We graduate!

 so our last week arrives and it is chock full of activitiy on so many fronts! 

on our last Monday night  - we had dinner with my speaking partner Julia, and her husband Pablo, at the oldest restaurant in Sevilla. We were the last diners in the upstairs dining room. We went for helado (ice cream) on the way home and continued talking until midnight. The bars with outdoor tables were stacking chairs in front of us. What a fun evening. We find plenty of things to talk about even though we are searching for words on both sides. It's a shame school keeps getting in the way of our social life. On the way home we walked under the Setas lit for the evening and the moon shining through the arch. A perfect evening.

 such a lovely couple and Julia and I have stayed in touch regularly since we left on 4/1/23 💖

Then on Tuesday we went ot meet with the bankers to open an account- well I won't go into the hassle but let's cut ot the chase- we did get an account opened. that was as far as it got, but better than nothing- 

The next night after an error in arranging a reservation at a favorite - AMARA, we ended up at Seis, again, whcih was a good choice all around- we got a laugh at the dinnerware- 

it's us- old dogs learning new tricks!

The week continued- 

Lunch at Terre Viva was included between class and an afternoon lecture. Forgot to photo the good pollo taco which had the closest thing to an authentic tortilla I've seen here. The lecture was interesting; the subject was contemporary Spain (Generalissimo Francisco Franco still dead) since the advent of democracy. Then we had a lighter dinner at Tablafina which was perfect. We are packing this week for our Saturday departure to the Mediterranean coast - we'll travel for a week checking out other potential locales for a winter home. But right now we are happy to be returning to Sevilla next winter. We have been so busy we feel like there are many more to see and do in this area. We loved Ronda on our previous visits, and hope next winter to get to Cadiz and some of the other area pueblos. We have two more days of classes and then a dinner with Marissa Friedman our niece who arrives just as we exit Sevilla.

The board on our last full day of class....

our quick lunch on the last full day of class - we ate here a number of times over the weeks we were in class.

our Thursday night dinner was at Casapuerte and we walked home via the park and the ice cream shop!

the next and final day of class - we had class until noon and then a graduation ceremony and then a class farewell lunch at a good place (sorry no photos - but it was worth returning - BACO

Then we picked up our car and headed thorugh jam packed (beginng of Semana Santa - Good Friday today!) Sevilla to our apartment house and parked the car! YAY Phil on the driving!

Then we met Marissa for dinner at favorite, Justa Rufina, on our final night in town.  

The walk home from Marissa's hostel- a final lovely evneing shot of Sevilla. We sure will miss this city. Sevilla has a color- and it is AZUL (We sang the song at our graduation celebration earlier in the day) 

The next day we left town after a stop at out stoarge locker to drop off stuff we won't need until we return in December. Hasta la vista! We left our hearts here- and will return.  

our home away from home-

 Our "home" for nearly seven weeks as we study Spanish in Sevilla. Our apartment has two bedrooms (only one has a closet so it's become the drying room, dressing room, storage room etc) Sharing a single bath has been a change for us!  The dining area serves as a desk for Phil and I have my computer in front of the couch. We use the doors to the bedrooms for the workouts with our trainer on ZOOM. The kitchen looks good but is pretty much useless as there is no storage space for anything. The dishes, including flatware, are all in the bookcase style cabinet in the living room. The one cabinet in the kitchen holds glasses. There IS a dishwasher in a tiny cabinet to the left of the sink and a washer in another tiny cabinet on the right hand side of the sink. But overall the place has been completely workable for the two of us. The staff is really nice! Exceptionally helpful!  But the place could use a lot of maintenance overall. Since we aren't renting long term - no big deal. The location is absolutely fabulous, right across the street from the art museum and its small park. 

so it was workable for us for the two months of school - we did wish we had an oven and a better frig (ours never got really cold) but we loved the staff at the place and found the location to be spot on for getting to and from school and into the historic center (which we were just skirting being one doorway north of Alfonso XII.....)