Primavera y verano, spring and summer...

I have really dropped the ball here. More than 4 months since my last post. Lots to catch y’all up on.

The big news in the spring was that, unfortunately, we were robbed while we were sleeping in our new apartment. We were really confused until we put the pieces together. School day mornings are chaotic and first thing in the morning Andreas said he couldn’t find his backpack, but we rushed around, the boys running to catch the bus and then me to Spanish class. It was a half day for the boys and then Andreas texted me that he couldn’t find his PlayStation, but I chalked that up to sibling antics. But then we found more and more things missing - Andreas’s camera, an old laptop, and, worse, my laptop. All had been taken in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. 29 years in Brooklyn and never once was I robbed. Two months in a new apartment in Madrid and boom a robbery.

We were a bit freaked out. We didn’t really know how they got inside. The police came and asked questions. The landlord felt absolutely horrible. Two fingerprint experts from the city came by and dusted windows and doors; I really wish I had gotten a picture of them, they were awesome, like Cagney and Lacey, but dressed in a funky art-school kind of way. I was concerned that had the boys gotten up in the middle of the night to get a glass of milk that there would have been a problem, but all the police we spoke to said the robbers would have taken off.

Really, everyone couldn’t have been nicer during the entire ordeal. I did have to file a report with the police which meant waiting in a dank room for hours on end waiting with other sad sacks who had been robbed. But in the end it appers the robbers entered through the front door as we hadn’t double-locked the door and apparently its not so difficult to get in. The guy who lives on the top floor of the building even said he has come out of his apartment as people are trying to break in, which is disconcerting of course. We just have to make sure to double-lock the doors.

Other than the robbery, of course, spring was great. The boys continue to be very content in Madrid. Life is good here. I know I’ve posted pictures of the great barber that we found in the Lavapies neighborhood, but the video below captures the experience even better. Its never quiet, always full of life and children crawling over patrons waiting for their turns in the chair.

Markus finished his soccer year with his high school team losing in the finals, which was ok, it was a great year. The school team became “Getafe International” which is exciting, as Getafe is probably the 3rd or 4th best professional team in Madrid. His coach set up an opportunity for Markus to practice with the federated Getafe team, but he ended up sitting on the bench for 88 of the 90 minutes of practice, which was disappointing.

Andreas continued to play tennis a few times a week at Chamartin. We love the tennis coach he found. Guilhermo is a really great guy and I’m going to try to set up private lessons with him in the fall. Like the soccer field, it is a pain in the neck to get to the tennis courts. I seem to be in a Respiro car nearly every day. I have found a great way to wile away the hours while Andreas is playing tennis, however. Right next to the tennis courts is a restaurant La Terracería where I can enjoy a great evening meal.

Salmorejo, una clara, aceitunas, y El País!

We continue to love our neighborhood - it is very central, we can walk almost everywhere but at the same time it is close to public transportation. Our apartment is also half a block from Paseo de Recoletos, which is where all the big parades happen. This was the celebration when Real Madrid won the Champion’s League in May, just half a block from the apartment.

Markus graduated from Middle School at the end of the school year, and there was a ceremony to salute the achievements of those in 8th grade. We went to El Corte Ingles to get him a suit and he looked sharp. Nice kids in his class - he’s made really nice friends at school. We’re really happy with the decision to come to Madrid and we are going to stay until Markus finishes high school (in 2022, which will be here in the blink of the eye). There is no reason for us to move when the situation for him is so good.

After school was over, but before we went back to the US for the summer, the big news is that Ana and Murat got married. The event was just spectacular, like out of some movie that one couldn’t believe was real. A daughter, Emma, of Ana’s friend Tami from South Carolina came to intern with Ana a month before the wedding and she and Andreas hit it off like a house on fire, they spent a lot of time together. Then Tami came in from Athens GA and she and I hit it off like a house on fire. It was just a great time, hanging out with really good people in Madrid before we drove down to Peñarrubia for the celebration. Ana’s house in Peñarrubia was bursting with summer energy. So beautiful.

Below are just some of the amazing pictures from that weekend. Andreas took a lot of those below and they were very sharp, although he did gravitate towards the youth at the party…

Under the grape vines on Ana’s glorious deck pre-wedding. Idyllic.

Mateo, Markus and Emma at river’s edge in Peñarrubia

An evening of Palomas, overlooking the town, the evening before the wedding.

Que rico! Dinner outside Delfin’s the night before the wedding - good food, good drinks, good people, all good.

