November is here

 On Sunday (November 2) we had a fun night out with Janet & Mike at Hiyoki. We had the okonomiyaki, unagi and spicy red tuna rolls, uni gunkun, toro & salmon sashimi, tempura shrimp, duck gyozas, with a bottle of cold filtered sake and Juvé y Camps cava. Great food and great company and we found out we have an Irish friend in common.  Small world! We all live here now.  #expatlife

meanwhile the weather has been stunning - here is a shot I took to show Leslie why she could see the sunlight streaming in for our training session today- Sevillana blue skies:

And yet, they are working on the holiday lights already- here is copy of some recent news- 

"A total of 304 streets, as well as squares and bridges, will be illuminated in all districts of Seville in December and early January for Christmas 2025." This view is literally steps away from our building. It's a wonderful way of showing off our beautiful city. And while we do have "winter" it's a mild climate so being outdoors in the evenings to walk the streets and see the lights is completely doable even for hot house flowers like myself. 

We went to MING2 one night when it was an overcast and cool day- so we could have soup!

another night we went to Brunilda for our favorites 

Then we were off to Madrid-

We went to visit with Megan & Christian and Oscar & Candela on Thursday via train... 

 

we walked from Atocha station to our hotel - the Hard Rock Hotel (which we got on points so well located and a real deal!)

 

On Thursday night dinner with Oscar, Candela and Megan. Fab seafood centric meal at a place known for Gallegan food. I think we all agreed that the best course was the Erizo gratinado (urchin) and I thought the "first runner up" was the Xoubas. (sardines) tied with the mushrooms which were "off the menu." A special tonight. I only got a photo of one of the dozen white shrimp from Huelva because the dish never landed on the table before the server was plying everyone with shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp. #cousins #familymeals #madridtrip

 

off to a great start... that got even better when we went to lunch the next day with the same group- 

Terrific lunch in a small neighborhood place - menu items marked except the berberechos (cockles) which were the special. Shared three desserts - chocolate tart/lemon tart/pear on fabulous pastry that was sooo buttery! And somehow despite being full from last night I was still able to eat some of every dish. #cousinsinMadrid

Then that night we had Filipino food with Megan & Christian. My favorite was the SISIG. And of course the lumpiang - which we know as lumpia in Chicago.

So not so many photos of our lunch on Saturday. It was because they brought it all pretty much at once and we dug in. Hence a photo of the ravaged dishes on the table and a few of the menu and restaurant.  I did do better at dinner.

Then a lovely Saturday night dinner with Megan & Oscar at a Basque restaurant. Excellent desserts and interesting and flavorful mains. Our choices included sweetbreads, pigeon, a mushroom and foie gras "stew", and hake on a shrimp sauce. My favorite treats were the dessert liqueur, and cookie and the Pan Cristal based pan con tomate. A very nice wine and attentive service rounded out the meal. Heading home to Sevilla tomorrow. It was a fun visit with family in Madrid.

 

The first week of November ended with all of us being very well sated. We came home on a 2 PM train and had dinner around the corner at our burger joint of choice- GOIKO and went to see Helena at MITO - tomorrow starts a new week....

Atocha Station in Madrid

more to follow- we have social engagements and trainer and classes as usual this week but who knows what else will show up- 

oh and here are a few photos of Megan & Christian's new neighborhood. 

They have been rehabbing their new place for ten months or so - but it is nearly done and we will get to see it the next time we are in town to visit them...

at home for a bit

Two nights meals. Phil arrived from the States Tuesday afternoon so we dined early at Islamorada. He had eaten half the Huelva white shrimp by the time I remembered to take a photo. We also had a presa Iberico that was missed altogether.

Then Wednesday night, because we had huge storms and flooding all day, the reservation we had for soup on the "chilly" day had to be abandoned due to no power in the building or actually on most of the block. So we walked in the direction of lights and ended up at La Piemontesa for a shared salad and pizza (all fine) but the postres were what salvaged the evening. I had the strawberry ice cream (strawberries only, not vanilla with strawberry) and fresh strawberries with cream. Phil had the Nutella crepe. So that was our rain for pretty much for the whole month a bit last weekend for part of one day. But it poured today and a lot of lightning, sometimes right overhead. Quite the show.

