Finally got my red leather patent high heeled shoes!

Hi again

For those of you who are interested, here is a picture of my new red leather patent high heeled shoes which I finally got last week after at least 5 visits to the shoe shop, Lola Rey in Centro Oeste.

The feet in the picture are Olivia's. I haven't had a chance to wear them yet as the weather has not been good at all.

Thought I'd never get them but I did.

All the best
masha

Spring has come, Fernanda and Jerónimo's party and a new member of the family came from Jérez de la Frontera.

Hello again and this is my weekend update:

This week Spring came and brought with it the cold weather with lots of snow in the north of Spain. One day of this week when I was having lunch with my dear friend Susana Blázquez at the Annapurna Indian restaurant, we could see the snow drops falling outside the window to a backdrop of sunshine. That was something to look at.

Friday night was a stay in night where we, Eladio and I, hired a film and had a take away for dinner. We watched United 93 – about the plane during the 11th September that was high jacked and then taken over by the passengers to stop it crashing into the Pentagon. It was quite claustrophobic and of course, very realistic. I actually don’t really recommend it but Eladio was impressed.

On Saturday while I had the episode with the red high heeled patent shoes Eladio went to look at barbecues for installing in the garden. This house has everything but funnily enough it lacks a barbecue. Of course, Eladio ended up ordering one of the very best they had at Leroy Merlin. It’s so big it probably does chops for 20 so it will be great for parties this Summer. Hopefully it will be installed here in about a week or 10 days.

In the afternoon we went to a small party at the Hesperia Hotel in Madrid held by my dear Mexican friend Fernanda Navarret to present her first born son, Jerónimo to her friends in Madrid. Fernanda went back to live in Mexico last Spring and to have her baby there. I had only seen photos and didn’t really think I would be seeing her again so soon. She had come to Spain to accompany her parents on holiday here which was also an excuse to show her new baby to all the friends she had left behind in Madrid.

Fernanda looked radiant and Jerónimo, so beautiful he could have been a girl. It was lovely to meet her Father, Don Carlos who was actually born in Madrid in C/Arenales in 1932. He gave us a short version of his life story and how he had married Fernanda’s Mother, the daughter of the then Minister of Health in Mexico. Quite a lovely encounter. However just an hour and a half with Fernanda shared with over 20 people was certainly not enough time together so we will be meeting up for a long girlie lunch this week before she goes back where we shall be able to catch up on what we have both been up to since we last saw each other a year ago.

Me, Fernanda with Jerónimo and Eladio

Jerónimo in his father's arms, Paco.

Jerónimo in his grandmother's arms, Fernanda's Mother.
In the evening we met up with Roberto and Mari Carmen for dinner at our usual place, La Alpargatería, and our usual table, number 5. Dinner with them is always a relaxing affair. Next week we will be going together to the country spa called La Senda de los Caracoles. There will be a full report in next week’s post about that.

Suzy was away this weekend because she went to Jérez (of sherry fame) with her boyfriend Gaby who is from there. It was the motorbike championships which he adores but they had also gone to get a puppy from an aunt of his for his new house in Madrid. There had been talk of this puppy for a while before they went and apparently the puppy was a boxer. As the weekend progressed so did news of 2 puppies they were bringing back. It seemed Suzy could not resist a little white one with a black patch on her eye. Eladio and I didn’t really want the responsibility of having a dog again but know we wont’ be able to resist a month old puppy. Suzy and Oli swear they will be take complete care of it but that, of course, remains to be seen. So lunch today was all about what name it would get. My favourites are Patch, Rosie, Poppy or Polly.

Just as I had finished writing this post, in walked Susi and Gaby with the new acquisitions - see the picture below. Of course, they are so sweet that any opposition from Eladio and I was swiftly dispelled. However it was made very clear that the girls would take complete care of it/them - it seems Gaby's puppy Kiyo will be staying for a little while until they move into their new house. This, of course, includes cleaning up all their "doings".

Kiyo and Polly/Patch/Donna (not yet decided) sleeping in their box in the kitchen. Polly/Patch/Donna has the big patch on her eye and is lying horizontally.
It was funny to see stylish Henry's reaction (our cat). He's such a coward and is absolutely frightened of them that now he prefers to stay outside for the moment at least!

And last night the clocks went forward so we lost an hour of sleep but the good thing is that there will be more daylight now. As I am writing now, it is 20.30 and still light, so great, Spring is really coming now.

Cheers for the moment.
Masha

A voice from the past.

A bird's eye view of Nottingham University campus - Trent building and the lake are what I remember most.

The famous Trent building

Hi again,

On Friday my dear friend Adele Brierley rang me. Adele and I went to University together and lived in the same flat with friends in the second year. Adele went to live in France while I went to live in Spain and she had 4 boys while I had 2 girls. The most dreadful thing is that we haven’t seen each other since her first child Jonathan and my first daughter Susana were born. That was at her parent’s house in Boroughbridge nearly 23 years ago!!! We have written to each other every now and again over the years and have had the odd natter on the phone and always with the promise of making the effort to see each other again some time. But time goes on and the time to see each other never comes.

Last week Adele wrote to me to tell me her new email address and she wrote that all was fine but she was so busy and had no time to write. It was lovely to hear from her but I wanted to know how she was, what she was doing, how her boys were – so I wrote back to say we had to make time for each other. And lo and behold, the darling beautiful, curly, smiling red haired 1.75cm tall Adele rang me on Friday afternoon and we chatted for at least one and half hours as we had so much to catch up on. We also had time for University day memories such as when we had chocolate egg eating competitions or one of our flat mates, Wombat, got lice in her hair!

