The Kindness of Strangers

I have had a wonderful time here at The Mill- Mercedes has taken me under her wing and we have had such a hoot trying to communicate when neither of us speaks the others language well (or at all really). She has been married to max for 38yrs and they have a happy relaxed marriage in which they laugh together a lot. Its funny that even without language many things are communicated if you are still and just observe. She has twin daughters, one of whom is getting married next month at The Mill. Her mum has just had a hip operation and she is living for now, with her youngest sister, Roseanna. Roseanna is a compulsive cleaner and so her house is 'perfecto', but it is the eldest sister, Eva, who actually takes care of their mother. Her brother has some sort of genetic disorder and although independent, will never marry. Mercedes laughs at her parents' dispositions and says her mum always sees things through black glasses whilst her dad sees everything through pink! Her mum has been a 'health freak' and is always ill whilst her dad smokes 60 a day and is always well.
It was fun trying to explain what Eleanor studied at University because she couldn't distinguish between 'Classics' and 'glasses'. We laughed a lot about that one.
Anyway this morning Mercedes was going into Leon to see her mama and asked me to go along, so at 10am this morning I found myself in a car heading for Leon, a beautiful city that I had just walked through but hadn't stopped in. She dropped me off with an arranged pick up time for 1 hr later and I spent the time in stunning Leon Cathedral which has the most beautiful stained glass windows I have ever seen- and in abundance. In the background gregorian chants are playing and it is a 'divine' experience. I pay to go into the cloisters and sit there in splendid isolation soaking up the beauty of carved stone and the history of years of prayer. After our rendezvous, Mercedes takes me to the Parador San Marco, which is found in the old palace of a 16th century king which was later given to the monks for a monastery- monks who fought with swords (just like Palestine today, I was told). This building is amazing and I am treated to a glass of rose with tapas in the bar. But here the treat begins because Mercedes knows the concierge well so we are given a guided exclusive tour to all the parts that tourists never see- and those that they do, including the hotels exclusive suite consisting of a 4 poster bed and 4 adjoining rooms- a bit like those shoots in american political movies, except we are in the middle of deep history here with a church and cloisters exclusive to the building. We then return to earth with a bump and go to Lidl!
I had given up hope of ever finding a decent Spanish breakfast as the Spanish do not do breakfast. With hope I would go down in the morning to find the same husky dried bread of yesterday served with packet jam and a cafe con leche. My eternal hope reminded me of Sol when he was little opening a whole box of tampons, taking every wrapper off every tampon, hoping that one would reveal a toy car or something only to find yet another boring cardboard tube. Still he didn't give up! Well today my hope paid off as Mercedes is an excellent cook and for breakfast I had home-made cake and fruit and egg and toast and home-made plum jam with proper, real coffee. YUM!
Feeling a little weak but MUCH better, Katex