A family reunited, farewell Katty, Tony, Luc, Sam and Ruby. We will never forget you.

Luc, Ruby in the flamenco dress and darling Sam, Katty and Tony's children, our new found family

Hi again

This week has been truly memorable for us and for my Father and I especially because this week we received the wonderful visit of my cousin Katty, her New Zealander husband Tony, a quantity surveyor and their delightful children, Luc (9), Sam (6) and little angel Ruby (2). But before I go into detail let me tell you about the run up to their visit, so as to keep a chronological order as I always try to do in my blog. After all this is supposed to be a diary.

On Wednesday I went away with the Management Team to a small hotel tucked away just outside the village of Roa near Burgos in the prestigious wine making area Ribera del Duero. It’s about 2 hours away from Madrid. We stayed at the Raiz Hotel owned by one our distributors which can only be described as the perfect location if you want to get away from it all.

The Raiz Hotel in Roa, Burgos, a great place to get away from it all.

Here we were looked after by Myriam Jimeno Calleja, a young and successful sommelier who served up great food that because of my diet I was hardly able to taste. So no delicious suckling lamb or fried pig 's ear for me I'm afraid. The hotel also has a great winery called Páramo de Guzmán where we were given a fantastic wine tasting session at the hands of one of Spain’s best sommeliers, Luis Miguel Martínez. I would have loved to drink all the glasses put in front of me but just couldn’t because of my diet but also because wine no longer seems to agree with me which is awfully sad. The get away with the team was great and very productive but it was rather frustrating not to be able to enjoy any of the local gastronomy.

The wine tasting session which I couldn't enjoy:-(

We returned the next day after lunch and I was very eager to come home because Katty and her family had already arrived the night before in my absence. I had left them in the capable hands of Eladio and my Father but I was just dying for us all to be together. As I drove home I began to feel the emotion of meeting up with my newly found family and that emotion remained throughout their visit as we all bonded, each and every one of us on both sides of the family. It was amazing.

You probably know I don’t have much family. On my Father’s side I only really have him now. On my Mother’s side I have 4 cousins who are dispersed around the world and one of them is Zuka, Katty’s Mother who although she was born in France now lives in England. Zuka is the daughter of my Uncle Kolya (Nicholas), my Mother’s beloved younger brother who after the war lived and died in Paris where his wife, my Aunt and Katty’s Grandmother, Valya still lives. I had seen Katty twice in my life only and this visit to our house was to be the third occasion and the occasion we would become firm friends and family for life. My Father on the other hand knew Katty much better as she would often visit him and my Mother when she was young. Katty was very much attached to them both and was extremely happy to see him again as I’m sure he was too. The sad thing is that Katty and her family who have lived in England (Bolton in Lancashire) for the last 7 years are now returning to live permanently in New Zealand. Before they left however they wanted to see more of Europe, so 4 months ago they embarked on an incredible adventure. They bought a second hand camper van and took off with their children to visit places like Belgium, Holland, Germany, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Italy and Spain. When they reached us this week they were on the last leg of their journey.

Katty and Tony's wonderful camper van in which they have travelled round Europe for 4 months with their children

When I walked into my house on Thursday to meet them I immediately recognised Katty as she looks just like her Mother Zuka. Luc and Ruby also have similar traits with the same smile and teeth as my dearest Dydya (uncle in Russian) Kolya. They all called me "Aunty Masha", a true honour for me and something that felt really good.  Aunty Masha for me was my Mother's adored sister and it was nice to be called the same as her.  Katty and I immediately made a cup of tea and sat down and quickly tried to catch up on our lives and both of us were very soon in tears telling some of the sadder stories: the death of her dear Father Bruce, the death of my brother George and then his sweet and sad Serbian wife Sanya. We cried many times over the weekend but we also laughed and had an intensely happy time together. This morning when Katty and I went food shopping for their departure, we managed a last cup of coffee together and vowed never to lose touch. I also told Katty that I recognised myself in her in that we have very similar personalities and an identical joie de vivre and she totally agreed.

Katty and I, happy cousins reunited.

So let me tell you what we all got up to. On Thursday night I managed to organise a family dinner with no one missing. We even had some extra guests as Olivia and Susana’s newly-wed friends, Merce and Josema from Yecla in Murcia were also staying. That meant we were all of 11 for dinner. Olga made a massive meal so I think no one went hungry. The chatting round the table was fantastic with so much to talk about. I brought in the fruit and realised I was serving my newly found “Kiwi” family kiwis which made us all laugh. The children, the boys at least, are amazingly well brought up or at least we thought so as we were probably comparing them to the average typically badly behaved Spanish children. So when Luc and Sam asked if they could leave the table we could hardly believe our ears.  They repeated the request after every meal and the words were a joy to hear. 

The families reunited

On Friday I took the day off and accompanied Katty, Tony and little Ruby to Madrid to see the sights, or at least that was the intention. The boys preferred to stay behind watching dvds and chilling out in the big house which must have been a nice change for them after so long in the caravan. We left the car at the train station and took the metro into Puerta del Sol.

