T.T.T.T…..Tuesday!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

No grand plans for today. Susan has her Pilates class in the afternoon and I need to get to the gym for a workout so that means we will have lunch separately. I have an English class this afternoon at 4:00 with Nico who is one of the pizza makers at La Fórcola.

I am still going back and forth with customs at Barajas airport. In spite of the fact that I have written them several times to tell them the contents are a gift they keep insisting that they want to see my sales slips. I hope to hear from them today and discover what new insanity they have concocted. The worst-case scenario is that they will return the package to Rachel and she can deliver the contents in person when she comes to visit in March.

Susan’s 2012 calendar arrived yesterday. She had it printed by Kodak and it features a number of her food shots. The calendar has a very dramatic dark border and it makes the pictures stand out even more. I picked it up at Miguel’s office, before I headed off to the gym for some cardio. When I got home we began to think about lunch.

A number of restaurants are either closed on Tuesday or not open for lunch on Tuesday, so as we ran through the list of possibilities we decided on Canela. Because their tasting menus offer the diner much too much food, we decided that we would order an appetizer, a main dish and share a dessert if we were in the mood. After ordering some wine we started our meal with some olives and some tomate rallado that was to be spread on the rolls that were set down with the olives. Next came a complimentary zucchini soup that was most tasty. Our appetizer yesterday was a dish of artichokes that had been prepared with a mushroom reduction and crowned with foie. For our entrée we enjoyed an arroz meloso with shrimp, octopus and vegetables. It was cooked to perfection. We shared a profiterole for dessert and finished our meal with coffee and a complimentary chupito of mistela.

Susan headed off at 6:00 to meet with Vilma and I took the opportunity to do some tasks on the computer. When Susan returned we went to a travel agency, Viajes Halcón, to renew our tarjeta dorada that gives us a 40% discount on train travel and to buy our tickets for Madrid. We will be spending several days in Madrid arriving on February 27 and returning on March 2. That will give us a chance to visit with our Madrid friends and to see a few shows. We were able to get web special pricing for our tickets on the Ave and our round-trip tickets cost us 70 Euros apiece. Such a deal!

Ofelia came by the house at 10:15 and she and Susan headed off to Radio City to see some flamenco. I spent my evening editing an article for Magic Agora and starting a new book. I also had a chance to chat with Rachel who is still trying to get her new work computer up and running. Susan got back home a little after 1:00 having enjoyed her evening out. It was 1:30 when we turned off the lights and went to sleep.