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24 December 1869 — Madrid | |
Friday. 24th [December 1869]. Copied letters for Henry & did some writing & accounts. Got a letter from my brother Arthur. Read some more of the Holy Grail & finished it. At 3 went out driving with Henry—we went to the Plaza Mayor to see the marketing for tomorrow. It was a most interesting & picturesque sight and there were such crowds it was not easy to get along. On each side were stalls of oranges, pomegranates, fresh dates, olives, lemons, citrons, chestnuts walnuts & the interior of the pine cones. Every other man, woman & child had a turkey dead or alive in their hands to sell; some a capon or a goose & all shrieking at once. There were men in every costume—some with broad hats & coloured sashes & others with their heads tied in brilliant coloured handkerchiefs. There were women bargaining & weighing the turkeys in their hands & filling their baskets with their purchases—children buying “turron” a kind of almond cake & “Mazapan de Toledo” sweets arranged in the form of serpents in large round boxes—& every child was banging at a drum or tambourine. Mr Ffrench came up to tea & we had a discussion about an English subject, a poor woman (with 4 children) who was dying. I sent Hill to see whether anything could be done but she was past hope. After dinner we played mandola & then we played the Nozze de Figaro on piano & flute. I got some flowers sent by Mme Riaño. | |
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