Spain

Valentine’s Bears

/ Miki de Goodaboom / Leave a comment

Text & Photo by Miki de Goodaboom

I live in Spain. Here is Teddy Bear culture, unfortunately, not developed at all. You can find some in the toy shops, of course, but even there, they are rather rare. In the meanwhile, due to the increasing number of English tourists and residents, you can see sometimes Teddy Bears appearing in charity shops.

And yet: in the town where I am right now, Benidorm, I have seen the most beautiful Teddy Bear setting ever! To compensate the economic effects and the sadness of Covid, the town hall has organised a context among shops, bars, hotels, etc, for the best Valentine decoration, under the motto “Benidorm Te Espera” (Benidorm is waiting for you). Even closed businesses can participate… what most of them are these days!

Each participant receives 500 euros, and the first 3 winners will win a nice amount too. 3000 businesses have subscribed, with the result that thousands and thousands of red hearts and love words are beating all around Benidorm. I have to say: you like Valentines or not, this is beautifully uplifting the mood.

I could not believe my eyes as I saw that cafe – Cafeteria Uliana, Avda Mediterraneo- decoration. At the 4 coloured tables by the window are sitting big Teddy bears, little ones too, all having coffee, tea, cava even, with all kind of yummy pastries, all served in beautiful dishes. It really looks like a cafe exclusively fir Teddy Bears, and the bears seem to have such fun and enjoying it so much!

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Truffle McFurry On His Way To Malta

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

 

Hi everybody, I hope you are well and still love us, Teddy Bears!

I was just in holidays with my Mom Miki, the French painter, and my Dad, the English rocker. Well, my Mom was not in holiday because it was a painting trip. She was working.

It was our first holiday together again, for a long time, and it was so nice! We were in Malta, an island far away in the middle of the big blue sea. 2 weeks!

We took the plane in a new place, it is a city in Spain, it is called Valencia. I had never been there before. As always I was quite scared to go through the security, sitting in my tray and going into the tunnel, where they check if I have a bomb inside!

Look on the painting, we are waiting to go into the plane under the sign of the police. I tried to look cool, but the police is always scary. Even when you are innocent, you always feel that you have done something wrong and you think they will arrest you!

But they did not arrest us, and we could go on the plane! It was beautiful then, and sure I will tell you about Malta soon.  We have saved some lovely Teddy Bears in Malta, and I have even found my Grand-Da again. I will ask Miki to paint them all and we will show you.

Take care!

Love you all

Truffle

 

 

valencia-airport-truffle-s

 

 

Bears And Babies From Benidorm

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Miki de Goodaboom

 

I always paint with deep enthusiasm the Teddy Bears which our 2 reporters from “Go Teddy!”, Ann La Mar et Kev Le Chat, meet during their missions. Unfortunately I often forget that my Truffle McFurry and me always go on bear photo safari when we are visiting my parents in Benidorm, on the Costa Blanca in Spain. And it is not fair: Benidorm Teddies also want to be loved and protected, and the best way I can help doing that, is to paint them and making the whole world aware of their existence by showing them on the internet…

Last time I was on a bear photo safari in Benidorm, 2 weeks ago, I could not find any. I guess they were all hiding in the caves of the surrounding mountains as it was very hot.

But the time before, I did meet some beautiful and special ones. I adored the motif of that big bear girl with her own little Teddy, sitting in the middle of baby dolls. That motif was weird, somehow, almost spooky. The baby dolls looked like an army of little soldiers wanted to take over the stage again, having been superseded by the Teddies… The funny thing was that they all had these giant  white dummies in their mouths, and it made them look like as if they had a snout like Teddy Bears! A typical case of genetic mutation due to forced adaptation to the environment … or of mimicry!  🙂

Benidorm Bears And Babies S

 

 

About the Birth Of Go Teddy

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment
By Truffle McFurry
(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

On the way to the Cabo de Gata (Andalucia, Spain), in January this year, we stopped in Nijar, a little beautiful town with nice ceramics. Miki wanted to make some sketches and buy mugs there. But we were not 5 minutes in the town when I got so incredibly scared by something I saw: one big Teddy bear, slit open, was sitting under a tree, tied to a long wooden post and a bit further away, another one, a tiny little one, was hanging in the air from a post! There were other sad creatures too, also tied to posts, dolls and a green mini-cow.

You might think it was a nice place to live for them, among the orange trees and the blossoming almond trees, but it was so creepy, poor things! So creepy that “I took my legs to my neck” (this is how the French say it!) and ran away as fast as I could and hid under the Boomobile!

Later Miki explained to me that they were all used as scarecrows by the finca owner to protect his fruits. I am sorry, but I have no pity for his fruit. It took Miki hours to calm me down and convince me to go on with the trip.

Well, we cannot forget what we have seen there, and Miki and I have decided to found “Go Teddy!”, a league for the love, protection and support of all the Teddy Bears around the world.

Love you all (well, not the fruit guy…)

PLEASE JOIN GO TEDDY!

Go Teddy S

The Mime From Benidorm

/ Miki de Goodaboom / Leave a comment

By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

 

My Mom Miki and me, we recently spent some days by my grandparents, in Benidorm, on the Costa Blanca in Spain. Miki wanted to go on Teddy Bear photo Safari down-town, and of course I went with her.

There I suddenly saw a statue on the middle of the street, wearing a beautiful pink long dress and a pink hat. I asked Miki about the statue. She explained to me that it was not a statue, that it was a real person. That such a person is called “A Mime”, and the aim is to stand or sit there, without moving at all , like a statue, looking beautiful and getting money for it. I observed it a while, and indeed people were stopping and putting money in the box.

Well, I thought, I can do that too! Teddy Bears are great at not moving, and Miki tells me all the time how beautiful I am. And anyway I was wearing blue clothes, I thought it would look pretty with the pink from the mime. Blue for the boy, pink for the girl! So I went and sat in front of the Mime, didn’t move at all, looked beautiful, and waited. I thought this way we could sure earn more money, and we could split it.

But then, after a little while Miki, busy somewhere else, noticed me there and screamed. The Mime  was looking at me with very angry eyes in the middle of her white face. She had just opened her eyes, more was she not allowed to move, you know… Miki grabbed me by my nose and put me back in her bag. I  heard her apologising by the Mime, who did not answer at all . Such an impolite creature! Miki was quite upset with me and explained to me that one does not do such things with Mimes!

Well, I have no idea why, and Miki said I am too young to understand! But many people had gathered there to look at us, I am sure they would have eventually thrown money into the box. But we were already gone, it is so unfair!

And you know what: when I look carefully at the Mime’s face, I think she was not a girl at all! So, on top of it, I think she was cheating! Miki often says that honesty does not always pay… I understand now what she means!

 

The Mime From Benidorm S