rounding towards home

 Still making the rounds of our favorite eateries. And still trying new places. 

400 feet from our front door. The place we call the "ghost" restaurant or Brigadoon was the venue for dinner Thursday. Its hours are mysterious and online reserving is an impossibility.  We have stopped there for lunch in the past on the way home from school. And Larry and I had a coffee in January to escape the rain one morning after going to the Copi shop to print out train tickets.  I have stopped for soda and WC once or twice while out photographing the city. But we could never break the code on when it was open for dinner. I tried to reserve but never would get a confirmation that my request had been received. But on Wednesday night, as we retuned from Azotea they were shutting down so no longer busy but still there. We walked in and reserved for Thursday night outdoors.

When we've been by during open dinner hours, it's been mobbed with locals. Now we know why.  EXCELLENT food. Four platos, one tapa, and three drinks for 65€.  Phil had the leg of suckling lamb and I had the low temperature ribs. He started with seafood risotto and I had the salmon tartare with avocado.  We shared the puntillitas. (Sorry, missed the photo until the empty plate was staring at me!) Now we know why there is always a crowd. And given its proximity, we will definitely return.(Photo of other puntillitas we have had recently included at the end of the post  for illustrative purposes)

photos from prior times passing by - 

Another night we had a final round at Alimentari E Diversi for some good Italian

and one more stop at Brunilda

 

So tonight our last dinner out will be at our favorite classic tapas bar - Dos de Mayo in Plaza Gavidia. Tomorrow we are going for a late lunch to Terraviva before heading to the airport to begin the journey to the States. I will post photos when I get a chance... 

Now down to our last lunch before we start the trek home-  Terraviva... home of a great prix fixe lunch for 14 Euro!

Now on our way back to the States.

Then on the Madrid to Chicago flight- 

in the count down

So we are really in the countdown now- ten days to our summer break from the renown or perhaps infamous heat of a Sevilla summer. 

meanwhile, we have more farewells at several more restaurants -  

a return to AMARA but ordered from the a la carte - the tasting menu hadn't really changed - 

probably the best steak I have had in Spain- below

then we stopped for ice cream at a newly renovated old building - used to be a bar- 

a lunch at a new to us place Islamorada- near the Natas stand...

on the way home we came across this store- since 1894!

Because we had  big lunch, I voted for a smaller dinner- we tried Casa Lonja at the end of Calle Madrid on Zaragoza...

Next dinner - La Cayetana -

So now our last week in the spring 2024 residence in Spain. A few photos of our walk home and then some of our dinner. The fruit stand and pharmacy from the end of the street. The view in the direction of the plaza. A street we traverse regularly to get to the bank and to our favorite Chinese place. This is our home now. Our attachment has grown rapidly. People wave as we pass by their establishments. Tonight  the lady from the ice cream place and Freddy from Ming. It's a friendly place. People have time to stop and chat. (It might be the reason everyone is late - because being on time is less of a priority than giving your neighbors time to catch up.) On the way home I took some photos - 

Today we went to the government offices in Triana to register for our empadronamiento. (It's a residence verification certificate) After we got our form stamped and they told us to come back at the end of June we stopped along San Jacinto, (the pedestrian street from the Triana bridge past the mercado de Triana to a big church) for a drink. 

After our drinks we crossed the river - spotting Jacaranda and Bougainvillea in full bloom along with tree full of white blossoms I didn't know. People were walking along the river path below the bridger. The Bridge is adorned with a chapel (photo below). We stopped at the other side of the bridge to have a bite to eat at the Mercado de Lonja. It is an old market converted into a food hall of sorts. Nothing notable about the less than stellar offerings which seemed to be more slanted to tourist trade than anything actually local. We had some empanadas and some small sandwiches and went on our way... a definite NO on the that one...LOL can't win them all.

 

Tomorrow Phil has class until 9:30 so it will be a pizza and salad night for us. And the rest of the week is a mixed bag... back to Azotea, Dos de Mayo, La Brunilda, and Alimentari & Diversi - as well as an attempt to eat at El Cosas on Moratin (the ghost restaurant LOL)... that's all for now but more will follow-