Montrondo, Sunday 19th July, 2026
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| Me (and Pippa) happy to be back in Montrondo |
Good morning from Montrondo, my husband's village in the north of Spain where we have come to escape the heat of Madrid. It is way cooler here, so much so we have had to put the heating on. We are high up in the mountains which we hope, this year, will not burn like so much of the country which is plagued with wildfires as the climate gets hotter and hotter. They say that wildfires are put out in the winter; meaning that forestation has to be kept clear but it never happens. In the old days farm animals grazed and kept it clear. Today the percentage of farm animals is about 10% of what it was back in the day. It seems we never learn.
Last Sunday was boiling in Madrid and we had planned to leave for Montrondo but I was diagnosed with upper UTI on the Saturday and I spent most of the day in bed in my air conditioned room trying to recover. I felt better after two antibiotics but exhausted. Later this week I got the results of the urine test for bacteria and, unsurprisingly, the culprit is Escherichia coli, a bacteria that lives in our colon. In the gut E coli is harmless but if it travels to the urethra and then to the kidneys, my case, it can be lethal. Thankfully, we caught it on time and after 10 days of antibiotics I am better but wondering if the bacteria has gone completely. I really hope so.
Of note last Sunday, Sinner won Wimbledon, in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, possibly. I am happy to hear he will be returning to play soon after a long recovery from a wrist injury.
I was happy too that day when, very unexpectedly, David, a neighbour of Ickenham sent me a picture and a video of my Aunty Gloria's tombstone. If you know me well, you will know that my father's sister and my favourite aunt died along with her family, Uncle Derek and my cousins Jacqueline, Antony and Michael, in a terrible air crash on the Island of Krk in former Yugoslavia. It happened on 23rd May 1971 and is something that has never left me. I was 14 at the time, just 2 years older than Jacqueline. It was the worst that has ever happened to our family. Well, David surprised me that night when he sent me a picture of the tombstone which he had painted as the letters had faded completely. He did so with a indelible marker and I thank him for that.
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| I was very touched to receive a photo from David in Ickenham of my Aunt's memorial stone with the letters now repainted. |
Monday was a sluggish day too but not quite so hot. I was pleased to see my French guests at Santa Pola had given me a 10 star review on Booking. The previous ones had also given me a 10 so now my rating is an excellent 9.6. You can see it for yourself here. This week 4 teachers from England came. I hope they are equally happy. My afternoon FaceTime call with Amanda in the afternoon cheered me up a lot. I do love our weekly calls. I was so bored in my room nursing my infection but feeling slightly better I decided we should leave for Montrondo the next day, come what may and Eladio agreed.
Tuesday was 14th July, Bastille Day, and the day Spain was playing France in the semi finals of the World Cup which we would watch that night in Montrondo. We did a bit of shopping before we left and at the last moment I picked up a Spanish flag for Eladio who was just a bit amused. Here he is smiling for the camera and for his crazy English wife.
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| Shopping to come to Montrondo on Tuesday morning. I bought a Spanish flag to cheer during the match which Eladio thought was most amusing. |
It was a long drive, mostly because we always stop so often; me for a cup of coffee and a piece of toast, another time to fill the tank and finally for lunch in La Magdalena, about an hour away from Montrondo.
The first thing we noticed when we got to the village was how much cooler it was; 25ºc vs 35ºc in Madrid and it would get cooler. Eladio's sister Pili was there to greet us and his brother Toño and wife Dolores were also in the village as well as his other sister Adela and her husband Primo. So we would have company which I craved. But first we had to settle in which took some time. We had to clean a bit too before we stored the food as we hadn't been for a year. Oli and family were here at Easter but the house needs a deep clean which we haven't got round to yet I'm afraid. Unfortunately there is no Tana here nor anyone to hire. Later we had tea at Toño's and it felt great to be back.
