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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers/Masha

It’s autumn again, the 10th anniversary of my Mother’s passing away, her recipe for Golubtzi, tea, the Spanish Olympic dream is over, and life goes on

The Spanish olympic dream is over.
Hi again

I’ve been a bit lazy with my blog recently. Today is Sunday and it’s time I got back to the good habit of writing my posts at the weekend. Since I wrote last, autumn came and amazingly the good Spanish weather has held. So here I am sitting at the table outside the kitchen with Eladio who is reading this Sunday’s El País. He is probably reading about the earthquake in Sumatra where thousands are feared killed, or about the corruption in Formula 1 (by the way the Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso has just signed with the Ferrari team – maybe that will help him be a winner again) or most probably about the continued financial crisis and the Spanish premiere, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s questioned handling of it. Just last week he announced measures such as increasing VAT from 16 to 18% which are proving very unpopular.

He will have read last week about Zapatero’s daughters as the news has now died down. So what happened to his daughters you might ask? It’s very simple, they are called Laura and Alba and are 13 and 16 approximately but hardly anyone knows anything about them as their image is guarded strictly by their parents and there is a tacit agreement with the Spanish press not to publish their photos. A huge hullabaloo was caused when Zapatero and his wife went to the G20 summit in Pittsburgh recently and a photo was published of them with Obama and his wife and the 2 now famous daughters. The photo was published on the White House’s website and when Zapatero asked for it to be removed, it was too late as it had been on the front pages of newspapers in Spain. Zapatero had been hoping that his presence at the G20 would bring him good results but all it brought was talk about the photo. I would certainly not have liked to be his PR advisor last week. The photo was subjected to huge debate but mostly because of the physical appearance of his daughters. They seem very plain and their dress code was unacceptable for the occasion. They seem to follow the Otaku fashion and are great fans of Manga. And here is the famous photo:
The famous photo.
My girls are away. Oli, of course, will be at her flat in Madrid although she was with us yesterday and enjoyed a day by the pool. Suzy has gone to Santa Pola with Gaby and his brothers as they were going to a christening in Murcia last night.

So just the “oldies” are here which is becoming a bit of a norm and is a natural process of our life. The person missing, of course, is my Mother, born Princess Elena Lieven. Last week, 1st October, was the 10th anniversary of her passing away.
Mummy in the porch at 6 Heaton Grove, our family home, in 1975.
She was just 79 and died, unfortunately of that disease she so dreaded, cancer. She would have loved to see the girls grow from fun loving awkward teenagers to the beautiful young women they are today. She would have loved to grow old with my Father, possibly here at our amazing new house. She would have loved to know about internet and email. She would have loved our dog Norah and our cats Joe and Phoebe. She would have loved to read the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larrson that I am so enjoying now and, of course, she would have loved to cook with me and the girls, dishes like pelmeni, borsch, perushki or golubtzi, the dishes she taught me to make as a child.

And in honour of her, but also because Oli was coming for lunch yesterday, I decided to make golubtzi. I posted the fact on Facebook and was asked for the recipe. And here is my Mother’s recipe for anyone interested.
Golubtzi, Russian stuffed cabbage rolls.
Ingredients: 1kg minced meat (I use beef), one chopped onion, 2 small bags of long grained rice, one cabbage, tomato sauce and a dash of milk plus smetana sauce (one natural yoghurt to be mixed with a bit of single cream, salt and lemon juice). Fry the meat and onion, cook the rice separately, add salt and pepper and mix together. Core the cabbage and separate the leaves carefully and parboil them until pliable. Be sure to remove the larger veins so they roll easier. Then on each parboiled cabbage leaf, place a spoonful of the meat mixture and roll into little packets like this.

Place all the rolls into an oven proof dish. Pour some of the water from the boiled cabbage over all the rolls. Finally heat up some tomato sauce (bought if you want), add a splash of milk to get a salmon colour and pour over the rolls again. Place in a hot oven. When the dish begins to cook and turn brown, cover with silver foil. Leave in the oven for just under an hour. Serve with Smetana (in a separate bowl). One spoonful per portion should be enough.

Food is always mentioned in my blog in one way or other. We have been out to dinner with Pedro and Ludy to Quënco, the place where we celebrated our wedding, I took the girls to Iroco, a lovely modern restaurant in Madrid last week but the main news here is, that despite that, I have managed to lose 4 kilos since I started my diet one month ago. That has not been easy but I have been very constant. Breakfast is a cup of coffee, a small glass of fresh orange juice and a skimmed yoghurt. I am careful at lunch and for dinner I have a bowl of Special K or Bran Flakes. In between I sometimes have an apple and nearly always a cup of tea in the afternoon.

