A trip to Montrondo and back, Easter, the clocks went forward, Suzy’s coming home and other stories.

A trek to the snow on the slopes of the mountains above Montrondo

Hi my friends and Happy Easter

That is, Happy Easter to those of you who believe, those of you who don’t and those of you, who, like me, always doubt.  A picture someone posted on Facebook was very to the point as regards Easter and it tells us that it is not about the bunny.  That picture has been in my head ever since I saw it and got me thinking as usual about my own faith.  You probably think I am a believer with all my stories about the new Pope.  Well yes, I wonder too and have done so all my life.  I cannot deny, especially today, that God exists but, unfortunately for me perhaps, I am not one of his faithful and only turn to him at the worst times in my life.  

I agree Easter should not be about the bunny

Let me stop being profound and get back to my usual pragmatic self and tell you about the week.  On Monday I fasted for the first time since my flu and I felt great.  I mean I felt great the next day and a lot lighter.  

On Tuesday Eladio and I set off for Montrondo to spend a few days at Eladio’s beloved village in the mountains in the north of Spain with his family.  We stopped in Rueda in the pouring rain at about midday for the usual glass of wonderful white wine and plate of ham.  Instead of doing so at the Palacio de Bornos, we skipped tradition to try out a new place next door called “La Cuba”.  It was nice enough and sold mostly the same produce as its neighbour but it lacked the charm of Bornos.  Apart from consuming some wine and ham, we stocked up on 3 boxes of Ribera de Duero red wine, chocolate and local biscuits to share with the family in Montrondo.

Our stop at Rueda on our way to Montrondo on Tuesday

Our next stop was for lunch at the Parador in Benavente in the province of Zamora.  Here we always order the soup made of local chickpeas which are grown in the small village of Fuentesauco nearby.  We really are creatures of tradition.

Chickpeas from Fuentesauco at the Parador in Benavente

We arrived in Montrondo at just after 4pm where it was raining as it was to do so during most of our stay and were greeted by José Antonio and Dolores and also my mother-in-law, Ernestina. 

Eladio and his brother José Antonio (in green) happy to be together in Montrondo

While they pottered around the house and surrounding terrain, Dolores and I went for a walk to Murias de Paredes – the nearest village – and back and of course were joined by their mongrel, little Nubah of terrier descent.  

Dolores on the walk to Murias on Tuesday afternoon, wet but nice and fresh

On Wednesday, over breakfast, I was happy to hear that Spain had beaten France in a very decisive qualifying match the night before for the Football World Cup.  You remember I asked you to cross your fingers after Spain drew with Finland?  Well, thanks my friends, if you did because they now lead the group and thus have nearly earned their place to play in Brazil in 2014. It seems unfair to me that the reigning champions do not earn an automatic place in the following championship, but these are the rules of the game.  

When I am in Montrondo and the weather is not good, I like to cook.  It relaxes me and is something to do. I made a huge chicken Korma curry that morning, not a very local dish I know, but very popular with José Antonio and Dolores and ourselves. I’m not so sure Ernestina likes it very much; it must be very strange for her palette, but she never said anything and stoically ate most of her portion.

The chicken korma curry I made in Montrondo on Thursday

The highlight of the day was a funeral in the village.  I had nothing else to do, so decided to join the family and attend the 12.30 mass at the little stone church along with most of the villagers and people who had come from afar to say goodbye to “Maruja”. 

We went to this lady's funeral on Wednesday in Montrondo

Maruja, aged 84 and officially called Tecla was the mother of Lourdes – very well known in Montrondo - and had a big family to judge by what I read on the announcement above of her death which was posted in the village and of course by the turnout. 

A very big turnout at the funeral for such a sparsely populated small village (just 10 people or so live there all year round)

I met and greeted many of the villagers, some I knew and many I didn’t.  Of course Eladio was in his element as he knew nearly everyone.  On Wednesday at the funeral mass I met for the first time a lady called Paz, the mother of the very famous friend of all our children, commonly known as J.M and probably only called by his real name, José Manuel, by his Mother who incidentally looks exactly like her son.

Paz, Ernestina and Dolores at the funeral

After the curry lunch, the men and their mother went off to sleep the siesta.  The sun was shining for once, so Dolores and I took the opportunity for another walk with Nubah to Murias de Paredes.  The official excuse was to fetch some medicine at the chemist but really we needed a walk to work off the heavy but delicious lunch. 

