All Saint’s Bank Holiday

Hello again

It is Sunday today and here I am writing from my pc at home and the 4 day long bank holiday starting last Thursday is now nearly over; over but not quite. There is still time for putting on more washing machine loads (the 7th I think!), time for some reading, for our daily walk, for making a vegetable soup out of the left overs from lunch and for updating my blog of course.

This has been a nice quiet holiday at home with the family except that we hardly saw the girls as they had their own plans. Merce from Yecla had come to stay and their new found friend from the Scout days, Laura spent a lot of time with them too. For them it was Halloween and turning night into day most of the holiday. They would get up at lunch time and have breakfast and the day would go in the same way, lunch turning into dinner, etc. Their normal time of going to bed was between 4 and 5 a.m! But who can blame them? They are young and entitled to enjoying themselves this way.

Our plans were more mundane and most of the time was spent doing what we like best: watching dvds, reading, walking, making meals and spending time on the computer. We did, however, take time to go on an excursion with my Father on Saturday.

This time we went to Chinchón, a pretty medieval town on the outskirts of Madrid which funnily enough we had never been to. And where did we have lunch? Well, the Parador, of course! Going for lunches to Spanish Paradors is becoming something of a habit as well as a gastronomic cum cultural interest. The quality is always superb and the buildings are generally of monumental standard. The one in Chinchón was once a convent and as is usually the case, we had a very good meal.

Chinchón is famous for its main square (plaza mayor) with beautiful balconies all the way round. It is also famous for its Goya painting housed in the main church of the Assumtion and of the same name (Virgen de la Asunción) and which, unfortunately, we were not able to see as it was closed just as we arrived. One of Goya’s most famous paintings is of the Countess of Chincón but of course that is in the Prado.

As usual Eladio bought a walking stick and I bought a plate. We seem to have quite a collection now and are in the habit of buying these items on most of our trips.

Next week will take us to another Parador, the one in Cazorla (Jaen) but this time to sleep. Friday is another bank holiday and we will be going away for the weekend with our usual travelling companions, Roberto and Mari Carmen. Let’s just hope we get the same good weather we have been having for so long now.

Have a good week.

Cheers
Masha
PS here is the link to my album of photos in Facebook of our visit to Chinchón. Clink on the link or red cross to see them. If you cannot open it, cut and paste this link and put it into your browser: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20505&l=9a725&id=612236553 (all together without spaces)

The day we went a bit far with the bubble bath.

Hiya

I'm spending a lot of my free time today at the computer and putting more posts than usual on my blog but that's because I took some great shots yesterday with the girls. We had a superb day together yesterday. They were my hostesses at a press conference I organised in Madrid. On the way we stopped off at the Vicente Rico disguise and joke shop where we got some great stuff for their Halloween night out. In the afternoon we generally relaxed at home and here are two great pictures of Oli enjoying the jacuzzi. She had asked me to prepare it and I'm afraid I put too much bubble bath in. Doesn't she look sweet?
Cheers/Masha

Halloween Oct 07. Is this my daughter Susana?

Hi again midweek.

Today is All Saint's Day and we are at home with a full house as the girls invited Fergus, Merce and Laura out last night for Halloween. They will be staying for the bank holiday too.

The girls spent most of yesterday planning and preparing their Halloween evening out. Most of the effort went on designing their outfits; well their's plus Fergus'. They also had a little help from a great shop in Madrid called Vicente Rico where Oli bought her "seductive devil" disguise. Susi went as a "femme fatale" but actually looked more like a call girl as you will agree from the pictures. Laura used one of the great wigs I got last Christmas at the Plaza Mayor and went as a strict schoolmistress. Fergus was dressed as a spooky doctor and I know Merce was lent one of the other wigs but never got to see how she was dressed as the girls were picking her up last night at midnight off the train from Murcia.

Here below, if you click on the link (or red cross if that's what appears on your screen) you can see the photos I posted in Facebook. However I couldn't resist illustrating this post with the best shot of the lot, Susi in the blonde wig and all made up. Is this really my daughter??

Cheers for now/Masha

A lot of lunches, celebration and shopping, Mencía is born, 13 Roses and a day trip to Segovia.

Eladio by the Palace of Riofrío in Segovia
Hi again

As you can see from the title, this last week has been full of activity again. Do I ever stop you probably wonder? Well, I think I don’t and that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to plus juggle work and play which is what I do most days.

