Barcelona, the MWC, parties, men in black and meeting old friends. Culture, Catalán and home again.

Me on the rooftop of Casa Mila (La Pedrera) by Gaudi on Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona.
Hi again

This time a week ago I was writing my post on the high speed train to Barcelona. The week went by really quickly and I came home exhausted but happy on Thursday evening.

So what did I get up to in Barcelona.? Well, of course, I went for the MWC and most of my week was taken up with activities around the congress but I did a lot of other things too.

The trip started with the TeliaSonera get together on Sunday evening at the Reunion Café near the Rambla. Thankfully that was a quiet start which meant an early night. Here I met up with my European colleagues over tapas and wine.

Oli joined me on Monday and we shared a room at the Hesperia President Hotel on the Avda. Diagonal which is very central. As I walked out on Monday morning I realised it was just across the road from my favourite night club (well actually the only one I know) called Luz de Gas; quite a coincidence. As a treat for Oli’s arrival I organised a massage for her and for me in our room on Monday evening and a very nice Colombian lady did a great job of relaxing our muscles and also giving us tips on how to keep fit.

On Monday evening we went out to dinner with Grainne and her son Marcel. Grainne and I go back a long way as we went to school together. She lives in Barcelona so every time I go we make a point of meeting up. We went to Agua, one of my favourites and had a very spirited night where we spent most of our time laughing.
Grainne and Olivia
Meanwhile the MWC was going on. Here I saw lots of old and new colleagues and made a point of visiting the Nokia Siemens Networks hospitality suite which is always my point of reference. I also visited the Nokia press outfit and greeted old colleagues and the Golla stand (great Finnish designer of mobile phone and pc bags) where I picked up a lovely pink camera case for my new Canon (unfortunately dropped by Oli in Amsterdam and remarkably still working!). I also visited Palm to see Xavi as well as Genaker to see Miquel. MWC for me is about seeing people. It’s actually quite difficult to see the people you want to as everyone is busy and the place is seething with people. I never managed to see Claire despite our numerous phone calls and was distressed to hear she had been robbed on her last night in Barcelona! The crisis has affected the congress in that fewer people went this year. Each taxi driver had a different estimate but overall I think there were about 10.000 people less than last year when approximately 60.000 attended.

On Tuesday morning it was the TeliaSonera press conference which I went to just in case there were questions on Yoigo which of course there were. I was also busy with final touches to our press materials for our own press conference the following day. But before that there were some parties to go to.

The first party was the Ericsson splash out at the Fira itself. Wow was that big. However it started at 18.30 with dinner which was far too early for me. I didn’t really know many people so soon made my way back to the hotel to join Oli and wait for Gloria and Ana from the events agency as we were going to another party and then on to dinner. We went to Miquel’s bash at the Xalet de Montjuic, a wonderful location with great views of Barcelona “la nuit”. We caused a bit of a sensation, 3 pretty girls and I walking into a male dominated party and they would hardly let us leave. I always call the MWC “Men in Black” and if you went you would understand why! When we finally got away we made our way to another great restaurant in Barcelona called Nichel where once again ours was the only all female table.

Wednesday morning was the Yoigo press conference breakfast which we held at a great little Catalán bar cum restaurant called Matamala on Rambla de Cataluña, not to be confused with La Rambla which unfortunately some people did! The turn out was amazing, some 24 journalists and the atmosphere created was very us, in that it seemed more like a meeting of friends. So much so was this that some of the journalists stayed on to write their news wires which we were to see published on line whilst we were still clearing up!
Behind the scenes, Gustavo and Carlos removing the photo call after our press event
I wasn’t free until midday but when I was I went with Oli to the Port Vell for lunch with Martita, an old friend from my Nokia days who happened to be in town on business. We went to a great place recommended to my by Julio called El Merendero de la Mari. It was good to see Marta in great form and happy in her new job. We were lucky to be able to eat outside and enjoy the Barcelona sun. Marta and I
In the afternoon Oli and I had time for culture. We walked from the Port Vell all the way to the Casa Mila (also known as La Pedrera) in Pº de Gracia and visited this gem of a building built by the famous Catalán architect Antonio Gaudí.
Casa Mila or Pedrera on Paseo de Gracia by Gaudi.
I had visited it before but was equally fascinated. Here we visited every nook and cranny and took photos of nearly everything we saw, specially on the roof top with its incredible mosaic encrusted chimneys and view of the unfinished cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, also by Gaudi and perhaps his most famous building.
Oli on the rooftop of Casa Mila
Wednesday evening brought with it the party I had been organising for weeks for my ex Nokia Networks colleagues from our stint together from 2000 to 2004. And here I had help from the girls at Quinta Esencia with the activities. Thanks to Marc, we went to a great place called Raco d’en Cesc, recommended by the Michelin Guide and frequented by local politicians and football players. What a great find it was too. If you ever go, be sure to ask for the duck canaloni with foie sauce which is heavenly.
The ex Nokia Networks party - group photo, oh such fun!
The girls had made a great poster and badge for everyone based on the Cartoon Networks logo and characters. Also we held the ex Nokia Network awards where we voted with giant hands for all sorts of fun categories, such as “the most missing person”, “the person who sent the longest e-mails”, “Mr. most suitable bachelor 2000” etc. I was very surprised and flattered to win the Miss Nokia Networks 2000.
The Cartoon Networks poster where each one of us was a cartoon character!
The evening was such fun and we all made speeches on what our time with the team meant to us and remembered all sorts of things which had us all laughing endlessly. But the evening had to end and when it did we of course went for a night cap. And where did we go for the night cap? To Luz de Gas of course. A good time was had by all and we have all agreed to repeat the experience next year. We shall certainly be going back to Raco d’en Cesc.

Thursday was ours for the taking and we had all day to enjoy Barcelona as our train wasn’t leaving until 5 in the afternoon. After a leisurely breakfast and packing, we left our suitcases in reception and made our way on foot to the Picasso Museum in the old quarter (el barrio gótico). On our way we visited the Palau de la Música, a singular and very beautiful building in itself. We both enjoyed the Picasso museum and learned a lot about him and his work. He was very prolific and started painting seriously from the age of 15 going from a classical style to his own type of impressionism right through to cubism, including his blue and pink periods. He was pretty obsessed with the Spanish painter Velázquez to judge from his copies of the old masterpieces to over 50 versions of the Meninas. He sure was prolific! He was also obsessed with women and was married several times. What an amazing guy!!!
The Picasso Museum
The reference to Catalan is a must for me in this post. In Cataluña the official language is Catalán and, mainly for political reasons, Castilian Spanish is slowly being eradicated. You hear both languages in the street but in the state schools Catalán is dominant, so much so that many parents complain. As a Spanish speaker I can understand a lot of Catalán but cannot talk it. It is like a mixture of French, Spanish and Latin. In Spain you are supposed to respect it and it is politically incorrect to criticise or laugh at it. However a lot of people living in Cataluña are immigrants from South America or Spaniards from other areas and do not speak it. I was in stitches when I saw a sign saying “Pis en venda” which actually means “Piso en venta” (flat for sale) but which could be understood as “pee for sale” in Spanish!! That’s a very strange business I thought to myself. I asked my Colombian masseuse what she thought of the language and she didn’t hesitate to say “Español mal hablado” (Spanish spoken badly). I heard similar remarks from two taxi drivers. This is the last thing that Catalan politicians want to hear but they are blind to the fact that this is actually true.

