GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “From Summer to Fall” 50 Years Ago
Guidepost Reprint 11 September 1964
Abridged
It will be a long time before San Pedro de Alcantara forgets the wedding of Jorge
Batista, 22-year-old son of Cuba’s ex-President, and Rosa Urrestarazu,
17-year-old daughter of wealthy Bilbao businessman, Leoncio
Urrestarazu. The village church was packed with
known and titled guests, including politicians
“FROM SUMMER TO FALL” by Jean Allen in TALK ABOUT SPAIN
MADRID
In Madrid this week, the approaching changeover from Summer to Fall is making itself evident in more ways than one. The days are noticeably shorter, there is a crispness in the air, and the shops are beginning to display some exciting Autumn fashions. Discussions are turning to Fall activities as vacationers flock back to the capital. The American Club, the American Women’s Club, the British American Club, and the Torrejon Wives’ Clubs, to mention just a few groups, are organizing energetic programs to keep their members busy and entertained through the coming season.
Rating high in Madrid on the list of Fall activities is, of course, football. William Harrower, Chairman of the Hibernian Football Club, flew in from Scotland to arrange the game between Scotland and Real Madrid., scheduled to be played off next month…
Big news from New York goes as follows. . . that Abe Glazer, former controller for Samuel Bronston Productions, announces exclusively to the readers of Guidepost the arrival of his second child, Mitchell.. . .
On the occasion of its second anniversary, and after the two-month summer vacation period, the restaurant CHALET SUIZO (famous for its cheese fondue and fondue bourguignon) kicked off the season with a cocktail. Hosts, Pat and John Walker, who are both American, and their Spanish partner, Paco Martinez, greeted their guests (some 250 of them) with champagne, cocktails and lavish array of hors d’oeuvres. . .
Chalet Suizo reopens after the Summer vacation
The re-opening of the restaurant also served as a reunion for many of the Walkers’ friends, some of whom had just returned from summer vacations. John himself had just made a swing through the Alps with the idea of authenticating a couple of new dishes and to get acquainted with any new ideas for the restaurant. As a matter, THE FIRST THING WE NOTICED WAS THE Swiss style window boxes overflowing with flowers and cleverly lit to give the restaurant a real Swiss chalet look.
Guests present included Peter Danos, managing Director of Minnesota de España and president of the Board of Trustees of the American School of Madrid; Luis de San Pio, the legal advisor for the Swiss Embassy and JUSMAG; John Jeffries, manager of the Bank of London and South America; . . . author Mack Reynolds, whose latest book, The Expatriates, has been causing a literary and political stir and was in fact pulled off the stands in Tangier. Mack told us that the Moroccan Government took exception to the “wide open” qualities regarding Tangier mentioned in the book. . .
COSTA DEL SOL
Wedding of the Year. It will be a long time before San Pedro de Alcantara, the small village outside Marbella, forgets the wedding of Jorge Batista, 22-year-old son of Cuba’s ex-President, and Rosa Urrestarazu, 17-year-old daughter of wealthy Bilbao businessman, Leoncio Urrestarazu. The ex-President, Fulgencio Batista, flew in from Portugal with his second wife, Marta Fernandez, to attend their son’s wedding. The village church was packed with known and titled guests, including ex-politicians. Police had to hold back the large crowd of cheering villagers waiting outside the church for a glimpse of the bride. She wore a Pierre Balmain silk and lace creation.. More than 500 guests attended the reception in the garden of the Urrestarazus’ villa on the nearby Guadalmina estate. . .
Guests, who dined and danced till dawn, included ex-Cuban ministers Gastón Godoy, Rafael Saladugo, and Carlos Salas Humara, the Marqueses de Cordoba, de Viluna, Marqués de Nájera, Countess Ostrowska, Vizcondes de Dos Fuentes, Prince Alfonso Hohenlohe and Lola Flores who performed before the Batistas several times in Cuba.
. . . When Are the Windsors Going to Build? It’s over a year since the Duke of Windsor acquired his plot of land on Los Monteros, Marbella’s choice home making spot. “When is he going to build?” has been a question asked and left unanswered many times. Now news comes from France it may be very soon. The Duke, holidaying in Biaritz, told a French reporter he had already sent plans for the villa to a Spanish contractor. “But there was some confusion over feet and meters and the contractor sent back an estimate for a building three times larger than I wanted,” said the Duke.
