Click here to read her first interview

Without any doubt, the most important event, at home, at work and worldwide is this awful COVID 19 pandemic. A nightmare I hope will end with the vaccines.

2. On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with your life in Hungary, and why?

8. On the 8 side, I love my work, I find Budapest a beautiful city, my plans to steal the Danube are getting solid, and I have made good friends. On the 2 side, I miss my family.

3. What’s the best party you’ve been to while in Hungary, and why?

It was a Russian New Year’s dinner. The hosts (her being Russian and him Hungarian) were fantastic and we had so much fun! At one point in the evening, we all went under the table with our long dresses and tuxedos… It is the evening in which I have laughed more since I am in Budapest.

4. What’s your favourite drink?

Red wine. I am consistent with that.

5. What hidden talents do you have?

Catching a piece of clothing on the floor with my toes. I am very good at that, several competitions with my sister and children testify to that.

Also singing, but that’s not so hidden. My friends know about it and I don’t play it hard to get when it comes to singing.

6. What was the most interesting travel trip you have ever taken?

As the French would say, “l’embarras du choix” (the paradox of choice, too many to choose from). Perhaps if I had to choose one, Cuba, I love the way Cubans live music.

7. If you were given a wish that could come true, what would you ask for?

Being practical, losing a few kilos. Being less practical, the question is far too personal.

8. What’s the last book you read, and movie you watched?

Book: Susan Faludi’s In the Dark Room, a book I would recommend to all expats living in Hungary, a very interesting insight on Budapest and Hungary’s recent history.

Film: Annie Hall by Woody Allen. They showed it again on TV two days ago. I like Woody Allen, I liked this film the first time I saw it, and I enjoyed it again.

9. If someone wrote a biography about you, what would the title be?

That’s a difficult one! I always get stuck with titles for my books. I would ask my children to answer to that.  (Cabramonte).

10. What is the perfect pizza toppings combination for you?

Tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto.

11. If you could trade places with any other person for a week, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdova, an ancestor of mine known as “Gran Capitán”, a humanist soldier who stirred up the art of infantry fighting against the French in Italy at the beginning of the XVI century. I would have loved to live in Naples and the South of Italy the way he did, enjoying the Rinascimento, the culture, negotiating with the biggest powers in Europe at the time (the Pope, France…). He was a very good friend with Isabel la Católica, the Spanish Queen and not so much with her husband King Fernando el Católico, who saw him as a rival.

12. On a scale of 1 to 10 how unusual are you, and why?

I wear a conventional disguise but I am quite unusual, a 7, perhaps. It took me 50 years to accept I am an outsider from the tribe, but I have accepted that being different – unusual – is good.

13. What’s the best website you’ve ever visited, and why?

I am quite awkward on the internet. It sounds very prosaic, but I was impressed by the “user friendliness” of the web to renovate my Spanish ID.

14. Who do you admire the most, and why?

My mother. The only thing I can’t forgive her for is having died. I still feel her support in everything I do.

15. What do you like best and least about living in Hungary?

I like its being different, something that might be difficult to get on with at the beginning. I enjoy Hungary more and more because of that, and I am very interested in Hungarian mentality, their way of looking into things…

I don’t like it when in wintertime daylight vanishes at 4 pm.

16. What has made the biggest impact on your life so far, and why?

Being a mother, something that is always so essentially – even bodily! - there. You live children as your own life.

17. If you won USD 30 million, what would you do with the money?

Give half of it to charity organizations involved with women in Latin America. I would spend the second half on a luxury month trip to Latin America with my family.

18. If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

“Gioventù mia, tu non sei morta”, an aria from the opera La Bohême.

19. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

I love my country, Spain, and if I'm ever missing, look for me in Italy. However, if I chose diplomacy as my profession, it was because I like to live (not just travel for a few days) in different countries, get to know their people…I am a curious person.

20. In ten years from now what will you be doing?

Retired, travelling around Spain, telling stories to my grandchildren, enjoying life as much as possible so as to be able to make people happy around me.