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Category Archives: spain

prepping for the HEAT

12 Monday May 2025

Posted by azahar in casa azahar, home, seasons, sevilla, spain, summer

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heat, sevilla, summer

I can’t live without electric fans. If I had my way (and if they weren’t so ugly) I’d have ceiling fans in every room. Last year I splashed out on this new Rowenta, intending it to replace the old faithful one I’d had for about twenty years, in the end held together by by twist ties and luck, until that luck finally ran out. Originally destined for my bedroom (and I did try it there) it was better suited for the living room, mostly because it didn’t have a timer and I don’t always want or need it going all night. Also it’s more attractive and I see it all day there (unlike in my bedroom).

Out of the two other identical bedroom fans bought years ago, Peter’s had begun sounding like a turbo jet engine, which he dealt with last summer by sleeping on his good ear. So this year he has inherited mine (which is totally fine, so far) and I’ve got this new one. Silent AF! With a timer. It also oscillates all over the damn place, not a feature I’m interested in, so side-to-side mode for me. But you know, with all these electronic features I expect it to conk out long before my old faithful one did, or even before the newer Rowenta (which just has a quaint three-speed dial, nada más).

Now waiting for handyman Luis to come over to do the annual filter cleaning on the AC unit. And then, fingers crossed, all is set for the summer HEAT.

sherry & tapas – a pairing guide

08 Thursday May 2025

Posted by azahar in gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, spain, substack, tapas

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gastronomy, sherry, sherry tapas pairing, substack, tapas

New on Bitesize Sevilla🍊 … a handy guide for Sherry & Tapas Pairings. Have a look and give it a “like” (if you like it) and if you really like it maybe consider becoming a free or paid subscriber… Thx!

Sherry & Tapas – a pairing guide

72 hour survival kit

05 Monday May 2025

Posted by azahar in casa azahar, home, sevilla, spain

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

eu survival kit

Last week’s massive power outage – el gran apagón – made us all take heed of the 72 hour survival kit recommended by the European Commission earlier this year. It seems pretty basic, but I was surprised to see I don’t have everything on it. Have you got something similar at home? Anything missing?

✅ Bottled water (minimum 5 litres per person)  
✅ Easy-to-prepare, non-perishable food  needs update
❌ A battery-powered radio
❓ A flashlight  it’s around here somewhere
✅ A spare cell phone battery  two!
❌ A portable stove or cooker (and bottled gas)  NA
❌ Fuel  NA
✅ Matches
✅ Cash
✅ Medications  usually 1-2 week’s worth
❌ Iodine tablets  what?
❓First aid supplies  some
✅Adhesive tape
✅ A fire extinguisher
✅ Hygiene items 

My additions…
✅ Cat food
✅ Cat sand
❌ Tea candle lanterns (3)  going shopping
❌ A multi-use knife
❌ Extra batteries (for radio & flashlight) need to stock up

I always say that I could probably last for at least two weeks off what is in my pantry, but I should probably rethink that a bit in terms of practical meals. And I always have enough cat food and sand to last for a month! Priorities. But will also get extra water in for them.

The tea candle lanterns… a must have I think. It’s like having night lights and they are cat-proof. And there is no way I would last long in the pitch dark without dying of a panic attack. Also… cute!

lights out

29 Tuesday Apr 2025

Posted by azahar in sevilla, sevilla shutdown, spain

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

apagon, power outage, sevilla, spain

Well heck. After getting the Holter strapped on at the hospital yesterday I stopped for some brekky on the way home, and then settled in for a low-key day mostly in front of the computer, whatever, just another day. UNTIL 12.30. That’s when the lights went out. At first I thought it was just our street (the fuse box was intact so it wasn’t that) and then shops started closing their shutters. At that time there was still some patchy internet and a few minutes later I saw a comment on substack about there being no electricity in Portugal. Whaaat? That’s when things started getting freaky.

My first thought was… thank god I didn’t get home a bit later and get STUCK IN THE LIFT. Can you imagine? Especially as the electricity didn’t come back on here until 5.30, by which time I would have been dead of anxiety (recorded by the holter). I mean, we had no idea how long this massive outage would last.  Meanwhile many other barrios in Sevilla had no electricity until 10 pm or later. Indeed some areas, such as Almería, didn’t get their power back until 6 this morning. So it was a bit like total chaos or kind of just another day, depending on where you were and what you were doing.

I mean, people did get stuck in lifts (gaaaah) or in the metro, also on trains out in the middle of nowhere. And traffic was a complete mess. Apparently hospital emergency equipment kept things going. In fact my friend Pedro (he of the VERY BEST papas aliñá in Sevilla) went in for knee surgery yesterday morning, the op was supposed to be at 3 pm. Nope. They needed all the resources they had to keep people alive.

Meanwhile many bars stayed open as long as the beer held out, their terraces packed with tourists. Other tourists didn’t fare so well, having to rough sleep either outside or inside train and metro stations. What can I say? It was a real mixed bag experience.

But what it really brought home was the very disturbing reality of how dependent we are on our infrastructures and how vulnerable we would be to any sort of hostile action. Apparently this wasn’t any sort of “cyber attack” or similar, but it was the biggest power outage in Spain’s history and it happened in a split second. Anyhow, still processing this. It somehow feels bigger than what we actually went through. More to come. Maybe.

solomillo al whisky

25 Friday Apr 2025

Posted by azahar in bitesize sevilla, sevilla, spain, substack, tapas, tapas bars, writing

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bitesize sevilla, sevilla, solomillo al whisky, substack, tapas

The latest Bitesize Sevilla🍊 post on Substack includes a signature tapa, an origin story, a recipe and 10 great spots in Sevilla to try it. Have a look and give it a “like” (if you like it) and if you really like it maybe consider becoming a free or paid subscriber… Thx!

The Curious Tale of Sevilla’s Solomillo al Whisky
(spoiler alert: there’s no whisky!)

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