A trip to the north of Europe, to Stockholm, Helsinki and Salo and home again

It's still winter in Finland as you can see here.

Hello everyone.

I’m late with my blog, sorry my friends but that’s because I’ve been away. I have lots to tell you. I hope your week was good, mine was great but the ending wasn’t too good. More about that later.

But let me start from where I left off last to record the whole picture. It was Sunday 3rd April and very wet. We went for our usual walk but had to shelter from the rain as you can see in this picture of me in a raincoat and umbrella. Norah was also wearing her raincoat. 

It was a very wet walk with Norah last Sunday

Later that evening we went out to dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen and we were joined by Juanjo, Eladio’s old boss, and his wife Justi whom we hadn’t seen for at least 4 years. We went to a place called Rias Galegas where the food was divine.

Monday was an extra pure protein day (thanks Dr. Dukan) to work off the excesses of the weekend but also to lose that extra kilo or so before I went off to Stockholm on Wednesday. My teeth were giving me trouble (an infection under a very big bridge) so I went to see my dentist who prescribed even stronger antibiotics to avoid any complications whilst I was away and to tide me over until my appointment yesterday. Thankfully they did.

Tuesday I went into Yoigo for the weekly management team meeting but also for an interview by Bloomberg News with our CEO. The journalist seemed pretty junior but his article was on the ball although it had a rather aggressive headline as you can see here. The article caused some buzz in Stockholm.

And Wednesday was the big day, the start of my trip to the North of Europe and an end to my “itchy feet”. Eladio was going away too, but nearer, to his native Montrondo together with his brother José Antonio and nephew Miguel. Miguel now lives there semi permanently and has even bought some chickens.

José Antonio with Miguel's chickens in Montrondo last week

So on Wednesday I was up at the crack of dawn to take the only direct flight to Stockholm that leaves at 10 in the morning. I was at Arlanda airport just after 2 and dragged my oversized bag (big for all the shopping I was going to do) to take a taxi which would take me to my hotel. It was sunny in Stockholm although fresh with about 8º when I arrived and it remained so until it was time to leave. Meanwhile in Madrid it was in the mid 20ºs; what a difference but then it is the other side of Europe.  The other difference which I was to notice in Finland even more is that spring has not arrived in this part of the world whilist in Madrid nature is in full bloom and green is the dominant colour in the sun.

This time I was trying a different hotel and got the tip from Lars. The Skeppsholmen Hotel turned out to be great. The island and Stockholm is made up of many, is one of the smaller ones and is delightfully in the heart of the city but away from it all. It’s a 5 minute walk from the Grand Hotel. I made sure I got a room with a sea view and highly recommend room 132. The rooms are very “designer” and Scandinavian with lots of wood and glass and white bed clothing making everything look clean and sparse but elegant at the same time.

The island of Skeppsholmen where my hotel was.  It's the small island in the centre of the photo

The Skeppsholmen hotel where I stayed in Stockholm on the island of the same name.

I was struck by the basin in the bathroom. I have never seen anything quite so modern. Just take a look here.

I thought this basin in my hotel bathroom was ultra modern.

I spent the afternoon working from my room until it was time to leave to meet my colleagues at the TeliaSonera head office in Stureplan from where we would walk to our dinner location, the Italian Cain restaurant. Dinner was at 7 pm, early for me of course but then when in Rome you have to do as the Romans right?

The next day our meeting started at 08.30 (early for me again). The team of communications managers from the Baltics, Nordics and Spain were to spend the day on the 7th floor of TeliaSonera mostly sharing best practices. It’s great to be able to exchange experiences and information with colleagues who have similar jobs in the group. We were just 11 people. The room we were in felt more like a lounge than a conference room. I remarked it looked like an Ikea showroom and it did. However that was a faux pas as the Swedes, unlike us, consider their flagship company Ikea rather down market!

The room or rather lounge we used for our communications meeting in Stockholm

The meeting finished at 5pm (early for me hahaha) and most people left for their respective countries. I decided to go back to my hotel and explore my island for some much needed exercise and also to get some pictures because it is truly beautiful. A storm was coming and I was nearly blown off my feet but even so got some great photos and enjoyed my surroundings. Afterwards I had dinner on my own. I have never liked dinner on my own but in the end was accompanied by Susana on whatsapp. The dining room was lovely with views of the Baltic Sea and my meal was perfect: my favourite prawn open sandwich washed down with 2 glasses of wine and followed by my favourite dessert; ice cream and meringue. I felt definitely woozy and was waiting for the headache afterwards but it never came.

The Vasa museum as seen from Skeppsholmen Island

You can see all the photos of my time in Stockholm here.

On Friday I was up early to get ready to go to Finland. Back in Madrid Suzy was getting ready to go to our apartment by the beach at Gran Alacant near Santa Pola with her two school friends, Rocío and Estafanía. They had a great time and worked on the beginnings of their summer tan. Here is a photo of Suzy on the beach. I like it. Don’t you?

Susana was enjoying the Mediterranean sun in Santa Pola whilst I was away

The temperatures I was going to were much lower. In Helsinki when I arrived it was about 2ºc but it was sunny. I could see that the Finns were still enduring their long winter. They talked about spring coming but I didn’t see much sign of it as there were no leaves on the trees yet and much snow on the ground. For them the first sign of spring is when the ice begins to melt in the rivers and lakes. This was big news this weekend. Apparently it can cause flooding and when the ice blocks the rivers, sometimes they have to break it with dynamite. People go out to the rivers, the sea and the lakes (and Finland has probably the most lakes in any country in Europe) to watch the phenomenon.

From Helsinki’s familiar Vantaa airport I made my way by taxi to the Central train station in the city centre where my dear friend and host for the weekend, Anne would be waiting for me. For me this girly weekend was going to be a big deal. I was returning to my beloved Helsinki after quite a few years away. When I worked with Nokia I used to go at least 5 or 6 times a year and grew to love it; the way of life, the people and of course nature. Finland is all about lakes, forests, rivers, snow in the long winter and then the midnight sun in the summer and I love it.