So this week brought lunch with Miguel Angel Muñoz, a journalist friend who I have known since my Motorola days, some 15 years ago. We had lots to catch up on and something big to celebrate as he and his wife Lourdes are expecting their second child. Congratulations to you both from here.

The week also brought a lunch with my best friend Fátima and JLP who we also know from our Motorola days. The world is very small because he is now the Country Manager of Nokia Siemens Networks in Spain. Our conversation revolved around the cycling and football sponsorship we used to be involved in, the difficulties of having adolescent kids plus a bit of reminiscing too.

The week also brought time for lunch with my beautiful daughters which is something of a treat. We felt a bit bad about leaving the men at home to have lunch on their own but then the indulging was well worth it. Just look at Oli and the desert plate to understand why.

Midweek found me at a company party I had organised to celebrate a new milestone in the number of customers. It was well attended and the place highly recommendable for the atmosphere and food and drink, not to mention the central location of the famous La Latina. A good time was had by all I think.

I even had time for shopping and Thursday evening found me sneaking off to Centro Oeste in Majadahonda to buy some new half calf loose leg brown leather boots which are high fashion this season in Madrid. Oh, how I love them. Now I need some new boots, but black this time!!

Midweek Mencía was born to Ana Valdivieso and her husband Tomy. So Jill and I arranged to visit the 3 of them on Friday afternoon. Mencía is their first child and both Ana and Tomy have been looking forward to being parents for such a long time that happiness was the name of the game at their lovely suite of rooms at the Ruber hospital in Madrid where the Spanish Royalty give birth. We had to make our way through all the plants, flowers and other gifts in order to see the happy Mother and her tiny little baby. Ana has a constant Cheshire cat type smile on her face of pure satisfaction and Tomy holds his baby and stares at her without looking up. And here are the photos to prove.


Mencía at 2 days old.
This weekend Eladio and I went to the cinema to see 13 Roses, an emotional and shocking new Spanish film about the execution of 13 young girls at the end of the Spanish civil war by Franco’s new government. It was beautifully enacted and had me crying from half way through to the end. We came out feeling a bit too emotionally hit to want to go to dinner, so just came home to a bowl of soup and went straight to bed; after having put the clocks back.

And today, Sunday, we went with my Father on a day trip to enjoy the Autumn scenery in the hills of Madrid and Segovia. This is something we do most years and we usually go to Rascafría. However, this year we changed routes in order to have lunch at the new Parador in La Granja de San Ildefonso in the province of Segovia. But first we visited the beautiful gardens of the Palace there, built by Felipe V in the 18th century. They meant quite a lot to Eladio as this was our first visit there since before we were married.

Eladio in the gardens of the Palace at La Granja de San Ildefonso

Me in the gardens too.

My father and I by the Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso.
After the wonderful lunch of suckling lamb, typical of the area, we made our way to another palace very near from La Granja, in Riofrío built by Felipe VI's wife, Isabel de Farnesio. The palace is nothing special but the surrounding woods and location are spectacular. The place was riddled with deer which were quite happy to be photographed without running off.

The deer at Riofrío

Me by the Palace of Riofrío
This week coming up will probably prove just as full of activity as this but with the added pleasure of including a bank holiday on Thursday and Friday.

Cheers till after then and have a great week.

Masha

Lunch with a friend, tasting outing, visit to the flea market, visit to the cinema, back to the Alpagateria and planning our next trip away.

Olivia and Eladio at the flea market in Majadahonda
Hi there

Last week was pretty busy from both a social and professional perspective, although I managed to mix the two which is actually a personal trait. The sad point of course was Quillo's accident but I won't dwell on that here as I have just written a special post for him.

The week was great as I had lunch with Jill and bumped into old Motorola friends, Alejandro Bueno and Juan Luis Velázquez (both work for the competition: Telefónica and Orange!). We have promised to organise another of those great ex Motorola dinners. I also moved into a nice new office at work. I’m not quite sure if it’s a prize or a bribe to get me to go more often. I say this because I work at home as much as I can.

The weekend was full of socialising, starting with a tasting dinner in the old part of Madrid, La Latina. This was to try out a menu for a party I am organising this week. We took José Antonio and Dolores and they have agreed to come with us any other time we need them for similar activities. It was amazing to see how full Madrid is at night. Suffice it to say it took more than 40 minutes to find a parking space which was very frustrating.

