Landed in Madrid at 12:30, in Hyatt Centric by 2 p.m. A tray of ham, cheese, and olives, a bottle of wine, abowl of fruits … Well, okay, we’ll happily wait for a bigger room.
I loved this hotel the first time, I love it even more now.
On the roof staircase is a beautiful installation.
The lift well. The fan motif brings ancient traditions into the vibrant contemporary art scene.
This is what draws me to Spain. Art, crafts, excellence, poetry, heart.
Madrid offers a virtual cocktail of architectural styles. Most interesting of all is the Plateresque, a rich blend of Gothic, Mudejar, and Renaissance, which is uniquely her own.
Early evening view from our balcony.
Friday, September 24.
Friday for the Future climate defence protest march.
Sunday, 26.
A bright new day.
I had to be up early for our weekly G7 video chat. It’s Edwin’s birthday tomorrow.
At Orio on Fuencarral for oysters and cava, a few pintxos.
Monday, 27.
At the Prado. Very quiet, perfect way to enjoy any one of the world’s best art galleries.
Coffee and toast with ham and cheese in the courtyard.
Tuesday, 28.
The XCiti lunch group had a zoom September birthday party this morning but it was 4 in the morning, my time, so missed it.
Dinner at Public, our default white-tablecloth restaurant a short walk from the hotel, introduces us to the impossibly rich Tim Baon: turrones and ice cream topped with crema catalana, on a pool of dark chocolate sauce. It looks a mess but is really delicious. Too bad my diet only allows a little taste of it.
Thursday, 30.
Dinner at El Rincón de Jaén in Salamanca. Thanks for the tip, Bubut!
At the bar.
Nothing to look at, just an after work quick drink kind of place.
Oh, but the food!
A bicycle parade was underway on Gran Via as we got back to the hotel.
Friday, October 1.
At the Museo Sorolla. The studio, house, and garden of artist Joaquin Sorolla.
Staycations at GH are finally over! Thank goodness, the hotel has regained its usual calm.
Still working on Chinese brush painting. It’s incredibly more complex than I thought.
The purpose, the method, the pace are all foreign to me. Discipline, calmness, and patience are required.
My goal is not so much learning to do it well myself- it’s a bit late to start now- but just to have enough understanding of the art to be able to better appreciate masterful works.
I found this illustration of The Four Gentlemen in an online painting course. Haven’t signed up yet, but maybe I will soon.
Thursday, 2.
Lunch at Harbour Road Cafe. Half a chicken and a big mound of broccolini satisfied my craving for “that chinese style chicken that hangs in the window”.
Cindy at the cafe has now taught us how to say “Yeow Gei”.
Afternoon tea at Grand Club. Only Stuart indulged; I abstained.
The day ends with a stunning sunset…
…and a sweet surprise. ❤️
Wednesday, 8.
Back at Duck & Waffle for a lovely lunch. I think it may soon be our favourite restaurant in HongKong. I love the interior design: modern, fun, youthful, with a definite HongKong vibe; not derivative, not pretentious, superbly done.
The food of course is exceptional, striking a balance between inventive and classic. The signature dish is duck leg confit with fried duck egg and a light waffle served with a mustard maple syrup. I tried that the first time we came. Delicious, rich, and sinful.
This time, I had a kind of Japanese-style “ceviche” of yellow tail with truffle ponzu. Stuart’s salmon tartare had kimchi and seaweed mayonnaise. We both had roast sea bass fillet on a soupy bed of baby peas and tiny diced pancetta, perfect for spooning every precious morsel. I didn’t have the dessert but Stuart threatened to lick his plate after polishing off the black sesame sticky toffee pudding served with burnt honey ice cream.
Thursday, 9. BIRTHDAY!
Great things come in small packages.
The real present on the left, mini mooncakes and mini Moëts from the store. 😍
Dinner at Grissini.
Thursday,16.
Had 1st Pfizer/ BioNTech shot at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre, 2nd scheduled for October 7.
While I waited for Stuart to be officially released from his closely monitored 15 minute after-shot resting period, I looked around the sports stadium marvelling at how efficient the system here is, as was that at the airport when we arrived.
As we walked away from the vaccination centre, Stuart and I realised that we both have been thinking the same thing: it would be a culture shock for us when we land in Europe next week.
Maybe we should stay here a bit longer?
Friday, 17.
And to pursue that train of thought, we go to Discovery Bay the next day for a look-see.
Patrick, our local expert on all things real estate, meets us in Tung Chung train station where we are to catch the bus to DB.
But first, lunch. I just love the duck-lady portrait at the entrance to the restaurant!
So it’s roast duck, 3 ways, as in Peking duck. I just have to try its mean-looking head despite Stuart’s doubtful look and Patrick’s anxious “We usually just discard it…”
No guts, no glory, I say…
Interesting but most of it is just too tough to bite into.
The DB bus is full. Mostly school kids. Joyce from the local realty agency takes us to four units for sale by tender. The first two, in DB’s newest north side development “Poggibonzi” are beautiful, with great water views but one is too expensive and much too big with an estimated price of HKD26million. The other at about HKD16 million has only one bathroom. The last one, in 15 year-old “Chianti”, is ugly.
We’re hot and sweaty and can’t be bothered to see the last on Joyce’s list. We conclude that there’s really nothing here worth considering. Not at the moment anyway.
The ferry ride back is wonderful, a great way to cool off and enjoy the harbour.
Wednesday’s Europe trip is back on track.
Saturday, 18.
Oops! Spoke too soon. After a delicious sushi lunch, we decide once again to stay another month.
Sunday, 19.
Talk about plans changing by the day, our Wednesday flight to Madrid is back on!
As health issues start to dominate our weekly chats, Ezy pushes us along to fun and laughter, just enjoying being together.
Thursday, 23, 7:30 am.