From the Picasso museum we made our way to a very popular restaurant called Bestial right by the sea and next to the famous Arts Hotel. We had a quick lunch and an even quicker walk on the beach before we rushed to our hotel to pick up our luggage and drive to the train station only to find out that our tickets were for Wednesday and not Thursday!! So we had to get another ticket and take the next train. In 2.5h hours we were at Atocha station in Madrid and half an hour later at home and in time for dinner with the family.
Oli on the Ave, the high speed train, going home. She was watching Slumdog Millionaire on her mac.
It was lovely to be home again, to see the family but most of all to see my lovely puppy Norah. She is now completely recovered and has grown a lot.

On Friday I got back into the swing of being at home, caught up on my work and had lunch with the family. In the evening Eladio and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire, a film from the British director, Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) which is nominated for the Oscars tomorrow and which I really wanted to see as it is set in India. I loved it. If you haven’t seen it, this is what it’s about:
Jamal is an 18 year old from the slums of Mumbai who against all odds is on the brink of winning the top prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He’s accused of fraud but then tells twelve stories which piece together his life, explain how he knew the answers and finally uncover the reason why he went on the show in the first place (from the Slumdog Millionaire fan club in Facebook).
The enchanting Jamal as a small boy in Slumdog Millionaire
Afterwards we went to a new Lebanese restaurant near home in Boadilla called La Cachimba. It was great, inexpensive and superbly decorated. We will be returning.

On Saturday we took Norah for her second vaccination and she behaved beautifully. She loved the outing even though it was in my arms. The thing is she cannot go out of the house or for a walk until she has had her third vaccination and that isn’t for another two weeks. So she’s getting a bit frustrated all cooped up in the kitchen. We try to make up for this by supplying her with all sorts of toys or holding her whilst trying to read the newspaper which is not easy. Today she had another bath. I’m not sure she’s very keen but she sure looked lovely afterwards!
Norah, posing at the vet
And that’s about it for this week. It has been a very full week but, as always, it’s great to be home. Tonight we are going out to dinner with Roberto and MariCarmen but more about that in next week’s post.

Cheers/Masha
PS you should be able to see more photos of Barcelona here:

History in the making, the Cow Parade, Mt. Everest, Ruth Lorenzo, a make up session, Valkyrie, snow again and planning new excursions.

One of the shots of Suzy from the make over session. Isn't she beautiful?
Hello again,

Another week has passed and once again I am writing my blog to record what’s happened and how it’s been. I print each month’s posts and now have two full files holding the diary of our lives since I started writing in September 2005. I spent some time this week adding labels to the posts on all the different things I write about. They are on the right but at the very bottom. It’s now an important part of my life and one of my weekly tasks is updating it. I can imagine my grandchildren reading excerpts of it one day in the future and it being, hopefully, an important part of the annals of our family history.

History in the making in this week’s title refers not only to my blog but also to Rafa Nadal’s achievement in winning the Australian tennis championship, a first for Spain. To get to the final, only the 4th time a Spaniard had reached it, he had to play another rival from Spain, Verdasco in the semi-finals. Together they also made history by playing the longest match ever in this tournament.

Today he beat Roger Federer who has been the top seed since Rafa started in the circuit at the age of 17. Federer who had hoped to win his 14th Grand Slam today and equal Pete Sampras, could only cry at the end of the match of emotion, defeat and I suspect exhaustion.

Rafa Nadal has now won 6 Grand Slams (4 French Opens (Roland Garros), Wimbledon and now the Australian Open). The only Grand Slam missing now is Flushing Meadows, the US Open in September. If he wins this championship he will make history again and join the select group of only 6 men in the history of tennis to win all 4.

This week has been full of events. I had lunch with my dear Finnish friend Viivi on Wednesday and we went to the restaurant that is fast becoming one of my favourites, Enriich in La Moraleja.

This week brought with it the birth of a wonderful PR project which was actually killed the next day. I had some doubts but others had more, so I didn’t go ahead with it. I think the whole thing affected me quite a lot and kept me awake for a few nights. I always involve myself heart and soul in my work and this kind of thing still keep me awake.

I was in touch this week with Grainne who lives in Barcelona, well rather Badalona. We went to school together (St. Joseph’s College) and Grainne was the older sister of one of my best friends, Brenda. Grainne has been doing some translating for me and I have to say they are some of the best I have seen in all my time in Spain. Hopefully we will meet up in Barcelona when I go to the Mobile World Congress in a couple of weeks.

Amanda also enters my blog this week. I hadn’t heard from her since Christmas and was a little worried as her husband’s company went into administration very recently. So it was good to hear that, despite this set back, they are faring well and even planning a trip to Prague.

On Thursday I went to the annual Nokia press lunch to welcome the New Year and present the year end results. It was held at Oui, a new events venue which is part of the Madrid sports pavilion in Calle Goya. This was the third one I was going to and I quite looked forward to it, despite some of the bad memories this branch of the company in Spain conjures up for me. But I put on my best smile, put all those thoughts out of my mind and enjoyed greeting journalist friends and acquaintances as well as ex colleagues. I sat next to Solange, my successor who was the perfect hostess.

As I left the Nokia lunch, I made a quick foray into the Corté Inglés (Spanish number one department store) and so saw part of the Cow Parade exhibition that is dotting the Spanish capital this month and next. Seeing the cows reminded me of seeing cows in India, the difference, of course, being like night and day. I had heard about the Cow Parade and so was quite interested in taking a look at these artistic and colourful statues.
One of the cows in the Cow Parade in Madrid
This week I got an email from Mr. Lama, our guide in Nepal. He is actually called Jitendra or Jitu but we always called him Mr. Lama. He wanted to know how we were. I wrote back and thanked him for looking after us so well on our trip to the Kathmandu Valley and told him that we would love to return one day to go trekking. He immediately wrote back and suggested we trek to the Everest Base Camp!!! Actually the idea has stayed with me and I have even been looking for graphic information on Sr. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s ascent in 1953 in You Tube and have listened mesmerised to the former’s description of that historic adventure. So you never know, we may well attempt a trekking holiday there one day.

