01 Friday Sep 2017
Posted in azahartravels, getaways, hotels, sevilla, sevilla staycation, travel
I lived in the house on the right for 18 years and remember when Hotel Casa 1800 @hotelcasa1800 was actually someone’s house. Now one of the finest hotels in Sevilla, I was thrilled to be invited to spend a night there this week. You can see my gorgeous room and a few other details below. Full review coming soon on Azahar Travels.
25 Friday Aug 2017
Posted in andalucia, food & drink, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway, spain, travel, trips
So I was in the Atarazanas Market yesterday and saw a couple of tourists looking over the display of various meats in manteca, which for those of you who don’t know are meats preserved in pork lard, often (but not always) coloured and flavoured with paprika. The man even leaned over to smell one of them at which point the vendor came over and said in his best English, “That is pork meat in butter!”.
Trying to be helpful I said to the couple that it was actually lard, not butter. Then I explained to the vendor that he was telling them it was pork in mantequilla (butter), not manteca (lard), and we all helped him with pronouncing this new word. The couple went away happy and the vendor said to me, “So what are you, a teacher?” And then he said, “I always say butter to them and they always understand me perfectly.” Well, I tried…
22 Tuesday Aug 2017
21 Monday Aug 2017
… I was enjoying Beer O’clock (and pulpo!) with these two lovelies, Anna & Jorge (aka @thekilomEATers) in Santiago de Compostela. I haven’t done nearly as much travelling this summer as I did last (Málaga, London, Madrid, Santiago), mostly because of THE MOVE, but tomorrow I am taking off for another Málaga Getaway. Looking forward to getting back to my “second home”.
18 Friday Aug 2017
Posted in friends, sevilla, social media, travel, twitter, twitter friends
Peter & Robert at La Azotea
Met another Twitter pal yesterday! This is Robert Wright @GaoCho, who has actually been living in Sevilla for a year, but I only became aware of him when he sent me a private message last December about something he’d read about me. Then the other day he also commiserated with my “copycat tour company” issues and it was only then that I realized that he lives here (duh). So I said we should meet up for a beer some time and, as I already had a meeting planned at The Office (aka La Azotea Santa Cruz) we decided to meet up there. Spent a lovely couple of hours over a couple of beers and LOTS of chat. Turns out we know quite a few of the same people as both Robert and his husband are tour guides (Robert also writes guide books as well as his Endless Mile project). It was great to meet such a fun and interesting person – hope we can catch up again before long.
16 Wednesday Aug 2017
Posted in media, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, travel
VERY happy with this nice mention in the September edition of the Sunday Times Travel Magazine’s special Foodie Spain & Portugal issue. It’s out now (print only) in case you’d like to pick up a copy too. Lots of great tips on where to eat well on the Iberian peninsula. Thanks ST!
13 Thursday Jul 2017
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Back in April I posted this photo from the Sevilla feria on Instagram and then found out this little Sevillanas dancing cutie belonged to Sarah Gemba @spainsavvy (that’s also her daughter and mother-in-law). Thing is, although I’d “known” Sarah via social media for awhile, we’d never met in person, and since that day in April we’ve been attempting to meet up for a chat. You’d think it wouldn’t be that difficult, right? Wrong. So I was delighted to FINALLY meet Sarah over a quick brekky today (forgot to take a pic!).
After moving to Spain over a dozen years ago, and working in various travel/tourism companies since then, Sarah now runs her own travel design business called Spain Savvy. So needless to say we have a lot in common, as well as quite a few mutual friends. Looking forward to getting together again, next time for a bit longer… should be able to manage something by September? 😉
25 Thursday May 2017
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I hadn’t planned on going to the feria in Córdoba this year. But when I saw Roma @artsylife posting pics from Málaga on her Instagram, and when she said she wouldn’t make it to Sevilla this visit, we decided to meet up for a day in Córdoba. So Peter and I caught an early train and, after meeting up with Roma for a nice lunch at La Regadera (warning: never try to eat at any ferias) we got a taxi to the fairground. And well, it was HOT. But we managed to find a couple of nice air-conditioned casetas to enjoy a cold beer and watch people dancing. Like in Jerez (and unlike Sevilla) the casetas in Córdoba are all open to the public. But unlike any other feria I’ve been too, many also have A/C. Bliss. Click through to see more pics…
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05 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, london, restaurants, travel, trips, welcome
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Greek olives at Old Spitalfields Market
Our final full day in London started and finished at Old Spitalfields Market. We had plans to meet Julie & Steve for lunch at Quality Chop House, but as it was such a lovely day we wanted to get out early and get a walk in before meeting them. Which actually turned into quite a long walk through not very picturesque streets, but we enjoyed the market and I also got to see the Smithfield meat market, which is housed in a surprisingly beautiful building. Along the way I got a message from Julie saying that they were on the train and, if they got in early, they were going to stop for a “quick one” at The Eagle (London’s first gastrobar), across the street from Quality Chop. As it turned out we all arrived there about the same time, and half an hour early for our lunch reservastion, so The Eagle it was.
