The organist librarian

20.9.17 Arriving for breakfast at 7.50 I was asked if we slept in! Left at 9 a,m, to go to Mijas a charming village with great views which has a grotto 15th century discovery of a statue of Mary. Walked round the town and had coffee. Bought a ceramic cross. Found out too late there is a Picasso ceramic museum! To Grenada - hotel in the centre. Tapas and wine at El Corte Inglese and sandwich. 4.45 to the Alhambra which was the top highlight of the trip. Amazing decoration and lovely gardens. Guide Christina very good and not so hot at that time.  Quite a walk. To church next to hotel preparing for patronal feast of Grenada St Marie. Fountain. Ate at the hotel good meal grilled vegetables, fish and chocolate brownie. Liz had cold cuts (too much!) 

19.9.17 To Malaga alcazar good views and military museum with town model and soldiers in uniform. Good guide. Birthplace of Picasso has some etchings. Roman theatre. Wine cooled muscadel delicious at El Pipi. Past cathedral but why did we not have an hour free time to visit Picasso museum or other sights? Cold swim. Drink before dinner and a very good buffet. 

18.9.17 From Seville to Gibraltar. Quicker to walk over border waving passport. Small buses drove across aiprot runway. Europe point with view to Africa. St Michael's cave and macaques. Crowded Main Street from cruise liners. RC and Anglican cathedrals and the excellent Gibraltar museum. Ice cream. People were disappointed. To Torremelinos and big hotel balcony and beach view. Went to excellent restaurant on beach and had anchovies, prawn and avocado salad and swordfish. Much cheaper than the tour extra outing which would have cost 110E. 

17.9.17 early start and another highlight of the trip Cordoba. Excellent guide whose family have been guiding for generations. she is 43 and expecting first baby. Mesquita/cathedral is stunning (was largest mosque in the world) amazing that so much as kept and just covered up and we also saw the synagogue. Back in time for 12 noon Mass which we watched on a screen in side area. Bishop, choir, organ - Bach at end and spoke briefly to the organist before we were ushered out. Icecream and back to Seville. Outdoor pool at hotel cold. To Piazza de Espana built for 1929 exhibition amazing buildings and fountain and then to excellent restaurant for tapas, lots of wine and sherry. Guitarist/singer good. Home in horse and carriage (never done that before!) Special! 

16.9.17 Early start and 2 stops for coffee and snacks and icecream to get to Seville. Gloria the guide and group photo taken outside bullring. A good tour of the huge cathedral third largest in the world after St Peter's and St Paul's. Walked through former Jewish quarter and Santa Cruz area. Very nice modern hotel. Tea. To Flamenco show with dinner which was not that great but the dancing and playing including a Carmen sequence were excellent. Sangria on our return to the hotel.

15.9.17 Good breakfast including fried egg. Tour of Lisbon but guide talked too much. Belem watchtower, Navigators monument, Jeronimos monastery church very crowded. Tomb of Vasco da Gama and poet Luis de Camoes. Delicious Pasteis de Belem. To Cascais along the coast and tour of Palace of Quezal which has been well restored. Not a patch on Versailles or Schonbrunn or St Petersburg. Nce gardens but very few seats. Sardines and beer for lunch (very quick service) Santini icecream. View of farthest point West of European continent same latitude as New York! Lovely day but windy. To supermarket to get food and mateus rose wine. To hotel Don Pedro spa. 

14.9.17 2 hours in coach to reach Fatima one of the highlights of the trip. It is huge but impressive. Mass starting in the new basilica which has a wonderful golden design right above the sanctuary. Some good singing, sadly a digital organ. Not keen on wax candles and effigies being burnt in the flames but at least the wax is recycled. Original basilica has lovely stained glass and a pipe organ and stations about Mary and Jesus but not including the wedding at Cana! I missed the graves of the children who saw the appearances! I wondered why people were gathered there. Stations in the colonnades  are very fine. Chapel of Peace Mass in English. Liz went to communion and to her annoyance was told to receive on the tongue. Bought souvenirs. To Ovidos pretty and touristy had coffee and cake and finally got into the church which has amazing tiles. Arrived at Lisbon hotel hot and found pool closes at 7. To Cascais for a good fish dinner over the bridge - crab, fish lots of wine and good com

13.9.17 To Porto nice drive at 9 with a couple of stops. Acorn trees for pigs, eucalypts introduced from Oz. Hotel out of town and new. Walked into town but seedy and rundown with tramps. We had a good lunch on river front sardines and verde white wine. To Ferreira port for tour and tasting - very good (bought some duty free at Barcelona!) 

