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Category Archives: friends

calçots 2020

27 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, spain

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calcots, la quinta, sevilla, traditions

Last year Ania @writtenfromseville and I began a new tradition when we went to experience La Calçotada at La Quinta, a local restaurant that also started this tradtion last year. It’s actually a Catalán thing, with the harvest of these tasty spring onions in mid-late January. Traditionally they are roasted over coals, then served with romesco sauce, and the trick is to remove the blackened outside layers to expose the tender delicious centers.

This year it was raining cats and dogs, so we didn’t get to stand outside in the patio like last time. But it was still fun – and delicious – and so this now qualifies as a Shawn-Ania Tradition. The first tradition we came up with was visiting Málaga at Christmas time to see the lights together, which we managed twice, but sadly not this past December. And now it looks like a new SA Tradition is going to be me going out at ungodly hours to cheer my girl on while she runs her 10kms and half marathons, god help me. 😉
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honestly, what are the odds??

21 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in friends, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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cancer, friends, health, hospitals, sevilla

People always say that things happen for a reason, but I don’t actually believe that. I think that things just happen, but that sometimes they happen with such incredible serendipity that it’s hard not to wonder if there is some “reason” out there. My favourite Spanish word for this is “azar” (“happenstance” in English). Anyhow, YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE what happened today.

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the day after…

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in birthdays, friends

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birthdays, friends, sevilla

Since this is officially Birthday Week I was delighted to find out that Lucy @sparkybakewell has her birthday the day after mine. So she met up with me at Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre, where I had gone to introduce Charlie & Sam @vinoveroleigh to my darling boy Esteban. Then Lucy and I headed out for her birthday lunch at La Chalá. I was told they had some new stuff on the menu and it was all very good. Of course I told everyone it was OUR BIRTHDAY so they brought us some complementary cava. And of course we also stopped for a penúltima cava on the way home… nice day!

birthday girl Lucy

La Chalá

birthday 2020!

07 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in birthdays, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla

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birthday, friends, sevilla

Yay! It was a wonderful 63rd birthday. Lovely friends Claudia & Paul took me out for lunch at a new Italian restaurant called Alimentari. It was something new for all of us, and I also got to introduce them to a different part of town.

We actually started off at Las Teresas for some cava and jamón, and afterwards met up with Charlie & Sam, who were also in Sevilla for my birthday last year (!) for a penúltima at La Azotea. I have to say it was one of my best birthdays ever.  Thanks everybody! ❤

Alimentari

la penúltima!

double duty

06 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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sherry, tapas, tapas bars

I can’t remember the last time I did two tapas tours in one day, but it’s been a few years. In fact, these days I won’t even go out for lunch if I have a tour in the evening… getting too old! But then the other day my friend Tomoko got in touch and asked if I could take out a visiting Japanese chef on Saturday. I already had a private tour booked for the evening but decided to take Yoshi out at lunchtime. I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity of taking out a Japanese chef who runs a tapas bar in Tokyo. And it was great fun. Yoshi’s English is a bit better than his Spanish and so we got by speaking Spanglish and using lots of gestures. Also the wine helped. We managed five tapas bars and god knows how much food (for the record, he was eating most of it!) and we finished off having vermouth at Esteban’s fabulous Vermutería. Then I had to go home and sober up for my evening tour!

I had provided Yoshi with a couple of other tapas bar options for Sunday afternoon (he was leaving town at 5 pm for Madrid) and as it happened I was passing by one of the bars after my midday WALK, so I stopped in and we got to visit a bit more. Finally I dropped him off at the bus stop to get back to his hotel. Honestly, he was lovely and everybody who met him was charmed. He’s in Madrid now with my MADRID LIST so I hope he fares well. When he first arrived in Sevilla he told Tomoko he wasn’t impressed and probably wouldn’t be back, but after his time out with me he says he LOVES Sevilla and is already planning to come back next year. Yay!

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