Katty and Tony with baby Ruby and her inseparable doggy toy on the metro going into Madrid.

I managed to show them the Kilómetro 0, the centre of the country where all roads are measured from in Spain but that’s about where the tourism ended as clothes shopping seemed to be high on their list of priorities.

The Kilometre 0 in Madrid at Puerta del Sol.  The centre of Spain and where all roads are measured from.

Well I didn’t mind at all as I’m game to buying lots of new clothes for my now slimmer figure. Tony didn’t seem that keen but soon got into the swing of it at the men’s section of Zara. Ruby on the other hand got rather tired, unsurprisingly (well she is only 2)  as you can see in this photo of her asleep in the dressing room.

Ruby flat out in the Desigual changing room

Our next stop was the Catalán designer store Desigual and we happened to enter the biggest one in the world in Plaza Callao. Here both Katty and Tony had a field day. After probably 2 hours there I had to drag them away to lunch nearby at De María with a promise to return afterwards. They had discovered Desigual in Barcelona before coming to stay with us and now Katty is seriously thinking of setting up a franchise store in New Zealand where Desigual still hasn’t landed. All in all I think we spent 3 hours in the place. Here you can see them coming out of the shop with all their purchases which now have to fit into their camper van!

Tony and Katty leaving Desigual after 3 hours shopping there!

Determined to show them something of Madrid we walked up the Preciados street (the most commercial  one in Spain or so they say) to Puerta del Sol again. The place had livened up enormously and was full of people buying and selling the “El Gordo” Christmas lottery tickets. There were street bustlers of all kinds and even a live Mexican Mariachi band. From here I dragged them to the Plaza Mayor past all sorts of fun living statues until we came to the beautiful square. Once again shopping prevailed and rather than exploring the square we went into a souvenir shop to buy football t-shirts for the boys and more importantly a wonderful flamenco dress and matching red and black shoes for little Ruby. She would not take them off after trying them on and was thus an immediate hit with our fellow travellers on the metro back.

Ruby in la Puerta del Sol in Madrid this weekend.

Once home, Eladio was waiting to take Tony to the Barber’s. Katty and I had our own plans, a little bit of clothes shopping at the small boutique near home where I always seem to find lovely pieces for a song. Here Katty and I had our own field day and found lots of things we just loved. We even bought the same dress, just as Kathy and I had in the summer. That night I wore it for our dinner at La Txitxarrería in Pozuelo, again the same place we took Kathy and Phil.

My happy cousin with her lovely New Zealander husband Tony at La Txitxarreria with us in Pozuelo on Friday night.

On Saturday morning we had a bit of added fun when 2 beagle dogs visited us. The gate was open because Katty and Tony were clearing out the camper van, so in they walked. Norah was utterly knocked out which had us all in stitches. It happened just as Merce and Josema were leaving. It was a kind of nice bedlam moment you don’t often experience. Poor Norah felt a bit left out of all our fun actually because the children were rather frightened of her. However towards the end some sort of reconciliation took place and soon she was walking through the kitchen to her favourite place, the cats’ food bowl and the kids didn’t even notice her anymore.

A bit of bedlam happened when 2 beagles visited Norah.  She was a bit stunned.

We had a great family day yesterday. After the beagle visit, the boys went off to a games arcade and we girls went shopping (yes shopping again!); Katty, Ruby, Oli, Suzy and I. We went  to the nearby Tres Aguas shopping centre where we all seemed to be concentrated on buying boots. There was also time for a coffee and for Ruby to go on all the kiddy attractions in sight. After a super speedy lunch for 10 (thanks Olga again) we all went off to the zoo, recommended to me by Juana where we hadn't been for years. We wanted to go out with our lovely new found kiwi family and of course we all love animals so the zoo was a great idea all round. Well I love four legged ones but  I’m not keen on birds and fish and absolutely detest reptiles and insects. November is not the best month to visit the zoo but thankfully the sun shone. We were limited by time because it closes at 6 but it also gets dark then. So Eladio and Olivia grabbed the zoo map and we charged behind them to follow the African route which we all thought has the most important animals; the lions and the tigers, the leopards, etc. 

We couldn't resist this photocall at the zoo.

Of course we made a detour at the Chinese section to see the zoo’s main attraction, the twin male panda cubs which were born in September after artificial insemination. I think they are the only panda cubs to be born in captivity outside China. They are still in an incubator but were a lovely sight.

The attraction of Madrid's zoo, the twin male panda cubs born in September.

In the evening we had a final dinner together and again we had 2 extra guests; this time Rocío and Juli. Dear Rocío brought us a beautiful red Christmas plant and Juli did most of the washing up so their contribution was much appreciated.