This week I also heard about a young Spanish girl, Ruth Lorenzo, who seems to be making history for Spain in the UK, except that hardly anyone in Spain has heard of her. Ruth, who has an exceptional voice, has just become a finalist of X Factor and according to the interview I heard, cannot walk 20 yards without being asked for an autograph. She became even more famous when the song she sang, Purple Rain, by Prince, was more popular on You Tube than the original version and Prince made You Tube remove it. The whole of the UK rallied to her side and she even received a letter from Gordon Brown. Funny to think that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero still doesn’t know who she is. Ruth makes true the biblical reference, a prophet is never a prophet in his own home.
Ruth Lorenzo from Murcia Spain, finalist in X Factor
Suzy had another exam this week, “food engineering” and needed some relaxation afterwards. Copi, her childhood friend and neighbour, needed to do some make over photos for her curriculum and so she came round on Thursday evening and joined us for dinner. After dinner the make over session began. Oli joined it when she returned from RTVE late at night (she works from 15h to 22h from Mondays to Fridays on a regular basis) and Copi did a work of art on both my kids. Unfortunately I only have a photo of Suzy for this post and one of her with Copi but none of Olivia.
Copi and Suzy
On Friday Eladio and I went to see the much acclaimed Valkyrie film with Tom Cruise. I suppose there is no need to explain that it was about the famous attempt to assassinate Hitler by the young Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. There had been 14 previous attempts and this was the last. It was part of a big operation to topple the Reich and actually Valkyrie was the name of the operation designed by the Reich itself in case Hitler died. I saw the 2004 German version this week too and was quite well documented and did not really expect the American version to be much better. Also I just didn’t see Tom Cruise playing the part but I was wrong. It was superb, he was superb and the film was very well made. It’s not up for next week’s Oscars but if it was I’m sure it would garner a statue or so.

After the film we went to La Alpargatería for dinner and Oli joined us. Then, very naughtily, we went to Haagen-Dazs for our dessert.

The weekend has been cold and wet and it even snowed this morning. Thank God it was a Sunday otherwise it would have caused havoc with the traffic tomorrow. Many roads were blocked and villages cut off. It actually only lasted a few hours but was quite beautiful to witness from inside our warm house. We did, however, take our walk just as it was ending and turning into sleet. We always take our walk, come rain or shine. There is no stopping us.
It snowed today
Suzy will be off to London with Gaby not this week but next. Oli, who has very itchy feet, bought tickets to fly to Amsterdam with her friend Miad at the same time. We are also thinking about travelling again. Will it be New York, all 5 of us, will it be Yorkshire in the summer with my Father? Who knows, but meanwhile we have made use of our Parador points and have booked 4 nights at Easter in Cáceres, Guadalupe and Mérida in the Extramadura region. It’s always lovely to have something to look forward to. My Father’s eyes lit up with joy when we told him, as of course, he will be coming with us. He loves to travel with us and to get to know new parts of Spain. He also loves the Paradors and “room service” too!

And that’s about it for this week, except to send birthday greetings to Laura, my niece and Isidro and Yoli’s daughter. She will have been 26 on Thursday. Her sister, Alicia, who is also our god daughter will be 17 tomorrow. Happy birthday to you both girls.

Cheers till next week
Masha

Home again, settling down, back to work, yet part of me still in India.

The girls in their new Indian outfits a bit crumpled after being used as pyjamas!
Hi again,

The last time I wrote was from our hotel room in Delhi on the last day of our trip. We both fell ill and in the end spent practically the whole of our last day in bed. We were still feeling awful when we drove to the airport and the whole trip back was quite a nightmare. Luckily we got a two seat row from the KLM hostess who took pity on us at check in, bless her. Somehow we endured the return journey. We left at nearly 2 in the morning, local time (21.30h Standard European time) and arrived at Amsterdam Schipol airport at about 06 am, just on time to catch the nearly empty 07 am flight to Madrid. We arrived on time in Madrid at 09.30 to be greeted by a below zero temperature and a missing hold all. Unfortunately our main bag of Indian goodies had got lost on the way. It was retrieved later and we received it at home the next day.

Our Indian trip had been amazing but we now really wanted to return home. We were looking forward to seeing “the girls” (as they are often known at home) and my Father and to returning to our home comforts. Going away is great, but returning is even better sometimes. There are no bed, nor pillow better than yours at home. And that is always the case.

We were received with open arms and with much love. What a wonderful family we have. The house was in a good state and I certainly could not notice there had been any parties; although I’m sure there were. Only one washing machine load had been put on in our absence, no ironing took place and the Christmas decorations were still up. Apart from that, everything was ok.

As soon as we arrived we opened our suitcases in the lounge to give out the goodies we had in them, as the others were in the hold all in lost luggage.

It seems our choices were ok as everything was received with good grace and happy smiles. We had brought back Indian costumes, newspapers, incense, bangles, shawls, baggy trousers, calendars, ornaments, all of which have been put to full use.

We also brought back lots of miniature paintings on silk and a set of Hindu God posters to put on the walls of one of the staircases as well Indian and Nepalese music and films; for example the famous trilogy, Fire, Earth and Water by the Indian woman Director, Deepa Mehta. I had seen Water which I adored and now will see the rest of this trilogy which focuses on some taboo and sensitive subjects in Indian society, such as widows in rural India, homosexuality, arranged marriages and the religious problems that brought about the separation of Pakistan from India.
An image from the wonderful film, Water.
It took a while to get adjusted again and I think we are still adjusting. We keep talking about our time in India, much more than when we come back from our other trips. But it was lovely to come back to our home comforts. Olivia asked us what we had missed most. Obviously we had missed our family most as well as the Christmas period the journey cheated us of and most certainly our modus vivendi, one of the main parts being our walks and food. In India we were not able to go for long walks like we do here and we were in dire need of exercise.

We enjoyed the food in India, to a point. I have always been a curry fan but then of course I had only eaten curry outside India. It is stronger there and the meat is less tender and nearly always has bones. I love spicy food but every day for 17 days got a bit much. So it was wonderful to be able to eat pork, beef and fish again, as well as fresh and non spiced vegetables.

Apart from general fatigue and a bad stomach, I also brought back a nasty cold I must have caught from Mr. Lama in Nepal. Thus I needed a bit more time to recover before returning full speed to work. Luckily I had brought back some tiger balm for my niece Marta and had kept one pot for myself. It is a great oriental remedy for pain but also for a stuffy nose. I now wish I had brought back much more. It is a bit like Vips Vapour rub but stronger. Excellent stuff.
Tiger Balm (no tiger in it by the way!
The week went past quickly but was very intense. My return coincided with my company Yoigo hitting 1 million customers. I had arranged the staff celebrations but could not be there and had to content myself with the photographs. A big surprise was prepared the night before when the whole building was papered inside and out with A4 black and white copies with 1 million printed in big letters. The ground floor was filled with air balloons and at each desk station a celebration mug and balloon were placed. Shortly after the staff arrived they went to the cafeteria where they made a toast with Spanish “cava” and were served “chocolate con churros”. Then they all went outside and let the air balloons fly into the sky above the office, making a very pretty and spectacular picture, specially as it was snowing at the same time. It must have been a very magical moment. You can see some of the photos here on Facebook.
Balloons flying in the sky above our office in Alcobendas.
The next day I had lunch with my PR team and we celebrated the successes of 2008 as well as the 1 million customers. Thanks Gustavo, Carlos, Ludy and Blanca!!

