The girls’ trip to India continues, itchy feet, more Lis Salander and dinner with friends

<"The girls" in the Punjab in local dress. Sumit had bought them the outfits (kameez I think they are called) as part of their Diwali presents.
Hi

We are well into October and last night the clocks went back which, for me at least, is always difficult to adjust to. Autumn has made its entry and I wore winter clothes for the first time this week. However this weekend the sun has been radiant and we even had Sunday lunch outside today.

The girls’ trip to India is coming to an end and they have had a fantastic time. Last week when I wrote, they were in Simla and then headed back to Chandigarh to spend one more night and day with their friends Sumit and Sophie. Oli told me later they had been treated like princesses by these wonderful Indian friends and their families. Sophie and her mother, who cried when the girls left, even gave them a foot and head massage.

From the Punjab they took the night train to Jaipur, known as “the pink city” and the capital of Rajasthan where they stayed at the Madhuban hotel recommended by their guide book. The journey must have been quite an experience as the train was not luxurious. They complained about people burping, the smell and the noise. As Oli described in Facebook, “India moves with the sound of the claxon” and she felt “in between silk and cow flap”.
Great picture from Olivia and illustrates India's contrasts very well.
Well that’s what India is all about, contrasts. They love the people, the colour, the culture and are enjoying every moment. From Jaipur they went to Jodhpur, “the blue city” with their driver. Yes, with a driver, what luxury. Well actually it’s only costing them some 20 euros a day! Jodhpur seems to be their favourite place, in the heart of Rajasthan as this is where they have been able to walk along its crowded and colourful streets and feel India as it really is, rather than through a window. Here they stayed at a lovely little guest house for 10 euros a night, called the Haveli guest house which has fantastic views of the magnificent fort from its rooftop.

The blue city of Jodhpur as seen from the fort (taken by us in December).
Yesterday they were in Pushkar, that holy city with the famous lake and Brahma temple where hippies used to flock and still do. It is where I fell ill so my memories of the place are not so good. They will also be visiting Varanasi, the most important holy city in India which sits by the even more holy Ganges River. They will be back on Thursday and we will welcome them with open arms. This will be one of the most important trips of their lives. They are looking forward to eating western food again. They have enjoyed the local food but after nearly 3 weeks it can get tiring. You can see the full set of photos, well the ones they have posted from India, here on Facebook.
The temple in Pushkar which attracts so many people, it's so crowded.
I have been enjoying the girls’ trip vicariously so to speak and have been also thinking about my next trip. I was actually inspired by 2 ladies in the street last Monday who were complaining about their offsprings always travelling and that got me thinking that life was short and it was time to plan our next trip. So where to, I asked myself?

New York has always been at the top of my list of most desired places to visit and somehow I have never managed to go there except in transit at JFK airport and that doesn’t count. My itchy feet, an expression my Father used to use to describe my brother – it definitely runs in the family, wanted to go during the December bank holiday. However I had to contend with Eladio’s sort of procrastination: he has lectures on Mondays, it would be too cold in January and February so how about May? Well I didn’t want to wait till May so got out the calendar to see which Monday he would be free and lo and behold, he would be free at the end of March. And there and then I booked our flight and hotel. We are going for 8 days and will enjoy the experience enormously. It’s lovely to have something to look forward to and visiting perhaps the most famous city in the world will be a great experience for us both. I am already working on the programme as I do with all our trips.
The world famous New York sky line. We'll finally get to see it next year in March.
On a more humble level, we have another little trip to look forward to and that’s with the girls and my Father to the Parador in Almagro in the middle of November. More than anything it’s a family trip as we don’t often go away with the girls.
The 16th century Franciscan Convent which is now the Parador in Almagro, Ciudad Real and where we'll be going with the girls and my Father in November..
There we will be visiting the Tablas de Daimiel national park which has been in the news a lot recently because believe it or not, it is burning underneath. Apparently it is the peat that is burning from lack of water even though it is supposed to be a wetland; well that’s dry Spain for you. We will also have some good quality family time, walking, reading and enjoying good food at the lovely 16th century Parador which was once a convent, in the pretty town of Almagro in the province of Ciudad Real.
The Tablas de Daimiel, the smallest of Spain's national park which we will be visiting when we go to Almagro in November for a family weekend.
Meanwhile at home, life is quiet without the girls. I went into the office 3 times last week which is a lot for me and, this week, envisage going even more. Now the work is creeping up and will crescendo around Christmas time. I have 4 events plus a whole load of other stuff on my plate. But I don’t mind being busy as what I hate is long term inactivity and I need constant new challenges.