After leaving my extra size bag in a locker off we went for a bite to eat at Strindberg, a traditional Helsinki café on the famous Esplanadi. After that we hit the shops but didn’t make it to Stockman as it was their so called “crazy days” and there were too many people. Our next appointment was dinner at 6 pm (5pm for me as Finland is one hour ahead of Spain) at the legendary Russian restaurant Saslik where we were to be joined by Marianne. On our walk there we stopped for some photos of the frozen harbour of Helsinki which was quite spectacular for someone living the other side of Europe.

By the still frozen sea in Helsinki with Anne

I chose Saslik because of my Russian roots but felt a bit of a traitor taking two Finnish girls there but I think they didn’t mind. I ordered familiar dishes from the menu which my Mother often served such as borsch (beetroot soup) and perushki (pies) followed by blini, the latter being slightly less authentic. We had a memorable evening and talked a lot about the good old days at Nokia. The best thing about that company comes from its tagline, “connecting people”. It really did that and I remember my time with that company with nostalgia. The Russian in me reared its head and I could not resist drinking a shot of vodka to accompany the meal. Again I waited for a headache which never came.

Dinner with Anne and Marianne at the Russian restaurant Saslik in Helsinki was a highlight of my trip

All good things always come to an end and so my day in Helsinki also ended. Anne and I were to catch the 10pm bus to Salo her hometown some 1.5h away south of Helsinki and which is actually in Western Finland. Salo is a small and quiet but busy town of some 30.000 or more inhabitants. Not surprisingly Nokia, because of its factory here, is the biggest employer in town. I had been there many a time with Spanish journalists but even so it came as a surprise to walk past the actual factory when going on our walk the next day. All of Anne’s family has worked there and of course she has too and that is how we met, when she was the marketing manager in Spain and I was the communications manager. See how the Nokia tagline is so true.

Anne outside the Nokia factory in Salo, the town's biggest employer

I woke up in Anne’s delightful yellow painted wooden cottage, so typical of Finland, full of energy and looking forward to the day.

Anne outside her typical wooden house in Salo.  I love it.

After a very bracing walk through the Joensuun Kartano estate past birch trees and frozen lakes and the frozen Halikko river and some quite deep snow, we hit the shops again, big time this time. I was on the lookout for spring clothes in the typical Nordic style.

The frozen river Halikko in Salo was beginning to melt when I was there, a sure sign of Spring.

I found quite a few things but where I spent most was at KappaAhl. Shopping for clothes is a pleasure for me now that I have lost weight but it is also a therapy. And if you don’t believe me read this very suitable piece of news for me from the BBC which claims that shopping may improve health. In the article a leading expert said the findings made sense since shopping involves physical activity, social interaction and keeping mentally active. That made me feel good I must say.

Shopping also makes you hungry of course so Anne took me to her local café, the Salo Café, a sort of jazz bar which felt completely like home. Their iced homemade carrot cake is legendary and I certainly agree. Here we met a local hero or rather heroine, Virginie de la Carne, a Belgian girl and the star player of the local volleyball team LP Viesti which has won the Finnish championship three times in a row now.

I was to see her again and thanks to the team was to claim my own bit of fame that weekend in Salo as I actually hit the news for a very funny reason. We were at the Plaza shopping centre and the team were on stage being given some award. Anne wanted to watch although I wasn’t particularly interested although I took a photo or two for the record. Just as I had done so a funny looking journalist started talking to us and wanted to take a picture of me taking a picture of the team. I didn’t really know why but complied and then she asked me for my address and I gave her my card. Lo and behold on Sunday morning the next day Anne was reading the local paper, the Salon Seudun Sanomat and there was my photo in relation to the team event. She had written something about the Finnish containing themselves with their sports heroes and that in Spain we would have been cheering and making a lot more noise. She is probably quite right. I must say it was quite something to appear in the local newspaper on my first day in Salo!

I even got to be in the local newspaper when I was in Salo!

After shopping till we dropped we had one more stop before heading back to the cottage. I was to visit Prisma, Finland’s biggest supermarket chain and see what the Finns put in their trolleys at the weekend. I also took the opportunity to buy some dark bread, lingonberry jam and Fazer chocolates to take home.

At Prisma in Salo, Finland's main supermarket chain

Once home Anne put the fire on for a sauna for me, something I was really looking forward to. A sauna is a very Finnish experience and is often described as even soulful. For me it was relaxing and I love the feel of the extreme heat on my body for half an hour or so after which I am in need of a cool shower. Our day did not end here as Anne had booked us a table at Salo’s very finest restaurant, the Ravintola Salon Seurahuone which is housed in yet another traditional wooden building that I love.

Anne outside Salo's finest restaurant, Salon Seudin Seurahuone

I indulged in blini again but suspect it was made with kasha (buckwheat), not how my Mother used to make it. The rest of the food was great though as were the surroundings as the whole place felt like a private dining room. It used to be the public hall for important events and has maintained an aura from the past.

That night I expected a headache again but it never came. After the dinner Anne introduced me to her latest favourite television series and Anne is a serious tv and film watcher. Her top floor is dedicated to watching the tv in the most comfortable manner possible with huge wide and luxurious sofas and piles of blankets if you need them. So I saw an episode of the British made Midsummer Murders, a bit in the style of Agatha Christy, which I really enjoyed. Anne of course has all the series on dvd, as she does of all her favourite series. I remember being introduced too by her to “Cold Feet”, another British TV series which went immediately to the top of my list after Fawlty Towers and Upstairs Downstairs.