And today we had to say our goodbyes after a very long morning of preparations. I couldn’t persuade them to stay any longer, mostly because Katty has a doctor’s appointment in Biarritz on Wednesday. I spent a lot of the morning on my computer downloading and copying photos for them and did something dreadful by deleting half of them permanently. I then had to download some software to recover them. All of this took me ages as well as  precious time  from being with them which was quite frustrating. Equally frustrating is that all the photos I took of them just before they left are unreadable for some stupid reason. This now means I don’t have the family portraits. Hopefully Katty can send me the similar ones they took on their camera.

The goodbyes were very emotional but a bit of fun too as at the last minute Oli had the ingenious idea of getting out some of the wigs we have in our fancy dress chest. You should have seen Ruby in green wings and a pink curly wig! The fun could not last as they had to go. Both Katty and I cried which got dear Luc crying too. I had a huge hugging session with both Luc and Sam and made them promise never to forget us. I am not their Mother so can openly say that Sam was my favourite. He is such a special sensitive child with the most beautiful little face imaginable. Just before he left he gave Oli a little toy vehicle and said it was for us never to forget him. How could ever we forget such an adorable little boy?

Sam who captured our hearts so much.

Just as I am writing this I have received a text from Katty on their way to Burgos to say they have left behind Ruby’s “essential accessories”, her doggy soft toy and blanket, both of which she cannot sleep without. I will be sending them to Paris but hopefully meanwhile she can be persuaded to live without them.

And so the lovely kiwi family who came to see us, departed in equal haste and we have all been left in a very empty emotional state. The family with their children had filled the house with joy and it feels now so  forlorn without them.

Now we have been reunited it seems so unfair to be separated again and New Zealand is so far away; a 36 hours flight they tell us! We shall just have to save up and go and visit them one day in the not too distant future before these charming children grow up. Thank goodness for Facebook through which I can keep up with their lives, albeit at a very virtual distance.  I wish them a wonderful future and will carry them forever in my heart. Goodbye darling vivacious beautiful Katty, Tony, Luc, little Sam and princess Ruby. Thank you for touching our hearts.  Please don't forget us either now that we have found you.

Au revoir

Masha

PS Here is the full selection of photos of their visit (minus the ones which are unreadable) and also a charming video of the 3 children.

Another holiday, Morocco in the news, a hand written letter, the Alfa Romeo died, dinner at El Viejo Almacén de Buenos Aires, friends in Bombay and the world rejoices at the release of San-Suu-Kyi

Dinner at El Viejo Almacén de Buenos Aires this week with Gerardo, Irene and Tomas.

Hi again my friends.

From this week’s title of news, you probably think we have been on holiday again. But that’s not the case. I was actually referring to the Bank Holiday this Tuesday celebrated in Madrid in honour of the city’s patron saint, La Almudena. Many people took Monday off also to make what Spaniards call a “Puente” or bridge - a sort of long bank holiday.

I didn’t though and went off site inspecting in Madrid with the girls from my events agency, QuintaEsencia. We were looking for a venue for the Yoigo Christmas party. They took me to see a few discotheques but truth to say I hate them and so challenged them to look for places with a view or at least some windows, not an easy task as most places are already fully booked for Christmas events. Finally we came up with the Real Café Bernabeu which overlooks the  impressive Real Madrid stadium and thus will do a football themed  party for Christmas.  We had lunch there to try out the food and it was good.

The Real Madrid stadium as seen from the Real Café Bernabeu

But Tuesday was of course a holiday for me. The highlights of my day were taking more clothes to be made smaller (that makes me so happy) and picking up my M+S parcel  from the post office with the stocking fillers for the girls that I had ordered. Tuesday’s main news on the international front had to do with deadly clashes caused by Moroccan forces as they tried to break up a Western Sahara protest camp against Moroccan rule near Laayoune; a disputed region in the area. Laayoune is a city in Western Sahara founded by the Spanish in 1928. It has been administered by Morocco since 1976 and is claimed by both the Polisario who call it the “Occupied Territories” as well as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic party as their capital.

Laayoune in Western Sahara, scene of great violence this week.

At least 5 people were killed and probably more as well as dozens injured. Little news has been able to come through because the Moroccan Government will not let the press in and are making it especially difficult for the Spanish journalists. Of course it is big news here in Spain because of the heritage of the area. Furthermore there is huge criticism of the Government for not denouncing the violence. Most probably this is because it prefers to keep the already tense relations with this neighbouring country from worsening.

The Western Sahara clashes this week between the extremely violent Moroccan forces and the Saharawi protesters

In my lunch with Marta on Wednesday, our conversation did not focus on this issue, but rather on catching up on our own news. Marta and I coincided at Nokia in the early part of this decade but have never lost touch completely. This lunch was a real reunion though as we hadn’t seen each other for nearly 2 years. Marta wanted to ask my advice on communications and events, topics she now heads up at Aegon, the insurance company she works for. My new figure caught her attention and when I explained how the Dukan diet worked, she obviously got inspired as she later went to buy the book and has already started the diet. Suzy, my daughter, also started it on Wednesday and lost 2 kilos in 3 days! Now I have an ally at home to follow the diet and compare notes. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked well for me this week, despite a huge effort and the scales today told the same story as last Sunday. Oh well, all I can do is persevere.