She is fine, remarried to her psychiatrist (that is a story in itself) Bernard and they live in a town house in Orleans. Adele is a teacher of English and goes to her lessons by bicycle which compares very favourably for her with my 50km away office which can take a 2 hour drive to get to! Her boys Jonathan, Ben, sorry I can’t remember the 3rd boy’s name and Tom are all at different stages of their studies.

Ever after the conversation she has remained very much in my mind and I really hope that they do come and see us sometime soon. I told her about my reunion with Sandie – another mutual University friend – a few months ago. It’s so funny to have known each other as students and to meet again as mature ladies (a euphemism for middle aged).

Darling Adele, thanks for ringing and coming back a little into my life. You were never forgotten!

As I had no photos of Adele I decided to illustrate this post with pictures of our old University and when I looked it up in Google I was pleasantly surprised to see that Nottingham University is now in the top 10 of the British league of Universities which is something to be proud of I suppose. I also looked up our old Hall of Residence, Florence Nightingale, of the famous British nurse fame. It looks just the same except that it has been mixed since the year 2000. People like Adele and I made sure there were plently of boys there in our time and I remember one memorable fire drill that took place unexpectedly during the middle of the night and how all the boys caught there walked sheepishly out into the grounds, covered in blankets! In our day the bedroom walls were painted purple! What a good time we had!

Florence Nightingale Hall, our Hall of Residence in our first year at University.

In search of red patent high heeled shoes.

Hi everyone:

When Anne (Nenonen) was here last week we went shopping to Centro Oeste where we visited Lola Rey, one of our favourite shoe shops. I had no intention of buying any shoes nor did I need any until I spied my life long fantasy: a pair of red patent high heeled shoes! They were just the sort I have always wanted and have never had. Oh, yes I’ve got red shoes, have had many pairs of red shoes, but not patent red shoes. I remember as a child my Mother buying me a pair of red shoes which I put on immediately and walked out of the shop with them on. And when I went to bed I put them on a chair at eye level height so’s I could see them as soon as I woke up without having to get out of bed. So yes, I have always loved red shoes. There is something about red; it’s probably my favourite colour.

So how awful it was to find out they didn’t have my size!! I asked if I could order my size and yes I could, just had to leave a deposit and return one week later with the slip of paper. Well, I couldn’t wait a week could I, so returned on Thursday after work. But they weren’t there. Never mind, I was told, they would definitely be there on Saturday and I agreed to ring before. On Saturday I rang but they never answered so I thought they must have been too busy to pick up the phone. As we had to go into “town” anyway – to Majadahonda – Eladio dropped me off while he went to look at barbecues. In I went with my crumpled slip of paper which I gave to the gormless looking shop assistant who had “sold” them to me and who, of course, didn’t remember me or my red patent high heeled shoes. He disappeared into a very disorganised looking storeroom and I stayed outside wondering whether they would be there or not. Well my luck was not in. The gormless shop assistant’s boss told me she was terribly sorry they had been mislaid at the warehouse they were supposed to have come from!!! But not to worry as she herself would go and pick them up personally and they would be ready for picking up that afternoon. Oh well, I thought, at least I can pick them up this afternoon on our way to Fernanda and Jerónimo’s party. However, it was not to be or maybe the shoes were not supposed to be mine as just as we got home they rang me from the shop to say they hadn’t been able to pick up the shoes because of some emergency. They assured me though that they would be in the shop on Monday. Somehow these red patent high heeled shoes are eluding me. When I go on Monday with my crumpled slip of paper, for the 4th time, I think I will have very little hope of finding those so desired red patent high heeled shoes I so desire.

More news tomorrow.

Dinner with Anne and Graciela, The five day headache, Oli came back, Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns and The Bad German

Hi again

Well this week would have been better without the 5 day headache and even as I am writing here, it’s still there in the background; just won’t go. It started on Wednesday night when I went out to dinner with Anne and Graciela to La Txitxarrería in Pozuelo and is still with me today. It took me to bed on Friday afternoon in the middle of a visit from Manuel, Paola and little Daniela who had come to see Anne. I guess it will go eventually but I’m afraid it does take the beans out of me.

Girly dinner at La Txitxarrería in Pozuelo on Wednesday night
So, yeah, Anne came to stay for the weekend as part of an extended business trip. It’s always lovely to have her as she’s like part of the family. Her stay coincided with Oli’s return from Falmouth for her Easter holiday. Both of them were instructed to bring English chocolate Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns (typical currant buns with a cross on the top which the English have for toast on Good Friday and ONLY available in the UK). So we now have a huge pile of both.

Anne and I went shopping on Saturday morning for food for lunch but also to Centro Oeste, her local shopping centre when she lived in Majadahonda. I wasn’t supposed to buy anything but ended up with a beautiful black and white vintage type jacket and a pair of red patent high heeled shoes (very sexy for a 50 year old!!!). Lunch was a full family affair as we had both girls and both boyfriends (welcome back too Pepelu) and the food was typically Spanish to cater for Anne’s craving for Spanish cured ham and tapa type food. The piece de resistance though was American, in the left over brownies Susi and I had made the week before. So after that the only thing any of us could do was take a siesta. Actually I half slept through an old TV favourite film from the girls' childhood, “The Little Princess” – the perfect Saturday afternoon.

In the evening Anne, Eladio and I went to see The Good German to quench our thirst for Second World War films. It turned out to be a complete flop of a film despite George Clooney and Kate Blanchett. It is set in post-war Berlin where an American military journalist is covering the Potsdam peace conference. He gets drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver; all incredibly complicated and mysterious. It’s a sort of Casablanca style imitation vintage film made in black and white which had me half a sleep before the middle. So I’m afraid I’ve renamed it The Bad German as you can see in the title of my post this week.

