Category Archives: tapas tours

back to work!

02 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in covid, health & happiness, sevilla, tapas tours, work

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back to work

For the past week or so I’ve been looking forward to this day with both delight and dread because, although I love doing my food and wine tours, I’m also very aware that Covid is still a clear and present danger. Not that you’d know it from the way people are behaving and the fact that our government is only testing (some) over 60s with and have all but given up on any preventative measures. So now I will be meeting up with travellers who have been going all over the place maskless and for the most part not testing themselves. This is worrying. But I also have to pay my rent. I have been looking at other ways to make a living but, so far, nothing has panned out. Anyhow, wish me luck.

9 year anniversaries

08 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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9th anniversary (1)Adam, Thomas, Tiffany & Jack

The other day my Twitter pal Simon @sj_bowden posted a photo of us on a tapas tour saying it was 9 years ago this week that he and his friends were out with me. And then today I had a tour with Jack @centrejack and Thomas who had also been here in 2013 (and were back with friends for more!). It’s so great when stuff like this happens and it reminds me of how many people I first met on a tapas tour who ended up becoming friends (you all know who you are!). It really is a wonderful job. Also, check out quality difference between the iPhone 4 photos and my latest one. Wow.

9th anniversary (2)Brad, Chad, Jack & Thomas – May 2013

9th anniversary (3)Simon, Metani, Tim & Pete – July 2013

barcelona buddies

20 Friday May 2022

Posted by in friends, getaways, sevilla, spain, tapas tours, travel, trips

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CB

I’ll have a lot more to say about Barcelona later, because it was quite an amazing experience in so many ways and I am still processing everything. BUT… it would not have been anywhere near as happy for me if not for these two. I met Charlotte & Brian on one of my tapas tours last October and we really hit it off. So when I found out they have a second home in Barcelona and that they would be there early January, I planned to go there for my 65th birthday. But then… fucking Omicron happened, so I decided to stay put until hopefully things settled down. Then the Decanter commission came up and as luck would have it, Charlotte and Brian were going to be in Barcelona the same week I was planning to be there doing research – perfect timing!

Not only were they great company when we went out to the vineyards and out for dinner, Charlotte also kept me “company” on whatsapp during the week, and that really meant a lot. To be honest I had doubts about this trip, and not just Covid concerns. I hadn’t travelled anywhere (other than day trips) on my own since I went to Madrid in October 2019 and I was worried I might be hit by my old nemesis PANIC. Those of you who also suffer from panic attacks will know that even thinking about having an attack can bring one on, so just knowing Charlotte and Brian were there really eased my mind. Anyhow, more about Barcelona coming up next week. I’m so glad I went.