Tea gets a special mention in this week’s blog. Ever since my Father came to live with us 4 years ago I started to have a cup every afternoon but soon realised that it had to be decaf tea if I was going to be able to sleep properly. Thus I consume 365 bags per year of decaf tea and unfortunately last month I completely ran out. I can only get it at an English supermarket in Santa Pola and they had run out too. So I resorted to my friend Gerardo when he went to London recently and asked my friend Amanda to buy me some and give it to him to bring me back. And the tea trading mission was completed when on Friday I finally set my hands on the 4 packets of 80 Typhoo decaf tea bags dearest Amanda had acquired for me and Gerardo had brought me back. And here they are:

And from tea we move to the Olympic dream. If you are not from Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid or Rio de Janeiro you have probably not been following this week’s election of one of these candidate cities to host the 2016 Olympic world games. This was held with great rigmarole at the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen. It was Madrid’s second attempt after being beaten by London the last time round. This time I watched and read with greater interest as it seemed there was a big chance for Madrid, although we all now know that Rio won.
President Lula talking after being awarded with organising the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
What amazed me most was the hulabaloo created around the election. So much effort was put in by each city, with people like Obama and the King of Spain flying in or talking on behalf of their cities, there were huge parties organised in all 4 cities, each city had to make a final presentation (as if the members of the Olympic Committee hadn’t already examined them and the city over and over again) with country premieres, like Zapatero having to answer silly questions from Prince Albert of Monaco. None of this was at all necessary and rather unfair for the 3 cities which were not going to be awarded with hosting the games. The deception caused to the people of Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid, as well as the money invested, could have been avoided by a much fairer system and way of voting. The members of the Olympic Committee have far too much power.
The expense of futile parties such as this, just to demonstrate to the Olympic Committee local support, really makes my blood boil.
In the end Rio won, probably because the games have never been held in South America. Madrid won the first round but probably lost after that because there is an unwritten rule that the games cannot be held consecutively in the same continent. I frankly think it would be much easier and fairer all round if cities didn’t have to compete in this way and spend so much time and effort on something so difficult to win. If, as they say, the vote for Rio was “guided”, it would probably be better in the end if the Olympic Committee chose the city each time and did away with this circus way of deciding the fate of a city.

So yes, the Spanish Olympic dream is over. I am not sure it would be wise to try again. Maybe Madrid should just focus on the World Cup. But then again, I wonder whether the FIFA create the same sort of circus as the Olympic Games committee. It remains to be seen.

And yes life goes on for Madrid and for me, of course. I have been enjoying reading Stieg Larsson and finally on Friday the 3rd book in his trilogy Millennium, The girl who kicked the hornets’ nest, arrived and I can enjoy my time with Lis Salander, “the most original heroine to emerge in crime fiction for many years”, to quote the front cover. I will be reading it slowly to savour every page as this is the last and I want to enjoy it.

And that’s it for this week. Next week will bring all sorts of things, I know. And on Friday we will be going to Montrondo for another family gathering. But more about that in my next post.

Cheers till then.
Masha

A sporting nation, La Parra revisited, Eladio’s birthday and playing with fire.

The four of us in the patio of the hotel in La Parra, from left to right: Eladio, me, Maricarmen and Roberto
Hi again
In this new post congratulations go to Spain for once again demonstrating it’s a real sporting nation. In just one week, it was top in tennis, cycling and basketball. The Spanish team beat the Israeli’s in the semi finals of the Davis Cup and will now meet the Czech Republic in the finals in December. And they did it without Spain’s number one, Rafa Nadal who, although injured, is still number two in the world seedings.
The Spanish Davis cup team, happy after getting through to the finals.
In the same week, the Spaniard, Alejandro Valverde, once again showed Spain’s fighting spirit by winning one of the toughest races on the circuit, the Tour of Spain. This means too that the 3 big races, the Tours of Italy, France and Spain have been a hat trick for Spain this year. Cycling is a sport close to my heart and it’s great to see how the sport is making a comeback after the unfortunate doping issues of the recent past.
Alejandro Valverde, this year's winner of the Tour of Spain.
The amazing week was completed by the Spanish national team winning the European Basketball championship. They beat the Greeks in the semi finals and thrashed the Serbs, the best nation at the sport in Europe, in the finals.