Dinner was at Mood again, great food but a little noisy.

And today has been a typical Sunday; most of the morning cooking and washing which are the usual weekend household chores. I’m a bit late with my blog today as the oxtail stew I made this morning took longer than planned. Well I did have a Jacuzzi in the middle of cooking I must admit so I suppose that’s why.

And now Anne has gone, back to London and tomorrow to Helsinki; what a globe trotter she is. I used to be to in my previous job but now my business trips are few and far between unless you count driving from Villaviciosa de Odón to La Moraleja, of course.

Cheers my friends until next week. Have a good one.

Masha

Going to the Cinema, the influence of communism and the Second World War. Spring is in the air. Anniversary of 11th March Madrid train bombings

Hello again

The week has been quiet so when the weekend came we felt a need for going out and what better than going to the cinema and then out to dinner on our own or with friends? So on Friday we were just the two of us and on Saturday we were joined by Eladio’s beloved brother, José Antonio and his wife Dolores. It’s thanks to Dolores that I first met Eladio, so she is someone very important in my life – but that story is for another time.

On Friday we went to see The Lives of Others which won this year’s Academy Award for the best foreign language film. Frankly it’s one of the best films we have seen for a long time. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's film is about the horrific system of observation in the former East Germany.

When I told Susi my daughter what the film was about – basically life under the Communists, she opened up my eyes to really how much my life has been influenced by Communism and the Second World War. The fact is both my parents were affected by both and at home the topic of conversation always revolved around them. So many of our guests and visitors were of the same condition; either Poles who had survived the war, Russian friends who had survived the Leningrad Seige, Soviets visiting the UK and telling the tales of life under communism (queuing up for bread or milk, empty supermarkets, …), my Mother’s stories of being imprisoned by the Germans in Berlin, her cycling around Vienna in a dare devil game when it was being bombed or my Father’s medal for having contributed to the liberation of Norway when he was a young Lieutenant in the British Navy. But all that’s another story too.

To gain some sanity we went to Mood for dinner afterwards and spent the whole time talking about the film which had made so much impact on us both.

On Saturday Susi and I made brownies and I must say they were the most successful we have ever made – actually I am not the best cake maker in the world. And in the evening, after our daily constitutional (walk), we went to see The Departed with José Antonio and Dolores. It is the Martin Scorsese film which won four Oscars this year, including “Best Picture”. It stars Jack Nicholson and Leonardo Di Caprio, amongst others. It’s all about the Irish mafia in Boston in the 20’s and is extremely violent. Actually none of thought that much of it and would have preferred to see “The Good German” – another Second World War film to feed our permanent interest in the subject. Food for thought was at La Alpagatería but that you must have guessed by now.

Not much mention of the girls this week. Susi sent me a message at just before 10 am this morning from her bosom friend Copi’s house, not to expect her for lunch. The way to interpret that is that her night out finished just after 9 am this morning. Oh to be young again!

Oli will be back next Friday for her Easter holidays. We are dying to have her home. Her room is so, so empty without her. Her Erasmus University Exchange programme will soon be over really as she will be returning definitively to Spain at the end of May.

And we will also be welcoming my dearest Finnish friend, Anne, next weekend. Friday was her birthday which she celebrated with my other dear Finnish friend Anne Marjut who was here with us last week. Hi girls, hope you had a great time this weekend in lovely Somerset together.

Meanwhile Spring is in the air. And here is a picture to prove it – Eladio, holding the reluctant Henry, against the backdrop of one of the trees in blossom in the garden.

The only sad note today, Sunday, is that it is the anniversary of the 11th March Madrid bombings. Who will ever forget?

Cheers until next week.

Masha

Visitors, surprise party for Tomas’ 40th, Eladio and the breathalyser and love is in the air

Hi again

This weekend has been quite hectic socially and with even more visitors than usual. On Friday, Anne Marjut, a Finnish friend came to stay for the weekend. She works for the company that does Nokia’s promotional material and had come to Madrid for business and extended the visit for a girly weekend with me. Girly occupations are basically shopping and eating, as well as chatting, all of which we did a lot of this weekend. We did rest also though and Anne sunbathed by the pool twice over the weekend, something none of us here at home would be seen dead doing with only 20ºC however sunny it is. We, meanwhile, practiced the Spanish national sport of having lovely long siestas.

Anne Marjut preparing the fruit platter for lunch on Saturday

Lunch at home on Saturday - picture taken by Anne Marjut
On Saturday, the night of the total lunar eclipse, we went to Tomas’ surprise 40th birthday party organised by his darling, extrovert and extremely vivacious wife Ana Valdivieso. Ana had been preparing the party for weeks and seemed on the point of a nervous breakdown trying to keep the secret from the very curious Tomy. There must have been over 60 guests and we were all instructed to arrive just before Tomy, to put the lights out and sing Happy Birthday. Cars were also supposed to be parked away from the house – Ana’s parents’ place – so as to avoid any suspicion. It was worth all the effort because Tomy was duly surprised (see the picture to prove it) and the party was a great, great success. I spent quite a part of the evening drinking some very lovely cava and when Fátima asked Ana’s father for another bottle of “cava” he politely corrected her to say it was actually Moet Chandon!!! Very nice it was too. As was the food of which there was far too much even for 60 people. Tomy is the youngest of 11 brothers and sisters and Ana had had the help of his numerous amount of sisters for the catering so, of course, there ended up being an abundance of everything. I don’t know who made the ham croissants or the prawn vol au vents but my congratulations from here to the cook or cooks. Excellent!!