Wednesday was what you could also call a “red letter day”, in that I received a beautifully handwritten letter and post cards from my ex school friend Kathy. Her handwriting is so clear and neat, she could win a prize in this category. My Father who is an ex school teacher remarked it was the best handwriting he had ever seen. I don’t receive hand written letters often, a sign, of course of our times, so it was a lovely surprise when Kathy’s parcel arrived enclosing some Rioja brochures we had lent them in the summer. The post cards were from Kettlewell, a delightful village in the Dales, and Norwich, that town in England which means so much to me because of our stays there summer after summer when I was a teenager and accompanied my parents and Aunty Masha to the Norwich Russian courses. Thanks Kathy, it was lovely to receive your parcel and beautiful letter.

It was lovely to receive a beautifully hand written letter and post cards from Kathy and Phil this week

Thursday and Friday were not good days in many respects and mostly because of cars. Eladio had taken my old Alfa Romeo for its MOT, the one I inherited from my job with Motorola and the car that Olivia uses these days. It is 14 years old and didn’t pass so Eladio took it to the garage to mend. On Thursday we got the bad news that it was not worth repairing anymore. Thus we heaved our shoulders knowing this meant we would have to buy another car; probably a second hand one. We now have 3 cars for 4 drivers which may seem a luxury but isn’t if you know where we live, far from the city and tucked away in the suburbs. and we all need our full mobility independence. Olivia therefore had to use Eladio’s Volvo S60, my old Nokia car that Eladio loves so much and had the misfortune of crashing it on Friday whilst trying to park in our garage. As the Volvo is only insured for third parties, that will probably mean a hefty 1000 euros to repair the damage, which of course is more bad news for us. This happened just as we were getting ready to go out to dinner last night. To top all the bad news I then went and dropped the nail polish I was using and it splashed all over the bathroom floor. It was probably the nerves of the moment but that sort of finished me off for the day.

Luckily I had to put on a good face for the dinner and we were able to make light of our misfortunes over the table at the Argentinian restaurant, El Viejo Almacén de Buenos Aires, with our friends Gerardo, Irene and Tomas. There we had a great dinner together, including live singing and tango dancing. I have to confess I broke my diet and drank a glass of wine. All would have been well but misfortune struck again as I woke up with a huge migraine at 4 in the morning and was sick over and over again until there was nothing left inside. me. I have had a few of these episodes in the last few years but never learn that wine can have that effect on me. The next morning I made a vow not to drink wine for a long time. I consulted “Dr. Google” later about the migraines being caused by red wine and it seems it’s because of the additives, such as sulphite. Friends on Facebook have recommended organic wine. I will certainly try it.

Dinner at El Viejo Almacén de Buenos Aires with Gerardo, Irene and Tomas this week was a treat

On Saturday while we were at home, our dear Indian friend Sumit was hosting my colleague, Belén and her partner Rodrigo in Mumbai. I hesitate there as I was brought up to call it Bombay. Belén and Rodrigo are touring India and probably loving it. One stop was in Mumbai and I arranged for them to meet Sumit who I knew would be the perfect host. They went out to dinner together and judging by the pictures posted by them on Facebook they had lovely Indian food. Here is a picture of the three of them together. Thanks Sumit for looking after my friends in India.  I would have loved to have been with you.

I would have loved to have dinner with Belén and Rodrigo who were hosted by our delightful Indian friend Sumit in Bombay this weekend.

The biggest news yesterday came from an area not so far from where they were. It was the release of the Nobel Peace Laureate San-Suu-Kyi, after 7 years of house arrest in Myanmar, Burma. As she stepped out, she greeted thousands of supporters and promised to continue to fight for human rights and democracy in the military ruled country. Previously she had been imprisoned for many years and it is thanks to continued international pressure that she has finally been released. Many people rejoiced yesterday at the release of San-Suu-Kyi, sometimes called the Burmese Mandela and I was one of them.

The famous Burmese activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate San-Suu-Kyi who was finally released from house arrest

Today is Sunday. The girls have had their own agenda as usual. The weather has been awful but we bared it to join Eladio’s ex colleague Marivi in San Lorenzo de El Escorial where she has recently bought a second home. We were accompanied by her friends Isabel, a fellow teacher and Teresa, a physiotherapist. Lunch was at a lovely old inn called La Fonda de Genara where the food was delicious, quite cheap and served very quickly. The weather wasn’t good enough to enjoy the surrounding countryside so we walked quickly in the rain to visit Marivi’s new residence and of course enjoy after lunch coffee together. It is located right in the centre of the old town and even has a view of the very imposing monastery built by Philip II. It’s a treasure of a place and no doubt we shall be returning often, but probably when the weather gets better.

