Our girlies together, quality time with Elliot and Juliet. Flash floods cause death and destruction in Valencia; a country in mourning, time out in Madrid, visit to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum, lunch with Julio and other stories of the week.

Madrid, Sunday 3rd November, 2024.

A lovely moment this week; photo with Julio after a reunion lunch at El Cuenco de Pepa in Madrid on Thursday

Good morning everyone.

This week has been tragic for Spain. You will have followed the news of the flash floods which caused death and destruction in the Valencia area. As I write, 211 have died and 1900 are missing. The chaos caused by the storms never seen in Spain before, turned streets into rivers on such a scale many people lost their lives. In some places more than a year's worth of rain fell in just a few hours. The country is reeling, the country is in mourning and my heart goes out to all those victims, their families and friends and in sheer sympathy for how people's lives have been turned upside down. People are angry they were not warned well enough in advance. Should it have come from the central government or from the autonomous government? Thereby lies the question. Spain is like a federal state and in many cases the autonomous or regional governments have more power than the state. Political blaming has reared its ugly head as it always does in Spain. People are also angry at what they think was a slow response from the administrations. Meanwhile, over 15000 volunteers are cleaning up as best they can. But the task is gargantuan and no government could ever have been prepared for Tuesday's disaster. 

Last Sunday when the clocks went back, no one could have known this would happen. Spain is known as the country of sunshine but climate change no longer just affects far away countries as the damage done this week is on a par with hurricanes in the US and Latin America and Spain is just not prepared. How could anyone be prepared for a year's rainfall in one day? 

It was a quiet day for us and we enjoyed our walk and lunch with Suzy who is still here.

Monday was busy. I made lots of food - bitki and meatballs thinking of Elliot, my 5 year old grandson, who adores the latter and who would be coming on Tuesday with his sister Juliet while his parents were at work.  Once finished, I accompanied Eladio to the hospital where he had had cataract surgery; now in both eyes. If he had increased vision from 40 to 80% in his left eye, he wasn't so lucky with the right eye which only increased from 25 to 35%. However, I think he was having a bad day and it's still early to tell. As I write, I am still administering him all the drops his eyes need after surgery. We will be going back in a month's time so watch this space.

We were home just before Olivia came for lunch on Monday and we had a lovely family meal together. I caught our two girlies on camera as she left. It's not often I can  as they are rarely together so I was pleased with the result.

Our girlies together on Monday (Suzy left, Oli right - with the hat)

Our girlies are now 39 and 40 and have been semi estranged for quite some time now while Suzy was living in Santa Pola as a bit of a recluse. So it's great to see them spending time together and catching up. That makes me happy. When I posted the photo many people remarked just how much Suzy looks like me. I see more of a resemblance with my dear mother but I am not objective Someone told me they thought Suzy was me after a face lift, hahahaha. No way would I have one but my dear mother and Aunty Masha did back in the 60's in Germany on a very famous family road trip but that's another story. 

I shared the photo with Amanda during our weekly Monday afternoon Skype call which we both look forward to so much. As I always tell you, she is my therapist. She doesn't read my blog though, hahaha.

On Tuesday we had foul weather. The Spanish weather agency (AEMET), apparently issued a red weather warning for the Valencia and nearby regions. For whatever reason, and now we are experiencing a political blame game, an alert was sent to the population well after the storms had begun. If only the people had been more prepared .....

But I wasn't reading about the weather that morning at breakfast. I was reading about the Balon D'Or football awards the night before in Paris.  Real Madrid thought their Brazilian striker, Vinicius was to be given the top prize but it went to Spaniard, Rodri (Rodrigo Hernández) who plays for Manchester City. The news was leaked to them just as they were boarding a plane with 50 representatives from the club. They boycotted the event even though they went on to win best coach, Ancelotti, and Club of the Year. Isn't that enough?. Honestly, how pathetic can you get? What a stupid snub. I was actually pleased that Rodri was the first Spanish footballer to win the award since 1960. Spain actually did a double as the women's award also went to a Spaniard, Aitana Bonmati from FC Barcelona. 

I told Eladio as much over coffee at Centro Oeste in Majadahonda where we went to get some of my jewellery mended. We had a chance meeting there with our sister-in-law's sister, Ester and her husband Pachi. We hadn't seen them since our nephew Miguel's wedding to Claudia 8 years ago. We remember them well when we first lived in Madrid as they were practically our neighbours. It was a great chance meeting. We were to have another chance meeting later in the week. 