The weekend has been fun as we had more social activity than usual. On Friday we had a date for dinner with the González-Gálvez family at Gerardo and Vicky’s house and Irene and Thomas were also coming along. We haven’t seen each other for years and years and now we see each other regularly. It’s great to have found them again. Gerardo and Irene were the kids I gave English lessons to when I lived with them from 1978 to 1979. They were in their early teens and I was just 21 yet we struck a friendship for life. Today Gerardo is the proud father of 5 (adorable Vicky, Lucía, Ana, Gerardo and Irene) and Irene the proud mother of 4 (Paula, Thomas, Celia and Nacho). For me they are still my fun loving kids with the same sparkle in their eyes.
The dinner table at Gerardo and Vicky's house on Friday night.
We were offered champagne and Georgian caviar in Viky and Gerardo’s elegant and big yet cosy home while the kids were shooed away. Irene, the smallest couldn’t resist being near us and promptly fell asleep on the sofa. Lucía, aged 12, was the perfect Mother’s help and kept the dishes moving, bless her.
Little Irene's experience of Friday night's dinner party.
Dear Lucía who helped her Mother so well at the dinner party on Friday.
You can see these photos and more here on Facebook.

And last night I had a date with Lis Salander, that wonderful crime fiction heroine in Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, Millennium. As you probably know I finished all three and was missing the unconventional, fearless, brilliant hacker so when I heard that the second film was coming out this weekend in Spain I grabbed 2 seats at our favourite Cinema, Equinoccio in Majadahonda for last night’s evening session.

It was good, yes, quite faithful to the book but maybe had less impact on us than the first film. I am wondering now when the last film of the trilogy will come out but then Lis Salander will only remain in my memory. Oh well, maybe I will reread books 2 and 3 which I skimmed through so fast I must have missed out on a lot of detail.

Afterwards we had dinner at La Alpargatería with our friends Roberto and Maricarmen. We hadn't been there for ages and it was nice to be back and to sit at our favourite table, number 5.
La Alpargatería in the Equinoccio leisure centre, one of our all time favourites.
I have come to the end of this week’s post and Eladio is urging me to go for our daily walk, an hour earlier as dusk will come earlier after the clocks have gone back. So I will leave you now and post the photos later.

Hope we all have a good week. Mine will start well as tomorrow, Monday, I will be having lunch with my best friends, Julio and Fátima whom I haven’t seen since the Santander telecoms conference at the beginning of September.

Cheers for now / Masha.

Shopping with Suzy, goodbye Lis Salander, Montrondo again and a farewell Indian dinner

The 4 of us in Indian dress during the girls' farewell dinner last night.
Hello again (I always write “hi” so this time it’s “hello” for a change)

Another week has passed and today is the 12th October, Columbus Day, or what is known in Spain as the “día de la hispanidad” or “fiesta nacional”. It’s the day the Armed Forces in Spain celebrate with military processions. Eladio loves them and was watching them with my Father on the TV this morning. Apparently one solider from the Legion dropped his rifle and the commentator said he’d probably be cleaning latrines for the next 10 days.
The military processions in Madrid on Hispanic Day, presided over, of course, by the Spanish royal family.
I haven’t been cleaning latrines as luckily we have a cleaning lady, Zena, from the Ukraine, who does that twice weekly. But I have been doing some clearing out and that was in Oli’s room after the girls left for India this morning, but more about that later.

Now I am writing on the terrace and unbelievably it’s 27ºc which is very high for the middle of October. I am listening to my classical favourites list on Spotify, that wonderful internet music service for which I now have the premium contract which means you don’t have to listen to adverts in between songs and can even listen to the music offline.

