Rachel and Taylor

Rachel and Taylor arrived for a visit today. I took the bus out to the airport to meet them and get them back to the flat. Laura had spanish class at this time. The airport is on the eastern edge of the metro area. Everything ran on time, buses, planes etc. In the airport, as sort of a Christmas display, was a mock up of the cathedral with la Giralda (the noted bell tower of the cathedral). Here's a side-by-side of the mock up and the real thing. Can you spot the real one?

I know, the giant nativity humans on the left kind of give it away.

Rachel, Taylor and I rode the bus back downtown and walked the remaining couple of blocks to the flat. By that time, Laura was finished with class and met us at home. We grabbed lunch on San Jacinto and I went to my spanish class. Rachel has a bit of a sore throat that we hope doesn't turn into a cold:

During that time, Laura walked around town with them a bit, just to keep them moving instead of sleeping (jetlag). They wrapped up with a trip to the grocery store. Back home, Laura made soup for dinner (most excellent). We mostly hung out in the flat after that. Now R & T are enjoying long-awaited sleep.

A little off the top

The orange trees in Sevilla are heavily laden with ripe or nearly ripe oranges. There must be some method of collecting/harvesting/cleaning up this impending mess of fruit. It's illegal for people to pull oranges from the trees in Sevilla, so it's not like people are just going to pick them. Also, it's my understanding that the oranges are of a very tart variety and would not be good to just eat. They're more for use in marmalades.

I witnessed one approach to the orange problem across the street from our flat. There are a few trees in the parking area there. A crew came and I have this before and after picture:

Not only are the oranges taken care of, but a good portion of the trees themselves are now gone.

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Out for a walk this evening and San Jacinto was quite smokey, as per usual:


I wonder how many more months the chestnut thing goes?

Second-hand Smoke

Chestnut roasters are everywhere here. Would it be Scrooge-like to complain? I feel like there should be a surgeon general's warning about the dangers of second-hand chestnut roaster smoke. There are times when it lays over everything–like fog.

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There were "carolers" on the street this evening. I recorded one whole song that really showed a flamenco style of voice. It opens with a flamenco style aria, then moves into a more traditional carol:

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Spanish class was confusing today. Before going, I understood the difference between two of the past tenses "preterite perfect" and "preterite indefinite", then I didn't, but now I do again. Turns out my teacher uses different names for these tenses than the textbook I use at home. Luckily, I have Laura to explain these things to me.

Dancing King

This evening we went to see the Christmas light display we attempted to see a few days ago. They're three wire-frame arrangements of lights meant to signify the three kings of the manger story:

Every half hour loudspeakers around the plaza play some Christmas music and the crowns flash in patterns timed to the music. It's fun to see and it definitely drew a crowd, but no where near the crowd of a few nights ago, thankfully.

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Other than that, pretty relaxed day. Laura made some chili for dinner. The weather continues to be lovely, low 70s today (yes laundry occurred). Sadly, it appears we're in for a stretch of cloudy and 50 degree weather right as Rachel arrives.

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We spoke to Rachel on the phone today. Also, spoke to Halley for the first time since we left WW. The time difference makes it a challenge, but definitely need to work harder at keeping in touch.

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I finally finished my Christmas present for the girls.

Bridge Slide

This is La Puente de Alamillo, or as I usually call it, "the phallic bridge". It has an interesting feature at the base of its most prominent feature.

The "prominent feature" slopes down to join a pedestrian walkway. I've often looked at that sloping feature at the bottom and thought it would be fun to climb up and slide down. This morning, I saw a bunch of kids doing just that. Here's a video from afar:

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Emily found a recipe for chana masala last week. It looked so good, so Laura made some for me today:

It was pretty spicy, but really hit the spot. Plus, there's enough leftover for lunch tomorrow.

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We walked over to Alameda de Hercules to see what we could see with respect to holiday activities. It was a happening place. Lots of vendors, ice skating, kids everywhere. This caught my eye (and several other eyes based on the line):

From there, we caught the bus out to Costco to pick up a few things. We're back now and in for the evening.