Team Tierney on Tour (El Blog): January 2006

Not Barcelona!

Manchester City 3 Manchester United 1

http://www.rtfract.com/citjan06a.htm

Thoughts from Birmingham

Since we got back, Mike has done a spreadsheet of all the things we need to do before we go back to Spain in the summer. It is three pages long and has 105 items, divided into 16 sections. I feel tired (and, since I won't have to do it, grateful!).

Today I opened a packet of lettuce hearts from Sainsbury's. The label said "as seen on TV." Even lettuce hearts get their 15 minutes of fame. (The connection with Spain here is that the lettuce hearts are Spanish.)

El Último Día

All good things have to come to an end - for a while, anyway- and today is our last day in Spain. Such a lot has happened since we landed in Málaga on 1st December, including 3 weeks in Seville, 'Flipper', Christmas lunch with Greg and Clare, New Years Eve at the Vincii, la Cavalgata in Seville with Rob and Lyn and, of course, our day out in Huelva!

After spending the morning doing chores, we went for lunch at 'Restaurante' (was 'Cafe') Habana and it was perfect. The weather was fantastic with a beautiful blue sky and a calm sea and we ate some wonderful grilled dorada. Afterwards we went onto the beach and Tricia went for a paddle in the sea. The photos give you some idea of the scene. Mike, of course, kept his shoes on and kept on the beach! What a fantastic afternoon it was.

For all those of you who haven't been to La Barrosa, all the above is 5 minutes walk from our house.

We have made an important decision about the configuration of the house and have decided to convert the third bedroon into a study/bedroom/sitting-room with a sofa bed instead of the twin beds. This should give us much more flexibility with our living space whilst retaining the sleeping arrangements.

Tomorrow morning, we are driving the two and a half hours to Málaga airport to catch an afternoon flight back to Birmingham. We hope that you have enjoyed reading our Spanish blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it.

Here's to the next time!

Tricia and Mike

La Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos en Sevilla

All over Spain there are parades (cavalcades or "cabalgates") on 5th January to announce the coming of the 3 Kings (los Reyes Magos). For the children of Spain, this is a special time because, unlike in the UK where presents are received on Christmas Day and associated with Santa Claus, the 3 Kings bring presents on 6th January. Rather than stay in Chiclana, we decided to go to Seville with Rob and Lyn to see their cavalcade on 5th January. It was brilliant! There were about 30 excellent floats, all with very happy children on board, and several marching bands, mainly, we think, from local schools and youth groups. The tradition is that the children throw sweets (caramelos) to the crowds lining the streets, although we also saw a fair few who were happily munching away at their supply and apparently oblivious to the waiting crowd! Last year, when the parades were held in the rain, people used upturned umbrellas to catch as many sweets as possible. This year, on a cloudless night, I still saw the odd umbrella but most people,like us, just tried to catch what they could or, if they were especially determined, held out plastic bags.We did donate most of our sweets to children in the crowd!

We watched from the Triana side of the Puente Isabel 2nd. The floats were due at about 18.20 but, because of the crush (no barriers so everyone was in the road), they didn't arrive until about half an hour later. However, they were worth waiting for! The 3 Kings are chosen from local dignatories and it is quite an honour to be chosen. The President of Seville Football Club (it is Sevilla CF's 100th anniversary this year) got a warm reception as King Balthazar. There were bands and also many 'bedouinas' - people in arab dress with their faces blacked -walking between the floats. Very 'Black and White Minstrels' and not something that one would see in a multicultural 'country' like the UK.Another favourite float was one on the theme of Harry Potter, greeted with loud cheers of "Harrrreee, Harrrreee".

We took some photos but the quality wasn't very good. However, they should give you a flavour of what went on.

Cinderella

The crowds get restless before the parade

Rob and Lyn in Seville

We arrived back in La Barrosa yesterday afternoon after spending a couple of hours at Santa Justa station because, being a public holiday in Spain, some trains weren't running. We took the 'Altaria', which was a bit like the old Inter-City in the UK. About twice as expensive as the ordinary trains between Seville and Cádiz but very comfortable. The buffet car was like a café and it sold 'real' coffee. The train itself had come from Madrid, a 5 hour journey to Cádiz.

We return back to the UK on Tuesday 10th Jan but there may be another posting before then!

Hasta luego to all our readers.

Mike and Tricia

We are not obsessed by food!

Apologies to you all for the photographs of new year's eve. We know that you have to lie on your side to see most of them. however,we will master this technology eventually and things will improve.

Speaking of improvements,I have been reading other blogs and am impressed by the variety of topics they cover-literature, politics, philosophy. En contraste, we seem a little preoccupied with food and drink......We hope to do better in future.

For now,though, here is a recipe for tortilla espagnol, as cooked by Angeles orginally and, subsequently (see photo), by me.It serves two for lunch (when one of them is Mike!) or 4-6 when cut into slices for tapas.

Tortilla Espanol

You need half a kilo of potatoes, an onion, two or three cloves of garlic and 4 eggs. Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat. Put some olice oil in a frying pan and heat. Add the potatoes, onion and garlic and fry over a low heat till soft. Add a little salt and pepper. Pour the onion and potatoes into the egg mixture and stir. Return to the frying pan and cook on a LOW heat. Prick the tortilla with a fork. When the tortilla feels solid on the bottom (this may take about 5 minutes) place a plate over it and turn it out of the frying pan. Then slide it back into the pan with the still to be cooked side at the bottom. Prick again and keep on a low heat till golden brown on both sides.Serve hot or cold with a salad and, if you like, a glass of wine. The secrets to success, according to Angeles, are a)mixing the eggs with the potatoes and onion in a bowl rather than adding egg to the frying pan b)the low heat c)pricking the tortilla as it cooks to ensure it cooks evenly.

This morning we took the bus to the market in Chiclana and bought a small corvina and 2 kilograms of rock salt so that we can experiment with the La Roche recipe tonight. If it doesn't work, we can always retreat to the Pizzeria.

On a more general note, we have been watching with interest the implementation of the new anti tobacco law which came into effect at midnight on new year's eve. Small restaurants and bars (less than 100 sq m) can choose whether to be smoking or non-smoking, although if they choose the former I think there is a restriction on having people under 18 on the premises. Larger ones have to provide separate areas. The newspapers are full of articles about the health risks of smoking, how to quit etc. But I think the government (bravely) see the law as leading the way forward rather than a response to public opinion.From what we have seen around here, the small bars and restaurants are choosing the smoking option, sadly, but it will be interesting to see how it works in the larger restuarants, in Sevilla for instance, where, from our recent experience, it would be a step forward to get the cooking and serving staff to put out their cigarettes!

Only 8 more days here and then it's back to the UK and the cold. I'd best get back out on the porch in the sun!

New Year 2005/6

Here are some photos of last nights event at the Vincii hotel in Novo Sancti Petri, which was much better than we expected. It was well organised and the food was pretty good. Also, there were a good number of Spanish guests and lots of children playing around at midnight. This made for a more 'party atmosphere' than a traditional British booze-up. The highlight was, of course, the eating of the traditional 12 grapes as the clock struck midnight.