Dolores and I in the bar in La Latina

Eladio and Toño in the bar in La Latina
On Saturday and out of the blue, I decided to visit the Majadahonda flea market. Oli and Eladio quickly decided to join me and we spent a great morning spending money on cheap and nice things. I hadn’t been for years but am a great one for flea markets. Recently a lot I have been too though are pretty “++++”. Majadahonda is probably the best one I have ever been to. It’s not surprising that people come from all over to visit it. So what did I buy you might ask? Well, a great pair of short bootees which are the latest fashion for 16 euros, a lilac coloured pashmina for 5, a black jumper with a white cotton collar for 10 euros, 4 pairs of socks for my Father at 1 euro each, a photo frame for Eladio for 2 euros and a 3 tier steam saucepan for less than 20. I was very pleased with my purchases. Eladio, though doesn’t want to go back for a long time as he ended up forking out over 150 euros between Olivia and I!

This weekend we also went to the cinema, something we haven’t done for some time now. We went to see the Spanish candidate for the best foreign film at the Oscars. It’s called “El Orfonato” (The Orphanage) and is a bit scary and esoteric. There have been many positive write ups here but unfortunately Eladio and I were not that impressed. It’s very similar to “The others” by Amenabar with Nicole Kidman, at least the end is.

After the film we met up with Roberto and Mari Carmen for dinner at our usual place, La Alpargatería and at out usual table. And over dinner we planned another trip together for the next bank holiday this coming 1st November. We shall be going to the Parador in Cazorla. But more news about that when we’ve been.

And that's that for this week. This week coming up will be full of planning and the odd pr lunch too.

Cheers/Masha

Requiem for a dog

Susi with Quillo (left) and Elsa (right) recently
Hi,

This last week had its sad point as on Tuesday last, Quillo was run over by a car and died. You will remember Quillo from a recent post when Amanda was here and we went to Susi’s boyfriend’s house to take Quillo (Gaby’s dog) and Elsa (Susi’s dog) for a walk. Quillo and Elsa were brought from Cádiz to live with us when they were very small and when they were about 3 months old they went to live with Gaby and his family. Both of them were very enthusiastic about life and the people around them as well as very inquisitive and it was perhaps this inquisitiveness that caused Quillo’s accident. They had both escaped from the house and the accident occurred on the main road near their house. Luckily Elsa was not hurt. But now poor Elsa will have to live her life without Quillo, something which will be difficult for her as they have been together since they were born.

The girls with the puppies when they were small

Elsa and Quillo when they were little (Elsa left, Quillo (Chiquillo) right)
All of us were very upset, specially the girls and Gaby. We found out when we heard them crying after they had received the news on the phone a little while after the accident. And I must say that I shed a little tear or two also for dear Quillo who was a wonderful dog loved by us all.

Rest in peace dear Quillo, you will be sorely missed.

Forever
Masha

The Autumn colours reach Montrondo; a family weekend.

Hiya again,

Friday morning saw us all preparing to leave for Montrondo. There were so many preparations – last minute suitcase packing, loading all the food needed for the 6 of us plus the rest of the family, leaving Phoebe and Henry serviced with food and accommodation outside while we were away, etc, etc. Thus we weren’t able to leave until past 11 in the morning. We went in 2 cars; the 3 girls in one and Eladio, my Father and I in the other and judging by the boots and back of both cars it looked like we were going away for a month and not just 2 days!

O course, it being a bank holiday, we were to face the proverbial traffic jam out of Madrid. It actually took us 3 hours to crawl less than 50 km. Luckily we got to Rueda (about half way) by 2 o’clock, just in time for lunch. The Palacio de Bornos wine cellar is a must on every trip to León and if you ever go, which I highly recommend, you will understand why. They sell the best white wine in the world (remember the name RUEDA) and their ham and cold cuts are of superb quality.


Oli, Copi and Susi at the Palacio de Bornos in Rueda

The Palacio de Bornos in Rueda, the place to stop on the way to León.
We arrived quite late really, but not too late to appreciate the wonderful Autumn colours that have now reached Montrondo. We were greeted by Eladio’s brother, José Antonio, our sister-in-law, Dolores and their oldest son, Miguel – just back from 2 years in London. They are just finishing building their own house in the village next to the family house. You can tell by the beams on their face when they show you round the new house or when you sit round the fire in their new lounge at night that it is their pride and joy.

There was time before dinner for a short walk to Murias (the bigger village down the road). The “boys”, José Antonio and Eladio decided to take us on the old route through the fields where there turned out to be an obstacle for the last lap of the walk and we all had to climb a sort of ditch to get back on to the road. It was actually quite fun.


