around town

They have a new menu at La Azotea. They have been running limited hours with only three days open a week. So we haven't been there in a while.  Not loving the new menu. We tried to order the puntillitas ("no tienes") and then tried to order the arroces carne ("solo desayuno" - only lunch despite there being no indication on the menu of such restriction). Every dish we had was up to their usual excellent standards but the menu was less appealing than our visits over the past two years.  Will monitor this one... Not sure about the direction it's headed.

So I guess the guys picking up the oranges missed one or two along the way. This poor forgotten orange was left rotting in the flower bed at Plaza Nueva. But from  the buds you can tell that we are heading into the scent of orange blossoms soon....

We didn't see Daniel tonight but had good service and an excellent meal (despite the fact that they were out of the tosta de Atun rojo) instead of going for MITO we had dessert at the restaurant. A fabulous tarta de queso and the panchineta were our choices.  We ran into Lauren Tucker on the way there. I'd say small world but she does live in the same city we do.   

We have reservations at Petit Comite and Tradevo this week, before Jean and Time return from Moroocco.  Then we are off on a weekend trip to Ronda and Gibraltar. Stay tuned.

one night only

So Jean, long time friend of Phil's  (from 1970) and mine (@2013) has come to visit on her way to Morocco.  She is traveling with a friend named Tim... They will be here only one night before leaving for their Morocco trip but will return in roughly a week. Then they will spend five nights with us, partly in Sevilla and then on a weekend get away to Ronda and La Linea and Gibraltar. 

Tonight we went to La Cayetana and had what I refer to as "approachable" Spanish food - food for those who don't leave the States much and who perhaps are not as adventurous as say- Anthony Bourdain.

We had puntillitas and boquerones and a tortilla to start and then two arroz ibéricos and two meat dishes. Afterward we went to MITO to have dessert...

Their flight isn't until the evening so we made plans to see them for lunch tomorrow at Mokambo Plaza Nueva (where the last time I only got a single photo of the food LOL) - Venezuelan and salads and sandwiches... Then we are back on our own for a week.

four days and the next guests

 The view from our bedroom balcony. The shades have started to come out. This might be the Sevillano equivalent of Ground Hog's Day. The days are longer and the temperatures are rising.  It is spring. We had a lot of rain (for us) and chilly days (F- mid 50s) which is why we headed to the Canaries for two weeks in January. But now we are heading into the glorious weather we had when we arrived two years ago on Valentine's Day and fell in love with Sevilla. The sky is Sevillano blue and the sun is warm. By the end of March even the streets will be wearing their overhead sun shades.  The building across the street is an upscale hostel.

After having made reservations at various places around the city for the seven nights Ron & Mary were visiting, we ate at home. By Sunday night we were discussing places for this week (and various get togethers with friends, visitors from the States, and my birthday. We decided for tonight to go to Casapuerta. We always like the food and the service is terrific thanks to Blanca. Next time we'd skip the tuna buñelos but the remainder of the meal was up to their usual high standards.

An interesting day. After sessions with our trainer in the early afternoon, in the late afternoon we went for coffee with four of Phil's classmates ( plus another partner and me.) It was good to catch up and see everyone. People come and go here, studying Spanish as it fits their schedules. So Joseph and his partner are leaving Sunday and Becky just arrived last week and will be here through early April. We went to Santagloria and sat outside until Sue had an appointment and it started to get cool. We went home for a couple of hours and then headed out to dinner at a new place called Marabunda. We had an 8:30 reservation, but when we arrived all they had left was a high top table with metal chairs. I told the guy I was old (71 today) and could hardly get up on those chairs, much less sit in them for a couple of hours. So we left and headed further north to Alameda de Hercules. We looked at a burger place, but on a recent walk Phil had noticed a Mexican place to try so we went there. Good drinks. Excellent aguachile, decent guacamole. Phil had a bunch of tacos and I had a tasty enchilada with Salsa Verde.  Overall I liked it better than Phil, but since it was my birthday he was a good sport about it. We walked home via three plazas (Museo, Gavidia, and San Lorenzo) and made a stop at MITO for gelato. So kind of a disjointed day but all's well that ends well as Shakespeare said. Which reminds me I have to watch last week's class before the zoom is taken down. (Class is "Shakespeare on Film in the 1990s") #expatlife

then dinner-

and the walk home- 

another dinner at home on Tuesday and then Jean arrived with a friend in tow on Wednesday afternoon.