Monthly Archives: March 2011

sandal dilemma

21 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in shoes

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Well sort of. Last year I almost bought a pair of these very Mephistos but when I tried them on they didn’t seem to fit well and, as I didn’t find any other sandals I liked, I got through the summer totally wearing out these two old pair, which clearly couldn’t be used anymore (the shredded insoles were shredding my poor feet!). And so when the wonderful spring weather hit this weekend I had nothing comfy and cool to wear on my feet. But same story! I really didn’t see any sandals I liked other than this same Mephisto style, which is being repeated this year. So I tried them on and – hey! – they actually fit just fine. But the salesclerk said they looked short and I should try a bigger size. Okay…

I mean, when I got my new shoes a couple of weeks ago I realised that going up a size was the most comfortable thing to do, even though they are a bit long. But with the sandals, having them too long just looks stupid. Except the salesclerk insisted that my toes were too close to the edge in my “usual size”… aaargh. What it comes down to is that I actually need a 39 1/2. Yeah, the 39s are a tad short at the front, but the 40s felt and looked like boats and – more importantly – my heel kind of swam around at the back, and the back strap isn’t adjustable. So after much deliberation I went for the 39s, which is the same Mephisto size I’ve been wearing for over 10 years. Was I wrong?

now defunct 3-year-old red Mephistos and brand new ones

One thing’s for sure. I am going to start using my gel socks again! My heels are in great shape now after a winter of comfy socks and regular moisturising. I reckon that if I do the gel sock thing after a quick pedicure a couple times a week I may end up avoiding painful cracked feet around mid-August. Watch this space…

first azotea dinner

20 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by in cats, food & drink

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[click to enlarge collage]

Yesterday Nog and I did quite a lot of cleaning up and shifting of stuff on the azotea, so that by the evening it was tidy enough to have our first dinner outdoors. It’s a bit of a slog bringing everything upstairs, but well worth it. We had some lovely tuna brochettes, served with marinated potatoes, arrugula salad and a bottle of nicely chilled rueda. Also brought up the iPod deck and listened to some Paco de Lucia while watching the “supermoon” come up. At one point Nog said “all that’s missing are the cats” and right on cue the Big Girl from next door leapt over the wall and joined us (while Loki safely watched from behind the glass door).

There’s still a lot of work to be done. I’d like to get more plants and some trellising, and of course a barbeque! But for now it’s at least usable, and now that the weather has turned warm and sunny and the scent of blossoming azahar is in the air, use it we shall. Also, Jessica is moving in next week, so I predict quite a lot of “outdoor living” to be happening here soon at casa az…

a tale of two azoteas

18 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in food & drink, friends, home, restaurants, sevilla, tapas, television, twitter

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Azotea n. A rooftop terrace

This morning I meant to get up, get some work done, and then hit the gym. But then the guy from Digital+ called to say he could install the satellite dish and set up my new tv service, sooooo…  I decided to just stick around at home and get it done. But because I was working downstairs and wasn’t paying attention to what the guy was doing, it was a bit of a bummer to find out he’d attached the dish to the side of the azotea wall (I thought it would be on the top of that pole) right where I want to put the barbeque (when I get one), but oh well. New service seems to be working fine and it’ll be cheaper than what I had with the dreaded Movistar. Also swapped internet and phone service yesterday to go with Vodafone, so in a week or so there should be no more Movistar in my life.

So having missed the gym there was nothing left to do but go out and eat a whack of tapas!

Yesterday I’d made plans to meed Dutch Twitter pal @Amiek who is in town on holiday, so we went out to La Azotea, one of my favourite places that I actually hadn’t been to for awhile. And well, it was fabulous as always and great to see everyone again. Spent a lovely afternoon chatting with Amiek, who has lived in Sevilla before and speaks fluent Spanish (have never met a Dutch person who didn’t speak at least five languages). She’s staying in her old ‘hood, but as it’s been awhile since she’s been here I’ll be giving her tips on the latest and greatest tapas bars, and will most likely see her again before she leaves on Tuesday. Damn but that Twitter thang is great. Lunch below, which Amiek very generously treated me to…

[click to enlarge]
espetos de pijotas (fish onna stick) with blood orange mayo
grilled morcilla with caramalised onion & quail egg
cod & wild mushroom canneloni with scallop sauce / grilled tuna with olive paté
presa (iberian pork) tataky with crushed pistachios & creamy idiazabal cheese sauce

find loki!

17 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, home

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Yeah, slow news day. But only because my “date” for the lunch where I was going to be seated next to Spanish royalty had to cancel, and I didn’t feel like going alone. What else? Well, picked up my new router from Vodafone, cancelled all my Movistar stuff, and I should have my new iPhone 4 by next week (!!!).

And now just waiting for Jessica to show up. We’re going out to do a bit of tapearing and sample some of the special tapas created for Sevilla en Boca de Todos. At 2.50€ each, it’s quite a bargain.

What are you up to today?