Kid Flamingo

I'm having a wonderful time in New York with The Dowager Duchess. Had a great day in the city yesterday with dear old friends (my only day to dessert The Dowager Duchess... but just for five hours).  Wednesday morning, The Kid Brother and I headed over to the boardwalk for our Nathan's hot dog fix. Sadly, the one and only skee ball arcade is closed for the winter season. I think it reopens around March. So, after we enjoyed our hot dogs, The Kid Brother had to tolerate my charming company and fascinating conversation as we strolled the boardwalk and saw the local sights. The Kid Brother was neither charmed nor fascinated. I told him if he didn't shape up I was going to share all his crabby faced photos and I was going to call the post "The Crabby Kid Brother." He shaped up.

(Click any image to make the flamingo fabulous ... and The Kid Brother, too.)

THE WONDER WHEEL BEHIND ONE CRABBY KID BROTHER.

THIS IS WHEN I MADE MY THREAT.

HE TRIED NOT TO LAUGH.

THEN I TOLD HIM I WAS GOING TO CALL THE POST:
"CRABBY OR SMILEY KID BROTHER: WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER?"

"Let's walk that way!" I happily piped.

"What?!? That's the wrong direction!" he snapped.

"Oh, come on!"

"Let's walk onto the beach."

"What are you nuts?!? There's sand?!? Get outa there!" he sniped.

"Look! A flamingo in flight!"

"I'm not falling for that, wise guy!" he snorted.

"No, Chuck, really. Look."

"Cut it out!" he snarled.

"It's a kite! Would you just look in the sky, you big grouch!"

"Whoa. That looks real." And he smiled!

THE GULL WAS REAL... AND VERY CURIOUS.

Mama's Home Cooking

I arrived in Brooklyn Tuesday night and have been welcomed back into Mama's (aka The Dowager Duchess') warm embrace.

So many people comment, "Oh, I bet your mother loves cooking for you when you come home."

Although unlike her eldest son, The Dowager Duchess did at one time cook -- and cook well -- that ship sailed a long time ago. Now, the Duchess goes out for meals with friends or throws something simple together at home (leftovers from her meals out are her specialty).

The Dowager Duchess in fact "cooked" dinner for us Wednesday night  -- hardboiled eggs and salad. That's a lot more cooking than I ever do, but still. My mother also used to be an incredible baker. She baked every week. Tins and cookie jars were always stocked. That ship has sailed, too.

But I'm not complaining. The Dowager Duchess still shops. See below to experience my suffering.

THE DUCHESS: "THE CANDY CORN JUST LOOKED GOOD."

"DIDN'T YOU USED TO LOVE CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES?"
(I DID.  THEN I DIDN'T.  BUT NOW... I DO AGAIN.)

"I LIKED THE SIZE OF THE BOX."
(THE DUCHESS DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT "DOUBLE STUF.")

"OOH, THESE ARE DELICIOUS WITH THE EXTRA FILLING."

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!!

APPARENTLY, I HAVE TO FINISH OFF THE STASH BEFORE I GO HOME.

The Erotic Tapa

A tapa is, basically, a Spanish appetizer, snack, finger food, or canapé — although those labels really don't cover it. It's usually inexpensive, and it's very possibly unusual and delicious. The variety is endless.

Tapas bars and restaurants around Fuengirola are currently participating in the 6th Annual Route of the Erotic Tapa ("Ruta de la Tapa Erótica"). It's a competition among restaurants with prizes for the best erotic tapa. Patrons can pick up an "Erotic Tapa Passport," get it stamped each time they sample a tapa, and then possibly win some very nice prizes, as well.

We haven't made the rounds. I'm heading to New York Tuesday to visit The Dowager Duchess and The Kid Brother, so not enough time for that. Instead, we went Saturday night to Meson Salvador, our favorite local place for Spanish food, to see what they were offering. Not only was their erotic tapa charming (well, not to everyone perhaps), it was also delicious. Skewered shrimp, quail's eggs, and creatively applied fresh dill.

A TAPAS ORGY...

AND ONE FOR ME.

AS IF EROTIC TAPAS AND A MAIN COURSE WEREN'T ENOUGH,
WE ALSO HAD OBSCENELY DECADENT DESSERTS.

AND WE RECEIVED SOME VERY SEXY SERVICE
FROM ALEJANDRO AND SANTI.

Not that anyone cares, but I'm selling my pork chops...

Leaving It All Behind

Some more of the local scenery. Plumber's Crack (in American English), Builder's Bum (in British English), and Culo de Constructor (in Spanish). I'm sure there are regional variations. I've been snapping these pictures for months and have decided it's time to stop.

As Tere taught me when she was down for a visit one time, it's also called an "hucha," which is the word for a coin slot (in a piggy bank for example). Click here for that conversation.

It's juvenile, I know, but I can't be expected to be mature and appropriate ALL the time. I promise to do better tomorrow when I share the story of Erotic Tapas in Fuengirola. Seriously.

(The cracks get bigger. Just click any image. Go ahead. I dare you.)