Last week there was also time for some shopping in the sales. Ironically I bought myself a new camera which I should have done for the trip to India. I got the Canon Ixus 970 IS which I hope will live up to my expectations. It has 10 megapixels, but more importantly a 5x optical zoon. Soon you will see as I will be posting photos taken with the new camera here on my blog.

Soon it was the weekend and time for preparing family lunches and dong household chores. On Sunday afternoon I got very inspired and spent 3 hours clearing out and tidying my walk in closet. I don’t quite know what I am going to do with the stuff I have removed; either for the poor or when I get younger or slimmer!!

On Saturday night we took “the girls” out for dinner to celebrate our return. I would have “killed” to go to La Alpargatería but not all agreed. We ended up going to Mood in Majadahonda and a good time was had by all.

We also went out yesterday with our dear friends Roberto and Mari Carmen. First we went to the cinema to see the film, “Entre les murs” (The Class) by Laurent Cantet. It got the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is France’s entry for best foreign film for the Oscars. It is about the difficulties of being a school teacher today in difficult areas and the culture clashes from immigrant pupils. I do not recommend it as it is rather long and repetitive and totally lacks a good plot.
An image from the film, The Class
We went to dinner afterwards to the only place nearby that was open, Hollywood. There was no choice but I must admit that onion rings and a brownie totally satisfied by craving for junk food after 17 days in India.

We have been home nearly a week now and it is a wonderful place to be but part of me is still in India. We keep saying, “this time last week we were …..” and soon it will be longer. I have been following Lou and Paul’s continued travels there and marvel at Lou’s experience with elephants in Chitwan National Park in Nepal where she rode one in the river and lay on its back. Oh to be young again and do something like that!
Lou on the elephant, what an amazing picture.
This week was also my best friend Fátima’s birthday but it was also the week my dearest friend Anne left Nokia after 12 years. She has opted out of the rat race to work as the marketing manager for her home town Salo. Anne I wish you all the luck and happiness in the world in this new stage of your life.

Cheers, Fátima, Anne and all my friends. Till next week,

Masha

A trip to Stockholm, India’s 9/11 and another death in the family.

The Christmas market in Gamla Stan where I bought some Cloudberry jam for my Father (later confiscated at the airport:-()
Hello again

This week was supposed to be fun.

It started off with lunch with Roberto at La Txitxarreria on Monday where we gossiped about our days at Nokia and caught up with each other’s lives.

On Wednesday 27th November Eladio and I set off for Stockholm to attend the annual communications conference which was to be all day Thursday and Friday morning. Eladio meanwhile would be preparing his Uned (Open Universty) tutorials or exploring the town and we would have some free time together before returning on Saturday afternoon.

We had both been to Stockholm before so there was no rush to see the tourist sights. As we arrived it was snowing which was great and it was not too cold, just above zero.
Snow on arrival at Arlanda airport.
We were staying at a conference hotel called the Quality Globe Hotel outside town. It is part of the Globen City complex, the “Globe” being Stockholm’s biggest building for sports and other events. While we were there it was hosting the International Horse Show. The building is quite unique and is actually the biggest round building in the world.
The famous Globe
As soon as we had unpacked we took a taxi and hit the town to explore the lovely streets of Gamla Stam that we already knew.
Here we walked up and down the old streets and into the squares and eventually found a little place for dinner.

We actually had a lot of bad luck with restaurants throughout our stay as most of them were always fully booked or the service was extremely slow. In fact on our last night, after 5 attempts at finding a free table at a restaurant we eventually got one at F12 where I had been with journalists on a trip with Nokia a few years ago for some music phone. Mónica and Anne will certainly remember. Here we asked for the “tasting menu” but only when we were on miniature course 4 did we find out that the whole procedure was going to last 3.5 hours! We kept complaining about the slowness until, too tired to fight any more, and halfway through the dinner, we asked for the bill. The management reacted amazingly and had us feeling a bit bad as they refused to charge us. It was quite an experience.

The joy of our stay in Stockholm was soon cut short when we learned about the Mumbai massacre which unfolded in front of our eyes as we turned on CNN on Wednesday night. The massacre is still going on. In what is turning out to be India’s 9/11, it seems two dozen gunmen, possibly linked to Pakistan, have attacked and brought to a standstill, India’s financial capital, a city of 18 million inhabitants and also home to the famous Bollywood. They have attacked some 9 locations including two 5 star hotels, a famous tourist café and a Jewish centre. As I am writing 155 are reported dead and over 327 injured. The Taj Mahal Hotel, one of India’s most famous and a landmark in Bombay is at the heart of the attacks. These attacks are shocking the world as is their intention. Terrorism continues and becomes more sophisticated and difficult to beat.
The Taj Mahal at the heart of the attack
We are going to India in December for our 25th anniversary and now we are a little scared. Scared is what I imagine the whole world is right now. How and when is it going to end?

The conference on Thursday began really well. In fact it was one of the best corporate conferences I have every attended. Maybe it’s because the Swede’s are good at organising.

However at lunch time, as I tell in my next post, I got a call from Sasha to say my poor Aunty Masha had been taken into hospital with acute anaemia and was not expected to live. I agreed with him we would visit her on Sunday after our return. The news was not good.

I carried on as best I could and continued with the conference. In the evening there was a dinner which I was hoping to skip but when I saw I was sitting on the table of the Global Head of Communications I decided otherwise. She turned out to be lovely and the evening was great, as was the show.

The next day, however, I got the phone call from Sasha to say dear Aunty Masha had already died. I felt so sad and so far away. I tried to contact my Father, I contacted my second cousin Masha in Paris and of course, my first cousin, Zuka. And, as usual in these circumstances, I rang Amanda, my best friend in England who I knew would want to know as Aunty Masha was part of her childhood also. But that story is in my next post.

I could no longer concentrate on the conference and just made a quick appearance at the end to say goodbye and give my excuses.

Then there was the rest of the day to get through. So we spent the afternoon in down town Stockholm trying to enjoy ourselves, buying Scandinavian Christmas objects, but Aunty Masha was forever in my mind.

So this morning we went straight to the airport from the hotel and waited there for this flight, the flight I am writing this post on, the flight that would take us home to Madrid.

It just seems that life is bringing a spate of bad luck recently. I do so hope it will end soon. Tomorrow we will leave home early in the morning to go to Altea for the funeral at 3 pm and so say our good byes to my Aunt.