Tomy arriving at the party with Ana at the door.

Susana, me, Fátima and Anne at Tomy's party
On the way home, after sighting the moon which at 1.30 in the morning was nearly completely covered in red, we happily said goodbye to our hosts and friends and drove home with the help of our new sat nav. Actually we still managed to get a bit lost as we were having too much fun in the car and listening to El Divo to bother listening to the lady’s instructions. Fátima was highly amused but quite impressed with the technology so I think she will be acquiring one soon too. Then just as we were nearing Boadilla we got stopped by the police and Eladio was asked to blow into the breathalyser. And I thought, that’s it, we’ve got caught, we’ll get fined as I was absolutely sure he had drunk well over the limit. But miraculously the result was 0.0%, quite inexplicable but very relieving for us all.

And today Sunday, after quite a long lay in, I prepared a big roast meal – can’t get away from the English tradition even after all these years - because we were having visitors again. Eladio’s ex boss, Alberto was coming with his girlfriend, Olga whom we hadn’t met before. So once again there was a visit of the new house which is actually not so new any more as we moved in more than 9 months ago! Their visit coincided with a lovely sunny day so instead of the usual siesta, we took them on our daily walk. Their newly found love was so obvious to all around them but blended in beautifully with the sunny day, the blossom on the trees and the birds singing. Very romantic, I must say.

Alberto and Olga - the History of Art teachers - love is in the air
Cheers until next week my friends.

A quiet week in February

Hiya

Looking back on this week and comparing it to the one before, this week has been very quiet and actually a bit boring. After recovering from the excesses of my birthday celebrations and Barcelona, I am ready for activity again. But this week was not to be and unfortunately next week doesn’t look very promising either.

Workwise the week has been mostly about planning with not much action and I have worked mostly from home as I didn’t have very many meetings to attend. The highlights of the week were lunch with my best friend Fátima where we spent most of our time talking about diets and lunch with two very close journalist friends from ABC, one of whom I have to thank for his help in finding my current job. Thanks Antonio!

The weekend has been pretty usual too with just one social event. That was Friday night when we went to the cinema and out to dinner with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen. Guess which restaurant? Well the answer is easy; our usual, La Alapargatería. When I ring to make the reservation I don’t even need to say my name as they recognise my voice and depending on the number of people we are, they always know which table we want; 5 or 7.

The film we went to see was The King of Scotland which is about the rise of Idi Amin Dada, the famous dictator of Uganda in the 70’s but seen through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan. He is a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor who comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin, who promise a golden age for the African nation. Garrigan hits it off immediately with the rabid Scotland fan, who soon offers him a senior position in the national health department and becomes one of Amin's closest advisers. The story ends with the famous episode of the highjacking by the Palestinians of an aeroplane which is forced to land in Entebbe Uganda. Hopefully tonight both the film and the actor who plays Idi Amin will win an oscar as it is one of the best I have seen in a long time; that is if you can stomach some of Amin’s atrocities.

We have had some friends of Susana’s for the weekend, Merce and Josema from Yecla who were also here in September. As usual they brought us some lovely products from Murcia; wine, fairy cakes and funnily enough a delicious Tiramisu.

Yesterday Eladio and I went a bit mad buying pictures. We were out shopping for something completely different and came across a shop which had just the sort of pictures we were looking for. They are of zebras, African people, a huge flower and a view of Madrid from its most famous street, La Calle de Alcalá.

And as I love having something to look forward to, I have bought tickets and booked hotel rooms for a stay in Cornwall to see Oli at the end of April. Also, I have booked rooms for a weekend away with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen at a wonderful country inn called La Senda de los Caracoles in Segovia which is also a spa. We shall be going at the end of March. Thanks Ana for the tip – just look at the place: www.lasendadeloscaracoles.com

And now I must leave you to attend to the roast in the oven. Today we will be 7 for lunch and it wouldn’t do to serve up burnt roast chicken!

I think I might have bored you today with so little to tell in my blog but there is not much more to report from a quiet week in February. I hope you had a good one!

Until next week my friends.

Cheers Masha

3GSM Barcelona 07

Susi in La Rambla

Me in La Rambla

Reuniting colleagues - Nokia Networks Spain team 2000

Susi and me posing for an mms postcard at the Nokia party

Emilio, me and Patricio - the Chilean connection
Hello again,

So what’s 3GSM you may ask? Well it’s actually the biggest telecoms congress in the world and it was held in Barcelona last week. Anyone who is anyone is telecoms goes, so it’s the best place in the world for networking.

Yes, of course it’s all about work and new products and services but for me it’s all about meeting colleagues old and new. In the company I worked for before we had a few sayings which were Connecting People, Disconnecting Families and Reuniting Colleagues and I like the last one best! It was great to see Marianne, Yolande, Tia, Suvi, Ben, Thomas, Xavier, Eva, Anna and a whole load of other ex colleagues again.

From what I could gather, the 3GSM congress this year was all about internet in your mobile phone, also about mobile TV and to some extent newish technologies such as Wimax. And of course, Windows mobile. But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about the congress but about what I did for fun.

And yes, there was quite a lot of fun. I took Susi my daughter with me as she had a few days off after her exams and was going to the UK on Thursday with her friend Merce from Alicante to see Oli in Falmouth. So there we were the 2 of us in a splendid hotel, the Eurostars Grand Marina in the port of Barcelona for 3 nights and when I wasn’t working we were playing.

