a year gone by

Last year we arrived on December 26 (2023) for the beginning of our lives as residents in Spain. We weren't done with all our paperwork, but the biggest hurdle was behind us- our initial visa for entry....  We arrived in time to see how things were decorated for the holidays - and we had a one week rental in Santa Cruz before we moved to our two month place on January 1st... on Calle Monsalves near the art museum.

We learned of the New Year's Eve tradition of eating twelve grapes one for each month of the new year to create good luck...

We went to Cadiz with Lee our first houseguest- 

Nick arrived and then Larry arrived and then Megan & Christian arrived -  Larry stayed on and we went to Cordoba for the day to see the Mesquite/Cathedral.

After Larry, we had many guests - first  Mike, then Jean, then my brother and his family, then Claus & Evi. We moved out of our holiday rental and into our apartment at the end of February  - here is the intersection closest to where we live  - at Carlos Canal and Calle Bilbao 

 

We began exploring our new area of the city and found a new place for coffee- LOL

some of the exploring led to discoveries of new places nearby - like the Cabildo (below)

After two and a half weeks in the new apartment we went off to Valencia for a month.  While we were there, we went to Madrid to visit Megan & Christian and Oscar. One day we went to Segovia and saw the aqueduct and castle...

We loved exploring Valencia and had many many meals that included the famous local dish: paella...

We also went to the Bioparc and the City of arts & Sciences.  Angela & Lee came for a long weekend to visit... and we enjoyed living by the Mercado Central for a month!

 

We returned to Sevilla in later April and came back to our new apartment for the remainder of our time here in the spring. We found a surprise as they had hung sun shades all over town for the hot weather...

And our local park (Plaza Nueva) had come back into full greenery with the plane trees coming  back and the orange trees budding with the next crop of oranges...

We got a chance to see what the late late sunsets looked like when out to dine- the photo below was taken at nearly ten o'clock at night and the sky was just turning dark from the deep blue of the violet hour.

 

Our last guests for the spring, John & Stephanie, arrived in May.  We started the next step in our residency process by applying for the empadronamiento. 

We left Sevilla arriving in Chicago May 28.  We spent our summer traveling and seeing friends. I returned to Sevilla October 17- after four and a half months away- having missed our beautiful city.  I returned to our wonderful building and unpacked a lot of household items that I brought from Chicago, where we have been overloaded since closing up the Florida home.  The sun shades were still up on Carlos Canal  (our nearest intersection)  and it felt like coming HOME.

I made a quick trip to Portugal and when I returned, Oscar came to stay for eight days as our first guest of the new season.  Phil arrived three days before Oscar left so they did get to spend a bit of time together. Oscar was here until the 2nd of November. 

The following week we had two, more or less surprise visits. Friend Lori and her husband David came for coffee. They were just embarked upon a ocean cruise around Africa, before heading home to Sydney Australia.  The next day, Christian came for merienda because he had gig for two or three nights here in town, with a band he sometimes joins.   That led us into the guests on the regular calendar- starting with Jenny in mid November for five days - overlapped by a non-guest but foodie friend Frank who ended up being here November 15 to the 22nd. By December we had a five day visit from Mike followed immediately by a visit from Lee who was here December 8-13.  On the 13th, we all went to Madrid to visit with Megan & Christian and Oscar. We returned to Sevilla on the 16th. Lee stayed a couple of more days and then headed home to Chicago.  

We had a quiet holiday and marked our one year anniversary of living in Spain with dinner at AMARA.  Larry arrives the first week of 2025 and after a couple of days here, we three head off to Tenerife, and then meet up with Jeremy.   We return by the 22nd - with no one in tow...LOL

Then our houseguest season hits full swing starting February 1st. In February March, & April, we have 10 confirmed guests (some for multiple rounds) and 2 more unconfirmed - to date. We also have three more in country trips planned between February and May.... so I doubt Year Two will be any less busy than Year One. 