Eladio and José Antonio by the Peña de Dios (God's Rock) on the way to Murias

Climbing the ditch

Miguel and I on the walk to Murias
Dinner together round the kitchen table was a happy affair and the mountain air guaranteed great appetites from all 10 of us.

Needless to say we all slept well. We had expected cold and damp weather but we were extremely lucky to get lots of sun and it was only cold at night, nothing that couldn’t be remedied by a nice hot water bottle.

The view from our bedroom window the next morning was a wonderful surprise as a family of horses had installed themselves in the field right outside it. In fact the whole village is full of lovely brown coloured horses. They are a lovely sight for sore eyes.

View from our bedroom window
If we were 10 for dinner on Friday night, we were going to be 20 from Saturday lunch till Sunday lunch which, of course, meant a lot of work in the kitchen. But I didn’t mind as I find cooking very relaxing and actually quite creative. Cooking in Montrondo must be a bit like cooking in the army or at a scout camp. You need huge pots and pans and enormous quantities of everything. The only problem is calculating how much food to cook or how much bread to buy. Funnily enough 1kg packet of lentils was enough for 20 people! I would never have known that!

As the morning progressed, the rest of the family who were joining us began to make their appearance. We were to be joined by Eladio’s Mother and his sister Pili and his brothers Isidro and Alejandro plus their respective families.

Saturday afternoon was spent chatting and working in José Antonio and Dolores’ house. Once again we took a walk, this time up the mountain to the “Abedular” (Birch tree wood). It’s quite a walk up but the views are breathtaking. On the way down we were stopped by what must be the last herd of cows in the village which added to the bucolic scenery to be had in all Montrondo.

By the Abedular

A close up of me on the way up to the Birch tree forest (Abedular)

My Father at the Abedular - a 1.5h round trip walk from Montrondo. We did it once and he did it 3 times! Not bad for 88!

Eladio posing in front of the famous Tambarón mountain that towers over Montrondo.

Isidro and Yoli with the Tambarón behind them too.

The last herd of cows in Montrondo?
And all too soon it was Sunday morning and our stay was coming to an end. We had an unfortunate end in that Andrés, Pili’s husband and one of my favourite borther-in-laws, had an accident while the “boys” were cutting branches from trees in one of their fields. He fell off a wall and on to his bad knee and was in such pain he was unable to walk. To add to the bad luck, their daughter Paula had been sick several times in the night and was feeling very shaky. The three of them, of course, had to leave suddenly to go to the hospital in León. News later was that poor Andrés had his leg half in plaster and has to be immobile for 2 weeks and will then to be x-rayed again to see what damage has been done to his knee. I wish him lots of luck from these pages. Sorry Andrés!

We did still manage to have a happy lunch all together before packing and closing up the house to go home. Luck would have it again that we had another 6 hours of traffic to face before we got back home.

Despite Andrés’ accident and the traffic there and back , a good time was had by all, not least by my Father. He stayed at a lovely country inn in Murias called El Holandés Errante (The Flying Dutchman) which is actually run and owned by a Dutchman, Hans. He stayed there because it is much more comfortable for him. If you are ever in those parts, it’s a beautiful place to stop for a meal, a night or two or even just for a drink.

And that was our bank holiday weekend in Montrondo.

Cheers till next week
Masha

Lunch with a friend, a funeral, Amazon.com and preparations for a holiday weekend

Hiya again

This week I met up with an old friend, Ramón Pradera who is actually a TV news presenter now. I knew him when he was just a reporter, so I’m very proud of how well he has done. We met through Nokia when I took him on a trip to London for some new phone launch. We stayed at the famous St. Martin’s in the Lane hotel where one night dear Ramón ordered a cigar which turned out to cost 100 pounds! I fit the bill of course!

We had lunch at a great restaurant which belongs to a friend of his. It’s called “Escauri” and serves some wonderful French Basque food. I highly recommend it. Oh, and Ramón has just got married. So congratulations from these pages to you and your lucky wife. ¡Enhorabuena a los dos!

As some of you know, I am an avid reader – of all sorts of genres. So my passion (and my Father’s) is Amazon.com. It’s just great ordering on internet from the biggest library in the world and then having the stuff delivered to your door within days. So this week there were 2 or 3 lovely parcels awaiting me with dvds such as “How green was my valley”, and “Attic” (the story of the people who hid the Anna Frank family during the war in Amsterdam) and books such as “A mighty heart” about the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl plus a couple on the fate of Middle Eastern women. My father’s book last week was “The battle of Japan” – quite a different genre, of course.