All I can say is well done Spain and I hope Madrid gets elected for the 2016 Olympic Games. It certainly deserves it. Madrid’s opponents are Chicago, Paris, Rio and Tokyo and the decision will be made next week in Copenhagen. Keep your fingers crossed, mine are.

And, now on to the next subject of this post’s heading. Last weekend we went with our travelling friends, Roberto and Maricarmen, to stay at the Hotel Hospedería La Parra in a small village of the same name. La Parra is a small whitewashed village in the province of Badajoz in Extremadura, We had been there before last Easter and loved the place.

Maricarmen outside the Hotel in La Parra, very austere but at the same time very alluring and peaceful. I love the decor of wood, white paint and stone.
As I wrote in the entry then “it is an old convent, turned hotel which was built in the 17th century. It is a refreshing white washed building with an orange tree patio in the centre of the cloisters. It supposedly maintains the spirit of a convent in that it is a haven of peace and a place to get away from it all” They stick to that claim and purposefully do not offer television or an internet connection. I didn’t mind as I had my Yoigo internet usb stick and there was no time for the tv. I’m not sure Roberto and Maricarmen were impressed as they are more town mice than we are.

We had a grand time, except for 3 unfortunate incidents. The morning after we arrived we found that some local hooligans had scratched the bonnet of our car and made a “drawing” of a face on it. This hotel definitely needs its own private car park as we had read in Trip Advisor that one guest’s car was stolen in the vicinity.
The "drawing" the hooligans from La Parra scratched on our car bonnet, one of the black points of our weekend.
The second was a fine of 60 euros for parking in the wrong spot in the nearby town of Zafra and the third was the strange disappearance of the little silver horse medallion that Eladio had bought for me in India at Christmas.

I had prepared a special programme where our time was dedicated to resting (that oh so lovely other Spanish sport called “the siesta”), reading, eating great meals at the hotel’s restaurant, walking (sorry Maricarmen for dragging you on a 2.5h walk in that rather dry and colourless countryside!), visiting interesting nearby villages and of course buying ham; the local speciality.
On the long walk in La Parra.
As you can see in the selection of photos I’ve posted on Facebook, we visited Zafra where we also had lunch at the Parador, Salvatierra de los Barros where we bought some lovely local pottery, as well as the pretty town of Jérez de los Caballeros. And on our way back we also visited Oropesa in the province of Toledo where we had tea at the Parador too.
Eladio enjoying his dish of oxtail at the Parador in Zafra.
The girls, meanwhile, enjoyed having the house to themselves and invited lots of friends round as they usually do when we are away. They also went to the Majadahonda fiestas, something they look forward to every year.

This week has been marked by Eladio’s birthday, Wednesday 23rd September. Can I dare write that he was 65? I can hardly believe it as for me he looks as young and as handsome as ever. He’s my George Clooney, my Sean Connery in that he never seems to age, yet I’m sure he’s a far better husband. Those of you who know him will agree with me, I know. We have now known each other since the summer of 1980, nearly 30 years. He was 35 and I was a girl aged 23 and I have never looked back.

This birthday, as with all our birthdays, was celebrated together as a family and Oli came specially to spend the morning with us. Of course there was a home-made cake (joint effort between Suzy and I), cards and nice presents.
Eladio with his girls on his birthday on Wednesday.
Here you can see the set of photos of the “cake moment” on Facebook. Notice how Norah tried to get a look in, hahaha.

I have now reached the third part of this post: “playing with fire”. Of course I refer to the book I am reading, “The girl who played with fire” which is the second in the trilogy called Millennium by Stieg Larsson. I couldn’t put the first one down, “The girl with the dragon tattoo” and now I am nearly finishing the second one. I have ordered the third, “The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest” but it won’t be for sale in English until the beginning of October. I wonder what I am going to do without my dosage of Lisbeth Salander for 3 weeks. She has me totally hooked. But then of course you know as you’re probably one of the millions who are hooked on the Stieg Larsson books like me. Seriously, the second novel is probably even better than the first; just “jaw dropping” as the front cover promises. I have about 40 pages to go to the end and am rationing the pleasure as I don’t want to finish reading it. I’m amazed at myself as the detective genre was never my favourite but this is different. I know my dear Mother who was a great Agatha Christie and John le Carré fan would have loved Lisbeth Salander too.
I am thoroughly enjoying the second episode of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson and wished he had never deceased.
I’m now at the end of this entry and am wondering whether to include the fact that I have a sebaceous cyst on my back. Well I have but I’m not worried. Right now I am doing all the tests necessary for its removal which I hope will be soon.