12.9.17 Departure from Madrid delayed as some too ill to travel and caught up with us later.To Toledo - great view of the city and the River Tagus which we saw later in Lisbon. Sword and jewellery shop and saw it being made. Walking tour with Henrique good they have escalators and some hills. Passed a lot of churches and museums but we did see El Greco's masterpiece at San Tome. We walked back to see the free part of the huge cathedral (5th largest in the world). OTT. Good that the King's door became the Holy Door last year. Coffee and cake in square. Drove over Sierra pass. View of Avila and fresh orange juice and on to Salamanca. 5* Palace hotel. Peter led a walk to Plaza Major (dreadful music going on) new cathedral (astronaut on door carving) and huge carvings on West door. Found the frog on the skull carved on University entrance. Back to Cafe Real on Plaza Major. Great location and the free concert was not too bad. Service very poor. Liz could not eat prawns and calamari

11.9.17 Good breakfast woke in night. Coach tour of old Madrid stopping to see Cervantes monument. Guide Sergio got us in front of Las Meninas before other groups. I stayed in the Prado and Liz went to Segovia. Great colelction sketched El Grecos but not enough places to sit.Lovely Goyas, Velasquez, one Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Titians, Tintorettos. To Museo Thyssen-Bomemisza which covers all periods. Impressionists, Cubists, Caravaggio Had coffee and salad at Starbucks. Walked round the Royal Botanical garden - it was hot -  two sketches. To Museo Sophie Reine which is huge and not very well signed. Miros, Picassos including Guernica. Lee Lozana special exhibition just plain rude and crude. 4th floor even more modern stuff but had had enough! Tired and back to the hotel which is very well placed. Liz bought delicious Segovia confectionery. Excellent dinner at Plaza Major with singing and guitars. Tapas, lamb (too much) millefeuille. Sat with Melbourne couple. We are only Brits - Aussies,

Now begins the task of transcribing my notes from an amazing trip (if I can read them!) 10.9.17 It was not a great start to our holiday! Best of Spain and Portugal Insight vacations. Got to Gatwick in good time taxi and train from East Croydon £2.95 each only to find Iberia flight delayed by 3 hours from 10.50 to 2.10. Arrived Madrid on a lovely sunny day. Missed the coach connection so put in a claim for the taxi fare 30 Euro. Taxi dropped us near station and explained where to walk to the hotel which was very central. There was a huge cycle race through the city and we watched it on TV. Met Peter our tour director at 9 when he got back from the welcome dinner and reception. 40 on tour. We had wine and a good chat then had delicious meal at the hotel downstairs - duck, hake and orange sorbet E25 and we got 20% off that. However we soon discovered Iberia had messed us up yet again as we never got people's names. 8  people on the trip NEVER spoke to us (the group of 4 Russians

Swam 20 and to Mass - St Michael and all angels. Tried to upload photos again very slow. Watched Great British bake off. Got 100th birthday card for Francis Jackson. Victoria and Abdul is an excellent film - funny and sad and very apposite.

Watched Bake off. To St Mchael's for Eleni's recital and she included some interesting pieces Vierne, Bach, Durufle. Left early to get to school to meet the boys and Liz. Sean liked his elephant picture for his birthday and the track is now very impressive. Left 4.25 to get to Caterham Grow meeting at 6.30 - all quite straightforward for Christmas. Left 7.20 in rain got home at 9 having met Liz. When I was having coffee at Waitrose which cost me 50p for a cookie realised no jacket or Tablet - both left at Acton! Thought I was going dotty! This meeting meant I missed Peter King playing at the cathedral. Thursday to Mass - back road closed. Good programme on finding a lost Rubens. To art and worked on last night and elephant's eye. Forgot my coat and keys and had to walk back from the car with 2 heavy bags. This made me late for the interfaith lunch and I found parking restrictions everywhere so only got one hour's parking. The room was full so never got to speak. Left t

To Natural History museum for lunch with Bruce and Emma. She has 3 children and is nice. Liz to Acton. I went to Swanley for PEG and Tony had a lot to say. Watched Fake or Fortune on Tom Roberts and Gauguin.

