Holiday Down Time

So we got home Monday night from Madrid and have settled into a non-guest routine of sorts for the holiday period. Working out with Leslie twice a week and spending quiet time catching up on paperwork, balancing credit card statements, paying tax deposits etc... And each evening when we are out for dinner we walk around our beautiful city to see the lights.  We went to Triana for dinner with Lauren Tucker and saw some cool things on the river where they are preparing a light show... 

Dinner overlooked the river - at Betis 7. 

Earlier in the week we dined again at Casa Juan Palomo

our walk home took us through Plaza Nueva and to our front door - only one window in our building has anything that resembles holiday lights - and here it is:

the remainder of the week we have Manolo Mayo and a new place around the corner and then back to MING for Chinese for the holiday tradition - we will dine at home for the actual holiday - which here is Buena Noche (Christmas Eve) then back to dining out on December 26... 

Dinner at what's become a favorite for cool weather food. Mayo.  Phil has meloso (creamy) Arroz with partridge. I had the seco (dry) Arroz with ibericos. We shared the foie and the bellota jamon and the cantabrian anchoas. They had house-made vermut which was served in a tiny bail bottle inside a little galvanized tub. Tasty and cute!

Yesterday, I went to help Phil with getting into the building when his hands were full carrying gorceries. When I opened the front door, I was taken by the Sevillaño blue sky. So I went to snap a photo of the view from our building's front door of Plaza Nueva - and heard the clip clop sound of a horse carriage (or it could have been coconuts 🤣) a few seconds later the horse and his carriage came around the corner and into view. This is the first time I have seen them in the area. They are usually found by the Cathedral or the Alcazar where the tourists are to be found in substantial numbers. #surpriseinSevilla

Near us, off the other side of Plaza Nueva is a restaurant that is highly rated but I had stayed away from reserving for a dinner there. It's located in a high end hotel. (Autograph  Collection) So two things steered me away from it. 1. hotel and 2. high end.  We don't tend to dine in such spots at this point, as we have found plenty of one off, neighborhood places, we like. However, it was the Saturday night of the start of Christmas week and things were busy so while searching for places to dine I decided to check out the menu. Two more things 1. the food was local (not potentially overreaching haute cuisine) and 2. the prices were on par with other places in the city center. So we tried it. The food was very good. We especially liked our starters of gravlax and steak tartare. The wine was reasonably priced and the service was pleasant. The room was beautiful and the table service - china especially - was elegant. That's why there are photos of plates and wall coverings as well as the food. 

So we are to the holiday week now- It's Sunday night -= Christmas is Wednesday (as is Hanukkah.) Here, of course the big celebrations with family are on Buena Noche! Christmas Eve. And then, for the kids gifts - three kings day in January is the big holiday. We are coming up on our one year anniversary of being residents of Spain 12-26. What a year that was! So more to follow as we head into the end of 2024.