Celia, Abrao,
Last Friday while visiting Sevilla we were invited for lunch with Maru, Aurelia’s cousin and the widow of a former general in the Spanish Air Force during the Franco dictatorship. Aurelia and Maru had not met for 60 years. Also present were Luis, Maru’s son and Anna his girlfriend. Most of the conversation was about Manzanillo in Cuba where Aurelia’s father and Maru’s mother were born while their fathers were serving there in the Spanish Army. There was a discussion of their great grandmother, La Creolla who provided some of her descendants green eyes and a lighter skin colour, heightened by a generous, and at the time scandalous DNA contribution provided by an Irishman also living in Cuba.
Maru is 91 years old, she has all her own teeth and no family doctor since she never visited one. Only recently has she begun to forget things and sometimes repeat herself. Rosario her live in house keeper, a tiny lady dressed in a blue work smock, is only 85 and has worked for Maru for 65 years. Rosario, assisted by Anna set the table with an embroidered linen table cloth and matching napkins and after a round of tapas type snacks and a bottle of good red wine served us a beautiful paella. After that she provided a plate of cheese and a bowl of fruit and went off and came back with Maru’s cigarettes, cigarette holder, ashtray and lighter. Maru attributes her longevity to the fact that she does no exercise, eats no vegetables, drinks no water, only wine, the occasional whisky and smokes 6 cigarettes a day.
We ended the evening in our small hotel bar where the entertainment was provided by a spirited and talented young lady singing flamenco accompanied by a very good guitarist. We bought a whisky for a fellow hotel guest and tourist at the bar, a Japanese lawyer and one more was all he needed to decide to show his moves and join the local flamenco dancers. He was still charming one of the ladies when we left.
A popular form of tourist travel around Malaga is escorted groups riding Segway scooters. But for the first time the other day in Sevilla I saw a young guy go racing by on a single wheel Segway type device, controlling it by leaning in one direction or another. I sure would like to try it, but then I thought the same thing when I saw some kite surfers hurtling through the breakers in really high winds this morning. I had a cappuccino instead in a Parador (hotel) overlooking Malaga.
More later,
Last Friday while visiting Sevilla we were invited for lunch with Maru, Aurelia’s cousin and the widow of a former general in the Spanish Air Force during the Franco dictatorship. Aurelia and Maru had not met for 60 years. Also present were Luis, Maru’s son and Anna his girlfriend. Most of the conversation was about Manzanillo in Cuba where Aurelia’s father and Maru’s mother were born while their fathers were serving there in the Spanish Army. There was a discussion of their great grandmother, La Creolla who provided some of her descendants green eyes and a lighter skin colour, heightened by a generous, and at the time scandalous DNA contribution provided by an Irishman also living in Cuba.
Maru is 91 years old, she has all her own teeth and no family doctor since she never visited one. Only recently has she begun to forget things and sometimes repeat herself. Rosario her live in house keeper, a tiny lady dressed in a blue work smock, is only 85 and has worked for Maru for 65 years. Rosario, assisted by Anna set the table with an embroidered linen table cloth and matching napkins and after a round of tapas type snacks and a bottle of good red wine served us a beautiful paella. After that she provided a plate of cheese and a bowl of fruit and went off and came back with Maru’s cigarettes, cigarette holder, ashtray and lighter. Maru attributes her longevity to the fact that she does no exercise, eats no vegetables, drinks no water, only wine, the occasional whisky and smokes 6 cigarettes a day.
We ended the evening in our small hotel bar where the entertainment was provided by a spirited and talented young lady singing flamenco accompanied by a very good guitarist. We bought a whisky for a fellow hotel guest and tourist at the bar, a Japanese lawyer and one more was all he needed to decide to show his moves and join the local flamenco dancers. He was still charming one of the ladies when we left.
A popular form of tourist travel around Malaga is escorted groups riding Segway scooters. But for the first time the other day in Sevilla I saw a young guy go racing by on a single wheel Segway type device, controlling it by leaning in one direction or another. I sure would like to try it, but then I thought the same thing when I saw some kite surfers hurtling through the breakers in really high winds this morning. I had a cappuccino instead in a Parador (hotel) overlooking Malaga.
More later,
John