Susana is from Greece and was visiting to run the marathon on Sunday.\u00a0 But unlike me who opted for all foods and all drink suggestions, she was consciously avoiding certain things in anticipation of the run.\u00a0 Whatever works for each individual runner I say\u2026 and if she chooses not to have a second bit of the pringa<\/em>, well, that\u2019s just more for me!<\/p>\n The first stop was La Flor de Toranzo where we tried five different tapas.\u00a0 Tomas and the Hungarians laughed as I frantically scribbled down notes on wat we were eating and snapping photos.\u00a0 They asked what was the name of the blog and I pooh-poohed that, saying it was just for friends back home to show what things I was having\u2026 and to help me remember what I would want to order and what I\u2019d want to avoid for the rest of the trip.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all true\u2026 from a certain point of view.<\/p>\n These were all small sandwiches \u2013 pringa<\/em> (leftover meat products made into a mince), rocquefort and sobrasada (ooey gooey cheesy goodness), a pork loin with apple, what Tomas called \u201cEl Jefe<\/em>\u201d (a tuna with red chile sauce), and his personal favorite (but definitely not mine) \u2013 anchovies and condensed milk.\u00a0 I chased it down with the recommended Sevillan Tinto De Verano Botellin, a red wine with sprite\/fanta mixture that was wannabe sangria).<\/p>\n Next on the tour was Antonio Romero Bodeoutias, a classy hole in the wall with bar tenders\/servers dressed like it was the Brown Derby circa 1939.\u00a0 I loved the vibe of the place\u2026 and the RedMojito felt very southern speakeasy hooch.\u00a0 Food wise we sampled piripi<\/em> (delicious combo of lean pork, cooked bacon, cheese, tomato and mayo), mantecado (grilled pork loin, creamy whiskey sauce, and a side of french fries!), queso romano<\/em> (rocquefort drizzled with honey and served with bread chips), and finally some weird salted tuna thing that again Tomas seemed to love but I was mostly ambivalent on.<\/p>\n The third stop (Bar Blanco Cerrillo<\/em>) had the most surprising and the most disappointing of the tapas.\u00a0 Tomas couldn\u2019t stop raving about the calamari but I found it bland and rubbery\u2026 and Susana kept saying if he wanted calamari he should come to Greece and have it fresh from the sea.\u00a0 That said, who doesn\u2019t love a good eggplant and parmesan croquette?\u00a0 But the most surprising and most delightful of the dishes here was the adobo<\/em>, a deep fat fried mini white fish.\u00a0 I could\u2019ve snacked on that all day.<\/p>\n We capped the evening at El Rinconcillo<\/em>.\u00a0 We all were pretty stuffed by then but powered through on the last of Tomas\u2019s suggestions \u2013 a salmon tartare (which I found\u2026 what\u2019s the most snobbishly way of saying it was just okay?\u00a0 Pedestrian?\u00a0 Oh!\u00a0 Pedestrianly pescadarian!), a pig\u2019s cheek stewish thing that was very tender but a bit overwhelming for me this late in the game, and my pick of chickpea and spinach (drowning in oil and devoid of healthiness but I kinda liked it\u2026 no one else seemed to though).<\/p>\n Having made my list though, I was able to compile this post-eatum breakdown.\u00a0 Zoltan and Kornelia and I swapped Instagram handles and Susana and I chatted a bit about marathoning.\u00a0 I downplayed what I\u2019ve done as she was already lecturing me on having run too much when I said I had run the 50 states.\u00a0 She said I didn\u2019t have nearly enough time to recover if I was doing one every other month\u2026 I shrugged because, ya know, to each their own.\u00a0 But when Tomas jokingly said he knew she was a runner because she had a photo of herself running on her phone, but he wasn\u2019t so sure about me\u2026 well, I was reminded of a story about musician Ben Folds.\u00a0 He\u2019s from the Chapel Hill area and was just making a name for himself with Ben Folds Five (of which there were three members of the band).\u00a0 Anyway, he was playing the local venue and was taking requests when somebody shouted \u201cFree Bird!\u201d\u00a0 And Ben got offended saying something like, \u201cYou don\u2019t think I can play Free Bird, muck-rucker!\u201d\u00a0 Only he didn\u2019t say muck-rucker.\u00a0 Anyway, he goes over to his piano and bangs out Free Bird\u2026 and not a half-assed version but more a definitive alternate version of that rock classic.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what I thought when Tomas question my running status.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t think I\u2019m a runner, muck-rucker?\u201d\u00a0 I opted not to lay all of my cards on the table and instead just pulled up my blog on my phone and randomly showed a photo of me running.\u00a0 It happened to be me dressed as a turkey running a 5K\u2026 so I\u2019m not sure I pulled it off.\u00a0 I\u2019m no Ben Folds\u2026 but, honest, I do run a lot.<\/p>\n Speaking of which \u2013 I\u2019m off to the expo to pick up my bib number for Sunday.\u00a0 Because I eat and drink too much that\u2019s part of the reason I try and run as much as I can.<\/p>\n Man\u2026 maybe I need to order some crow and humble pie today.\u00a0 I\u2019m feeling embarrassed by the way I behaved.\u00a0 But at least I thought to insist on a group photo last night before we parted ways, each of us setting off in different directions to continue our lives but having intersected and connected over food and fun in Sevilla.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20200220_192704.jpg\")
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