Had a fabulous evening out with Jessica to celebrate her birthday (which is really on Saturday but, hey, she won’t be here then). In typical Spanish style I was invited out for a meal and we ended up at the most fabulous La Azotea, newly reopened after summer holidays. The food was amazing. And knowing it was Jessica’s birthday Juan brought us cava on the house as soon as we sat down. The original plan had been to go for dessert at Al Aljibe afterwards, but we were both so stuffed we opted for a nightcap cocktail at Roof, the new rooftop bar at the Casa Romana Hotel.
And now to bed. It’s Jessica’s last day in Sevilla tomorrow and we have to get up early to find exquisite olives for her at the market to take home.
It’s funny about friends…sometimes they come and go, other times they just go. But with my friend Pablo, it seems we keep looking for ways to stay in touch. I first met Pablito when he called me (about twelve years ago – or more!) to translate his CV. One thing led to another and we became good friends. Then we became friends that really got on each other’s nerves a lot because – let’s face it – we are both quite strong and stubborn personalities. But after a bit of breathing space we always wanted to see each other again.
Anyhow, after not seeing Pablo for about a year – other than the two times he met me for coffee at the hospital during my PET scan appointments (which was so appreciated!) – he called me yesterday to ask if I wanted to go for a lunchtime beer. Which ended up being lunch (his treat) and then he came over to see the new casa az. And it felt like he’d never been away and that, somehow, he belonged. Because he is someone I can be myself with, and I hope he feels the same. And friends like that don’t happen every day… sometimes it takes twelve years or more.
Remember my evening strolls? Well, yesterday evening I went out and see if I could find a place that would clean my camera lens (yes, I know, but the lens cleaning pack thing costs 20 euros) and, after that was accomplished, it seemed like a very good idea to stop off somewhere for a Cold Beer before heading home. I decided it would be nice to go to Casa Morales, which has become one of my favourite starting points on the Sevilla Tapas Tours. So Nog & I bellied up to the bar to order drinks and – as I wasn’t working – thought it would be better to just hang out there instead of getting a table. I’m so glad we did because it ended up being a wonderful evening.
I’ve known Diego (on the left) for years, as he used to work at the Horno San Buenaventura, and back in the day I would stop in there almost every morning for coffee and toast. So we got to chatting and one tapita led to another… they are so simple, so good and so cheap it was hard to resist. Then Diego started topping up our drinks on the house, and also brought us a couple of other snacks (not shown – a bit of chicharrones and some tuna mojama). At one point an elderly couple who had been sitting behind us – you can just about make them out in the photo – came up to pay and they gave the guys a little puzzle that they said could be made into both a square and a cross. Well, doing the square was no problem, but nobody could make the cross, so we said we’d have a go. At which point Diego said he’d bet us double or nothing on our bar tab that we couldn’t do it. Too bad we didn’t take him up on that as Nog eventually worked it out while Diego showed me an origami “flying” dove, which he said he’d made. When I looked sceptical he took a piece of paper and made one in front of me. I’d grabbed my iPhone to make a video of it but when he was finished I saw that I hadn’t turned the video on properly, so asked him to do it again. Only I stupidly held the iPhone the wrong way, which ended up with a rather odd looking video, but I didn’t think I could ask for a third performance. Anyhow, below you can watch Diego making palomas.
So what was just going to be a quick beer stop on the way home turned out to be a couple of very pleasant hours spent at this totally charming bar with great people. I love it when stuff like that happens.
You may remember Pilar – one third of my fabulous team in the nuclear medicine department. Well, it turns out that just after my last PET scan in January she fell ill and has been off work ever since. We’ve stayed in touch by phone, but she hasn’t been up to going out until the past week or so. And so she organised it so that we would meet up with another old pal of ours, Montse, and her baby Irene.
Here we are sitting outside a tapas bar in Montse’s barrio, enjoying some cold drinks and snacks and catching up. Both Pilar and Montse were also students of mine at various times over the years but, although I’ve seen Pilar quite a bit, I actually hadn’t seen Montse for about three years. I knew about her first child but was surprised to see her almost ready to have her second. And Pilar looked great, with lots of energy, but she doesn’t expect to return to work until after the summer. Which means Monday will be the first time I’ve had a PET scan without my “Pili” there to make me feel at ease and – very importantly! – to give me my results straight away. But I’m hoping that either Isabel or Ricardo will be able to break the news (either good or bad) to me before I leave the hospital. And I also hope that Pilar gets better soon so I can start giving her the year of pre-paid English classes I still owe her.
After a couple of very pleasant hours we said our “hasta prontos!” and I met up with Nog to have one more Cold Beer before going home. Stopped at a kind of rough & ready place around the corner from the house that I wouldn’t choose to eat at, but it had Cruzcampo “Glacial” and a nice terraza that was catching a lovely breeze. So we sat out and listened to the Gay Pride concert that was going on at the Setas. This was the view from the terraza.
Finally came home to cuddle cats and turn on the a/c for awhile before going to bed, and I found myself thinking about what a wonderful day it had been (including my early morning Corpus Cristi walk) and what a wonderful place Sevilla is to live in. Happy.
Have been invited to Vejer to participate in a cooking class headed by the fabulous Annie B, and I am to stay over in the “yellow guest suite”, which sounds delightful. The next day Annie is going to drive me down to Zahara de los Atunes where we will have a delicious lunch in the village before she drops me off in Atlanterra so I can get down to work.
Said work involves taking photos and lots of notes about my Seville client’s sister restaurant in Zahara, which I already know well from my visit there two years ago. You may recall the time my friend Agustín asked me to look after their old pup Mini while they were away in Mexico. Not sure if this time I’ll be able to stay over at Agustín’s because he’s having work done on the place, but if not my client Charo says she can put me up. So why not?
And since you’re probably wondering… no, it never occurs to anyone to pay me extra for going out of town or spending days at events with them. At least, not so far. And so far I am more or less okay with that because I am trying to prove myself to them, that I really am a valuable asset. And, it must be said, a lot of the extra work is actually quite fun. But it doesn’t pay the rent.
There will be another trip to Zahara in early July – just overnight again – to make a video of a wine and food pairing evening with two of my clients. Which I think is going to be amazing. Stay tuned…
casa azahar 