Goodbye Stockholm, I wish it had been better. I just wish there had been no Mumbai massacre and that there had been no fatal call from Sasha.

I wish, I wish.

Masha
PS here is the full set of photos of our trip to Stockholm posted on Facebook

A film, more lunches, preparing Christmas, a surprise party, 45 years since JFK was killed, Spain in the Davis Cup final, off to Stockholm and more.

Balloons for the surprise party for Gaby on Saturday night.
Hi again,

From this week’s headline, you can probably suss out that the week was busy on the work and home front and so it was.

Last Sunday we went to see La Buena Nueva a film set in a village in the north of Spain (Asturias) in 1936 during the Civil War. I don’t think the film will become famous but the storyline was right up our street; war, love and religion being the main ingredients.
On Tuesday I had lunch with María at the Asador Imanol in Diversia. I arrived late which is highly unlike me, but I had to get together a sudden press release when I was in town on an errand. María is a colleague from work and this was our first lunch together. We spent the time talking non stop from beginning to end about work, mutual ex colleagues, current colleagues and a hundred other things that women talk about when they get together! No doubt this lunch will be repeated.

Wednesday was a girly lunch again, this time with my ex Nokia colleagues, Jill and Susana. We went to La Leyenda and thoroughly enjoyed catching up on each other’s news. It was great to hear work gossip too; always highly interesting.

And on Thursday I took my PR agency team to Aspen after a morning working session together to plan for the next few months.

Oli meanwhile, had just started her PhD lectures at the Madrid Complutense University which she will try to juggle with her work at RTVE. She has begun a PhD in Film Studies! They keep changing her timetable and for the past fortnight she has been working on the 17h to midnight shift. This fortnight coming up, starting tonight, she will be working at nights, from midnight to 7 am. I wish her luck as I know it’s going to be tough.

On Friday she had an interesting experience at work as she had to chair the voting table at RTVE for the Trade Union representatives and here you can see her in this video which they published on the RTVE website.

At work I am immersed in plans for Christmas activities; a children’s party at the office premises, the employee annual office blast with partners, as well as all the actual Christmas gifts, on-line cards etc. It’s amazing how Christmas creeps up on you and how it maintains its magic year after year. I like preparing Christmas at work but enjoy the home preparations much more. This year Eladio and I will be going away on Boxing Day, to India, of course and it will be the first time we have ever travelled at Christmas. I did once before I was married and that was to Mexico with my Mother to visit George who was living in Veracruz. But that’s another story.

Suzy sprung a surprise party for Gaby last night, at our house, of course. It was for his birthday which had actually been about a month ago so I imagine he wasn’t expecting anything at all. Each person was supposed to make and bring food but, as we were eating the left overs all together today, it transpired that most of the guests had delegated this task to the Mothers; the Mothers of course who were not invited. I made the potato salad and I wasn’t invited either.

Instead Eladio and I went out to dinner to Mood with our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen. Before that, though I must mention the wonderful siesta and Jacuzzi I had to recover from the week’s hectic activity. We own a lovely Jacuzzi in our bathroom which hardly ever gets used but yesterday was one of those times.

Dinner was great as the food is always original and tasty at Mood. We were all in the talking “mood”, ha, ha, specially Eladio who had us all thinking when he announced that Christianity was only really a continuation of Judaism, from the point of view of sex. And yes, he’s right. Did that get you thinking too?
Eladio and his friend Roberto at Mood on Saturday night
On the news front, this week marks two important dates in history. November 20th was the 33rd anniversary of the death of Francisco Franco Bahamonde, also known as “El Caudillo” and November 21st was the 45th anniversary of the death of the world famous JFK, John Fitzgerald Kennedy who these days seems to be equated with Barack Obama. And certainly there are fears that his life may end in a similar way. I hope not!

On a lighter note, but of great importance in the world of tennis, Spain is playing the final of the Davis Cup against Argentina on their home territory. Unfortunately the super star player, Rafa Nadal, is injured and cannot take part so no one really thinks Spain can win. However, halfway through the championship, Spain is leading 3-2. There are two matches left to play before the winner is decided and here I would like to copy Obama and say: “yes we can!”.

This week coming up we will be going to Stockholm as I will be attending the communications kick off. We have travelled so much this year; it could well be our record. Well, I was always a “travelling girl” and inherited the itch from my Father, who, if we asked, would probably jump at the chance to come too as he is addicted to travelling and also loves Stockholm.

There will be a full report, of course, in next week’s post.

Cheers till then,
Masha

Another week in November and news from Havana, Zagreb, Belgrade, Switzerland and Helsinki and stories about other places.

Suzy working at the Instituto del Frío
Hi again

We are now well into November and soon it will be Christmas and we will be off on our wonderful trip to India. But actually before that we will be visiting another part of the world, Stockholm again. I’ll be there for the annual Communications Kick-off (a bit strange having a kick off at the end of the year) and will, of course, be taking Eladio with me. Being the end of November I can only imagine it being dark, cold and probably wet but that should not deter the Anglo Saxan in me.

Regarding India, I sort of thought all the plans were finalised and hotels booked but Raju, the owner of the travel agency, Incredible Real India we are using and which comes highly recommended by friends and specialises in tourists from Spain, has yet again changed one of the hotels, this time in Jaipur. This seems to happen on a weekly basis and I am faced with a choice of 3 new hotels to choose from because yet again the original one is now fully booked owing to the fact that December is apparently the high season. Had we known, I think we would have gone at another time of the year. So there you have me, nearly a specialist in consulting Trip Advisor.

Talking about “foreign” destinations, this week has been a week of news from abroad. News from Havana is always news from our newly found cousin, Rosy. We correspond quite often and this week she was very worried about the “Paloma” hurricane which thankfully didn’t do as much damage as predicted.

There was news from the former Yugoslavia too this week, first from Zagreb from Mladen, Sanya’s step brother who got in touch with me after her funeral in London. It's strange as I have only ever met him at funerals, my brother's and Sanya's.

Then out of the blue I received two very touching emails from a girl called Milena, the daughter of friends of Sanya’s Mother, as well as from Sanya’s Mother, herself, Jancic. Both live in Belgrade, Sanya’s former hometown. The content of their messages has remained in my head and heart most of the week. In a way it was like being in touch with Sanya, or at least being in touch with “her world”, the world I didn’t know, which brought me some comfort. Truth to say I am still grieving for her. God bless you darling Sanya.

News from Switzerland (or is it France?) came from Andrew, a friend from our past who, I take it, is an avid reader of my blog. Andrew I still have to answer your email, but yes, of course you are welcome to stay in December.

News from Helsinki, was, of course, from my darling friend Anne, my ex boss and colleague but also a sort of surrogate sister cum daughter cum fellow soul. I am desperately in need of a visit from her soon. When are you coming my dear??

