Category Archives: sevilla

the alcázar

31 Thursday Jul 2008

Posted by in culture, home, photos, sevilla, spain

≈ 10 Comments

aka the royal palace and gardens

The Alcázar (pronounced al-KA-thar ) is about a three-minute walk from casa az. It is also free to residents of Sevilla. I only have to show my ID card and don’t have to pay the 7 euro entrance fee. And yet I can’t even remember the last time I was there. To remedy this shameful situation, Nog and I decided to spend the morning at the Alcázar and it was lovely, especially as there weren’t as many tourists as usual. And so I’m planning to make this a weekly outing. I mean, it’s crazy not to.

I also took some photos and started a couple of new Fotki albums. One for the Alcázar and a separate one for the fabulous ceramic tiles (azulejos). Here are the links – I recommend the slideshow option as the colours show up really well against the black background. Below the links is a bit of a sneak preview. . .

~ Alcázar photos ~
~ Azulejos photos ~

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dust storm!

14 Monday Jul 2008

Posted by in home, sevilla, spain

≈ 18 Comments

It all happened so fast!

There I was curled up in my comfy chair watching House when suddenly all the balcony doors started banging open and shut. I looked outside and saw that the sky had gone all brown and stuff was flying off the neighbouring rooftops. So I ran upstairs to rescue the laundry and by the time I got back I discovered that one of the windowpanes on a bedroom balcony door had shattered and that absolutely everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. f_cross.gif

Well, I think it’s dust. Might be sand. Like the time it rained sand here (what’s known as La Calima) and the next day all the cars looked like they’d been breaded for deepfrying. And okay, it’s not like casa az is ever a dust-free zone, but this is crazy! I could even taste the dust in the air. Ah well, I was looking for a project to keep me busy this week, though this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

Maybe I should just do a Quentin Crisp?

[photo by Judy Hedding]

¡campeones!

29 Sunday Jun 2008

Posted by in friends, health & happiness, home, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 11 Comments

As this was my last chemo-free day for who-knows-when it was a very self-indulgent one. After my usual morning routine and dreaded Bike Ride (whilst watching a chick flick on tv) I spent the afternoon just relaxing at home in very pleasant company and later on in the evening the girls and I went out for tapas. As the European Cup final was being played (Spain vs Germany) there was no problem getting a table at Bar Giralda. Afterwards we took a stroll and went for a nightcap on the rooftop terrace at the Hotel Doña Maria. Above you can see the view from our table.

Then Sevilla won the final 3-0 and all hell broke loose.

On our way out of the hotel I received a text message on my mobile phone from Blues Shark & Sara in London, who had been watching the match there. I hope they won’t mind me quoting it here but it made me laugh and also cry just a little…

Hiya! Just a quickie through the noise to let you know we’re thinking of you and wishing you all the best for tomorrow. Viva España! Viva az!! 🙂

Luckily I have something for them too! This pic was taken from the rooftop terrace. Click to enlarge.

sunday lunch

23 Monday Jun 2008

Posted by in food & drink, holidays, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 7 Comments

stewed-presa.jpg

Nog, nursemyra and I accidently had lunch at Yebra yesterday. We’d just meant to go for a nice long Sunday walk but after a COLD BEER pitstop we decided we were hungry (and Yebra was just around the corner). Had some lovely pork loin in sherry sauce with pinenuts and cinnamon, then tried the grilled hake with langostines and baby eels. Mmmm. . .

hake.jpg

just what the doctor ordered…

20 Friday Jun 2008

Posted by in friends, holidays, home, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 16 Comments

. . . a housecall from nursemyra!

(and look what the Spanish sun has done to her hair!)

It started off as possibly disastrous when the bus I was supposed to take out to the airport to meet nursemyra didn’t show up, so I ended up being half an hour late. But as luck would have it, her flight from Barcelona had been delayed and so five minutes after I got there I saw the girl with red streaks in her hair coming out of the arrivals exit.

An hour or so later she was all set up in her adorable apartment and we got down to the very serious business of finding a COLD BEER in an air conditioned establishment … we chose Modesto as it was just around the corner. Afterwards we took a walk through the centre of town to a supermarket so nursemyra could stock up on a few kitchen essentials and then we went up to casa az so she could meet da boyz. Nog got home shortly after that and we all went out for a few tapitas at one of our favourite places, Enrique Becerra, which we hadn’t been to since before the op.

All in all, a lovely first day together. In keeping with the light & fluffly distraction theme we ended up talking about: family, friends, our homes, blogging, leaving home, hair, tv series, Barcelona, tapas & wine, architecture, work, books, films, icecream, cats, relationships, art, coffee . . .

Gee, I wonder what we’ll talk about today. 🙂