Then lunch at Quality Chop. I was introduced to QC by the FoodieHub people, when I was invited to the FH Awards back in 2015, and this was my third visit. It is one of my favourite places to eat in London – always amazing food and terrific service. You may even recall that when Julie & Steve came to Sevilla last Christmas I made – or attempted to make – chef Sean Searley’s iconic confit potatoes. And Sean even gave me some advice on Twitter, which I thought was very sweet of him.
Anyhow, this was a chance for Julie & Steve to try the real deal potatoes, along with THAT hereford mince and various other wonderful QC dishes. It was an outstanding lunch and by far the best meal of the trip (you can see details below). Many thanks to Sean and the QC team.
After lunch there was another treat in store for us as Julie & Steve decided we should have a penúltima at a hidden gem of a pub called Ye Olde Mitre. En route Julie told us stories of her time working in the area, and we passed the shop where Steven bought her engagement ring. Although they no longer live in the city, they spent many happy years there and are full of insider knowledge. We were joined at Ye Olde Mitre by my pal @CityJohn. Whenever people dis social media (and in particular Twitter) all I can say is that many of the people I hold dear in my life are people I met on Twitter. And John is one of the most special ones.
Finally it was time to say goodbye, and Peter and I decided to walk over to the Sky Garden bar atop the hideous “walkie talkie” building, to try and catch a glimpse of MY SHARD at sunset. It had suddenly occureed to me that I hardly had any photos of the Shard from this visit. And so over we walked, and up we went, only to find that we were too late to walk outside on the viewing platforms (which close at 6 pm). So close and yet so far! And so I had to make do with taking a shot of my beloved Shard from inside. I’ll know better next time.
By this time a few hours had past since lunch and we were thinking that a snack before going home would probably be a good idea, and so that’s how we ended up back at Old Spitalfields Market. But not before passing through Leadenhall Market, which kind of popped up out of nowhere. So by the time we got to Taberna do Mercado (almost 20,000 fitbit steps since leaving home in the morning) we were ready for a drink and a snack. We shared chef Nuno Mendez’s fabulous tempura green beans, and a couple of the Portuguese butties. And then it was time to find an Uber back to the apartment and start packing for home.
Smithfield Meat Market
The Eagle
cheers!
chef Shaun Searley and his famous confit potatoes
[click to enlarge pic]
Quality Chop House
Ye Olde Mitre
Peter, Steven, Julie and John at Ye Olde Mitre
obstructed view from the Sky Garden
Leadenhall Market
the Spitalfields goat
Taberna do Mercado:
prawn rissoís, presa pork bifana, rump steak prego
and THOSE tempura green beans
04 Tuesday Apr 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, getaways, london, restaurants, sherry, travel, trips, welcome
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friends, gastronomy, london, london getaway, sherry, sherry awards, travel, trips
So this was it! The day I’d been looking forward to and dreading in equal measure. Also it was the main reason for being in London for this particular London Getaway, to be one of the judges at the first World Sherry Awards. I say “dreading” because I had never judged anything at this level before, and wasn’t sure what would be expected. Happily my friend Owen @sherrymonster44 (another sherry educator and co-owner of four fabulous tapas bars in southern Wales) had also been invited as a judge, so I knew there would be at least one friendly face. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. The people running the event were super friendly and I immediately felt right at home. Or as “at home” as possible at the elegant Caledonian Club, where the tasting was being held. You will have to wait until May to find out which wine was chosen as the winner, and I hope to be invited back again next year.
After the tasting Owen had to get back to Wales and I met up again with Peter, who had spent the afternoon visiting a couple of museums. As we were near Harrod’s – and as I had never been to Harrod’s – we went to Harrod’s! In fact, we decided to do a three-posh-store circuit and after Harrod’s we also stopped off at Harvey Nichols and Fortnum & Mason. I think a few years ago I would have found these places more interesting, especially the food courts. Anyhow, we stopped for a drink in the upstairs lounge at Harvey Nicks, as we still had a couple of hours to go before meeting up with John again. Then we found out John was going to be delayed, so we went off in search of a pre-pub snack in nearby Soho.
My first choice, Boca di Lupo, was already packed at 6.30 pm and we were told to come back in an hour or so to see if there was any space then. Uh… no. Then I remembered Zelman’s. This turned out to be an excellent choice. We were immediately shown to a comfy spot in front of the glass-walled “open” kitchen and our server couldn’t have been nicer. So different from the “fake-friendly” treatment elsewhere the previous day. Our snack was a massive smoked beef short rib, which we shared with a side of triple-fried chips. We honestly wished we were hungrier so we could try more dishes – Zelman is already at the top of the list for my next London visit.
By the time we met up with John I was pretty tired, so we just had a couple of drinks and a nice chat before I called an Uber to take us home.
Owen finds a secret passage behind fake bookshelf door at the Caledonian Club
cool Tudor style buildings just off Regent Street
the Egyptian escalator in Harrod’s
chillin’ and rechargin’ at Harvey Nicks
fall-off-the-bone smoked beef short rib at Zelman Meats
triple-fried chips with Holy Fuck mayo (their name, not mine)
pubbing with John and Peter
It’s like Morcilla KNOWS I’m going away. And even though I know Peter will be here to look after the beasts, and that he’ll take good care of them, it still breaks my heart every time I have to leave. Right, off to catch my train!