Category Archives: spain

yeah, one of THOSE days

03 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, sevilla, spain

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Had to go out for a rubbish dump run and decided – fuck it – I’d also make a quick trip to the supermarket (last one had been ten days previously). As I’ve said before, these days it feels like I’m dodging bullets at the supermarket, even though they are giving us plastic gloves while we’re there and (most) people now know to stay a hockey stick apart. But I just “needed” (okay, wanted) a few fresh things.

Anyhow, as soon as I hit the street with my trolley and a few bags of rubbish my street guy Nico (yep he’s still out there every day) saw me and came rushing over. At first I thought he was going to ask for some money, and nothing wrong with that, but he actually asked if he could help me carry my rubbish to the bins. Awwww… well obviously for money but at least he wanted to “work” for it. Let’s just say that Nico doesn’t really get the “keep two metres away” thing so I thanked him, said I was fine, and that I’d see him on my way home from shopping, after I’d had time to sort out some cash for him.

Noticed that El Corte Inglés is even more vigilent these days, or else it was a busier time of day than last time, as there was a queue outside with everyone standing 2 metres apart. When it was my turn I went in, started shopping and then started to cry. Maybe in part because such a “normal” routine had become, well, what it is now. But it actually started after I bought some swordfish from the fish guy, who was so lovely and pleasant. And I looked around and saw all the staff stocking shelves and being helpful and I looked at all the fresh produce still available and that’s when I lost it.

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lockdown

14 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by in sevilla, spain

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Spain is now officially on lockdown for a minimum of 15 days, though it may be longer. A lot longer. So after one last quick outing to get more cat food earlier in the day (I wasn’t as well stocked as I’d previously thought) I am now housebound for the duration. Have to say I was very disappointed to see so many bars still open, with one owner saying that until they were strictly prohibited from opening (rather than the “express recommendation” issued on yesterday) they wouldn’t close. But even worse were the idiots INSIDE THE BARS… I mean what were they waiting for? I felt guilty enough going out again for the cat food, how did they justify sitting around (not a safe distance apart) just to have a tapa and a beer? Anyhow, all bars have now been forced to close.

At home have spent much of the day cooking up some of the food I bought yesterday: chicken & veg garam masala, meatballs, marinara sauce (with added sausage and veg), all now frozen in single meal sized packets. Tomorrow will do something with garbanzos and spinach, basically trying to cook and freeze all my fresh vegetables as they certainly won’t last 15 days.

Meanwhile am hoping that the “cold” I picked up while away this week is actually JUST A COLD. I keep reading conflicting info about coronavirus symptoms, so I’m going to stop reading them now and just hope for the best. No fever (as of yet) so that’s a positive sign. It’s going to be a very weird time. Thank goodness for the internet. I’d hate to be going through this without all you guys.  🙂

These are the only shops and services allowed to be open (dry cleaners?) though for the most part it only seems to be supermarkets and pharmacies opening at the moment.

  • food
  • beverage
  • essential goods
  • pharmacy
  • clinics
  • optical
  • orthopaedics
  • hygiene products
  • hairdressers
  • newsagents
  • gas stations
  • tobacco
  • technological equip
  • telecos
  • pet food
  • online shops
  • dry cleaners
  • laundries

axarquía getaway day 1 – part 2: bodegas dimobe & viñedos verticales

11 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by in andalucia, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway, spain, tourism, wine

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Victor & me at the end of a spectacular day
saying goodbye to Málaga from the Parador Hotel Gibralfaro

First off I have to say that each of the three bodegas I visited in the Axarquía over two days were all completely different and totally wonderful experiences. First up, after a hearty pre-bodega breakfast at El Roper in El Palo, Victor and I made our way to the ridiculously pretty white village of Moclinejo, high up in the mountains. There we were greeted by Juan Muñoz Anaya and Vicente Inat, two winemakers who work together at Bodegas Dimobe, as well as working together on a separate project Viñedos Verticales. Dimobe was founded in 1927 by Juan’s grandfather and he now runs it with siblings Antonio and María Luísa. In 2015 Juan and Vicente founded Viñedos Verticales, a “sister winery” project which uses the same installation as Bodegas Dimobe in Moclinejo, and with different vine plots and grapes they are creating something that is both old and new.

Just to confuse you further, Vicente is also the winemaker at Bodegas Descalzos Viejos in Ronda, which I had visited a week earlier, and his wife Ana (who I got to meet later in the day after lunch) is the winemaker at another Ronda winery I visited, La Melonera. This was something I got used to over my two weeks of visiting Málaga wineries… that everyone not only knows each other, they sometimes work together and more often than not are very supportive of each others projects. It’s actually a lovely thing to see. Especially in Ronda the whole winemaking scene is quite new, starting sometimes in the 1980s, and everyone wants to see the region doing well. But I digress…

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calçots 2020

27 Monday Jan 2020

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

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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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josé’s party

30 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by in friends, madrid, spain

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A few scenes from José Pizarro’s book launch party at the Cinco Jotas restaurant in Madrid. It was great to see José again, and also his mother who I’d met at the Spanish Embassy event in London last May. My friends Jeannie and Sam were there, and I also got to meet a few other people, so it was a fun night. Also excited to see – and taste – a special sherry Rare Solera PΔP VORS from Osborne which has been created especially for José, the first time in the brand’s history that they have done this. Good times.