Category Archives: travel

azahar-sevilla.com

06 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in sevilla, travel, trips, work

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Here it is, revamped and updated and all that jazz. Well, almost. But quite a lot of work has been done on my azahar-sevilla.com page and I wanted to ask for some feedback. So many people have told me that I should get people to advertise on Sevilla Tapas, but that is really my own personal project and I don’t want anyone to think that I’m being paid to put tapas bars and restaurants on that blog.

But this information page about Sevilla is open to advertisers simply because it’s got such a variety of  information in it that hotels, restaurants and whoever else wants to are welcome to place an ad. At over 500 visits a day I reckon it’s an attractive advertising option for local businesses.

So what do you think? Bear in mind that not all of the pages are finished (those will be obvious to spot) but I’d love to know if there are any glaring omissions or just anything that doesn’t seem to work. If you were coming to Sevilla for a holiday, what would you really want to know about before you arrived?

azahar-sevilla.com

it’s a conspiracy!

31 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in cancer, cats, holidays, hospitals, Malaga, summer, travel, trips

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At first I thought it was a simple game of “where’s Loki?” that the two boys were enjoying when I took this photo. But recent events have led me to believe that the cats – who are gods, as we all know – are conspiring against me.

I’d thought that having Jessica here at the beginning of July to look after the boys – and especially Azar – was a sign that I should plan a few days away in Málaga before the next PET scan. And if Nog could get away for the weekend this would also provide Jessica & Thomas with a nice possibility for a romantic few days at casa az, enjoying the space and the terraza…

The first problemita occurred when Manolo said he wouldn’t know if his apartment would be available until about two weeks before that weekend. But I remained hopeful that it would work out. So I planned to leave just after my next oncology appointment, the day after Jessica got back (July 6th), which would have given me a few fab days in Málaga on my own before Nog came to join me. And all the while I would know that the cats were in very good hands.

Well THEN I got a booking request for a Sevilla Tapas Tour for July 7th – for five people! – and just couldn’t turn down that kind of money. But then I thought – hey – depending on Jessica’s schedule I could go for the weekend with Nog, then he could come back the following Monday (July 11th) to look after the cats, while I stayed on to enjoy my pre-scan holiday for a few more days.

Nope. Today I got a notice in the mail saying my appointment to go over all the heart tests that I had done after the scary four-hour tachycardia incident which ended up with me wearing a holter was booked for Monday, July 11th. Well Hell!

I just wonder how he does it. Is it the ears? In any case, it seems clear to me that Azar is moving heaven and earth to make sure I don’t go away this summer, and that Loki is in cahoots…

dreaming of olive trees…

23 Monday May 2011

Posted by in holidays, Malaga, spain, summer, travel, trips

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A little iPhone art here, drawn while I was on the train to Málaga last August, passing through olive groves. And I may be seeing them again soon!

With Azar’s new found trust in Jessica I started thinking that I might be able to get away this summer after all. Given how frail he’s been lately I would never have left him on his own with just a “sitter” coming in to check up on him. Which still meant I could go away and leave Nog in charge, but he kind of deserves a summer break as well.

And so I spoke to Manolo and it’s almost certain that we’ll be able to use his fabulous apartment the first week of July (well, five nights), which will also free up casa az so that Jessica can have a nice romantic break here with Thomas (if he can make it down). Win win!

I’m so excited about this even though it’s over a month away. I just love Málaga and Manolo’s apartment is in such a great location. It’s also been redecorated so should be looking fab, and it will really feel like “going home”. Every time I go to Málaga I fall in love with it a little bit more.

I won’t find out for sure if I can have the apartment until a couple of weeks before (fingers crossed!) which means it might be hard to get train tickets.  I had wanted to leave on the Monday but realised that is my next oncology appointment, so it will be Tuesday – Sunday instead. But at least I’ll get my holiday in before the next PET scan, just in case…

Have you got any summer travel plans?

rick stein

11 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in food & drink, friends, television, travel, video

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So there I was watching an episode of Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey the other night, and the Sri Lankan curries looked so amazing I just had to tweet about them, which started up a twitter conversation between myself, @WeeRascal and @Seville_Writer, both of whom have met Rick Stein and used words like passionate, honest, charming and genuine to describe him.

I had to admit that I’d never heard of Rick Stein before watching this series, which is a wonderful combination of glorious travelogue images and amazing food porn, along with lots of good information about  the local dishes, geography and history.

So imagine my complete surprise yesterday when the doorbell rang and I received an Amazon delivery of Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes, courtesy of that rascally friend of mine. I shall have to find a way of “getting him back” when he next visits (possibly in June) but meanwhile I have just finished watching the first segment of the first episode, which took place in Corsica. Next up … Sardinia. I am totally loving this!

dream destinations

17 Monday Jan 2011

Posted by in travel, trips

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For some reason Istanbul has been coming up on Twitter and in other conversations lately, and I find myself filled with a longing to visit, though my heart is also drawn to places I’ve already been to like Lisbon, Tangier, London…

So just for the heck of it, here are my top five dream destinations of places I’ve not yet been, in no particular order:

  • Instanbul
  • Florence
  • Edinburgh
  • New York
  • Greek Islands

What are yours?