For the last three weeks the sleepy village of Santolaya de Cabranes (pop. 174) has been home to 26 university students drawn from the four corners of Spain, participants in a summer theatre workshop camp which culminated in a hugely successful performance of ‘teatro en la calle’ on Friday night. The picturesque village served perfectly […]
Fame At Last?
February 8, 2012 by · 2 Comments
I got a call from a tv producer today. No, really. Ok, it was only from our local tv station, TPA (Televisión del Principado de Asturias) but nonetheless. (Just to put things into perspective one of their ‘programmes’ is actually an hour-long feed of live web-cam images from the beach. Not that they’re desperate to […]
The Things Kids Say (And Husbands Don’t)
January 30, 2012 by · 4 Comments
So, it’s Sunday morning and owing to a (yet to be proved right) rubbish weather forecast we are actually heading down to town from our hill-top hovel rustic cottage rather than out to the mountains for our usual weekend climbing. In honour of the occasion (and just in case I bump into anyone I know) […]
An Octopus-y Odyssey
January 28, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
The 25th January was Richie’s birthday and after a nutritious breakfast of flumps (Jack’s marshmallowy and only ever so-slightly self-interested birthday present to his father) the day progressed into a galloping gourmand gourmet odyssey. It was a gloriously sunny day as we headed to Gijon, which with its beaches, restaurants and the best play park […]
Rules of the Road
January 21, 2012 by · 7 Comments
So, yesterday, I was driving in town and as I approached a Stop sign two Trafico cars (Spanish traffic police, as you’ve probably guessed already) drove past me. Cue accelerated heart rate and butterflies in my stomach. (I’m the same walking through Customs. I blame my Irish Catholic upbringing – it’s made me so good […]
Spanish Home Cooking – Croquetas
January 18, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Today I feel like a real Spanish mamá. I just cooked some croquetas from chicken left-overs. It doesn’t get much more Spanish than that. Well, except maybe if I cooked it whilst wearing a supremely practical blue housecoat. And in a spotlessly clean house….Well, anyway…..today I cooked croquetas. And they were great. Croquetas are a […]
From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
September 16, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
After spending much of yesterday salivating over the prospects of some highbrow intellectual stimulation courtesy of the NY TimesTalks this weekend at the Centro Niemeyer, 10pm saw me installed on the sofa ready to relish some ‘telebasura’ (trash tv to non-Spanish speakers). Telecinco’s Acorralados premiered last night and I have to say that I was excited to […]
Gramedo Fiesta
October 22, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Last Sunday, 19th October, was the day of La Fiesta de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, the patron saint of our parish of Gramedo and Giranes. Despite being a country backwater and sadly depopulated, come fiesta time the loyal sons and daughters of the parish come back from the cities and towns to celebrate their roots […]