This week brought with it, the funeral for Gerardo González, the father of the Spanish family I lived with when I first came to Madrid as a student. The funeral was emotional but also very beautiful. The church was packed with family and friends and I must say my congratulations go to the priest whose homage to Gerardo was perfect. It was as if Gerardo’s spirit was there with us and there was no sad moment, except at the end, of course, when we all crowded round the family to give our condolences.

The funeral brought a little surprise as I saw a colleague from the telecoms sector who I know quite well. We were both surprised to see each other there away from our “natural” habitat. It turned out that he is Gerardo’s son’s best friend from their school days. What a small world!

The week was also full of preparations for our trip to Montrondo at the weekend. Friday 12th October was a national holiday and like most of the population, we were going to take a short break and go away for the long weekend; that is all 5 of us plus the girls’ oldest friend Copi. This meant a lot of meal planning and taking of food as Montrondo is high up in the mountains and an hour away from the nearest shop. More about that in my post on our weekend in Montrondo.

Cheers for now
Masha

An emotional week in many ways.

Amanda and I, still firm friends nearly 40 years on! It was great to have you darling.<

Hi

This week has been marked by quite a few events. First Monday was the anniversary of the death of my amazing Mother on 1st October 1999. She will, of course, never be forgotten. Unfortunately only those of you who knew her will understand why I write “amazing”, because that’s what she was but her story will have to come another day. On Monday too we had a visit from my best friend from school, Amanda who was here until Friday for a girly visit and rest. The 2nd October was the first anniversary with my new company and I must say the job is going fine for the time being. Then there was the news about Gerardo’s passing away which hit me hard in the heart and you will understand why if you read my earlier post to him. And finally there was a reunion with his family on Friday which was probably the most emotional event I have experienced in quite some time.

But, in between work, Amanda and I had good fun too and spent a lot of time catching up on each other’s lives. She happily joined in our family routine for 4 days and did the shopping with the men on Thursday and went for a walk with us every night of her stay. She was impressed to see that we do it always, come rain or shine. She was a bit unlucky with the weather and, of course, had been expecting sunshine. Unfortunately it began to rain the moment she arrived and stopped the moment she left. There were some sunny intervals though where we enjoyed meals outside. Amanda loved Phoebe, as you will see from the pictures. But then who wouldn’t. Phoebe is just the most beautiful kitten ever to exist with her little blue eyes and wonderful Siamese type colouring. She loves people’s laps too. In the afternoon she will only go to Eladio’s and we all get jealous but in the morning any lap will do. Funny little thing she is!

Amanda and Phoebe one morning
One eventful outing was to Susana’s boyfriend’s house to give her dog Elsa some medicine. Elsa and her brother Quillo live there together and Elsa has just been neutered. The problem is that Quillo won’t leave her stitches alone and she has had to be restiched and then separated from Quillo in the garage for a week at least. They are so enthusiastic and were so pleased to see us, we had them both literally jumping right on top of us. We tried to take them for a walk which turned out to be mission impossible because of the barking from the other dogs in the neighbourhood.



The three of us had dinner out on Thursday and decided to go somewhere called Los Pescaitos which is usually too full at the weekend. It is an imitation Andaluz restaurant which mostly serves fish but it was actually pretty good. So we will be going back.

On Wednesday, as you know from my previous post, I heard about the passing away of Gerardo and, unable to attend the incineration, I went to see Pili, his wife on Friday afternoon together with Dolores.

That was some reunion. I hadn’t been to their flat for probably more than 8 years. And there, apart from Pili, I was to greet Lucía, her youngest daughter who is the replica of Catherine Z Jones and just like her older sister Irene when she was younger. Then Julieta arrived for the weekend. Julieta had been a bridesmaid at my wedding and is now nearly 40! It was lovely to see her. Finally Gerardo and his wife Vicky and 4 of their 5 amazing kids arrived: Vicky (12) , Ana (6) , Gerardo (5?) and little Irene (1). They were so alive and amusing and such fun, I had the little ones crawling all over me and repeating the behaviour of their Father and Aunts and Uncles when they were small and I was living with them. But, actually, I fell in love with them, the same as I did with the previous generation. I showed them my post to Gerardo and read it out in Spanish and it stirred a few tears from Pili and us all, of course.

Pili. We certainly cheered her up.

Lucía

Julieta
Seeing Gerardo, now aged 42 and a responsible Father of 5 took me back a bit. But I still saw the little boy in him and that lovely twinkle in his eye.