Soon it was dinner time and then the match time. I honestly didn't think Spain could beat the great France and neither did anyone else. Everyone considered Spain the underdogs (what underdogs?). They pummeled the French. It came as a surprise. But hadn't anyone noticed just how well the Spanish team had played to get to the semi final? Spain beat France 2-0 and shattered the citizens of that country's hopes for a 3rd World Cup and to boot Spain did it on their National Day. That meant only one thing, Spain would either play Argentina or England in the final. I just couldn't imagine a final between England and Spain as I would feel so divided but as my Anglo French friend, Adele, said "Masha you can't lose" and she is right. Except that wasn't to be as you know now and tonight we play Argentina in the "finalissima" where the European champions face the winners of the American cup and with my whole heart I want my adopted country to win. It can be done but I am worried about the favouritism towards the Argies that has been displayed throughout this World Cup. Am I wrong? Has this been rigged? Some people say FIFA now stands for "Fixing it for Argentina". I certainly hope not otherwise we wont' have a chance.
Eladio watched the match on his own while I only looked at the TV over my shoulder as I get too nervous.
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| Eladio watching the match on Tuesday |
Not for him sitting in a bar with lots of people to watch such an important match. He went to bed a satisfied man as did most of Spain I imagine. That night we slept with pyjamas on and a duvet, a far cry from Madrid. I had Pippa in between my legs to keep me warm:-)
Wednesday was an historic day for Gibraltar, that Spanish enclave that by quirk of history belongs to my birth country, England. That day, and years after post Brexit negotiations, the land border between Gibraltar and Spain was abolished forever. That border came into being 118 years ago and when Franco was in power he closed it completely in 1969 and it was only re opened in 1982. Eladio and I experienced that in the summer of 1980 when we fell in love. We did a road trip to Morocco and stopped at the border hoping to be able to visit The Rock but there was no way possible. Many years later we visited it with my father when we did a tour of Andalusia. We stayed at The Rock Hotel which is quite famous and we loved it. What we didn't love was one of the monkeys landing on my poor father's shoulders. I am glad for Gibraltar and for the Spaniards who live near. It was about time. Now Gibraltar will have nearly all the benefits of the EU even though the UK left it.
Our first full day in Montrondo began with a much needed morning walk. I was happy to be back here and active again. So this weeks' feature photo is of me beginning that lovely walk. It was on that walk that we encountered a bull in a field that was not fenced off. We saw it just as we left the old path for the road. This is Eladio pointing it out.
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| Eladio pointing at the bull on our first walk |
We carried on and just as we were walking back, I spotted the bull walking towards us. It seemed a peaceful bull, not an aggressive one. Even so, my husband who was once a shepherd boy, made sure we stood well back to let it pass while he held Pipa tight. I watched that beautiful animal walking peacefully and was happy for it. That's how bulls should live. I hate bull fighting and I hate the bull run in Pamplona. I took a video which you can see here.
Once back in the village, Pili and I drove to Senra for a nice morning coffee. I drove the T Roc and did so with great care.
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| The T Roc parked right outside our door. If Eladio could he would take it to bed with him:) |
In the afternoon she made "rosquillas"; a ring shaped cross between a biscuit and a donut. Here she is with the plate piled high on her terrace with Toño. They were delicious.
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| Pili and Toño and the plate full of "rosquillas" |
Later Eladio and Dolores joined us and afternoon tea turned into an impromptu dinner outside including a wine and pistachio moment. I have to add I was wearing jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and my now iconic pink fleece bought in Hawes in Yorkshire. We all contributed. I brought out some "manzanilla" wine, a plate of ham and some left over Spanish omelette.
