El Andalous - House Warming Party

 

Karen's Lovely Kitchen (and Some Wine!)

There’s been a bit of movement between two of the main residential resorts here – Azzurra and El Andalous. People on the fifth floor of El Andalous (top floor until they illegally built houses on top of roof) have generally moved to Azzurra because of all the noise coming from the Egyptian families (of the developer, so we have no power over them) who now live on the roof. Meanwhile, Tina went in the other direction and moved from Azzurra to El Andalous.

Anyway, Karen moved from El Andalous to Azzurra. I’ve said before that the flats in Azzurra are very nice. The place is apparently well managed and the flats are huge with amazing views; they usually have a large terrace, balcony, or rooftop as well. It’s on the windy side of the bay versus El Andalous and is further from the Old Town. You really need a bicycle or buggy.

So, I went to Karen’s for a house warming party. She’d done it up (it came unfurnished) amazingly, with much of the furniture sourced locally in second-hand places and then repainted or recovered to the chosen colour scheme. She’d picked up some wonderful items.

The flat has a large terrace (it’s ground floor) and, of course, overlooks the sea. She generously provided food from Sphinx, which is somewhere in Hurghada. I hadn’t heard of it before. They delivered. I was impressed with the food, so must look the place up at some point. I particularly liked the spicy/fruity brown (coloured – may have been white but marinated in something) rice and, of course, the chicken, which was beautifully moist. There was a huge lasagna, which I don’t eat due to my dislike of cheese. Gary and Maria had made a huge chilli con carne as well, and there was bread. There were loads of other things, too, so the table was packed, but those were for me the memorable items.

It was at this party that we penciled in a possible date for a meeting of owners of El Andalous to discuss setting up an Owners’ Association. That’s what I was busy with this last weekend (as well as with another party, and another meeting, which is why this blog is being posted a little later in the day than usual). More about all that another time.

Two other friends of mine had recently moved over to Azzurra, so they kindly showed me round their new flat as well, which was only a few doors away – also very nice, of course. I got to meet a few new people as well. Although it’s generally the same people at all of these parties, it always surprises me how someone new always turns up. It’s really quite a close-knit community here.

It was also Karen’s birthday the next day, so I’d bought her a Sahl Hasheesh beach towel – they are very stylish and sold in a shop here owned by another Azzurra ex-El Andalous resident. Everything is connected!

I don’t think she’s reading this, but thanks again to Karen for such a great party!