THAT'S GOT TO BE AN INTERESTING TAN LINE.

One cracking peculiar video...

Little Lady Liberty

LITTLE LADY LIBERTY.
PALACE IN BACKGROUND.

I was walking along the beachfront in Torremolinos Wednesday evening and decided to visit a private palace I had read about. As I crossed the street to head away from the beach, I spotted the Statue of Liberty. I had no idea I had walked so far.

I also had no idea the statue had been plated in solid silver. (Nor that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was so near.)

She stands front and center at a "Mini Golf" course. (San Geraldo grew up calling it "Goofy Golf," while I grew up calling it "Miniature Golf"). And, OK, I don't think she's really made of solid silver either. But she did light the way to the Casa de los Navajas, the palace I was looking for.

The Casa de los Navajas is a "small" private palace built in 1925 by a sugar cane entrepreneur named Antonio Navajas. It was built in the Neo-Mudéjar (Moorish Revival) style, and the interior design was inspired by the Alhambra of Granada.

(Click the images to make The Little Lady, and everything else, not so little.)

The nearby sugar fields are now occupied by Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport. And the palace was donated to the Province of Málaga and the City of Torremolinos, although it spent years in disrepair and more years under renovation. It just reopened this summer. And the restoration is magnificent. There was no info available on-site (I'm sure that's on its way). But interior spaces have been redesigned to be used for events, one room is labeled "Bodas," which means "Weddings," and outdoor terraces abound.

THE VIEW AS I CROSSED THE STREET.

WEST TOWER.

TILE AND PLASTER.

THE ROOM ABOVE THE ENTRY.

NICE CHAIRS.  SCHEDULE YOUR WEDDING.

WHERE I CAME FROM:  LEANING TOWER OF PISA CIRCLED IN RED.

CARD ROOM?  MAH JONGG?

YOUR BASIC TABLE AND CHAIRS.
(BE SURE TO USE A COASTER!)

EAST TOWER.

ONE OF SIX PICTORIAL MOSAICS FLANKING THE ENTRANCE.

FROM THE DRIVEWAY.

STAIRS GOING DOWN.  (THEY WENT UP, TOO.)

ONE MORE LOOK BEFORE I GO.

A VERY TASTEFUL CHANDELIER.

Our house might not be a small palace, but San Geraldo makes it feel like one...

Messing Around

It turns out San Geraldo and I have quite a lot in common with our cats.

Moose is a a worrier. So is San Geraldo.

Dudo, like me, is also a bit of a worrier. But, thanks to his slightly neurotic brother, he seems comparatively stable. (San Geraldo has the same effect on me.) 

Also, like San Geraldo, Moose can be a bit messy. He doesn't care if the bed is made. He'll still make himself comfortable. Laundry on the bed? No problem.

(Don't forget to click the images for the bigger picture.)

MOOSE:  "THE TOWELS WEREN'T AT ALL IN MY WAY.
YOU WEREN'T PLANNING ON MAKING THIS TODAY, WERE YOU?"

Dudo, on the other hand... paw, watches me make the bed in the morning (something I usually do and San Geraldo rarely does) and waits for me to neatly fold "his" blanket (click here for that and here to meet the sender of the blanket). Then he settles down... Once, that is, I've moved the blanket into the sun.

DUDO: "FINALLY!"

Moose tends to sprawl in whatever position strikes him. Dudo carefully circles and then poses himself elegantly. (OK, in this sense Moose and I are much more similar.)

MOOSE...

... AND DUDO

Unfortunately, Dudo's neatness doesn't carry over to the rest of his world. He and Moose leave their stuff (toys) all over the house and footprints all over the furniture. They trail litter onto the tile floor and shed everywhere. That's where their behaviors merge with San Geraldo's... except for the litter and the shedding... And maybe the footprints.

I've told you about the paper shredder (click here) at San Geraldo's desk that serves more time as a snack table. Since said snack table has been overflowing of late, he now has taken to using his book case as a dish rack.

"THERE'S ACTUALLY A PAPER SHREDDER UNDER ALL THAT.

Sadly, the dishes are not clean when they're stashed on the shelf. So I regularly retrieve bowls with dried-on cottage cheese. I've told him they'd be much easier to wash if he didn't let the food dry on.

"Just add water and it reconstitutes!" he says.

UN-RECONSTITUTED. AND THOSE BOOKS!  VOLUMES I THROUGH V ARE OUT OF ORDER.
IT COULD DRIVE ME CRAZY.

Over the weekend, I found the remains of a cheramoya on the bookshelf.

"What?!?" he said again.

"What?" I returned. "It's going to smell! It's unsanitary! It's going to attract bugs! That's what!"

"The cats like bugs!"

NO ROACHES... YET.  JUST CHERAMOYA SEEDS.

And to be clear, living with me is nothing like living with that guy from "Sleeping With The Enemy"!

SAN GERALDO FINDS MY CANS ENTERTAINING.
I WISH HE HADN'T USED TWO OF THE SMALL ONES.  NOW I HAVE TO REARRANGE.