We set aside some time for shopping and Susi did some tourism. The most I got in was a walk down the Rambla which was as beautiful as ever. We were lucky with the weather as it was around 20º C and upwards most of the week.

The nights were the best with quite a few parties, the best, of course, being the Nokia party and that’s the night we were out longest. It was held at the Museum of Catalán Art at the top of Montjuic with fabulous views of Barcelona at night. There must have been more than a 1000 people and tickets were like gold to get hold of. With my connections I managed to get 4 and took Susi and 2 Finnish friends, Viivi and Hanna. The dinner was great with buffets of Spanish, Mexican, Japanese and Italian food, not to mention the chocolate buffet and the drinks, champagne most of the night. The funniest bit was when a Greek chap, based in Teheran told me I was beautiful – in front of my daughter!! Having just celebrated my 50th birthday that came as quite a compliment.

As the night went along I bumped into many familiar faces which was such a pleasure. It was great to see you Pepe Comas, Pedro Molpeceres, Roberto Sanz, Miquel Teixidor, Luis Ríos, Tia Matthews, Michael Wittenberg, Emilio Brambilla (el chavalín), Patricio Valenzuela, Cristina Miranda, José Luis Pérez from Siemens and a friend from my Motorola days, Stephen Green from Satama, Ikka from the Ngage tour, …..I also met a host of great new people including a Dane dressed like a Mexican whose name I think was Johan. He was such fun.

From there a big group of us went to Luz de Gas for after party drinks. Luz de Gas is the place I always end up at in Barcelona. And there we danced the night through (yes I did Anne!) and drank lovely Mojitos. The night ended after 4 o’clock when Susi and I went exhausted to bed. The next day was the end of the fair which was actually a good thing as I had been on the go since the 8th February and my body needed a rest.

From Barcelona Susi went on to Alicante from where she was flying to Bristol with Merce and from Bristol they were hiring a car to drive to Falmouth. The poor kids ended up at Oli’s place at 4 in the morning. Well, they are young and can take it.

And I came home on Friday to home sweet home and in need of a good rest in order to build up energy again for work next week.

Cheers till next week.

My 50th birthday, otherwise known as the Indian Wedding

The belly dancer

Eladio and I at the Arab restaurant

Amanda and I in the kitchen when they arrived.


The food

Me and the magician Nelo

Walking in Boadilla on Sunday morning

Amanda and me at the tapas bar "El Bierzo" in Boadilla

The younger generation at the Txitxarrería where Andy and Amanda took us for dinner on the last night.

And the older generation at the same dinner.

Susi and Oli, my beautiful girls at La Txitxarreria.
Hi again

It was actually on the 8th February and I haven’t updated my blog since the 7th as I haven’t had a quiet moment to myself since then.

The 8th was the family celebration with a lunch at home and a Mallorca bought birthday cake. It was just the 5 of us, Eladio, Susi and Oli, my Father and me. They had bought me a hilarious singing birthday card with a lady showing her legs! I got some lovely presents from all the family.

In the evening Eladio and I went to the Medina Mayrit Arab Baths (http://www.medinamayrit.com/template.php?l=en&m=2&s=1) for a Turkish bath, massage, dinner and show – belly dancer. It was certainly an experience and a place I had wanted to go to for a long time.

On Friday my dear friends Andy and Amanda came to join us for the celebrations. They hadn’t seen our new house so that was something new for them. We spent the afternoon catching up on our news and then took them to dinner to our favourite place, La Alpargatería.

Saturday was a full day of preparations, cooking and getting ready for the party. My catch phrase all day long, was “there are 45 people coming, so do you think this is enough?”. Eladio took Andy and Amanda out in the morning to buy Andy a Spanish classical guitar and they came back with a beauty of an instrument.

People arrived from 21h onwards and we welcomed them all warmly. We ate and drank to our heart’s content and dear Copi (Susi’s bosom friend) was making Mojitos in the kitchen – yummy. We had a mixture of people, family and friends from my Motorola and Nokia times as well as the girls’ boyfriends and closest friends. We were quite a multicultural lot and my Father had a great time talking to the Finns, my friend Gustavo of Canadian origin and Monica’s husband who is German. So did Amanda I think. I got lots of great presents – thanks everyone – the most original of all being an original copy of the Times printed the day I was born, from Susana and Gustavo. Amazing!

The evening ended with a magician’s show which actually lasted nearly an hour and a half but had us mesmerized b y the most incredible tricks Nelo (that was his name) made.

When nearly everyone left, Andy, Amanda, Eladio, the kids, the boyfriends, Copi and Carolina sat around eating up the birthday cake and having a final drink. It was then that I got out my old school reports and started reading out some of the comments which were hilarious. You might not know but Amanda and I were at school together (St. Joseph’s College, a convent school in Bradford). There were some priceless remarks like: “she rarely swims”, “lacks PE equipment”, “would do better if she concentrated” and some even worse! It’s actually quite surprising to think that out of my whole class, I probably did better professionally than most in the end but I must admit, I was an awful school pupil!

Sunday was a quiet day when we took 3 walks to work off the food and alcohol of Saturday but then the walks were actually made so we could get in some tapas at Boadilla in the morning and go out to dinner to La Txitxarreria in Pozuelo in the evening.

It was great having Olivia, Andy and Amanda over for my birthday which was one of the best, despite it being my 50th.

On Monday we all woke up early because Andy, Amanda and Oli were returning to the UK and Susi and I were off to Barcelona. You can read all about our trip to Barcelona in my next post.

