Home for the Holidays

We don't really have a place to call home, but since all the family is gathering in Bethesda, that is certainly home for the holidays.

Jon wanted to sing along

Last night was definitely a unique wrap-up to a great fall in the Mediterranean.  We started with a choral concert in one of the chapels connected to the Sevilla Cathedral.  Maybe not the most polished ensemble, but you put recognizable Christmas tunes in a spectacular setting, the result is a wonderful toast to the season.

Gretchen wanted to clap along

Next we wandered for a bit across town to a bar/beer hall which we discovered with Adam and Meg last year.  It was filled with youngsters.  The three American girls next to us had a pitcher of Agua de Sevilla.  It's a concoction of champagne, triple-sec, whisky and pineapple juice, topped with 3 or 4 inches of whipped cream.  You stir the whipped cream into the pitcher.


  The same flamenco singer, dancer and guitarist were there and the music was as electric and passionate as last year.  Live flamenco is about as sensual an experience as music can provide.

Keyless in Sevilla

So that puts us at our apartment building door about midnight.  And that's when we discovered that, instead of the apartment keys, J had pocketed the keys to the roof-top terrace.  No building door key and no apartment door key.  At midnight.  G got the giggles.  J got very quiet.  We checked into a nearby hotel and had a restless night thinking about the situation.  The next morning (after the hotel's breakfast buffet, included) a call to the rental agency quickly resolved everything and the owner of the apartment graciously came by to let us into our apartment.


















So what better way to say Adios.  We'll probably start gretchjon3.blogspot.com after the New Year from Buenos Aires.