On Maundy Thursday I cooked again.  I made a huge fabada (bean stew) and boeuf stroganoff for the other members of the family who would be joining us in Montrondo for the Easter break.  

Eladio and José Antonio spent the better part of the morning warming up and cleaning the old house for their brothers and sisters.  I thought the picture below of Eladio was very funny - he said "habemus papam" and asked me to take a picture. It's quite obvious why isn't it?

Eladio after lighting the fire in the kitchen in the old house in preparation for the arrival of his brothers and sisters - he said "habemus papam"!!

  At about 11 they all arrived: Adela and Primo, Pili and Andrés and Isidro and Yoli and their daughter, Alicia who is the youngest of all the nieces and nephews and who is also my god daughter.  Trebol, Pili’s beautiful Dalmatian came too and enjoyed freedom with Nubah in and around Montrondo.

Beautiful Trébol in Montrondo

5 of the 6 brothers and sisters were to be together – in descending order: Eladio, José Antonio, Adela, Pili and Isidro.  Only Alejandro, the brother in the middle, was missing, as his Mother pointed out.

With my sisters-in-law in Montrondo - lunch on Thursday at José Antonio and Dolores house

After a short siesta, we all decided to go on a walking trek up into the mountains of Montrondo to find the snow.  We were lucky the weather behaved and although we were all clad in warm clothes, gradually we shed the outer layers as we got warm from the walk.  In fact, unusually for the time of year, it was not at all cold during our stay.

The trek was the real highlight of our stay and we all enjoyed it immensely.  We found the snow after 45 minutes of climbing and the photo illustrating this week’s blog is of us all at the snowiest moment of our trek.  The day before we arrived in Montrondo it had snowed but unfortunately it had disappeared by the time we arrived.  Determined to see some snow this year, the trek on Thursday was my one chance to see some. 

Nubah enjoying the snow on our trek

 At certain points of the walk which is known as La Ruta de las Fuentes de Omaña, you can spy the highest peak called “El Tambarón” which is over 2.100 metres high and impossible to climb when there is snow.  In the photo below it is just behind Eladio and I.  During our 2.5 hour trek I vowed to climb it in the summer.  I wonder if I will.  Maybe, but it is a long trek, some 3hours to reach but of course less to come down. 

Eladio and I on the trek to the snow on Thursday in Montrondo with the El Tambarón Peak behind us

You can see a short video of part of the trek here on You Tube.

On our return we were greeted by Juan (José Antonio and Dolores’ youngest son) and his girlfriend Cristina who had just arrived and later we all had tea or coffee at Adela and Primo’s new and very little but charming house.

Tea and coffee at Adela and Primo's house after our excursion to the snow

Whilst we were on our trek, the new Pontifice, Pope Francis was saying mass at the Casal del Marmo prison outside Rome. Following the tradition of washing the feet of the faithful by his predecessors on the day before Good Friday, he astonished the world by washing the feet of a woman inmate whilst there.  The fact that she was a Muslim was another big break with tradition.  The piety of the moment is of course laudable, but that it was so public, for me, at least, diminishes its humility, but then again if Pope Francis had done so in private, we would never have known.

Pope Francis washing the feet of a Serbian Muslim woman prison inmate on Maundy Thursday

The next day was Good Friday and true to tradition I had brought some hot cross buns.  Amazingly they had been in our deep freeze for a year but were none the worse for wear.  We enjoyed them split in half and toasted at breakfast and I commented to Dolores that I had been brought up on the tradition of only eating them on or after Good Friday, never before.  Funny eh?  The same applies to Easter Eggs so when I received a message from Olivia to ask whether they could start on one of the delicious Hotel Chocolate eggs I had ordered, I replied with a very firm “not until Sunday, Easter Day”. I had left a packet of hot cross buns at home for my Father with strict instructions to Oufa to toast them for my Father on Good Friday

