01 Monday Sep 2008
That’s Sara, me and Steve
They arrived late yesterday evening and we did the usual looking around for somewhere to eat that usually ends up with an extensive tour of the Barrio Santa Cruz until we find a place with a free table. We were eventually seated at Casa Roman and had a very nice meal there. And later on we went for a nightcap on the rooftop terraza of the Hotel Doña Maria.
I’m so happy they’re here … for two whole weeks!
27 Wednesday Aug 2008
Posted in culture, food & drink, spain, video, weird
According to this Wikipedia article…
La Tomatina is a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain. Tens of thousands of participants come from all over the world to fight in a brutal battle where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets.
The week-long festival features music, parades, dancing, and fireworks. On the night before the tomato fight, participants of the festival compete in a paella cooking contest.
So today is the day, and here is a video of it from the Grauniad…
Does this sound like fun to you?
24 Sunday Aug 2008
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, spain
Or ‘toad skin’ melon – my latest food passion!
Remember way back in March when I solved my fruit dilemma by making fresh fruit purées? Well, that all went by the wayside when I went into hospital in May and somehow I never got back into the habit. Then the other evening I was out for a walk with Nog and I was so hot and tired and wishing I could have an icy cold granizada de limón … and suddenly I thought of melons. Lovely crisp and juicy piel de sapo melons. And so I told Nog that we had to get to a supermarket immediately.
And I was right. It wasn’t cold but it totally quenched my thirst and tasted so fresh and delicious … and well, I’ve been eating melon daily ever since. The trick is to find one that is perfectly ripe and, since I have no idea how to do this, I ask someone at the fruit stand. Personally I don’t think they know either but they’re quite good at looking like they do.
Am thinking melon would also go well in a frozen vodka drink …
21 Thursday Aug 2008
Yesterday I went back to the viveros to 1) find out the name of my mystery plants and 2) get some baby cacti for the bathroom. Nog and I took the rental bikes and when I stopped to take a photo of the entrance I noticed for the first time that it was called Casa Batlló, just like my favourite house in Barcelona.
As soon as I walked in the woman who sold me the Portulaca (which is indeed its proper name, and does not start with a ‘b’) looked up from cleaning a window and said to me by way of a greeting – “It was an orange one!”. Ha! And I told her the second ‘yellow’ one she’d chosen for me also turned out to be orange and we had a good laugh. Guess you had to be there. Anyhow, I then asked about some baby cacti and chose three – again, one euro each. Weirdly, the man who showed me the cactus section (I think the husband of the woman I’d been talking to) also showed me a type that he said people buy to put next to their computers because they absorb static or something? A quick google has come up with this. Maybe I’ll get one next time. Meanwhile, here are the three I bought (well, two cacti and a succulent) …
Afterwards I wandered around the viveros looking for gatitos and found way fewer than on my previous two visits (figures, since I wanted to take pics of them). And it turned out that the proprietors were also camera shy – a real shame because they were both so charming and would have made for a great photo together with their plants and cats. Perhaps I’ll be able to convince them next time (I have a feeling I’ll be going back again).
Below are a few pics showing the general ambience of the place, including a few cats…
19 Tuesday Aug 2008
On Tuesday afternoons between 1-5 pm the Casa de Pilatos (House of Pilate) has free admission. So after spending a lovely couple of hours this morning with Pipocas and the Kidlet – finally back from holidays – I met Nog to have a wander around and take a few photos, especially of the fabulous azulejos (ceramic tiles) …
~ Casa Pilates azulejos photos 46-75 ~
And below are a few more pics of the palace …
casa azahar 