Lunch in San Lorenzo de El Escorial today with Marivi, Isabel and Teresa at La Fonda de Genara

It was not a good day for Fernando Alonso, the Spanish F1 driver. He was leading the general classification but had to drive his very best at the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi today to win it. Unfortunately he came in 7th and lost the overall classification and came second to Sebastian Wettel of Germany who has now become the youngest driver ever to win the Formula One. Red Bull’s Marc Webber will be equally disappointed as he lost all his chances too when he had to withdraw during the race. You can see the full results here.

And now I’m at the end of this week’s blog post. Before I sign off I must wish a very happy 40th birthday to Juana today. I hope you all have a great week ahead of you. I will be going to Roa in Burgos to a winery which is very ironic if you have read my latest experiences with wine above. And on Thursday or Friday we will be having some very important visitors. My second cousin, Katty (Zuka’s daughter – Zuka being the daughter of my Mother’s brother Nicholas (or Kolya) will be coming to stay with all her family: husband Tony and small children Luc, Sam and Ruby. They are travelling all round Europe in their camper van before finally returning in December to Tony’s native land and Spain’s antipodes; New Zealand. We very much look forward to having them and of course you will read all about their visit in next week’s post.

This week we look forward to hosting my cousin Katty, her husband Tony and children Luc, Sam and Ruby

Meanwhile, all the best

Masha

A confession from Felipe González, a quiet week, remember remember the 5th of December, an air crash in Cuba and remembering Aunty Gloria. A Papal visit, a Bahai wedding and a dog that adopted a piglet.

Aunty Gloria, my wonderful Aunt who died so tragically in an air crash with all her family in 1971

Hello again

I am writing to you this sunny Sunday morning in November after reading the papers and being astonished by the confession made my Felipe González in an interview with El País. He was the charismatic longest serving Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996. In the interview he admitted he had the opportunity once to blow up the ETA terrorist leaders. He said he didn’t do it in the end but is still not sure his decision was correct. I wonder too as they are still one of Spain’s major problems. It is a suspected fact that the German government did blow up the leaders of their terrorist group, Baader Meinhof, and I am sure Felipe González had that in mind when he was faced with the decision.

Felipe González, Spain's longest serving Prime Minister

The week as you can see in this week’s headline has been very quiet, a bit too quiet for my liking. It has been a bit uphill in many ways probably because of a lack of anything much to do. Plus the Dukan diet I am following is proving difficult. Finally though today the efforts of this week have paid off and I have now lost a total of 7 kilos. You need an awful lot of discipline and above all an iron will power to succeed with this diet. It’s no easy task I can tell you.

The excitement of the week came with an invitation to Oslo in mid December for a Communications Team Meeting. I haven’t been there since I was a teenager on inter rail and I don’t remember much. I am hoping Eladio can join me and we can spend an extra couple of days together. It will be cold but Christmassy and I much look forward to it.

Some Christmas excitement came too with the delivery of my latest Marks and Spencer online order of 6 boxes of 12 crackers each as well as wrapping paper and present labels. Good old Marks and Sparks, that’s probably one of the main things I miss from not living in the UK. I am not so happy though with Amazon.co.uk. Recently they announced free delivery to Spain for orders over 25 pounds and promised deliveries would take from 3-7 working days. I immediately took advantage and ordered 6 books (including the Dukan diet book) on 16th October. I have been waiting for them eagerly only to see yesterday on the site that they haven’t even been despatched yet. Rather disappointed I tried to find a number to call them. It’s well hidden on their site but then only works for UK customers. Further agitated I tried leaving comments on their FB and Twitter sites to complain but there has been no reaction yet. Obviously their customer care service is very lacking and I for the moment am a disappointed Amazon.co.uk customer.

More excitement came from my visit to the dentist but this time the excitement was not pleasant. Dr. Garralda extracted two roots from my mouth where eventually he will be putting in two implants. The timing was not good either as it was just before lunch on Thursday meaning I could only have cold liquid food for lunch and dinner! But thanks to gazpacho and yoghurt I survived. Luckily I am responding well and was able to have lunch out with the girls on Friday when we went to De María in Majadahonda and I was able to get one side of my teeth into a nice piece of steak with salad.

Actually Friday was the most important day of this week. In the first place it was 5th November, the traditional English Guy Fawkes day, something I also miss from not living in England and something I haven’t celebrated since I was a child. My friend Kathy reported on FB that they had baked potatoes with melted butter, steeped peas, sticky sausages, pork pies with mint sauce, I imagine with fireworks in the garden. I would have loved to have been there as I have fond memories of Bonfire night, as it also called, when I was a child in Bradford. In those days we didn’t celebrate Halloween, just Mischief Night on the 4th November (the night Guy Fawkes was caught implementing his plot to blow up the British Parliament) but the big celebration was on the 5th. I love the rhyme which I have never forgotten and which goes like this: “Remember remember the 5th November, gun powder, treason and plot, I see no reason why gun powder, treason should ever be forgot”.

