Category Archives: friends

friends in the time of coronavirus

24 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, friends

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corona

This is tough. Yes, lockdown was lifted here on June 22nd, and non-essential shops, along with bars and restaurants, were allowed to slowly reopen. And so far that seems to be going well. People are mostly following the rules.

But then Spain immediately opened its borders not just to EU Schengen countries but also to the UK, which was basically WAY BEHIND in their Covid response, and even now have yet to call for a the mandatory use of masks.

After lockdown was lifted here nothing much changed for me. I stayed home, waiting to see what was going to happen. Would there be a second wave of infections two weeks later? How safe was it really? For those who don’t know I am in a high risk situation due to being immunocompromised due to previous cancer and chemo treatments, and also because of my age. So not only am I more likely to catch this fucker, I am also more likely to die from it. A sobering thought.

But I have been out for tapas now… maybe 3-4 times? And also for the occasional cold beer when I’ve been out grocery shopping on my own. Have also had a couple of business meetings and a trip to the hospital. Though I mostly keep myself to a schedule whereby I only go OUT THERE about once a week, and maybe meet up with a friend every other outing. Which leads me to… Continue reading →

oncology update!

19 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by in cancer, coronavirus, friends, hope, hospitals, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, welcome

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plaza espanaJust look how fucking gorgeous this is! That is the Plaza de España WITHOUT ANY TOURISTS. My goodness, what a beautiful sight. I snapped this pic while walking home from the hospital today. Finally got my oncology checkup to review all the tests I’ve had done (Feb-March). This got postponed, like most things, by the VIRUS. But today was the day. Luckily I had already been given copies of the test results from my GP so there were no big surprises.

Basically, after another colonoscopy, an upper abdomenal barium x-ray, another CT scan of my thorax and abdomen, and more blood tests, they still don’t know what THE THING is next to my stomach. But it appears to be behaving and they think they can rule out cancer. But short of cutting me open again they can’t know for sure. And they really don’t want to cut me open again. So there will be another CT scan and blood test in September to see if there have been any changes.

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día mundial de la tapa

18 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, the new now

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tapas day (3)

I didn’t even realise today was Día Mundial de la Tapa (World Tapas Day)! What a perfect moment to have my first tapa out in 97 days. And well it had to be THOSE gorgeous honey pork ribs at Eslava.

The day started off with a visit to the Alcázar Palace and Gardens, which just opened up to the public on Monday. I thought it would be nice to visit again before the marauding hordes start arriving here on Sunday. So I arranged to meet my friend Corinna at 11.30 (carefully timed so that after our palace visit it would be BEER O’CLOCK).

casaCorinna

Along the way we stopped in at a couple of bars just so I could say hello to people there. It was so lovely seeing dear friends again. Corinna and I  lucked out at Eslava and got a nice socially distanced space at the bar and had an amazing lunch. And I got to see Sixto! He runs Eslava with his wife and I’ve known him for many years. We agreed that the “reopening” in our new now is more than just about business, or even the food. It’s about the people, the ambiance, the… everything! Damn it felt good to be back.

tapas day (4)
Sixto

tapas day (1)

Baby courgette filled with bacalao
Croquetas caseras
Becquer’s cigar
Stuffed courgette flower
Cheesecake

lockdown takeaway lunch

10 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, friends, gastronomy, lockdown, lockdown sevilla, sevilla

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lunch (3)

So remember Dan & Deb? They are home in London wishing they were here, and cooking up a storm on Dan’s Instagram @dan.jamon. We’ve been staying in touch, and looking forward to meeting up again some day at Las Teresas. THEN, I got a surprise voice message from Jeanine (La Azotea) the other day saying that those two lovelies had purchased a voucher for me to get some home delivery. So nice of them! As you know, I am still mostly keeping myself in Phase 1 of the de-escalation process, while the rest of the country has moved on to Phase 3. Which means I still haven’t dared to go out to a bar or restaurant, even for a Cold Beer O’clock. And as much as cooking lunch has been one of the things saving me from going completely bonkers from boredom at home, this was a total treat. Really my dream La Azotea meal.

lunch (1)

I got one of the saquitas (crispy pastry filled with prawns, cheese and leeks), my favourite battered prawn salad with kimchi sauce, THOSE rabbit ribs and a bottle of Chan de Rosas albariño. Heaven.

Gotta say that La Azotea was the first restaurant in Sevilla (that I know of) to start offering pick up and delivery services. They were on it just like that, up and running four days after Lockdown. Impressive. Jeanine and Juan along with their amazing team have been keeping Sevilla fed and happy all this time, and now it was my turn thanks to Dan & Deb.

lunch (2)Jeanine with my delivery
it was SO hard not to give her a big hug

azotea teamTeam Azotea

Now La Azotea is open for restaurant service (at their Conde de Barajas location) and they have everything perfectly set up for proper social distancing, and are also continuing with take-away and delivery service. Whatever it takes, these guys are there for you. xx

jeannie & steve

13 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, friends, home

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The evening appreciation applause continue around the country, and the other day I met Jeannie & Steve after they had put a banner out on their balcony celebrating their 50th anniversary (I ran to fill a wine glass and toast them too). Then I heard Jeannie saying something to her neighbour across the street and I thought… hmmm, definitely not Spanish! So the next evening after the applause I shouted hello to them and asked where they were from.

Turns out they are from Florida and got trapped here when the lockdown happened and, after their hotel was forced to close, were lucky enough to find temporary accomodation in my street. So we are now in touch on WhatsApp and Facebook and it’s lovely, this getting to know the neighbours thing. There’s a bright side to everything, isn’t there?