17 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in casa azahar, cats, home
Loki’s favourite place during the day is the guest room, as you can see by all the cat hair on that chair. There is just as much on the bed cover. The girls prefer either my room or the living room during the day. But as it’s getting cooler I expect to see them cuddling up together more. Last night I had to sleep with a light blanket… winter is coming!
12 Friday Oct 2018
Posted in cancer, casa azahar, cats, friends
This photo of a floppy – almost boneless! – Luna shows how happy and relieved I am that my dear friend Ann got through her surgery yesterday without a hitch. It also shows how she is feeling right now, now back at home and ready to heal. Sending strong thoughts to you darling and hope to tapeo again with you soon. xx
20 Thursday Sep 2018
Posted in casa azahar, cats, friends
Tags
Since Tomoko stayed at my place to look after the cats while I was on holiday in the Basque Country last month, she has been missing her favourite boy. And well, I think Loki has missed her too. So while Tomoko was back in town for the day we met up for lunch and then spent some time at Casa Azahar with the beasts before she had to catch her train back to Jerez. Lovely afternoon.
18 Tuesday Sep 2018
Posted in animals & pets, cats, friends
Tags
I have become somewhat obsessed with my friend Marilyn’s (aka Nag On The Lake) new kitten Carmen. Coaxed in from her garden one day mid-July, the kitten formerly known as #feralkitten was soon being called Carmen (Marilyn and Harold had recently been to see the opera) because M saw her as a feisty little gypsy… turns out she was right.
So ha. Been watching Carmen’s progress with unabashed delight. This little beast reminds me so much of Morcilla, totally taking over the house – and the other two senior pets Joyce & Lizzie – in disruptive, destructive and totally charming ways that she leaves everyone in awe. And in love. Anyhow, saw this on Twitter the other day and it reminded me of Carmen.
Marilyn replied with this one… ahahahaa….
17 Monday Sep 2018
Posted in 25th anniversary, casa azahar, cats, home, sevilla, spain
Tags
Yesterday was my Sevilla Silver Anniversary! 25 years ago I moved into that studio apartment up there in calle Mateos Gago, which was where I spent my first year in Sevilla. It was a memorable day for many reasons, arriving in town at precisely 8 pm on September 16th after a long drive from Salamanca with all my worldly possessions and two screaming cats (Lua and Sunny). And THEN having to wait in the car for three hours because the landlord was late. Luckily we found parking right out front, and the friendly gang at Bar Campanario brought drinks and snacks out to the car for us.
Somehow this year the date had slipped my mind, so there was no time to organize a special party like I did for my 20th anniversary. Though that party didn’t take place on the 16th either, so I guess there’s still time. We’ll see.
To celebrate I almost did another getaway with Peter, this time to Mérida and Cáceres (which would have also fit as they were on my route Salamanca-Sevilla), but that was also a bit too last minute to organize. So instead I met Peter at midday yesterday and we went on a little tapeo, visiting some of the places I’ve known and loved all this time – Las Teresas, Bodeguita Romero, Casa Román – and finishing at La Azotea (where Bar Campanario used to be). It was a lovely day.
Back then it would never have occurred to me that I would end up working with all these fabulous bars on my Sevilla Tapas Tours. Something that has become somewhat tainted by recent copy-cat tours (while we were at Las Teresas one was there with a big group, overtaking the bar, being loud and obvious, and ruining the natural bar ambiance) but you know what? I was there long before these wanna-bes and I also know they are merely “tolerated” by my bars, not loved by them like I am. It’s a shame these other companies can’t use their imagination and create their own tours like I did. After all, there are more than 3,000 tapas bars in Sevilla.
But yeah, I’ve come a long way. From a young-ish 36-year-old arriving in this glorious city on a wing and a prayer in 1993. And after close to 15 years teaching English, and then almost 2 years being laid low by cancer and treatment, I ended up finding the work I was always meant to do. I get to meet people from all over the world, share my experiences to optimize their enjoyment of Sevilla and its fabulous food and wine, and – I won’t lie 😉 – I also get to TALK A LOT. Love it.
So… 25 years. Wow. Seriously wow.
casa azahar 