Hot cross buns are a must on Good Friday but not before

Good Friday of course is the day Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and it is the saddest day of the Easter period. In Spain Easter is synonymous with religious processions and although religion is apparently on the decline, the processions are ever important.  Interestingly after having written this paragraph about Easter in Spain I read an article from the New York Times entitled: “Easter gets an exemption from Spanish austerity” about how much is spent on the processions in contrast to the current economic crisis.  Here I also read that only 18% of Spaniards confess to be practicing Catholics, yet as I wrote above, the traditions at Easter continue.  This is the time precious church figures are paraded in the streets by the fervently faithful and the streets are lined with onlookers, many of whom will be amazed tourists.  The weather of course is always a damper and the “cofradías” (brotherhoods) who spend most of the year preparing for the processions hope and pray for good weather.  But it always rains at Easter in my experience, although, luckily for the “cofradías” and spectators, the sun usually makes an appearance at some stage during Easter and only a few processions have to be cancelled.  This year it was the same old story or so we saw on the TV as I haven’t seen a procession for some years now.  I just dug out the picture of the last one we saw.  It was Palm Sunday in Granada in 2008 when we stayed there with my Father on a trip to Gibraltar and Andalucía which you can read about here.

Palm Sunday procession in Granada as seen by us in 2008

On Friday it rained all day, so after the very copious family lunch and long siesta, taken by some, we decided to pack our bags and come home.  When it rains in Montrondo there is not much to do.  Internet works badly and we are not a card or board playing family, so being cooped up becomes a strain. We left at about 6pm and were home before 10.  It was good to see the rain already disappear when we were passing León, an hour away from Montrondo.  It was good too to greet my Father and Oufa on our return and to find my online purchases waiting for me: Decaf Yorkshire tea to last me a year (I always buy in bulk, like the meringue nests hahahaha), the Hotel Chocolate Easter Eggs and my new TV series, Call the Midwife which I am looking forward to watching. 

I look forward to watching series one of Call the Midwife set in East London in 1957 the year I was born

We slept so well in our own bed and it was great to wake up at home.  Yesterday, Saturday, was a quiet day.  I did the food shopping with Oufa in the morning.  Olivia joined us for lunch but not Susana because as you will have seen from this week’s headline, she is moving out of her flat and was very busy.  So I went with Olivia after lunch to see her there for the last time.  She was with Juli, Chati and her Russian friend Emil who we all call “Vladimir”.  Her flat was full of bags and suitcases and boxes because today Sunday she will be moving home.  It will be just for one month though as in May, you probably know, she and Chati will be going to London to seek their fortune.  Believe it or not, all of us spent my time there playing a new addictive mobile phone application version of Trivial called Triviados.  It seems to be taking over my life so I really must start to ration myself.

Suzy's flat full of boxes and bags in the throes of her removal this weekend

I came back home on time for our daily walk.  We left at 7.30pm and I remarked to Eladio that it was still daylight and that at the same time the next day it would be just as light one hour later.  That of course is because the clocks were to go forward last night – Saturday 30^th March.  Conscious of that, we put some of the clocks and watches forward before we went to bed and I put the alarm on my iPhone for 8 am this morning.  I wasn’t sure whether I would be woken up at 8 or 9, but these days technology works so well because devices are programmed to change the time automatically.  Thus I was up early and didn’t feel cheated of an hour in the day as I normally would have done.

And today of course is Sunday and Easter day and I have been busy, with my morning divided between writing this week’s post, playing online Triviados mainly with Olivia and of course making the big Easter Day roast chicken for lunch.  It had to be with all the trimmings: sage and onion stuffing, roast potatoes, various types of veg, gravy and never to be forgotten cranberry sauce.  All this was washed down by a wonderful glass of Quercus wine from a magnum bottle given to me at Christmas by Samsung – thank you Samsung.  It was delicious. Also delicious and very filling were the Easter eggs.  Thank goodness tomorrow I will be fasting and again on Thursday.  

There was time this morning too for more online purchases from my favourite online store, Amazon.  Prompted by a promotional mail from them I bought the complete collections of Colditz and Cold Feet.  We used to enjoy Colditz at home as a family in the 70’s, the BBC TV series about the special camp designed by the Nazis to hold high risk and politically important prisoners of war. So I hope it lives up to my memory and expectations.

I look forward to watching Colditz again but am not sure I will enjoy it as much as I did in the 70's.

As to Cold Feet, it was made in the late 90’s and is the wonderfully tragic and comic story of the lives of three very different types of couples in their thirties set in Manchester.  Cold Feet is one of my favourite British TV series and it was introduced to me by my dear friend Anne N whose taste in films and TV series is very akin to my own.