I have my cup of tea next to me and a golden delicious apple which is part of my diet. You will be pleased to know I have now lost 5kgs. I’ve told my sister-in-law, Pili, that I’ll let her know when I’ve lost 10kgs so she can come and visit me from León and we can go shopping. I’ve also warned Eladio that very soon I will go on a big shopping spree. After all I haven’t bought clothes for ages. Can’t wait!
Photo of Pili and I taken in Montrondo this weekend.
And talking about shopping, this week I went with Suzy to buy all sorts of last minute stuff for the girls’ trip to India. We also went to do her University matriculation. It was good to see she has only 2 subjects to pass until she finally finishes her studies. We had a lot of fun together and drove in the little Smart car that they lent me at work whilst mine was being serviced. One of the places we shopped at was Sánchez Romero and it was for food. Sánchez Romero is famed for being the supermarket where rich people like the Real Madrid football players buy their food. I hadn’t been for ages and just loved the place. You can buy all sorts of gourmet products from all over the world and lots of delicious ready- made food too. We shall be returning for occasions I can tell you.
Suzy driving the Smart when we went shopping.
This last week was a lot of fun. Apart from shopping with Suzy, I had lunch with Juan, my colleague, at La Máquina in La Moraleja and on Wednesday I had lunch at De María in Majadahonda with my ex Nokia colleagues, Ana, Jill and Zenaida. Also I took the girls for a goodbye lunch to Qüenco, the place we celebrated our wedding at and where we have been back to recently. They loved it and so did I. The staff remembered me and kept referring to me as “la novia” (the bride).
Quënco on Alberto Alcocer, 16, hasn't changed since we celebrated our wedding there 26 years ago.
The highlight of last week though was an interview with my boss and his friend with the posh men’s magazine, Esquire, at the five star hotel, Selenza in Claudio Coello, Madrid. It was for a section called “real men” sponsored by the whisky brand Chivas which I learned actually belongs to the Pernod Ricard goup. I enjoyed the 2 hours of preparation. There were so many people and at least 100 photos taken just for one to be chosen. I look forward to seeing it published.
The lobby of the Selenza Hotel, quite something.
And on the topic of publications, this brings me to the second subject in my headline this week, “goodbye Lis Salander”. Last week I finished the last book in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, “The girl who kicked the hornets’ nest” and am now dearly missing Lis Salander. It arrived on Friday 2nd October and I finished it on in the evening of Tuesday 6th October. You may think that was fast but I actually rationed myself. As you probably know the author died prematurely and his works were published posthumously. He did not live to enjoy the fame of having sold 12 million copies of his trilogy worldwide nor did he live to develop his marvelous character Lis Salander, the greatest crime heroine of this century and probably the last too. Oh well, I can at least look forward to the second film which has only come out in Sweden, the fatherland of Stieg Larsson, so far. Indeed, goodbye Lis Salander. I wish I could know you better. I loved your fighting spirit, your sense of fair play, your amazing mind and just wish you could have been happier and of course married “Kale “bastard” Blomkvist” as you called Mikael Blomkvist but then again you were so unconventional that could never have happened.
Stieg Larsson, died at the age of 50 just after having handed in the manuscripts of the Millennium Trilogy.
And on Friday Eladio and I hit the road again and to Montrondo again to be with his family for the bank holiday weekend. We drove on Friday and had lunch on the way at one of our classics, the Parador in Benavente which serve some of the best “garbanzos”, chickpeas in Spain. Of course they are from Fuentesauco of chickpea fame. Friday afternoon was just for us in Montrondo and after settling in we went for my favourite walk to Murias. We went via the church and visited Eladio’s father’s grave to pay our respects. A headache spoiled the afternoon a bit but luckily I woke up without one on Saturday.
Eladio in Montrondo this last weekend. Waiting happily for his family to arrive.
On Saturday we were joined by Eladio’s Mother, his brother José Antonio and wife Dolores and their son Miguel, by his sister Adela and her husband Primo and son Roberto, by his brother Alejandro, by his sister Pili and her husband Andrés and their son Mario and finally by his youngest brother Isidro and his wife Yoli. All in all we were 15 people, half the usual crowd.

Saturday was spent together having lunch and going for a long walk. The idea was to pick hazelnuts but there were no longer any on the trees. The weather was superb and the autumn colours beginning to appear.
On the walk in Montrondo this weekend.
Then Eladio decided it was time to inspect the roof of the old house as there was a leak in his mother’s bedroom. Thus the “boys” were once again engaged and once again there was a “spectacle” to watch. Pili and Isidro held on to the rope that held Eladio who was on the roof and José Antonio and Eladio ventured into the inside of the roof through the flap in the kitchen which I imagine no one had been into for the last 40 years judging by the amount of dust and fluff on their clothes when they came out.
Eladio on the roof of the family house in Montrondo, inspecting and repairing the tiles.
Pili and Isidro holding the rope tied round while he was on the roof.
José Antonio appearing from under the ceiling.
On Sunday Eladio and I parted in the morning as we wanted to see the girls before they left for India and also to have a special farewell dinner for them. Goodbyes were said over coffee at the nearby village of Senra and off we went. Once again we stopped for lunch at the Parador in Benvente and couldn’t resist the chick peas again (damn, thanks to them the scales went up this morning!). You can see the full set of photos of this weekend in Montrondo here on Facebook.

Indeed we got back yesterday on time for our walk with darling Norah and to see the girls in the throes of packing their rucksacks. Inspired by our own trip to India, we put on our Indian clothes which had been made to measure in Udaipur, lit rose incense and played music by Ravi Shankar on Spotify. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to cook proper Indian food but then thought that they will be having enough of it anyway during their trip. The clothes we were wearing I think are called “Salwar Kameez” (pyjama like trousers and a long tunic), most comfortable I must say. Eladio looked the best in his turban which we bought in the sacred city of Benares (or Varanasi as it is also called). And here are the photos of that magical evening.

My girlies, Suzy and Oli in Indian dress during their farewell dinner last night.
And this morning my girlies left in a flurry of nerves and hurried preparations. Gaby, Suzy’s boyfriend took them and on their way they picked up Rocío, their other travelling companion. They are going to have a great time, I know. In their plans are staying with a friend in Delhi who works with an NGO that cares for children, visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra and visiting Sumit and Sandeep’s and his families in the Punjab where they will join in the Diwali celebrations (festival of lights). They have gone loaded with presents of turron and Spanish fans and perfume as in Diwali there is a lot of present exchanging as there is in at Christmas in the Christian culture. They will probably visit Rajasthan too but will, unlike me who plans everything, will decide once they are there.

They will be back on 27th October so meanwhile life goes on here at home. Just before I finish I must mention that I had some good news this week. Pernille, our dear Danish au pair will be visiting us in November with her lovely husband Thomas. And then I got a message out of the blue from Adele in France that she too will be visiting us around Easter next year with her husband Bernard. I went to University with Adele and haven't seen her since we had our first babies. I look forward to both visits immensely.

And now I have finished. Hope you all have a great week.

Cheers/Masha