Category Archives: spain

about last night…

25 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by in sevilla, spain

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setas light show

I can’t even remember the last time I went out after dark. But yesterday I had spent all day inside (when I really wanted to go out) working on a possible reboot of We Love Tapas (watch this space!). So then about 9 pm I was still restless and got to thinking about recent photos I’d seen of the Setas lit up all deep cobalt blue and thought that was actually worth getting dressed and going out to see. Also, I quite fancied a cold beer. Well, instead of deep blues I got plaid! And an actual non-stop light show with the colours flashing and moving all over the place. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but hey it was something different.

the amazing alexandra del bene

17 Monday May 2021

Posted by in art, friends, sevilla, spain

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alex mural project

I was so excited when Alex pinged me with a link to this video about her latest project. I had no idea that she was doing this and it’s absolutely amazing. She will be creating 15 gigantic murals themed around the 500th anniversary of the first round the world voyage, the Magellan-El Cano circumnavigation (1519 – 1522). See those buildings up there? Those will be her canvases. Located in Calle Tarfia, facing the river it is expected to set a Guinness world record.

Below you can see virtual depictions of how they will look when finished. Impressive, right?

I first met Alexandra by chance ten years ago when she was starting out here working as a “graffiti artist for hire” painting shop and bar shutters so that they wouldn’t get vandalised by taggers. One day I saw her painting a bar shutter while out for a walk on a Sunday afternoon and stopped to chat and we’ve been friends ever since. She once even joined one of my tapas tours in progress while “on the job” painting the shutters at Bodeguita Romero.

And while Alexandra still does the occasional shutter art, she is now also an award-winning artist recognised both here and abroad. An amazing accomplishment for someone who arrived here from Rome in 2010 with a young daughter to start a new life. I am quite in awe of not only her talent but also her energy and spirit. You can check out her website here…

Alexandra del Bene

alex murals

alex virtual murals Also posted on Azahar Sevilla

emeterio

11 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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eme

Well this made my day! Yesterday I met up with Peter after running a couple of errands as we wanted to visit the new location of a fabulous local cheese shop. We started going down Sierpes and Peter said, “let’s take Cuna”, so that’s what we did. And a good thing too because when we almost reached the end of the street I suddenly I heard someone say: “¡Mira! Es la más bonita y más buena de Sevilla!”

And this masked man walks up to me, saying, “you don’t recognise me, do you?”. And I kind of did, but I also didn’t and struggled to recall until he finally said, “It’s me, Eme!”. And oh, how stupid did I feel for not recognising him. Because I adore Eme, but to be fair, he had the mask on and – most importantly – wasn’t standing behind his bar.

In March 2020 I wrote a sad update on Bar Casa Eme’s page on Sevilla Tapas announcing that after 25 years Eme had closed the doors on his bar for good. And I haven’t seen him since, though I had been trying to get in touch with him for his famous solomillo al whisky recipe (hands down the best in Sevilla). Turned out the phone number I had for him wasn’t actually his.

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freedumb

10 Monday May 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, sevilla, spain

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freedumb

Spain’s state of emergency officially ended at midnight on Saturday, a day earlier than originally planned, and predictably streets throughout the country filled with drunken assholes celebrating their freedumb into the wee hours. It is to weep. Lots of tweets from health care workers expressing everything from fear to heartbreak to rage.

The most important changes are the end of the curfew, extension of opening hours for hospitality, allowing large group events, but all of these still require that people wear masks (inside and outside) and maintain social distancing. Which is the ONLY reason I’m going anywhere in the next couple of weeks. The government says they are adopting a gradual de-escalation with the goal of returning to “normal” by July. Because hey, it worked so well last time. Gawd help us…