Bonfire Night in England, a tradition I sorely miss

Funnily enough this year, the Indian Diwali festival (5 day festival of lights) was on the same day as Guy Fawkes and I thought of our Indian friends Sandeep and Sumit. Last year the girls were in India, staying at their home town of Chandigarh and were able to experience this amazing festival first hand. This year my friend and colleague, Belén and her partner are there right now and will also have witnessed it first hand. Great thanks go to Sumit for accepting to be their reference point when they visit Mumbai where he works as a script writer for Bollywood films.

The Diwali Festival of light was on the same day as Guy Fawkes day this year.

On Friday there was a terrible air crash in Cuba killing all 68 people on board. It was flying from Santiago de Cuba to Havana and 28 of the passengers were foreigners, probably tourists, including one Spaniard.

Every time I read or hear about an air crash I remember our own personal tragedy. I think I have only written about it once so now is the time to record it properly. On 23rd May 1971, my own family, Aunty Gloria, my Father’s only sister, her husband Uncle Derek and their children, my cousins, Jackqueline (aged 12), Michael (aged 9) and Anthony Orchard (aged 7) perished whilst landing in former Yugoslavia, in Rijeka (Croatia) on a Russian Tupolev aircraft having flown out from Gatwick airport. It was a terrible tragedy, a whole family gone in one sweep. We heard the news on the television. We knew they were going there on holiday, their first trip abroad together but we didn’t know when. Of course my Father rang them but got no answer. The next morning, I heard later, my Father received a phone call with the terrible news. My mother told me later that when he put the phone down he said: “now I only have you left”. My grandmother had just died a few months before and ironically Aunty Gloria and her family were actually able to go on holiday because they no longer had to look after her and probably because they had inherited some money.

They chose Yugoslavia, or rather the Island of Krk, because that is where they fell in love. As the papers reported, cuttings of which my Father gave to me only very recently, “Derek Orchard met and fell in love with his wife Gloria, 14 years ago, on the sunny island of Krk. They died taking their three children on a “second honeymoon” to see “daddy and mummy’s island”.

My cousins were amongst the many children who died in the aircrash, Jacqueline, Michael and Anthony Orchard.

With their death my Father had lost his whole family. First he lost his fun loving and mechanically able younger brother Raymond who died of polio when he was just 15 in the 30's.  He lost his equally fun loving and charismatic Father, my grandfather, an English canon, John Lloyd, who died of a stroke after a fall on his walk when he was only in his early 70’s. Then after his Mother, Dorothy Gertrude Lloyd, died in 1970 in her 70’s too he was to be met one more terrible blow with the death of his adored sister Gloria and her family in that terrible air crash in Yugoslavia 37 years ago.

My Father's brother Raymond just before he died aged 16 of polio in the 30s. 

I dearly loved Aunty Gloria and my cousins. They were our closest family and we would spend every Christmas with them in Ickenham where they lived. We would go on lovely outings together to places such as Burnham Beeches, Windsor or to the city of London. In the evenings we would have English tea with jam sandwiches in their very English dining room and later we would play monopoly. I always remember their address: 18 Ivy House Road. We would travel to London, to Kings Cross by train from Bradford and then take the metropolitan tube line to Ickenham. From Ickenham station it was a short walk and you could see Ivy House Road from a distance as you walked towards their house. I will never forget how we all (my Father, my Mother and my brother George) took that journey for the last time, to their funeral and how walking up the road, somewhere in my mind I hoped they would still be at their home in Ivy House Road but they weren’t.

I will never forget either the funeral at St. Giles Church in Ickenham. The place was absolutely packed and I could hardly find a seat. I know I must have cried all the way through. Aunty Gloria and her family were very active members of that church and it was a big part of their social life. They were to be missed of course but also their death was a big event in the life of the small town of Ickenham in Middlesex, just outside London.

St. Giles church in Ickenham where Aunty Gloria and her family are buried

After the funeral we went into the empty house and I walked upstairs to Jackqueline’s bedroom, my closest cousin. I was 14 when she died and she was just 12 and it felt so unfair that she would never live her life through as I thought I would. I saw her hairbrush and took some hair from it which I kept in a locket around my neck for many years. I know that my Father stayed on in the house on his own for many hours that night and it must have been terrible.

I went back once to visit their grave.  It was in May 2001 when I was in London for my own brother George's funeral.  I remember searching all over the St. Gile's churchyard together with Eladio desperate to find the little plaque which had been overgrown with moss.  Finally I found it and bent down to look.  At the time I did not remember the exact date they had died.  I looked and saw 23rd May 1971.  The day I looked was 23rd May 2001, exactly 30 years ago to the day.  It was very uncanny.

