Category Archives: trips

bilbao & san sebastián getaways

16 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by in getaways, spain, travel, trips

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So it won’t be long before I head out on my second week of summer holidays. This time to places I have NEVER been to before. Bilbao and San Sebastián. Well, okay, back in May 1992 I did pass through San Sebastián on my way to Spain from Bristol, but we couldn’t find anywhere to spend the night where we could safely unload all the crap in our car (all my worldly belongings), so we moved on.

Fast forward 26 years and I will be visiting these two fabulous cities with friends and also with a lot of great local advice as to what to see and – of course! – where to eat. All those little black stars you can see mapped out are recommended places to eat. And yeah I know, won’t get to most of them, but I love having that comfort factor, knowing I don’t ever have to experience a bad meal somewhere.

The other stuff – monuments, museums, etc – are much easier to sort out. And it looks like I’m even going to be going up a fucking funicular in Bilbao (eek!). But I am really excited about this GETAWAY because they are places I don’t know and have always wanted to visit.

Meanwhile, don’t worry about the cats. A cat-loving friend is coming to spend the week at Casa Azahar and make sure everybody is sufficiently fed and cuddled. And my friend is also looking forward to a WEEK WITH CATS.

Does anybody else have any late-summer travel plans?

john in granada

18 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by in food & drink, friends, getaways, tapas, tapas bars, travel, trips

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John, Peter & Finn

Unlike our first two action packed days in Granada, our final day there was entirely unplanned, other than we wanted to go back to a tapas bar that we had always loved, Taberna Gamboa. Which we did, after a nice pre-lunch walk down from the Alhambra, but we were sadly disappointed. The food wasn’t as good as we remembered and the service was worse. Gayle told us it had recently changed hands, so perhaps that’s the reason. Oh well.

Our friend John and his nephew Finn joined us for lunch, finishing with a penúltima at Alameda. In fact, Alameda was our penúltima stop each of the three days we were in Granada – somehow we never got around to actually having a meal there. But I have to say that the complimentary tapas there were some of the best we had.

Peter and I left Granada at the same time but in different directions. I headed to Málaga to continue my little holiday, and he returned to Sevilla to cat and house sit. It was a really good visit and, thanks to Peter’s planning, we got to do a few things there we had never done before.

disappointing food at Taberna Gamboa

excellent complimentary tapas at Restaurante Alameda

bodegas la gitana & argüeso

27 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, azahartravels, getaways, sherry, travel, trips

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The main reason for the latest Sanlúcar Getaway was to partake of a couple of the free bodega visits being offered during the Día de la Manzanilla celebrations. The first was the Visita Nocturna on Monday evening at Bodegas La Gitana, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as it wasn’t the actual Visita Nocturna (which includes tasting VOR and VORS wines). Instead it was just the regular morning tour but held in the evening. Oh well.

The second was a visit to Bodega Argüeso, which I had never been to before. Peter joined me in Sanlúcar the next morning and when we arrived at the bodega I was very pleasantly surprised to see Nuria (whom I’d first met at Delgado Zuleta a few years ago) was now working at Argüeso. The tour was fun and interesting and included stopping by the tonelería (cooperage) to see the skilled artisans constructing and repairing the sherry barrels.

You can see a complete list of all the sherry bodegas I have visited (20 so far) here…

hotel barrameda

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, hotels, travel, trips

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I had sort of half-planned to go to Sanlúcar de Barrameda for Día de la Manzanilla (which was actually four days, Saturday to Tuesday) but didn’t actually decide until about 10.30 Monday morning. Then it all came together, booking sherry tastings, a hotel and train tickets, and by 12.00 I was packed and on my way.

I pretty much got the last room available at Hotel Barrameda (other than a rather expensive one with its own jacuzzi) and with the price they quoted I wasn’t expecting much, especially when they said it was an interior room. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to this loveliness. It was perfect. I’ve stayed here before and, really, don’t think I’d want to stay anywhere else in Sanlúcar. The location is perfect, right on beautiful Plaza del Cabildo and easy walking distance to pretty much everywhere you’d want to go. I already want to go back. 🙂