Gerardo and the kids.

Vicky and their youngest daughter Irene.
When we all left, we made the firm promise of holding a proper reunion and not letting so much time pass till we see each other again. I certainly intend to keep that promise.

After such an emotional week, the weekend has been quite lonely, specially because the girls went away. They have been to Ponferrada to visit one of their favourite cousins, Marta. From the multimedia messages I have received, it seems a grand time was had by all.

And finally to add to the emotion of things, I must just mention that my niece Sara who has been looking for a job in London after 2 years in China has finally landed a post with BBVA starting tomorrow. Congratulations Sarita and the best of luck from this page. And I also must mention that the F1 is not over as Hamilton did not classify in the Shanghai GP. There is now only one race left, Brasil next week and the standings are: Hamilton 107, Alonso 103 and Raikkonen 100. Who do you think will win? Place your bets ladies and gentlemen.

And here’s to this week coming up. Hope it’s a great one for you all.

Cheers/Masha

Goodbye Gerardo!

Hi,

When I came to Spain as a student some 29 years ago, I lived with a marvellous Spanish family called González Gálvez in a lovely flat in Madrid. I loved them then and I still love them now even though we haven’t kept up much over the years.

They are part of my past but also a part of my life in many ways.

There was Gerardo the Father, always cheerful smiling, very handsome and someone who lived life to the absolute full. There is Pili, his wife who is indescribable. The only adjective that comes to mind is “endearing”. She is the heart of the family. Pili taught Chemistry at the same school as José Antonio and Dolores and it was thanks to Dolores that I went to live with them.

Gerardo and Pili, a successful good looking couple had 4 children, Gerardo, Irene, Julieta and Toti (Alberto) when I went to live with them. Part of the deal was teaching Gerardo and Irene English every day. It turned out to be mission impossible as the kids enjoyed their time hiding from me or locking me up in the bathroom. However we got on famously and I became very close to them all; so much so that they have been in my heart and mind always even if we don’t see each other so often.

When I first fell in love with Eladio who was a priest at the time, they accepted us with open arms. In fact they were probably the main guests at our wedding after my family and the 2 daughters, Irene and Julieta, were my bridesmaids. They also put up some of my guests, including my dearest friend Amanda who they also knew from her visit to their house when I was living with them. Amanda got on famously with them all too. It was their car which, driven by dear Gerardo, was used to take me the church on my wedding day. And Gerardo, a cookie monster when he was 13, is now the proud Father of 5 children!

Then when I was pregnant with Susana, Pili became pregnant too, very late in life and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lucía, just a few months after me. Very, very unfortunately darling Pili became blind afterwards. It must have been a nightmare for her and a great difficulty in life still. I will never forget when I went to see her at the time. She opened the door, looked at me and asked me who I was? I said, “Pili, I’m Masha can’t you see me?” to which she replied, “No, I can’t but you just tell me who you are and I will hug you”. That brought a few tears to my eyes and still does, even as I am writing this.

And I am writing this post today because yesterday they rang me to tell me that Gerardo had passed away on Tuesday night after fighting an aggressive lung cancer. He was only 69 and too young to die and leave his wonderful wife a widow. I cannot get them out of my thoughts and so many memories come back.

As I wrote to Pili in a text message yesterday I have only good memories of Gerardo. He was a great enthusiast of life and his family. He was successful, he was generous, he was witty and he was handsome. He had a smile constantly on his face and above all he had a knack of making people feel welcome. My parents came to visit me when I lived with them and not only did they invite them for dinner, but Gerardo took my Father out on a couple of occasions. He took him to a Real Madrid match and to his golf club, both of which my Father will never forget.

He was a true gentleman and will be much missed by his family and friends but he will never be forgotten.

Goodbye Gerardo. Enjoy your beer and “marisco” up there, smile down at us and why not light up a cigarette and enjoy it now you can.

It was a pleasure to have known you.

Forever Masha

Oli's make over in Mia

Hi again

I just wanted to tell you that next week brings something very exciting for Olivia who has just finished her Summer work practice at the Mia magazine. In next week’s edition which will be available in the newsagents on Thursday they will be publishing a make over they did of her back in August. And here are some advance photos of the shoot. She looks great. Congratulations darling.


Cheers Masha

Lots of men in the house, a diet of sorts, lunch with Julio and Fátima, the birth of "Público", the Doctor's prescription, Fergus came to stay.