It was a wonderful evening which finished just before England were playing Argentina. I desperately wanted my country to win for the second time since 1966. That summer I was 9 and was on holiday in Germany visiting my Aunty Masha with my family. I vaguely remember England was playing Germany in the final and someone called Bobby Charlton was very important but I was too young to understand the significance. England had reached its first semi final since then and had to go through to take the cup home. But it didn't work that way. After a wonderful early goal, England just tried to defend and the Argies weren't having it and became aggressive and in the final moments scored not one but two goals. That was England's hopes dashed, once again. There was a lot of political tension in the match because of the stupid Falklands War. With Spain it will be different. The press here are calling Argentina a brother nation. Spain's 19 year old prodygy, Lamine Yamal will now face his great rival Messi who also played for Barcelona. This week Yamal's father unearthed a photo of Messi bathing baby Lamine for a Barcelona charity calendar. Fate would have it that 19 years later the baby Yamal of the Spanish squad will face the best footballer ever, Messi, the player who bathed him. Who would ever thought that they would be playing against each other nearly 20 years later. This is the now iconic photo.
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| This has to be the photo of the week. 19 years ago, Messi bathed Lamine Yamal for a charity calendar. Today the two face each other in the final. Delightful story. |
But that won't stop Messi and his men from trying out dirty tricks. Holland did that in the 2010 final Spain won, so cross your fingers please for tonight.
I woke up again on Thursday having slept a full 6 hours which is a huge improvement on back home. Eladio, Pippa and I went on our morning walk again but there was no sign of the bull which I had hoped to see again. On our way back we always stop at the "pilo" for Pippa to drink some water.
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| Coming back from our walk on Thursday and stopping for Pippa to quench her thirst. |
Meanwhile, back home the girls were together. Oli accompanied Suzy for a routine appointment and then they had lunch together. This is a photo of my beautiful girls together.
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| My beautiful girls having lunch together on Thursday |
I made some chicken and rice concoction for our lunch and later Toño and Dolores came for tea/coffee and biscuits. It was a quiet day all round.
Friday came and we went to Villablino to do the weekly shopping. It is 20km away and the nearest place to buy food. It has an excellent supermarket called Gadis which I wish we had in Madrid. While there we had a coffee out and did other errands. We came home to put all the food away and which I hoped would last us a week. I bought a UTI tester at a chemist in the town and later did the test. I am still positive which worries me a little bit.
While watching the news at 3pm, internet went. Last year I had a nightmare of getting a system up and working. I pay for it monthly and we only use it twice a year so I was rather upset it had gone. Later I knew why. My nephew Miguel and his family arrived that evening. They live in Riello abbout 30 minutes from here and he told us that the electricity had gone there which must have affected internet here. I cannot be here without it, mostly because of my rental business. So I was pleased it came back a few hours later. Miguel is Toño and Dolores' first born and I have known him since he was a tiny baby and I have to say he is one of the favourite of my nieces and nephews. It was good to see him and his Cuban born wife, Claudia and their children Luna (7) and little Camilo (4). Luna was donned out in various Spanish flags hahaha.
Saturday came and although I had slept another 6 hours I was feeling so so. My kidneys were aching a bit more and so was my stomach. Thus I went through the motions. I managed our walk and made our lunch but it felt rather uphill.
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| On our walk yesterday |
I spent part of the afternoon writing this blog and only then could I join the others. When Eladio gets together with his siblings, talk is all about the past when they grew up here and their conversations with great bouts of laughter, are hard to follow but I love to watch them having a good time. They lived in very precarious times and practised subsistence farming. Eladio being the oldest and strongest was his father's work horse. But despite their semi poverty, they look back on that life fondly.
The day ended with a small dinner for me and leftovers for Eladio. For entertainment I continued watching the new remake of The Little House on the Prairie.
Last night England played France to determine the 3rd and 4th place in the World Cup. I am delighted to say England beat France 6-4.
Today is Sunday and I look forward to us all going to a morning market on the Magdalena mountain pass today.
Spain will face its hottest week of the summer with temperatures reaching up to 45c next week and I am so glad to escape it in cooler Montrondo.
I will leave you now to get on with my day. It just remains for me to wish you a pleasant Sunday.
Cheers till next week. Masha.
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