back home, Sevilla

 our flight home was uneventful as noted in the last post- we got a cab and were home in time to start laundry before heading out to our 9:15 dinner reservation at Acento.

We started with The Liar cocktail- still very yummy!

then a few starters

and we split the rib...

The next day Katia came to clean and Phil got groceries so we won't starve. It was rainy and dreary so we went close for dinner - Castizo and had a light meal after super indulging all through the vacation in Tenerife. Fresh fish and buñuelos and chicharrones, with an amuse of pate of liver

Settling into to home life again and catching up on work- I started on tax prep and we emt with our tax attorney in Spain about our tax residency. Phil watched his Tuesday night class to catch up since we were supposed to be on a plane (we actually changed to an earlier flight) and I worked on blog entries. Tried a new place for dinner that night. The pasta was perfect! But the Bolognese lacked any depth of flavor. Phil said his risotto had the same issue - kind of bland. However, the pizza was excellent, a real winner. The best we have had in Sevilla. And the gelato was worthy too! So we will return and try to refine our ordering. You don't always order perfectly the first time. 

And as our week drew to a close - we saw Leslie for the firs ttime in two weeks - and met a classmate of Phil's for wine and merienda at Catalina El Baar... her name is Sue and we had a nice couple of hours just getting to know each other 

When we walked past the luthier's shop it was open for the first time we have ever seen it- so I took a few photos - we are usually passing by in after hours -

later we had a light meal at MING around 9PM - soup, and a couple of other dishes we have had before so no need ot post them again...

I think we will stay in tomorrow night and relax and cook... we'll see.... We have one week before the February March full calendar of houseguests starts... so we are going to make a Costco run. to stock up LOL. As always - more to follow...

bibendum steers us to a fabulous meal + more fun meals

 One of the best meals we have had in Spain. We chose the tasting menu and happily we loved every course. All info included below. The service was friendly but professional and they appreciated that we wanted to speak Spanish (to practice.)  Really first rate all around.  Michelin listed (no star) so we aren't alone in thinking it was a worthy meal.

So frequently the servers in Spain will tell the customers that they have ordered "enough" - which we sometimes ignore at our risk. Today our server didn't warn us.... And we didn't read the "fine print" that told us the burger we ordered came with fries. So we had far too many fries when we added an order of the truffle fries. So while we finished our messy but extremely tasty burgers, the fries were only "dented". We are always craving a good burger while in Sevilla. There are still a few to try but so far we haven't found a favorite place for when we crave the quintessential American food. #liveandlearn

That night's dinner. Jeremy was stuck up on the volcano due to a tour bus break down. He arrived home just as we did, AFTER dinner. We were lucky because we had scheduled another dinner with our new friend Lydia.  We were all leaving by mid week, so it was great to get another chance to spend time together. On the food - I loved the ceviche and the milojas. The salmon was well prepared and a very large portion. Phil raved about the cochinillo - crispy skin, yet juicy meat. I think our only flawed course was the arroz de verduras, which could have used more spicing or flavor; it was a tad bland for my taste. Overall a great evening with excellent company. Thanks again Lydia 🥰

Then we made it to Saturday night - and a return trip to Roca de Sal- 

Then we reached Jeremy's last night in Santa Cruz-  and dined at Tela Marinera. Farewell to Jeremy dinner. He leaves before dawn tomorrow. Had some fun and tasty courses. I was thrilled with a "real" salad! The boys liked their seafood arroz and puntillitas and Jamón Ibérico.  Jeremy ordered a pasta dish he was happy with and I had the tuna tartar with avocado - very flavorful. We split the tarta de queso with red fruit topping. A good meal but not the best service. Nice evening.

Jeremy left early Monday morning and we had a Sunday lunch without him - her went with new friends to the jungle to hike... We had great pizza... Good pizza = Happy husband ❣️ Returned to my fave from last time - the carbonara con trufada - and tried a new one - mortadela con pistacho. Both excellent. That's all we had because last time we couldn't even finish the pinsas (Roman type of flatbread pizza) so we skipped starters and eschewed postres tambien. #spanglishlife

 

And for our final meal in Santa Cruz on our 2025 getaway to warmer weather- we returned to Kiki Japanese... 

We vacated the apartment on time and the car picked us up at 11:05... Had time at the airport for coffee and sandwiches. Flight left on time and arrived on time and we had a winning lottery ticket today we both had aisle seats with no one else in the row! We are thinking that we might make this trip again next year... we had a relaxing time before the big spring calendar. We worked on calendar yesterday afternoon and counted up our houseguests for 2024-2025 season... 16 staying with us and 4 staying elsewhere but still visiting and a part of social planning... and add to that our three additional vacations this spring - Cadiz, A Coruna, and Barcelona and a short trip to Gibraltar and Ronda 2 nights/3 days.  So we are busy and will be until we return to the States... watch this space.