Part 135
IT was February 2002. Cecilia and I took a plane to Manila for the birthday of Doña Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra. Her daughter Ana Maria Manguerra had organized a luncheon at the Chinese restaurant of the Mandarin Hotel.
After that, since it was nearby, we dropped by the Spanish embassy. We were asked if we’d attend the anthology of the zarzuela directed by Spanish Ambassador Tomas Rodriguez at the Cultural Center of the Philippines the next evening.
How could we? The next day we were returning to Cebu where we expected the visit of the Chamber Orchestra of El Ampurdan. The performance, presented by the Arts Council, would be at the Casino Español de Cebu.
We were told that Queen Sofia of Spain was in Viet Nam and would have wanted to attend the zarzuela event. Logistics did not allow it and maybe some problem with protocol. I said why not send her to Cebu for the concert at the Casino Español. She stayed on in Viet Nam.
The Chamber Orchestra of El Ampurdan was conducted by Carles Coll. At one point of the program he said it was the birthday of his wife who was on front row. He said he would make the dedication in Catalan, never mind if nobody understood him.
“I will understand,” boomed my father, Santiago Picornell, 90 at that time, and also seated on front row. Carles Coll told me to look him up in Figueras if ever I went to Gerona in Spain. It was a prophetic invitation.
In March 2002 Cathay Pacific invited some travel agents and media friends to Hong Kong and then to London. Connie Cimafranca accompanied the group. I asked to prolong my return as after our days in London I wanted to make a side trip to Spain.
We were shown the usual sights in Hong Kong and treated to very good Chinese cuisine. There was also free time for shopping. I went to the Kowloon branch of Chinese Arts and Crafts, where I saw a pile of cashmere sweaters at a very low price.
Are they really cashmere? The salesgirls said yes, but that they were on sale because they were out of fashion. They all had turtle necks. I got several, and was happy with the purchase. They’d come in handy sooner than I imagined.
When we got to London Marget Villarica got in touch with Kri-Kri Garcia, Tony and Lucy’s daugther, who was studying there at the time. She facilitated for us to get tickets to see two outstanding musicals – The Liong King, and My Fair Lady.
It was relatively early when we got to our hotel, and our rooms would not be ready until noon time. Many of us left our luggage and went to walk around the neighborhood, map in hand so that we’d not get lost.
The Marks and Spencer store was a magnet, if only because they have good shirts and fine underwear. I gravitated to a bookstore where I found something, and entered a record store where I got the entire collection of Ricky Nelson’s compact discs.
I saw a fruit stall selling luscious plums and got myself a bag. There was a bench with shade some where and there I sat to flip through the book and inspect the Ricky Nelson CDs as I munched on the plums.
On our second day in London we were booked for a tour of Oxford, Warwick Castle, and Stratford-on-Avon to visit the house of Shakespeare. The three places were most interesting, specially Warwick Castle, famous for being the center of the Edwardian era, 1900 – 1910.
One day as we walked toward the Thames for a cruise on the river, Mayen Tan and I passed by the Haymarket Theatre and noted they were showing the Oscar Wilde play “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” starring Vanessa Redgrave.
For a brief moment we detached ourselves from the group and obtained tickets to that evening’s presentation. The rest of the group had plans of going to “Mama Mia,” featuring the Abba hits.
True to form, Vanessa Redgrave was stupendous. She is so tall she dominated the scene, and was sheer delight in the title role. After that Mayen and I indulged ourselves in a typical British meal, Fish ‘n’ Chips.
Moving around London we learned to take the tourist bus, two decks of it, with stops at the most important areas. That’s how I got myself to Harrods, for one more book, and for two bottles of Aramis Devin.
The salesman was a young Arab with a thin moustache. I indicated I wanted two bottles of a favorite scent and he said, “Did you know this is the only place in the world where you can buy Aramis Devin?”
“Yes,” I answered, “And since I don’t know when I can come again, I want two.” Whereupon he once more said, “Do you know that if you buy two, you are entitled to a gift?”
“Oh yes,” I responded, and recalling my experience at that same counter in 1997, said, “But I don’t want a golf umbrella.” He smiled and said, “I will give you a nice bag with many things for your wife.” That’s how I brought Cecilia a pile of Estee Lauder products.
The day came for the group to return to Hong Kong and Cebu. I said goodbye to them and took a plane to Madrid, arriving there in the early evening. On board I read the Spanish daily ABC and found out there was the Berlin Ballet performing Swan Lake at Teatro de la Zarzuela.
In Madrid I stayed at the apartment where my niece Ana Maria Escaño and her Mexican friend Gloria Santillan were assigned as volunteers of the international secretariat of the Vincentian Marian Youth Movement. It was in a very good location and near everything that mattered in Madrid.
First thing we did was to go out on the town and find a nice place where we could have a glass of chilled white wine and some delicious tapas. We also found out that there was just one ticket left for the next evening’s performance of Swan Lake. I got it.
I got to meet Ana and Gloria’s friends in Madrid – Pablo, Dani and Antonio. Together we’d take long walks all over. I also visited the secretariat and met Sor Asun, the nun who supervised some of the activities. The place was an old palace which a nobleman had donated to the Daughters of Charity. Nearby was the church of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
I had made plans to spend a few days in Zaragoza with my cousins Marilar and Luis San Gil. One night Marilar arranged to have dinner at a favorite tapas bar with her brother Hugo Perez and sister Victoria.
It was the first time we met since the death of our beloved aunt Maria Luisa Rodrigues in 2008. We sat there recalling anecdotes, at first laughing about many funny situations and remembraces. In the end we became teary-eyed but we quickly regained our composure.
In Zaragoza I was able to see Cecilia’s best friends, dentist Beatriz Arrieta, and Puri Alejandre. I was also able to make short trip to Calamocha in the province of Teurel with my cousins Ismael and Maria Rodriguez, and their children Juan and Cecilia.
Calamocha is always very cold, and I had come prepared. When I got off the bus I put one more turtle-necked cashmere sweater, but when I went out of the bus station to walk to Ismael’s house I had to put on one more to protect me from the cold.
When they saw me, Ismael and Maria asked how I braved the cold in a sweater. “No, I have three, “I said, showing them the layers – beige, maroon, yellow.” I still have one more in the bag,” I bragged about my out-of-fashion purchase in the Hong Kong Chinese Arts and Crafts store.