A much nicer thing to tell you is that tonight we will be going out to dinner with our friends Ludy and Pedro. Pedro is Pedro Delgado, the famous Spanish cyclist but then of course you probably know that. We will be going to Quënco, the restaurant we celebrated our wedding at 26 years ago. We have only been back once and that was in the summer with our dear friends Gerardo and Irene as you may have read here.

And that’s it for the moment folks. I leave you as I finish writing here by the swimming pool in the cooler sun of the end of September with Norah at my feet.

Till next time
Masha

A quiet week in September

Me, all ready to go to work one day this week.
Hi again

It’s time I got back to updating my blog at the weekend. So here I am this cooler Sunday afternoon on the 13th September sitting at the table by the pool. I am joined by my Father who is, naturally, reading, as is Eladio. Norah goes from of one us to the other hoping we will pay her some attention but we are all too absorbed. Suzy has just taken a break in her studies to come and have an apple and as I finish this sentence, she has gone. Tomorrow is her last exam for this year. If she passes the two she will have taken in September it means she will only have one subject left to pass. The exam for that will be in February, quite a way off.

After her exams, as you may have read from my entry this week, she will be going to India with Oli and Rocío, a school friend of Suzy’s. It’s all very exciting. Rocío has started a blog on their adventure, “3 girls in India” which I will be following avidly. So far the plans are to go on the 12th October and see Delhi, Agra, Varanasi, then go and stay with Oli’s friend Sumit, her Erasmus friend, in the Punjab and after that possibly visit some of the towns in Rajasthan like Johpur, Jaipur and Udaipur.

We are sitting just where the new outdoor 3 piece suite will be and which we madly bought in the sales last week at El Corte Inglés. Hopefully it will come on Tuesday. The summer is nearly over we know but it still gives us a kick to have finally found something. You can see it here; not the best in the world but perhaps the best priced for what it is.
The new furniture for the swimming pool porch
Eladio is reading his third book in English. Being an academic he was never a great reader of novels, but he has decided reading in English will help his knowledge of the language. I carefully choose the books for him and none are novels, they are all biographies or similar. The first one was the riveting Klara’s War, the story of a young Jewish girl who survived the holocaust in Poland. Last week he finished The Bookseller of Kabul and now he is reading Eva’s story, another Holocaust survival story. He has a notebook next to him to write down new words and I am, more often than not, his living dictionary.

I am impatiently waiting for the next 2 books in the Millennium trilogy but meanwhile went to see the film, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yesterday with Eladio. My expectations were low as usually films of books you read are disappointing. Not so this time. The film was excellent and the main character, Lizbeth Salander, played by the Swedo Spanish actress, Noomi Rapace was perfect for the role.
Lisbeth Salander played by Noomi Rapace, great characterisation.
So what else is there to report this week? It has seemed very quiet and thankfully the heat has remitted. We have even had a spot of rain. So, yes what else? I’m back to work at full speed and this week moved into a new office in Yoigo. My previous one was coming down so’s to build more open space for one of the departments. Nothing very remarkable except that two women from work, Angeles and Carmen moved every single item for me and also decorated it with great care. I had imagined entering an office with loads of boxes, but no, they had done all the work for me. I was flabbergasted and extremely grateful.

I was also in and out of the office this week as my pc had to be updated. Basically they were encrypting , removing Windows Vista and installing Windows XP. Nothing very extraordinary but it has taken quite a few days to get everything up and working as before. Thanks Alberto but had I known the pain, I would never have entrusted my pc to you!

Talking about PCs, all the employees in Yoigo have been given one from an excess stock at point of sale and I picked mine up this week. I was going to buy Eladio one for his upcoming birthday (yes he will be 65 on 23rd October and still looking like a boy) but now he has this one. You should see our kitchen table, it has 3 portable pcs on it, mine, Suzy’s and Eladio’s now.

This week I had lunch with María, our Terminal Director (the person in charge of purchasing the phones we sell). I don’t have many friends at work as I don’t go in often enough to build up many personal relationships, but María and I make a point of having lunch on a regular basis. We went to Aspen again in La Moraleja. They do a great home-made hamburger which we had with spinach.