Sunday was the last full day of my trip and I knew it was going to be good. There is nothing like a girly weekend with a close friend who has the same tastes in nearly everything and a similar sense of humour. Anne knew I wanted to visit a forest so she took me to the Teijo natural park some 20km away and on a very scenic Finnish road with more wooden houses, trees, lakes, rivers and snow.

Teijo or Meri-Teijo is probably Salo’s most important tourist spot and Anne knows all about that as she works in the marketing department of the local town hall. I was bowled over by the beauty of the place, with a huge frozen lake and thick pine trees and even thicker snow underneath. Our walk towards the other side of the lake was a bit like an obstacle course as there was much ice on the ground caused by the thawing of the snow and many a time I nearly fell. Anne had prepared a picnic to have by the frozen water and boy were the views out of this world. It was like being in a winter paradise; no outdoor advertising, no huge crowds, no litter, just pure and beautiful nature. I spent the whole time with my camera in my frozen hand and couldn’t stop snapping as if I wanted to capture everything my eyes saw so as never to forget. It was sunny but really cold and thankfully Anne had kitted me out in proper Finnish warm clothing because I had not brought anything suitable.

The beautiful frozen lake at the Teijo natural park near Salo

From Teijo Anne showed me the local Teijo Manor and a lovely old church, the only private church in Finland.  From here she took me to see another church, Salo's Uskela, a gem of a place.  Although it was Sunday it was closed.  The Finns are not very religious as only some five percent practice their mainly Lutheran religion.  From the church there was a great viewing point of the town of Salo which you can see in this picture here.

Salo's skyline as seen from the Uskela church

The afternoon was spent lounging on Anne’s TV sofas and partly watching Lorenzo’s Oil. Later in the afternoon we went to see Anne’s dogs Viltti (meaning blanket in Finnish ) and Mimi who were at her breeder’s Hanna Kaisa. Viltti had given birth the night before to 5 tiny puppies. I am not sure of the breed of Anne’s dogs but know they were the type the Italian royalty used to breed. Hanna Kaisa’s place in a forest outside Salo deserves a mention. This woman lives and breathes animals or rather dogs and cats. Many of them, including the cats which never go out, roam her tiny little house freely. The walls inside are covered in all the trophies the breeder has won at dog and cat shows. Vilta and Mimi will soon be on show too if they haven’t already.

Anne with Viltti her dog which had just given birth to 5 puppies.

I like animals but actually felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of dogs and cats in such a small space which was clean but of course had a strong “doggy” smell. It was great later on that evening to be able to wash it off in another hot sauna.

The rest of the evening was spent having a wonderful cold dinner of yet another prawn mayonnaise and tuna sandwiches after which we watched another Midsummer Murder episode before going to bed.

And suddenly it was Monday morning and Anne had to go to work and we had to say goodbye. I know I will see her again soon as Anne is addicted to Spain, her other country as she calls it. The weekend had been great but now I had to pack all my purchases into my oversized bag and be ready for the taxi which would come at 10 to take me to the Salo bus station. At the bus station I felt very tempted to take the bus next to mine which was going to not too far away St. Petersburg. That will have to remain for another time. I already have plans for coming back next summer with Eladio, staying with Anne, renting a cottage in some remote part of Finland and then travelling to Russia. I hope we will do it because I want to come back soon to my beloved Finland.

The bus to St. Petersburg from Salo, the bus I will take one day.

The journey back was long and tiring as I had to fly via Stockholm rather than direct. I had a good 2 hours at Helsinki airport where I bought more bread and smoked salmon plus a little outfit from Finland’s most lauded designer, Marimekko. It was a black and white striped top with a matching scarf. I did not find it funny when Eladio said it looked like prison clothing, hahaha. At Stockholm airport I had my last open prawn sandwich of the trip and decided there and then to buy a couple to bring home for dinner. Later they were much appreciated by Eladio and Olivia.

The open prawn sandwiches I love so much as seen and bought at Stockholm airport on the way back

The trip was great but the journey home ended with a bang. I was waiting for my luggage which I suspected may well have been left behind as often happens when you change airports. And I was right. I had to go to baggage enquiries and the next day I must have rung 4 times before finally hearing it had arrived in Madrid. I went for it last night not wanting to wait for Iberia to deliver it as they may have taken days and I needed my things as tomorrow we are travelling again.

It was lovely to be home but yesterday, Tuesday, I had my dreaded visit to the dentist to remove the bridge in my mouth and have root treatment. The whole thing took over two hours. Thankfully I was able to walk out of the dentist with a provisional bridge as I was dreading opening my mouth and showing the big gap.

Home again but not for long. Tomorrow we are going to Asturias until Monday, but of course you will hear all about that in next week’s blog.

Cheers till then/Masha

PS You can see a bigger selection of the photos of my trip to Finland here.

A royal visit to Spain, well done India, shopping, cake making, sharing clothes with my daughters, Gretel’s story, Paula came for lunch and many other tales.

Making cakes with Suzy on Friday

Hello again, my friends.

I hope you had a great week. Mine hasn’t been bad at all, nothing to complain about but still not enough action for me. That will be soon remedied as this week I will be starting on the first of my up and coming trips, to Stockholm for work on Wednesday and to my adored Helsinki on Friday for a great girly weekend. I can’t wait. But meanwhile let me tell you the stories for this week and there have been many and they are varied.

The beginning of the week was quiet and pretty uneventful. I went into the office on Monday for an interview with a magazine called Capital and on Tuesday for what turned out to be a cancelled management team meeting. I also went in on later during the week for a surprise meeting with the Board. Of note I was the only woman present.

Of importance on Tuesday, in Spain at least, was the story of the Madrid Zoo’s miraculous baby twin pandas which were to be let out into the open air for the first time. The Queen of Spain was there for the occasion and here I really envied her role as I would also have loved to have the two delightful cubs on my lap as she has in this picture.