Hi again

As I started to write this post, I thought that not much had happened this week. But actually that’s not true as it has been a very busy week.

We have had the builders in still working unsuccessfully on the guest room! We have had men in to put guttering up on the roof and we have also had men in to mend a burst pipe. And we have also had the painters in to renovate the façades of the balconies which were a bit crumbly. So, all in all, there have been a lot of men around!

This week saw the beginning of my diet. Susi, my daughter who is studying Food Science worked out a diet for me. She, along with Olivia, have been watching out the whole week to make sure I don’t stray. So life, food wise, has been a little unfair.

I had lunch with my “best buddies”, Fátima (or Pin) and Julio from my Nokia days. From this page here goes a big congratulations to Fátima for her new job in marketing. So, no more RFQs, eh darling? We went to Tony Romas and stuffed the greatest ribs in town but were careful on the desert.

On Tuesday evening I went to the opening party of the new daily newspaper, “Público” and took Olivia with me who is studying journalism. Público claims to be a radically left wing paper and really is. The launch advertising campaign included a man with a T-shirt saying “Fuck Bush” which has now been withdrawn as they did not have George Bush’s permission!!!! The party was big but rather boring I’m afraid but there were loads of people I knew so it was quite good from that aspect.

On Thursday I went to the Doctor about my back. The final verdict is that I have slight wear and tear on my neck (cervical chords), should lose some weight (I know, I know) and do more exercise. When I boasted about our hour long daily walk I was told that that was only good for the circulation and that maybe I should try “pilates”!!!

Friday we went out to dinner with our dinner buddies, Roberto and Mari Carmen and it was a late celebration dinner for Eladio’s birthday. We had postponed it because of my back. And here, I am afraid to say, the breaking of my diet began. Funnily enough their present to Eladio was a book by the famous Spanish heart specialist, Valentín Fuster on how to look after your health!!!

This weekend we have had Fergus to stay. Remember him from last week? Well I think he had a grand time with the girls and their friends. From what I heard 4 of them shared a whole bottle of vodka on their first night out. They were back after 5 each night so very obviously a good time was had by all. It’s good to note that Fergus has finally found a flat to live in. This week he will be beginning his classes at the school in Fuenlabrada. Good luck Ferg; just don’t talk so fast to those Spanish kids.

Eladio and I went to the cinema for the first time in ages yesterday. We went to see "Mighty Heart" with Angelina Jolie. It's about the death of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist from the WSJ who was kidnapped and killed in Karachi. The story and film are awesome; so much so I have just ordered the book on Amazon.com. I'm afraid I broke my diet again as we went to the Alpargatería for dinner afterwards. It is, as you probably know, the restuarant we go to most but actually we hadn't been there for months and months.

And tomorrow brings a visit from my best friend from England, Amanda. We went to school together and have kept in touch ever since. So this week there will be a lot of catching up to do.

Till next week/Masha

PR and girlie lunches, Rudyard Kipling, a boyhood dream and another birthday

Hi again

Last week, in between being a put out a bit thanks to my back ache which is now receding, thank God, I managed to squeeze in a couple of PR and girlie lunches. The PR lunch was with Víctor, a friend and colleague from way back. He is one of the partners of the PR agency, Perception + Image with whom I have worked most over the years. They now do my press tracking and are the best at it in Spain. The reason for the meeting was to see their new offices in Las Rozas; quite impressive. But the best thing was lunch at Gobolem which turned out to be quite a PR encounter as both Víctor and I knew people on at least 3 of the other tables and there were only 5 with people on them! It was fun to greet Mamen from my Placement agency last year, looking as beaming as ever.

Lunch with Víctor also brought with it memories of a wonderful poem by Rudyard Kipling called If. Yes, we got quite philosophical about the sort of person you have to be to do PR and, of course, we both identified ourselves fully with the advice in that great poem. And here are the first few lines just to get you into the spirit. If you are English you will probably recall reading this poem in class at school many years ago.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

The girlie lunch was less philosophical, of course. It was with my dear friends Jill, Zenaida and mother-to-be Ana. As you can see from the photo, they are looking great.

Jill, Ana, Zenaida (from left to right)

And the boyhood dream, you will ask? Well, it’s very simple. Eladio has always dreamed of having a table tennis table and has surfed the web quite a lot recently in search of one. He was a bit hesitant because of the price but when I reminded him his birthday was coming up, he immediately decided to order one and then promptly instructed us NOT to buy him anything for his actual birthday. And did we take any notice? Of course not, because a birthday without unwrapping presents, a card and a cake is simply not a birthday.