Cheers
Masha

Birthday Surprise

Hiya again midweek,

I just had to update my blog today to tell you all my darling daughter Olivia came back from England for my 50th birthday. It was a huge surprise instigated by Susana and the conspirators were Oli’s boyfriend Jose Luis, Eladio and my Father.

I had suspected slightly that she might come back but quickly put it out of my head when there were no signs. And then, lo and behold, in the middle of a pretty domestic scene at home last night, in she walked, completely unannounced into our bedroom.

I sort of cried out with joy and hugged her and hugged her. It was so good to see her and now the birthday party and celebrations will be complete with her here too.

Darling, it was a wonderful surprise and thanks for the effort because I do know that coming here for just a few days means a 7 hour train journey from Falmouth to Gatwick and another 7 hours going back next Monday, not to mention the plane, etc. But, great, so great to have you here for all the celebrations and there will be many because my birthday this year is going to be a bit like an Indian wedding, lasting quite a few days. Did you expect anything less from me?

More news on Sunday.

Love to you all
Masha

New bedclothes, lunch with friends, an hour long massage, Black Book and an anti terrorist demonstration in Madrid

Hello again

The title above is actually a pot pourri of what I have been up to this week, believe it or not. And now on to what actually happened:

I hesitated on including news about our new bedroom fabrics but actually the news is big, very big because Eladio and I haven’t changed them since nearly 20 years ago when we moved into our previous house in Parque Boadilla. And the picture to illustrate this post is the bed with its new finery – whether you like the fabric or not is immaterial because we were very practical here and chose it to match the curtains the previous owners had left behind. Thanks Anne for your help in finally getting us to make the change and here is the result.

I managed to slip in some lunches with friends and ex colleagues this week; so Monday I met up with Jorge López who now heads up an English owned PR Agency in Madrid, Lewis. He doesn’t work for me now but he has done in the past and we have great fun exchanging information and keeping up to date in the PR world. He took me to the Centro Riojano in Madrid and I did the terrible thing of ordering white wine (well I was having fish) and I’m afraid Rioja white is not the thing to ask for. Of course, we then changed to red and that was quite ok considering where we were. http://www.centroriojano.com/ It’s definitely a good place to eat in Madrid.

Wednesday was lunch with Mónica, Paloma and Cristina at Ginos – one of our favourites. They were all doing fine and in any case I will be seeing them again as they will be coming to my birthday party next week.

I mustn’t forget to mention that it was Alicia’s birthday this week and she was sweet 15 on Friday. Alicia is my goddaughter and is the daughter of Eladio’s youngest brother, Isidro and his beautiful wife, Yoli.

Midweek and after work I had a little experience of how the rich live as I went to have a massage at the Caroli Health Club near where I work in La Moraleja. I have to point out that I only went as I had been given a free voucher by Nokia at their New Year press party. And how was the massage you may ask? Great, relaxing, sheer luxury which lasted a whole hour. They tried to get me interested in all sorts of treatments afterwards but I said I would ring later but of course I never will. So I walked out and will never go again. It’s the sort of place I’m sure Victoria Beckham frequented when she lived here. Lovely, lovely.
http://www.carolihealthclub.com/

On Friday night Eladio and I went to see the latest Paul Verhoevn film called Black Book which is described as a tough yet strangely sexualised Second World War epic set in the Netherlands and made by that master of leering eroticism Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Showgirls). The leading actress is Carice van Houten, a native of Amsterdam who plays a Jewish hideaway during the second world war who ends up working for the Dutch resistance. Highly highly recommendable. Afterwards we went to dinner but this week we changed and went to La Vaca Argentina instead of La Alpargatería.

And in León yesterday Eladio’s sister Adela was operated for goitre (I think it’s called that) and had 2 big tumours removed – so a pretty long and nasty operation which took at least 3 hours. On the bright side of things the tumours are not expected to be malignant thank God. We wish her a quick and painless recovery.

On Saturday afternoon I accompanied Eladio to Madrid to a demonstration against ETA or negotiating with ETA. I am never a one for demonstrations but Eladio wanted to go so much and I didn’t want to let him go on his own. So we went and unfortunately it was very politicised against the present government. The experience was pretty interesting but the worst thing that happened is that we got trapped in one street and could not move forwards or backwards until it was over – so there I was in the cold trapped by hundreds of human bodies getting crosser and crosser until it was finally over and we could move away. Quite a few people couldn’t take it and we witnessed at least 4 people fainting and the ambulance personnel having to make their way through the dense crowd to get to them. Afterwards we walked all the way to Eladio’s brother’s flat for dinner – it took us well over an hour as it was impossible to get a taxi. My feet were killing after the experience which I know now will never be repeated again.

And next week at this time I will be reporting on my 50th birthday party which is taking place on Saturday. Andy and Amanda are coming for that and I cannot wait to see them.

Till then my friends

All the best
Masha

PR lunches, the company of the leader of the opposition, getting interviewed by Metro, it snowed, went to see Babel, lunch at Benito and Loli's

Susi rushing out into the garden for a photo when it was snowing

Me posing on the sofa with the new cushions and lamp
Hi again.

Well another week went past and it’s now the end of January. It has been a busy week work wise again but I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of socialising, specially at lunchtimes.

On Monday I had lunch with Ketty Rico, the chief editor of Mia which is Spain’s equivalent to Woman’s Own. We met at Bice, which is the where we met for the first time a few years ago. We had illustrious company at the table next to us, in the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy and one of his right hand men, Angel Acebes. They were both a lot thinner than you see them on the television and their conversation was very mundane and quite domestic – they spent most of the time talking about their kids!

