06 Wednesday Oct 2010
Posted in holidays, restaurants, sevilla, spain, work
As you all know, I don’t get to travel much, and certainly not nearly enough as I’d like to. But the other day I got to take a “day trip” to a beautiful hotel (with the longest name ever – try tweeting that several times a day!). The hotel Las Casas del Rey de Baeza is part of a chain called Hospes Hotels, but they are a very exclusive chain of luxury hotels, most (all?) of which are restored palaces. I have to say that it was interesting to see – and experience – how the other half lives…
22 Sunday Aug 2010
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Last night’s sunset.
And today I’m going home. It’s been a fabulous week. I worked, I played, I relaxed and had fun. Had the best evening on Friday when I finally got to meet Michelle Chaplow and her husband Chris – they treated us to a lovely seafood dinner at Andrés Maricuchi. And this afternoon we’re going to meet Jason for a pre-lunch drink. But now I’m ready to go home, snibble the cats (oh, how I’ve missed them!), get back to the gym – and also get back to work. While away I got a booking for a tapas tour for tomorrow night! And there is also some other exciting news I’ll be sharing with you soon.
This really has been the best summer ever.
Below you can see a few more happy Málaga memories.
17 Tuesday Aug 2010
It was madness I tell you!
But it really had to be done. I couldn’t come to Málaga during Feria and not take part at least a little. So I wandered over to the centre of town around midday yesterday and took in the festivities. Málaga has a different way of celebrating their Feria. They do set up a big fairground, but this normally doesn’t get going until sometime after about 9.30 pm … so during the day the fair actually takes place in town. Boy, does it ever. Hoards of people were milling about, music was blasting and blaring … I took it all in for as long as I could stand to before deciding I had to get the hell out of there. And then I remembered a recently opened bar called La Reserva del Pastor that Victoria had told me about, so I headed over there hoping it wouldn’t be like many of the bars in the centre with their special “Feria menus”. And happily it wasn’t. In fact it was an oasis of calm in the madness that is Feria in Málaga. So I dragged my weary self up onto a bar stool, introduced same weary self to the owners and then was thoroughly and most pleasantly spoiled beyond belief…
16 Monday Aug 2010
Posted in food & drink, holidays, Malaga
Soooo… I got to Málaga yesterday around 2pm. There’s always that bit of excitement getting into the taxi at the train station and knowing that I’m being taken somewhere that feels like home. Once inside the apartment I unpacked, got my stuff organised (and was very happy that I’d decided to cram my iPod speaker deck into my suitcase at the last minute), then went out to do a bit of grocery shopping. Afterwards, well, all I felt like doing was hanging out, watching a dvd whilst drinking some wine and munching on cashews – which was exactly what I did. Later I took a super-long siesta, waking up around 8.30pm and feeling quite peckish. So I went on Twitter and asked where I could go to in my barrio for a nice tapa meal (didn’t feel like venturing into the city centre) and was happily surprised when Victoria – who was away for the weekend – recommended a place near the bullring. And it was great. As you can see, I made friends with everyone there, and also had an amazing meal.
So this collage is a bit of yesterday. The sea view from the apartment terrace, my freshly made bed, the tapas bar including a biznaga seller and later a close-up of a biznaga (jasmine blossoms onna stick) which is a very traditional Málaga thing. After a rather lazy Sunday I am quite looking forward to getting out there and making the most of being here . But I tell ya, waking up after that luxuriously long siesta to the sound of the waves gently crashing on the shore … oh, that’s really all I want. I love it.
Now if only I could find a way of bringing my cats here with me…
15 Sunday Aug 2010
Going to Málaga sometimes feel like I’m carrying on a love affair with another city. What if Sevilla finds out? I’d really hate to have to choose between them. Honestly, nobody was more surprised than me when Málaga stole a piece of my heart last summer. Up until then I had never considered living anywhere else but in my beloved Sevilla, but I suddenly found myself checking out areas of town that felt like “home” in the same way that my street in Sevilla does. I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t decide between beachfront or city centre, so just as well that this isn’t a decision I’ll have to make anytime soon, especially if I can keep having occasional visits like this week coming up…
casa azahar 