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| Massive palm tree, Metropol Parasol in the background, read on. |
This is Ryan's post about their visit with us and other friends in Freiburg. Great picture of him and Bruce.
Thwarted Christmas dinner, or when even careful planning goes amiss. I asked Ryan to contact the local butcher to get a pork roast, meaning to stuff it, he ordered for pick up Saturday. Turkeys can be found but large cured hams like we get in North America cannot, or at least no one here seems to be able to find them. Go to the butcher on Saturday and it is a zoo, just as we did, everyone else did too, poor fellow was so busy! Bruce gets to the counter and he asks for the roast, said pork roast three times, not understood I guess because we brought home a cooked beef roast and a tin of gravy. Pepe stopped by for a Christmas drink and he confirmed that Bruce had the words correctly but he said “that just happens sometimes” What? Well we’ll be fed and the beef is tasty because I opened it’s package to see what we actually had bought. (Read on, it was pork!)
Pepe showed us pictures of his recent trip to Marrakesh, Morocco and it looks to be very exotic, colourful, gritty and chaotic, Bruce said he’d be booking a ticket for next week if he didn’t have mobility issues. I’ve read bloggers stories and their opinions swing from loving it to hating it. We were glad Pepe had a good time there, he said it was like Sevilla about twenty years ago. His brother is in town so he took a bottle of Clamato juice to introduce him to a red eye, Bruce said hah! we’re converting Spaniards, well on a very small scale for sure.
From my Christmas message mentioning dried sage I received an offer from a lady I know on the Coast to mail me some! Isn’t that in the Christmas spirit!
I received so many lovely responses to the blog from friends for Christmas, it fills my heart! Thank you!
Christmas lunch worked out well, it was a pork roast, including gravy the butcher put in, well seasoned and we used the raclette grill to warm it, I thought the oven might dry it out. Stuffing done in the oven, not very traditional, included orange juice and rind, but tasted good. Mashed potatoes sent Ryan into heaven, hasn’t had them in a while, done with butter and cream. They brought a tasty mixture of snow peas, garlic and soy sauce, a perfect sharper mix to the lunch/dinner.
There should be a name for lunches in Spain that transcend to dinners, brunch is a good word for breakfast and lunch, no word that I know of for what happens here.
I am good with a knife, can’t remember when I have cut myself with one, but a grater, well, not the same story, two grate marks on my fingers, not great, hah pun intended.
That fancy, Dyson vacuum cleaner we bought? Doesn’t work well, battery life on it is shorter than advertised half hour, Rocio couldn’t even finish doing the couch before it conked out. She said it was cumbersome to use. So being rather expensive, it’s going back to the store. I was dreading this experience but it turned out well. I typed on my phone, translated and handed it to the clerk. He didn’t say anything but rang it through. Had an orange juice at our favourite little cafe and the owner of it recognized me and asked if we live near by, that’s always a nice thing. The cafe is a French one called Colette, https://www.facebook.com/COLETTESevilla/
Saturday the 30th and a sunny, warm day so we go to the top of the Setas, Metropol Parasol.
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| One of the 360 degree views, I took many more pictures, but into the sun, not good... |
Been meaning to do that all the time we’ve been here, finally done! I actually had a bit of vertigo, don’t know why really, ramps are wide with high guard rails. The nice people at the entry booth saw Bruce’s chair, pulled us to the front of the line and issued us free tickets to go up.
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| Beautiful tile work on the side of a church. |
Had Japanese lunch first and good thing too, after we were looking around to have a drink at a patio and there wasn’t a table to be found! Couldn’t even see some of the restaurants, just the crowds of people with drinks in hand. We did find a table but were told we couldn’t have it and couldn’t at the moment figure out why, no indication it was reserved or people had left it temporarily. Sitting at home and I remembered Alonzo saving us a table when it was busy, we’d wait at the sidelines until one came free and he’d wave anyone else off who wanted it. Hah, mystery solved. Whole town was out with all their relatives, strolling along, not walking, mind, strolling, sloooowly, in family groups taking up the sidewalks. I remember Angela and Ryan coming to our table at our old local and almost begging for a seat, must have been this time of year, they’d been all over and couldn’t find an empty spot. Now if we are going out for lunch with them, we arrive early, get a table, otherwise people wait outside the tables and stare hungrily at you to guilt you into leaving. Custom here is that you enjoy your time, line up or not.
Well that's a wrap of this post and 2017. Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2018!
Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi Cat
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