Andreas and Emma before the big ceremony!

a friend, Nur (Murat’s daughter), and Emma, all radiant.

The day after the wedding we drove back to Madrid, spent one night, and then flew to JFK. We met Dayo at JFK and left Markus with him, then Andreas and I continued to SFO. Markus was signed up for a week of soccer camp with the Red Bulls in the Bronx, which he was excited about. Andreas and I spent a few days in Piedmont with bestefar ane then we drove up to Tahoe. Markus flew to Reno the following week.

It was an insanely glorious month I spent at Tahoe. Andreas was a counselor for 4 weeks at a tennis camp so I hardly saw him at all. Markus spent a week in New York, a week with me at the cabin, and a week in overnight camp, so I had two whole weeks with no children! It was incredible. Maybe a few years ago I would have thought “I’m a loser, I have no friends, I’m lonely.” Now I’m thinking how I can keep them in overnight camp even more weeks so I have a little R&R. It was just me and the dog for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. Absolute heaven. I swam in the lake every morning, sat on the deck and read the newspaper, and worked at a leisurely pace. I ate well, not having to fill my active kids with endless pasta and carbs. It was just great.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I’m in awe of the cabin. My dad did such an incredible job on the place. I have never seen another house at Tahoe that is better. And it means even more to me now. People ask me where I am from. Where am I from? What is home? I’m from California, but it doesn’t define me. I lived 29 years in Brooklyn and I feel my years in Brooklyn defined me, but I’m not “from” there. Where is home? To me, Tahoe is home. My parents built the place in 1974 and I have spent my life going there. Tahoe is home.

The only downside to the month was the smoke. There were fires all over California. At first, there was only the fire near Yosemite, so when the wind blew north it filled the basin with smoke. Then we had the Carr fire near Redding in the north, so no matter which way the wind moved the basin was filled with smoke. Some days were really bad, and I didn’t go swimming because the air was so bad.

As in the last few summers, our friends Yael and Itai came from Brooklyn for a week. It is always great having them - they are such great guests. Yael gushes about how beautiful everything is, and its true, just so beautiful. We now have our favorite haunts to hit while in the area: Asian Crawfish Cuisine in Reno, Moe’s Barbecue in Tahoe City, and Tacos Jalisco in Truckee. And we always hit Savers in Reno, the best thrift shop I have ever found. I stocked up on more $5 retro short-sleeved shirts.

This year we made a big discovery at Tacos Jalisco! When we arrived everyone seemed to be drinking this weird concoction, so we ordered “one of those.” It was a Michelada, something like a Mexican Bloody Mary that was made with beer instead of vodka. It was kooky to me, but Yael loved them!

The boys flew back to New York with Yael and Itai, and spent two weeks with Dayo in Fort Greene. I drove down to Piedmont and spent two weeks with my dad, which was great. He is doing great, 90 and still going strong. His memory isn’t as it was, but he is healthy without any pain. I swam at the pool most mornings and hung out with dad, taking it easy. We had two great meals going out. First, we met Jack, my dad’s amazing accountant, in San Francisco at a place called Fang on Howard Street. We ate like kings and the food was amazing. So great to have real Chinese food.

Then we found another place on Piedmont Ave, just my dad and me. We watch a lot of television together in Piedmont, lots of Jeopardy, and, unfortunately, lots of Wheel of Fortune which I can’t stand, especially in that it comes right after Jeopardy. But a local show I enjoy is called Check Please Bay Area where locals talk about their favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. This is how we found Ba-Bite, an Israeli place. It was probably too casual for my dad, we had to wait in line and order at a counter. But the food was great and I was thrilled to have some good authentic hummus!

After two weeks in Piedmont I flew to JFK to spend a week in Brooklyn. I stayed with Hannah on Carlton and it was so great staying with her. I was running around like crazy seeing friends and eating great food. Maisa and Carlos had the boys and I over for a great dinner one night. Had brunch with Wanda and Lisa at the diner in Fort Greene. Had a great dinner with Julie and Dayo at Speedy Romeo’s in Brooklyn. Dinner with Mookie at Aux Epices in Chinatown. Lunch with Hannah at Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles also in Chinatown. I mean an amazing week with amazing friends and amazing food. It was glorious, seeing all these wonderful people. I managed to combine the things I miss the most when I’m in Madrid - my amazing friends and amazing food in New York.

With Hannah at Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles in Chinatown

With Julie and the Boys outside Speedy Romeo’s

It was just a great summer. But I look forward to the structure of fall!