Trip to the Grocery Store

From Ken via email:  I am here safely and soundly.  The ride took a bit longer - we took a different route.  Perhaps it was because of traffic, or maybe the driver just wanted a change of scenery.  Hard to tell.  They seem to do what they want.  If they get to the stop early and no one is there they just leave and you are out of luck!   Ricardo is trying to set up an appointment on Wednesday morning for us to see the apartment Telvent will rent for us when we come for a longer stay.

Well, this is day seven for Ken at work.  The time is going fast.  He is really enjoying working with the software developers here. They have expressed how thankful they are for his expertise and leadership and wish he didn't have to leave at the end of this week.

We are adapting to the culture and the way of doing things here.  Every evening when Ken gets off work we set out an another venture in the city!

Food and Drink

When it comes to gastronomic delights, the Sevillian people are fond, above all, of eating "tapas" and of the "chateo", doing the rounds of the bars.  This love for taking a bite to eat and a drink here and there is usually shared with friends, for it inevitably involves bumping into different groups of acquaintances in each establishment visited.  The variety of tapas available in Seville is enormous, ranging from exquisite olives to fried fish, not forgetting small fillets of beef, soldaditos de Pavia (small pieces of  cod fried in flour), croquettes and bull's tail.  The most popular dishes in Sevillian cuisine are gazpacho (a refreshing cold soup) and cocido andaluz (stew), a much denser, baroque affair.  The local  sweets and pastries include many products made at convents and monasteries, such as the renowned "yemas de San Leandro", "bolitos de Santa Ines" and the sweeter jams from the Convent of Santa Paula.

Rice & chicken Paella - it was good!

We liked this tapa - fried squid with balsamic glaze
- not the  fried goat cheese on the top though!

We didn't think we could go wrong with garlic shrimp - it was good but you just had to dig it out of the bowl of olive oil.

 Here are a few photos from the local food market.  They eat a lot of fish here so there

 is always long rows of fresh fish - not frozen!

The produce section is very much like at the grocery stores at home - my walker worked well as a grocery cart since we were walking everywhere.  We didn't have a kitchen so our purchases were limited but had to buy water, juice, lunch things for me (Ken had to eat at the office) and snacks.

 Large selections of only fresh meat - nothing is frozen. Choices - beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lots of lamb, bull tails, lamb testicles, organ meats, etc.  Chicken is very cheap.  Very large roasting chickens are around $3.00.  Not as much beef and it is more expensive.

Note - this is the egg section - they are not refrigerated and only brown eggs are available.

 Quail eggs - very tiny - used in some Spanish Recipes.

Milk section on the shelves - not refrigerated.
Expiry dates of two months!

This one is for you Janis - small packages of five little bottles of olive oil to send to school or the office with your salads.  Didn't see small bottles of vinegar tho' to go with the oil.  

Rows of more types of olive oil than I knew existed.