Marie's Web Log

Read all the way down - there's a bonus photo at the bottom.

We got back on Monday at midnight from two days in Madrid. No, it didn't rain - the weather was lovely, 25 degrees and sunny, with a bit of a breeze. We stayed in a hotel just outside the centre, but on the Metro line. There was a children's play park just outside the hotel, which was useful, as we took Amelia with us. She was very well behaved, although she hated the take-off and landing of the plane on the way out. She's so old now (at two and a half!) that she has to have her own seat, and she didn't like being buckled in. On the way back she was OK though.

We enjoyed strolling through the big park in Madrid, watching the boaters on the lake and the puppet shows, and sitting in the shade drinking beer and iced tea. We managed to pop into a couple of art museums (Madrid has more than 30, apparently) - not for long, but long enough to see Picasso's Guernica (huge, and done in shades of grey and black and white - for some reason I always think of it as being in colour, maybe because the subject is so graphic) and some works by Valasquez and other Spanish painters from the 16th to 18th centuries. (You never knew I was so arty, did you? I took an Art History course at university many years ago, and sometimes I still recognize paintings from it.)

The only drawback really was the food. We knew it would be heavily based on meat and therefore a challenge for us, but we thought there would be at least some seafood or non-meat choices (it is a big city, after all). But it was pretty much meat, meat, meat. Add to that the fact that the restaurants don't open until 9pm for dinner - not ideal when you're travelling with a toddler. We survived mostly on white bread and cheese, and some crackers and fruit we'd brought from home (and the hotel breakfast!).

We had one bad hour on Sunday during which Amelia spilled a glass of red wine at a tapas bar (too young to be drinking, I know), we then went to another cafe to eat where we found bits of plastic in our paella, and then Amelia knocked over a mug in a shop and chipped it. At least we didn't have to pay for the plastic food or the damaged mug!

The "Madrilianos" loved Amelia. The Spanish culture is very family-based of course, and they seem to dote on children. People couldn't help stopping to talk to Amelia, or pinch her cheek. Often strangers would (almost absent-mindedly) reach down and pat her head as we walked by. We did experience some of this when she was younger in Canada, but not so much since we've come to England. Perhaps the natrual reticience of the British is to blame.

I'd forgotten how much security there is in European cities. There's always some terrorist group or other trying to blow things up. Case in point - I see on the CBC web site that a car bomb went off today in Madrid. In the nothern part, not the centre, but still.

Amelia is going through a period of not wanting to go to bed (have I mentioned this already?). It's very light here in the evenings, and will keep getting lighter until the solstice. She has just fallen asleep on the sofa (it's 10 pm). Ian is watching the Liverpool vs. Milan football match on TV. (Soccer, that is, for those who care about that sort of thing.)

More soon...

Bonus photo:

Posted by marie at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Really having trouble forcing myself to sit down at the computer, especially in the evenings. Having the "office" in the living room is not conducive, somehow...

Last Thursday we went to Bude, on the north Cornish coast, about and hour and twenty minutes' drive from here (depending on how many roadworks there are on the tiny back roads). The tide was out and the muddy flats stretched for what seemed like miles, with bands of rough dark rock thrown up across them. They have a "sea pool" which is set up like an outdoor swimming pool, but filled with sea water - except when the tide is out!

Then we drove further up the coast to Clovelly, which is in Devon. It's a tiny former fishing village built on the most incredibly steep cobbled street you have ever seen. The people who live there use donkeys or sled-like contraptions to haul things up and down - or they take their landrovers down the other road that goes directly to the beach. It's obviously a popular destination, because they have installed a visitor's centre at the top and charge an entrance fee to get into the village. So it's part tourist attraction and part somewhere people actually live. Very interesting to see, if a bit hard on the legs climbing back up holding a 24-pound toddler.

Speaking of which - Amelia is doing fine. She seems to be going through another growth spurt, and her eternal teething is still going on, which is making her a bit cranky. She has learned to say "excuse me" which is really funny - she says it to the cats when she has to walk by them, "Excuse me, Jamu," and sometimes to inanimate objects, "Excuse me, book"! When we were in Clovelly, she walked up the hill past some people coming down, and she said quite loudly, "Excuse me! Excuse me!," as if she were a royal party coming through.

She also now says "Thank you mummy," and "Thank you daddy," which is very cute, especially since she says it with such sincere expression.

Can't think what else there is to say. Weather here still cool, but trees and countryside have become very lush and green, almost overgrown already. Lilacs and irises are in bloom.

Tired - all for now.

Posted by marie at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll post some others below - just click on the links.

Last weekend we went to the Eden Project in Cornwall - finally, I've been to Cornwall. The Eden Project, for those who don't know, is an eco-friendly, environment supporting giant greenhouse - well, two actually, and they don't look like regular greenhouses, more like big, honeycombed pods. There will be photos of them, eventually. If only I had a digital camera, my photos wouldn't lag behind so much.

Yesterday Amelia went to a birthday party held a local sports centre. The birthday boy was the three-year-old brother of a litle boy she goes to day care with. They had set up a bouncy castle and other play equipment in part of the gym, which was great for the kids to run around in. Though Amelia wasn't too interested, until I got her Ivor, her little red teddy bear, from the car, and she made him go down the small plastic slide. She did sit at the table though, and ate a fair amount of chocolate cake.

At various times people have commented that Amelia must be picking up an English accent, but up until now it's been impossible to tell. However, she has started saying "Oh dear," which is funny enough in itself, but she pronounces it "oh dee-ah," sounding very British. Hee hee. Some of her other frequent expressions are "cup of tea," "beach," and "pub," which tells you something about her parents' favourite activities.

My play writing course through the Open University starts this week. I've already received some materials in the post and checked out the course web site. As it's a university level course, it is fairly structured, which comes as a bit of a shock after some of the other, more informal writers' workshops I've done. I think it will be good.

For those who don't know, in reference to my last post from almost a month ago (!) - no, I didn't get the job. I wasn't good at the interview, and also there was an internal applicant.

Cherry trees are in bloom now, and the tulips are out in full force, with most of the trees also in leaf. Weather hasn't been too warm, though. Went down to the seaside today but it was a bit windy and cold.

More photos from around Easter:

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On the "goat walk" on the estuary at Topsham - that's my mother with us.
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One of the dutch houses, Topsham. (Doesn't look much like England, does it?)
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Posted by marie at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)