 

The Queen of Spain with the twin panda cubs at Madrid's Zoo which were let outside for the first time this week

And royalty is the next subject of this post because on Wednesday crown prince Felipe and his ex journalist wife Princess Leticia were to host the visit of the Prince Charles and Camilla to Spain. I have to admit that of all the news on the television that night, including the conflict in Libya and the aftermath of the Japan earthquake, this was the piece of news I was most interested in. I suppose it’s because I am afflicted with a mild dosage of fascination with the royal family as most British people are to a smaller or greater degree because we are brought up on it and all its marvellous pageantry. I haven’t followed their visit very closely but I did read that they declined to eat the wonderful Spanish “jamón” at the equally wonderful San Miguel market when on a “walkabout” on their first day in Madrid. Some curious bystanders were asked what they thought and one lady uttered what probably many of us think, that she far preferred the previous wife.  I certainly did and I wept buckets when the beautiful and unhappy  Lady Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.   The British Embassy who organised the visit informed that around one million British nationals live in Spain all or part of the year. Now that’s a statistic that surprised me although I know Spain is popular with many of my countrymen.

A royal visit to Spain.  Prince Charles and Camilla were hosted by Prince Felipe and Letizia.

If I lived in England I would be following more closely the warm up to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana's son, Prince William,and his commoner fiancée Kate Middleton. I hear they are trying to call her Katherine for her future role in the British monarchy but that the public prefer plain “Kate”. When I am in England in the Summer I shall be looking out for a commemorative mug of their wedding to add to my collection of Royal mugs which my Grandmother started and my Mother and I continued. The oldest one I have is of George V.  I shall certainly be watching the wedding next month too as I did that of Prince William's parents in 1981.

 

My royal mug collection will soon be joined by a mug commemorating the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

Wednesday was not particularly important for me but wow was it important for India. Why you non Indian nationals may well ask? Well India beat Pakistan in the semi final of the Cricket World Cup with all the political nuances blended into the game and the victory of course. They talked about “cricket diplomacy” during the match for example. Now for most of us cricket isn’t important and we don’t understand it unless we were brought up to play and love it like most nationals of the commonwealth countries. So, sure football is more popular in the world but did you know that 1000 million people watched that match on TV on Wednesday? India went on to win the final yesterday in Mumbai (I will always say Bombay) against Sri Lanka and must be feeling as ecstatic as Spain when they (or should I say we?) won the Football World Cup last summer. The Indians are known as a “cricket mad nation” and this was their second world cup victory since 1983 and on home ground this time to add to the excitement. All that remains to say is well done India. Enjoy your glory which I am sure you well deserve, although I haven’t watched the matches nor do I understand the game, despite having being brought up in England and more recently having watched that superb Indian Bollywood film about cricket called Lagaan. Of course I am thinking of our Indian friends, Sandeep and Sumit who gave me the film and who will be as pleased as punch, especially Sumit who was an amateur player and now lives in Mumbai. Well done boys, I am glad for you too. Below is a picture of the winning team. What surprises me is to see the members in blue. In my time, at least, cricket was a sport played only in white but times must have changed.

The team that brought glory to India by winning the Cricket World Cup this week

Friday was probably my highlight of the week; a day accompanied by glorious sunshine and warm temperature. Funnily enough it was April Fools’ day which is not celebrated in Spain, or rather they have a similar day but on a different date (28th December). It was also a wonderful day to go shopping and here I have to admit it wasn’t the only day I went shopping this week because nowadays I seem to be doing it always to the terrible detriment of the limit on my credit card I’m afraid. Since I’ve lost weight and kept the loss up on the Dukan Diet my greatest pleasure is buying clothes. One of the consequences too is that I can now share clothes with my daughters. The other day I lent Oli a “posh” red dress she needed for an occasion. Later she told me a friend had complimented her on the dress (have to admit she looked spectacular) and that she said it was her Mother’s to which her friend replied how lucky she was to be able to share clothes with her Mother. That was nice to hear. Suzy and I have been sharing a particular black and white striped dress I got at Oysho this week which she is wearing in this picture. No doubt Oli will be wearing it too next week.

Suzy wearing the dress I bought at Oysho this week.  I can now share clothes with my daughters.

Actually the shopping on Friday wasn’t all about clothes. It was about food, another topic of enormous fascination in my life and world as you all know. I took Suzy to the English shop and then to the American store, Taste of America, both in nearby Pozuelo.

Taste of America in Pozuelo where Suzy and I bought some cake making items on Friday

Suzy’s great area of interest these days is cake making, so she had a field day in both shops, stocking up with all sorts of baking tools and icing instruments. Of course she had to try everything out as soon as we got home with the excuse that it was her friend Estafanía’s birthday “bottle party” that evening but also that Paula was coming the next day. So an enormous cake baking exercise ensued in between Susana’s sunbathing in the glorious sunshine. Illustrating this week’s blog is a moment of the two of us enjoying cake baking. Below is just some of our output which is and was delicious.

Some of the cakes we made

Although I wrote above that Friday was my highlight of the week, I wasn’t really referring to the afternoon as at 17h that day Suzy and I had an appointment with the dreaded gynaecologist for a routine check up at the Quirón Hospital in Pozuelo. It ended up being a pretty painful experience as I finally had the coil removed because at this age sadly I no longer need it. I have mixed feelings about this stage of life and maybe shouldn’t be writing about such an intimate subject, but in the end, of course accept it. There is a very stupid saying in Spanish which says “la arruga es bella” - wrinkles are beautiful - and of course they aren’t but we have to accept them unless we want to undergo surgery; something I will never ever do to look younger or more beautiful. In any case right now at 54, with all my wrinkles and everything else that goes with late middle age, I do actually feel beautiful. It’s mostly because of weight less and new clothes. I seem to get a lot of compliments for both and they are a wonderful compensation for all the effort put into losing and maintaining my weight.

