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Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

3 days in Barcelona

As a fabulous surprise gift for my recent birthday The Prince gave me a trip to Barcelona!
I have never been to Spain & was so excited! These trips are so deeply moving for me as I never thought I would ever have the opportunity to travel outside of Australia so traveling to these cities I have only seen in pictures is a real dream come true. We may not have funds to fall back on but we scrimp for these trips & are not wasting any opportunities to see the places we want while we are so close.
The food in Spain is absolutely delicious! I was gobsmacked at the variety of tomatoes on one market stall. I know there are hundreds of varieties (they all have their own unique flavour!!) but had never before seen so many in one place.

Those ones bottom right are the size of your head!!

  
We bought some cherry tomatoes & ate them like cherries, they were the BEST tomatoes I have ever tasted! Seriously good stuff!
On our last morning we hastened off to the markets & filled my suitcase with goodies to bring back to The Old Dart, where lets just say its a little difficult to get your hands on this stuff. Was great to be laden with goods yet be able to sail past customs with nothing to declare, (as we were coming from an EU country) would never get away with it going back into Oz & rightly so.


Our market haul!! Why yes we did buy a little bit, it was like a great Waitrose shop but at a tenth of the cost. The red polka dot in bottom right is my souvenir of Barcelona. Best ever, cute & functional!
That's a 5 p coin (same as Oz 1 cent) for perspective. Suffered a slight blemish in transit but definitely did not affect taste!
Just so you don't think that it was all about the food, we did go on a tour of the city and let me tell you the architecture is pretty stunning and not just the Gaudi. Thankfully The Prince is a fan of the open top tour bus as am I. Some people think they are daggy/naff but we love that they give you a great overview of a place in a short space of time. 
The city is laid out in beautiful grid style & the apartment buildings are arranged as squares with central courtyards. Simple but makes the living feel much more spacious.



Seriously playful & gorgeous building




 This was my favourite building, whimsy & delicacy rendered in pink stone. Magic!! So pretty.

Random fashion store with lace doilies for decoration. Love.


Amazing shadow play.

Love the little bats on the stunning street lights
Massive roof of hexies on the Santa Caterina Market -we thought this market was better than the Boqueria
While the Boqueria is touted as the tourist market, we preferred Santa Caterina both for selection & price. It seems to be where the locals shop & so gave a bit more of a window into real life. Mind you the Boqueria was pretty!




Marzipan fruits
More marzipan fruits

Love the baby bombonerie
 We had a fabulous time, much thanks to my sweet Prince for the gift. If you ever have a chance, just go!! The people are lovely, the place is gorgeous, food is great. Did I mention the food?? LOL Just Go!!
Loving what I do

Lush x

PS: positive thoughts for my big sister who is going through a traumatic time post surgery & is still in hospital 2 months later. We are all cheering for you Sis, get better soon, we need you home where you belong. xox




Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Banking on the weekend.

Bank holiday weekend
Feeling a little better on the weekend meant that I managed to drag myself off the couch for a wee trip to the movies, we saw the 3rd in the Bourne movies series, The Bourne Legacy.  Not bad but a bit over the top on explosions & car/motorbike chases. Apparently I get to choose the next movie LOL.
Then on Sunday we made the trek to Battersea Car Boot sale. My wish list included a pepper pot, some trays & some small vases. The Prince was after a tea pot & anything else that took our fancy.

2 cup tea pot (needs a little mending on the handle) 2 pound, decorative plate 1 pound, lovely hand made vase 50p!!
This tin sign was not on the list but was there was never a doubt that it would not come home with me. 9 pounds
Assortment of allegedly vintage trims to go with the tapestries I have been hoarding collecting to make some bags & cushions
Lovely jug/vase/stein found by The Prince for I think 1 pound
Another of The Prince's finds for 1 pound




The elusive pepper pot!! Just the right size for white pepper. Has a little ding in the silver top. Hallmarks are too small for me to read. LOL I also bought a larger sugar caster but no photo.
The tomatoes have finally decided to go from green to red, all at once of course so we have a glut of them. We had lovely pasta with fresh tomatoes, garlic & olive oil. Simple but so delicious. A great weekend lunch. I am planning to make some tomato ginger chilli jam. Yum!!
Our bounty & some cat grass. I caught Flynn standing on the window ledge eating the grass. To say she loves this stuff is an understatement.
Gorgeous colour. There are this many again to pick today. Green for at least SIX WEEKS!!  Red overnight. LOL
Feeling a lot better this week, hangover of asthma but not as bad as last week thankfully. Planning to get onto the sewing machine later today, I need a quick project to finish so I feel like I can still call myself a sewer? sewist? sewster? Whatevs! LOL

 Today was washing & cleaning day & tomorrow afternoon/evening we are off to the opening of the Paralympics! We have tickets for wheelchair basketball & swimming. We are really looking forward to watching the sport & I am really looking forward to getting to check out the park & the gardens.

Loving what I do

Lush x