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29 November 1874 — Madrid | |
Sunday. 29th [November 1874]. At 10.30 I drove to the Presidencia & from there set out with the Dss de la Torre to see the Serrano & his friends shoot at the Pardo. I went in a carriage with the Dss, Carmen Paz y Teolon & 2 of the children. When we got to the gates of the Mon Cloa we changed & got into a royal post chaise with 4 horses. The others Mme Chinchilla, Mme Dumont the Governess, nurse & children came after us in an omnibus. We took abt 2 hours to reach the Palace & then went in search of the gentlemen. We found they had killed very little, & were tricked up in all kinds of costumes. There was a barrel shaped little Baron who had brown velveteen with a broad red leather belt & pouch & a tyrolese hat—there was Genl Gaminde in a grand red valencian cuppote eno’ to startle away & warn off any game—there was Serrano in a large tyrolese of Italian brigand hat. We persuaded them, after inspecting their garment & bestowing the requisite praise to return to the Palace to breakfast. I sat between the Duke de la Torre & Sr Abascul the Director de Patrimonis & we had a very good breakfast. Afterwards we went with Sr Moreno Benites the present Govr of Madrid to see the Asilo wh he has arranged & which is remarkably well arranged & managed & then we went on to a little house belonging to the Palace called the Casa del Principe wh has been prettily decorated with different Spanish marbles & embroidered silk. We then (abt 2 o’cl) got into our carriages to go & see the gentlemen shoot & see another royal house in the Pardo called the “Zarzuela” from wh the Spanish comic opera takes its name. It appears the spanish operas were first introduced by the Court & used to be performed in that house. The roads were dreadfully out of repair & we had a good jolting. At the Zarzuela I found it so cold that I was glad to go & sit in one of the empty rooms where there was a fire with the Serrano’s governess. At abt 4.30 we set off back to Madrid, I, the Dss, Mmes Chinchilla, Dumont & Teolon. We were 5 in the carriage & they chattered away merrily in Spanish. We found the carriages waiting for us in the Campo do Moro just under the Palace & we got home abt 6 o’cl: Ittersum, Sequeira, Wagner, Ruiz Gomez, Monteverde & Vejarano dined with us. We went to Countess Montijo’s in the evening & there saw Marshal Bazaine & his wife who came to her unexpectedly. | |
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