the day and hopefully have my breakfast in peace before the kids wake up and chaos reigns, hahahaha.

Cheers till next Sunday,

Masha