Meanwhile life at home took a bit of a lift this week after all the recent spate of bad luck. At least my spirits are now on their way up.

The post should really have started with a mention of our dinner last Saturday evening with old Motorola (old as in past, as my friends are not yet “old”, ha, ha, ha) colleagues, Gustavo and Susana and Marian and her new partner, Ovi. Susana booked a little place they know and which seems to be marketed only by word of mouth. It’s called Jiménez and is actually in the former railway station in Majadahonda. The cuisine was exquisite, the place very cosy but the portions, to quote Eladio “a bit mean”.
Dinner at Jiménez with Susana, Gustavo, Marian and Ovi.
Gustavo and Susana are literally immersed in bringing up their two small children and Susana, who is one of the most practical and intelligent women I know, seems quite happy to be a housewife and opt out of the corporate world. She has learned to play the piano in two years and I am sure she is by now an excellent pianist.

Marian, another practical and enterprising woman , I must say, has set up her own business, called Team Assistant which offers virtual secretarial and administrative assistance to companies and seems to be flourishing. I must say I admire her as she did this from scratch after the company she was working for went bankrupt and also as a single Mother with two small children and a mortgage! It was good to see her doing so well and in love again too!!

That was Saturday and on Sunday we dedicated the day to the family. You know, household chores, a lovely Sunday lunch with all 5 of us around the table which always makes me content and then the 4 of us went out to the cinema. It’s my recent tactic to do things with the girls. Otherwise they seem to lead their own lives and we do too and I often feel I have to make the effort to do things together as a family.
Me cooking for the family last Sunday
The girls in the kitchen helping with the finishing touches for Sunday lunch.
We went to see a superb film called
Children of Huang Shi about an Englishman called George Hogg and his adventures in China in the 1930’s during the Japanese invasion. It’s a film worth watching with all the ingredients I love, such as adventure, children, love and war as well as an exotic foreign country as the back drop.

The photo illustrating this week's post is of Suzy during her work placement. This week, she finished her stint with the Instituto del Frío a research institute mainly dedicated to science and food technology which is her speciality. She had been working there for 2 months as part of her (never ending) University Degree in this subject. The pictures of her are great in a lab with the lab coat and rubber gloves pouring some liquid into a sort of test tube. I heard at one stage that she had been measuring the fat in some sausages!!!

Anyway, she looks very professional as you can see from the photos and let’s hope she doesn’t read what I’ve just written about sausages as I might be in trouble!
Suzy at the Instituto del Frío
On Wednesday I had lunch with Vicente, a good journalist friend and I think the lunch did us both a lot of good. Over steak at De María in Majadahonda, we reminisced about the past and our trips together when I was with Motorola and Nokia as well as the state of the media in Spain today; not too buoyant I’m afraid.

On the work front, the week has been quiet. The press is very low key at the moment and I spent most of the time on preparations for Christmas activities, which, of course, if they are to have my “stamp” must be even more creative than last year. I don’t need my boss or anyone to set me the challenge as I generally set my own!

As I write here this Saturday evening, the weekend seems to be going quietly. The girls are not at home; they are out on the tiles in the centre of Madrid and even “abandoned” us for lunch. But we have our own social life so I can’t complain.

Last night we went out with Pedro (of cycling fame) and Ludy and their friend, Enrique, a notary, that most distinguished of Spanish professions. Fátima, my best friend, had joined us on other occasions and I think I secretly had hoped Cupid might have done his job to bring them together. But that was not to be as when we arrived at the Indian restaurant, Annapurna, there was Enrique sitting at the table waiting for us with a beautiful and perfectly groomed young looking woman called Lola. It soon became apparent that they were more than friends. The evening went well, the conversation was fluid and fun and the food, as ever, superb. Not for nothing is the place called “Annapurna” which apparently means “food of the Gods” or so the restaurant website says. I thought it was just the name of a mountain.

Dinner at Annapurna
And now I must stop writing as Eladio and I are off to the cinema again, this time to see a new Spanish film called La Buena Nueva
set in the Spanish civil war which again has some of our favourite ingredients: love, religion and war and sounds very promising.

Just before I end, I must say happy birthday to my dear friend Juana over the ocean in Mexico. !Felicidades Juana! She tells me her birthday present is 4 days in the “Riviera Maya” which must mean the crisis has not yet reached Mexico.

Or maybe it has as I am sure Mexico is at the Financial Summit today in Washington. As I write it must be nearly finishing. The credit crunch is certainly making its mark here in Spain and today the papers say that Europe is now officially in recession. Let’s see if anything good comes out of Washington today and in the months to follow in all the committees the summit will form.

Cheers till next time
Masha

Remember, remember the 5th of November and so to London with a heavy heart, but young again. Good bits and bad and other stuff, of course.

St. Silas Church in Kentish Town where the funeral took place.
Hi again,

This week was mostly taken up with my trip to London for dear Sanya’s funeral and it's going to be long as there is an awful lot to write about. Sanya was my sister-in-law, the wife of my only and late brother George. She was found dead in her flat on 14th October and I just had to be there for her.

Monday was a bit of a let down as my 2 best friends forgot their lunch appointment with me. I was already a bit down so that didn’t help.

The trip from Tuesday to Thursday was going to be difficult and I was going on my own but I was going back to my country which I don’t do very often so there were going to be good bits about this trip too.

I was going to stay at my niece Sara’s flat round the corner from Marble Arch – what a great location – and she was there to welcome me with open arms as I arrived on Tuesday evening. She showed me round her lovely little pad which she shares with Sibil, her extrovert and lively German Turkish flatmate who works for G+J in London but apparently does most of it at parties!! These two girls brought me back my youth and for two days I felt a bit like them at times, independent and with London at my feet.

Well it is a great city which I have never lived in and only ever pass through but if you think about it, it’s the capital of the world in very many ways, not least because of its melting pot population. I was therefore determined to make the best of this difficult trip and most of that was thanks to Sarita.

On the first night I took Sara out to dinner and as I didn't know the area she showed me a street (James Street) with restaurants from at least 10 countries. We settled for a Turkish place she had been to before called Grand Bazaar where the wine was awful but the food was superb. It was very cosy and decorated with Turkish lamps and quite authentic.
Sara and I outside the Grand Bazaar restaurant.
Sanya’s funeral was to take place the next day, an important day in English life, the 5th November being Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire night as it is often called, but it also turned out to be an important day in world history; the day the first black man was elected President of the United States. Yes, Barack Hussein Obama had won the elections the day before and London was brimming with the news.

The funeral was taking place at 11.30 at St. Silas Church in Kentish Town. Of course I used public transport and picked up an Oyster Card, recommended by my cost conscious niece for discount travelling in London. It was raining and I wanted to get to the church early to talk to Father G but I also had to find some flowers. I was not in luck as I left Chalk Farm Underground station and went from one Asian-run off licence to another. Some had flowers but none were good enough for Sanya. So I walked down the burka lined street off Haverstock Hill and finally found a Sainsbury’s where I got an ok only looking bunch of flowers. There was no way you could remove the label though so they had to be placed the wrong side up at Church and you couldn’t even see them. I felt so bad about that!!