Got back OK from Barcelona. It was an early start to get the coach at 8.30 so we missed Mass at 8. Long wait at the airport and it was true security was chaotic. Nothing much to do apart from a cafe, duty free and one shop. Train and taxi from Gatwick. Home at 3.30 p.m. tired. Unpacked. To Dennis and AnnMarie for dinner and Tasmanian apple cake. Henry sitting up and trying to crawl. Watched 2 episodes of Victoria which is excellent. Monday to mosaic (I was late as I put the Ocado shopping away) forgot to take glue.They are off to Ravenna.  Fr John gave me lovely bread and would like to come to the party. To St Martin Ludgate for concert by Maria Thomas playing the lovely Poulenc oboe sonata. Jim Wells sang Faure - not sure it worked singing in French about sensuality. Julian Cable played the piano very well and a good audience including 10 gallery prommers and supporters. Good flautist as well. The Telemann worked well. They know each other through the Hampstead music club. To Beckenh

Went to see Henry who has grown and chats away nearly sitting up on his own. He loved the mirror book. Packing. The last night went off well. Liked the Kodaly Te Deum and Finlandia. Pity the soprano who sang Isolde beautifully chose to sing depressing Weill which was too low for her. Did not stay afterwards. Jennifer complained about the flags in the way! She is nuts! 

2 splendid Proms Mahler 6 Daniel Harding and Vienna Phil and Bach well tempered Sir Andras Schiff what an achievement! Puzzled by the BBC proms poetry some of which had little connection with the music. Painted a picture at art and returned scores to Penge, Balham and Kensington libraries. Returned scores to Westminster on Friday in between getting number for Friday night and Last Night. Could not change rucksack as Mountain Warehouse shop in Eccleston street is closed. Rain. 

To Mass. Watched Victoria and Proms extra, also Gurrelieder from Prom. Setting up new dashcam. Ordered new printer. Liz's laptop has come. Haydn No 88 from the Concertgebouw and interview with Alan Hollinghurst. Mass for the circle at Addsicombe and I was asked to take up the gifts. Fr Keith attended the meeting in the hall and 2 new guys came along plus Beckenham and Terry. Tells me Fr Joe said the transition to Fr Keith would be a lot easier than his arrival! And who's fault was that? Sean had his home visit and did really well. Louise home.   Listened to Dvorak 8 from the Prom. LPO and Jurowski gave an interesting Russian programme with thrilling Shostakovich 11. The violin concerto no 1 of Prokofiev did not come over well.  It seems the 30 minute cutoff and noisy shoes moans at the Proms feedback meeting were dismissed. I agree a guide to promming would be a good idea as people do NOT know how to behave. A manager talked to us in the queue and got the feeling of our discon

Two wonderful Proms. Schubert quintet beautifully played and Pittsburgh SO under Manfred Honeck Mahler 1. Anne-Sophie Mutter played the Dvorak. I took party invites to mosaic group. Had to make do with chocolate cake instead of fruit tart at Peter Jones. Sketching at V and A and David Owen Norris on nature in music - he is brilliant. Saw Colin Hartley.

Played Pomp and Circumstance 1 and 4, Holst theme from Jupiter and theme from Elgar cello concerto. We sang Greene Thou visitest the earth and Fr Simon quoted Cardinal Cormac's last messages. Very annoyed that tfl expect us to walk from Victoria station to Hyde Park corner to catch a bus which could have stopped at Oxford tube stop. Got to the Prom in time. Mendelssohn Prom was lovely and an excellent Italian meal in Kensington with fellow prommers. Delicious ice cream with sambuca. Now it is raining. Gergiev Prom held up outside and started late. Prokofiev loud, Tchaikovsky piano concerto 3 fast and loud, 2 encores, Shostakovich 5. Lots of students and I spoke to one whose behaviour and constant chatting was very distracting.

Coffee and cake at St John Upper Norwood excellent Poulenc and Danzi from Jay Bevan (clarinet) Timothy Kipling (flute) and Antony Ingham (piano). A rediscovered piece by Poulenc for unaccompanied flute "Un Joueur fe flúte berce les ruines".Beans from the garden. Returned scores to Westminster.  Very nice farewell party for  Brian O'Mahony  and Francis Thomas after Mass. We shall miss them both so much. Met the new intern Oliver and the new organ scholar Johnny. Watched Songs of praise for Diana. 

To Mass and then straight to the hall to get raffle ticket.  Excellent recital by Charles Wooler at Turnham Green Bach, Franck and Vierne. The Chiswick book festival looks good.Welcoming at the cathedral and said Hello to the new Papal nuncio. I was late for the discussion on unfinished works with excellent readings as for some reason my seat tickets were not printed and they had to bring 2 more from upstairs. As it happens nobody checked them! Concertgebouw and Gatti played horrid Rihm but Bruckner 9 was thrilling and sublime. Who needs a 4th movement? Sad to hear of the passing of Cardinal Cormac - a tall kind man. Very chuffed that photo of the cathedral from the passage roof is in Oremus with writeup - only 3rd time in 10 years interfaith group has got in.