In amongst the file of letters and newspaper cuttings, I found the last letter Aunty Gloria ever wrote to my Father, one I will keep forever. Here is last side of it where you can read how they were frantically preparing for that fatal trip to Yugoslavia. I carry them in my heart and have missed them over the years, missed my cousins growing up with me and wondering what they would have done in life if they had lived. But most of all I miss my wonderful Aunty Gloria who I looked up to so much when I was a teenager. She was small and of slender stature, dark haired and a very no nonsense sort of person. She was very active, had a sense of fun and was very practical. She played the piano, played tennis and was in the ATS (The Auxiliary Territorial Service)  in the Second World War where she was a chauffeur to high up military staff. She had the sort of family values which seem to be dying out these days and above all I loved her and wish I had known her better. This is my tribute to her. The Cuban air crash brought back the very vivid memories of this tragedy, one I will and cannot ever forget.

Aunty Gloria's last letter to my Father before she met her tragic death with her family in Yugoslavia in 1971

Aunty Gloria, a practicing member of the Church of England, would not have been very interested to know that Pope Benedict XVI was visiting Spain this weekend. He landed in Santiago de Compostela yesterday and today is in Barcelona. I myself feel a little indifferent to his visit. I find the man very uncharismatic compared to  Pope John II but also cannot relate to the Catholic Church in a positive way after the issue of child abuse at the hands of poedophile clergy in Ireland and other countries and which has still not been resolved properly. I find the paraphernalia around his visit rather disturbing, the huge security needed and of course the cost involved somewhat indecent in these unstable financial times. I read somewhere that people who lived around the cathedrals he will be visiting had to have passes to go into their own homes, something I find quite unacceptable. Other people, of course will be delighted, which I fully respect.

The Pope in Spain today consecrating Gaudi's Sagrada Family unfinished cathedral

And from the Papal visit, the next topic of my blog reports on a Bahá’i wedding that took place yesterday. Olivia’s close school friend Miad, of Iranian origin, got married yesterday and Olivia was invited. In fact she was also invited to read this lovely Bahá’i marriage prayer which I helped her to practice before leaving. The marriage took place at an estate in Aranjuez in the south of Madrid. Not really knowing what a Bahá’i wedding is like, I looked it up on internet and was surprised to read that it is very simple. There are only 3 things to be respected and everything else is up to the bride and groom’s imagination. These are 1) permission from the parents to marry, 2) a short vow: "We will all, verily, abide by the will of God.", 3) this vow must be taken in front of two witnesses. I was happy to read too that Bahá’i marriages are founded on the equality of women and men. During the wedding yesterday, Miad’s father, who is a violinist in the RTVE symphony orchestra, played some lovely pieces, accompanied by a piano including one of my favourite Russian songs, “black eyes”. Otherwise the wedding was not very different from other weddings. Olivia did remark though that there was no alcohol, something the Bahá’is do not drink. Gosh, imagine a wedding without “booze”.

Oli and Begoña with Miad (in purple) in Israel last year.  It was Miad's wedding yesterday

Whilst Oli was getting ready to go the wedding yesterday, Suzy was packing to go to Lisbon with her boyfriend. They will be there until Tuesday which is a holiday in Madrid, to honour the Patron Saint, “La Almudena”. I love Lisbon and haven’t been for many years. Maybe that could be one of our next weekend break destinations. Who knows?

I am now at the end of this week’s post. So before I end, let me include a piece of news I found very amusing and also rather tender this week. It was reported on Spanish television and the BBC picked it up too. In Extremadura, in the west of the country where most of the good Spanish ham comes from, there was a story about a piglet called Bingo who must have lost its mother to the slaughter house. Amazingly it was adopted by the farm dog Diana, and joined its litter of puppies. You can see the incredibly video here. I couldn’t find any photos anywhere, so took a shot from the video to illustrate this part of my blog. Fascinating and cute don’t you think? Well certainly it is unusual.

The Spanish farm dog Diana who adopted an orphan piglet in Extramdura this week

Well that’s it for this week folks. Hope you have enjoyed the post.

All the best till next week

Masha

Good news for Juan, lunch with Laura, Oli back from Marrakech and a wet weekend in Montrondo

In Montrondo this weekend

Hello again,

Another week has passed and here I am writing to you from Montrondo. It has been raining non-stop since we got here on Friday but finally the sun is shining.

But let me start from the beginning, from where I left off last time I wrote. We had good news on Tuesday. Juan my nephew rang to tell me has been taken on as a junior account manager with Lewis PR, an English PR agency headed up by my good friend Jorge. It will be Juan’s first full time job since finishing University some 3 years ago. He has had nothing but temporary and badly paid jobs which seems to be the norm these days for young people like him. In Spain there is 20% unemployment. 15 or 20 years ago it was difficult to get a job too but there were more vacancies and fewer graduates. Today most young people in Spain have University degrees so there is more competition but on top of that there are fewer jobs going. I am very happy for him and know he will make a success from the minute he steps on the first rung of this new career ladder.

