19 Wednesday Jul 2017
Posted in friends, sevilla, social media
Yep, I was the common denominator among these guys… and I wasn’t even there! Loved getting this photo from Ania the other day. Far flung friends all meeting up in San Sebastián – with even a couple of them not knowing the others knew me until they got talking. All thanks to the internets…
02 Tuesday May 2017
Posted in friends, social media, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends
Neither Barbara @emoticomma nor I can remember when we started following each other on Twitter, other than it was several years ago. But when I found out she was going to be making a one day only “cameo appearance” in Sevilla of course we had to meet up. We ended up doing a nice tapeo in barrio San Lorenzo, where mucho jamón was consumed. Also mucho vino, finishing with some lovely cava at La Azotea. Barbara promises to come back with her husband next time for a longer stay. Good ol’ Twitter. 🙂
23 Thursday Mar 2017
Posted in gastronomy, sevilla, social media, spain
So remember last year when I won the Premio Fogones for Difusión Gastronómica? Well, this year I was invited to attend the ceremony and the swish reception afterwards but… had to work! I had a tapas tour booked before I knew about the awards and, well, this is what I do. And it somehow seemed fitting that the reason I couldn’t attend was because I was out doing what got me the award last year in the first place. Anyhoo… I decided to stop by after saying goodnight to my guests to see if the party was still going. And it was!
Well, as soon as I walked in the door I was bear-hugged by Antonio Cruz (left) who was clearly still on cloud 9 after having won the Best Front of House award for Becerrita Restaurant (that’s Jesús Becerra beside him). I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving, as Antonio has devoted his life to this often difficult work, and I have never seen him be anything but super professional as well as naturally friendly and helpful.
My “heir” Javier Compás proudly shows off his award, as I (also proudly) retire to the position of Premios Fogones emeriti. Although I was sorry to miss the event, I really did have a great tapas tour, leaving four lovely people totally in love with Sevilla’s food and wine. But I was glad that I was able to pop in briefly on my way home (albiet underdressed for the occasion) to say hi and congratulate the friends that were still there. Nice night.
15 Tuesday Nov 2016
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, social media, spain
So THIS happened on Monday. Actually, it’s the second time I’ve been invited to this very meaty event, put on by Grupo Sagardi, experts in Basque country cooking. The Sevilla branch of Sagardi is located in the lovely Hotel Palacio Pinello, just up the road from me. As you can see, it was quite the feast, featuring massive t-bones from 10-year-old Galician oxen that had been aged for about 25 days and then grilled over oak. You can click on the image below to get a better look at it…
Aside from the MEAT my favourite dish was the simple char-roasted piquillo peppers, which were lovely smoky-sweet, but really it was all excellent (though I didn’t have any chocolate truffles). No need for dinner that night!
The menu (90€ per person including wine – a very nice Argentinian Malbec) is on offer at Sagardi’s until December 11th, and due to the massive size of the txuletón, they recommend booking in groups of 4.
14 Thursday Jul 2016
Posted in cats, friends, home, social media, travel
So that’s about half of Morcilla up there, after her first wet combing last night. And OMG she loved it. Then I tried it on the other two this morning (and Morcilla again) with mixed results. Loki and Morcilla swooned with pleasure, Luna was clearly just putting up with it. But afterwards all three of them were not only shed of excess fur, the rest of their fur was sleek and clean (ie, not dusty) and everyone was happy.
This all came about when fellow cat lover Nancy Li asked me on Facebook the other day if I’d ever wet-combed the cats, saying that hers loved it, especially on hot days. So I finally gave it a go and I think we are all hooked on this now. I met Nancy I don’t know how many years ago on the Slow Travel forum, and also met her in person when she and her husband visited Sevilla. We’ve been FB pals ever since. Once again, the power of the internet and social media, bringing people together and – bonus! – helping with your cat grooming needs.
casa azahar 