Christmas is coming

We went over to this bar we know with good food and a relaxed atmosphere for a quick meal. Had the tortilla and a carpaccio of shrimp as well as the arroz dish. We started with two anchovies and two sardines. Nothing fancy but always a good choice.

The next night we had sushi for dinner. Our favorite Hiyoki. Missing are sashimi of red tuna and toro. (Photographer fell down on the job) Shown sashimi pez mantequilla, and salmon, okonomiyaki, gyoza de pato, unagi nigiri, gunkun ikura and langoustino tempura. Started with miso soup because temperatures  have fallen below 60* and Sevillanos are cold. Love this place.

 

on the way hoe we took this photo for Lee LOL

Dinner tonight was a close-by choice as it was raining heavily and quite chilly for us. Less than 60*.

I started with salad, Phil with the steak tartare. My main was the Presa Ibericos and Phil's was the lamb shank. We shared the fruit salad and torrija for dessert. As we have found since returning from Paris, holiday gatherings are in full swing. A table of 16+ next to us was much better behaved than the six top in the bar seated right behind us. Thankfully they left before we started our dinner. 

Still raining when we left, but we remind ourselves that it IS winter. 

Then it was Saturday night and we headed out to dinner with Helena to La Cayetana.  Sadly her hubby couldn't join us but we managed to have a nice meal. Started with the great Aperol Sevillano x3 yum! A sprig of mint and it could have been a holiday drink. We shared calamari, arroz Ibericos, buñelos de bacalao, and gambas al ajillo. Went to MITO for dessert, of course.

Then Sunday rolled around and Phi wasn't feeling well so I went to MING and got carryout soup and fried rice and kung bao chicken. Sorry no photos - of the plastic containers LOL. Then Monday we made our holiday stop at Casapuerta to bid Feliz Navid to Blanca and Manuel.

on the night before Christmas Eve we were supposed to go to Tradevo, But whatever virus felled Phil on Sunday when I got carry out from MING2 took me on that day and so he went around the corner to GOIKO for a burger and then finished off the left over Chinese later at night. Then on Christmas Eve I made spaghetti sauce for a Spaghetti dinner with salad and garlic bread (he's been complaining about not having any for about two months...)  

Merry Christmas. The view from the bedroom window. Blue blue skies but a chilly high of 60* real feel.  Coldest December in Spain in more than a decade. We'll take the blue skies and sunshine.

 

and one Phil took on his walk along the river on December 20th  

It will be a quiet holiday for us. Things pick up around new years with a visit from Lee, Nick & Aarav. 

four days and the next guests

 The view from our bedroom balcony. The shades have started to come out. This might be the Sevillano equivalent of Ground Hog's Day. The days are longer and the temperatures are rising.  It is spring. We had a lot of rain (for us) and chilly days (F- mid 50s) which is why we headed to the Canaries for two weeks in January. But now we are heading into the glorious weather we had when we arrived two years ago on Valentine's Day and fell in love with Sevilla. The sky is Sevillano blue and the sun is warm. By the end of March even the streets will be wearing their overhead sun shades.  The building across the street is an upscale hostel.

After having made reservations at various places around the city for the seven nights Ron & Mary were visiting, we ate at home. By Sunday night we were discussing places for this week (and various get togethers with friends, visitors from the States, and my birthday. We decided for tonight to go to Casapuerta. We always like the food and the service is terrific thanks to Blanca. Next time we'd skip the tuna buñelos but the remainder of the meal was up to their usual high standards.

An interesting day. After sessions with our trainer in the early afternoon, in the late afternoon we went for coffee with four of Phil's classmates ( plus another partner and me.) It was good to catch up and see everyone. People come and go here, studying Spanish as it fits their schedules. So Joseph and his partner are leaving Sunday and Becky just arrived last week and will be here through early April. We went to Santagloria and sat outside until Sue had an appointment and it started to get cool. We went home for a couple of hours and then headed out to dinner at a new place called Marabunda. We had an 8:30 reservation, but when we arrived all they had left was a high top table with metal chairs. I told the guy I was old (71 today) and could hardly get up on those chairs, much less sit in them for a couple of hours. So we left and headed further north to Alameda de Hercules. We looked at a burger place, but on a recent walk Phil had noticed a Mexican place to try so we went there. Good drinks. Excellent aguachile, decent guacamole. Phil had a bunch of tacos and I had a tasty enchilada with Salsa Verde.  Overall I liked it better than Phil, but since it was my birthday he was a good sport about it. We walked home via three plazas (Museo, Gavidia, and San Lorenzo) and made a stop at MITO for gelato. So kind of a disjointed day but all's well that ends well as Shakespeare said. Which reminds me I have to watch last week's class before the zoom is taken down. (Class is "Shakespeare on Film in the 1990s") #expatlife

then dinner-

and the walk home- 

another dinner at home on Tuesday and then Jean arrived with a friend in tow on Wednesday afternoon.