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| ELEGANTLY LAYERED. |
We ate lunch at home today. Leftover pasta with chicken and pesto. We had breakfast at home but then had a second one downstairs at El Sanedrín. (So, we didn’t earn any points for that meal!)
And… we went back to La Alameda to have pizza for dinner, which included another order of caprese salad. This one, however, did not look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa (nor did it look like The Cat in the Hat’s hat). But it was equally delicious.
Jerry assembled the new piece of furniture for my bedroom today. He then assembled a tall bookcase for the hall. They both look great and I was able to get more organized. I’ll be able to take more photos tomorrow, once Jerry gets the last two boxes out of the living room (after he assembles his two new file cabinets).
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| HEADING HOME DOWN OUR STREET TONIGHT. |
While Jerry assembled furniture mid-day, I had the pleasure of enjoying a beer with Albert and a few of his friends at a little bar near the Church of the Magdalena. I’ve had great plans to do a post about the beautiful and historic baroque Church of the Magdalena, but it’s always closed when I get there. I always go there during their posted hours. I think they must see me coming and quickly close and lock the doors. One of these days I’ll catch them off guard.
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| LOOKING BACK UP OUR STREET AT THE STEEPLE OF THE CHURCH OF SAN LORENZO. |
THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
Albert has a big heart and has been unbelievably generous with his time and insights… and now his friends. He made sure I spoke mostly Spanish today, which is a lot more fun to do in a social setting. Lola is a joy. We had the pleasure of meeting her when we were here in January/February. And I got to meet a few other very warm and welcoming Sevillanos. Javier speaks English about how I speak Spanish. Albert — who speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, and I can’t remember what else — suggested Javier and I get some practice time by speaking only English together one day and only Spanish together the next. Great idea.
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| OUR BUILDING COMING UP ON THE LEFT (WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE). |
Albert represents a number of very nice vacation rentals in the city. He is kind, honest, generous, helpful, and so knowledgeable. If you’re ever looking for a nice place to stay, he is the man to help you. The city should hire him as their official representative, the head of the “welcome wagon.” He is a fount of information on local history and can tell you all the best places to dine, walk, visit, shop, see, tour, and live in Sevilla, as well as much of Spain and Portugal. He’s got big plans for get-togethers at our apartment, which apparently is right at the heart of much of the Semana Santa festivities in April. My understanding is that processions start down the street at the Plaza de San Lorenzo before heading over to our plaza. The first thing Albert mentioned was hot chocolate at our place at 7 in the morning and then watching it all from our balconies. We can’t wait.
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| COMING AROUND THE CORNER OF DOS DE MAYO. AND THEN HOME. |
Every city needs an Albert. The Caprese salad looks delicious.
You and Jerry have seperate bedrooms?
I love caprese salad and make them a lot this time of year as our tomatoes are coming in. I usually slice the cheese smaller and cut the basil into a chiffonade… but these two that you've pictured look very good so I'll have to try it that way. 🙂
It all looks so darned peaceful! Helped in large measure by all that very good lighting, otherwise I would have been afraid someone could jump out of the shadows at any time. But as it is, very attractive indeed – and so clean too!
Re: your Spanish-speaking. – I found it amazing how the human mind will find a way to survive when there's no alternative. When I moved to Germany I can now hardly believe that I negotiated all the details of renting an apartment, bought all furniture and fittings, TV, Hi-Fi etc, and arranged electricity, telephone connections and so on – all entirely in German. I doubt if I could do that again right now, but present circumstances are that it's NOT necessary. I think when your back's against the wall and there's no other way out, you've got to do it to survive. So I can relate to your present Spanish-speaking experiences. I used to mentally block out the thought that I could fall back on English, even when knowing that the other person could also speak it – but refused to give in to the 'easy' option. I think you might be doing the same – besides it's only polite to use the vernacular whenever you can.
Nubian:
And we are so glad Sevilla has THIS Albert!
Travis:
It's not that we don't love each other… But we both like our sleep. He likes it warm; I like it cold. He likes to read in the middle of the night; if a light is turned on, I wake up and can't go back to sleep. We're both very light sleepers. I toss and turn a lot. It works for us.
Walt the Fourth:
Of course I had to look up chiffonade!
Raybeard:
I agree. When in Rome… speak Spanish… or German.
Love the Caprese too, it's good I bought some fresh mozzarella yesterday, now getting to the market for plum tomatoes.
Sounds like you're joining a great group of friends, in a fabulously beautiful town.
Any time I go to church, I carry lots of cash. I wave it our front and the doors fly open like magic. Give that a try!
m.
Peter:
And it's buffalo mozzarrela. Jerry just read up on it. Never had it before; it's soooo good. Enjoy those farm-fresh plum tomatoes!
Bob:
Can't believe how lucky we were to have been introduced to Albert when we were here in January.
Mark:
Great advice. I'll try it next time. But, I hope I don't have to part with it just because I wave it around.
I now know what a capressi salad is! Don't eat out enough to try new food. I suppose I should have googled it ages ago. You'll be fluent before you know Mitch…just let the language flow.
sophie…^5:
And I eat out too much. We should find a balance.
this is the best (really the only) time of year for fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and fresh tomatoes, no matter how we put them together! It's such a joy….And I love hearing about people who are kind and helpful like Albert! You and Jerry have good karma, I think.
Kristi:
Whatever it is that brings people like Albert into the world and into our lives, I'm very grateful!