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Here’s me in PJs doing the whole glam NYE thing.
(wearing comfy slippers too)
What are you guys up to?
31 Tuesday Dec 2013
Tags
Here’s me in PJs doing the whole glam NYE thing.
(wearing comfy slippers too)
What are you guys up to?
30 Monday Dec 2013
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours

I’m heading out soon for my last Sevilla Tapas Tour of 2013. It’s really been a great year and I continue to love this work. I think because I am sticking to what I like best about it and not trying to make it into something it’s not. I mean, I don’t even think of myself as a “tour guide”, more of a “culinary host” taking people to all my favourite places. And it keep evolving, which I also like.
It’ll be interesting to see how 2014 goes. There are a lot more people doing tapas tours in Sevilla now and some seem to be taking the whole “competition” thing quite seriously. One person who recently started using “Sevilla Tapas Tours” on Twitter (the name I’m been known by for years) went so far as to register that name for their website. Which is why I’m glad that I am doing this in my own way. People may copy my name, they might swipe my ideas and – as has already happened – totally rip off my price list… but they can’t copy me, my experience, or my passion for what I do.
Also, there is so much more to Sevilla Tapas than just food tours. I’ve spent almost seven years building up my website that now has close to 200 bar and restaurant listings in Sevilla, as well as my website for tapas in Andalucía (haven’t counted how many bars are listed there). I’ve worked with the Sevilla Tourist Board on a couple of projects and am suddenly being asked to attend food and wine events as an expert in my field. Which is thrilling, really. And I have more things planned for the new year. So stay tuned!
But now I really must dash! Picking up my guests in half an hour…
29 Sunday Dec 2013
Posted in music, sunday song, video
I’ll be “among the missing”… in PJs drinking cava.
How about you?



28 Saturday Dec 2013
Posted in christmas, sevilla, spain, tapas tours

Everybody I’ve met this past week on my tapas tours has mentioned The Oranges. They are just so plentiful and, well, orange! I remember my first Christmas here in Sevilla and being struck at how wonderful it was that all the oranges were like natural festive ornaments on the trees that were enhanced with pretty white fairy lights (those were the days – these days they use blue lights that aren’t nearly as lovely). Anyhow, loved this moment coming home after my lunchtime tapas tour on Christmas day, after the rain had stopped.
27 Friday Dec 2013
Posted in christmas, friday foto finder, Malaga, photos
This week’s Friday Foto Finder challenge is “Christmas”…
Considering I have so many Christmas photos this was actually a tough one for me. Trying to find one that was extra special. In the end I went with a few pics from my recent Málaga Getaway, which was actually my Christmas present to myself this year. I had a great time visiting friends and just enjoying being in my second home for awhile again. Came home with some very nice memories. Which felt really Christmassy. But to be honest, since I’ve been sharing my living space with someone who doesn’t care at all about Christmas (or even much about anything else), I feel I’ve lost the joy I used to feel about this lovely time of year myself. Because all those years I previously lived on my own I would always make sure I had my little tree, put up pretty lights, display my cards, and even sometimes make a nice festive meal for other “Christmas orphans” who had nowhere else to go. Then I got a flatmate who I thought was my friend. And I found out that unjoyfulness can rub off, especially at home.
But I realised something this Christmas. That I really want to get back that old joy I always used to feel. I mean, I have felt it at times this year. When I was away in Málaga, when I’ve been out and about here in Sevilla, but not at home. Where it actually matters. It was rather a blessing that I found myself working all through the holidays, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as it was nice to be out having fun. And so I hope that I have at least one more Christmas left to really do it up right. Watch this space next year. There will be lights and joy galore!
Check out what other Friday Foto Finders are posting over here!