Seville, Day 4/5

The fourth day of class was really rough, partly because of my headache, and partly because of verb hell. I will say that it made so much more sense after that lesson -- honestly, I learned more from Antonio in five days that I have in entire courses. He also evaluated all of us a bit on speech, and while most of my classmates received instruction in ways to improve, I didn't. Instead, I got, "No tienes un acento americano," (you don't have an American accent), told again how well I speak, and then it became a lesson for the group in paying attention to vowels and accents and ways to practice. I really wanted something but I think that was positive.

After my trip to the Alcázar -- I just missed getting booted out by the guards at closing -- Wendy and I wandered over across the river to the neighborhood of Triana. A friend of mine had lived here for a year, and highly recommended it, and it's very well known for tile making. Then, we were going to have a fish dinner!


Triana is a lovely area. This is one of the famous shops in the neighborhood. If only we were re-doing a space and needed to order some tiles!


A few houses with stunning external tile work.



I never expected to see a church bedecked in tiles!

We had dinner that evening at Cerveceria Mezquita, where I had habas con chorizo (a green bean dish) and mero mezquita (grouper). So tasty! Wendy had the bacalao, which was also muy rico.

While we're on the topic of food, day five, my last day of class and last day in Seville, was my catch-up day. So after class was finished, I headed out to follow Antonio's recommendation. I went to Taberna del Alabardero. Some of you will know this name and think, but there's one in Washington. And you would be correct. It is a Spanish restaurant, with four restaurants in Spain, and one outside of Spain, in Washington DC. It's fine dining, and remarkable. The restaurant in Seville is actually also a culinary school, and so the lunch service is a training ground: pris fixe, 13€ (!), three courses, done by the students. I savored arroz negro con mariscos (black rice with seafood), alcachofes guisado con bacalao (artichokes with cod), and crepes de queso y chocolate (crepes with cheese and chocolate). Oh, heaven!

Like all good things, this too came to an end. I headed back out, as siesta time was now finishing, so that I could finish some shopping. (After much internal debate, I opted NOT to buy shoes. Seville is known for its shoes, and I noted the names of several brands that I really liked. Can I find them now? Of course not! Not even on Zappos. Drat.) Things were finally starting to click in my head, and I would have no one to practice with, since class was over. I finally had gotten to know some of my classmates, and the girl from France and I lamented that I was leaving already. My teachers were terrific, and I made a pact with Antonio to come back for a month -- he says April, but next year I will not be able to break from the office, owing to a massive new project, so we set a plan for April of 2011. I have a lot of work to do in the meantime!

Wendy was finally feeling better, and we opted for a light dinner in the bar across the street from our apartment, having been kept awake by its serenading clientele most evenings or its bright lights. And actually, it was quite good! The best salads we'd had. Packing was a bit of an effort, but we managed, and I even got the hotel next door to arrange us a cab. I was so sad to leave, but we still had adventures waiting in Madrid.