I arrived at the church which was a typical early 20th century structure and rather grim looking at least from the outside. And there on the entrance was a poster announcing Sanya’s funeral. Father G certainly had certainly made a great effort.
Notice on the church door
And there he was inside the church as I walked in, laying the finishing touches on all the preparations for a full blown Church of England funeral. And full blown it was and very traditional too but I'm not too sure about the C of E part. St. Silas is officially C of E but is very obviously High Church judging by many of the things I saw and heard, not least the vocabulary as they talked about “mass” rather than “service” and “priest” or “Father” rather than “Vicar”. What was also rather telling was the inclusion of the very Catholic prayer, “Hail Mary” which I recognised from my Catholic school days. Don't think I mind at all, which I don't, these are just curious observations.

Father G was a treat to meet. He must be in his 60’s and is a dedicated clergyman who makes you feel very welcome. I can see what attracted Sanya to him and am extremely grateful for how he cared for her when she was alive and how he went all out to put on a very good funeral for her.

He wears the traditional vestments, including the old fashioned round clergy hat, yet he is also a man of his times. I mean he uses e-mail and looks very practical.

The funeral seemed old fashioned but was very special. It was also somber and solemn, very intense but not dismal like the Orthodox funerals for my Mother and my Brother. Father G was definitely dressed for the occasion with his black and silver funeral vestments. The same material was used to cover the coffin which was brought in by 4 professional pall bearers! Father G had printed a small order of the day for us all to follow which was another sign of how well he had prepared the funeral.

The small sprinkling of attendants emphasised the church’s big size. On one side were a few people from the congregation, including “Win”, the lady church warden who had been Sanya’s friend and “Lucas”, a “spaced out” and ungroomed middle aged bloke who I knew to be Sanya’s friend too. He told me he was her “new partner” and I felt terribly sorry for him.

On the other side sat Sanya’s step family. I sat next to her step mother, Mira, a good looking Bosnian woman who lives in London and her son and Sanya’s step brother, Mladen who lives in Zagreb but frequently visited Sanya in London. He told me strickenly how he had tried to contact her at the end of September unsuccessfully. They were joined by 4 of Mira’s Bosnian friends who seemed very kind ladies.

The funeral included communion and here I had an inner debate with myself. I hadn’t taken communion for about 30 years and finally decided I should do so for Sanya and for me, I suppose. I made the faux pas of going up to the altar as I used to when I went to church in England and the famous Brandon Jackson was my vicar. Embarrassedly I had to walk down again to the first pew to receive Holy Communion. Suffice it to say it was an emotional moment.

The coffin was sprinkled with holy water and with incense and then left the church in a cortege carried by the pall bearers with Father G in front. We all followed behind and outside there was a big black funeral car for the coffin and two similar big black limousines to carry us to the cemetery in East Finchley. Father G and the pall bearers walked ahead of the cortege and the cars followed at a snails pace for a few hundred yards until they got in and the engines were turned on and the cortege drove off to cemetery which all seemed quite Dickensian to me or so I thought.

I went in the car with Win and Lucas and Lucas’ care nurse and we went past opulent London houses in places like Bishop’s Avenue and the contrast was bizarre. It was very much a repeat experience of when we took my Brother George’s coffin to the cemetery because Sanya was to be buried in the plot next to him.

When we arrived I saw David. David was Sanya and George’s friend and had been my brother’s best man at their wedding. I hadn’t seen him at the funeral and was worried he didn’t know about it. When I used to visit Sanya I would also visit David and the 3 of us would spend time together. I used to take them flowers, chocolates and cigarettes and I always knew I had made their day. David is a man with many problems, mental and other, including gambling and the poor chap is very unkempt. Every time I see him I feel like taking him to the baths and then buying him a new set of clothes. He needs both desperately but neither seem possible in the life he leads, that is, if you can call it a life! I was very pleased to see him as I am extremely fond of him.

The cemetery threw me emotionally. Seeing the tombstone on my brother’s grave made me break down. I didn’t listen to the priest’s words, just kept looking at my brother’s name in gold letters, “George Lloyd” and the inscription, “In loving memory of George Lloyd, who died on 15th May 2001, aged 46, beloved husband of Sanja”. Amazingly Sanya was also 46 on the day she died as Mladin pointed out. We threw white roses and earth on her coffin and Mladin and I put some of the flowers on George’s grave too.
George and Sanya's graves at East Finchley Cemetery

Sadly we all left and went back to the church in the same cortege. This time David came with me. I must admit that between him and Lucas the sleek and luxurious jaguar began to reek of unclean bodily skin which I was actually to put up with for the next few hours.
David Waring
We couldn’t part without a “send off” which is a very typical way to end funerals in England. So I suggested a cup of tea at the Church Hall and both Father G and Win thought that was a good idea. Being in that church hall, making the tea with Win and laying the table took me back to my days of Sunday school and Guides when I was a child in England. Making the tea for Sanya’s Bosnian step family and David who kept asking them all to repeat their foreign names was a funny experience. We all sat round a small square Sunday school table for children in the middle of a big room next to the church with children’s drawings on the wall and we all had English tea and biscuits and tried to make polite conversation.

When the family left, Win, David and I stayed on chatting. David was in obvious need of company and asked me how long I had. I said, “for you David, one hour”. In the end I think I was there for nearly 3 during which we talked about George, about Sanya, about God and about mundane things in life. There I promised to be David’s friend and to write to both him and Win. When we were leaving, he said: “I don’t just want a Christmas card, I want a 3 or 4 page letter”. Now I have to keep to my promise!
Dear Win, the Church Warden and Sanya's friend.
David took me all the way back to Marble Arch, he was such a gentleman. I felt sad to leave him. He actually told me, “you cheer me up” which was very special to hear. Dear David, I will write to you and I won’t forget you, I promise.

As I parted with a heavy heart from David at Marble Arch, I came back to my world and decidedly needed some comforting activity. So what better than an hour or so in Marks and Spencers before Sarita came back from work?

Marks and Spencers certainly brought me back to my world of consumer goods and earthly things and I acquired a lovely winter coat and an assortment of Mark’s best underwear, creams and potions.

Sara and I decided we wanted an Indian meal this time and after a bit of a search, came across a great little place called Rajdoot restaurant in Paddington Street. The onion bajis, the chicken tikka masala and lamb korma were superb. We walked home through typical London streets and laughed at a sign outside on some gardens which boasted having “the best loo of the year”!

Once at home, we both connected to our computers and Sara spoke to her parents, José Antonio (Eladio’s beloved brother) and Dolores on Skype. 