On Wednesday we had visitors from Sweden at work and one of them was Ingrid who used to head up PR at TeliaSonera. Now she is head of legal. We were much in contact at the beginnings of Yoigo and it was good to see her again. We had lunch at Illunbe and talked about how we had fared since those challenging days and it seems remarkable how we have come on since then.

The day Ingrid came to see us was also the day Argentina was to mourn the death of their ex President Nestor Kirchner and husband of the current President Cristina Fernández Kirchner. He died aged 60 of a heart attack on the census day in that country when everybody stays at home whilst 500.000 volunteers (mostly teachers) go from house to house counting people. Cristina who openly governed the country together with her husband will sorely miss him. His death, many say, marks the end of an era in Argentina.

Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández - happier days together governing Argentina

Back at home on Thursday Olivia was to return from her short holiday in Marrakech and that same day to start her new master degree in TV journalism. I didn’t actually see her until the next day as I was at work when she came. I haven’t heard much about the trip but have seen photos posted by her fellow traveller Laura on Facebook and particularly liked this one.

Oli having a whale of a time with her friends in Marrakech recently

On Thursday after a whole morning’s rather unnecessary meeting I drove to Las Rozas for my lunch appointment with Laura at La Vaca Argentina. Laura was my marketing trainee in Motorola and we have kept up ever since, albeit a little sporadically. We had a great time talking constantly throughout the lunch to catch up on each other’s news. Laura it was great, we must do this more often.

I had lunch with Laura this week. She hasn't changed since she was my trainee in Motorola more than 10 years ago

I must mention too that on Thursday after lunch with Laura I went to Villaviciosa de Odón, the town near where I live, to pick up 4 pairs of trousers that I had taken in for the second time! Yes the diet continues to work and it makes me so happy. The guy at the shop told me they could not be taken in any more otherwise the trouser pockets would coincide. Haha, thus next time I will have to buy news trousers. I also told him that my diet was good for his business and he laughingly agreed!

That brings me to the weekend as I sort of took Friday off to go to Montrondo in the morning for the bank holiday weekend as Monday 1st November is a national holiday in Spain. We left the girls behind as we did my Father. They have their own agenda but I feel a bit bad about leaving him behind. However I also know that he would not be comfortable here, mostly because the access to the house is impossible for someone his age. Furthermore he can no longer go for walks and would have been stuck in a bedroom all weekend with nothing to do except read his book. So with a heavy heart we left him behind but also comforted to know that at home he can be more independent.

We picked up my sister-in-law  Dolores at the train station and were soon on the road to the north west of Spain. Had we left in the afternoon the roads would have been congested as many Spaniards would be travelling like us for the bank holiday. We stopped just over half way to have lunch at the Parador in Benavente, a place Eladio and I are very fond of.

We stopped for lunch at the Parador in Benavente on our way to Montrondo this Friday

Soon we were in Montrondo where Dolores’ husband José Antonio (Eladio’s brother) and son Miguel were waiting for us together with Nuba their puppy. We were to stay at their house rather than the old family house both to be together but also to enjoy the modern comforts of the house they built just next to it a few years ago. They have central heating of course but also satellite television and most important of all internet.

José Antonio and Dolores' puppy Nuba in Montrondo this weekend

Montrondo was looking beautiful in its autumn colours but unfortunately it was raining the moment we got here and has only stopped this morning. As there was still some light I took a few shots of the surroundings of the house because the colours were just beautiful. Here is my favourite.

Montrondo dressed in autumn colours is spectacular

Yesterday Saturday was so wet we stayed in most of the day. In the morning Miguel and I drove to the nearby village of Senra for a coffee whilst Dolores cooked a village stew and the men went to look at one of the family plots of land in their wellies of course. Later in the evening we went for a walk in the rain to Murias and back but it was quite unpleasant and we were happy to be back in the warm kitchen where we made our evening meal. There is nowhere to go around here so of course we stayed at home and ended up watching television where I promptly fell asleep. Whilst I was sleeping the clocks went back putting an official end to Daylight Saving Time. Thus at 3 am they went back to 2 am. Of course we all woke up an hour earlier and thus have an extra hour to our day today. I am always amazed to see how my electronic equipment knows the date and automatically changes the time. Therefore I only had to change the time on my watch.

This morning the sun came out which was a huge relief. Straight after my oat bran breakfast (a bit ghastly actually) I went out to catch some more beautiful autumn colours on my camera. You can see them and the rest of the photos I took this weekend here. Except that I will be taking more today as all the family will be coming from León to join us for a huge family lunch in the old converted stasble. Right now Eladio and José Antonio are heating it up in preparation.

Finally the sun shined and I took loads of photos of the old family  house and the surroundings this morning.

Meanwhile I have come to the end of my blog in a bit of haste as I have just been told that the caravan of cars bringing everyone here is just some 15km away. Soon this place will be crowded and loud and we will all be hugging and kissing and happy to see each other again. Hopefully the sun will hold out and maybe we can all go up the mountains this afternoon for a big family walk.

Cheers to you all then from Montrondo. Until next week,

Masha