Tuesday I was invited to lunch by the chief editor of a telecoms magazine and I was most surprised to be taken to the restaurant where Eladio and I celebrated our registrary wedding over 20 years ago and which I hadn’t visited since then – Chiquito Riz. It’s a classic Madrid restaurant which specialises in fish.

One of the week’s highlights was when I was interviewed by a newspaper called Metro –one of the free newspapers. The agreement was that as it was for a page on professional people they would interview me about my career but then it turned out all the questions were about work!! They took ages getting the right photo and I think I know why as I just wasn’t feeling like I looked particularly good.

It has been getting colder and colder this week and finally yesterday, Friday, it snowed. In some parts of Spain it has been really heavy snow and temperatures in the mountains as low as –15ºC (what a difference to the +20ºC in Barcelona last week!) but here we just got snowflakes which didn’t settle.

And last night Eladio and I went on our weekly visit to the cinema, this time to see Babel, one of the films nominated for the best foreign film. And it was one of the best I have seen for a long time and I actually came out crying. The film is set in 4 locations which could not be more different, rural Morocco, San Diego in the US, Tijuana in Mexico and finally in Tokyo. The contrasts are very acute but the story in each location is interrelated. I won’t say any more for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, except that I highly recommend it. Then we had dinner at Gino’s and a bit too much lambrusco which gave me a headache last night. I never learn ……

This morning we went to Ikea to get some more bits and bobs for the house, including some cushions for a lovely wicker sofa we have bought for the girls’ landing, plus a lamp to go with them. Of course, the first “person” to sit on them was our dear cat Henry.

For lunch today we were all separate as Eladio and I were invited to our friends, Loli and Benito’s. Loli put on a splendid table, full of delicacies such as octopus, prawns and Spanish cured ham amongst other things.

And that just but about sums up this last week’s activities worth mentioning as everything else was routine or too domestic to tell.

Cheers until next time
Masha

A change is as good as a rest – visit to Barcelona and other things

The flower arrangement in the lobby of the Arts Hotel

Birgitta and I at Neichel
Hi again

This week was full of activity – the worst thing being that my new Toshiba laptop crashed and died on Monday night – that made work rather difficult but in one day I was connected to internet again, thank God. I do realise what an addict I am or rather how work dependent we are on email. I also made time for my social life, of course. I had lunch with Jill on Tuesday – she was looking great. I celebrated Fati’s birthday with Julio and Fátima at Tony Romas on Friday where I gave her a present she already had – that shows we really are Pin and Pon as we have the same taste. On Saturday I went with Eladio to the “flicks” as we used to call the cinema when I was a teenager, to see Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. It was very beautiful, all the décor, Versailles and the amazing costumes and hair dos but I was disappointed that the whole of the film was set only at the palace so we got to see nothing about the French revolution and not even their decapitation. And of course we went for dinner to La Alpargatería afterwards and sat at out usual table. It’s a bit dangerous how set in our ways we are, really. Oli always tells me that and I suppose she is right.

But midweek I went to Barcelona with Andrea from our agency to meet up with Birgitta from head office to suss out places for an event in February. I hadn’t travelled for quite a time, so really needed to get away from my desk (or rather desks as I also work at home). So as I hardly travel any more, I was determined to get the most out of this trip and get a real mental break. The weather helped of course, so even if it was January, the temperature at midday was near 20ºC and frankly my coat remained on my arm throughout. We saw many places, old and new, ones I knew and ones I didn’t and finally we made our choice, the Hotel Arts Veranda Café www.hotelartsbarcelona.com. Every time I go to Barcelona to look for a place, I end up choosing it as it is such an amazing place. Dinner was at the Neichel restaurant, a recommendation from my dear friend Julio who has the best taste of all the people I know. And it is actually a Barcelona must, as is the restaurant Gavina at the Barceloneta. And, yes, I now am as I said to a friend who asked me how my trip to Barcelona was, “a kilo or two heavier” but mentally somewhat refreshed.

And that was my week my friends. How was yours? I must have quick peep at my friends’ blogs so I hope they have updated them too.

Cheers till next week/Masha
Pictures (when blogger lets me upload them) are of the flower arrangement in the lobby of the Hotel Arts and of Birgitta and me at the Neichel restaurant in Barcelona.

Back to full speed

Hi again

Monday was back to serious work; although I hadn’t taken any time off at Christmas, I must admit the cruising speed was slower. So it was back with a bang and with lots of activity, as well as planning.

On Tuesday I was invited to the Nokia press party which was one of the highlights of the week. Needless to say I knew everyone there and saw quite a few faces I hadn’t seen for a while. It was held at Arola Madrid belonging to the “famous” Spanish chef, Sergi Arola and which is adjacent to the Reina Sofia Museum.

Wednesday was lunch with Mamen who I hadn’t seen for more than a year. I consider Mamen my “coach” of a kind. She is always so positive to me and after a session with her, my self esteem gets a real boosting. Thanks Mamen for loving me so much.

Thursday was the experience of the year probably as my boss was invited to run a local newspaper for one day. I went along as his “chief editor”. This has only ever happened in the UK (typical stunt for the UK) where Giorgio Armani ran the Independent for one day. It was a whole lot of fun but incredibly stressful as time is forever against you. We started at 14.30 and the newspaper had to be ready for printing by 21.30h. I was amazed to find out how at home I felt in that atmosphere. We also went along to the printing house to see how it was printed and take the first copy of the newspaper as it came off the press.

Not much more to report. Oh, yes, Beckham will be leaving Real Madrid for LA and the huge demonstrations for peace which took place yesterday in Madrid and in Bilbao after the ETA bomb at the car park in Barajas on 30th December. Football and bombs, that’s what Spanish news is nearly always about!