So I didn’t tell you I started a diet again did I? Well, I hardly dare as it’s nothing new in my life. I started on Friday 4th September as I finally dared to weigh myself. Of course the figure is a state secret but it is shameful. Since I started at Yoigo (3 years on 1st October) I must have put on 10 kgs and I wasn’t exactly slim at the time. This time I hope the diet really works out. So far I am happy to say that I have lost 2kg. Cross your fingers please for it to continue that way.

The diet doesn’t stop me going out for meals or making nice ones at home; I’m just careful that’s all. So on Friday we went out to dinner with Roberto and Maricarmen to De Brasa y puchero in Boadilla. Next week we will be going with them to stay at the lovely ex convent hotel, La Hospedería La Parra, in Extremadura. We stayed there with my Father at Easter and adored the place. We are much looking forward to enjoying the installations, going for walks and buying another great ham.
The patio at La Parra

Oli came on Saturday for lunch, so the five of us were together for the first time in a while. She has news in that they have renewed her contract at work (www.rtve.es) but she has also been given a new job. Up till now she has been a news writer for the news section of the website which was a great but rather stressful job because of the constant deadlines. Now they want her to work in the programmes’ section of the site which will be a new world but I think a challenge too. I wish her all the luck in the world. Well, of course, I do, I’m her Mother.

And that’s about if for this week except to say happy birthday to my dearest and oldest friend Amanda. I know, as we have been chatting on Facebook, that she’s having a great day. Cheers my friend, any news of your moving to Spain???

But I can’t end without at least mentioning that this week was the anniversary of the 11th September attacks. It will never go unremembered, at least not in my lifetime. I remember exactly what I was doing the moment I found out what was happening and got to a TV set. Who could forget?
Who could forget this?
On that sombre note, I leave you till next week.

Cheers till then
Masha

The girls are going to India

Hi

Just a few lines to publish the link to the girls' blog on their trip to India. Rocío, Suzy and Oli will be going on 12th October and returning on the 29th of the same month. Right now they are planning the trip.

Here is their blog

Follow it, I'm sure their trip is going to be great.

Cheers till later
Masha

Santander and post Santander, Norah's first social outing and other news

The wonderful Sardinero beach as seen from our hotel room
Hi again,

It’s true, I haven’t written for some time. Mostly that’s because I’ve been busy in Santander with Yoigo’s participation in the annual telecoms conference but also because this weekend I’ve been engrossed in “The girl with the dragon tattoo” by the now arch famous and recently deceased Stieg Larsson or “Men who hate Women” as it is called in the original Swedish version. If you haven’t read it yet, you are one of the very few and I urge you to get going. I have now ordered the next 2 books from the trilogy, more commonly known as “Millenium”. When they arrive I already know I will say good bye to my friends, my family, my work and, of course, my blog for a week at least.

Meanwhile I must update my blog with my stay in Santander and what has happened since we got back. I say we, because, of course, Eladio went with me, as he does wherever I go. I can hardly imagine life without him. This year was my third with Yoigo but actually I have been going since 2000 with the odd exception.

I had a big party to put on for 200 people and an amazingly new and risky presentation at the conferences. Yoigo is different and so is its way of communicating. I have spent the better part of the last 2 months preparing for it and Santander was actually a dark cloud on my horizon that stopped me feeling completely free during my long holiday. What we did was an interactive video where we even gave out popcorn and t-shirts with the main message of our presentation, “Refarming now”.
Pop corn was certainly a first at the Santander telecoms conference.
We actually managed to wake up the “men in black” in the audience who even clapped. This was certainly a team effort and a lot of the credit goes to my PR agency, Ketchum and the fantastic production agency, Goodnews. Thanks guys, you know who you are.
The Ketchum, Goodnews and Yoigo team at Santander showing the t-shirts we gave out.
Needless to say the sailor theme party went really well too, thanks, once again, to my events team at Quinta Esencia. They went all out as usual and everyone had fun. People were kitted out with sailor hats and tattoos at the entrance, there was a tug of war, a punch ball machine which was forever in action, messages in bottles to be fished out of a pool, photos that could be taken with your friends in the Yoigo boat with a live parrot, arm wrestling with a strong man and strong women and of course lots to drink, all accompanied by a great DJ. The party went on till the early hours but I escaped, hopefully unnoticed, as I had to be up early and fresh and ready for our spectacular presentation the next morning.
The Yoigo sailor part was just great
Some of the journalists at our party, with me in the Yoigo boat.
I have been organising parties in the telecoms sector for nearly 20 years and have come to the conclusion that although they are great and my trade mark, I don’t actually enjoy them myself. Frankly I prefer smaller groups of people and would far rather be invited myself. I promise I would never criticise anything either!