So yes I’m always buying new clothes. But I also love to shop online for books and pc and mobile phone accessories and there on Friday when Suzy and I returned from our food and clothing spree, was a package waiting for me from Amazon.co.uk. Inside was the much awaited pink leather case for my Samsung Galaxy S phone.

The new pink leather case for my Samsung Galaxy S phone which arrived from Amazon.co.uk on Friday

In the same package was my new book. It’s called “A different sort of courage, Gretel’s story” which I can’t wait to start this afternoon after publishing this blog post. It will come as no surprise to you that this is yet another Second World War story, another subject of fascination for me and inherited from my Father. This time though the story is not of Jewish survival of the holocaust but of a young German resistance fighter, a subject that interests me enormously as I have often wondered how the normal German population lived the horrors of possibly the worst dictator in world history. No doubt Gretel’s story will be my book of next week and I look forward to stolen moments probably flying to Stockholm and to Helsinki for a chance to read it.

Gretel's Story, another Second World War biography for me which I ordered on Amazon.co.uk

 

Friday came to an end with a superb meal with Eladio at La Vaca Argentina, one of our favourite local restaurants. Yesterday, Saturday, was full of action. Eladio, spurred on by the good weather, got out his painting gear and started on the somewhat rusty railings by the swimming pool. Here he is clad in old clothes with the paint brush in his hand.

Eladio painting some of the garden railings this weekend, in readiness for summer

Whilst Eladio was painting the railings, a decisive moment in Spanish politics was taking place. The Spanish premiere, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero who is from León, just as my husband is, was announcing to his fellow party members of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) that he would not be a candidate for the 2012 general elections. There has been much talk about whether he would run for a possible third term and now we know he won’t. This news opens up huge debate as to who will be his successor. The two names most branded are Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the current “Home Secretary” and Carmen Chacón, the current (lady) Minister of Defence. I would of course love to see a woman prime minister in Spain. Which woman wouldn’t?

Spain's premiere, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced on Saturday that he won't be running for a third term of office.

Whilst Olivia and I were watching the announcement on the PC in the kitchen, our eyes were drawn to a good piece of sports news on the screen. Rafa Nadal had beaten Roger Federer in the Miami Masters semi finals. He fact he crushed him with a score of 6-3 6-2. Today Rafa plays Djocovic in the final and to quote my Father, this will be no “pushover”.

Spain's number one player, Rafa Nadal, beat Roger Federer in the Miami Masters semi final on Saturday

On Saturday too we were to receive the visit of our niece Paula for lunch. Paula is Eladio’s sister Pili’s daughter who was particularly interested in this visit as our niece was coming with her new boyfriend, Pedro, from Málaga whom Pili has yet to meet. In fact we were to be the first members of the family to have that privilege. Paula is finishing her studies in audiovisual communication at Salamanca University and Pedro is a recent graduate in journalism who has just started working at a PR agency in Madrid. I went to pick up the lovely young couple from the nearest metro station to join us for lunch. Olga had made a great lasagne and of course there was the cake Suzy had made and I had decorated. Here is a moment of us all at the table on Saturday, except for Suzy who arrived a bit late after going to watch Gaby race as a co-pilot in a car rally. It was great to have them and we look forward to seeing them again soon, who knows, when the weather is better and we can use the pool with the gleaming white railings which Eladio is lovingly preparing for the summer.

Paula and her beau Pedro came for lunch on Saturday.

And that my friends, was my week. I hope you had a good one too. More from me next week.

Cheers till then

Masha

The clocks go forward, RIP Liz Taylor, my film and book of the week, itchy feet, Yorkshire, my roots and more.

Liz Taylor that violet eyed icon of Hollywood died aged 79 this week

Hi again,

Another week has passed, spring has come and the clocks went forward an hour yesterday, what is called in the UK British Summer Time. However for the moment there is no sign of the latter, although of course we have one more hour of daylight a day, a blessing for our evening walk when we want to go later than usual.

So how has your week been? Mine has been fine, more active than last time but generally quiet and there has been time for travel planning and inner thinking, something I seem to do more as I grow older. Travelling, of course, is part of my DNA but more about that later.

Work wise it has been quite satisfactory. My feat of note this week has been the culmination of many months of work on the film about the story of Yoigo which we have called “the story of the no tricks operator”, the story of Yoigo’s first four years summarised into just 30 minutes. Finally this week we finished work on the short version which we had to pack into just over six minutes. And at long last I can share it with you as it  is now published here on You Tube. Let me know what you think. As I told someone this week, of all the things  I have done professionally  this project is one of those I am most proud of.

Whilst on the subject of films, the violet eyed icon of Hollywood left us this week. Yes, the amazingly beautiful actress, equally famous for having 8 husbands and less famous for her work on aids, Liz Taylor left us aged 79, the same age my Mother died. When I think of Elizabeth Taylor I remember her as Velvet in that wonderful film based on the book called National Velvet, about a young girl competing in the Grand National dressed as a boy. She was only 12 years old but captured people’s hearts even then. Most people will recall her for role in Cleopatra, but I was never very keen on that film. However she is most famous for her two marriages to Richard Burton, possibly the most attractive British actor ever to have walked this earth who had the sexiest voice possible with his rich British rather than native Welsh accent. I read in one of the obituaries that perhaps her best role was playing her own life, and maybe it was. I was a bit upset to read too that she was not considered the greatest of actresses. But how can that be if she won two Oscars? Today there are no Hollywood stars of her stature. For me she is in a league of her own, truly loving life like there was no tomorrow. I do hope that she will finally be left to rest together with Richard Burton as I think that is what both of them would have wanted. RIP Liz, the world will always remember you.