Just got a text message from my “supposed” friend Anne sunning herself in Bali at some 5 star resort, saying it’s just the sort of place I would love. Well, of course, it is, except that I’m not there but here at home, just out of pyjamas on a Sunday morning and with the organisation of the family lunch in my head as I update my blog. Thanks darling Anne , you are so diplomatic!!

Anne’s message has made me remember I haven’t travelled for one hell of a long time, the last place being Stockholm at the beginning of October and meanwhile she will have travelled the globe twice over. My only compensation will be Barcelona next week; off to suss out good locations for an event in February.

Ah, yes and the other thing I have had on my mind this week is the organisation of my next month’s 50th birthday party. Yes my friends, me, Masha, your Mother, your friend, will be turning 50 in February. That is half a century and as someone said to me the other day, that’s when you suddenly realise you are nearer to 70 than to 30. Ouch!!!!

Till next week, have a good week

Masha
PS no photos to illustrate the post this week, so Olivia told me to take one of me writing my blog. And here it is, above. I look very Sunday morningish, no make-up; i.e. the real nearly 50 year old me!!!

Oli - Leaving on a jet plane

Sweet Olivia ready to go
Hi again

Here I am catching up with my blog again midweek.

Dinner at Julio`s on Sunday was Olivia’s last night in Spain before going back to England to continue her Erasmus University Exchange Programme in Cornwall.

She had been with us for a month but time has flown past and on Monday it was time for her to go back. We shall miss her, of course, but she will be back again for Easter in the middle of March which is not so far away really.

This is a picture of her ready for her trip which turned out to be full of incidents. She nearly missed the plane leaving Barajas which was, in any case, delayed. Thus she missed her train from Gatwick and had to catch a later one which left her at a station too far away to get to Falmouth. Luckily 2 of her flatmates were able to pick her up in their car. Falmouth is a 7 or 8 hour train journey from London with 2 or 3 stops and is out in the sticks, literally.

Susi will be going to see her in February and we, hopefully, will too in May. I have never visited Cornwall which is one of the most beautiful parts of England and I am looking forward to it a lot. It is very much Daphne du Maurier land, the author of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, both set in Cornwall of course.

Bye for now
Masha.

Dinner at Julio’s, something of a tradition

Round the table at Julio's house

Fátima and I
Hi again midweek

The last Christmas celebration this year was Julio’s dinner where my whole family, plus Fátima, descended on his bachelor flat for a great evening on Sunday 7th January.

This year was no change. The food was great as usual – all typical Spanish tapas easily obtainable from the Mallorca delicatessen, plus his Mother’s home made chorizo and stuffed peppers. This was washed down by a magnum bottle of Muga. Then we pulled the crackers which were my contribution and tried to translate the silly English jokes inside. Then after a good drinking game it was time for exchanging presents. There were not many surprises as we always tell each other what we want! In fact Fátima bought her present and Julio his and they did a swap at the beginning of the evening.

The highlight of the evening was when Fátima arrived wearing exactly the same jacket as me – a pink velvet one. And above you have a picture of us both dressed the same. Oh, well, no wonder we are called Pin y Pon by our friends here!!

Thanks Julito for a great evening.

Cheers
Masha

The Three Kings, our three “roscones” and the last but one day of Christmas

The dining room table laid for the Three Kings' lunch

Olivia smiling at her Mother after lunch

Sarita guapa looking realy guapa with the paper hat from her cracker. She will be going back to China on 15th January.

Hi

Well today is the last official day of Christmas and it is the Three Kings’ Day which is much celebrated in Spain and is the day when most Spaniards exchange gifts. However Father Christmas has become more and more important in the last 10 or 15 years and so some people exchange gifts now on the 24th but the for the most traditional Spaniards, today, the 6th of January is as important as ever.

In this household we celebrate everything there is to celebrate, so today we had the traditional “Roscón de Reyes” for breakfast. The roscón is a sweet brioche like cake shaped in a circle and decorated with crystallised fruit. It always hides a surprise which is usually the figure of a King. Tradition has it that whoever finds it pays for the roscón - well Olivia found 2, so ... Actually this year we have ended up with 3 roscones; one Eladio and my Father bought with chocolate in the middle, one I bought yesterday at a favourite pastry shop and on top of that we got given one by José Antonio and Sara who came for lunch today. It’s quite obvious we are going to get sick and tired of it very soon.

Most of our presents come on the 25th, but some always find their way under our tree on the 6th in the morning , so the girls and Eladio had a little something to open this morning. My little something came yesterday from Eladio when we went to exchange the camera he had bought me for Christmas for a higher end version – you will notice the difference in the quality of the pics in this Blog from now on, I hope. Thanks darling for your generosity.

Lunch, was the last festive lunch of the Christmas Season and Susi and I went all out to lay a beautiful table with lovely food. Being very unoriginal, I prepared a typical English Christmas lunch, roast turkey with all the trimmings. Just look how beautiful the dining room table looked. We used my great-grandmother’s blue china dinner service which we realised later could not go in the dishwasher!!

Well I say today is the last official day of Christmas but actually this year there will be one more Christmas celebration and that will be the annual dinner tomorrow night at Julio’s house when this whole family – and we are 6 including Oli’s boyfriend, José Luis – and Fátima descend on his bachelor flat in downtown Madrid for the best party of the season. There we will pull the last crackers and exchange the last of this year’s presents.

And that then really will be the end of Christmas.

Greetings to you all my friends and, once again, here’s to a superb new year for us all.

Masha