Category Archives: andalucia

first day in málaga

14 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by in andalucia, christmas, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway

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I’m here! And what a great first day it was. After l got to town l met Victor at the apartment (Casa de los Principes) and, after dropping off my bag, we headed out for lunch to somewhere I’d never been before – Los Mellizos. I was surprised to discover that Victor had never been there either! But as it’s one of Thane’s favourite places it was high time we checked it out. And well, it was fabulous. Old school, awful plastic menus with photos, but excellent food. We were having such a great time that l forgot to take a photo of Victor and had to get a screen grab from a short vid I’d made.

After lunch l met up with Ania who was briefly back from Poland to attend a seminar in Sevilla. She had also decided to take a day trip to Málaga while here so she could see the Christmas lights – and also see her friend Joanna. So we met at La Reserva 12 for a couple of penúltimas. By the time we poured Ania into a taxi to catch her train home l was ready to get back to my cosy apartment. But before l did that l went to Victor’s strategic location to try and get THAT shot of the lights from that unique vantage point. Victor was right, you really do have to climb between the clothes racks!

willie & venetia

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by in andalucia, day trips, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, wine

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This story begins in April 2015 when Venetia @vblebus got in touch with me about my trip planning service as she was organizing a family trip to Andalucía. I recognized the surname and saw that I had been following her husband Willie @willielebus for quite some time, as a “person of interest” on the London wine scene. Anyhow, Venetia and I got to work on her trip and, after the first draft was completed, she said her (adult) kids had decided they preferred a beach holiday that year, so we put things on hold because V said that she and Willie would surely be coming to Andalucía on their own. And just over 2.5 years later… they came!

And it really was like meeting up with old friends. I knew they were interested in excellent food and wine – the “real deal” rather than wanky michelin star stuff – and so it was a delight to take them out on a couple of tapeos while they were in Sevilla, as well as recommend other great places for them in Córdoba and Granada. I also worked out itineraries for them and helped them choose their hotels and arrange transporation.

All of which made me realise that I should be pushing the trip planning thing a bit more. This project started taking shape around the same time I came up with We Love Tapas, and so it ended up on the back burner. But now that WLT is up and running I can turn my attention to developing this service, which is a great way to diversify and continue working in my fields of expertise.

Meanwhile, already making plans for Willie’s & Venetia’s return trip, which will definitely include visiting a few sherry bodegas.