The next night we had dinner at Casa Juan Paloma. A great neighborhood bar near the Plaza de la Pescaderia. We had the three marked menu items. Arroz, carpaccio de gambas, and the anchovies. Friendly service and good food. Two drinks, water, and three courses for 45€. What's not to love? PS they have the best traditional tortilla in town here. You can choose with or without (a big debate) onions. We like it "with"... But neither of us was hungry enough to order it tonight - one size - smaller but larger enough to share.

Friday night Italian again. We met up with Natalia (one of Phil's Spanish teachers). We haven't seen her since the spring when she introduced us to Janet & Mike.  The restaurant is serviceable but not brilliant (although I do like their pizza crust better than some of the other options nearby.) We all had a "starchy" main after sharing the pizza tartufada as a starter. I had the risotto, Phil had the carbonara and Natalia had shrimp ravioli. We shared a bottle of chianti and stopped to see Helena at MITO on the way home. Tomorrow night, a first for us, a concert at the Teatro Maestranza. A guitar virtuoso. A dinner after at a new (to us) place.  #expatlife

Then Saturday night came around and... Some nights are a complete miss. We went to a concert of a well known flamenco guitarist at the Teatro Maestranza (our concert hall in Sevilla.) The guitarist, Rafael Riqueni was an excellent guitarist.

Here is some more info on his artistry from M Wikipedia. Rafael Riqueni del Canto (Sevilla, August 16, 1962), is a Spanish guitar player and composer. He is considered as one of the biggest names or “Maestros” in flamenco guitar history. At age fourteen, he won the two main national awards for flamenco guitar in Spain. As an adult, he has won the most prestigious flamenco music awards in Spain, including: Premio Andalucía de Cultura, Premio Nacional de la Crítica, Giraldillo a la Maestría de la XVIII Bienal de Flamenco y el Premio AIE. In 2017, he was awarded with XXXI Compás del Cante, this award is always referred to by the Spanish media as the "Flamenco Nobel prize". 

Unfortunately in my opinion the program was marred by two other performers. A young man vocalist who had a lot of hair that he kept flicking back from his face and then he'd lean forward to emote into his vocalizations and it would fall back in front of his face. And the cycle would start all over again. Clearly his hair stole the show. At one point I could only think he must be wailing about his dead cat (not understanding the words left me to make up my own interpretations LOL) As bad as that was, at one point a woman came on and did a sort of interpretive/flamenco style dance. Her demeanor was very dark, dressed in all black and scowling throughout the performance. I wondered if both the performers were doing something surrounding mourning and it would figure as a possibility because it is the dead of the dead today (November 1st).

So we decided to cut out at intermission. And headed to the place we had reserved for dinner. It is a beautiful restaurant and the two women working the front of the house were as pleasant as they could be. The dinner rolls were also very good.  But the rest of the report, not so much. My salmon tartare tasted too fishy to be truly fresh. My lubina was overcooked and didn't come with the things described on the menu. Phil fared a bit better as he was happy with his pork dish although he said he wished the foie had been less sizable and higher quality. 

But the real kicker was they had neither of the wines we wanted to order and the server insisted that we needed a much heavier red than we desired since we were ordering both fish and meat. We asked about the other wines listed under the blends and were informed that none of them were available. ???? So we shared a glass of decent Ribera del Duero and gave up the quest for the wine we wanted to drink.

 

So all in all - not the best evening we've had in Sevilla but we did try two new things. We can now safely say. We'd go back to that venue, it was very nice. And we would not return to the restaurant.

So that brings us to Sunday and a dinner with Janet and Mike at Hiyoki and the beginning of a new week... we are headed on Thursday to Madrid to spend time with Megan & Christian and Oscar & Candela.

gratitude

Finally some cooler weather. So on my way home from coffee I stopped for a few moments in Plaza Nueva. It's fall so the plane trees are going a bit yellow readying to drop their leaves. Our orange trees stay green during that time as do the palms scattered throughout this plaza perimeter. The oranges are just beginning - they will drop later after they are ORANGE 🍊🍊🍊 Then it will be time for the fabulous scent of orange blossoms to fill our city (March.) Today (despite a line of people fully encircling the Cathedral and  huge crowds - for unknown reasons) I am feeling particularly grateful that I get to live in this beautiful city.

Phil returns from his 2.5 weeks in Chicago tomorrow - so back to our regular routines. Stay tuned.