Letter 2

Ambassador Solomont and Susan Solomont with actor Morgan Freeman

February 2010

Dear Family and Friends

We are 3 weeks into living in Spain, and we are soaring. It has been a remarkable few weeks, and while we are by no means totally settled, we know we are in for an extraordinary time. Let me give you some highlights from the past week.

On Jan 27th, Alan was part of an historic ceremony originating in the 17th century: presenting credentials to the King of Spain. His credentials are formal papers he brought with him from Washington, President Obama's official documents asking Spain to allow him to be the President's official representative from the United States to Spain. The morning starts with Alan riding in a royal horse drawn carriage (picture something that Cinderella would take to the ball). He was dressed in an official morning suit, white shirt, white bow tie, white vest and tails. As the carriage enters the Royal Palace courtyard, the Royal Marching Band plays The Star Spangled Banner. I'm standing under the Palace arch watching this amazing progression. Of course when the band played, I burst into tears. It was so moving. Alan comes into the Palace and gets escorted upstairs for a private meeting with the King. Now he is the official representative of the U.S. to Spain. At some point we will travel to Andorra so that he can present his credentials there as well.

As I mentioned in my first, we've been going to U.S. movie premieres in Madrid. This week Invictus opened here. Morgan Freeman was in Madrid to host the opening, and we were fortunate enough that he had time in his schedule to come to our residence and sit and talk with us. He is incredibly charming and easy to be with. I've always loved his work, and now I truly appreciate him as a person as well! The movie was great- he does a wonderful job acting as Nelson Mandela. (Matt Damon was great in the movie as well - but he wasn't here!).

We attended a dinner hosted by the Ambassador from Japan. Attending were the Ambassadors (and spouses) from Italy, Germany, Canada, England, and France. Everyone was friendly and engaging, and I got the feeling I could become good friends with the spouses.

Other highlights- this week Madrid hosted an international food fair, Madrid Fusion. This is one of the largest international food fairs in the world. Spanish-American chef Jose Andres (restauranteur, hotels, cookbooks, PBS TV shows, etc.) invited me to be his guest at the fair. So yesterday Jose and I spent the afternoon together at Madrid Fusion. Let me tell you -- he is a rock star here. We couldn't walk more than two feet without folks swarming him, wanting his picture, autograph, inviting him to their booths at the fair, offering all samples of their amazing foods and wines. I couldn't ask for a better host to show me around. And I sampled so many different types of food- for those of you who know me as a picky eater, trust me, I wasn't. Mussels, cockles, urchin, cheeses, and of course more types of Iberian ham than I knew existed. And I learned that Iberian ham is actually healthy; the fat that runs through it is loaded with fatty, healthy Omega 3s. The wine was extraordinary, olive oil to die for, and all sorts of exotic gastronomic treats.

Speaking of food, I also had lunch with a new friend this week, Ann Kreis, whom I met through the Berklee College of Music. Ann lives in Madrid and has really extended herself to us in welcoming us to Spain. Ann took me to a favorite restaurant of hers where we had a 7 course meal, complete with 2 paellas. Lunch was a leisurely afternoon activity: 2-5 PM. I think we need to learn from Spain how to enjoy ourselves midday. None of this “sit-at-your desk-and-gobble-a –sandwich business (although Alan still sits at his desk). I really appreciated our lunch.

Last night we hosted a cocktail reception for 300. Members of the diplomatic, business, arts and culture, high society and friends all attended. It was our “coming out party," and we had a ball. Alan made a really beautiful speech, and we were really well received. People do dress up here -- it was a very elegant night.

The only other event I'll mention is that we also attended our first Real Madrid vs. Malaga fútbol (soccer) game. The game starts at 9 pm, and everyone comes dressed up for it. It's outdoors, but the stadium has heaters to keep you warm. Again, an elegant evening: when the players take the field, opera music is played (Placido Domingo) and fans applaud. The game has 2 halves- each 45 minutes long. No one brings food to their seats. Everyone sits and watches, and the crowd is in unison when they cheer. For this game, Real Madrid beat Malaga, 2-0. Ronaldo, a star on the Madrid team, scored two goals and managed to get kicked out of the game as well. Truly a fun evening. (another shout out to Ann Kreis here)!

With all these activities, we do feel like we've officially arrived. We think of all of you often. I love getting your emails and hearing the news from home. And please know that if I don't email back immediately it's not because I don't want to. Things are just very busy around here. Continue to write us, and I'm going to continue to send out updates. Thanks to those of you who have given us suggestions of restaurants, stores, cafes, sites to see, etc. We welcome all these ideas.

We send lots of love and abrazos (hugs)

Susan and Alan