We had the children to babysit for in the afternoon so Oli could go to her French lessons. I have to say they behaved very well and even ate well too. We fed them both meatballs and perushki which they loved. Elliot told his mother she must learn how to make the latter. The fact is it was my own mother who taught our girlies how to make them when they were small and it is something they always remember fondly. 

I had organised the play section of the TV lounge and honestly it looked like a toy shop. Here they are enjoying the moment. 

Quality time with our grandchildren this week

It was quality time with our grandchildren who are now 3 and 5; lovely ages. I had to go out for a short while to get this year's double flu and Covid jab but was home on time for dinner together with the kids. Oli was grateful that we had kept them occupied and that we had fed, bathed and clothed them so all she had to do was take them home to bed when she came to pick them up.

That night there was a tremendous storm with torrential rain, thunder and lightning which had us somewhat worried. Pippa was petrified of course. We had no idea though, what was happening in the Valencia region and some parts of Castilla la Mancha. We only read about it on Wednesday morning.

That morning Oli was to be the moderator at an event organised by the Canadian Embassy in Madrid when I know she would have preferred to be in the news room at TVE covering the dreadful stories of the flooding. When we spoke that morning the death toll was 50. Now it is over 200. It is the worst natural disaster in Spain's history and something the whole country is reeling from.

But she had to be where she had to be, at the Canada Investment and Innovation Roadshow held at the Casa de America in Madrid. I asked for a photo and this is what I got. 

Oliva ready for her role at the Canadian Embassy event on Wednesday morning

All I heard later is that the Embassy and the Ambassador were very pleased with her. Of course they were.

Once it was over, she had to rush back to work as all of her TV station (RTVE)  programmes were changed that day and hers, La Hora, was to do a special programme about the floods from 6 to 8pm.  She sent me this dreadful photo which is perhaps one of the most disturbing I have yet to see.

This photo says it all

While she was at TVE, we had to pick the kids up and entertain them again. This time we took them to the park. We also took little Pippa who turned out to be the main attraction for Elliot, Juliet and their friends. Here are some photos.

Picking up the kids from school and taking them to the park with Pippa

We entertained them, fed them and bathed them as best we could before their father came to collect them. That was just after they were sick on our bed from jumping up and down. The joys of being grandparents, I suppose, hahaha. Bless them.

Only when they went could we follow the coverage of the flash flood disaster which we watched till past midnight. It felt like watching images from the Tsunami in Far East Asia in 2004.  Here are some photos which, no doubt, will go down in history and  I want to add them here for anyone reading this blog in years to come, including, hopefully, Elliot and Juliet.

Scenes from the flooding

The rain, of course, caused the rivers to flood and streets were turned into rivers. One of the main causes of damage and death was from people running out to get their cars. Very soon the water was so high, they were swept away by the water. People died that way but also those whose houses were on a ground or first floor of buildings. Soon, all these cars piled up, many of them blocking access to people's homes. Businesses also have been destroyed and there was a lot of looting from flooded supermarkets; some out of desperation from a lack of water as the floods affected all the infrastructure you can imagine; electricity, water, mobile phones, gas, railway lines, roads and bridges. I won't go on as I'm sure you have seen the coverage which was front page news worldwide. It seems such a paradox when Spain is normally known for being a country of sunshine. Not this week. It will take weeks and months for the areas affected to return to normal and this is a national tragedy; one we shall never forget. As the week progressed the death toll grew and we watched in horror and in sympathy, hardly believing what we were seeing.

Thursday came and we woke up to sunshine. Madrid is  300km from Valencia but we only had rain on Tuesday night. That day, Jen, our lovely guest from The Philippines left but she will be back at the end of November. Alan and Jorge from Ireland and Argentina came later in the day and on Friday morning, Oleksander from Ukraine and his colleague, Jonas, from Denmark arrived. These two are pilots in the civilian sector and are in Madrid for training They soon got to know Betty from Mexico and Mohammad from Iraq, our long staying guests. It really was the UN this week. 

We did something different that day. We actually went into Madrid which we don't do often but should. We had a lunch appointment with our dear friend Julio so decided to spend the morning in the capital, visiting the fabulous Lázaro Galdiano Museum. It's a jewel of a place which I saw once when I was in my 20's and always vowed to go back. Eladio had never been and Thursday was the occasion. We took the tube and were there before 11 am. It's a palace where the editor and art collector of the same name lived and which was turned into as museum in 1951 about 10 years after his death. And what a collection it has.  But first for the outside.