I wasn’t leaving for Madrid until Thursday afternoon so decided to visit a museum, instead of spending money, before I left. I thought of going to the Victoria and Albert Museum or the Natural History and Natural Science museums but suddenly remembered that I had a debt with my Mother to visit

The Wallace Collection. My Mother had lived in London in the 40’s when she came to England as a war refugee and before she was married to my Father, of course. She always told me the Wallace Collection was her favourite museum. It turned out to be a stone’s throw from Sarita’s flat. My Mother’s judgement was not wrong. The Wallace Collection is supposedly “the finest collection of art ever assembled by one family. Five generations of collectors, four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, each made their special contribution". The collection is housed in the family home of Hertford House, a magnificent building in itself, in Manchester Place. The “collection” comprises artefacts of all sorts; furniture and paintings. Amazingly they include Velazquez’s, Murillo’s, Titians as well as a portrait made world famous by a chocolate company, the Laughing Cavailer by Hals.
Hertford House, the home of the Wallace Collection.

Too soon my time was up and I had to go back to the flat to pick up my things and take my suitcase and laptop down the steep British stairs to the street and so by foot to Park Lane to catch the number 73 bus to Victoria Station. There I cashed in my Oyster card and made a quick foray into Smith’s to get some chocolates for my Father and some very British Christmas cards.

As I made my way through the station to the Gatwick Express platform I went past the omnipresent Poppy Appeal stall. In England in the month of November poppies are sold everywhere to make money for the British Legion which looks after army families and are worn in rememberance of the fallen in the "Great War" which is actually the First World War. It was so quaint, I just had to take a picture. The 4 gentlemen were very representative and I gave them my remaining British coins and got 5 paper poppies in exchange to take back home for the family. If all of England were wearing poppies, my Father and I and my family were not to be less. Of course, no one in Spain will understand but that is to be expected.
The Poppy Appeal stand at Victoria Station
Eladio was at the airport to greet me and bring me home to my real world. Home for me is always “home sweet home” wherever I have been so it was good to be back.

I think I am still under the impression of Sanya’s death and the experience of the funeral and all it entailed. I will need some time to feel normal again. Family and work life of course will contribute to that happening.

Home again, was another story of a problem car. The old Lancia had broken down, so now from 4 cars we are down to 2 which is a bit of a problem when you live far out like we do. This week coming up will be challenging.

Friday was spent catching up with my work and also meeting my friend Elena for our monthly chat. This time she was cheering me up rather than her!

Tonight we will be going out to dinner with ex Motorola friends, Susana and Gustavo and Marian and her new partner. No doubt we will talk about the news of Motorola Spain laying off 30% of its workforce this last week as that includes some of our friends. We are going to a new place called Jiménez in Majadahonda. But more about that in my next post.

Cheers
Masha

Barcelona and home with a bang

Hiya,

Wow, how I do begin to describe this past week? Well this time last Saturday Eladio and I went to see the film Camino. I think it has gone straight to my top ten of films as it has all the ingredients I like, children, love, religion, hospitals and above all emotion. I highly recommend it. The main character, Nerea Camacho is the loveliest young girl I have ever seen. She is 11 and comes from a town in Almeria. After the film we had dinner with our friends Roberto and MariCarmen at, yes, you guessed right, La Alpargatería.
Nerea Camacho in Camino
On Sunday Eladio and I travelled to Barcelona as I had to do a site inspection for locations for events during the big telecoms congress in February, the GSMA. Time was spent working in my room, site inspecting and all the free time was taken up by being pure tourists. Funnily enough I have only really ever visited Barcelona for work purposes so this was a great occasion to enjoy the city too.

We stayed at a great hotel, the 1898 where we made full use of the spa every day of our stay which is a great way to relax.
Me working in the hotel room
The hotel is right in the middle of La Rambla, Barcelona’s famous walk way. It’s a unique street, full of people from all over the world, kiosks selling everything under the sun, flower stalls, human statues out to make money, live animal stalls, endless tapas’ restaurants, artists offering to draw portraits, people selling loose cans of beer, “ladies” selling their bodies and old age pensioners sitting and watching the world go by.
Me on La Rambla
The weather was amazing for the end of October with temperatures of over 25ºc throughout our stay. We visited the Gothic Cathedral, walked into the famous Boquería fresh food market, made our way to the Gaudi unfinished cathedral, “la Sagrada Familia”, strolled past the Puerta de Angel, the Plaza de Cataluña and up the Paseo de Gracia full of wonderful houses such as Batllo and Casa Mila, otherwise known as La Pedrera.
La Pedrera
We had lunch at La Gavina by the sea in Port Vell (old Port) and dinner at La Venta in Tibidabo, very recommendable places I never fail to visit when I am in Barcelona.

You can see a selection of photos of this trip, here on Facebook.

The day we drove back which was Wednesday, the weather turned for the worse and it was rain all the way back. Just as we had started our journey Olivia rang to say Susana had had an accident with the Volvo on the road from Pozuelo to Boadilla. This was certainly bad news to come home to. Poor Suzy, who came away unscathed, thank God, as did the other passengers, drove round a bend in the rain to find a queue of cars standing still because of what she later learned was a fatal accident. A police car had crashed into a bus and the policeman was killed! Susy was unable to control the car and crashed into 2 other cars. The Volvo, unfortunately, is very badly damaged and it was only insured for third parties!!

To top it all, the next day someone punctured the tyre of the Alfa at the Complutense University. It was around lunch time and she had to wait for ages until the AA (equivalent) arrived. All in all she was waiting around for about 5 hours!!

The week got better, or at least back to normal eventually. On Thursday I went in to the office for 2 meetings. I now work from home nearly most of my time and can’t begin to say just how beneficial it is all round. I’ve got so used to it now I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to a sit in the office job ever again.

Whilst in Barcelona, I finally got the internal motivation necessary to go on a diet. And, yes, I started my diet number 1000 odd on Thursday. Let’s see how it goes …….. Wow that was one important decision to make in my life!!

Oli seems very happy with her new job even if it is quite stressful. It must be worse than a traditional newspaper to work for a website, such as RTVE’s as the deadline is permanent because the news has to be 24/7. This week I’m proud to include her article on the demolishing of the Carabanchel prison, that symbol of Fashist repression under Franco.
The famous Carabanchel Prison
The article was posted on the front page when it was published. Her timetable is all up and down. For instance she is working over this weekend and in the short future will be working at night for 2 weeks, from 12 till 7 am.

To top this week’s bad news, we found out today that our dear Ukranian cleaning lady, Zena, has cheek cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy!! That’s a very sad story.

To cheer ourselves up, and after all today is Saturday, Eladio and I will be going to the cinema tonight to see Nights in Rodanthe which promises to be highly romantic and right up our street. Hopefully we will have dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen afterwards.

I look forward to a better week next week.

All the best everyone,
Masha