Category Archives: spain

the jag

21 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in hope, hospitals, spain

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So this morning was THE BIG DAY. After several months of tests, including the original PET scan, then a colonoscopy, endoscopy, blood tests, a CT scan with another follow-up CT last week… I was finally going to get my results. To hopefully tell me what is going on with the mysterious “area of inflammation” they found during my last PET scan in February.

I won’t lie. I’ve been a bit of a mess about this since they started “investigating” this inflammation. I do my best to live in denial and just carry on with my life, but when it comes to stuff like booking a tapas tour a few months in advance, I am left wondering if I’ll actually be able to do it. Likewise with my summer plans. I’ve been putting everything on hold until I got the “go ahead”. Which was supposed to be today.

Except it wasn’t. I got to the hospital and after more than an hour in the hot and crowded waiting room, I was shown into the oncologist’s office… only to be told the CT scan results hadn’t been processed yet. WTF? My oncologist looked surprised and said – “oh, didn’t they call you yesterday?”. Well of course they hadn’t fucking called me yesterday, otherwise I wouldn’t have been there. Also, I wouldn’t have lost most of this week in a state of suspended emotion, not daring to feel or hope… JUST IN CASE. And so I sat there not believing this was happening. Then the doctor pulled a date out of the air – July 5th – to meet again, saying that FOR SURE the results will have been processed by then. Well, what choice do I have?

I walked out of the hospital feeling a whole whack of mixed emotions. In some ways I was relieved because “no news is good news”. Well, maybe. But I was also annoyed at having lost my entire morning, not just the 3 hours getting to and from the hospital, and waiting there, but really the whole day up until then. BUT… what saved the entire experience from total disaster was… my taxi! I always taxi to the hospital and then usually walk back, mostly because I am so stressed before going that a taxi is a comfortable and easy way of getting there.

Anyhow check it out. I got into the taxi, not paying much attention. Then I noticed the big JAGUAR logo on the dashboard screen. And so I stupidly said to the driver – THIS IS A JAGUAR??? Then I went all fan girl, saying how Jags were my favourite cars and that I couldn’t believe that I was in a Jaguar taxi. The driver informed me that not only was this was the only Jaguar taxi in Sevilla, it was the only one in Spain. WOW. I told him that I was going to the hospital for test results and that I took this as a positive sign, and also that it was so cool that I’d be arriving there in style. And bless him, he said he was sure this meant everything was going to be okay. Then he showed me a photo of his friend’s taxi – the only Maserati taxi in Spain. I’m telling you, this totally MADE MY DAY. Being driven to the hospital in a Jaguar XF.

Meanwhile, I now have two more weeks of hellish anxiety until the next oncology appointment. I wish I would have asked my driver for his card so I could always call him up when I have to go to the hospital…

greed

20 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, sevilla, spain

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Here you see the landmark Edificio La Adriática in Avenida de la Constitución, now reduced to housing cheap & cheesy souvenir shops. Below was once a traditional family-run shop in Calle Francos that is now a tacky “express market” catering to the tourists living in all the holiday apartments in the area. It’s bad enough that we’ve already lost Barrio Santa Cruz to this sort of crass tourist-focused commercialism, but now it’s spreading further afield. There is almost no more affordable decent housing in the Casco Antiguo. Likewise, independent shops have been closing in droves, only to be replaced with shit like this.

Yes, tourism is one of the most important industries in Sevilla. Heck, it is also (in part) how I make a living. But by destroying the centre of town like this, what will be left to attract people here? Before long what was once one of the most charming and beautiful cities in Spain will soon become a wasteland filled with tacky shops, awful bars and restaurants, and streets filled with huge tourist groups. Wait… soon become? It’s already happening. Shocking that the local government is just looking at the short term profits. You’d think the Spanish would have learned by now that if you over-fish an area then soon there is nothing left. I hope there is still time to turn this terrible greed-fueled trend around.

málaga friends

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, friends, Malaga, malaga getaway, spain

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Many of you know that I consider Málaga to be my second home in Spain. For awhile I even toyed with the idea of moving there. But for now I am happy in Sevilla and always look forward to seeing my Málaga friends when I go to visit. This last Málaga getaway was a bit different in that I got to see dear friends that I don’t usually see there. And it was great.