A great British TV series made in the late 90's

Meanwhile Suzy, helped mostly by Emil and Juli, are packing furiously and at some stage they will be arriving here with vanloads of clothes, furniture and kitchen appliances.  All this will join the boxes of Olivia’s discarded clothes in the garage. It will be great to have Suzy back if only for a month and half before she goes.

Suzy in the throes of her removal home with the help of Emil and Juli

 As I come to the end of this week’s story, it is raining furiously again outside and I am wondering when it will stop to be able to go on our walk.  

Meanwhile I hope you have enjoyed reading this week’s story and wish you all a great week ahead.  Mine promises to be busy – lots of work and two days of fasting!

Cheers till next time my friends,

Masha

PS You can see the rest of the photos of our stay in Montrondo here on Facebook.

Journey to Andalucía and Gibraltar, 28 years later - 13th to 17th March

There are orange trees everywhere in Andalucía and even though I have lived for many years in Spain I still find them attractive and very exotic.
Hi again

And so the long awaited trip is over and now I am back home, sorting out photos and deciding on doing an album with all the paper memorabilia I have brought back. It was one of those trips that deserve the effort.

Our first stop was Córdoba where we stayed in the old Jewish quarter in a hotel overlooking the Mezquita (Mosque), that wonderful piece of Moorish and Christian architecture that for me, at times rivals with the Alhambra and which was actually built before.

Inside the Mezquita
Our arrival was special in many ways and actually quite funny. We had made a reservation at the El Caballo Rojo restaurant one of the most famous in Córdoba and of special sentimental meaning to Eladio and I but also very famous for its oxtail dish which, of course, Eladio ordered. The restaurant is right in front of the Mezquita and because it is impossible to park the latter offers a parking service. To get out of our BMW car and find the “parking man”, I had to fight off a gypsy who was semi assaulting my poor elderly English father dressed in his panama hat. I just wish someone could have taken a photo of the moment.

Outside the Caballo Rojo; my father in his panama hat
After lunch we did what I once did 30 years ago and that was to take the nostalgic horse carriage trip to see the main sights of the old town. We were lucky with the weather throughout but especially in Córdoba where the thermometer reached the high 20s.

The horse and carriage we toured the old town on. Me with "Paco", the assistant horse carriage driver and gypsy.
Then we toured the smaller streets on foot and specially enjoyed revisiting “la calle de las flores” (flower street) or the wonderful statues of Maimonides and Averröes, those 2 famous and contemporary Jewish and Arab men who were both doctors, theologians and philosophers and lived in Córdoba in the 12th century when Córdoba was one of the Arabian capitals.

Eladio and I posing in the Calle de las Flores, that wonderful street with the view of the Mezquita.
The next day we set off quite early for Gibraltar. As we were passing Málaga and Marbella I thought it might be fun to show both my Father and Eladio Puerto Banus, that most expensive bit of territory in Spain where the rich and famous keep their yachts. And what a wonderful place it is!

Eladio in Puerto Banus
We reached Gibraltar in the early afternoon, booked into the Rock Hotel and immediately set off for Main Street which is the street where all the shops are. I left the men outside and begged for 1.5h on my own in Marks and Spencers. M+S is probably my favourite shop in the world. I love their casual wear, underwear, household goods and cosmetics best. I could have done with double the time and still wouldn’t have been finished. Luckily enough I was able to revisit it the next day to get a few more things, this time for the girls.

Me and my M+S purchases in Main Street.
After M+S we headed off for Morrisons, the British supermarket, to stock up on British goodies I cannot get in Spain, such as decaffeinated tea or sage and onion stuffing, not to mention chocolate Easter eggs, which unfortunately melted in the car later!!

Saturday morning was dedicated to visiting the Upper Rock which is all along very windy narrow roads which are not very well sign posted. Because of that we missed out on the famous St. Michael’s caves and Jew’s gate. We did, however, get our full of the famous Barbary Macaques (monkeys without tails) throughout our visit. Unfortunately 2 landed on poor Grandpa’s shoulders to his utter disgust.

The monkeys even climbed on our car!