His lovely table arrived on Friday but with a set of assembly instructions which looked like Chinese to me. Well, Eladio is persistent and never gives up and Saturday saw him spending the morning assembling his precious table which was up and ready for playing by lunch time.

The girls trying out the new table tennis table
Sunday was his birthday and he was 36 or so he told us. That doesn’t make much sense as we have been together for over 24 years, does it? Well, anyway, he is looking splendid. And to celebrate it with him we had José Antonio and Dolores for lunch that day. Fergus came with them and Fergus was to remind me most of the day of my start in life in Spain. Fergus who is English, aged 22 and studies Spanish at Sheffield University in the UK, has come to Spain as an assistant teacher of English in a school in Fuenlabrada as part of an exchange with the British Councill and part of his University degree. He is at a bit of a loose end at the moment because his job hasn’t started yet and he is looking for accommodation which is proving quite difficult. However, I know he is going to have a great time and that things will all work out in the end. If you are reading this Fergus, believe me, this year is going to one of your best.

Eladio and the birthday cake. Flanked by Fergus on the left and my Father on the right.
Next week brings with it the birth of a new newspaper in Spain, “Público” and, hopefully, I shall be going to the opening party. The following week will be great as my “bestest” friend Amanda will be coming to see us. Let’s just hope her “new” room will be finished on time. I don’t want to complain here about the length of the renovation which is now into its third week. No comment!!

Cheers again from here.
All the best/Masha

The boy in the striped pyjamas

Hi again

I have just read an amazing book, sent to me by my good friend, Cristina Miranda. It is so good I am writing about it in my blog, which is usually reserved for more domestic and mundane aspects of my daily life.

It is a book written by the Irish writer, John Boyne and is supposedly for children but really only adults will understand the full nuance of the book which is about a 9 year old boy struggling to understand what is happening around him in Auschwitz during the Second World War. He is uprooted from his comfortable home in Berlin to Poland where his Father, unknowingly to him, is made the Camp Commander by personal intervention from whom he calls “The Fury”. From his attic window in his new bedroom he can just glimpse some people in a field wondering around in “pyjamas” and cannot understand what they are doing there or why they are wearing pyjamas. When he dares to ask his Father, he is told “Oh, them; they are not people”.

I won’t tell you more and just hope I have wetted your appetite sufficiently to look out for this jewel of a book which can actually be read in one go.

I cannot recommend it more highly. It has left me with a haunting feeling and a sort of emptiness inside.

Cheers/Masha

After Stockholm, back home, renovation going on at home, lunch with Cristina and Paloma, a visit from Pili and family and a bad back.

Hi again

Well here I am writing my blog after a week’s absence. I have been a bit out of action due to a cervicobrachial disorder, more commonly known as back and arm ache caused by the inflammation of the cervical cords. This has given me endless pain and 2 or 3 sleepless nights. However I finally went to the Hospital yesterday and was prescribed some pretty strong drugs which seem to be working. This is the 4th time it has happened in my life and the pain is so strong that I forever remember each and every episode.

But back ache aside, the week up until it started to get really bad has been busy and there has also been lots going on in the personal and home front. On Tuesday we started on the renovation of one of the guest rooms on the ground floor where we are widening the window, putting in a wooden floor, painting the walls, putting lights in the ceiling and also adding ceiling plaster. Of course this brings with it many inconveniences, noise, dust and rubble. We just hope they will make a good job of it. Cross your fingers.

Renovation of the guest room
Midweek I had lunch with 2 lovely friends from Nokia, Cristina and Paloma. They are both faring very well and looking great. We had a good time gossiping about people we had worked with and generally catching up on each other’s news. It was good to see you both and happy birthday Palomita this week!

Paloma (left) and Cristina (right)
Also this week we had a surprise visit from Pili (Eladio’s youngest sister) and family; Andrés her husband and one of my favourite brother in law’s, Paula her beautiful daughter and Mario her noble and loving and extremely tall son. They had been staying at our flat in Santa Pola and stopped off for a night to see us on their way home to León in the north of Spain. Of course, this was a great opportunity for a big family dinner which Eladio and I put on in no time as soon as we knew they were coming. Well a trip to the Supercor supermarket for some gourmet goodies did the trick actually.

It was great having them and we were all up late talking and catching up on all our news and Summer activities. And here is a picture of the dinner we had on the terrace that evening. Family life is the best, really.

And that’s all for this week.

Cheers till later
Masha