A day away in beautiful Carmona with the Academia Sevillana de Gastronomía y Turismo for their annual Asamblea General. First up was a meeting at City Hall where we were welcomed by the mayor of Carmona, followed by a visit to an ancient hypogeum from Roman times, discovered in 1999, next to the nearby temple of San Felipe, which we also visited.

After that it was off to the Alcázar for the general assembly, which in the end I couldn’t attend (!!!) because it was AT THE TOP of the fortress wall up three long flights of stairs (nobody had thought to tell me this in advance) so I sat it out downstairs sadly watching on my phone (zoom, no sound). Not ideal to say the least.

Then we had lunch at one of my favourite places in Carmona, Casa Curro Montoya. The last time I was there (and in Carmona) was back in 2015, when I met the owners Bernardi and Germán; the latter’s grandfather was the famed flamenco singer Curro Montoya. Anyhow, it was lovely to be back even though… MORE STAIRS. But just one flight this time. And I got to catch up with a few Academia members I hadn’t seen in a while and also get to know some others. So while it was a bit of a hit and miss experience it did leave me wanting to go back to Carmona again, hopefully soon. It really is a beautiful city and residents are rightfully proud of its long and intriguing history.

owners Germán & Bernardi – Casa Curro Montoya