Outside the palace/museum on one of Madrid's most chic streets, Serrano

On his death, Galdiano bequeathed his whole collection of over 12.000 items to the Spanish state, governed by Franco at the time. I can only surmise he didn't have children. What I cannot possibly understand is how he got the money to buy such a collection which includes paintings by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Hieronymus Bosch and countless Italian, Flemish, French and even English authors, including T.E. Lawrence, Reynolds and Constable. As to the artefacts, they are everywhere and from all parts of the world and times in history. We also loved the palace itself; ornate of course with wonderful furniture and ceilings. 

Just two of his amazing Goyas

By Constable

I later read more about the museum which when opened was described by one critic as "second only to the Prado". I could not agree more. After more than 1.5h inside, we sat in the garden contemplating the beautiful palace and talking about what we had seen. 

In the gardens of the palace on Thursday

We were both bowled over by our visit. 

Being well on time for our lunch appointment at Quënco de Pepa near Plaza Castilla, we decided to walk there. It was about 3km and took us at least 45 minutes. It was lovely to be walking in the centre of Madrid with all the bustle of a capital and in the sunshine. 

Julio was already there when we arrived at this rather chic restaurant which we both know so well from our corporate days. The restaurant owner, Pepa, has her own orchard and the most spectacular product are her tomatoes, some of which we bought later at the adjacent shop. We hadn't seen Julio since last Christmas which is far too long as we are close friends. He treated us  in celebration of his upcoming academic achievement as a University Professor. What a clever guy he is. We had a marvelous lunch and I am referring both to the company and to the food which was divine. Reluctantly we left the restaurant at around 4.30 pm until we meet again at Christmas. We had our photo taken outside the restaurant which I have chosen as this week's feature photo. Thanks Julio for a wonderful lunch and reunion. 

As we walked towards the metro at Plaza Castilla, we had our second chance encounter of the week. This time it was with our sister-in-law, Dolores and her husband José Antonio, Eladio's first sibling down. We had hoped to have coffee with them that morning but they told us they couldn't as at midday they were leaving on a hiking excursion to the Valley of Rondal (Navarra near the French border). So it was  a complete surprise to coincide with them getting on the bus that afternoon. I mean Madrid is big but it's small. Of course I had to have a photo to remember the occasion which was a complete surprise to us all. 

Chance encounter with Dolores and José Antonio in the centre of Madrid on Thursday afternoon

We were home within the hour, just before Suzy left for Oli's house to help her with the kids, it being Halloween. I hate this American tradition but I must say I loved the photo of our girlies and grandchildren. I especially love the smile on Suzy's face. So I must share it with you.

The girlies with Juliet and Elliot on Halloween

In case you can't see it well, Juliet is dressed as a witch and Elliot as Edward Scissor Hands who he is obsessed with; not me as I can't stand the scissors. 

We totally ignored Halloween as well as dinner after such a big lunch and spent the rest of the day watching the news coverage of the floods after which we watched a very good series "Querer" on Movistar Plus. 

Friday came, 1st November and All Saints' Day which is a national holiday in Spain; not that there was much to celebrate with the country in mourning. 

We went to the Centro Oeste shopping centre again, this time to meet a lovely girl called Paula who is an interior decorator. She did some of our house in Montrondo and we want her on board for the wooden cabin. It was a delight to see her again and I know she will come up with some good ideas. Meanwhile, the contractors came with their first estimate this week but it's rather steep and needs tweaking.

We had lunch alone - my cocido stew - as Suzy went out with Oli for lunch and shopping. The  girlies were together  again.  Suzy came back to tell me they had had a great time. I was so glad.

On Saturday we had a full house with 6 guests who I only saw sporadically but I did see Suzy talking to some of them which is so good after her lonely, lonely life in Santa Pola. We went on our walk and had the pleasure of her company for the first time since she has been here which is now over a month. We walked to the local shopping centre where we had coffee at La Flaca. We enjoyed the coffee and reminiscing about our girlies' childhood. Suzy admitted it had been good. Here are some pics too of coffee out yesterday with our eldest daughter.

Coffee out with Suzy yesterday which we combined with our walk

It was just the three of us for lunch and Eladio and I had the cocido stew again and no one was complaining. I caught up on my sleep splendidly during our siesta when I slept for nearly 2 hours. I did wake up a bit groggy though.

We went to bed again watching the footage of the aftermath of the disaster in Valencia and Eladio remarked it was like watching a film for real. What a tragedy for Valencia and for Spain. My heart goes out to the victims and all those affected. 

On that somber note, let me wish you a happy Sunday. Cheers now till next week where, my friends, I shall be writing from The Big Apple. 

All the best Masha