The views from the Upper Rock are superb. Here you can see the airstrip which the main road entering Gibraltar goes through and includes traffic lights for when airplanes are landing or taking off!!
In the evening, whilst my Father enjoyed room service at the Rock, Eladio and I went for a light dinner to the famous Waterfront restaurant
in Queensway Quay Marina. That was a lovely restaurant, lively yet romantic at the same time with some great food, of course.
We enjoyed the hotel thoroughly, mostly because of the amazing views of the straits of Gibraltar, Tarifa and Morocco but also because of the beautiful gardens and the lovely Wisteria Terrace.

Me outside The Rock Hotel

Eladio on the Wisteria terrace. Note the monkey key ring!

The view from our bedroom of the straits of Gibraltar
We also enjoyed sitting outside a pub on Main Street on Saturday afternoon and watching the people going past. Gibraltar, although British, has Spanish and Moorish legacies as well as Jewish which give it a multi cultural combination that is irresistible. Add the sea and the climate and you have a place that is quite unique. Gibraltar, although a little down run these days, did fulfil my expectations. It is well worth a visit.

From Gibraltar we made our way to Granada. I looked up a place to have lunch on the way in my wonderful “Guía de Campsa” – road map and restaurant guide - and came up trumps. It turned out a hotel I have always wanted to visit, called La Bobadilla was on the way. It is near Loja, about 60 km from Granada. And wow, was it worth stopping there. It is a luxury Andalusian oasis and one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen. Needless to say lunch was out of this world in all respects. It was interesting to note that the ex Minister of the Interior with Aznar’s Government, Angel Acebes, was also having lunch in the same restaurant!

Just one view of the fantastic Bobadilla hotel near Loja, Granada.

Daddy and I posing outside the restaurant we had lunch at in the Bobadilla hotel.
From La Bobadilla we made our way to Granada and to our hotel in the centre of the old town, completely forgetting that it was Palm Sunday and that of course the Easter processions would be on and traffic diverted from the main streets. Once that obstacle was overcome, we went out into the streets ourselves to witness this timeless Easter tradition which is actually quite awesome.

One of the processions we saw in Granada on Palm Sunday.
Then to work off our lunch at La Bobadilla we walked up to the Alhambra which is a very steep and long walk and a bit much for my Father. Later on in the evening Eladio and I walked up to that old neighbourhood called Albayzin from where there are amazing views of the Alhambra. The walk probably took us over an hour and it was getting very cold, all of which finally made us just hungry enough to order a small dinner at the lovely San Nicolás restaurant which has amazing views of the Alhambra. It’s a very beautiful and romantic place.

And Monday morning brought with it the highlight of the trip, a guided tour of the Alhambra palace or palaces. How can I describe the Alhambra here in my blog? Wow, well it is one of the most visited places in the world and narrowly escaped being included in the new wonders of the world. I really think it should be. For example the Taj Mahal is one of the wonders of the world, yet the architect of the Taj Mahal copied the mirror effect caused by water in the Patio de Arrayanes for example!


View of the Nazaries palaces in the Alhambra

Eladio in the gardens of the Genaralife, the Summer palace
The guide told us that it is the best conserved medieval Moorish architecture in the world. The Alhambra (Al-Hamra; literally "the red" in Arabic) is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress was constructed), occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada. It’s beauty is unrivalled in Spain, although the Mezquita probably comes a close second. Of course I had visited the Alhambra but one’s memory fades so it was wonderful to see it again. The Alhambra is one of the most magical places in the world, really.

Eladio in the Alhambra
Here in Granada was where our journey to Andalucía ended. From here we were going on for a few days to Santa Pola. But that is another story which I will write about in my next post.
The trip was lovely and in many ways a trip down memory lane. Córdoba means so much to me as I once had a great trip there as a student. It was also where Eladio was first “stationed” as a teacher. And visiting Gibraltar also had a special meaning for all of us. My Father had been there in the war in 1942 so this visit must have meant quite a lot for him. When Eladio and I first met, in the Summer of 1980, we traveled in Andalucía and Morocco. I have a picture of myself outside the border of Gibraltar when the frontier was closed and you could not enter into Spain or Gibraltar by foot or by car. It was quite frustrating for me at the time and I vowed to come back one day. And this was just what I did, 28 years later, in this visit!!!

Me by the Rock of Gibraltar. I finally made it 28 years later!
Cheers till next time,
Masha