Santander wasn’t all work though as one of my mottos is “all work and no play make Masha a dull girl”. So I combined both which is what I always try to do. Besides I love Santander, so going there just for work would have been a crime. Eladio and I, then, drove up the Saturday before and were joined by Andy and Amanda for their last weekend in Spain. They have had such a great time in Salamanca on their Spanish course they are seriously thinking of coming to live in Spain and most probably in El Bosque. That was a lovely piece of news.

We stayed where we always stay at the Silken Río Hotel just across the road from one of Spain’s best beaches, El Sardinero. That area is apparently Spain’s golden mile in expensive property so any plans of retiring there have now gone out of the window.
El Sardinero, as seen from our hotel room, one of the most expensive areas for property in Spain.
We were lucky with the weather as that part of Spain is touch and go, and spent as much time as possible on the beach, sunbathing, trying to swim in the waves and of course walking the beach from end to end many times. Santander boasts some of Spain’s best cuisine and so we introduced Andy and Amanda to the delights on offer at the Río Restaurant next to our hotel and to Zacarías, perhaps the best in town.
The four of us at Zacarías.
In a similar league, some say better, is La Bombi and La Posada del Mar. I love them all. However this year, we Eladio and I fell in love with a new place, Deluz, a British type mansion of the 50s, just up the road from our hotel where it feels like dining in the past. A most romantic place I must say.
Deluz restaurant in Santander, a spectacular house.
Andy and Amanda were very impressed by the Zacarias’ tomatoes, his trademark and grown exclusively for his restaurant. They cost the same as the best fillet steak but are so good Andy asked for some for his dessert!!
Very special tomatoes can be found at Zacarías
My dear friend Julio joined us on Sunday. We used to work together at Nokia and I first came to Santander with him in 2000. Every year we go we have photo taken and this is this year’s
This year's photo of Julio and I.
Now that we don’t work together we have to find moments during our stay to see each other. He came to the party, of course but my true celebration was on the last day with Julio and Eladio at La Bombi just before we drove home, exhausted but happy.
Eladio and I at the Bombi on the last day in Santander
On our way home which is now only a 4 hour drive thanks to the recently completed motorway, we stopped at Rueda for a drink but mostly to fill up on the excellent white wine at el Palacio de Bornos.

The first few days at home after Santander were a bit of an anti climax which is nearly always the case after a big event. It was nice though to be home again. We came home to big news from the girls. They are going to India in October on holiday! I’m delighted for them but worried about how much we are supposed to fork out for this jolly. We went for the first time this last Christmas and it was a big effort financially. I am excited for them though too.

Last Friday was quite a social day. I met my friend Elena for a coffee in the morning. She needed some cheering up. Looking for a new job at this stage in life is not easy. The important thing is to remain positive and that I know she is. In the evening we went out to dinner with Oscar and Juana who have just come back from 5 years in Mexico where they also formed their family. It was good to see them in person after reading about their lives virtually in Juana’s blog.

Saturday was a big day as we went to Colmenarejo for the long awaited barbecue reunion with Pili, Gerardo and their families. Unfortunately the girls couldn’t go (Suzy is busily studying for some of her final exams and Oli had gone to Barcelona to see Cold Play perform). Norah, our dog, was invited too and turned out, as expected, to be the star attraction with all the children. Norah had a bath before the visit as you can see here.
Norah getting ready for her first social outing. She didn't protest at all.
It was her first social outing and I was worried about her behaviour in the car and at their place. But she behaved perfectly. She was played with constantly all afternoon and never complained and she was also given a huge plate of left overs which she is never allowed and which made it a perfect party day for her too.
Norah enjoyed her day at Colmenarejo as much as we did but was utterly exhausted by the end of the day.
It was lovely to see these guys again and so good that we have found each other again. A good day was had by all and you CAN witness this by the photos I have posted in Facebook.

Sunday was a true family day as we had the pleasure of Olivia’s company. She took an early train from Barcelona and was home just as we were having breakfast. I am still getting used to the idea that she has left home but as it happened in the summer and was a gradual process it still doesn’t really feel as though she has gone.

And that’s about it for this post. It is now Tuesday 8th September and this week is looking good. But more about that in my next post.

Cheers till then

Masha
PS here are all the photos from Santander