Category Archives: tapas tours

shed likes food

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends, wine

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shed
Just over a couple of years ago I met Nicola Swift @ShedLikesFood on Twitter when she got in touch about taking one of my Sevilla Tapas Tours. It turned out to be a memorable evening as not only is Nicola a true foodie, as well as charming and fun to be with, but I showed up for the tour on crutches. In fact, it was the tour I mentioned in this post. I didn’t know at the time that Nicola and I would stay in touch on Twitter nor that two years later she’d be back, this time with her parents, for a week-long visit in Sevilla. And so of course we had to do another food tour! This time it was the Market & Tapas Tour on Friday, which you can see was a great success. Especially because Nicola actually tried two things she’d never had before – caracoles (small snails) and fried ortigüillas (anenomes). So now the challenge is on for her to eat something “weird” every day she’s here.

Sevilla day one: some new things

Of course I’ll be helping Nicola in this endeavour as much as I can. We’ll be going out for lunch on Sunday and then to the Feria in Jerez on Wednesday (her last day in town). Stay tuned…

pat’s tapas tour revisited

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in cancer, food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas tours, video

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ellen and hilaryJust over a month ago I got an email from a woman called Ellen who said she was an acquaintance of Pat’s from the Colon Club forum. Ellen had seen the video I’d made for Pat and, as she was going to be in Spain soon with her partner Hilary, asked about the possibility of doing Pat’s Tapas Tour. And well, I was delighted to do this.

So on Tuesday I met them at the Cathedral and we headed off to the first stop. It was quite an emotional experience talking to someone who had known Pat, even a little (Ellen had only had contact with Pat on the CC forum, looking for advice about her then partner, who has since died of cancer). But it was also fun to see how both Ellen and Hilary recognised the places we went to, as well as the food, and also some of the waiters and owners. And of course we talked about Pat… brought back so many feelings and memories.

Still miss you, Pat. And I always will. xx

gourmet food tours

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, spain, tapas tours, trips, wine, work

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lujo
My latest project! I’ve been asked by a luxury tour group to plan a few new “products” for them, based around gourmet food and wine tours in various cities in Andalucía. Excited? You bet! The main problem I’m having at the moment is narrowing the focus to keep the tours intimate and very special. It’ll definitely be a new experience for me, travelling with clients for a few days and keeping them well-fed and happy. Somehow I think I’ll be very good at that. Anyhow, watch this space!

de perdidos al río

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in friends, tapas, tapas tours, twitter

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louise
Another addition to my recent encounters that have been brought about by Twitter… this time I had the pleasure of meeting travel writer @LouiseRoddon who is in town this weekend doing research for an article. She had got in touch with me via Twitter to ask if I’d be available for “maybe a two-stop” tapas tour. Ha. I picked Louise up promptly at 8 o’clock and four bars and more than six hours later we finally made our way back to our respective homes down the freshly rain-washed streets of Sevilla. Of course this was all Louise’s fault for being so charming and witty and fun to be with. Well, makes a change from blaming Annie Bennett…

de perdidos al río = in for a penny, in for a pound

go figure…

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in cancer, hospitals, tapas tours, work

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stethoscopeYou may recall back in 2008 when I was told by my then oncologist that I had maybe a year to live… and it turned out she hadn’t even checked my latest biopsy results! Well, it wasn’t long after that incident that I switched oncs and, thanks to Ricardo, started seeing Dr Ana, who happens to be deputy director of the oncology department at the hospital. Which was certainly a step up, and I felt in much better hands, but I still felt Dr Ana was a bit cold and so I kept our conversations as short as possible and talked to Ricardo about anything that I was really concerned about. Though Ana did ask me after awhile if I was back to work, which is how she came to find out about my tapas tours, but I thought this was just professional interest in my general well-being.

And so imagine my surprise when, during today’s appointment to organise my next PET scan, she turned to the trainee doctor sitting in and said… “You wouldn’t believe how incredible this woman is. First she was out of work after during and after her treatment and desperate about what to do next, but she picked herself up and started her own business, and now look at how successful she is! I am so proud of her!”

Huh? I mean, I was stunned. Guess it just goes to show that you never really know what people think of you. Though it took having a ‘third party’ in the room for Dr Ana to say this, but I got the feeling she was also saying it to me, and I  know that from now on I’m going to feel much more at ease talking to her. Cool, innit?