I loved Liz Taylor in National Velvet.  She was just 12 then

Still on the subject of films, and oh yes, I love films, if they have drama, war, biography in them or they are about schools, prisons, hospitals and especially convents and I just loved Black Swan. Take it I like ballet, possibly because of my Russian blood. But you have to admit that Natalie Portman, another Hollywood actress in a league of her own, is superb in this brutal film about rivalry between prima ballerinas. Fragile and puritan, a perfectionist and dangerously ambitious to the end, Nina, will do anything to keep her role as the Swan Queen, both as the White Swan and the Black Swan which will demand of her a sensual side unknown to her before. It’s much more than that; there is a horror side to it too but also exceptional beauty and it has haunted me since I saw it on Friday with Eladio. It is a film to remember and no wonder Natalie Portman won this year’s Oscar for her role as fragile and beautiful Nina.

Natalie Portman is stunning in the amazing Black Swan, my film of the week

If that was my film of the week, my book of the week has left me equally haunted. It’s called Sister and is written by the British novel author Rosamund Lupton who has been equated to Daphne du Maurier.  I think it’s pretty much a wow book as far as best sellers go but actually it’s where literature meets crime fiction as it’s so beautifully and tenderly written. At the same time it has you hooked from beginning to end to find out “who did it”. It is the story of an older sister, Bee or Beatrice, going in search of her lost younger sister Tess. But if you haven’t read it, I won’t tell you anymore so as not to spoil the book for you. I am now looking forward to the same author’s next book which will be coming out in July and is called “Afterwards”. This writer will go far, that’s for sure.

Sister is my book of the week and one of the best I have read recently

This week though hasn’t only been about films and books, it’s been about travel planning and I have lots of trips planned. Right now I have what my Father used to call “itchy feet” when he described my brother’s taking off on a trip; something which in fact both George and I must have inherited from both our parents.

My feet will stop itching the week after next when I will be going to Stockholm for a communications meeting. I will fly from there to my beloved Helsinki for a wonderful weekend with my equally beloved Anne, a pseudo sister for me. My next trip after that is with Eladio to Asturias in the north of Spain just before Easter. We want to use our Parador points and also take advantage of a free night at an NH hotel, courtesy of BMW, so will be going first to Gijon to the Parador and then to Avilés to the NH Palacio de Ferrera. Afterwards we will be travelling nearby to the bewitching little fishing town called Cudillero and there is a reason for going there. Apart from visiting beautiful Cudillero, I want to see the cliff where Father Angel and Victoria from my favourite TV series “La Señora” meet. I think it is called the “Acantilado de Cuerres and is in the township of Ribadesella very near to Cudillero. We will be staying at the highly recommended bed and breakfast Casona de la Paca, for two nights, a gem of a building in the typical “Indiana” style of the area.

I shall be visiting these cliffs in Asturias in April where Padre Angel and Victoria from my favourite TV series "La Señora" used to meet.

And when we come back from Asturias we will be unpacking and packing again on the same day as that night we will be off to the Balearic island of Ibiza. For me it will be a site inspection trip as we plan to organise the Yoigo summer party there this year. I have never been there, nor I have ever been particularly attracted to this small jet set cum hippy-island but I’m sure it has a lot going for it. I will tell you more when I get back.

Our travels will not end there either but we will have a respite of a month at home only as in June we have a long weekend trip planned to Brussels. Yes, Brussels again, to meet up with my wonderful University friends, Sandra who lives there, and Adele who will come from France. We will be joined by our husbands and partners, Eladio, Jeffer and Bernard. We had a memorable time together last year and this reunion promises to be just as good. I feel very close to both Sandra and Adele and am very glad to have them back in my life but I just wish they lived closer.

After Brussels we have another trip to look forward to. This year’s holiday will be to the UK and I am planning it with great love and detail. I would love to take my Father with us, but alas, we both agree the trip would probably be just too much for someone who in May will be 92. We will spend two nights in London, oh London, one of the most exciting cities in the world. From London we will travel to Devon to stay with my best friend Amanda and her husband Andy, who I know and love too from my childhood in Yorkshire. They have moved from Surrey to Devon and I can’t wait to stay with them at their new home by the sea. We will be with them for 5 nights.

Afterwards we will travel together to Yorkshire, where Andy, Amanda and I  grew up, or at least spent our formative and teenage years. It’s a bit like going back to the scene of the crime. When I lived in Yorkshire, and I lived in that black industrial and ugly town of Bradford, I swore I never wanted to live there. But now as I grow older, I am somehow lured back, not to the back to back housing streets or the ugly 60’s buildings, but to the beautiful surrounding areas, Ilkley, the Dales, Harrogate, Haworth, ....

When I go back I am transformed to my past and cannot get enough of walking the streets of, yes, Muslim Bradford, walking on the moors and in the dales, driving on the familiar roads and seeing the familiar landmarks such as Bradford Grammar school where my Father was a teacher of languages for so many years. I must visit Shipley Glen where I often went with the Guides or the Saltaire village which I despised when I lived there but which has now become a tourist attraction and has its place in history. I must revisit my school, St. Joseph’s college, organise a reunion with my school friends and walk through Lister Park, now a no-go area. I must also go to Ilkley to have tea at Betty’s and to the Charlestone cemetery and shed a tear at my Mother’s grave. For old time’s sake too I want to go to a Sunday morning church service, sing familiar hymns, maybe even take communion and shake the vicar’s hand as I leave just as I used to do at St. Peter’s church in Shipley when Brandon Jackson was the vicar there. I must visit the Wrights, our neighbours of more than 40 years (Susan a spinster nearing 80 and her Mother aged over 100) and drink tea out of Spode china tea cups in their ornate Victorian drawing room and talk about the past. I must look at our old house and I must do many more things there and can never really get enough of it.

