Category Archives: travel

back to málaga…

17 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in 20th anniversary, cats, Malaga, travel, trips

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Tomorrow Peter and I are heading off to Málaga for a few days. Well, Peter will come back on Thursday to do a tapas tour and I’ll stay on until Friday because I want to meet up with some Twitter friends who won’t be in town until Thursday. As usual we’ll be staying at Manolo’s fabulous apartment. You may remember that I postponed my Málaga trip in August because I couldn’t leave Azar, even with Peter staying at home with him. Now we can go together (next door neighbour Colm will be checking in on the young’uns) and it will be the first time in 17 years that I’ve ever gone anywhere without fretting about Azar. Even when he was young and in good health he was always so hard to leave, even just overnight, because I knew how much it upset him. It’s going to feel strange and sad, not fretting.

Anyhow, since everything is still so painful here, and this week is the only time until mid-October that I’ve got three free days in a row, I thought I should take the opportunity to get away. There are a couple of museums in Málaga I still haven’t visited as well as lots of places to revisit. The renovated wharf area should now be fully opened up and of course I will be dipping my toes in the Mediterranean.

But the first thing (a new “tradition” we started last visit), after unpacking and settling in, will be to go up to the Gibralfaro Parador Hotel and have a drink on their terraza while taking in the fabulous view (see pic). And then just enjoy a couple of days in my second favourite Spanish city. Well, as long as there isn’t another train strike, like today’s…

more córdoba!

08 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by in 20th anniversary, spain, travel, trips

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I realised today that I haven’t posted anything here about my trip to Córdoba a couple of weeks ago – the one that caused me so much worry over Azar and leaving him overnight. Well, as you all know he was fine and, as luck would have it, the damn tumour didn’t explode until two days after we got back. I still shudder to think what would have happened if it had burst while we were away…

But it didn’t and Peter and I had a wonderful time. I have to say that Córdoba is becoming one of my favourite places and already I want to go back. I used to say to friends and tapas tour clients that it was a good day trip spot, or at the most overnight, but I each time I go I discover something new and find out there is even more to discover.

And then I run out of time.

This last visit was extra special because I was invited by Hospes Hotels to spend a night in their fabulous five-star Palacio del Bailío and enjoy a flamenco-themed dinner there. So… wow. It was my first ever five-star experience and I sure hope it’s not my last. Everything at the hotel was perfect and the hotel itself has such an interesting history that you feel like you’re staying in a historical monument – which is exactly what it is. Various treasures were discovered during renovations, such as old paintings hidden under wallpaper and Roman ruins in the basement (!!). I could’ve happily not left the hotel during the entire visit, but there were things to check out in town.

Peter came with me as he was doing research for his Córdoba day trips as Seville Concierge. We went to the Mesquita again, as we hadn’t been for a few years, and also to the the Alcázar for the first time. And of course we were keen to try out a couple of restaurants that came highly recommended, only to find that they were both closed for holidays. Instead we happened upon a real find – the world’s first “salmorejería”! Anyhow, I have written and posted photos about the highlights of this fabulous trip in various places, so you can have a look at them if you like. And meanwhile I’ll keep dreaming about returning to Córdoba soon…

My blog post on azahar’s Sevilla: Dreaming in Córdoba

You can see all the hotel photos here: Córdoba | Palacio del Bailío

And other Córdoba pics: Córdoba | August 2012

And if you’re wondering what a salmorejería is… Salmorejería Umami

carmona

25 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by in 20th anniversary, friends, spain, tapas, travel, trips

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[click on collage to enlarge]

A few pics from an impromptu day trip to Carmona with Peter (aka Seville Concierge) and Markus (my friend who runs veoapartment.com). We left Sevilla around 11.30 and got to Carmona about half an hour later. Part of the motive for this trip was so Peter could do some research for his new biz, and both Markus and I will also be able to use some of the images and info collected today. But mostly it was just a lovely day out. Well, except for the bit where Peter got us lost and the other bit when the second tapas bar on my list ended up being closed, but otherwise it was lots of fun. We visited the old fortress, stopped in at the market, tried tapas at two places, walked A LOT through charming streets of whitewashed houses and beautiful old churches and palaces, and then finished off having cake, coffee & cava at the splendid Parador Hotel, a restored 14th century Moorish citadel.

I’ll be doing more of a more detailed write up about Carmona on the azahar Sevilla blog.

What did you do today?

holidays at home

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in 20th anniversary, holidays, home, sevilla, spain, travel, trips

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Yesterday evening I decided to mix a little business with pleasure and go out to do some research on rooftop bars. I’ve actually had a blog post written on this since June but needed photos. So I went out with Peter and managed to get to five places before sunset (black sky with a blurry Giralda tower in the distance – not interesting!), stopping at the last one for a drink, and then returning to one of the previous ones for another, before heading home for a late snack. And although some work was involved it did feel a bit like being on holiday.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, because of Azar’s health situation I’ve postponed all my 20th anniversary travel plans other than day trips (though I’m still struggling with that one overnight biz trip to Córdoba) and have decided to spend the rest of August “on holiday” in Sevilla. This isn’t to say I won’t be working, just that I’ll be treating myself (and Peter) to going out more, and spending a bit less time in front of the computer. I haven’t had many tapas tours this month, and at first I was stressing about that, but now I’m just going to relax and enjoy the rest of the summer. You know, “this may be my last one” is always in the back of my mind and, especially after Pat’s death and with the next PET scan coming up soon, things feel more precarious than ever. So what the heck. Holidays at home.

where the hell is matt? (2012)

07 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by in dance, music, sevilla, travel, trips, video

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Wow, a lotta time has passed since I first came across Matt dancing his way around the world. His style has changed and the snippets are much more choreographed. I think I preferred the simpler version, but am quite pleased to see Seville in the opening scenes of this video (taken in the square next to the cathedral and the old casa az).