Mine, all mine (not Bill's)

Remember the photo of the lovely tomatoes we bought at Bill's cafe and green grocers in Brighton and had for lunch? Well, these are green peppers that I have grown in my garden. I would like to say that they reflect my horticultural prowess. However, the truth is that I put the seeds in a plant pot, went back to Birmingham, Sebastian watered them, the sun shone and that was that.

We are having them for lunch in a pasta sauce made with an onion, some tomatoe puree left over from yesterday's pan con tomate breakfast and a little pimiento piquante. We shall sprinkle some goat's cheese on top and eat in the garden. What could be nicer?

At times like these

Do you ever have those moments when only baked beans will do? We had one tonight, but fortunately Mike had anticipated it last week when, on the way back from Supersol on his bike he stopped off at Monopoly, the English shop in Los Gallos, and, in the absence of Heinz (well, they had Heinz Ticka Baked beans, for heaven's sake!) bought a tin of Branson's Baked Beans.We ate them on toast for dinner on the terrace and enjoyed every mouthful. What is this craving for nursery food about? Whilst you ponder on this, I am off to sit on the porch and listen to the cicadas. Hasta luego, chicos.

Ho Ho

The last time I was in Chiclana I picked up a leaflet advertising the various attractions at one of the big hotels in Novi Sancti Petri. They included an after dinner "show of the bellies." I know my Spanish must be equally risible at times, but this did make me laugh.

Tales from the Alhambra

Actually the only Tale from the Alhambra is that during our weekend in Granada, to celebrate Mike's birthday, we walked up the hill to the Parador inside the Alhambra (which we visited at length in our last visit and therefore decided not to see again this time) for a drink and to book a table for Mike's birthday dinner. However, we got fed up waiting to be served with a drink on the terrace and were so distinctly underwhelmed by the guy who took our table reservation at reception that we left and never went back. There are so many nice people in the world, why spend time with the others?

Now, having got that off my chest, (and I am not even going to get into the level of service in nationalised industries diatribe) let me say that the rest of the weekend was fantastic and, as is often the way with these things, we found that our disappointment at the Parador merely led to better things elsewhere since, having failed to get a drink, we walked back to the Albayzin district where we were staying and ended up in the bar at El Huerto de Juan Ranas. This must rank as one of the bars/restuarants with some claim to have the best view in the world and, as you will see above, Mike enjoyed it whilst drinking a glass of beer (and wearing the Panama hat that would get blown away in La Barrosa!).

We were so impressed that, although we had arranged dinner in Mirador Morayma, a lovely Carmen ( that's a villa with garden, by the way) later that evening, we had the hotel make reservations at La Huerta for the following night. I would like to say that the birthday boy only had eyes for me (Of course I had! -M). However, the views from inside the restaurant were as spectacular as those from the terrace. And then the rice (arroz) pudding arrived! How is a girl to compete?



And, for anyone interested, my pudding was homemade ginger icecream in a cold pineapple soup with berries and candy.

Go there if you can and , even if you can't, check out the website (be warned, it has music so not in front of the boss!). It's at www.restuarantejuanranas.com. And while you are doing that, take a look at the website of our lovely hotel, Casa Del Capitel Nazari at www.hotelcasacapitel.com
It is a little oasis at the foot of the Albayzin, just off the Plaza Nueva-and tea and cakes at 4 o'clock are included in the price!

It would appear from the above that we are obsessed with food! So let me reinforce that impression by mentioning the plate of 'papas a pobre' that we had at a little cafe on Sunday lunchtime. They were 'deliciosas'!

All in all a great weekend and a place to go back to.