Category Archives: welcome

green sleeves

02 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by in home, sevilla, welcome

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green sleeves

So yeah, I don’t sleep much. Or well. Never have really. So not surprisingly I’ve been sleeping (or not sleeping) less (or more) and even worse during lockdown. Not because I’m locked down per se, more because I can’t let my mind wander too far into “what ifs” and this is easier done while awake than when asleep.

But one indulgence I now allow myself, being locked down and all, is that I can get up whenever I damn well please. I mean, there’s nowhere to go. And I have no work to do. Before I used to find it hard to stay in bed after sunrise, even if I’d only slept a few short hours, because it seemed a waste to miss a beautiful morning (I love mornings). But now? Fuck it. I probably only average about 4-5 hours of sleep a night, waking up anytime after 4 am. And there’s no way I can get back to sleep because, well, I can’t. So I read stuff on my phone, play with the cats, maybe get up two or three times because I’m restless. Before I know it it’s 7 o’clock. I know this because Loki has been spending the past hour or so moaning and pawing at me to feed him breakfast. So then I get up, feed the beasts, open the windows and go back to bed.

And since I’m not forcing myself to get up I sometimes even manage to doze off for another blessed hour or two, which feels amazing. Once or twice since lockdown I even surprised myself by waking up again at noon (!!). Unheard of. But it’s all part of the whole becoming a cat thing. So what does this have to do with green sleeves you ask?

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amigo del día

01 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, spain, welcome

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So a couple of weeks ago my friend, and fellow sherry educator, Chelsea Anthon @chelsea_anthon got in touch to tell me about her new non-profit initiative Amigo del Día. It sounded like a great idea to me, so when she asked if I wanted to help out of course I was happy to get involved. For those of you who don’t know Chelsea, she is the founder and driving force behind Sherry Week, which has helped put sherry wines on the international map.

The idea behind Amigo del Día is to help promote independent bars and restaurants as they begin to reopen after the Covid shutdown, and also while they recover. The first campaign is called Let’s Lunch and it is based on the Spanish lunchtime set menu (menu del día) which traditionally includes a starter, main course, dessert, and beverage. Restaurants can register on the website and upload their own menu del día, which they will offer to the public between July 20-30. Registration is free of charge, as is the all the promotion provided, including material that can be downloaded.

For an extra fee Amigo del Día is offering restaurants the option of a menu app that their customers can access by scanning a QR Code with their phones. This digital menu is free for Amigo del Día participants from now until August 1st.

Within a couple of weeks hungry customers will be able to start searching on the Amigo del Día website for participating restaurants in their city, see the menus and check options available (takeaway, delivery, eat-in). They will also be able contact restaurants directly to either book a table or place orders.

It’s still early days but I remember the early days of Sherry Week too and believe that this initiative has legs. I think it’s a great way of not only helping our favourite bars and restaurants get back on their feet, but also to stay with us. Because the effects of Covid are going to be with us for some time to come. And remember that this is an international affair, so you can also look up great places to eat for once we get back to travelling again. I’m so happy to be a part of this.

If you’d like to help spread the word, and help get your own favourite restaurants involved, get in touch by emailing hola@amigodeldia.org and let them know you’d like to be a part of the Amigo del Día team of global ambassadors.

Meanwhile, you can follow @amigodeldia on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

constancia is back!

26 Tuesday May 2020

Posted by in animals & pets, music, sevilla, welcome

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constancia-2

You may remember Constancia from back when I first met her in October 2018. Well, I had known of her for years previous to that, passing her in the streets almost every day, but that was the first time I stopped to chat with her. And we became friends in a way. After that I would always greet her and chat a bit, blow her a kiss (she loves blowing kisses) and sometimes I would give her some cash or some food. She lives with her husband just beyond 3 mil, and she really does work hard, out there every day with her little dog and her accordian. Often I would pass her coming home after a tapas tour, going on midnight.

Anyhow, just before Christmas I saw her while on my way to pick up clients for a tapas tour… and she was without her little dog. And my heart just sank. So of course I stopped to ask what happened, and of course the dog had died (ripe old age, she’d had a good life) and I couldn’t do anything but hold Constancia in the biggest hug I could manage and kiss her cheeks. Oh man, it was so heartbreaking to see her without her dog and knowing how much pain she was in. And worse then to tell her I had to go (I ended up late for my tour) but that we’d talk soon.

 

Next time I saw her we talked about her getting another dog and I said I could check rescue shelters and help her find a new pup. But Constancia was very clear. She wanted the exact same breed as Piti, she wanted a female, and she wanted a young puppy. Well, I’m all about adopting rescues rather than buying from breeders, and how would she even find another Bichón Habanese anyhow, but you know what? In the end her husband found one, a mini replica of her old dog.

And I know all this because when I was doing a “rubbish run” last week (wearing my latex gloves!) I took the long way home and suddenly saw Constancia with her accordian and five-month old brand new little Piti out in the street. Oh my god… big air kisses all around and the little pup was so adorable and very friendly. And I saw Constancia smiling again. Made my day.