Since getting back from London late Monday night it’s been a very busy week doing research for my SimonSeeks hotel page and then getting the writing and photos done – still have eight more to go, which should be quite doable by my deadline. Aside from that I had some sad news regarding a tapas tour someone had booked as a 10th anniversary surprise for his wife (along with tickets for yesterday’s U2 concert) … all of which was ruined by the stupid fecking general strike on Wednesday when this guy found out all flights had been cancelled. I actually cried when I got his email because I remembered his previous ones and how excited he was about doing something so sweet and special for his wife. Anyhow, I tried to help him sell his tickets (no luck) and will return his 50% deposit – this is usually non-refundable but considering the circumstances it’s the least I can do. As a result of all this I was free on Wednesday evening to meet up with Australian travel writer Shaney Hudson and her Dutch boyfriend Chris (both now living in Rotterdam) and we made a night of it…
I’d met Shaney on Twitter when she was asking about Sevilla info and I thought we were just going to meet for a drink, but it turned out to be a full-on tapas tour finishing up on the rooftop of the Fontecruz Hotel. You can see what a good time we had in the collage above. And it was great fun as Shaney and Chris were terrific company and we had lots in common to talk about. It’s cool to think that stuff like this is happening all because of recent events – and my Twitter contacts – and that this really is a part of my job now. But it’s also my life.
Likewise later on today I’ll be meeting with Victoria as she is making a quick trip to Sevilla. We’ll have a bit of a social media class at my place before going out in the evening to visit two clients who are now carrying her wines at their bars, both of which I’ve recently featured on Sevilla Tapas. Really looking forward to seeing Victoria again and getting some stuff organised – more work, but most enjoyable.
And yet another work-related perk … I was actually offered a free night and meal at the beautiful Hospes Las Casas Del Rey De Baeza – another Twitter contact made ages ago. They saw I was now doing SimonSeeks and asked if I’d like to experience both the hotel and restaurant (for Sevilla Tapas) first hand. So yay! This will also be a treat for Nog as he gets to come with me. We’ll check in on Monday afternoon, have dinner and just hang out. I remember when I visited for my research I seriously wanted to move in! So it’s going to be a lovely “time out” to just relax, enjoy a nice meal and have a mini-holiday in Sevilla. And the boys will be okay alone overnight.
The thing I love the most is that I am now working more than I ever have before, which is pretty much every day of the week (the hours vary), but I’ve never been happier. Now all I need is to get paid!!! But it definitely feels like I am on my way to realising the dream I had more than 30 years ago – that my work be exactly what I want to do when I get out of the bed in the morning. And the day after the hotel comp I have another tapas tour booked!
Poco á poco…
casa azahar 
Enjoy your stay at the Casa del Rey…..sounds lovely!
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It is so lovely there that I’m even tempted to leave my laptop at home…
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So glad the pieces of the jigsaw are finally coming together for you.
Have fun at the Casa del Rey.
Perhaps some other hotels need to invite you to research them too?
Would posting on tripadvisor as a Sevilla expert be useful? A lot of people use that site when researching trips so it might be another way of increasing your web footfall?
Ach – what do I know 😀
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I’m actually already on Trip Advisor as “azahar-SevillaTapas”, though I haven’t posted much there. The problem with Trip Advisor these days is that you can’t tell which reviews are real and which are plants, so it becomes a bit useless as a guide.
I totally agree that more hotels should invite me to research them! For the most part I’m going on my own impressions when I visit a hotel, as well as “reviews” I get from friends and clients who have stayed there. But it would be good to check out a few more first hand like Casas del Rey.
Oh, and I got my first commission yesterday when dragonqueen booked her hotel for Sevilla via my SimonSeeks page! 🙂
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So sad for the fellow who had booked for his anniversary… both for him (and his wife) and for you. However, hurray for the perks… Things have a way of working out.
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Ah, a rainbow posting: the guy having to cancel the 10th anniversary surprise trip is quite a heartwrenching story 😦 And on the other hand, it is like sunshine to see you busy with your dream job. And what a dream job too: it’s even interesting to read about it!
And it is quite instructive to see how teh interwebz can be used to get such dream jobs. Behold, O Detractors of blogs and twitter!
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I can’t even remember the number of people in the past week who have said to me … “I just don’t *get* Twitter”. Aargh. From now on I’m taking a page out of my friend Annie’s book and am not even going to bother explaining it anymore.
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