Category Archives: sevilla

más plantas!

05 Saturday May 2007

Posted by in home, life stuff, photos, sevilla

≈ 5 Comments

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Bought some new plants this morning.

Almost a year ago now I came across a viveros in the centre of town and got the idea of putting plants on the balconies, since there are six of them and since I can’t have many indoor plants because of f_blackcat.gifAzar who apparently has a ‘green tooth’. The whole saga about that is over here on the viveros post, including when my landlord later on told me I couldn’t have plants on my balconies because the water will rust them and make them dangerous. 🙄
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chance encounters

02 Wednesday May 2007

Posted by in food & drink, life stuff, miscellany, musings, sevilla

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Had a lovely time last night.

Nog and I had planned to go out for some tapas at one of our usual haunts but then decided to do something we’d never tried before, which was go to our favourite birthday/anniversary place Casa Robles and have a lightish meal at the bar (instead of the usual feast ). Just after we’d ordered a couple came in and sat down next to us and I heard the woman ask for a menu in English. The barman told her they only had Spanish ones and so I whispered to Nog, asking if it might seem too ‘pushy’ if I offered to help them translate the menu. He said he thought they would probably appreciate it.

And so we met Jan and Larry, a lovely couple visiting from Texas, and spent the rest of the evening chatting with them over a few glasses of wine and some gorgeous food. And we talked about other chance encounters and serendipitous experiences we’d had, in the end deciding that fate had brought us together – though Nog remained his usual sceptical self, saying that whether something is fate or not can only be decided after the event. 🙄

Anyhow, a wave to J & L in case you read this (I suggested they check out the Sevilla tapas page for future meals while they’re here). It’s turned out to be a very rainy day so I hope you manage to keep dry. And thanks again for such a nice evening.

Aren’t chance encounters great?
What are some of yours?

biz name?

30 Monday Apr 2007

Posted by in culture, language, miscellany, sevilla, teaching, work

≈ 8 Comments

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Need a catchy name for new translation/teaching website.

As some of you may know, Nog and I just finished a rather lucrative translation & correction job for a medical journal and so we thought it would be a good idea to incorporate this into our present teaching work.

The idea is to set up a website that combines what we offer in terms of English classes (for all levels), including special full and half-day intensive weekend courses, with this latest translation/editing/correction service.

But neither of us can think of a great name for this. Any ideas?

fnac in sevilla

08 Sunday Apr 2007

Posted by in books & writing, culture, films, media, music, retail therapy, sevilla

≈ 5 Comments

fnac.jpg

Quite looking forward to this . . . I think.

A Virgin-megastore type place that is opening here in May, about a five-minute walk from where I live. I’m hoping that it will have a good English book section. And I’m curious as to how it will change the face of the already very muched changed Avenida de la Constitución, which is in the process of ‘going pedestrian’ with the exception of a new state-of-the-art tramline. I’m also curious as to whether it will fare any better than the Virgin store that opened and closed here within about five years.

I don’t have any recent photos of the Avenida, but found quite a lovely one over here taken just after Christmas. The change is quite amazing, quite minimalist compared to how it was before, which will take a bit of getting used to. But I think the overall effect is a real improvement.

Looking at the photo, the Fnac store will be on the right not far up from that ‘wedding cake’ building and so far it looks like the building is being redone quite tastefully; hopefully no huge gaudy plastic signs will be installed between now and May 4th. The Avenida has already been despoiled by the presence of two Starbucks, only a couple of blocks from each other – I just noticed the newer and bigger one the other day. Why???

Anyhow, we shall see. I think that once the trams start running the Avenida is going to become a much more popular & pleasant place for people to stroll and shop. But it would be a shame if it ended up losing its very special Sevilliano ‘ambientation’.

semana santa in sevilla

01 Sunday Apr 2007

Posted by in culture, holidays, religion, sevilla

≈ 3 Comments

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Here we go again . . .

Starting today it will be total madness here in Sevilla as semana santa (holy week) begins again. And since I live about a stone’s throw from the cathedral it’s rather hard to miss.

Not that I’d want to miss it. Even though Im not religious I quite like all the pomp and ceremony, the beautiful sculptures on the pasos, the very special ‘ambientation’ in the streets, and even some of the music.

But it is true that for an entire week I become a prisoner in my home, only able to get out to do shopping and other things in the mornings. After 3pm the neighbourhood turns into a heaving mass of humanity pushing and shoving in the streets in order to see this virgin or that christ … it can get a bit scary at times. Though apparently it’s only non-Sevillanos who don’t feel totally at home in this environment.

I’ll see if I can get a few good photos.