Time with friends

 Sunday rolls around again and we found ourselves out to lunch at a nearby "diner" style place called Guichot 7. We had a simple meal and the service was good. 

That evening we had dinner at Petit Comité. 

We had a lighter red blend for the dinner wine

After a complimentary glass of cava for each, they brought our the duck/foie bites for a complimentary app from the manager.

I had mushroom carpaccio and Phil had the albondigas

Mary had Salmorejo and Ron had the Ajoblanco 

Phil and Mary had the same thing - the pluma de iberico

Ron had the duck breast

and I chose the orzo salad (again-LOL) for my main

After dinner we went to MITO and had foure free ice creams and then walked home via Constitution past the cathedral and the bank and the Adriatico building

The evening weather was perfect for the walk home. Then on Monday Ron & Mary were off to the Palacio de las Duenas home of the Duke of Alba - which currently has a wonderful exhibit on the life of his mother La Cayetana - the Duchess of Alba. What a tour de force she was!

A collage I made from photos of my first visit there last fall:

In her honor, we went to La Cayetana on Monday night for dinner.  We ended the evening at MITO but dinner was an excellent selection of things from the menu at Cayetana. All marked on the menu except the tempura battered bacalao for some special holiday where you eat fish on this particular Monday. We don't know it but the fish was excellent!

Annually two weeks after Semana Santa is la "noche del pescaito" the opening night of the Feria De Sevilla. It’s a cocktail attire event. The Feria de Sevilla is the largest fair in the world and the oldest known fair in the world. The current version originated in 1862, but the previous version of it began in year 1152 by King Alfonso VII. (Thanks to a post from ex-pat Sevilla FB page, we now know why we had the delicious fish 🐟🐟🐟 !!!)

Our last night together in Sevilla with Ron & Mary this trip. They are off to Barcelona in the morning. Phil had class so Ron & Mary and I went to the restaurant Afuego in the back of El Pinton and tarried over drinks while Phil caught up with us a half hour later.  Food was good and we all enjoyed the evening. After a last stop at MITO we headed home and they headed off to bed in order to be up for a 7AM cab to the airport. 

Now we have almost a week to catch up on our day to day schedule before John & Stephanie arrive here in Sevilla. They leave ORD tomorrow and then arrive Madrid the following morning but are doing some time in Madrid and Cordoba before ending their trip here in Sevilla beginning next Wednesday! So we are heading into the home stretch - we leave Sevilla in four weeks. I am sad about leaving but also will be happy to see our friends in Chicago. And we have to get some of the household stuff done there while over the summer. More to follow. Including a dinner with Janet and Mike (Sevillano friends) and a comedy open mic at Uprooted theater... so we keep busy.