When I first arrived I met up with David, Kasha and Kyra for an impromptu snacky lunch and quick visit. We went to a small local bar and had a lovely time catching up and then ended up at a nearby playground. Good times.
Then in the evening I FINALLY got to hang out with Thane and Bob IN MÁLAGA. We’ve met up in London and in Sevilla but it was the first time we have coincided in Málaga even though we all go there a lot, and we had a fab traditional dinner at Los Mellizos with our mutual friend Victor.
Finally, I found out that Anna & Jorge had also been invited to the Premios Andalucía de Gastronomía (which is why I was there in the first place). So after the presentation and cocktail lunch we got to spend some time together in town before I had to catch my train home.

And then there was Victor. Always Victor. Victor is always there for me when I’m in Málaga and he is one of my dearest friends. So yeah, it was a great visit. Spending time with all of these amazing people that I am privileged to call my friends – and even more amazingly – they call me their friend too. Love you guys. See you soon! xx

what you (maybe) don’t know about trip advisor

09 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, travel, trips

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This image comes from a much more detailed article about TripAdvisor, written two years ago (and well worth reading). What started as a type of extortion directed at hotels and restaurants back then has now extended to include local tour operators.

I recently noticed that the listing info on my TA pages, such as website links, phone numbers and email addresses, had disappeared. I also dropped 3 ranking spots overnight. Also, you can no longer answer direct questions from readers with any of that information in it – just like on AirBnB it gets filtered out.

So now only people who list their tours with Viator (TripAdvisor’s online booking app), and pay them a 25% commission, will end up with top ranking. They are also going to start factoring in monthly Viator commission earnings into their ranking algorithm, so the people paying the most commissions to TA will end up on top.

Well, I certainly can’t afford to pay a 25% commission to these bloodsuckers. For each tour I already pay 21% VAT, 15% income tax, admin fees, guide fees, and of course all that fabulous food and drink. My profit margin does not allow me to give 1/4 of it away to TripAdvisor just so I will show up at the top of their lists. Yes, I could put up my prices like many have… except, no way am I going to do that. I am totally against ripping off my guests just to appease that greedy beast, even though I know it would probably bring me more “traffic” and tours.

I can only hope that discerning travellers are going to see through this vile ruse. Many already tell me that when they see promoted Google ads they go right past them and look for the organic search results, even up to 3-4 pages. Happily I am still on the first page when people google “tapas tours seville”. Likewise, I think people are going to realise that the listed TripAdvisor “top food tour companies” in Sevilla and elsewhere are simply those who have paid to be there and have nothing to do with genuine quality.

Equally vile to me is when I see new-on-the-scene corporate food tour companies in Sevilla boasting that they “promote small local business”. No. They don’t. It’s obviously the other way round – these companies wouldn’t have a job without the bars. All the places I go to on my tours don’t actually need my business – they are all thriving family-run establishments that are always packed out. Though these days many of them are often full of copycat food tour groups, which is actually destroying what made these places special in the first place. I’ve even heard of one company that demands that bars PAY THEM to bring in tapas tour clients. WTF? It’s like living in the Upside Down.

So much greed. So little integrity. Me? I’m holding my own and working on ways to develop my food and wine experiences so that people can pay honest prices and get the best quality I can offer, as well as allowing me to make a living. I am playing the long game, even though at my age I’m not sure how long that game will actually be. These short-term opportunists disgust me, and I am certainly not going to play their game. Well, let’s see what happens.

sevilla tapas in the washington post!

08 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in media, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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photo by Sylvie Bigar

The last time my friend Sylvie was in town we talked about her coming back to do an article about the evolution of tapas in Sevilla. For awhile it looked like it wasn’t going to happen, then suddenly it was all systems go and before long we were meeting at her hotel for what would become a fun and delicious three-day Tapeo Extremo.

As you can imagine, I was very excited to be a part of this project, but was sworn to secrecy about it until the article was published – which was yesterday! Aside from obviously being pleased at having my tapas tours mentioned in the Washington Post (!!), I was also very excited to see friends and colleagues that I admire getting some well-deserved international attention. You can read the article here…

In Seville, Spain, young chefs are creating the next generation of tapas