Our old house at 6 Heaton Grove in Bradford which I shall be visiting when we go to Yorkshire in July

I have always considered myself a person with no real roots. After all I was born in Cambridge to an English Father and Russian refugee Mother from where we moved to Lincolnshire when I was two. We moved to Yorkshire when I was 7 and I lived there until I was 18 when I went to Nottingham University. Then I came to Spain and now live in Madrid and have lived her for 30 years, more than the time I lived in the UK.

So where am I from I ask myself? Where are my roots? The roots of my formative years are in Yorkshire, the place I so despised for the greyness and ugliness and graffiti and for the thick local accent which I refused to get as I knew it wasn’t a place I was going to stay. And I didn’t. I got out and I live abroad. Yet I want to go back there, as if to the scene of the crime, time and time again, to my roots, at least to the roots of my formative years. Why I wonder? I don’t really know the answer. Just that I feel good when I’m there now, unlike how I felt when I was a teenager. I don’t know if you can imagine how much I am looking forward to that trip, another trip down memory lane, to my childhood in England but above all to Yorkshire.

So yes the week has been all about films, reading, walking and planning for up-coming trips and it was good. No social lunches this week, just dinner out with Eladio to La Alpargatería after seeing Black Swan on Friday. Of course I booked table number 7 (our table) and we ate what we always eat, after which we went to Haagen Dazs for me to indulge in one scoop of strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

The only dark cloud is a problem with the bridge in my teeth which has been troubling me for a while and actually keeping me awake at night. So I have been once again to see my wonderful dentist, Dr. Garralda. It’s touch and go at the moment as to whether the bridge will have to be removed and replaced but at least, for the moment, the pain has gone.

And that, my friends is it for this week. I wish you all a great week ahead. Cheers till next week. All the best

Masha

Spring is here again, help for Japan, rest in peace George K, a trip to Santa Pola, Norah on Facebook, war with Libya, a super full moon, and more.

Me on our lovely natural beach called Carabasi near our flat in Santa Pola

Hello again,

I’m a day late with my blog this week which is because we went to Santa Pola for the weekend, but more about that later. Here I am writing then on Monday but it’s not just any Monday, it’s the first day of spring. I noticed today coming back from my walk that we had an excellent sign of it in the garden in these two lonelydaffodils, that glorious flower about which William Wordsworth wrote his famous poem called by the same name, Daffodils. I can only ever remember the first line: “I wandered lonely as a cloud” but the rest is easy to find out these days with internet as you can read in the link here.

Our two lone daffodils I spotted in our garden today coinciding with the beginning of  Spring

In fact with spring in mind Eladio had the gardener, Guillermo, lay fertilizer on the grass which took his South American workers some two days to accomplish. This is what the lawn looked like afterwards. Norah enjoyed the smells enormously and got her paws suitably dirty the whole time too of course.

Our garden layed with fertilizer this last week

I hope you all had a good week. I certainly did. On the work front, I’m in the middle of a well deserved lull at the moment. However, believe it or not the tragedy ensuing from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan actually affected my work. People and organisations all over the world are collaborating or trying to help the nation which is now threatened by an even worse fate, a nuclear disaster which thankfully is now under control. And Yoigo wasn’t going to miss out as we collaborate with the Red Cross locally. So we rallied together to have an text number available for people to donate funds, at 1,20 euros per sms. If you live in Spain and have a number either with Yoigo or our competition you can help too by sending a text with the text JAPON to 28077.

We collaborated with the local Red Cross to help people in Japan by setting up a text number for donations

On Tuesday I had rather sad news from my Mother’s ex colleague, Richard D. He told of the passing away of George Konzevich who had died after a fall the previous Friday. He was my Mother’s ex colleague at Leeds University, Valya’s husband and was aged over 90. I trust he had a good life but I do know the beginnings were not good for him nor Valya, both of whom were Russian refugees who came to England after the Second World War. Richard wrote this in his email: “George Konzevich died on Friday of heart failure after falling awkwardly and being helped up with difficulty and after a delay. Valya was distraught of course, but organising the funeral (next Tuesday morning) and dealing with the authorities has occupied and distracted her for the time being. Very sad indeed”. I was rather upset as was my Father, of course and immediately rang Valya to give her our condolences. I have also sent a wreath via Interflora which I hope reaches them on time for the funeral tomorrow. I have written about George and Valya before when we visited them on our trip to Yorkshire in the summer of 2009. Here is a photo of that happy moment. Rest in peace George, you will be sorely missed, especially by your loving wife Valya.

A happy moment with George and Valya Konzevitch in the summer of 2009.  Sadly George (on the left in a blue shirt and white tie) passed away last week.  Rest in peace dear George.

On Thursday I went into Madrid to supervise the final details of the shortened version of the Yoigo film. So there I was again at Iralta films with Angel and Bea and Ramón and Mariana, the team who made the film. I thought I ought to capture the team on camera as our work comes to an end. Thanks guys you have done a great job. Ah but it’s not yet finished, we still have to make some changes, introduce new music we won’t have to pay enormous rights for and of course translate the shortened text into English for the subtitles. When it is I promise to publish it on You Tube and then you can all give me your opinion.

The team who made the film about Yoigo at Iralta Films this week.

Thursday wasn’t all work though as in the evening Eladio and I visited that wonderful Swedish furniture and home accessory store, Ikea. We went to get new duvets to take to Santa Pola but of course bought many other things as you can see from this picture of our car boot. I never go to Ikea without buying some of the Swedish delicacies such as meatballs, lingonberry and cloudberry jam, smoked salmon and of course their wonderful frozen cakes.

Our car boot loaded with goods from Ikea last week.

The week had been cold and wet but the forecast for the weekend was great so Eladio and I decided, on the spur of the moment, to go to Santa Pola to stay at our flat for the weekend. Santa Pola is near Alicante and is on the Costa Blanca coast, some 450km from here. Not only did we want to take advantage of the weather, we also wanted to check the flat was ok as we hadn’t been since last August. When we first bought the flat in 1999 we used to go really often but now it’s more of an investment and we go quite rarely. Even so I was looking forward to going and decided to take Friday off and thus avoid the traffic.