Phil arrives

 So mid day Wednesday Phil arrived to torrential rains in Spain... not here - here we just had three solid days of rain and occasional lightening and thunder. It was raining when he arrived. But since he had been on an overnight flight it was of little consequence since he'd be inside all day anyway.  We went to Acento for dinner - after he had a short nap.  Dinner tonight at one of our regular haunts. Missed photos of the mains. Lo Siento!  Menu items marked.  The restaurant was totally full again tonight. The owner Vincent told us it is always busy in October. It's high season here because (despite this week's rain) the weather is usually beautiful this time of year so people come from all over.  Phil arrived today midday so we went out early (8:30) and had dinner with, by my count, 15 children in a restaurant with roughly twenty or so tables. Most were fine but, of course, "most" does not mean all.... We didn't care. Phil could hardly keep his head off the table with the time change.

We started getting emails from friends all over the world who were worried about us because the storms have devastated the east coast - especially around Valencia

My response on FB: A number of emails came today asking about our safety. We are safe.  It has been raining pretty solidly for close to three days and is expected to go on through Friday. The worst of it was on the East Coast in Valencia and south to Malaga but today there was severe flooding in Cádiz and Jerez which are not in the Mediterranean but on the Atlantic coast. Also places with higher elevations like Arcos de la Frontera have had flooding. We are far enough inland from the places having the worst of it that we have been spared. Our rains have been sustained and we've had hail but people are still going about their daily lives. So thanks to those who have asked. This has been a huge loss of lives here in Spain. The DANA (weather phenomenon of this type) has already caused at least 95 deaths. So keep Spain in your thoughts. We have no plans to go out of town and are on the top floor of our building. So all fine here.

So with Phil's strange sleeping hours, we made our way through the day, had coffee, and went shopping for a few groceries. And later had dinner at Petit Comite, another of our favorites. What we had is marked on the menu. Phil had two ducks courses, I had the burrata salad, and we split the anchovy toast. I had the albondigas as my main. Desserts were Tocino de Cielo for me and the nougat ice cream with hot hazelnut chocolate sauce for Phil. 

Today it is a holiday and we are not sure how that will affect the city. It's All Saints Day. Last night there were processions and many people were gathered in Plaza Nueva and when we left for dinner we were like fish swimming upstream with the crowds all heading into the city center. More to follow as Phil gets settled in. 

meanwhile - a recap of visits this spring

It has been a fun first five months as residents in Spain. Between visits from friends, visits from and to family, catching up with classmates and my intercambio from last year's class and making friends through the Expats Sevilla group, we have been busy. (Not to mention at least four trips to various government offices to work out various visa and residency documentation requirements.)

We started with a visit with my intercambio Julia and her husband Pablo and new baby Pablo....they were in process with moving to Madrid so this was their last trip to SVQ to pack up their household goods to be shipped north.

We had met Lauren Tucker, a fellow Chicago ex-pat, on the FB group. And Ellie another member joined us for tapas on a chilly January evening - we closed the place down.... LOL

Lee had a long planned visit but at the last moment Nick had a scheduled meeting in London so he dropped in for a few nights and Larry had a planned visit that would overlap with Lee's so we ended up with five people until Megan & Christian (family from Madrid) came for an overnight and the seven us had a number of excellent leisurely meals together.

the dots are various guests, couples or families - it was busy for the first two months- then in early March we moved and id March we went to Valencia for a month. When we returned we hosted John & Stephanie and continued to get settled into our new home on Bilbao...

we met Phil's Spanish teachers for coffee one day- 

and we met up with former classmates, Joseph & Becky, who were also now back in Sevilla for more language immersion.

Friend Jean came to visit from Florida (her first trip to Europe since 1970 when she & Phil met as part of a German language immersion program in high school)

Meanwhile we collected our residence cards and my brother and his family visited for a few days.  

Claus & Evi came from Germany for a few nights-  as we transitioned to the new apartment where we will live for at least the next three years.

When we were in Valencia we took a weekend trip to Madrid to spend time with Megan and Christian and Oscar. One day we took a trip to Segovia (a 30 minute high speed train ride).

 

After we returned to Valencia- Angela & Lee came to visit for five days-  and we spent time with gorillas real and less than real LOL

Then in May, we returned home to Sevilla and hosted John & Stephanie for five days- 

and just before we are leaving for the summer- we caught up with Paula (former classmate) who had returned for more language immersion as well. 

It has been a whirlwind five months but we have had a blast. We are nearing the return date for the summer in the States and we would be seriously thinking about not going back yet except- it's in the high 90s today and only getting hotter!  So here we come Lincoln Avenue deck time!