Monthly Archives: March 2017

london getaway 2017 | day 1

31 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in food & drink, getaways, london, travel, trips, welcome

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This most recent London Getaway came about when I was invited to be a judge at the World Sherry Awards, being held on April 4th. At first I was going to just go for a couple of nights and stay with Jo & Mark, but then it turned out that they were going to be away and, like on a couple of other occasions, I would have their lovely apartment to myself. So then I asked if it would be okay to stay a few extra days and have Peter come along, and it turned out that was fine.

There were two reasons for asking Peter along. One was that he hadn’t been back to London in something like 30 years, and I knew he would love seeing the city again. But also, when I was there last summer I was plagued by my old nemesis Panic Attack, which actually surprised me as I hadn’t been bothered by them since the Cancer Thing. I don’t know why they started happening again, but in the end they became quite debilitating, so having a companion with me this trip seemed like a good idea. And it was!

Anyhow, after saying goodbye to sandal weather at Sevilla airport we arrived in chilly London in time to get the express train to Liverpool Street Station, then an Uber to the Wapping apartment, and then make it over to local wine bar Victualler before it closed. It was a nice way to start off the trip, with a light snack and a glass of wine, and a bit of a walk, before heading back “home”.

the lovely Wapping apartment

vinos de españa 2017

30 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in sevilla, sherry, welcome, wine, work

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vinos espana

Last year I attended the first edition of Vinos de España – Una Pasión that was held in Sevilla and had a lovely time. I mean really, who can resist the prospect of being able to “visit” over 45 bodegas in one day? This time I did my best to branch out and try some new stuff, starting off with white wines (before hitting the reds), and was pleasantly surprised by wines from different regions that I wasn’t familiar with. THEN I bumped into Alex, another sherry educator, and after that we kind of gravitated to the sherry room and got stuck in there. Ah well… it was a wonderful afternoon. And as always great meeting up with sherry friends.

bacalao galore!

29 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, welcome

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bacalao galore
I usually cringe when someone refers to me as an “influencer”, but it this case the reference was in an invitation to El Bacalao, to try their new menu in their freshly renovated location in Plaza Ponce de León. So well, okay then. I decided that you can call me an influencer if it means attending a lovely event such as this, and off I went with Peter, where we joined a dozen or so other influencers for lunch.

The meal was served in a dining room in the back of the restaurant, and took the form of a tasting of thirteen menu items – four starters, seven main courses and two desserts, with either manzanilla sherry or white wine (even in small portions that’s a lot of food, but one has to be thorough).

As one might expect given the name of the restaurant, bacalao (salt cod) figured prominently in the menu, from the signature bacalao al ajo confitado, through pavias and croquetas to an excellent tartare. Other personal favourites included a lovely fresh spinach salad and the milhojas de cola de toro (oxtail). Many thanks to everyone at El Bacalao for making it such an enjoyable afternoon. I’ll be updating this on my Sevilla Tapas site asap so look for more pics there.

azahar gourmet getaways

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, instagram, spain, tapas tours, travel, trips

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Back in August 2013 I started my first Instagram account and called it @azahar, which as many of you know, has been my internet handle for a dozen years or more. Back then I didn’t actually think I’d end up using Instagram that much, which is why I opted for my “personal” name, rather than my “biz” name of Sevilla Tapas. Then last year I created a couple other Instagram accounts, @sevillatapas and @sevillatapastours, which were basically redirect accounts, because many people would refer to me on Instagram as @sevillatapas, since that original Instagram account had indeed become mostly about food & wine (and occasional cats pics).

Then in February 2016 I swapped names, taking @sevillatapas for my original Instagram account. But what to do with the @azahar name? One I personally identify with – in fact all of my blogs and webites have the word azahar in them somewhere. I didn’t want to stop using it, or worse, lose it. Well, as I was also starting on a new project – Azahar Gourmet Getaways – at the time, I decided to start using the newly renamed @azahar Instagram to promote that project, and so far it’s been working out nicely. I won’t start separate Twitter or Facebook pages for this project (yet) and, for the moment, it is simply being offered as a one of my Sevilla Tapas Tour options, even though it’s not specifically Sevilla-based. The focus is more on travel and cuisine throughout Andalucía.

Anyhow, hope to see you all on the @azahar Instagram too!  🙂

houseguest prep

27 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in cats, friends, home

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One of the good things about having someone come to stay in your home is that it gives you a push to CLEAN THE PLACE UP. I mean, Casa Az is generally tidy and basic cleaning is done on a regular basis, but this week is all about getting some extra spring cleaning stuff done before leaving for London on Friday.

As both Peter and I will be gone for a few days the lovely Ania has offered to come and stay with the cats. She’s actually really looking forward to it. As Ania travels so much she can’t have cats of her own – and she LOVES cats. So this will give not only give her a Gato Getaway, but also a chance to stay in the centre of town for a change. It’s win-win for everybody, including the cats.

Right, got to wash the balcony windows now…