12 Friday May 2023
Posted in friends, life stuff
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It’s been that kind of week. Nothing to do with Covid (this time). Just that I seem to need reminders to keep my distance. It’s the way I can enjoy being with people without giving them the opportunity to hurt me. Because it almost never fails that whenever I slip into that false sense of security that someone actually likes me and that I can trust them… turns out that nope. I cannot.
11 Thursday May 2023
Posted in books, books & writing, friends, sevilla
I’ve known Lola Rubia for many years and so I was happy to be invited to the book launch of her first novel, Ni Ruido Ni Silencio, which took place at La Carbonería. Look at that face! Lola was so happy and later said it was the best day of her life. I mean, what an accomplishment. On the way home with my signed copy I stopped off at a bar for a snack and the waitress asked about the book sitting on the table, read the back cover blurb and immediately wrote down the name saying she wanted to look it up. I think this bodes well. Best of luck, Lola!
10 Wednesday May 2023
Calle Pérez Galdós could be – should be – such a pretty residential street. Instead it’s a war zone with late night (all night) bars, their patrons (mostly students, local and foreign, many underage) spilling out into the street, shouting and “singing” and screaming, at times also fighting.
I lived at the end of this street for five years and during that whole time I barely slept. At first I joined my neighbours in calling the police and at times I even stopped police in the street on my way home at night and pointed out all the illegal activity going on. Nothing. They did nothing even though they could see 15-year-olds falling down drunk, huge crowds shouting, never mind that it’s not permitted to DRINK IN THE STREET. They did nothing.
In the end I gave up and moved. Today I passed by and see that nothing has changed. Why is this street being “protected”, whose palms are being greased, so that this illegal activity goes on every night of the week? It is not normal that a barrio as lovely and vibrant as La Alfalfa should have been thrown under the bus like this. What’s going on?
09 Tuesday May 2023
Posted in sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, tourism, travel
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I had a very special guest on Monday evening… Rick Steves was in town and, as I’ve had the honour of being mentioned in two of his Spain travel guides the past few years (recommended by his local guide writer), it was high time we met up in person. Can I tell you? Rick is a lovely guy and a total force of nature. I had no idea what to expect, whether he wanted a tapas tour or just to talk about me and what I am doing and the Sevilla tapas scene, maybe get some recommendations on other places he could add to his guide… turned out that, yep, he wanted it all! And honestly, it was so much fun. Looking back, we stopped in at 16 (!!!) tapas bars and restaurants over five hours. Not eating at all of them obviously (we only did that at two stops) but checking out the places, ambiance, menus, etc. with Rick scribbling notes as we went. It was definitely a night of heavy researching.
Our first stop to actually stop at was Casa Morales. Reyes Morales was just coming back from walking her dog and said we had to come in and have a cold beer and a tapa. And well, who were we to argue with tapas bar royalty? At the last stop of the night, Salmedina, we also stopped in to eat. Rick had tried to get in the night of the Copa del Rey match and, well, no way. But luckily not only was there a table available for us, both owner/chefs were there (usually they trade off). Jaime and Pedro welcomed us and suggested we just try whatever they wanted us to try, thus a small but exquisite tasting menu ensued. My god. Every bite was heaven. And I even got to give Rick a little sherry education.
What can I say? It was a Tapeo Extremo to beat all others, all totally spontaneous and fun. Have already warned him that next time we’re going to Triana… and now that I know what he likes, well, it’s going to be epic.
Rick, thanks again for everything. Being in your guide has been amazing and I hope to continue being a trusted source for you and your travellers.
08 Monday May 2023
Posted in casa azahar, health, home
Yep, happened again. On Saturday morning I bent over THE WRONG WAY and a sudden intense jolt of AAARRGH⚡⚡⚡ left me in serious lower pain. This hasn’t happened in a long while (last time was Sept 2022) but it’s something I’ve been plagued with since a tobogganing mishap when I was 19. The first full-blown sciatica didn’t start happening until my mid-twenties, and back then it used to happen more frequently. Just awful. But lately, if I’m lucky, I get one or two episodes a year and, while I am much older and fatter, I’ve also learned how to “nip it in the bud” so to speak, so that I haven’t actually had sciatica since… don’t even remember when. Though the lower back pain on its own is excruciating enough. Anyhow, the damage has been done, so now the goal is to not damage things further, be careful … and keep moving.
Worst thing you can do when you have back pain is bed rest.
Meanwhile, this popped up on my Instagram feed today (wow, internet spies everywhere, haven’t even mentioned my back on Insta) with a sponsored ad suggesting 7 yoga postures to relieve back pain. And this was one of them…
😅😂🤣
casa azahar 