Tag Archives: birthday

best. present. ever.

09 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in birthdays, gadgets, geekiness

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An iPhone X!!! This was Peter’s fab combo Christmas-Birthday present, though he couldn’t surprise me with it as he (wisely) said he wouldn’t dare pick one out on his own, you know, in case he got the wrong one. Ha. Anyhow, we went out birthday shopping on Sunday and, at both shops we went to, they only had the 64 GB model. At the time I thought this would be fine, so that’s the one I got, but now I’m having second thoughts and wondering if I should upgrade to the 256 GB model (annoyingly they don’t offer a 128 GB one).

My present iPhone 6S has 64 GBs, and in over two years I’ve never reached more than about 40, though I do have to keep deleting photos after they’ve been uploaded to my computer. So it made sense that I probably wouldn’t ever get close to ever using 256 GBs. But later I started thinking about the main reason I wanted a new iPhone, which was to get a better camera. Also that I would probably be using a higher resolution and be taking more videos, which do take up a lot of space. So now I’m wondering if (before I open the box) I should go with 256 GBs, just in case. Any advice?

birthday 2018

08 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in birthdays, food & drink, friends

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Yesterday I woke up to the sound of RAIN falling on my laundry on the roof (damn) but after that the skies cleared and it turned into a fabulous birthday. Peter had come up with a plan for the day and it was a good one. We started off in the best way possible – a plate of jamón Ibérico and some lovely sherry at Las Teresas. Then it was off to do some birthday shopping (more on that later!). And then it was time for lunch.

I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go and so Peter came up with the idea of going back to Porta Rossa, which used to be my go-to spot for birthdays (back in the day, before I became queen of tapas). I hadn’t been there for years and it was like revisiting an old friend. It was difficult not to just order “all the usual favourites” and try something new, but Piru the owner made some great suggestions, including giving us two half orders of pasta when I couldn’t decide between two of them.

The dishes were: artichoke crepes with mascarpone and parmesan sauce, spinach and cheese gnocchi and ravioli in butter sauce, grilled beef tenderloin in black peppercorn vodka sauce. All absolutely delicious. I never order desserts, and even if I did wouldn’t have been able to eat anything else after this fabulous lunch, but Piru brought me this one perfect profiterole with a birthday candle, which was lovely.

The plan for after lunch was to go for a penúltima at nearby La Azotea in Calle Zaragoza and then take a ride on the C5 bus (really, it’s such fun). But I was so FULL and suddenly tired (the now constant abdominal pain is wearing me down) that I suggested taking a break and relaxing at home for awhile. I reckoned that after a short rest I’d be ready to go out again. Wrong! So we ended up spending a quiet evening hanging out, watching a film, and had an early night. But it was all very nice – thanks for a great day, Peter!

michelin star birthday lunch

09 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in birthdays, restaurants, sevilla

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abantalAfter years of “meaning to go” to Abantal, Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant, I decided that my 60th birthday was a good excuse for a decadent splash out meal. I’ve known chef Julio for many years, and even worked with him on the Turismo Sevilla tapas app, so I was looking forward to finally trying out his place.

We did the tasting menu  – descriptions are below, and you can click on the photo above to enlarge the image…

  • razor clam with cauliflower cream on fried wonton
  • garlic soup with egg yolk and seta foam
  • quisquilla (prawn) carpaccio with seaweed and artichoke pilpil
  • red tuna galette, orange escabeche, cucumber granita and mint foam
  • seasonal mushrooms, sopa morisca purée, truffled egg yolk, onion bizcocho
  • confit cod with spinach and garbanzo purées
  • presa Ibérica with truffled pumpkin cream, grapefruit, lime
  • passionfruit creme with mint granita and chocolate
  • orange wine zabayon, torta de aceite, mandarin, cinnamon

This was my second Michelin experience. The first was pretty much a disaster at the JC García Restaurant in Málaga, also a 1-star like Abantal. This time the experience was actually quite pleasant, with excellent service. But the food was somehow lacking. Nothing was terrible (as at JCG) but nothing was exceptional either. Still, it was a lovely afternoon and a very nice birthday present – thank you Peter!