We are creatures of habit and thus stopped for lunch as we always do at the Parador in Albacete, some 150km from Santa Pola.

Me having lunch at the Parador in Albacete on Friday on our way to the beach

The weekend was to be somewhat gastronomic but also all about walking on the beach, reading and generally relaxing. As soon as we had settled in we headed for the beach, a lovely unspoilt natural beach with no horrible high rise buildings, just dunes and cliffs and a view of the bay of Alicante.  The weather was nice and sunny but there was always a nip the air and we were glad at night of the duvets we had bought at Ikea which turned out to be splendid; warm, light and very comfortable.

We enjoyed walks on our beach this weekend

After our walk it was nearly time for dinner and again, creatures of habit, we went to our favourite local place called María Picola on the road between Santa Pola and Elche. Here we were welcomed by the familiar waiters and served what we always order; a salad and a wonderful dish of local rice called Arroz a banda which is much better than paella, I can tell you.

Eladio at María Picola, our favourite restaurant in the area, on the road from Santa Pola to Elche

Saturday was spent reading the papers, sitting on the sunny terrace and reading our books and of course walking.

A view of the inside of our sunny little flat in Santa Pola

We had to walk a lot to work off all the delicious food we kept eating. Lunch on Saturday was just one option for us, fish and chips at Darby’s Chippy down the road from our apartment. I have written about this place before and I can only say it as good as the best fish and chip establishments back in the UK. The jolly Scottish owner welcomed us and asked how my leg was. I only realised later that he could only have known about it by reading my blog as when we were last there in August I wrote about my bad leg in the same post as our meal at his chip shop. So Mr. Darby if you are reading this post thanks for a great portion of fish and chips on Saturday. We will be back of course next time.

Me about to enjoy a wonderful portion of Darby's Chippy fish and chips.  I have to admit I couldn't finish it!

Or course after that wonderful British food we had to have an equally wonderful Spanish siesta to sleep it off. Later we went for yet another long walk, this time on the Santa Pola promenade where I bought a Russian newspaper for my Father. He knew you could get them there so the best option seemed to be Pravda, recommended to me by the Bulgarian shop assistant. I’m glad she did as I nearly picked up a Bulgarian newspaper, unknowingly instead of a Russian one! In the evening we decided to try out a restaurant across the road from the apartment but there wasn’t much to choose from, a Scandinavian place or a Chinese restaurant. We decided on the latter called “Cocina Asiatica” and were very pleasantly surprised by the quality but also by the wonderful service of the young Chinese girl serving us who seemed to speak both perfect English and Spanish, besides her native Mandarin or Cantonese or whatever because I couldn’t possibly know which was her native tongue. Later Eladio was to watch the Spanish derby football match between Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid. I was not particularly interested but happy that the latter won 2-0.

Our time at the flat would not have been complete without several visits to the small English supermarket, Quicksave where I stocked up on lots of important British produce to take home. I got chocolates, including Turkish delight, for my Father, hot cross buns for us all for Easter, jelly babies for the girls, fudge and Cadbury cream eggs for Suzy, bacon and Lincolnshire sausages for my Father and most important of all decent birthday cards for the up and coming birthdays in our household. It is not easy to get English produce in Spain so when I am in Santa Pola I make numerous visits to good old Quicksave.

Quicksave, the British supermarket across the way from our flat in Gran Alacant, Santa Pola.

On Sunday we were up early as we are most mornings and decided to leave after breakfast but of course had to clean the flat before going which is always a bore. We were in the car by 11 and home in the early afternoon after stopping for lunch at very good roadside cafe and restaurant called La Sima some 150km from Madrid, if rather expensive.  You can see the rest of the photos of our visit here.

La Sima, where we stopped for lunch on Sunday on our way home from Santa Pola, very good but expensive.

Whilst we were having a mundane but enjoyable weekend in Santa Pola, the girls were partying it up at home as they usually do when we are away. Norah had a great time as the girls and their friends spent a lot of time outdoors working on a tan. Norah by the way now has a fan page on Facebook where you can “like” her. At the moment she only has 10 fans, so do please add yourselves and increase the numbers of her “fan club”.

Norah had a great time with the girls and their friends whilst we were away.  This is her with no table manners at one of their meals, haha.

And while we were all enjoying the weekend, violence continued in the Middle East. Libya, the next country after Tunisia and Egypt and others in the region to be in a state of revolt has turned out to be a much more difficult country for its dictator leader to be overthrown. That is because we are talking about the famous mad dictator Colonel Gaddafi, a terror to his country and the world. The rebels who have been fighting his forces in the last few weeks were in great need of international support if they were not to be totally overthrown and help came this weekend when the United Nations gave the green light for the USA, France, the UK and other countries to carry out air attacks in the hope of finally overthrowing Gaddafi. We are in the throes of war with Libya at the moment and I only hope that one day the Libyan people will know what democracy is.

Anti Gaddafi rebels who now have a helping hand from the powerful western allies to overthrow the dictator in Libya

At the weekend too, there was another phenomenon, this time a natural one and not a disaster, thank goodness. The papers were full of news about a super full moon and I only realised what they were talking about when I looked outside our bathroom window last night and was taken aback by the size and luminosity of the moon I saw. Apparently it was the closest to the earth it has been in some 18 years. I took a photo which I then mistakenly deleted so I will have to make do with one I found on Google images. This was a nice piece of news for a change. So who said good news is no news?  Not me.

The super full moon which was so much in the news this weekend because of its closeness to earth.  

And on that nice piece of news I have come to the end of this week's blog which I hope you all enjoy. I also hope you have a good week and me too.

Cheers till next time

Masha